Numb. They were completely numb.
The moment Qi Ping unleashed his full power, the trio's minds went blank. What were they seeing?
A Rank 2 Sun-Fire Crow! A formidable swarm of Rank 2 bees! And Qi Ping's own Foundation Establishment strength!
They had truly kicked a hornet's nest!
The heart of the elderly man called Uncle Seven sank. He cast a look of utter disappointment at the young man beside him. What a complete fool! He could see now that Qi Ping had originally intended to negotiate, but because of that idiot's single sentence, the possibility of a peaceful resolution had been erased! He was going to be the death of them all!
The young man stared at Qi Ping, his pupils trembling. He had never imagined Qi Ping possessed such strength. As someone who practiced beast-taming, he understood better than anyone what these pets signified.
They were doomed!
Especially that Sun-Fire Crow—it had likely awakened the Great Sun Physique. It was not something these two old men, who were not at their peak, could handle. At the same time, a surge of jealousy rose in his heart. Even he didn't have pets of this caliber! And the Stone Spirit should have been his!
In a split second, despair flooded their hearts. Qi Ping's pets were absurd enough, and now the Stone Spirit was on his side as well. More importantly, why did the Stone Spirit seem even stronger than before?
Regardless of their thoughts, the battle was unavoidable. The moment his companions were out, Qi Ping struck.
"Hundred-Eyed Illusion Realm!"
"Flameburst Body Method!"
"Flameburst Fireball!"
Qi Ping unleashed a relentless combo before the enemies could even raise their defenses. If he was to fight, he had to kill them as quickly as possible with minimal loss, especially since these three likely had backing.
He used his soul strength and illusion talent to catch them off guard. Under the Hundred-Eyed Illusion Realm, the Foundation Establishment cultivator Qi Ping targeted was instantly pulled into an illusion of nightmares and heart-devils. Intense terror appeared on his face, and his body began to tremble.
Taking advantage of this, Qi Ping blurred forward with the Flameburst Body Method. An enhanced Flameburst Fireball slammed directly into the man. With a deafening explosion, the cultivator took the full hit while undefended and was instantly crippled.
The intense pain and survival instinct finally snapped him out of the illusion. He looked at Qi Ping with terror; the man's combat power was far more terrifying than he had imagined! Unfortunately, he didn't even have the chance to beg for mercy. The Earth-Armor Bees swarmed him immediately. With a volley of Explosive Tail-Stingers, the man's exposed chest was blown apart. He died within moments.
Even before that man fell, the young cultivator had died. Surrounded by the battle array of Rank 2 Earth-Armor Bees, he and his Rank 1 pets were slaughtered in a heartbeat. The combination of Rank 2 bees and a battle formation was not something a Qi Refinement cultivator could withstand.
With two of them dead, only the Foundation Establishment cultivator being besieged by Ya Ya and the Stone Spirit remained. Seeing how fast his companions had died, despair was all that was left in his heart. He knew they had lost, but he couldn't believe they had died so quickly!
He had seen Qi Ping's combo—especially that soul technique. It was not something people of their level could block. Qi Ping had looked ordinary at first glance—an unremarkable face and a realm similar to theirs. But his full power was horrifying.
The True Meaning of Fire, the Dao-heart intent, the terrifying soul spells... such talent would make him a top-tier candidate even in their Profound Sky Beast Sect. But Qi Ping was more than that; his bees and crow were equally extraordinary. As someone from a beast-taming sect, he understood spiritual beasts well. He couldn't comprehend how one person could be so powerful in both personal combat and beast-taming. If this man joined their sect, he would surely be a core disciple!
But words were useless now. His only regret was being the guard for that fool. His hatred for Qi Ping was actually quite low; the man had been willing to negotiate, but that idiot had forced his hand.
"Ah!"
With a scream, the last cultivator was crippled by Ya Ya and the Stone Spirit. At the final moment, Qi Ping had the Earth-Armor Bees deliver the killing blow.
This was Qi Ping's current habit. Whenever possible, he had the bees finish the enemy and then sent those specific bees to hide in the wild for a while. After the kill, he swiftly handled the battlefield and the bodies. The corpses were carried away by Rank 1 Ink-Armor Bees.
He opened the storage bags using the method Meng Yan had taught him, extracted the valuables, and then split them into several caches for the bees to hide in different locations. He didn't have much else, but he had a surplus of storage bags from his time trading honey with Manager Gao.
Once finished, he and the little Stone Spirit quickly left the area. During their departure, Qi Ping erased the tracking imprints from the spirit's body. Only after covering a great distance did he finally exhale.
"Ding! Ding! (Where are we going? Is it safe here?)" The coal-like spirit asked from Qi Ping's shoulder.
"We're going to find someone first, then we'll head back to where I live."
Thinking about the history of the Stone Spirit race he had read about, Qi Ping couldn't help but sigh. Every Stone Spirit was a miracle of nature, born with extraordinary abilities. In ancient times, they were a prosperous and powerful race.
However, once cultivators discovered that Life-Bound Treasures forged from Stone Spirits possessed growth potential and unique powers, disaster struck. In a long-planned war, almost every famous Stone Spirit was captured. The strongest twenty thousand of their kind were refined into a legendary set of ten thousand and eight hundred swords for a massive sword array.
It was one of the most terrifying artifact sets in history, said to still be in the hands of an ancient Great Power. After the fall of the strongest spirits, the secret of their use as forging materials spread. The race was hunted to near extinction. In the modern cultivation world, they were almost impossible to find. If one appeared, it rarely escaped a cultivator's grasp. Even this little one, hiding in the mortal realm, had been dug out.
"Ding! Ding! (What are you thinking about?)" The little spirit asked curiously.
"Nothing. Just stay with me and don't worry. I know a safe place."
"Ding! Ding! (Yay! That's great!)"