Chapter 72 An Unexpected Ambush

Although reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm allowed one to abstain from eating, sleeping, and resting indefinitely,

for Ye Fan, nothing was more comfortable than sleeping, and he would never give up this good habit.

"You actually woke up. Why didn't you sleep until you died?" You Tan said with considerable resentment.

It turned out that Ye Fan, worried that You Tan would cause trouble again while he slept last night, had simply used the immortal binding rope to restrict her movements, tying her up for the entire night.

Although You Tan was embarrassed and angry, she was helpless and could only curse him inwardly.

"Hmph, just you wait. Sister will soon step on you under her feet and make you obediently bark like a dog," You Tan thought fiercely.

"How is it? Can your illusion technique be engraved onto a shadow recording stone?"

Ye Fan untied the immortal binding rope and asked about the question most concerning to him.

Although the matter was theoretically feasible, he was still uncertain whether it could truly be accomplished.

You Tan moved her numb limbs, pursed her lips, and said, "Although it's a bit difficult, it's not beyond Sister's capabilities. If there are no surprises, I can produce a sample soon."

Based on the ideas Ye Fan provided, You Tan had roughly grasped the design concept.

Simply put, it was about using methods similar to Talisman arts to engrave her illusion technique onto the shadow recording stone.

Although the difficulty was slightly higher than Talisman crafting, there shouldn't be any major issues once she became proficient.

You Tan listed some required Materials. Ye Fan looked them over and found he possessed almost all of them, so he simply handed them all over for her to conduct experiments.

"Take your time with that. I'm going to look around outside. If we encounter any danger, we'll meet at that high mountain in the Southwest."

After discussing some details, Ye Fan went to search for Murong Wan's traces, leaving You Tan to study the shadow recording stone engraving alone.

As for whether she would take the opportunity to escape, Ye Fan wasn't worried at all.

As long as the immortal binding rope was still on You Tan, finding her would be as easy as turning over his hand.

After searching for two days without finding any sign left by Murong Wan, Ye Fan started to worry a little. After some thought, he simply took to the air on his Flying Sword to search for her tracks from above.

Although doing so might make him the target of public criticism, Ye Fan couldn't afford to care about that now.

Ye Fan's figure rapidly swept across the sky, indeed attracting the attention of quite a few people along the way, but after hesitating, they gave up the thought of attacking.

Disciples in the Qi Refining Realm lacked the strength to attack, but a few Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators couldn't help but feel eager to try.

However, upon reflection, instead of fighting a Foundation Establishment Realm expert head-on, it was better to find Qi Refining Realm Disciples to harvest points.

This way, even if they were eliminated from the Survival Ranking, the kill points could still be exchanged for quite a few rewards.

Relying on his fast flying speed, Ye Fan almost scoured half of the Trial Grounds before he finally discovered a sign left by Murong Wan.

He followed the clue all the way and soon arrived at a familiar figure, but the scene before him caused Ye Fan's killing intent to surge.

Murong Wan was wielding the Profound Frost Sword, fighting alone against three Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators, with over a dozen corpses lying nearby.

Looking further out, dozens of ill-intentioned Qi Refining Realm Cultivators were gathered, looking like they could strike at any moment.

"What is this situation?!"

Although the clothing and style of these people varied, the coordination clearly showed they were one group.

"Strange. Disciples from the Nine Great Sects should all have uniform attire."

"But if they are Loose Cultivators, how could they gather together to act?"

While Ye Fan was puzzled, the battle before him reached its climax.

"Damn it, this woman is quite tough."

"The weapon in her hand is at least a Medium Grade Magic Treasure."

"And that hidden defensive Magic Treasure, its grade is definitely not low either."

The strength of the three was all above Murong Wan's; they all possessed the strength of the third or even fourth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Yet Murong Wan, fighting one against three, not only failed to collapse but firmly held the upper hand.

Besides her solid Foundation, the Profound Frost Sword and the yin-yang dharma robe also played a crucial role. If not for these, Murong Wan would have long since died under the combined siege of the three.

Seeing that they couldn't take down Murong Wan quickly, the three inevitably became anxious.

If they delayed any longer and let the people outside notice, it would become troublesome.

"You two keep her busy! Everyone attack together!"

Following the command of the leader, the subordinates around them ignored the difference in cultivation level and charged forward like death warriors.

If they were allowed to interfere, Murong Wan's situation would not be so easy.

But just as she hesitated about whether to use her trump card, a scorching sword light struck, dividing the battlefield and stopping all the Qi Refining Realm Cultivators attempting to intervene.

The familiar aura made Murong Wan pause slightly, and a faint blush rose on her pretty face.

"You arrived just in time."

"Of course. Who dares bully my wife? I, Ye Fan, will never let him go."

"You... Who is your wife?" Murong Wan scolded with a red face.

In reality, 'wife' and 'Dao Companion' had slight differences, but over time, no one cared about these details anymore.

Ye Fan's sudden appearance made these people frown deeply. They hadn't expected another Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator to interfere, and this person seemed to know the woman.

"Are you injured?" Ye Fan asked as he floated down.

Murong Wan shook her head, saying truthfully that she owed it all to that Soft Quilled Armor, otherwise she would have collapsed long ago.

"Soft Quilled Armor?"

Ye Fan smiled without speaking upon hearing this, thinking to himself that this was no Soft Quilled Armor, but a genuine low-grade spirit treasure, the yin-yang dharma robe.

Even though a portion of its power was sealed, it was not something ordinary Magic Treasures could compare with.

"Who are they?" Ye Fan asked with a frown.

Murong Wan shook her head, stating that she didn't know either.

Murong Wan had just found a good item when she was ambushed by these people, and up to this point, she still didn't know their identity.

"They seem to intend to capture me alive. If not for that, the situation might have been much harder."

Ye Fan became even more puzzled upon hearing this. In the Prodigy Trial, whether defeating or killing was understandable.

But these people actually intended to capture her alive—this behavior was clearly too abnormal.

"Which Sect do you belong to, and what is your purpose in participating in the Heavenly Pride Assembly?"

Ye Fan, having keenly sensed something, couldn't help but question them.

The three were slightly stunned, then revealed mocking smiles.

"Dead men don't need to know so much!"

The three didn't waste any more words and directed their Flying Swords to attack Ye Fan.

"The plan has changed! Everyone attack together! Kill them!"

The surrounding Qi Refining Realm Cultivators heard the command and joined the fray. Only then did Ye Fan realize they were actually using a common battle formation used by Sects.

To compensate for the insufficient cultivation of Qi Refining Realm Disciples, many Sects had special battle formations for reinforcement.

The number of participating Disciples varied from dozens, hundreds, to thousands, greatly enhancing their power in the form of a battle formation.

If enough people participated, they could contend with Foundation Establishment Realm or even Core Formation Realm Cultivators in a short time, making it one of the hidden trump cards of the major Sects.

"These guys are definitely not Loose Cultivators... Who exactly are they?" Ye Fan thought doubtfully.