149: Chapter 149 A Cautious Heart

Hiding in the shadows, Ye Jing felt those Cultivators turn their gazes back onto the defensive Formation, their spiritual power becoming more violent than before.

Clearly, they had become suspicious.

Hei Feng clung to the shadows, the horn on its head slightly hot; the Soul Extinguishing Deterrence Divine Ability already had limited effect on Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and forcibly shielding the Divine Sense just now had consumed much of its spiritual power.

At this moment, the ripples on the horn had faded somewhat, clearly making it difficult to sustain for long.

The Poisonous Variant Bees also sensed the crisis, their wings vibrating slightly and emitting a faint, nearly inaudible buzzing sound.

Seeing this group of Cultivators being so cautious, Ye Jing couldn't help but feel his heart tighten.

"Elder, surely not? Is there really a Cultivator hiding in this broken Mine Cave? Why do we have to insist on testing it like this? Isn't it a bit redundant?" The Female Cultivator frowned, clearly not understanding why her Elder was so intent on not letting this Cultivator go.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator sneered: "How is it redundant? If an unknown Cultivator is truly hiding here and happens to spy on the Sect's movements, the future trouble would be even greater!"

He immediately controlled his spiritual power and shouted: "Since you're hiding and refuse to come out, I'll break this Formation and find out! Killing a few Loose Cultivators won't take much time!"

Before his voice had even faded, the spiritual power in his palm transformed into a sword shadow, slashing toward the defensive Formation.

With a muffled "boom," layers of ripples appeared on the surface of the Formation, and cracks spread out like a spider web.

Seeing that this male Cultivator was determined to catch him, Ye Jing immediately pulled Hei Feng and the others into a stone crevice deep within the Mine Cave, suppressing his aura to the absolute limit.

The Poisonous Variant Bees crawled along the stone crevices to a high point, preparing to attack.

Ye Jing summoned the Poisonous Variant Bee Queen; when that Foundation Establishment Cultivator revealed his attack, Ye Jing was able to discern that the male Cultivator was only at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, and the Disciples around him were generally not strong.

With the current Poisonous Variant Bees and Hei Feng, the two Yao Beasts working together, they could give this Foundation Establishment Cultivator a hard time.

Since he insisted on attacking, then he couldn't be blamed for letting this Cultivator suffer a bit.

Hei Feng and the Poisonous Variant Bees were both Tier 1 Middle Stage Yao Beasts, but they had been nourished by the crimson blood fruit containing demonic power given by Ye Jing and had spent a long time breathing in spiritual power at the site of the Spiritual Vein.

Their strength already approached that of a Qi Refining Level 9 Cultivator. Combined with the Poisonous Variant Bees' ability to summon thousands of swarms, although they couldn't kill this Foundation Establishment Cultivator, it would be enough to give him a hard time.

The cracks in the Formation continued to spread frantically, and the Formation flickered like a dying candle, clearly unable to survive a second strike.

Seeing this, a hint of smugness flashed in the Foundation Establishment Cultivator's eyes as he once again condensed spiritual power in his palm, his Sword Intent even stronger than before.

"One more strike and this broken Formation will shatter!"

The Female Cultivator stood to the side to provide support; although she still felt it was making a fuss over nothing, she gripped the long sword at her waist and warily scanned the area around the Formation.

The other accompanying Disciples spread out, surrounding the entrance of the Mine Cave so tightly that not even water could leak through, waiting for the Formation to shatter before swarming in.

Inside the cave, Ye Jing's spiritual power condensed slightly as he gave Hei Feng a look.

Hei Feng understood, and the hot horn on its head suddenly lit up with a dim black light; even though most of its spiritual power was consumed, it could still activate the residual power of the Soul Extinguishing Deterrence.

It struck directly at the Foundation Establishment Cultivator's Divine Sense; this strike wasn't enough to severely injure a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but it could disrupt his mind for an instant.

Just as the Foundation Establishment Cultivator's spiritual power was about to finish condensing, his brow suddenly furrowed as a slight stinging pain came from his Sea of Consciousness. The sword shadow in his palm wavered, and its power instantly dissipated by thirty percent.

"Who is disturbing me!" he barked sharply, his Divine Sense sweeping frantically, yet because of Hei Feng's residual shielding effect, he could never grasp the aura in the shadows.

It was in this moment of weakness that Ye Jing shouted in a low voice: "Do it!"

In the stone cave, the Poisonous Variant Bees suddenly vibrated their wings, and thousands of bees dove down like a black torrent, the buzzing of their wings instantly turning from nearly inaudible to deafening.

The stingers of every Poisonous Variant Bee glinted with a ghostly green cold light as they pounced toward the accompanying Disciples.

Ye Jing specifically avoided the Foundation Establishment Cultivator, first cutting off his wings by targeting the others.

"Not good! Poisonous insects!" the accompanying Disciples cried out in alarm, hurriedly activating their spiritual power for protection.

However, most of them were at Qi Refining Level 3 or 4, and their spiritual power barriers were incredibly fragile.

The stingers of the Poisonous Variant Bees easily pierced through the barriers and sank into their flesh.

In just a breath's time, two Disciples became stiff all over, their faces turning blue-purple as they fell straight down, the toxicity clearly being shockingly intense.

The Female Cultivator was pale with fright, slashing with her sword, but she only managed to knock down a few bees and couldn't stop the swarm's offensive at all. Her arm was accidentally stung, and she immediately felt a wave of numbness and stinging pain spreading through her Meridians, forcing her to quickly circulate spiritual power to suppress the toxin.

Seeing this, the Foundation Establishment Cultivator was consumed with rage. He no longer cared about breaking the Formation and turned the sword shadow in his palm to sweep toward the swarm.

Powerful spiritual power instantly slaughtered hundreds of Poisonous Variant Bees, causing the swarm's offensive to pause.

But just as the Cultivator was about to press his advantage, Hei Feng had already lunged out from the stone cave, its form like a gale as it pounced close, its sharp claws and teeth carrying a foul wind as they tore toward his neck.

"Wretched beast!"

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator snorted coldly, sidestepping the claw strike and concentrating spiritual power in his sword to stab toward Hei Feng's chest.

Hei Feng was prepared, using the narrow terrain of the Mine Cave to dodge nimbly while the horn on its head continuously released faint black light, interfering with his attacks time and again.

Even the large Poisonous Variant Bee Queen was constantly curling up her body like an iron ball and smashing toward the Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

Back and forth it went, until the Foundation Establishment Cultivator was so entangled he found it difficult to escape.

He couldn't help but be greatly shocked; these Yao Beasts' attacks were orderly in their advance and retreat, so they must be controlled by someone.

Moreover, judging by their strength, they shouldn't be weaker than Tier 1 Late Stage Yao Beasts.

Below, Ye Jing was wrapped in a black robe, his fingertips pinching a Poisonous Stinger. It was a stinger shed by the Poisonous Variant Bee Queen as she grew, saturated with her most potent venom.

His gaze locked onto the Foundation Establishment Cultivator's back heart, and he moved his feet lightly, using the swarm and Hei Feng as cover to approach silently.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator was dealing with Hei Feng with all his might when he suddenly sensed a faint aura behind him. Startled, he was just about to turn around.

Hei Feng had already leaped up and bitten down hard on his right arm.

"Ah!"

"Elder!"

As the intense pain hit, his spiritual power stagnated. Ye Jing had already reached him, and the Poisonous Stinger in his hand was thrust without hesitation into the Meridians of his back heart.

"You dare!" The Foundation Establishment Cultivator's eyes nearly burst as he swung his hand back to strike Ye Jing.

Ye Jing was prepared and retreated rapidly, while simultaneously waving his hand to signal the swarm and Hei Feng to withdraw.

The poisonous bees instantly ceased their attack and followed Hei Feng to Ye Jing's side.

The Foundation Establishment Cultivator wanted to rush up and kill this freak, but because the Poisonous Stinger had already pierced into his heart Meridians, the venom spread instantly. He was forced to use his spiritual power to seal the flow around his heart, otherwise he would be severely injured.

"What kind of Cultivator are you! How dare you touch someone from the Lingxiao Sect!"

His eyes were full of unwillingness and malice. For a Foundation Establishment Cultivator to be beaten into such a pathetic state by a Qi Refining Loose Cultivator was a humiliating defeat.

Ye Jing stood where he was, his entire body covered so his appearance couldn't be seen; he wasn't afraid of this Foundation Establishment Cultivator's investigation.

He only said coldly: "You were the ones who wanted to search and kill me first. I've never heard of the Lingxiao Sect! Get lost back to where you came from!"

"You!" The Foundation Establishment Cultivator was furious, but this agitation caused the poison in his heart to deepen, the pain reaching his very bones.

This poison far exceeded what a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could imagine. He wasn't going to gain anything today; if he continued to stall, he might truly fall here.

He glared fiercely at Ye Jing, gritting his teeth as he barked: "The Lingxiao Sect will remember today's grudge. Let's go!"