Chapter 99: The Power of Plants
"Jia Qi, is that true?" Upon hearing this, Yi San asked excitedly.
Within the sect, Yi San had to address the other party as a deacon, but here, they only had codenames and could only refer to each other by them.
In these codenames, "Jia" represented Foundation Establishment cultivators, "Yi" stood for those at the peak of Qi Refinement, and "Bing" referred to late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators. There were no mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators in this operation.
"Are you doubting my spiritual sense?" Jia Qi glanced at Yi San.
"Not at all, of course, I trust you." Yi San quickly responded.
"Let's go. This battle won't be easy—the target has already joined up with their protector." Recalling the spiritual sense probe from earlier, Jia Qi gave a reminder.
Their target had previously annihilated Squad 13's entire Qi Refinement team and severely injured a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Regardless of what trump card the target had used, caution was always the best approach.
"What?!"
Yi San was taken aback. The target had already linked up with their protector? However, he quickly steadied himself. As a peak Qi Refinement cultivator, Yi San had confidence in his own strength—he was stronger than the one from Squad 13.
He wouldn't repeat their fate.
Locking onto their objective, the squad swiftly arrived outside the manor, where they encountered a barrier—the manor's protective formation.
At this moment, the formation was being controlled by Chu Feifei, a formation master, making it significantly stronger than when operating on its own.
"Hmph!"
The elder Foundation Establishment cultivator, Jia Qi, glanced at the formation and coldly snorted. A surge of spiritual power erupted from his body.
Boom!
With a single palm strike, the protective formation trembled violently, showing signs of cracking. The fact that it could withstand a Foundation Establishment cultivator's attack at all was its absolute limit—after all, it was only set up by a Qi Refinement family.
It wasn't that the manor's owner didn't want a stronger formation, but financial limitations made it impossible.
"The formation is broken!"
Inside the manor's spirit fields, Chu Feifei looked at the shattered jade talisman in her hand and let out a bitter laugh. She had done everything she could to mitigate the Foundation Establishment cultivator's attack, but the sheer force was too overwhelming. She had barely managed to block a single strike and had no power left to withstand another.
"No worries, the Nut Formation will hold them off." Gu Mo smiled.
Observing how the Foundation Establishment cultivator had attacked the formation, Gu Mo estimated that the opponent was only at early Foundation Establishment.
As long as they weren't dealing with a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, he wasn't worried about the Nut Formation being broken.
If only he had a little more preparation time—if he had managed to cultivate a few second-tier nuts, then even a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator would struggle to break through.
As they spoke, several figures rapidly closed in. The enemies quickly arrived outside the spirit fields. Seeing this, Gu Mo deactivated the potato mines outside the Nut Formation, planning to reactivate them once the enemies stepped fully into the danger zone.
"Target confirmed!"
Jia Qi's gaze landed on Yuan Niya. Her disguise was ineffective against a Foundation Establishment cultivator's perception. As for Gu Mo and Chu Feifei, they were just collateral—Yuan Niya, the fourth-ranked candidate in the True Disciple Trials, was the one they had to eliminate.
Yet Jia Qi didn't attack immediately. He had clearly sensed a spiritual probe earlier, meaning there was a Foundation Establishment protector nearby.
However, he now furrowed his brows—he couldn't locate the protector at all. The only explanations were that the protector's cultivation far surpassed his or that they had cultivated an exceptional concealment technique. Otherwise, it was impossible for them to leave no trace.
"Jia Qi, should we attack?" Yi San was growing anxious. Jia Qi had been scanning the surroundings instead of making a move, which was delaying them.
The longer they waited, the greater the risk of unexpected changes.
"You all take care of them—I'll keep an eye out for the protector." Jia Qi nodded. He understood they couldn't afford delays, but he also couldn't ignore the hidden threat.
Fortunately, dealing with two mid-stage and one early-stage Qi Refinement cultivator didn't require his personal intervention.
"Attack!"
At Yi San's command, the team charged toward Gu Mo's group in the spirit fields.
Seeing this, Gu Mo immediately activated the potato mines. Very soon, a late-stage Qi Refinement assassin stepped onto one.
Boom!
In an instant, the explosion left a three-meter-wide crater, and the late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator was obliterated—his body completely vaporized.
"What?!"
The sudden turn of events left the assassins in shock. Instinctively, they tried to distance themselves from the blast site—only to trigger more mines.
Boom!
Another explosion, another crater, and another late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator erased from existence.
"Nobody move!" Yi San bellowed.
His heart pounded with disbelief. Two late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators had been obliterated in mere moments—what terrifying power! If he hadn't witnessed it himself, he wouldn't have believed that such small, seemingly insignificant objects could have such devastating effects.
And he wasn't the only one shaken—Yuan Niya and Chu Feifei were equally wide-eyed. They hadn't expected the "potato-looking things" Gu Mo had buried to be this powerful.
Especially Yuan Niya—realizing that she had accidentally stepped on one earlier, she shivered. Fortunately, it hadn't gone off, or she would have been reduced to dust like the others.
"Watch your footing!" Yi San urgently warned.
He finally noticed the small, round-tipped sticks protruding from the ground. Testing one with a burst of spiritual energy, he saw no reaction.
"Hmm? It didn't explode?"
Gu Mo had deliberately deactivated that particular mine, leading Yi San to believe the others were fake as well.
"Jia Qi, could it be that only those two were real, and the rest are duds?" A late-stage Qi Refinement assassin speculated.
"It's possible." Yi San nodded. Their target had likely used similar explosive devices to wipe out Squad 13. Given how powerful they were, the supply must have been limited—those two mines were probably the last ones.
Boom!
Just as Yi San spoke, another explosion erupted. One of his subordinates, enraged by the idea of being deceived, had kicked a mine—only to be instantly obliterated.
"Damn it!"
Yi San's eyes turned bloodshot with fury. He wanted nothing more than to rip Gu Mo and the others to shreds.
"Fly on your swords—stay off the ground!" Yi San commanded, regaining his composure. It was a sound strategy; the mines couldn't harm them if they weren't touching the ground.
Indeed, this was a major weakness of the potato mines. They couldn't attack airborne targets.
But pea shooters could.
Watching the assassins take to the air, Gu Mo smirked. From the spirit fields, the pea shooters began firing bright green energy peas.
Bang!
One of the late-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, caught off guard, was struck and sent flying, vomiting blood. While the pea shooters weren't as deadly as the potato mines, they had the advantage of sustained attacks.
The second-tier pea shooter in particular packed a punch, with its attacks reaching peak Qi Refinement level. The other nine first-tier pea shooters, rooted in the high-quality spiritual field, could continuously launch attacks as well.
"What the hell are these things?!"
Yi San barely blocked a pea, his hand trembling from the impact. If not for his superior strength and defensive artifacts, he would have suffered more than a torn palm.
Boom!
Another explosion—this time, a fallen assassin landed on a potato mine and was instantly killed.
"Junior Brother Gu Mo, your goofy spirit plants are actually this powerful?" Yuan Niya marveled at the relentless pea shooters.
"Less admiration, more action—did you call for reinforcements?" Gu Mo shot her a glance.
"Yes!"
Yuan Nia nodded. She had already sent out a request for reinforcements, but the problem was that help would take time to arrive. Previously, she had worried that they wouldn't be able to hold out until then. Now, however, she felt a slight sense of confidence.
The reason it was only slight was because the Foundation Establishment enemy had yet to make a move. If he did, Yuan Nia wasn't sure whether Gu Mo's methods would be able to withstand it.
Her concerns quickly became reality. Before Yi San and the others could even get close to the enemy, they had already lost several people in succession. This left Jia Qi both furious and heartbroken—these were some of the sect's elite.
Although Yi San and his group weren't at the level of true disciples, they were still outstanding members of the sect. If they weren't, they wouldn't have been chosen for the mission to eliminate Qinglu Sect's true disciple candidates. Losing disciples of this caliber was no small loss.
Without further hesitation, Jia Qi circulated his spiritual energy and struck out with his palm. In an instant, a massive hand formed of spiritual energy descended toward Gu Mo and his two companions. This was clearly a powerful secret technique.
"Boom!"
However, before the spiritual energy hand could reach them, it was blocked by a glowing barrier a few meters away. The barrier trembled violently.
"Crack… crack… crack…!"
A series of nine cracking sounds followed—it was the nine spirit nuts, serving as the formation's foundation, that had absorbed the full force of the Foundation Establishment cultivator's attack.
Because the impact was shared among all nine nuts, the damage to each was minimal. At that moment, they were rapidly absorbing spiritual energy from the spirit field, quickly repairing themselves.
"How is this possible?!"
Jia Qi's face showed disbelief as he saw his secret technique being blocked. His gaze immediately shifted to Chu Feifei. Among the three, only she was a formation master, and since this formation wasn't deployed using a formation plate, Jia Qi naturally assumed that it was Chu Feifei who had set it up.
She was only at the fourth level of Qi Refinement, yet she had managed to create a formation capable of withstanding a Foundation Establishment attack? The intelligence report had stated that true disciple trials had to be completed alone—there had been no mention of two true disciple candidates working together.
Jia Qi immediately assumed that Chu Feifei was also a true disciple candidate of Qinglu Sect. If she could set up a formation that blocked a Foundation Establishment cultivator's attack while still at the Qi Refinement stage, how could she not be?
Encountering not one but two true disciple candidates at once stirred up intense emotions in Jia Qi. Killing geniuses of this caliber—two of them, no less—would earn a reward so generous that even a Foundation Establishment cultivator like him found it hard to remain calm.
Their sect was willing to pay a hefty price to eliminate Qinglu Sect's future elite forces.
Without hesitation, Jia Qi unleashed another secret technique, forming another spiritual energy hand to strike the defensive formation. The formation had managed to block his first attack, which was already impressive—but what about the second?
"Boom!"
Once again, the spiritual energy hand collided with the barrier. Just like before, the barrier trembled violently before stabilizing once more.
Then, another crack appeared on each of the nine spirit nuts, but the cracks rapidly healed before Jia Qi's eyes.
"This…!"
Jia Qi stared at the defensive formation in shock. It had withstood two of his attacks without breaking, and the barrier showed no signs of instability. This meant it could likely endure a third, a fourth, or even all of his attacks.
Realizing this, Jia Qi began to feel uneasy. If he couldn't break through this defensive formation, he wouldn't be able to harm the targets. And the longer this dragged on, the more likely Qinglu Sect's reinforcements would arrive, causing the mission to fail.
This was a mission involving two true disciple candidates. If they failed, not only would the generous reward be lost, but they might even face punishment.
With no other choice, Jia Qi decided to request reinforcements. Though it meant sharing the mission's rewards, that was still better than outright failure.
"Hmm, is he calling for reinforcements?"
Inside the nut formation, Gu Mo noticed the enemy's Foundation Establishment cultivator halt his attacks and instead take out a communication jade talisman. Seeing this, Gu Mo immediately understood that the enemy was calling for backup.
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