369: There is an ambush

Jiang Donghua stepped into the valley filled with cold Qi, his Soul Power acting like invisible tentacles, meticulously scanning every rock crevice and every clump of cold-resistant vegetation, searching for traces of the seven-colored moon orchid.

The cold Qi within this valley was indeed extraordinary; even an ordinary Dou Huang would likely find it difficult to stay here for long.

However, just after he had penetrated about a hundred zhang into the valley, his footsteps paused slightly.

Although his expression remained normal, he had already sensed that something was amiss in his heart.

Besides the bone-chilling cold, the surrounding air carried an extremely subtle murderous aura, along with several faint gazes filled with greed.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Sure enough, the moment he stopped moving, four figures flashed out like ghosts from behind the rocks on both sides of the valley and from the cluster of ice shards above, forming a loose encirclement around him.

These were four women dressed in identical light blue robes, all possessing decent looks, but their brows carried an indelible malevolent aura.

Their eyes first swept around cautiously, and after confirming that Jiang Donghua was alone, they simultaneously landed on the conspicuous Sixth-Rank Alchemist badge pinned to his chest.

The leading woman, who had a pleasant face but the most sinister eyes, curled her lips into a cold, disdainful smile and chuckled.

"Oh, didn't expect you to be a Sixth-Rank Alchemist? Kid, seeing as you achieved this at such a young age, you must have quite a few good things on you, right?"

"If you know what's good for you, hand over the medicinal ingredients you found in the Pill World, along with your storage ring! If we sisters are in a good mood, maybe we'll spare your little life!"

She spoke these threats to distract Jiang Donghua, but he didn't even need to turn his head.

His powerful Soul perception had already clearly sensed that while the four women appeared to draw attention, a figure with a much more hidden aura, whose strength had reached Eight-Star Dou Zong, was silently creeping along the ground like a poisonous snake from the shadows behind him!

This person possessed excellent stealth skills, moving as lightly as a feather, and held a poisoned short sword that shimmered with a dark blue cold light, clearly aiming for a fatal strike.

If it were an ordinary Sixth-Rank Alchemist, or even a Seventh-Rank Alchemist, they would likely be unable to escape this meticulously planned sneak attack.

However, just as the Eight-Star Dou Zong thought he had succeeded, the short sword about to pierce Jiang Donghua's back, a sudden change occurred!

A sudden change occurred!

"Bang!"

It was a muffled sound, not the noise of a blade piercing flesh, but rather the sound of hitting an invisible barrier!

Immediately following this, an unimaginably huge counter-shock force erupted with a speed faster than the attacker's thrust!

"Pffft!"

The Eight-Star Dou Zong attacker didn't even manage to let out a scream; his entire body was instantly smashed as if by an invisible giant hammer, his chest immediately caving in.

He spat out blood, flew backward, slammed heavily into the icy wall of the valley, and slid down limply, clearly not surviving.

A heavy scent of blood instantly permeated the cold air.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye!

The expressions on the faces of the four women, who had initially worn mocking smiles, instantly froze, replaced by boundless shock and terror!

They hadn't even clearly seen what happened; they only saw their strongest elder fly backward at a bizarre angle, dying on the spot!

Jiang Donghua slowly turned around, a half-smile curving his lips.

He calmly swept his gaze over the four women who were already terrified into a stupor, and asked lightly, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.

"You few insignificant cats and dogs dare to ambush me?"

He paused, his gaze suddenly sharpening, and an invisible sense of oppression enveloped the entire scene.

"Speak, which faction do you belong to?"

Jiang Donghua's calm yet infinitely authoritative question exploded in the ears of the four women like thunder!

How could they still bother to answer?

Having personally witnessed their Second Elder, an Eight-Star Dou Zong, being instantly killed by a counter-shock, even if they were foolish, they understood that this seemingly young Sixth-Rank Alchemist before them was definitely a terrifying existence beyond their imagination!

"Run!"

This was the only thought in the minds of the four people!

Without the slightest hesitation, they fled desperately in four different directions like startled rabbits!

They only regretted not having two more legs, pushing their movement speed to the limit, seeking only to escape far away from this harbinger of misfortune!

However, their figures had only traveled less than ten zhang.

"Buzz!"

An invisible yet vast, ocean-like power instantly enveloped the space within a hundred zhang!

The air in this area seemed to turn into the stickiest glue, and the space became as solid as an iron wall!

Spatial Lock!

The four women discovered in terror that no matter how they urged their Dou Qi, their bodies were bound as if by countless invisible chains, making it impossible to move forward even half an inch!

Even turning around became extremely difficult!

At this moment, boundless fear poured over their entire bodies like ice water!

To be able to casually unleash a Spatial Lock of such range and intensity—this was clearly a technique only a Dou Zun Expert could possess!

"Venerable... Venerable Master!"

"Senior, please spare our lives!"

"We were blind and offended the Venerable Master; we deserve ten thousand deaths! We beg the Venerable Master for mercy and ask him to spare our wretched lives!"

Pleas for mercy instantly rang out, their earlier arrogance completely gone, leaving only the primal fear of death.

The four were forcibly twisted around by the invisible spatial power to face Jiang Donghua, falling to their knees with thuds, kowtowing repeatedly.

The leading woman even raised her head, her eyes teary, forcing the most seductive and humble expression onto her face, and said with a trembling voice.

"Venerable Master! This humble servant is willing to serve you for life, as a slave, a maid, or even your concubine! I only beg the Master to spare my life!"

Feeling that her bargaining chip was insufficient, she quickly pointed at the cold corpse and continued.

"The one who attacked you just now was our Second Elder! It was all her greed that led this operation; we were also forced into it!"

However, deep within her lowered eyes, a flash of undetectable malice and resentment flickered, and she had already cursed Jiang Donghua ten million times in her heart.

"Damn him! How is he merely a Sixth-Rank Alchemist?!"

"This is clearly an old Dou Zun Expert who likes to hide his strength and act weak! He deliberately wore a Sixth-Rank robe to lure us in; he's too sinister! We've been thoroughly tricked this time; we hit a steel plate!"

Only now did they suddenly realize why the opponent was able to quickly see through the Soul illusion and why he dared to move freely alone in this dangerous Pill World.

Everything that seemed illogical became reasonable in the face of the words 'Dou Zun'.

Jiang Donghua looked down upon the four women kowtowing and begging for mercy, each with different thoughts, his eyes completely unmoved.

He had seen too many deathbed regrets and pleas for mercy.

"Now you know to beg for mercy? Unfortunately, it's too late."

He said this lightly, his tone calm, yet it sealed their fate.