Ma Wu's Scheme

"Roar!"

Just then, a low growl from a spirit beast suddenly came from afar, causing the group's expressions to change drastically.

"How is this possible? It's actually Earth Bear! This thing is born a second-tier spirit beast, with strength comparable to a Gu cultivator in the Marrow Cleansing Stage. Logically speaking, such a powerful spirit beast should never appear in this area. Could it really be Beast Tide?"

Upon hearing the roar of the spirit beast, the Long Qilin was immediately terrified.

Upon hearing this, the group of Rogue Cultivator, who had been eager to try, immediately wilted, and the excitement on their faces vanished without a trace.

They were just jumping up and down, eager to hunt large carnivorous spirit beasts, but now that their target has finally appeared, they've all turned into cowards.

How could their legs not go weak? This was actually a second-tier spirit beast equivalent to a Gu cultivator in the Marrow Cleansing Stage. They could kill rabbits, but dealing with this second-tier spirit beast was like sending themselves to be eaten; it might not even get a full meal.

"The Earth Bear is a solitary spirit beast that possesses a rare ability called Earth Thorn. If you kill it, you might obtain this ability."

After a brief moment of shock, the Long Qilin revealed its excitement. Killing beasts and unleashing skills was exactly what people like it loved, so it ran towards the direction from which the sound had come.

The Rogue Cultivator looked miserable and could only reluctantly follow.

Long Xuan shook his head helplessly. He had just glanced at the Earth Bear. It looked quite impressive. With a wave of its hand, a patch of sharp earth spikes would instantly sprout from the ground, giving its prey no chance to dodge and piercing it right through the heart.

This ability to make the earth sprout spikes is probably the Earth Thorn that the Long Qilin mentioned. No wonder it excites him so much; it is indeed a terrifyingly powerful ability that would make everyone's heart flutter.

But he had already used his Eye of Heavenly Secrets to see that there were no insects at the core of this Earth Bear's Spirit Core.

Such a top-tier boss, yet it didn't drop anything, not even a Low-grade Spirit Insect. Who could have imagined that?

Therefore, Long Xuan strongly advised against provoking this giant creature.

If you spend ages expending all your energy, ending up injured, and finally manage to kill this giant creature, only to find that not a single hair has been splattered, you're bound to have a mental breakdown.

This is destined to be a losing proposition; going to fight it is definitely not worth it.

However, he couldn't reveal that he had the ability to see through explosives, so even though he wanted to warn him, he didn't know how to do it. After thinking for a long time without success, he could only helplessly follow along.

When he arrived, the Long Qilin was already engaged in battle with the Earth Bear. The Rogue Cultivator couldn't get involved in a fight of this level and could only watch from the sidelines.

At this moment, Long Xuan truly realized just how terrifying the power of the Long Qilin was. The Earth Bear was a colossal creature, standing four meters tall, yet the power of the Long Qilin was enough to shake this giant beast.

The Earth Bear swung its enormous paw, colliding head-on with the Long Qilin's fist. Surprisingly, the two were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand.

The Earth Bear was almost knocked down by the Long Qilin once, which enraged it, and it let out a deafening roar, becoming even more ferocious.

Every now and then, Earth Thorn would rise from the ground, but the Long Qilin seemed to know this move well, always managing to dodge it immediately and then continue its close-quarters combat with the Earth Bear.

To avoid accidentally injuring itself, the Earth Bear had no choice but to stop releasing Earth Thorn and engage in close combat with the Long Qilin.

Every time its massive body moved, the ground trembled, causing the earth to shake violently and dust to fly up, making Long Xuan's heart pound with fear.

Through this battle, he truly realized just how terrifying the power of humanity could be in this world.

However, he had already realized that although the Long Qilin and the Earth Bear seemed to be evenly matched in a head-on clash, if the battle continued to be a protracted war, he would definitely be the one to lose.

Being large has a huge advantage in a physical contest; the opponent not only has to withstand its strength, but also the inertia of its massive body.

The principle that greater mass results in greater inertia also applies to this world.

Therefore, the Long Qilin not only had to withstand the power of the Earth Bear, but also the impact of its four-meter-tall body, so its energy expenditure was naturally much higher than that of the Earth Bear.

Moreover, spirit beasts are inherently stronger than humans. If the Long Qilin continues fighting like this and there is no other way to break the deadlock, then the situation is already in danger.

The Long Qilin was not stupid; it clearly understood its own predicament and knew it could not afford to continue fighting a protracted war with the Earth Bear.

So he found an opportunity to create some distance and then used a different fighting style. He clasped his hands together, with his little finger, ring finger, and thumb touching, and his index and middle fingers raised. Instantly, huge hands formed from solidified earth rose from the ground and slammed heavily onto the Earth Bear.

The Earth Bear nimbly dodged, avoiding the blows of one giant hand after another. Each time a giant hand struck, the earth trembled, producing a deafening roar, and leaving enormous handprints on the ground, a truly horrifying sight.

Long Xuan was astonished by the sight of the battle. Such a massive commotion, such immense destructive power—was this the power of a Gu cultivator in the Marrow Cleansing Stage?

This giant hand rising from the ground is definitely a natural ability of a Gu Insect; no amount of spiritual magic could accomplish such an attack.

As expected of a genius Gu cultivator from a great clan, the strength of his Gu Insect far surpasses that of Rogue Cultivator. Is this the power of the unique Gu Insect of a great clan? Long Xuan thought in astonishment.

It was at this moment that the Earth Bear, caught off guard, was ambushed by a hand that suddenly reached out from under its feet, firmly grabbing its ankle and rendering it unable to move.

Having lost the ability to move, they could no longer evade the attacks of those giant hands.

One enormous hand after another fell, slamming heavily onto the Earth Bear and pinning it firmly to the ground.

As the Earth Bear was pinned down, the ground trembled violently, sending dust and gravel flying, obscuring the vision of the Rogue Cultivator. All they could hear were the deafening roars of the Earth Bear echoing through the dust.

However, the battle was not over yet.

While the Long Qilin's move was terrifying and dazzling to the eyes of the Rogue Cultivator, it had a fatal flaw.

That is, Gu cultivators need to remotely control this ability. Although they can move, they cannot use a second ability while maintaining the Earth Hand, otherwise the hand rising from the ground will disintegrate due to the interruption of spiritual power.

So the Earth Bear roared continuously in the dust, but the Long Qilin had no further means of attack, and the situation remained deadlocked for a time.

The Long Qilin creature cried out anxiously, "My Earth Hand didn't kill it; now it can only restrict its movement!"

"Those and beasts bound by the Earth Hand will have all their abilities sealed, and I too will be restricted, unable to use any of my abilities."

"Now we can only rely on you. Go and kill the Earth Bear quickly. Don't worry, it can no longer use Earth Thorn under the restriction of the Earth Hand!"

The group of Rogue Cultivator looked at each other, gritted their teeth, and ran towards the Earth Bear.

Since it has lost its ability to move and cannot use any of its abilities, there is nothing to be afraid of.

At this moment, the Earth Bear was like Sun Wukong being pressed under the Five Finger Mountain, with only its head sticking out of the mountain, while its entire body was pressed down, unable to even stretch out one arm.

Seeing this, the group of Rogue Cultivator felt even more at ease and took out their low-grade spiritual swords to slash at the Earth Bear's head.

However, their attacks were like scratching the Earth Bear; they couldn't even break its defenses after all that effort.

Although the Earth Bear's abilities were all restricted by the Earth Hand and it was unable to use them, it was now completely defenseless.

But thanks to its thick skin and tough flesh, it was still able to withstand all the attacks from Spirit Gathering Stage Rogue Cultivator.

Despite the Rogue Cultivator, they were unable to inflict any effective damage on it.

The Gu Insect released by Old Ma and Zhang Ling tore at the Earth Bear's face for a long time, but they failed to break through its defenses. Instead, the Earth Bear stretched out its tongue, rolled the worms into its mouth, and then chewed them up and swallowed them.

The old woman named Hanmei took out her silver needles and tried to pierce the Earth Bear's eyes. Eyes are undoubtedly the weak point of all creatures, but the bear closed its eyelids, and the silver needles, which were stuck in its eyelids, failed to penetrate.

Instead, it angered the bear. The Earth Bear roared, and a huge gust of wind blew out from its gaping maw, blowing the old woman away in one breath. She crashed heavily into a giant tree not far away and then fell heavily to the ground, suffering serious injuries.

Seeing this, Long Qilin almost vomited blood. He knew that Rogue Cultivator weak, but he didn't expect them to be so ridiculously weak. They were actually severely injured by a spirit beast in one breath. Was it really that exaggerated?

Ma Wu stayed hidden to the side of the Earth Bear, and was thus not blown away by the Earth Bear in one breath.

He wore a disdainful expression, inwardly sneering.

Long Qilin really overestimated the strength of this group of Rogue Cultivator. The Earth Bear is known for its thick hide and tough flesh; how could a group of Rogue Cultivator easily break through its defenses?

It's no exaggeration to say that the Earth Bear was just lying there sleeping, and no Rogue Cultivator could do anything to it. The Rogue Cultivator's attacks were like giving it a massage, which only made it sleep even more soundly.

"I'll do it!"

Long Xuan could no longer bear to watch and finally ran over.

They are all part of the same team; their fates are intertwined. If these Rogue Cultivator and the Long Qilin suffer excessive losses or even serious injuries, it will directly impact his future safety.

So at this point, he couldn't just stand by and watch; he had to find a way to deal with this Earth Bear as soon as possible.

Seeing Long Xuan rushing over, Ma Wu's disdain deepened. Among this group, he was the lowest in cultivation and the weakest in strength. What was he supposed to do? Was he here just to be blown away in one breath?

At this point, Long Qilin also had little hope for him.

Learning from Han Mei's experience, Long Xuan did not approach the Earth Bear head-on, but instead chose to go around it from the side and then stand at the Earth Bear's left temple.

As soon as he got close, Long Xuan could clearly feel the heat emanating from the Earth Bear's body, as well as its powerful, rapid heartbeat.

He was terrified. What a terrifying spirit beast! It could exert such power even without moving. He really didn't know how the Long Qilin had managed to fight this monster head-on.

He didn't have time to think further and looked at the Earth Bear's temple.

The temples are a minor weakness for all living beings. At this moment, the Earth Bear's temples throbbed, covered with blue veins, rising and falling with his heartbeat.

He slapped the prominent temple.

"Life-Urging Palm!"

At the same time, his left palm followed suit and fell.

"Life-Urging Palm!"

Long Xuan has always been overly cautious and extremely suspicious, to the point of being terminally ill and incurable. Fearing that the Earth Bear might be faking its death or not quite dead, he launched a barrage of attacks from both palms, one after another, without ceasing.

"Life-Urging Palm!"

"Life-Urging Palm!"

"Life-Urging Palm!"

Relying on his abundant spiritual power, he didn't know how many times he slapped the Earth Bear's head.

Only when the Earth Bear's heartbeat completely stopped did he carefully extend his hand under its nose.

Seeing that no hot breath was coming out, he finally relaxed his guard.

Then I slapped its nose again.

It was only at this moment that everyone belatedly realized that the Earth Bear was dead, dead without a sound. They didn't even know when or how it died, and were completely bewildered.

"How is this possible? How did he do that!" Seeing Long Xuan kill the Earth Bear so easily, Ma Wu's eyes widened in disbelief, and his gaze towards him gradually became serious.

Long Qilin glanced at him with a shocked look, and finally withdrew the power of the Earth Gu. The huge hand that had been pressing down on the Earth Bear instantly turned into a pile of dust and scattered in all directions, and a cloud of dust rose up in the air once again.

He plopped down on the ground, panting heavily.

Clearly, using that move had been extremely taxing on him; both his spiritual energy and physical strength were nearly depleted.

Fortunately, Long Xuan dealt with the Earth Bear; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The Long Qilin stared at the corpse of the Earth Bear with excitement in its eyes. Ignoring its own exhaustion, it rushed over to see what good loot had been dropped.

He couldn't wait to take out a high-grade sword-like Spirit Artifact, and then easily cut open the Earth Bear's chest, taking out the Spirit Core hidden in the center of its chest.

The location of the Spirit Core in a spirit beast varies; some are in the brain, while others are in the chest. The Spirit Core of the Earth Bear is generally located in the chest, and it is extremely large, like a basketball, shimmering with a faint light and radiating immense spiritual power.

However, when Long Qilin looked at the Spirit Core in his hand, he could no longer laugh. His expression froze completely, and he remained silent.

My mental state has completely collapsed...

Just as Long Xuan saw, although this Earth Bear's combat power was ridiculously strong, it was surprisingly empty inside, and it wouldn't explode when it died.

In other words, all their hard work and fighting for most of the day was for nothing.

Not only was she exhausted and overtaxed, but several Gu Insect also died, and Han Mei was injured. This was a huge loss.

"How could this happen! This shouldn't be!"

The rogue Rogue Cultivator looked at the Spirit Core that carried no Spirit Insect, and their expressions all turned grim.

The Earth Bear, with its terrifying combat power, took a great deal of effort to kill. Logically, even if it didn't drop Supreme-grade Spirit Insect, it should at least drop a High-grade Spirit Insect, right?

Surprisingly, not a single Low-grade Spirit Insect was found. Who could have predicted that?

This result was completely unexpected, leaving everyone so frustrated they felt like they were about to vomit blood, and everyone's mental state collapsed.

Only Long Xuan, who already knew the outcome, stood there calmly, as if it were all expected...

"Oh well! We were just unlucky; we've worked for nothing."

The Long Qilin sighed and said, "However, the Earth Bear's materials are worth some Spirit Stone. Let's divide them up; it'll make up for the loss."

"Furthermore, the meat of the Earth Bear is quite good. Let's replenish our strength before setting off again. Those with large Storage Bag can bring back more Earth Bear meat."

As soon as Long Qilin finished speaking, Long Xuan went straight for the Earth Bear's paw.

The most delicious part of a bear is naturally its paw. In my previous life, it was quite difficult to eat this dish, but today I'm finally in luck.

Despite their resentment, the others had no choice but to go and divide the animal parts and meat.

Ma Wu, however, was not in such a hurry. Instead of competing with the others, he got angry and set up a pot.

Long Xuan was suffering from severe paranoia and had been secretly observing Ma Wu from beginning to end.

As a poor and destitute rogue Rogue Cultivator, he was always greedy. His act of humility at this moment was completely out of character for a poor Rogue Cultivator, which further strengthened Long Xuan's suspicions about his identity.

While processing the meat, he secretly watched his movements with his Eye of Heavenly Secrets, preventing him from putting poison in the pot.

This seemingly overly cautious action inadvertently led him to discover a clue.

At this moment, Ma Wu actually took out a black incense burner, put it into the fire, and lit its contents. The incense burned along with the surrounding wood, releasing thick smoke.

"An incense burner? What's he going to do with an incense burner? Is that something you need to eat with boiled meat?"

Suspicious, Long Xuan used his Eye of Heavenly Secrets to magnify the fire, intending to see what was going on.

Upon seeing this, he was immediately terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat. His hair stood on end, and goosebumps rose on his skin.

It looks like there's thick smoke, and it's normal for a fire to produce smoke.

But hidden beneath the thick smoke were tiny, hideous insects.

It emerged from that incense burner along with the thick smoke.

The insects were so small they were difficult to see with the naked eye. They were spreading along with the thick smoke, flying towards the people who were dividing the animal parts.

"Holy shit!"

Long Xuan's expression changed drastically. He was so shocked that he stood up instantly and turned to run away.

After running quite a distance, he remembered to warn everyone, turning back and shouting, "Get away from the thick smoke! There are bugs in there!"

"What?"

The crowd was horrified. They dropped the meat, covered their mouths and noses, and ran away as fast as they could, as if they had grown four legs.

The Long Qilin, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground recovering its spiritual power, was also startled. It opened its eyes instantly. Although it hadn't yet realized what was happening, its survival instinct forced it to run away instinctively.

After everyone had run some distance, Old Daoist Li, his face ashen, turned back to Ma Wu and angrily cursed, "You little brat, you're too wicked! You actually put a curse into the thick smoke!"

"A beast in the Marrow Cleansing Stage is only worth a few Spirit Stone. Is it really worth it? To kill us all for such a tiny bit of profit, are you even human?"

Old Daoist Li was still shaken. He was the most skilled at using Gu poison, the most powerful Gu poison user in the market. However, even with his expertise, he had never heard of this particular Gu poison technique before and had almost fallen victim to it.

"Thank goodness for Long Xuan's reminder, otherwise it would have been a much bigger problem." The more Old Daoist Li thought about it, the more alarmed and angry he became.

The others also glared at Ma Wu with uncontrollable rage, waiting for him to give a reasonable explanation before they swarmed him and tore him apart.

Ma Wu glared at Long Xuan with a fierce look, cursing inwardly. It was him again! He had ruined his plans twice already!

How did he see through my poison technique? There's no way anyone in this area could know about this kind of poison technique.

But there was no time for him to think. He could only forcefully argue, "Don't make false accusations! When did I cast a spell? I'm right here in thick smoke, and I'm perfectly fine!"

"If you accuse me of using witchcraft, then produce evidence. You'll pay the price for slandering me!" Ma Wu pointed at Long Xuan's nose and cursed.

Upon hearing Ma Wu's explanation, everyone turned their attention to Long Xuan.

Of course, Long Xuan wouldn't reveal the abilities of the Eye of Heavenly Secrets to everyone, so he casually said, "There's no evidence. Believe it or not, it's up to you. If you believe him, feel free to walk into the thick smoke and try it."

However, even though Long Xuan couldn't produce any evidence to prove that the boy had used a curse, no one dared to go into the thick smoke at this point.

When it comes to matters concerning one's own life, it's always better to be safe than sorry. Life is only once, and we can't be careless.

Therefore, even if Long Xuan couldn't produce any evidence, no Rogue Cultivator dared to go over and risk their life.

Including the Long Qilin.

He glanced at Ma Wu, who was enveloped in thick smoke, then at Long Xuan. Although he didn't know who to believe, he dared not approach the smoke again. Anyone who dared to gamble on whether there was a curse in the smoke was a fool.

Seeing that no one came over, Ma Wu felt a surge of resentment. He knew that even if he had a way to argue his way out of it, they would never come over, and his plan had completely failed.

He hated Long Xuan to the core.

Since the plan had failed, there was no need for him to continue pretending. He shouted into the distance, "Plan failed, no need to hide anymore, let's launch a direct attack!"

As soon as he Rogue Cultivator speaking, nine people sprang out from the trees, bushes, and boulders around the group of cultivators, quickly closing in and surrounding them.

"Hahaha... Long Qilin! You're all alone!"

The red-clad man who spoke exuded a powerful aura of Early Marrow-Cleansing Stage, causing all the Rogue Cultivator to change their expressions.

"Long Qilin! Didn't expect that, did you! Although you escaped that calamity just now, you were severely exhausted after the great battle. How could you possibly be a match for my brother and me?"

A man with a similar appearance also exuded the aura of the Early Marrow-Cleansing Stage, impacting the group of Rogue Cultivator. Their expressions were extremely unpleasant.

This group of hostile people actually had two people in the Early Marrow-Cleansing Stage, and our side had just finished a battle that not only severely depleted our resources but also resulted in the loss of several Gu Insect. If a conflict were to break out between the two sides, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing more often than winning; it would be a certain defeat.

The more they thought about it, the heavier their hearts became.

Long Xuan sighed inwardly. Progress was everywhere in the forest; even a blade of grass on the ground had progress. The numbers were densely packed, making it too chaotic to see clearly. In addition, his attention was focused on Ma Wu, so he really didn't notice that there was someone behind the cover.

He couldn't help but look at Old Daoist Li and ask, "Is this what you meant by 100% safety? Is this what you meant by reliability?"

However, at this moment, Old Daoist Li was in no mood to talk about such things. His face was extremely grim as he said, "I'm afraid we're in big trouble. These people are Gu cultivators from the Feng Family. The Dragon and Phoenix families have always been sworn enemies."

"That Ma Wu is clearly a spy they planted. This was a premeditated assassination plotted against Long Qilin, and we unwittingly got caught up in it!"

"We've walked right into a trap by teaming up with Long Qilin! Now everyone, let's think about how to survive!"

Old Daoist Li's words cast a shadow over the hearts of the group of Rogue Cultivator, and despair gradually appeared in their eyes.

Even though they were extremely cautious, and even hired a skilled escort for absolute safety, accidents can happen at any time. The ship they boarded was not only unsafe, but also a dangerous one.

This is truly a disaster struck out of the blue; life is unpredictable. If fate wants you to die, no matter how careful you are or how well you prepare, it's useless.