377: Chapter 377 Such a crude ambush, you think you can deal with me?

Ye Tian raised his left hand, and facing the man's retreating back, he made a grasping motion in the air.

A giant hand condensed from Chaos True Essence appeared out of thin air, grabbing the man who had leaped into mid-air and slamming him ruthlessly onto the steps!

Thud!

The man was thrown into a daze, his internal organs shifted out of place, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

Ye Tian walked over and stepped on his chest, applying a bit of pressure.

“Argh!” The man let out a pig-slaughtering scream, feeling as if his sternum was about to shatter.

“Speak. Where is Nangong Xiao? Besides you all, how many others are there?” Ye Tian's voice was calm, but the force beneath his foot was gradually increasing.

“Up... up on the seventh layer, there is a ‘Misty Corridor’.

He and Qian... Qian Buduo set a trap, waiting to am... ambush the people from your Liuli Xuan Sect!”

The man's eyes rolled back from the pain, and he dared not hide anything, stammering it all out. “There’s... there’s also a team near... near the eighth layer waiting to provide backup.”

“Qian Buduo? That profiteer?” Ye Tian raised an eyebrow. “He’s involved in this too?”

“He... he provided the money, and the Nangong Family provided the people, saying they... they wanted to ensure you wouldn't reach the summit.” After the man finished speaking, his breath grew even weaker.

Ye Tian added another fraction of force with his foot, directly shattering several of the man's major Meridians and crippling his cultivation. He then kicked him aside like a dead dog to join his five subordinates.

Having done this, he turned to look at his dumbfounded Sect mates.

“Is everyone alright?” Ye Tian walked over, took several bottles of high-quality healing Medicinal Pills from his qingxuan ring, and distributed them to everyone.

He had refined these himself, and combined with those he had exchanged for at the Medicine King Valley, the effects were much better than the typical ones issued by the Sect.

“We’re... we’re fine. Junior Brother Ye, you...” Pei Tieshan took the pills, looked at the Red Hand Hall assassins lying all over the ground, and after his throat bobbed, he managed to squeeze out, “You’re just too fierce!”

Feng Xuan took the pill, and his complexion improved slightly as he smiled bitterly. “Junior Brother Ye, if it weren't for you this time, I'm afraid we would have fallen here.

The illusions and pressure of the sixth layer were already difficult enough to deal with, and then we were ambushed by them...”

“We’re fellow brothers, why mention that?” Ye Tian waved his hand and looked at Dongfang Xinghe. “Senior Brother Dongfang’s injuries are the heaviest; they must be treated immediately.”

Dongfang Xinghe coughed twice and grinned. Although he was grimacing in pain, his eyes were bright. “I won't die. After I go back, I... cough, cough, I still have Formation diagrams waiting for me to study!”

Ye Tian was speechless upon hearing this. What time was it, and he was still thinking about those matters? He was truly a research maniac!

“You’d better stop talking for now.” Ye Tian knelt down to check his wounds, using his True Essence to help stabilize the injuries and then applying medicinal ointment.

“Junior Brother Ye, that guy said just now that Nangong Xiao and Qian Buduo set a trap up ahead.” Yu Miaoqing had recovered somewhat, her face filled with worry. “And there are backup people. Should we...”

“Of course we’re going up.” Ye Tian’s gaze turned cold. “Don’t they want to ambush us? Then let’s see who ends up ambushing whom.”

“Junior Brother Ye, are you sure? They have many people and are prepared.” Feng Xuan was more cautious.

“Don’t worry, Senior Brother Feng.” Ye Tian stood up and looked at the mist-shrouded steps above. “Soldiers will be blocked by generals, and water will be covered by earth. They think they can take us down just by setting a trap? They’re dreaming.”

He looked at his Sect mates' injuries. “You all should first meditate and heal here to recover. I’ll go up and scout the path. Once you’re feeling better, we’ll go up together. Don’t worry, I won’t act rashly.”

Knowing that Ye Tian acted with discretion, everyone nodded in agreement.

Ye Tian settled his Sect mates, then searched the bodies of the Red Hand Hall assassins. He found some useful items and several transmission Talismans, which he destroyed casually.

Then, his figure flickered as he continued upward, his silhouette quickly vanishing into the mist above the sixth layer.

Nangong Xiao, Qian Buduo... since you want to play, I’ll play with you properly.

The seventh layer, the ‘Misty Corridor’, right?

Let’s see if your trap is tougher or my sword is sharper.

Leaving Pei Tieshan and the others, Ye Tian continued his ascent.

The path from the sixth layer to the seventh was significantly more difficult than before.

The pressure was as heavy as carrying a small mountain, and the illusions were even more annoying. One moment it was his mother's blurred face, the next it was the mockery of those old fools from the Ye Family; all sorts of chaotic voices buzzed in his head.

Had it been someone else, they probably would have become irritable and had their True Essence fall into disarray after just a few steps.

Ye Tian, however, acted as if nothing were wrong. The Illusory Sea Heart Sutra operated silently, and his Divine Soul was as steady as a rock. Those noises and illusions couldn't shake his mind in the slightest.

As he walked, he pondered the words of the man from earlier.

“The seventh layer, the ‘Misty Corridor’... Nangong Xiao and Qian Buduo set a trap for me?”

Ye Tian sneered in his heart.

That grandson Nangong Xiao actually joined forces with that money-grubbing Qian Buduo to block him on this ancient path. He truly didn't know the meaning of death!

As for Qian Buduo, a scion of a merchant guild, instead of doing business properly, he came to the Secret Realm to get involved in this killing. It seemed either the price offered by the Nangong Family was high enough, or he had other motives?

“A trap... it’s nothing more than Formations, ambushes, or utilizing the illusions and terrain of the ancient path itself.” Ye Tian mused.

His Divine Soul perception was acute; ordinary traps posed no threat to him.

“There are also people providing backup near the eighth layer... It seems the Nangong Family has invested heavily this time, determined to kill me in this Secret Realm.” Ye Tian’s gaze grew a few degrees colder.

Even a clay man has a bit of temper. After being plotted against so many times, did they really think Ye Tian was a soft persimmon?

Since you’re looking for death, don’t blame me.

This Ancient Path to Heaven was indeed a good place to ‘solve’ problems.

Calculating in his mind, his feet didn't stop.

After walking for about another hour, the scene before him changed.

The mist thinned slightly, but visibility was still very low.

The steps that originally went straight up turned into a circular upward slope here, spiraling around the mountain.

The slope was very wide, enough for seven or eight people to walk side-by-side. The road surface was no longer stone slabs but bumpy natural rock.

The cliffs on both sides were gone, replaced by rough, porous rock walls.

Cold wind howled out from those holes, mixed with mist that could delude one's mind.

This was the ‘Misty Corridor’. With its complex terrain and poor visibility, it was indeed an excellent spot for an ambush or a backstab.

Ye Tian stopped and spread out his spiritual sense.

Although interfered with by the mist and the chaotic energy field here, compressing his spiritual sense range to only about thirty zhang, it was barely enough.

Very quickly, he discovered something was wrong.

About twenty zhang ahead, inside several inconspicuous holes in the left rock wall, three people were hiding. Their auras were well-concealed, but their breathing and heartbeats couldn't escape Ye Tian's perception.

Two at the True Martial Tenth Level, and one at the Sea Transformation First Layer Early Stage.

Behind a protruding large rock to the front right, two more people were crouching, also at the True Martial Tenth Level, clutching Talismans in their hands.

Further away, where the corridor turned, there were faint fluctuations of a Formation, likely a trapping or killing Formation.

And in the middle of the corridor, at a slightly wider spot that looked like a small platform, two figures were standing there openly.

One was dressed in luxurious clothing, fanning himself with a jade-bone folding fan—it was Qian Buduo, with that fake smile on his face that made one want to punch him.

The other, in a brocade robe, had a gloomy face and eyes full of resentment. Who else could it be but Nangong Xiao?

He was also followed by two disciples of the Nangong Family, both at the True Martial Tenth Level.

“That’s it?” Ye Tian almost laughed out loud.

One Sea Transformation First Layer Early Stage (the leader of the ambushing archers), plus Nangong Xiao (True Martial Tenth Level), Qian Buduo (Zhenwu Ninth Level), and seven or eight thugs at the True Martial Tenth Level.

This lineup might be enough to deal with an ordinary Sea Transformation First Layer, but against him?

It seemed Nangong Xiao had underestimated his strength, or perhaps he was blinded by hatred.

That Qian Buduo likely felt there was a profit to be made and was doing the Nangong Family a favor along the way.

Ye Tian was in no hurry to act.

He quietly moved back a few steps, retreating into the shadow of a depression in the rock wall, completely concealing his aura.

Then, he fished a small gadget out of his qingxuan ring.

This was something he had bought casually while browsing the market—a small mechanical Puppet called a ‘Shadow Sparrow’. It had no offensive power but could simulate simple life signatures and movement trajectories, making it quite useful for scouting or drawing snakes out of their holes.

He detached a sliver of spiritual sense to attach to the Shadow Sparrow, then controlled the greyish little thing to flutter its wings and fly forward unsteadily, its flight path happening to pass through those ambush points.

The Shadow Sparrow had barely flown ten zhang.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three poison-tipped crossbow bolts shot like lightning from the holes in the left rock wall toward the Shadow Sparrow!

At the same time, from behind the rock to the front right, two fiery red Talismans were also activated, turning into two fireballs that smashed over.

Bang! Boom!

The Shadow Sparrow was instantly blown into a pile of debris.

“Is he dead?” A low, excited voice came from the left hole.

“No! It’s a fake! Watch out!” The archer leader at the Sea Transformation First Layer reacted the fastest and shouted sharply.

But it was already too late.

The moment they attacked and exposed their positions, Ye Tian's figure flickered and vanished from the shadows. In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of those dark holes in the left rock wall.

“Such a crude ambush, and you think you can deal with me?” Ye Tian's voice was flat as he extended his right index finger and tapped lightly toward those dark holes.

It was the Starfall Finger, which he hadn't used in a long time!