Mythical Cultivation

Chapter 157 The two sides fight

After Wu Ming and Huang Hao successfully reunited with Zhao Xiaohai and the others, the five began to count their harvest. Zhao Xiaohai and the other three gathered a dozen spiritual herbs, all over three to five hundred years old. These herbs included ingredients needed for Qi Refining elixirs and precious herbs only used at the Foundation Establishment stage. Their total value was approximately one to two thousand spirit stones. This was a truly impressive harvest. Afterward, the five divided the herbs among themselves, each receiving their share.

After completing the distribution, Wu Ming began to fully recover his true essence. Previously, he had only recovered a portion of his true essence. Now that the battle was over, he needed to optimize his condition to continue seeking more opportunities. After Wu Ming fully recovered, the five of them once again embarked on their journey to explore the inner realm.

However, their luck seemed to run out in the days that followed. By evening, they hadn't found anything of value. Instead, they were attacked several times by packs of demonic beasts, each time forcing them to flee in panic. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but this experience gave them a deeper understanding of the dangers of the Inner Realm. It turns out that opportunities and treasures aren't easily obtained, and even with effort and risk, rewards aren't guaranteed.

Time passed minute by minute, night gradually fell, the stars in the sky twinkled faintly, and the surrounding environment became quiet and mysterious.

Wu Ming and his four companions decided to stop and rest at this point. They chose a relatively safe spot, away from the dense woods and potential dangers. Night is when demonic beasts are most active, making them even more dangerous than daytime. Furthermore, after a day's journey, they were physically and mentally exhausted and needed a good night's rest to recover.

At the chosen location, they quickly set up a simple camp. They also set up a warning array around the perimeter to alert them to any unusual activity. Although the array wasn't advanced, it could at least provide some early warning, giving them enough time to react.

However, when it came to defensive formations, they encountered difficulties. Although they knew that defensive formations could provide stronger protection, they were unable to purchase such equipment due to their limited funds. A low-level defensive formation typically required several hundred spirit stones, which was a considerable expense for them. With limited resources, they could only prioritize other necessary items rather than spending a large amount of spirit stones on defensive formations. After all, these spirit stones would be better used to purchase other more practical items, such as medicine or weapons.

As night deepened, the surroundings grew quieter. Wu Ming and his companions gathered around the campfire, enjoying the brief silence. They shared food and water and exchanged experiences and reflections from the day.

Just as Wu Ming and his companions were resting, several people appeared from a location a few hundred meters away. They were Zhang Tianming and his group. Besides Zhang Tianming, there were five others following him. It wasn't that they were short of manpower; in the ten days since entering the secret realm, Zhang Tianming had gathered over a dozen men under his command. However, he hadn't brought all of them with him, only a few of the more powerful ones. Having more people wasn't necessarily a good thing, and it would also attract attention.

He knew Wu Ming and the others well. The strongest among them was Huang Hao, who was at the eighth level of Qi Refining. To be frank, he could easily take them down on his own, but after what happened a few years ago, he'd learned his lesson and was more cautious, hence the reason he brought three people with him.

Zhang Tianming and his companions moved swiftly and stealthily, cautiously approaching their target, who was resting up ahead. Zhang Tianming turned and whispered to the person behind him, "Are they resting up ahead? Are you sure you haven't been spotted?"

The man replied confidently, "Brother Zhang, don't worry! My concealment skills are second to none among the outer disciples. They will definitely not be able to detect my presence."

Hearing this, Zhang Tianming felt a little relieved, but he still cautiously reminded everyone: "Get closer first, and then attack together when you encounter the formation. Don't let any enemy escape." After that, he led the five people behind him and groped forward quietly.

When Zhang Tianming and the others were about to touch the formation, they launched an attack simultaneously. Six flying swords shot out at lightning speed, instantly rushing towards Wu Ming and the other five who were resting by the campfire.

However, the scene Zhang Tianming had anticipated, where his opponents were caught off guard and unable to fight back, did not occur. The moment their flying swords launched, Wu Ming and the other five suddenly became alert and quickly stood up. Simultaneously, five flying swords and dozens of talismans flashed with brilliant light. Instantly, the two sides were engaged in a fierce battle, a life-or-death struggle.

Zhang Tianming thought victory was assured, but he hadn't anticipated the enemy's preparations. When had they been exposed? Or had the people monitoring them been discovered? Zhang Tianming was filled with doubts. However, as soon as these thoughts emerged, he quickly suppressed them. In the heat of battle, there was no time to ponder such questions.

Although Zhang Tianming didn't take the men seriously, he knew that while he could underestimate his enemies strategically, he absolutely couldn't underestimate any opponent in battle. Therefore, he decisively stopped Huang Hao, the most powerful, and simultaneously dispatched five of his men to attack the other four.

In an instant, hundreds of sword lights of varying colors appeared on the battlefield, interweaving and gleaming in the air, illuminating the previously dark night sky. Surprisingly, the techniques employed by these nine individuals were strikingly similar: they all employed the Sword Light Splitting Technique from the Qingyun Sword Technique, differing only in their power.

Fortunately, this place is remote, with no people around and no one seeing it. Otherwise, bystanders who don’t know the truth might mistakenly think that these fellow disciples are killing each other!

At this moment, Wu Ming and his companions saw the sword lights all over the sky, and their sword techniques were identical. They realized that these six people were actually fellow disciples of their Qingyun Sect. However, they did not look familiar, and they did not know if they had offended them in some way, or if they were simply out to steal the treasure and kill. Of course, they also thought that they might be Liu Qingquan's men, but without evidence, they could not be sure.