Cultivation begins with harvest.

Dongfang Lieming seemed to have simply walked in and then returned, without taking much time, but the bright smile on his face suggested that he had gained a great deal.

Chen Guang glanced at her quickly, then pulled her toward the other side of the formation, saying, "There are people here, their intentions are unclear. Let's leave first."

Dongfang Lieming obediently followed Chen Guang's footsteps and left the illusion array from the other side. For the first time, the Purple Jade Gourd unleashed a thick, silk-like purple mist without reservation. The array flags were irregularly pinched in his hands, some long and some short, and crossed at an angle: this was a simple array deployment method to set up the armored formation as quickly as possible.

The moment Chen Guang broke through the illusion array, a ball of bright light shot into the sky from his hand. It suddenly exploded in the night, and the incandescent light pierced the earth, illuminating the pale ground. Chen Guang saw the scene he wanted: on one side of the illusion array, there were four simply decorated cultivators, forming a circle, seemingly in defense. However, the circle was too small, and they had misjudged the range of the illusion array, which was why Chen Guang and his companion ended up outside the encirclement.

Not only here, but on the other side, several other cultivators gathered around, scattered around the perimeter, forming another layer of encirclement. It was his floating light waves that had attracted their attention.

Upon discovering Chen Guang and his companion, they took immediate and proactive measures.

"Hey!"

With a roar, Dongfang Chushan threw a golden bead from his hand. When it left his hand, it was only the size of a fingernail, but by the time it flew far away, it had grown to the size of a head, surrounded by a hazy halo of light, and crashed down on Chen Guang's head with a whooshing sound.

This type of magical artifact is precisely the kind that the Purple Jade Gourd is not good at defending. Chen Guang's first thought was naturally to release the Azure Cloud Boat and break out of the encirclement.

Wei Donglai once said that even for a Qingheng disciple, it is extremely difficult to fight against many opponents; if they can easily defeat them in a series of battles, they will surely suffer losses if they attack simultaneously and surround them from all sides.

Chen Guang was now experiencing just such treatment. As Dongfang Chushan threw out the golden ball spiritual weapon, a shout was merely a small trick to attract attention. Another cultivator, enveloped in a gust of wind, rushed into the purple mist from the side at an extremely fast speed. The rolling gale did not blow away the purple mist as expected; it merely compressed it further. However, he had achieved his goal. The gale surrounding his body expanded, and with a muffled bird's cry, it enveloped the two people in the purple mist. Chen Guang immediately felt his movement speed being interfered with and becoming sluggish.

"Is that a remnant of the Wind Falcon Technique, a cultivator from the Eastern Family?"

The Dongfang Clan has three great secret manuals, among which the Wind Falcon Remnant Technique is very famous. It is extremely good at combat. Even without the subsequent content, there are still many members of the Dongfang Clan who practice this secret manual. The accompanying spell, Wind and Roar, uses violent wind pressure and air pressure to slow down the target's movements. It is too conspicuous and impossible not to recognize.

This move, Wind and Roar, interrupted Chen Guang's attempt to take out the Azure Cloud Boat. The Wind Falcon Remnant Technique is known for its speed and is also adept at interfering with flying magical artifacts. At this time, using the Azure Cloud Boat is not as fast as traveling on the ground. With the foundation of the second level of Body Tempering, Chen Guang experienced much less of the slowing suppression from Wind and Roar, which was completely different from Dongfang Lieming, who was almost unable to move. However, the opponent's goal was obviously achieved, as they did not want Chen Guang to escape smoothly.

The array flags were thrown out, and the four layers of armored wood walls finally rose before the golden sphere artifact could crash down. With a loud "boom," the golden sphere artifact crashed down, shattering three layers of armored wood walls in succession. As the fourth armored wood wall was smashed into a large crater, the golden sphere artifact was finally stopped from its advance.

Chen Guang had one hand on his storage artifact and felt a headache coming on. He hadn't been able to get away immediately, and now that four cultivators were approaching, it wouldn't be easy for him to escape. Moreover, there were four other cultivators surrounding him from behind.

Without hesitation, he repeatedly activated his ignition finger. With the help of the armor formation, several slender flames shot towards the cultivator who had entered the purple mist. The other party was not flustered. A gust of wind rose around him, and he retreated just as swiftly as he had come. Chen Guang glanced at the shoes on the other party's feet, which had cloud patterns that fluttered like small wings on both sides, and then let him go.

The four cultivators behind them also arrived within sight. They were quite in sync with the four in front, each standing in a corner, forming a simple Bagua formation, and began to observe. Chen Guang was not in a hurry, taking Star Leaf Powder while silently calculating the consumption of his mana.

……

"What are you doing? Didn't Uncle Seventeen tell you to be discreet?"

"The [True Mirror] clearly shows that I am of the Dongfang family bloodline. I never expected there to be outsiders involved. No wonder the timing doesn't match up. It turns out that they've already colluded with outsiders. But Jianming, that kid, is nowhere to be found..."

"So what do we do now? Let them go?"

"I think that kid is no ordinary person. Letting him go might cause trouble."

……

Chen Guang couldn't hear the telepathic communication between Dongfang Chushan and Dongfang Chongshan. However, he wasn't stupid. Seeing that the other side was surrounding him without attacking, he knew there was something fishy going on. He held an ice-blue water bottle in his hand, and without caring what the other side was preparing, he made a hand seal. A huge fireball flew out from the armored formation and headed straight for the nearest blue-robed cultivator—one of the four late-stage Qi Refining cultivators on the field.

The blue-robed cultivator raised his shield to block, and the round shield with its blue patterns instantly became wet. The huge fireball hit the shield and exploded immediately. Some of the darker flames that had just adhered to the shield and were about to ignite were extinguished by the moisture on the shield. In the explosion, a red line that looked dangerous even at first glance suddenly appeared. The blue-robed cultivator suddenly felt a chill creep into his heart. Without thinking, he activated the round shield with all his might. He had practiced this weapon control technique tens of thousands of times and had used it in actual combat more than a hundred times. It was an instinctive move. Water ripples spread out from the round shield, and just as it was about to cover the area in front of him, the red line, which was already moving incredibly fast, suddenly disappeared.

"Ahhhhh!"

A line of blood shot out from the blue-robed cultivator's pupil. Even more terrifying was that his right eye was completely burned by the flames and turned a strange, blood-red color. The blue-robed cultivator didn't have time to care about the round shield artifact. He covered his right eye with both hands, but before he could finish the action, he fell backward. The cotton fire needle had already spun once inside his brain and then flew out from the back of his head, flying towards the next yellow-robed cultivator.

Dongfang Chushan and Dongfang Chongshan felt their hair stand on end. They were already elite members of the Dongfang clan, but even they couldn't all have a defensive magical artifact. The blue-robed cultivator was the one in Dongfang Chongshan's team responsible for defense. Apart from Dongfang Chongshan, the other three cultivators relied heavily on his round shield magical artifact for defense. Who would have thought that he would suffer a fatal injury in just one round?

"Despicable, insidious!"

"You're courting death!"

The cultivators of the Dongfang clan were furious.

The flying needle magic weapon is extremely insidious, and this cultivator is also proficient in the art of controlling magic weapons. The flying needles flash, making it impossible to defend against them.

The yellow-robed cultivator watched the flying needles hurtling towards him without panicking. He puffed out his cheeks and spat out a cloud of golden dust, which enveloped Chen Guang within several feet. As soon as the Fire Needle entered this area, it was immediately covered with a large amount of golden dust, becoming exceptionally bright and heavy. Its already dwindling magical power was quickly exhausted, and the Fire Needle involuntarily plummeted to the ground, its spiritual light dimming.

Qi Refining cultivators have not yet cultivated their divine sense, and their magical power is difficult to leave their bodies. Therefore, when controlling magical artifacts, they make the artifacts float around their bodies to easily and continuously supply magical power. However, the technique of remote attack has the drawback that the artifacts need to be retrieved before they can be used again in the Qi Refining realm. There is a possibility that the magical power in the artifacts will be exhausted and cannot be recalled.

The opponent immediately adopted a targeted strategy, and even if new flying needles appeared, they could deal with them after they were weakened by the golden powder mist.

A fierce wind raged around Dongfang Chongshan. The remaining two cultivators stood together without Dongfang Chongshan's prompting. All the cultivators of the Dongfang clan were filled with rage. They had been hesitating about how to deal with Chen Guang, but in an instant, they were determined to kill him. Dongfang Chushan and the other three took up positions, defending themselves while rapidly closing in.

The cultivators of the Dongfang clan were seasoned veterans, and even when the incident occurred suddenly, they made the most correct response immediately.

Chen Guang was even more astonished. He saw that the blue-robed cultivator, upon death, had massive, stone-like rock spikes burst forth from his body, shooting in all directions. Even the wooden walls of the armored formation were instantly pierced through one layer before being stopped at the second layer.

This is the companion spell of the Dongfang Clan's "One Heart Canon" [Death Stone]. Once the body dies, all the magic power will turn into rock spikes and shoot wildly in all directions. The more magic power left, the greater the power and the longer it lasts.

The attack will commence immediately upon death.

Therefore, only the core members of the Dongfang clan can cultivate this technique, which naturally creates a deterrent effect, ensuring that the Dongfang clan members are usually not in mortal danger until their magical power is depleted to a certain extent.

"Could all eight of these cultivators be from the Dongfang clan?"

I originally thought it was just a joint operation between the Dongfang Clan and some rogue cultivators, which is not uncommon. However, the opponent's skilled combat experience, high cultivation level, abundant spiritual artifacts, and especially the presence of two different Dongfang Clan techniques and four late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, are enough to put an end to the matter.

Originally intending to wait until more people had gathered, he now raised the Ice Yuan Bottle to Dongfang Chongshan and the other two without hesitation, and the purple mist around the cultivators beside him became much thicker.

"When facing multiple opponents, you need to reduce their numbers as quickly as possible to create any room for maneuver."

Wei Donglai's words flashed through their minds, but even faster than that, a pool of icy energy gushed out from the small bottle's mouth. In an instant, Dongfang Chongshan and the other two, who were still trying to retrieve their round shield artifacts, were frozen in place by a layer of shimmering, cold ice. Due to the interference of the purple mist, they only realized what was happening when the icefall was right in front of them. However, this ice bottle, which filled two Ice Fiend Torrent Arrays, possessed a power that they could only resist if they had made ample preparations beforehand. In their haste, they had no chance to defend themselves.

"Puff puff puff puff puff puff!"

The yellow-robed cultivator was the first to succumb, and immediately dozens of rock spikes shot out from his body, breaking through the ice layer. Even Dongfang Chushan and the others, who were several feet away and ready to watch out for each other, were caught off guard and suffered some minor injuries.

But Dongfang Chushan and the others' eyes immediately turned red. Dongfang Chongshan and another Dongfang clan cultivator, who were closest to each other and still had a breath left in the ice, were now suffering the most severe attack.

His completely unguarded body was pierced by rock spikes that pierced his arms, thighs, chest, abdomen, and skull...

In an instant, the once whole person was reduced to a tattered rag, yet not a drop of blood was shed. The expressions of horror and confusion remained on their faces. If it weren't for the ice freezing the body and preserving its form, all they would have seen were mutilated remains that looked like they had been gnawed by wild dogs.

A chill swept over, and Dongfang Chushan's mind buzzed, but he still roared hoarsely as he looked at his clansmen who were preparing to continue forward.

"Let's go! Let's go—"