18: Chapter 18 You little thief, prepare to die!

Bai Jiatong was on his last breath, his eyes the only part of him that could still move. He looked at Zhao Yi with a pleading gaze.

"Save me~"

Zhao Yi... He suspected he had misheard.

Save you?

It's a miracle I didn't beat you to death.

However, he still had to say the polite pleasantries.

"Young Master Bai, I would like to save you, but I am penniless. What could I possibly use to save you?"

"And honestly, you knew I was Undergoing Tribulation, so why did you run into the range of the Lightning Tribulation?"

"Now you've made me get injured too..."

Zhao Yi didn't care if Bai Jiatong could handle it; he just kept chattering away non-stop.

"I—"

"You—"

In his anxiety, Bai Jiatong rolled his eyes and passed out.

"Holy crap!"

"Dead?"

"Dead is fine; it saves me the trouble of doing it myself."

"With such poor mental fortitude, why even Cultivate? Why even write novels?"

"Cloud-Slicing Technique!"

A surge of true Qi suddenly erupted from the soles of Zhao Yi's feet, propelling his body forward like a cannonball.

"Damn, I used too much true Qi."

"Bang!"

Like a bird with broken wings, Zhao Yi plummeted from mid-air.

The immense impact smashed a human-shaped crater into the ground.

"Pfft~"

Spitting out a mouthful of stagnant blood, Zhao Yi cursed under his breath,

"Serves me right!"

It was just flying, how pathetic, yet the excitement on his Face clearly betrayed him.

...

Lingran Illusion Realm, Maple Garden.

Bai Jiatong, the Qilin of the Bai family in Pingcheng County, who began Cultivating at eight and reached the Qi Condensation Ninth Layer by twenty-six, had fallen.

Bai Chuanfeng looked at the lifeless Bai Jiatong, his mind blank.

As far as he knew, Bai Jiatong had taken over twenty Bai Family Cultivators to surround and intercept Zhao Yi.

"What about the others?"

The Cultivator who had carried Bai Jiatong back knelt and said, "They have all fallen. At the scene, besides Young Master Tong, there were twenty-seven piles of human-shaped ash, which matches the number of clansmen Young Master Tong took with him."

"All of them fallen?"

"How could they all have fallen?"

"Does that Zhao Yi have three heads and six arms?"

Bai Chuanfeng was trembling.

Half from anger, and half from fear.

Bai Jiatong's grandfather was still alive, and he was a Foundation Establishment Mid-stage Cultivator. If he found out that Bai Jiatong had fallen...

Just thinking about it made Bai Chuanfeng shudder, let alone the other Bai Family Cultivators. With so many people, he feared that even if each one just spat on him, they could drown him.

"Steward, look at Young Master Tong. That Zhao Yi knows Lightning Techniques."

Only then did Bai Chuanfeng notice that Bai Jiatong's body was completely black, and in some places, even charred.

As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, Bai Chuanfeng could tell at a glance: this wasn't a Lightning Technique.

This was clearly a Lightning Tribulation. Only the power of Heaven and Earth could cause so many Bai Family Cultivators to fall.

Bai Chuanfeng even imagined that Zhao Yi had used the Lightning Tribulation to scheme against Bai Jiatong and the others.

"What a sinister little thief."

First, he lost Bai Jia Gang, and now Bai Jiatong had fallen. Bai Chuanfeng wished he could slap himself to death. If he had acted himself, how could such a disaster have occurred?

"Report the deaths."

He couldn't keep it hidden anymore.

"What about Zhao Yi? Find someone to keep a close watch on him."

Painfully reflecting on his mistakes, Bai Chuanfeng decided to take action personally. Even if he lost his position as steward, he would eliminate Zhao Yi, otherwise, he would have no Face to Face the Bai clansmen.

...

In the cultivation room.

Zhao Yi spent eight full days recuperating before he finally healed the injuries caused by the Lightning Tribulation.

"The Azure Spirit Scripture truly lives up to its name as the Cultivation Technique with the strongest recovery ability in the Cultivation Academy."

Zhao Yi praised it inwardly. Cultivators who practiced the Azure Spirit Scripture were known in the Cultivation Academy as cockroaches that couldn't be killed.

Thinking of the Cultivation Academy, Zhao Yi's gaze dimmed. He had forgotten; he was now just a Miner.

"System!"

【Miner: Zhao Yi】

【Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Early Stage (Insufficient experience points, cannot upgrade)】

【experience points: 365 / 1280】

【Rewards: None】

"As expected, 1280 experience points."

Looking at the System panel, Zhao Yi showed an 'as expected' expression. He was mentally prepared, and coupled with the two-hundred-year lifespan of the Foundation Establishment Stage, Zhao Yi was now less anxious than he had been at the Qi Condensation stage.

"Strange, where did Zhou Yan go?"

Looking at the small cultivation room, Zhao Yi unexpectedly felt a sense of loneliness, having no one to share his joy with.

"Forget it, forget it, I might as well go out and dig for Spirit Stones."

Zhao Yi shouldered his hoe and, just as he walked out of the cultivation room, he saw Bai Chuanfeng under the tree.

Perhaps it was just Zhao Yi's imagination, but Bai Chuanfeng looked much more haggard compared to a few days ago, and there was also an added oppressive air of slaughter.

"Won't you come for a drink?"

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, newly advanced to Foundation Establishment."

Bai Chuanfeng was pouring and drinking by himself.

"Drink it, so I can send you on your way."

Zhao Yi...

If Bai Chuanfeng had said this a month ago, he probably would have been scared to the point of wetting himself, but now...

Everyone was Foundation Establishment Early Stage, who was afraid of whom?

"This junior is just a Miner; I don't have the leisure and elegance of Steward Bai."

After saying this, Zhao Yi turned and left, giving Bai Chuanfeng absolutely no Face.

"Hmph!"

Bai Chuanfeng snorted coldly and hurled the wine cup in his hand directly at Zhao Yi.

"Little thief, die!"

Feeling the killing intent behind him, without a second thought, Zhao Yi swung his hoe and struck downward.

"Bang!"

The hoe and the wine cup collided, and Zhao Yi's hoe shattered into pieces.

"Holy crap, you old schemer! Using a wine cup as a weapon is one thing, but this wine cup is a Magical Artifact?"

"How am I supposed to play this?"

With the hoe shattered, it was impossible for Zhao Yi to dodge.

He hurriedly used a Body Protection Technique, crossed his arms in front of his chest to protect his vital points, and could only take the hit head-on.

"Ha!"

The wine cup, which had grown to the size of a basketball, smashed into Zhao Yi's arms.

"Hmm?"

"It doesn't seem as painful as I imagined?"

Zhao Yi looked at the rapidly spinning wine cup in front of him and felt that it wasn't actually that strong; he even felt he had the energy to counterattack.

"What the~"

"Go!"

He stared at the wine cup with his left hand, clenched his right fist, and swung back.

"Clang~"

Bai Chuanfeng's wine cup was actually knocked away by Zhao Yi's punch.

At the same time, not far away, Bai Chuanfeng forcibly swallowed the blood in his mouth.

"Is this Foundation Establishment Early Stage?"

"Why is there such a huge difference in strength when we are both at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage?"

It was no wonder Bai Chuanfeng was shocked. The wine cup hovering above his head was now spinning much slower, and if one looked closely, one could see dense cracks on it. Zhao Yi's punch had nearly shattered it.

"Good! Fellow Daoist Zhao is truly gifted. To think that upon breaking through to Foundation Establishment, you are already at the Peak of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage."

"I was just testing Fellow Daoist Zhao's strength earlier."

"According to the rules of the mine, Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Stage cannot mine in the first layer of the mine, but the second layer is full of dangers. My testing your strength was also for your own good..."

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, you should go to the second layer of the mine now."

Bai Chuanfeng inwardly admired his own wit; in such a short time, he had managed to make up so many excuses.

Zhao Yi...

He looked at Bai Chuanfeng suspiciously. He had clearly felt killing intent just now.

However, there were indeed no Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators in the first layer of the mine.

"Many thanks for informing me, Fellow Daoist Bai."

"How is my strength? Am I qualified to go to the second layer of the mine?"

"Yes, you can, you can. Fellow Daoist Zhao can certainly go."

Bai Chuanfeng said hurriedly.

"Hey~"

"Wait, what can a single wine cup test?"

"Fellow Daoist Bai, let's try again!"