48: Chapter 48 Sorry, I'm going to "stock up" first!

"This should be it, the [Private Herb Garden] left behind by that third-tier Creator back then."

A smile curled the corners of Lin Yunfei's lips as he prepared to sneak in quietly, but suddenly his brows furrowed.

Deep within the canyon, waves of violent energy fluctuations and a deafening roar unexpectedly echoed out!

"Someone has beaten me to it?"

He immediately concealed his aura, resembling an agile night owl, and quietly felt his way inward against the rock wall.

When he reached the depths of the canyon and saw the scene ahead clearly, the expression beneath his mask instantly became extraordinarily colorful.

In the center of the canyon, a huge translucent defensive light barrier strikingly existed. Inside the light barrier, vast areas of vibrant spiritual fields could be faintly seen, and the rich medicinal fragrance could be smelled even across the formation, refreshing the heart and lungs.

On the outer periphery of the light barrier, three familiar figures were commanding their respective dependents, frantically bombing the crumbling formation.

They were precisely Lian Zhan, Zhang Hao, and Liu Ting, the three people who had formed the "Assault Team" on the outskirts of the wasteland earlier!

"These guys, is their luck actually this good?" Lin Yunfei clicked his tongue inwardly.

Without the guidance of the Starry Sky Ancient Tree, these three aristocratic prodigies had actually blundered into finding this herb garden hidden in the folded space, just like a blind cat running into a dead mouse!

At this moment, Lian Zhan's blood qi surged throughout his body, resembling an enraged wild lion. The dozens of heavy armor infantry dependents behind him were wielding giant hammers, smashing down onto the formation light barrier strike after strike.

Zhang Hao's mage dependents continuously released scorching fireballs, while Liu Ting's Frost Spirit assisted from the side, attempting to utilize the temperature difference of alternating ice and fire to destroy the structure of the formation.

"Everyone push harder! This formation has experienced tens of thousands of years of temporal erosion, and its energy is long close to depletion! It's about to break!"

Lian Zhan's eyes shone brightly, staring fixedly at the looming high-tier spiritual herbs inside the light barrier, greed making his saliva almost flow down.

"Brother Lian is right. As long as we take this herb garden, the resources for us to promote to second-tier Creators will be completely settled! This is the foundation left behind by an ancient divine kingdom!" Zhang Hao was also full of excitement, his hand wielding the staff trembling somewhat with excitement.

Lin Yunfei, hiding in the dark, rubbed his chin.

This formation had indeed reached the end of its tether. Judging by this posture, at most another half-incense stick of time would see it completely blasted apart.

"If I want to intercept the harvest, rushing out to snatch it by force right now would win, but it would inevitably waste quite a bit of effort."

Just as Lin Yunfei was calculating how to get his hands on this batch of spiritual herbs, the aged voice of the Starry Sky Ancient Tree resounded in his mind once again within his divine kingdom.

"Great Creator, please calm yourself for a moment."

"The defensive formation on the outer periphery of this Private Herb Garden was personally set up by the master back then, and its origin laws share the same lineage as mine."

"If you can buy me a little time, I can directly extend my roots into the void, pass through this layer of homologous formation barriers, uproot those high-tier spiritual herbs from underground, and quietly transfer them into your divine kingdom."

After hearing this, Lin Yunfei's eyes instantly lit up like two lightbulbs.

Good heavens, isn't this sending a pillow just as one feels sleepy?

"How long do you need?" Lin Yunfei quickly asked in his heart.

"This herb garden is quite large, and a few spiritual herbs have already gained sentience. In order not to destroy their medicinal properties, it will take about an incense stick of time," the ancient tree respectfully replied.

"An incense stick of time? That's enough. Go ahead and do it, leave the rest to me to handle."

Lin Yunfei made a prompt decision.

The next second, he directly leaped down from the rock wall where he was hiding, his figure heavily slamming down in front of the formation light barrier like a meteorite, kicking up dust all over the sky.

"Who is it?!"

The sudden change startled Lian Zhan and the other two, who were breaking the formation with all their might.

When the smoke and dust dissipated, a slender figure wearing a faceless mask and draped in a black windbreaker strikingly blocked the path between them and the herb garden.

"It's you?! That guy who has been wearing a mask and playing the ghost all along!"

"What? Aren't you guys from the Aristocratic Alliance supposed to go to the Central Hall to snatch the core origin? How did you run to this remote backcountry to dig up grass roots?"

Lin Yunfei crossed his arms, the voice beneath his mask leaking unmasked banter and mockery.

"Stop being so sarcastic here! Where this young master goes is not something a nobody like you gets to manage!"

Lian Zhan let out a cold snort and stepped forward, the violent power of blood qi surging wildly across the surface of his body. "While I haven't lost my temper yet, get lost quickly! We discovered this herb garden first!"

Zhang Hao and Liu Ting were also facing a formidable enemy, quietly commanding their dependents to seal off Lin Yunfei's retreat route.

"You discovered it first? What a joke."

Not only did Lin Yunfei not give way, but instead he took a step forward, emitting an aura of arrogance to the extreme all over his body.

"Opportunities above the wasteland have always been shared by those who see them, and occupied by the capable!"

"Today, I've taken a fancy to the things in this herb garden. I will give you two paths: first, I want eighty percent of the spiritual herbs in the herb garden, and the remaining twenty percent will serve as your hard-earned wages for breaking the formation; second, you all piss off immediately right now, and don't even think about taking away a single blade of grass!"

As soon as these words came out, the air inside the canyon seemed to freeze.

Zhang Hao widened his eyes, as if he had heard some colossal joke: "You want eighty percent? Have you lost your mind? Just relying on you alone, you dare to rob the three of us?!"

Liu Ting's face was also frost-covered: "Your Excellency is simply too arrogant! Don't think that because you killed a few low-tier monsters on the periphery, you have the qualification to bark in front of us!"

"Then there's nothing to talk about?"

Lin Yunfei sneered, and the void behind him instantly distorted.

Accompanied by a piercing chill and a suffocating heavy coercion, the Yushi draped in a water-blue robe quietly emerged.

He stood suspended in the air, his fingertips lifting slightly as a few drops of ink-black [xuanming heavy water] condensed into shape in mid-air, emitting terrifying fluctuations sufficient to freeze the soul.

Feeling the unfathomable aura on the Yushi, Lian Zhan's expression finally turned grave.

"Arrogant dog thing! Since you want to court death, this young master will grant your wish!"

Lian Zhan roared angrily, his entire person resembling a frantic tyrannosaurus rex, carrying the momentum of a thunderbolt and wielding heavy fists full of blood qi power, pressing straight toward Lin Yunfei's face.

"Boom!"

The Yushi expressionlessly blocked in front of Lin Yunfei, waving a single hand as a black water shield condensed from xuanming heavy water instantly took form.

Lian Zhan's punch, which was enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, smashed onto the water shield. Not only did it fail to shatter it, but instead he was shaken back repeatedly by the terrifying rebound force attached to the water shield, and a layer of black ice crystals even formed at his fist-edge, freezing him until he bared his teeth and grimaced.

"What a bizarre water-type law!" Lian Zhan was greatly alarmed inwardly.

"Zhang Hao, Liu Ting, forget about the formation, join forces to slaughter this kid first! We must never let him ruin our good deeds!"

For a time, supernatural abilities flew about wildly inside the canyon.

Scorching fireballs, freezing frost rays, and violent blood qi slashes poured down toward Lin Yunfei and the Yushi like a violent storm.

Moreover, Lin Yunfei's purpose was not to kill people at all, but to stall for time.

Therefore, he was not in a hurry to counterattack, merely commanding the Yushi to utilize the absolute defense of xuanming heavy water to stroll leisurely amidst the rain of bullets and shells, occasionally uttering words of mockery.

"Is this the strength of you aristocratic prodigies? Didn't you eat?"

Lin Yunfei's punchable tone angered Lian Zhan and the other three until smoke came out of their seven orifices, completely losing their reason, and they used almost every ounce of their strength to frantically vent their firepower.

Just when both sides were fighting "fiercely".

No one noticed that deep within the earth beneath their feet, countless tree roots emitting a star-blue radiance, resembling agile spiritual snakes, had quietly penetrated the underground barrier of the defensive formation and burrowed into the interior of the herb garden.

Inside the divine kingdom.

Lin Yunfei could clearly perceive that rare spiritual herbs emitting rich medicinal fragrances, with ages easily spanning hundreds or thousands of years, were being continuously transported along the roots of the Starry Sky Ancient Tree to the banks of his black lake.

"A five-hundred-year [Fire Phoenix Ginseng], good stuff!"

"A thousand-year [Geocentric Snow Lotus], this is supreme treasure for refining the physical body!"

"This is... a second-tier top-grade [Gathering Spirit Fruit]?! There is actually a huge patch of them!"

Looking at the various heavenly materials and earthly treasures rapidly piling up into small mountains inside the divine kingdom, the corners of Lin Yunfei's mouth beneath the mask were practically about to split to the back of his ears.

About an incense stick of time later.

The slightly fatigued yet unable-to-conceal-excitement voice of the Starry Sky Ancient Tree rang out in Lin Yunfei's mind.

"Great Creator, the herb garden has been completely cleared out, and I even conveniently dug away three feet of those valuable spiritual soils."

"Well done!"

Lin Yunfei praised inwardly.

Since the goods were already in hand, there was no need to continue playing this act.

Outside.

Lin Yunfei waved his hand abruptly, and the Yushi instantly released a huge black water pillar, forcibly repelling the combined strike of Lian Zhan and the other two.

Just as Lian Zhan and the other three stabilized their figures and prepared to launch a more violent next round of offensive,

Lin Yunfei suddenly put away the Yushi, and the murderous aura on his body instantly vanished without a trace.

"Stop!"

Lin Yunfei raised a hand, making a gesture for a truce.

Lian Zhan stared at him while panting, his eyes filled with vigilance: "What tricks do you want to play again?!"

Lin Yunfei patted the non-existent dust on his windbreaker, letting out a long sigh, his tone unexpectedly carrying a bit of "tolerance" and "helplessness".

"Forget it, forget it. Seeing that everyone is human, I don't want to push things too far either."

"And seeing how tired you guys are like dogs trying to break this formation, it's really not easy. This deity is in a good mood today, so I will show mercy and cede the opportunities in this herb garden to you."

"Don't thank me, I've always been a magnanimous person. You guys play slowly by yourselves, see you later."

Having said that, Lin Yunfei did not hesitate in the slightest. His figure transformed into a black flash of lightning, and with a few bounds, he disappeared into the mist above the canyon, his actions crisp and neat to the extreme.

Leaving only Lian Zhan, Zhang Hao, and Liu Ting staring at each other blankly in the wind.

"This... just left?" Zhang Hao was stunned, forgetting even to lower the staff he held suspended in mid-air.

"Hmph! Putting on a front!" Lian Zhan gritted his teeth and spat a mouthful of saliva. "He probably knew he couldn't beat the three of us combined and deliberately found a step down for himself! What a coward!"

Liu Ting also let out a cold snort: "Consider him fast-running, otherwise I would definitely make him look good. Brother Lian, forget about that lunatic, the formation can't hold out much longer, let's hurry up and break the formation to take the treasure!"

"Right, right, right! Important business comes first!"

Lian Zhan rallied his spirits again, and intense yearning for the treasures reignited in his eyes once more!

"Everyone, give me every last ounce of strength you have! Blast it apart..."