131: Bai Yifan, unwilling to accept defeat

"Buzz..."

The hum of swords suddenly exploded, and three sharp sword lights flashed across the sky.

Three figures dressed in Qingming Sword Sect attire hovered above the Formation, the Nascent Soul pressure they emitted pressing down like something physical, making it difficult for the Core Formation Cultivators within the Formation to breathe.

One of them was pale, his aura somewhat erratic, and his robes were stained with a large patch of blood.

It was exactly that Sword Cultivator who had been fighting Bai Yifan for a long time.

As fellow direct-line Nascent Souls of the Seven Sects, Bai Yifan had his shoulder pierced by the other's sword, but clearly, the opponent hadn't gained much of an advantage either.

"Three Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators..."

Yan Wushuang's eyes held an ill-concealed bitterness. He subconsciously swallowed, his fingertips turning white from gripping so hard, as he sent a voice transmission to Bai Yifan beside him, "Senior Brother Bai, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold this resource point."

Bai Yifan's expression was so dark it looked like it could drip water. The undried blood on his robes served as dark marks, making him look even more solemn.

His hand, hidden within his sleeve, trembled slightly—not out of fear, but because of his immense unwillingness.

This Shadow Soul Crystal Mine had been part of his plan from the very beginning.

It was also something he and Yan Wushuang had led people to occupy with all their might.

Initially, there were only the two of them leading over 1,300 Core Formation Cultivators to manage the mineral vein and resist the Soul Tide.

With the help of the produced soul crystals, the two were able to quickly advance to the Nascent Soul stage.

A single resource point guarded by two direct-line Azure Wave Nascent Souls.

It was indeed a bit of a waste.

Therefore, the two began to take turns going out to plunder points.

Eventually, they gritted their teeth and exchanged for a black armor mothership to provide rapid reinforcements and win people over.

After all, with the assistance of a black armor mothership, the win rate and safety of battles would increase by several tens of percent.

Many Loose Cultivators were willing to participate in battles where a mothership was present.

Just when everything was developing in a positive direction.

The Qingming Faction suddenly launched a surprise attack. In just half an hour, over three hundred Cultivators had fallen. If he hadn't activated the defensive Formation in time, the mineral vein might have already changed hands.

After stabilizing their footing, he challenged the Qingming Faction's Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator, Nangong Yan, alone while under pressure, while simultaneously sending an emergency communication to Yan Wushuang, telling him to reinforce as quickly as possible.

At that time, Bai Yifan's heart was full of calculations for the future.

His strength was originally on par with Nangong Yan's. As long as he could stall until Yan Wushuang arrived with reinforcements, Yan Wushuang's Body Refining Cultivation Technique would be more than enough to deal with a Loose Cultivator Nascent Soul like Black Rock.

Either kill him or heavily wound him.

When the time came, the two would join forces against Nangong Yan; even if they couldn't kill him, they could force him to retreat.

Not only could they hold the resource point and earn two million defense points.

They could also pursue the victory and annihilate all three thousand Qingming Core Formation Cultivators, gaining an additional three to four million points.

"Five or six million points... shared between Yan Wushuang and me, that's at least several hundred thousand, maybe even a million each."

Bai Yifan's Sea of Consciousness flashed with his previous calculations. "At that time, Yan Wushuang's and my point rankings might jump into the top five, and we might even have a chance to surpass Liu Muyao and seize the first and second spots on the leaderboard!"

Initially, things did indeed develop as he had expected.

This resource point was already closer to the Bitao Faction's Base City, and Yan Wushuang had decisively used his limited-use forced conscription authority to lead over a thousand Cultivators to reinforce in time.

He had even detected that Yan Wushuang's Golden Scale Body had already firmly suppressed Black Rock's Black Obsidian Body.

In a few more moments, Black Rock would surely be heavily injured.

But who could have imagined that at the very moment the battle was about to tilt, the Qingming Faction's Azure Peak Flying Boat would suddenly appear a hundred miles away!

The appearance of that sword-shaped Flying Boat was like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the calculations in Bai Yifan's heart.

He suddenly realized that this surprise attack might have been a meticulously planned ambush by the Qingming Faction from the very beginning!

They deliberately let Nangong Yan and Black Rock pin them down first, while secretly deploying reinforcements, waiting to catch him and Yan Wushuang all at once!

Thus, Bai Yifan did not hesitate for a second. He immediately abandoned his struggle with Nangong Yan, even if he had to endure the backlash of his magical power, and forcibly repelled his opponent to charge into the Formation as a streak of light.

The sword escape technique of a Qingming Sword Cultivator was incredibly fast. Once his retreat was blocked by the reinforcing Nascent Souls, all that would await him was the destruction of his Divine Soul.

Yet even with such a decisive retreat, reality still dealt him a heavy blow.

The Qingming Faction had actually sent two direct-line Sword Cultivators!

Bai Yifan's fingertips felt slightly cold as thoughts flashed through his mind.

A Qingming Sword Cultivator spends their entire life cultivating only a single life-bound Flying Sword. Even if their defense is as thin as paper, their killing techniques are the best among the Seven Sects.

The reputation of 'One Sword Breaks Ten Thousand Laws' was by no means an exaggeration.

If not for this top-tier killing ability, the Qingming Sword Sect could never have firmly held its position as the head of the Seven Sects.

Although the Cultivators inside the Formation couldn't hear their voice transmissions, they could sense the danger of the situation from their solemn expressions and the sharp pressure emitted by the three Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators above.

The Cultivators who were still rejoicing over holding the resource point now all turned pale.

Facing three Qingming Nascent Soul Sword Cultivators known for their killing power, plus a Body-Refining Nascent Soul who still had combat strength.

Whether this resource point could be held was no longer important.

Whether they could survive this ambush was the most urgent matter at hand!

Bai Yifan took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anxiety in his heart, and sent a voice transmission to Yan Wushuang, "Now is not the time to panic. First, reinforce the Formation and send a message to the Base City requesting reinforcements... Even if we can't hold it, we must hold out until reinforcements arrive. Otherwise, even if the two of us can escape, these thousand-plus people will likely be buried here. After that, no one will be willing to follow us."

Although Nascent Soul Cultivators were powerful, they couldn't just slaughter everyone in every direction.

Guarding resource points, playing a huge role in offensive and defensive battles, and obtaining a large number of points.

This was the path everyone had gradually figured out over these ten years.

And those fallen Nascent Soul Cultivators were the best proof of this path.

Yan Wushuang nodded, his expression still ugly, but he still raised his hand to cast a spell, activating the Formation's second layer of defense.

Pale golden spiritual light quickly rose, merging into the originally pale blue Formation shield, rapidly enveloping the entire mineral vein.

But under the pressure of the four Nascent Soul Cultivators, that seemingly thick Formation shield could only last for two hours at most.

In such a short time, even if someone came to help, it was uncertain if they could make it in time.

Bai Yifan took out a communication jade slip, quickly inscribed the information, and the Jade Slip vanished in a flash, disappearing into mid-air.

Nangong Yan and the others saw the communication jade slip flee but didn't even make a move to stop it.

They simply waved their hands, and thousands of Qingming Faction Cultivators quickly formed a Formation, preparing to launch a bombardment against the resource point's Formation shield.

The Bitao Faction Cultivators also reacted, quickly pouring into various Formation nodes.

While swallowing recovery Medicinal Pills, they poured their magical power into the Formation with all their might.

Su Ling, standing silently in a corner, couldn't help but frown slightly at this scene.

"The other side seems to not be worried at all about reinforcements coming..."