22: Chapter 22 Stealing Food

[ You restrained all your auras and hid in the mountain forest under the twilight like a stubborn stone. ]

[ The mist near the lake had thinned out a lot, and many figures could be faintly seen. ]

[ "Could there really be a spiritual artifact?" ]

[ You always felt something was wrong, yet you coveted these people's storage bags immensely. ]

[ Even after practicing dual cultivation with Lin Bufan multiple times using secret techniques, your spiritual roots still hadn't achieved a substantive breakthrough. The cultivation speed of the lower-grade triple spiritual roots was simply too slow, and you needed a massive amount of resources to break through your realm. ]

[ Thinking of that blood jade again, you decided to take a risk, at worst treating everyone to a great equalizer. ]

[ Time passed bit by bit, until you were starting to feel a bit drowsy. ]

[ "Clang!" ]

[ The sound of a long sword being unsheathed broke the silent atmosphere. ]

[ "Senior Brother Feng has made a move!" ]

[ Someone cried out in alarm, and then, as if receiving some kind of signal, the sounds of sword hums rang out one after another. ]

[ You raised your eyes and looked, only to see a streak of golden light charging straight toward the center of the lake, yet instead of diving down to search for that spiritual artifact, it slashed a sword down toward the water. ]

[ The sharp golden sword Qi instantly broke open the lake surface, pointing directly at the source where the silver spiritual light was spreading. ]

[ "What is he doing?" ]

[ Just as the crowd was filled with shock and uncertainty, a roar filled with monstrous killing intent tore through the night sky. ]

[ "Roar!!!" ]

[ A demonic beast! ]

[ The next instant, a colossal shadow broke out of the water, a pair of blood-red eyes locked tightly onto the figure in mid-air. ]

[ Taking advantage of the moonlight, everyone saw the true appearance of that giant figure clearly. ]

[ Its shape was like a crocodile, its back covered in silver bone armor, and its thick tail ridge covered with barbs. Its eyes were as red as blood, and it was shrouded in chilling water vapor, with silver spiritual light faintly flowing between the gaps of its scales. ]

[ "Foundation... Foundation Establishment demonic beast, Silver-armored Qiu Crocodile!" ]

[ The ferocious aura hitting their faces woke many people up. ]

[ Where was there any sign of a spiritual artifact being born here? ]

[ "What are you panicking about? Form the sword array!" ]

[ Feng Yuan's figure descended, slowly landing on the lake surface. He was not a Foundation Establishment cultivator; earlier, he had only used his spiritual power to suspend himself in the air temporarily. ]

[ But his sword could break defense! ]

[ Looking at the bright red smudge on the Qiu Crocodile's scales, Feng Yuan's hand holding the sword trembled slightly—not out of fear, but out of excitement. ]

[ As expected of a Foundation Establishment demonic beast! His long-accumulated strike had only inflicted a minor injury on it. ]

[ But since he could break its defense, he could fight! Awesome! ]

[ Hearing his words, the crowd who had originally prepared to run away stopped in their tracks under a sudden impulse. Looking at the scene in the center of the lake where Sword Intent soared into the sky, a surge of hot blood rushed straight to their heads. ]

[ "With Senior Brother Feng Yuan holding the fort, what do we have to fear?" ]

[ "Exactly, take it down!" ]

[ "Form the array!" ]

[ The array they spoke of was created by the first sect master of the Tianxuan Sword Sect, and its name was very simple—《Lei Jian》 ]

[ As long as there were three or more cultivators practicing the Xuantian Sword Scripture, the array could be formed, with almost no upper limit to the number of people, infinitely gathering Sword Intent of the same source. ]

[ No! ]

[ Looking at the demonic beast that had stood quietly without moving ever since its appearance, despite its monstrous killing intent, the warning signs in your heart climbed to their peak. ]

[ You always felt a trace of incongruity. ]

[ The sound of swords humming merged into one in the arena, and countless streaks of Sword Intent gathered around Feng Yuan. The golden sword in his hand hummed and trembled, its momentum climbing step by step. ]

[ "Hahaha!" ]

[ Until a certain critical point, Feng Yuan laughed out loud three times, and a spiritual energy giant sword over ten zhang in size formed instantly, slashing down fiercely at the demonic beast's head. ]

[ "Prepare to die!" ]

[ "Roar!!!" ]

[ As if the pause button had been pressed, the Silver-armored Qiu Crocodile suddenly moved at this moment. ]

[ The ferocious light in its eyes surged drastically, staring at that giant sword Qi. A flash of humanized disdain actually swept across its eyes, and then it swung its tail to smash into it without the slightest hesitation. ]

[ "Bang!" ]

[ After a crisp sound, that mighty giant sword actually shattered like ice crystals, spiritual light splashing everywhere before collapsing into nothingness in an instant. ]

[ It was actually this... vulnerable?! ]

[ "Foundation Establishment... late stage!!!" ]

[ Feng Yuan spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, the spiritual light around his body shattering inch by inch. His gaze locked tightly onto the wound on the demonic beast's body. ]

[ Only then did he realize in shock that it was not a sword wound at all. ]

[ They had been set up! ]

[ The next moment, everything went black before his eyes, and he cleanly toppled into the lake. The Tianxuan Sword Sect disciples by the lakeside collapsed in a heap, leaving only a sparse few curling up on the ground and wailing. ]

[ Taking a head-on strike from a late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic beast and not dying was already a blessing from the Heavenly Dao. ]

[ Splendid, splendid, splendid! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! ]

[ You almost clapped in applause, no longer hiding your figure as you walked openly toward the lake surface. ]

[ "Tap, tap, tap~" ]

[ Your footsteps were exceptionally clear in the suddenly quiet battlefield, and several gazes, including that terrifying Tier 2 late-stage demonic beast, fell upon you. ]

[ "Hehehe~ Why are you all looking at this concubine like that?" ]

[ You pushed your acting skills to the limit, trying your best to break away from your previous persona of a gentle, resilient, innocent white lotus. ]

[ Because you knew clearly that in this secret realm, the only ones capable of directing such a grand play were Lin Bufan and his old, crafty master. ]

[ But now that it was time to harvest the fruits, you couldn't wait any longer. ]

[ Furthermore, that brat was your dao companion; as his weak and helpless little wife, taking a few spoils of war isn't too much, right? ]

[ Lin Bufan, who was just about to step out from the shadows, paused his footsteps, his gaze falling upon you in shock and suspicion. ]

[ "Master?" ]

[ "I can't see through her cultivation, and the aura of her cultivation technique... looks a bit like the Hehuan Sect?" ]

[ Hearing his teacher's words, Lin Bufan didn't know what to do for a moment. ]

[ "Don't worry, that demonic beast will help us test her depth." ]

[ "Roar!" ]

[ Sure enough, lacking the suppression of the old man's aura, the Silver-armored Qiu Crocodile let out an angry roar and charged straight toward you. ]

[ The corners of your lips curled up slightly, and a piece of blood jade appeared in front of you. The terrifying aura of the Nascent Soul stage spread out unreservedly across this lake. ]

[ "Roar~! Sob..." ]

[ Upon feeling the aura emanating from that piece of blood jade, the demonic beast's limbs instantly turned limp as it prostrated itself on the ground, daring only to emit low, submissive whimpers. ]

[ You let out a soft chuckle and began nimbly collecting the storage bags while carrying the blood jade. ]

[ "Holy shit!" ]

[ Lin Bufan let out an exclamation, his eyes widening to their maximum. ]

[ But seeing that Hehuan Sect enchantress start collecting the spoils that should have belonged to him, he couldn't sit still anymore. ]

[ "Master?!" ]

[ "Mn..." ]

[ The Ring Old Man fell silent for a few seconds before speaking: ]

[ "The blood jade on that female cultivator should be a protective secret treasure refined by a Nascent Soul cultivator, capable of erupting with a full-strength strike comparable to an early Nascent Soul cultivator. However, in this secret realm, if a Nascent Soul-level collision were to truly erupt, the Nascent Soul-stage guardian at the entrance would probably descend in person." ]

[ "Are we just going to let it go like that?" ]

[ Hearing this, Lin Bufan calmed down a lot, but he still felt unreconciled. ]

[ This kind of stealing fruits of victory was always something he did; he never expected that today he would be the one being plotted against. ]

[ "Who said we're letting it go like that?" ]

[ The Ring Old Man whispered a few words in his ear, and Lin Bufan's eyes slowly lit up. ]

[ On your side, as you were picking things up with great joy, a terrifying aura suddenly rapidly approached from not far away. ]

[ Your heart tightened, and your movements sped up a bit. ]

[ Seeing that you completely ignored him and were still collecting storage bags, Lin Bufan, wrapped in a black robe, twitched the corner of his eye slightly, but still spoke politely: ]

[ "Ahem~ Fellow Daoist?" ]

[ "Hm?" ]

[ The corners of your eyes lifted slightly, but your hands still didn't stop moving. ]

[ Lin Bufan waved his hand to stun the last few cultivators who were still wailing, and spoke: ]

[ "This setup was arranged by yours truly. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to collect the spoils of war like this?" ]

[ "I'm sorry." ]

[ You apologized decisively, but your looting speed became even faster. ]

[ Lin Bufan froze in place. This wasn't right, was it? ]

[ "Stupid disciple, she doesn't want to fight you! Don't just stand there, hurry up and snatch them!" ]

[ Hearing his teacher's words, Lin Bufan snapped out of it as if waking from a dream. Looking at the enchanting woman bustling about in the arena, no trace of romantic desire could rise in his heart. ]

[ He had never seen such a shameless woman—she wasn't even a fraction as good as his Qingyu! ]