206: Chapter 206 Plotting an Attack!

...

During the subsequent half...

Elder Rat began to take the initiative to attack, scouting various locations and devouring four lone Cultivators in succession.

Among them were two at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, one at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, and one at the Late Foundation Establishment Stage; this last person's luck was truly terrible.

He had been blinded in one eye by the Taiqing Sect's fire techniques and had suffered setback after setback while fleeing.

Elder Rat dragged him underground with almost no effort.

The flesh and blood essence of Cultivators was of immense benefit to Yao Beasts, especially the essence blood of Foundation Establishment Cultivator, which contained a vast amount of spiritual energy. Devouring and refining it was equivalent to consuming ten beast origin pills!

Elder Rat's cultivation showed faint signs of loosening.

“Hehehe...”

“This taste is truly endlessly wonderful!”

Elder Rat squatted underground, using his claws to clean the bloodstains from his mouth, revealing a row of fine, sharp fangs, his gaze growing increasingly ferocious.

“If I had known things in the Secret Realm tasted this good, I should have come sooner.”

...

Compared to Elder Rat, Kuang Dou acted even more willfully!

This Molten Black Hound disdained underhanded sneak attacks entirely. It ran straight through the volcanic region in the northern part of the Secret Realm for half a month, launching direct assaults whenever it encountered a lone Cultivator.

Whether they were Cultivators or native Yao Beasts!

This volcanic land was his home turf, filled with undercurrents of flowing lava. Ordinary Cultivators had to activate their protective spiritual light just to enter, and fighting in such an environment consumed two to three times more spiritual energy than usual.

Kuang Dou was different.

Soaking in the lava pools was like soaking in a hot spring to him; the longer he soaked, the more energetic he became.

In less than a month, he single-handedly hunted down three Cultivators and two native Yao Beasts, devouring and refining them all!

The demon core of one of the Yao Beasts was of exceptional quality, containing rich fire path essence, and it was even subtly improving his Bloodline.

After Kuang Dou finished absorbing it, he fell into a deep sleep for several days.

When he awoke from the lava pool, the crimson flames covering his body were nearly twice as intense as before, and his fur had grown longer and sleeker.

With flames treading under his four paws, bone armor resembling bony plates had grown over various parts of his body, making him look vastly different from before...

It was as if his Bloodline had been upgraded and purified!

...

Lei Nu, on the other hand, had run to the western side of the Secret Realm, where there was a hidden lightning marsh.

If you want to know how he found out, Shi Jian had told him. Of course, as for how Shi Jian knew, you don't need to worry about that.

If anyone asked, it was because the Old Ancestor was omniscient!

This place was subjected to constant Lei Bao all year round; while it was a dangerous place for Cultivators, it was a natural Cultivate location for lightning-attribute Yao Beasts.

Within the lightning marsh, Lei Nu breathed in and out to Cultivate. His daily routine consisted of attracting lightning, swallowing lightning, digesting it, and then attracting lightning again.

Over and over again, tempering his body and soul.

...

Each of the Yao Beasts had their own tasks and their own Opportunities.

In the blink of an eye, two months passed.

However, the situation in the Secret Realm had undergone subtle changes.

The struggle among various forces for the heaven and earth qi had entered a white-hot phase.

In the core area of the Marshland, another twelve wisps of heaven and earth qi had appeared one after another. Although the number seemed large, when it came to actually dividing them, there were far too many wolves and too little meat.

To snatch these few wisps of heaven and earth qi, the major sect forces fought fiercely against one another, suffering extremely heavy casualties!

The number of Foundation Establishment Disciples who fell one after another was as high as a hundred.

Those Foundation Establishment Cultivator who would be considered somewhat respectable on the outside were nothing but the lowest-level consumables here, regardless of how many had died.

Yet, as long as a single Golden Core emerged,

even losing a hundred or so Foundation Establishment Cultivator was entirely worth it. A Golden Core Master had already stepped into the mid-to-high tiers of the Xuanling Continent.

They were part of the group that truly participated in slicing the continent's cake!

...

At this moment, in the Kunyuan Secret Realm, east of the Southern Border Wasteland.

Elder Rat squatted beneath the roots of a dead Ironbone Tree, half of his body buried in the soil, revealing only a pair of bead-like black eyes.

With his Wind Path Breath-Concealing Method operating to its limit, his Aura blended perfectly with the surrounding sand, rocks, and vegetation. Let alone Foundation Establishment Cultivator, even if a Golden Core old monster were to arrive in person, they might not notice a Foundation Establishment Great Demon hiding beneath their feet without a careful search.

In the valley ahead, a life-and-death struggle was playing out.

Seven Cultivators were besieging a single person.

The besieged individual, clad in blood-stained white robes, held a three-foot green steel sword. His body was enveloped in a biting Sword Qi, and every swing of his sword brought forth a shower of blood.

His slaughter struck terror into the hearts of all the attackers!

Xiao An, the chief inner Disciple of the Tianjian Sect, was at Foundation Establishment Perfection, with strength comparable to a False Core!

Elder Rat had been keeping an eye on him for three days already.

Three days ago, while scavenging on a cliff in the southern part of the Secret Realm, Elder Rat was gnawing on the remains of a Xuanqing Sect Disciple when he heard the intense sounds of a magical battle in the distance...

He followed the sound and hid underground. Once he took a look, he couldn't tear his eyes away.

Xiao An actually had heaven and earth qi in his possession.

Although he hadn't sensed its Aura, Elder Rat was still absolutely certain that this person must possess a great Opportunity!

After all, even if a Sword Cultivator at Foundation Establishment Perfection was a heaven-sent genius, how could he be hunted by four or five waves of people unless he had obtained a great Opportunity and carried a heavy Karma?

He must be fleeing to this place while carrying a precious treasure!

Within the Kunyuan Secret Realm, the greatest Opportunity was none other than the heaven and earth qi.

At this moment—

In the valley, Xiao An struck with his sword once again, locked in a fierce battle with the crowd of Cultivators.

This strike was so fast that its trajectory was almost invisible.

The green steel sword slashed upward diagonally from the left, and a thirty-foot sword astral energy erupted from the tip of the blade, shattering the protective spiritual lights of the two Cultivators in front of him simultaneously.

A foot-long wound was slashed across one person's chest by the sword astral energy; blood gushed out, and he collapsed on the spot.

The other reacted slightly faster, barely dodging the vital spot by turning his body, but half of his ear was still sliced off, and he rolled backward screaming.

The remaining five were all terrified by this strike, and their offensive ground to a halt.

Even though blood was gushing from Xiao An's chest like a pillar and his body was riddled with multiple puncture wounds, his Aura remained as magnificent as a rainbow, and his Dao Heart stood unyielding.

Mere fatal wounds meant nothing; for a swordsman, the battle only ends in death!

“Xiao An of the Tianjian Sect truly lives up to his reputation!”

Among the besiegers, a short-bearded Cultivator expressed his admiration: “Xiao An, I admire your cultivation level and character...”

“But how much longer can you hold out?”

“Your Senior Brother, Qi Wenyuan, is pursuing you from behind with over thirty people. This is already a situation of certain death...”

“I do not wish to make things difficult for you, Fellow Daoist. Hand over the heaven and earth qi. It will be good for you, good for me, and good for everyone. Wouldn't that be wonderful?”

Hearing this, Xiao An ignored him, remaining standing with his sword in hand.

With a leap, his figure suddenly rose several dozen feet into the air, and he brought his sword crashing down from above!

This strike was completely different from the previous one.

It was not a sharp slash, but a pure display of crushing force. The blade was enveloped in an extremely dense, earthy-yellow spiritual energy, and under this heavy pressure, the ground cracked into a spiderweb pattern, sending shattered rocks flying over ten feet.

“Earth Dao heaven and earth qi!”

The short-bearded Cultivator's expression changed drastically as he raised a water shield with both hands.

When the water shield met that sword strike, it lasted barely half a breath before shattering into powder. The remaining force slammed his entire body into the ground, the sound of fracturing bones clearly audible.

In just an instant, he died on the spot.

Seeing that things had taken a turn for the worse, the remaining four turned and fled...

Seeing this, Xiao An did not pursue them either.

The moment their Auras completely vanished, his weakened state was exposed. He knelt on one knee, supporting his body with the tip of his sword as a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

That strike had channeled a portion of the lingering charm of the heaven and earth qi. Although its power was immense, the cost was overdrawing his true essence and straining his Meridians.

Elder Rat saw this clearly from underground and couldn't help but click his tongue with his pointed snout.

“What a ferocious sheep...”

A sheep is a sheep, but this sheep has horns that can truly gore someone to death!

With Elder Rat's own abilities, he absolutely could not take down Xiao Chenyuan. This man's sword techniques were exquisite, and with his cultivation at Foundation Establishment Perfection combined with the amplification of the Earth Dao heaven and earth qi, his combat strength was extremely close to the False Core stage.

Even though he was currently injured, it would still be enough for him to hack Elder Rat to death with a single strike!

However, Elder Rat had never been one to fight alone. The Old Ancestor often taught them that the reason the Human Race was strong lay in their unity...

In how ten thousand people would help support a single person in attaining the Dao.

In contrast, the Yao Race fought individually, which was why they fell behind. If the Yao Race could also unite, perhaps the current situation where the Human Race dominated would not exist.

After memorizing Xiao An's Aura,

Elder Rat tunneled underground, following the Auras of the various Yao Beasts to contact them all.

...