534: Chapter 534 Ambush in the Stone Forest?

The Master of Tianji Pavilion walked up to Su Ming and, without the slightest hesitation, handed over the jade bottle.

"Take it. On the day the map is drawn, that will be the moment our Karma is settled."

Su Ming took a deep breath.

He solemnly extended both hands and took the jade bottle from the Master of the Pavilion's hand.

"Thank you, Master of the Pavilion."

He placed the jade bottle securely into his innermost Storage Pouch. Afterward, he also took the two Jade Slips and three golden Talismans flickering with strange Array Patterns handed over by the Master of the Pavilion, putting them all away.

With this, the three main ingredients for the heaven-mending pill were finally all gathered.

Seeing the transaction complete, Immortal Master Xuan Ming did not waste another word.

"Let's go."

He dropped those two words and, without even bidding farewell to the Master of Tianji Pavilion, turned and strode out of the side hall.

Su Ming gave a final bow to the Master of the Pavilion and quickly followed with Qing Feng and Ming Yue.

The group walked out of the mountain gate of the Tianji Pavilion, marked by the two Dragon-coiled stone pillars, and returned to the teleportation stone hall halfway up the mountain.

...

The light from the great teleportation array of Wanxiang City gradually faded. Su Ming's group of four stepped off the Formation Plate.

Immortal Master Xuan Ming raised a withered finger, and that dark Ebony Flying Boat expanded rapidly against the wind, floating steadily in mid-air.

The four boarded the boat. The flying boat turned into a streak of light, racing toward the Northern Territory.

Looking back, the sky over the Central Continent, which seemed permanently shrouded in lead-gray clouds, was gradually being left behind.

On the boat, Su Ming sat cross-legged at the stern with his eyes slightly closed. The Ruoshui Art within his body maintained its smoothest circulation, not wasting a single shred of spiritual energy.

"Disciple." Inside the xuantian ring, Lin Yu's voice suddenly rang out in his Sea of Consciousness, carrying a rare hint of seriousness.

"Master, what is it?" Su Ming responded in his heart, without even lifting an eyelid.

Lin Yu's soul body floated in the Void Realm, a faint blue glow lighting up: "Three hundred miles ahead, there is a gray stone forest. Three people are hiding inside. Two are at the Golden Core Early Stage, and one is at the Golden Core Peak. Their aura is very messy, carrying that copper stench of Wanbao Tower from being soaked in piles of Spirit Stones all year round."

"Master, what do you think they are after?" Su Ming asked in his Sea of Consciousness.

"What else could it be?" Lin Yu snorted. "In Wanbao Tower, you made them lose Face in public. Although that Fat Steward apologized, they couldn't swallow this insult. Moreover, there are always a few self-righteous fools in merchant guilds."

"Golden Core Peak," Su Ming mused. "Can they see through Senior Xuan Ming's cultivation?"},{

Lin Yu sneered: "This old schemer has suppressed his aura so much that even I almost misjudged him. You think those trash from Wanbao Tower can see through it? In their eyes, there's probably only one old man at the Qi Refining stage on this flying boat, leading three fat sheep at the Foundation Establishment Stage."

Su Ming nodded slightly and said no more.

Ahead, the flying boat had already entered a gray stone forest area.

This stone forest was incredibly vast. Thick gray stone pillars rose from the ground, towering into the clouds like countless broken swords pointing straight at the heavens. Mist swirled between the pillars, blotting out the sun and completely swallowing the already dim light, exuding an air of chilling slaughter.

Just as the flying boat was ten zhang away from the tallest part of the stone forest.

"Boom!"

Three dark figures erupted from behind a massive stone pillar like arrows released from a bowstring, charging straight at the flying boat with a piercing sound of breaking air.

Leading them was the Cultivator who had wanted to search Su Ming's Sea of Consciousness back at Wanbao Tower, his body radiating the Spiritual Pressure of the Golden Core Peak. He held a Ghost-headed Greatsword emitting a dark red glow, the blade carving a piercing blood-colored arc in the dim light.

Beside him, two Golden Core Early Stage Cultivators flanked the left and right, sealing off all possible escape routes for the flying boat.

"It's the people from Wanbao Tower!" Qing Feng stood up abruptly, his hand already on his sword hilt, his Face turning pale instantly.

Ming Yue let out a cry of alarm and instinctively leaned toward Su Ming.

The leading Cultivator hovered in the air ten zhang in front of the flying boat, a cruel grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.

"Kid, there were rules protecting you inside Wanxiang City, but once you're out of the city, you won't be so lucky!" His voice was as piercing as a broken gong, vibrating the surrounding stone pillars and causing dust to fall.

As a guard of Wanbao Tower, he was determined to wash away the hall's humiliation today.

"Hand over that Formation Plate rubbing and all the Spirit Stones on you, and we'll spare your lives!"

The leading Cultivator barked, raising his Ghost-headed Greatsword as the blade light pulsed, ready to strike at any moment.

Su Ming sat at the stern, quietly watching the scene.

However, standing at the bow, Immortal Master Xuan Ming didn't slow the flying boat down even by half.

He didn't even look up at the three blocking Golden Core Cultivators.

The old man just extremely casually raised his withered right hand, his wide gray Daoist robe fluttering loudly in the wind. Then, that shriveled index finger pressed lightly against the void ahead.

There was no earth-shattering roar, nor any dazzling spiritual light.

It was as if he were brushing away a speck of dust.

An invisible force, like a crashing invisible hammer, slammed violently into the leading Cultivator.

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream of extreme agony pierced the sky.

The leading Cultivator didn't even have time to swing his Ghost-headed Greatsword. The ribs in his chest collapsed over a large area in an instant, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs sprayed wildly from his mouth.

Like a broken sack, he was blasted backward ten times faster than he had come, smashing fiercely into a massive stone pillar.

"Rumble!"

The stone pillar snapped in half, and dust billowed into the sky. That Golden Core Peak Cultivator was buried in the pile of rubble, his aura instantly becoming extremely weak, his life or death unknown.

The remaining two Golden Core Early Stage Cultivators, still in their forward-pouncing posture, came to a dead stop in mid-air.

They watched their companion's tragic end with eyes wide open, their eyeballs nearly popping out. A fear originating from the depths of their Soul, like ice water, drenched their entire bodies.

Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering from fear, the two didn't even dare to leave a single parting word. They turned abruptly, transforming into two streaks of light, fleeing frantically toward the depths of the stone forest.

Immortal Master Xuan Ming did not give chase.

He slowly withdrew his hand, placing his hands behind his back once more, his gaze still calmly looking forward.

"Go back and tell your Tower Master," Immortal Master Xuan Ming's raspy voice, though not loud, clearly pierced through the whistling wind and fell accurately into the ears of the two fleeing Cultivators, "If you touch my people again, next time it won't be as simple as having your cultivation destroyed."

The two Cultivators stumbled in mid-air, then scrambled and crawled until they disappeared into the thick mist of the stone forest.