48: Chapter 48 Encountering Tribulation, Void Slash, Flowing Clouds in Sight

Heading southeast, the mountains and rivers gradually became more beautiful, and the Spiritual Qi recovered slightly.

Ye Qing traveled unhurriedly, journeying by day and finding secluded spots at night to meditate and regulate his breathing. He consolidated his Foundation Establishment cultivation, studied the remaining fragments of the "Earth Pulse Spirit-Locking Formation," and deduced the "Void Step" and various Spells.

At noon on this day, he was flying over a stretch of rolling hills.

Below, the forests were lush, mountain streams trickled, the scenery was quite good, and the Spiritual Qi was slightly more abundant than before.

A few miles ahead, an isolated peak stood abruptly, shaped like a brush rest, which was very conspicuous.

Ye Qing scanned with his Divine Sense out of habit, about to fly straight over.

Suddenly, his brows furrowed slightly.

Halfway up the isolated peak, a seemingly ordinary patch of clouds and mist, under his Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense and Void Realm perception, faintly revealed a trace of discordant stagnation.

That mist... seemed a bit too "solid," and there were extremely faint traces of artificial manipulation in its circulation.

Was it an Illusion Formation? Or a concealment Formation?

He felt vigilant in his heart, his escape light shifted direction imperceptibly, intending to bypass the flank of the isolated peak.

Just at the moment he turned—

"Fellow Daoist, please stay a while!"

A long laugh came from the clouds and mist of the isolated peak.

Immediately after, the clouds and mist surged and parted to both sides. Three escape lights shot out, forming a 'pin' shape, blocking Ye Qing's path.

The leader was a middle-aged scholar wearing a brocade robe, clean-shaven, holding a folding fan. His cultivation was clearly at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. On the left was a burly, bald man with a ferocious face, carrying a giant ghost-head axe, also at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage. On the right was a short, thin old man with darting eyes, with seven or eight leather pouches of different colors hanging from his waist, also at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

The three men's auras were connected, faintly forming a Formation, sealing Ye Qing's path. The brocade-robed scholar smiled warmly, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's, scanning Ye Qing.

Ye Qing stopped his escape light, hovering in the air with a calm expression, and cupped his hands: "Fellow Daoists, you have blocked my path. What is your advice?"

"I wouldn't dare call it advice." The brocade-robed scholar snapped open his folding fan, fanning it gently, and laughed, "We brothers have set up a 'Guest-Greeting Pavilion' here, specifically waiting for passing Fellow Daoists. Seeing that you have an extraordinary bearing and pure escape light, we came to make friends, and by the way... borrow some Spirit Stones and treasures from you to quench our thirst for cultivation."

The words were polite, but the meaning was straightforward. Robbery.

Ye Qing understood. These three were obviously lying in ambush here, specifically picking on Cultivators who looked like lone travelers and whose cultivation was not too high. His displayed Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivation was exactly their target.

"Oh?" Ye Qing's expression remained unchanged, his gaze sweeping over the three of them, "I wonder how much you three want to borrow?"

A trace of surprise flashed in the brocade-robed scholar's eyes; he seemed not to have expected Ye Qing to be so calm. His smile did not fade: "Not much, not much. You just need to leave behind your Storage Magical Artifact, seal your own cultivation, and come with us to the mountain to be a guest for three days to show your sincerity. After three days, we will naturally send you off."

Leave behind all his belongings and seal his cultivation to follow them? That would be letting them slaughter him at will.

Ye Qing shook his head slowly: "Fellow Daoist, you are joking. I have nothing on me; I am afraid I will disappoint the three of you."

"Then there is nothing to talk about?" The bald man carrying the giant axe sneered, his voice like a bell, "Big Brother, why bother talking nonsense with him! He is just an Early Stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator. With the three of us brothers working together, it should be easy to capture him!"

The short old man also laughed insidiously: "Boy, be sensible. We 'Black Wind Three Tyrants' have been guarding here for half a month, and no one has dared to say 'no'. Seeing that you have reached Foundation Establishment at such a young age, you must have some Opportunity. Hand it over obediently, and perhaps we can leave your corpse intact."

Black Wind Three Tyrants? Ye Qing recalled briefly. He seemed to have seen this name in some miscellaneous notes. They were a notorious group of Cultivator bandits active in the southeast of the Cangyun Mountain Range, specializing in murder and looting. It was said that the three of them cooperated tacitly, were skilled in joint-attack Formations, and had even escaped from a Foundation Establishment Mid Stage Cultivator.

"If that is the case..." Ye Qing sighed softly, as if in regret.

Before his voice faded, his figure suddenly blurred!

He did not rush forward, nor did he flee backward, but without any warning, he took a step toward the position of the short old man on the front left!

"Void Step"!

The distance of eight zhang was reached in an instant! Only a faint afterimage remained in place!

"What?!" The short old man's pupils constricted. He had not expected the opponent's speed to be so bizarre. In his haste, he hurriedly clapped his hands on the leather pouches at his waist, and seven or eight poisonous smokes, flying needles, and poisonous sands of different colors came crashing toward Ye Qing!

At the same time, his figure retreated rapidly, and he shrieked, clearly calling for his companions' support.

The brocade-robed scholar and the bald man also changed their expressions. Amidst angry shouts, the folding fan swung several sharp wind blades, and the giant axe slashed down from the air with the momentum of splitting a mountain, sealing Ye Qing's left and right evasion space.

However, facing the poisonous objects and the attacks from both sides, Ye Qing did not dodge or evade.

He raised his right hand, pointing like a sword. At his fingertips, a point of Chaos-colored cultivation power, containing starlight points and with subtle spatial ripples at the edges, condensed suddenly.

"Slash."

With a low shout, he swiped forward gently with his fingertip.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling brilliance.

There was only a faint, almost transparent, subtle trace, as if space itself had been torn, extending from his fingertip. It silently penetrated the incoming poisonous smoke, flying needles, and poisonous sand, penetrated the several layers of spiritual light shields that the short old man had set up in his haste, penetrated his protective Spell, and finally, brushed gently across his neck.

Chi.

A sound so slight it was almost inaudible.

The short old man's rapidly retreating figure suddenly stiffened, his eyes full of unbelievable horror. He opened his mouth to say something, but only made a wheezing sound. A thin red line slowly appeared on his neck, and then blood sprayed out like a fountain!

The luster in his eyes faded rapidly, and his corpse fell powerlessly from the air.

All this happened in the blink of an eye.

From Ye Qing using "Void Step" to get close, to killing the short old man with one "Void Slash," it was only a blink of an eye.

The wind blades of the brocade-robed scholar and the giant axe of the bald man only just reached the place where Ye Qing had originally stood, but they only hit the air.

"Third Brother!"

"How is this possible?!"

The brocade-robed scholar and the bald man were furious, their eyes splitting. They had never expected that this seemingly ordinary Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator would have such bizarre and terrifying movement techniques and attacks! In one encounter, he had killed their tacitly cooperating Third Brother!

"The target is tough! Let's attack together! Avenge Third Brother!" The bald man roared, his muscles bulging, his veins popping, and his Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivation power was poured into the giant axe without reservation. The axe blade glowed with a stinging blood light, carrying a shrill sound of breaking through the air, and slashed horizontally at Ye Qing's waist again! The momentum was three times stronger than before!

The brocade-robed scholar also put away his folding fan, his expression as gloomy as water. He formed seals with both hands, chanting incantations. The cloud and mist on the isolated peak suddenly rolled and spread, turning into countless pale gray ropes, entangling Ye Qing from all directions. It was clearly a Formation for trapping and delaying the enemy.

Facing the combined attack of the two in anger, Ye Qing's expression remained calm.

His figure moved again, "Void Step" unfolded, and at the most critical moment, he passed through the gap between the giant axe's deadly sweep and the entanglement of the cloud and mist ropes, appearing ghost-like beside the bald man.

The big man roared, the giant axe whirled, powerful and heavy.

Ye Qing no longer fought hard. He pointed his fingertips repeatedly, and several condensed Chaos cultivation power bolts like invisible arrows shot precisely at several Spell operation nodes on the big man's body.

The big man swung the axe to parry, but Ye Qing's attack angle was tricky and the speed was extremely fast. In the end, two bolts of cultivation power hit his ribs and shoulders.

It was not a fatal wound, but it made the big man's blood surge and his cultivation power operation slightly stagnated.

Just at this moment of stagnation, Ye Qing held his left hand in a void grip, and a Chaos Spirit Shield that fused the Five Elements rotation and Void Realm force-unloading instantly condensed, blocking his side, just in time to resist a "Soul-Breaking Needle" that gathered 80% of the brocade-robed scholar's cultivation power from behind.

The Spirit Shield shook violently, the brilliance flowed, and the sinister power and Divine Soul impact of the "Soul-Breaking Needle" were completely dissolved and unloaded.

Ye Qing used the force to turn around, and his right index finger pointed out again.

This time, the cultivation power condensed at his fingertips was no longer transparent, but presented a Chaos color, with the Five Elements rotating inside, wind and thunder following, stars appearing, and Void Realm ripples rippling.

He pointed at the center of the brocade-robed scholar's brows.

The brocade-robed scholar's expression changed drastically, feeling the terrifying destructive aura contained in this finger and the bizarre Dao rhyme that seemed to be able to pierce through the Void Realm and ignore defense. He roared, sacrificed a palm-sized, glowing bronze ancient shield, blocked it in front of him, and retreated violently at the same time.

However, Ye Qing's finger was not a straight line.

A few inches before the fingertip touched the bronze ancient shield, it suddenly blurred, as if penetrating an invisible film. The next moment, it had already appeared three inches in front of the brocade-robed scholar's brow!

"Void Finger"!

Ignoring spatial distance, ignoring the ancient shield's defense, it pointed directly at his main body!

"No!!!"

Despair flashed in the brocade-robed scholar's eyes, and he only had time to tilt his head.

Chi.

The Chaos light at the fingertip sank into his right temple.

The brocade-robed scholar's body shook, and the luster in his eyes instantly solidified and dissipated. His brow was not directly hit, but that terrifying cultivation power containing Void Realm tearing, Five Elements Chaos, and star explosion had already invaded his Sea of Consciousness, instantly crushing his Divine Soul.

The corpse also fell softly.

"Big Brother!!!"

Seeing his two brothers die in the blink of an eye, the bald man was terrified, lost all Battle Intent, roared, turned around and fled, not even hesitating to burn his essence blood, and his escape speed soared.

How could Ye Qing let the tiger return to the mountain?

His figure did not move, he just pointed from a distance at the back of the big man fleeing, and pointed out again.

"Void Finger" had a longer distance and slightly reduced power, but it was enough to deal with a Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator who had lost his courage and was fleeing with scattered protective cultivation power.

A Chaos finger light arrived first, ignoring the distance of dozens of zhang, and sank into the big man's back.

The big man screamed, his protective spiritual light collapsed, a bowl-sized blood hole exploded in his chest, he stumbled a few steps, fell to the ground, twitched a few times, and then had no more sound.

From the beginning to the end of the battle, it was only ten breaths.

The Black Wind Three Tyrants were all dead.

Ye Qing stood in the air, his breath stable, only his face was slightly pale. Continuously casting "Void Step," "Void Slash," and "Void Finger" was a significant consumption of his Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivation power and Divine Sense.

He landed quickly and gathered the three corpses in one place.

First, he scanned with his Divine Sense to confirm there were no hidden backhands or tracking marks.

Then, he skillfully looted the corpses.

The brocade-robed scholar's Storage Ring had the largest space, containing thousands of Spirit Stones, various Medicinal Pills, Materials, Talismans, and several Cultivation Technique Jade Slips, among which one recorded the "Three Talents Black Wind Formation" that the three used, which had some reference value. That bronze ancient shield was a good top-tier defensive Magical Artifact.

The bald man's Storage Pouch mostly contained Body Refining Materials, Yao Beast flesh and blood, strong wine, and quite a few Spirit Stones. The giant axe was a fierce weapon.

The short old man's leather pouch contained all kinds of strange poisonous things, poisons, and methods for raising poisonous insects, which were not of high value but very niche.

Ye Qing sorted and collected the Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, Materials, Cultivation Technique Jade Slips, bronze ancient shield, giant axe, and other valuable items into his space. Those poisonous things and low-level sundries were directly absorbed by his space.

He burned the corpses with True Fire and scattered the ashes in the mountains and forests.

He also tried his best to clean up the traces of the battle.

After doing all this, he took a Medicinal Pill to restore his cultivation power and regulated his breathing for a while.

"The Black Wind Three Tyrants, with cultivation only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, relied on joint-attack Formations and a fierce reputation to run rampant for a while. Against ordinary Foundation Establishment Early Stage, or even Middle Stage, they might be able to cope. Unfortunately, they met me."

Ye Qing summarized secretly. The space-type Spells brought by the Void Dao Seed were really too bizarre and hard to guard against, especially combined with his solid cultivation power and combat awareness. Killing enemies across levels might not be easy, but among the same level, it was already hard to find an opponent.

"There are such Cultivator bandits near Liuyun City. It seems that the closer to the prosperous place, the more intense the overt and covert struggles are. Need to be more careful."

He looked toward the southeast, and under the skyline, he could already vaguely see a regular outline different from the mountains.

Liuyun City, not far away.

Collecting his mood, Ye Qing set up his escape light again and flew leisurely toward the direction of the outline.

Inside his body, the hundred-and-fifty-zhang cave heaven was quiet, and the newly obtained spoils had been stored in categories.

The Loose Cultivator path of the Foundation Establishment Cultivator Ye Qing, occasionally had ripples in the calm, but always moved forward steadily.