Published: March 3, 2025
Chapter 401: Cleaning Up the Aftermath
However, for a loose cultivator to reach the foundation establishment stage, being cautious and prudent is the most basic trait.
Even at this point, with valuable spiritual herbs right in front of them, they wouldn't let down their guard.
Therefore, although Cao Yuanwu and the others had the advantage of surprise, they did not achieve immediate success with their attack.
“Ding ding,” “Bang!”
The Trident Spiritual Artifact was blocked by a red shield. Although they had the upper hand, they couldn't resolve the target in the first instance.
The late-stage foundation establishment cultivator ambushed by Cao Yuanwu was a gaunt old man, appearing to be in his seventies or eighties, known as the Qingxi Loose Cultivator.
If one disregarded his previous slaughter of the White Cloud Temple cultivators, he could be considered to have an immortal aura.
This person seemed to have anticipated the attack, as he had already summoned his defensive magical artifact almost simultaneously with the Trident Spiritual Artifact changing direction.
However, the other individual's experience was not as rich; although he did not die on the spot, he sustained significant injuries.
His strength was inevitably affected, and he could only exert about seventy percent of his original power at most.
The attacker was not greedy for success; upon realizing that a single strike didn't succeed, he immediately retreated to avoid being surrounded, guarding near Cao Yuanwu.
At the same time, the attack on the spiritual herb garden array by the magical and spiritual artifacts instantly halted, as the loose cultivators recalled their items.
“Ding!”
Seeing that they couldn't break through the red shield's defense in a short time, after landing another heavy slash, the Trident Spiritual Artifact was summoned back by Cao Yuanwu, temporarily ceasing the attack.
Next to the green protective shield guarding the spiritual farmland, two groups of cultivators were engaged in a silent standoff, the atmosphere extremely oppressive.
One side consisted of four of Cao Yuanwu’s group: two late-stage foundation establishment cultivators, one peak foundation establishment cultivator, and one early-stage foundation establishment cultivator.
The other side included the Qingxi Loose Cultivator, Ye Menghua, and six others, including Liu Yu.
Though they had more people, their cultivations were significantly inferior, with the strongest only at the late-stage foundation establishment, and one person seriously injured.
From the situation, it was undoubtedly very unfavorable for the Qingxi Loose Cultivator.
“Cao Daoist, you truly make careful calculations!”
“The old man has taken countless calculations into account, but I didn’t expect Friend Wu to be one of yours.”
After about four or five breaths, the Qingxi Daoist spoke first.
Though he was ambushed, his tone was calm, and there was no anger on his wrinkled face.
As the saying goes, the older one gets, the more cunning they become; having experienced many hardships, he had learned to conceal his emotions.
“Friend Qingxi is overpraising me.”
“As the saying goes, the art of war is deception.”
“I am merely applying a small trick; it truly does not deserve any praise.”
With victory in hand, Cao Yuanwu laughed heartily.
However, he did not let down his guard in the slightest; until the last moment, it was uncertain who would be the victor.
“Are you determined, Daoist, to monopolize this spiritual herb garden?”
Sensing the danger he was in, the wrinkles on the Qingxi Loose Cultivator's face deepened as he furrowed his brows and asked.
Without mentioning their surface conversation, he had already used divine sense sound transmission to connect with Ye Menghua and the other foundation establishment cultivators.
The gist was that the enemy was strong, and they were weak, so they needed to unite to have a glimmer of hope.
As a loose cultivator without backing, those who could reach the foundation establishment stage were certainly not fools; they had already seen the situation clearly and agreed to join forces to resist.