Chapter 374: Ambush

The Mortal Realm

"Fellow cultivators, my task is complete. From this point forward, I am either unable to scout further, or the dangers are too great, leaving you to explore on your own."

Kong Xin took out three jade slips, made rough annotations on the map, and handed them over.

Qin Sang scanned the jade slips with his spiritual sense, discovering that the Huanglong Grass was located to the northeast. If they went straight without encountering danger, they could reach it in a few hours.

The area where the Huanglong Grass grew was not far from the second layer of Boundless Valley.

The so-called three layers of the valley actually had no significant topographical changes. They were formed by ancient restrictions within the valley and were later referred to by this customary name.

Between the first and second layers, there were several well-known paths that bypassed the restrictions, all marked on the map purchased from Skywind Tower.

However, before reaching the third layer of Boundless Valley, no path was recognized as safe.

"This is the other half of your payment. Thank you, fellow Daoist, for leading the way."

Yun Youzi tossed a mustard seed pouch to Kong Xin, then activated their flight with Qin Sang and departed.

Before leaving, Qin Sang glanced at Kong Xin and his two companions.

Throughout their journey, the trackers never showed themselves, making it seem like a mere coincidence.

However, as long as the other party wasn't targeting them, they weren't inclined to meddle. Yun Youzi's primary objective was more important.

A dense forest, filled with towering, lush trees.

Such a sight was uncommon in Boundless Valley. With frequent chaos occurring there, these ancient trees must have been incredibly fortunate to survive undamaged until now.

The dense forest was unusually quiet, completely silent, an eerie stillness.

Suddenly, a streak of flight landed in front of the dense forest, revealing a figure: the cultivator surnamed Bao, who had parted ways with Qin Sang and his companions.

He held a jade slip in his hand. Upon seeing the dense forest, he looked around, observing it carefully. Then, he immersed his spiritual sense into the jade slip to verify it against the map, and a look of surprise and delight appeared on his face.

"Not a single demonic beast encountered on the way, what luck..." the cultivator surnamed Bao muttered to himself. Muttering to himself, the cultivator surnamed Bao put away the jade slip and suddenly summoned a flying sword.

The flying sword flashed and shot straight into the dense forest.

Just as the flying sword was about to touch the dense forest, ripples suddenly spread through the space. The scenery before the cultivator surnamed Bao twisted, and even the ancient trees shattered like reflections on water.

This entire dense forest was, in fact, an illusion created by an ancient restriction.

The cultivator surnamed Bao's eyes were vigilant. He fully channeled his flying sword to break the illusion. Since the restriction did not retaliate, he felt a sense of relief and began to examine the scene within the illusion.

Hidden beneath the illusion was a narrow, dark, and damp gorge resembling a "thread of sky." It appeared peaceful and harmless, but strange noises continuously echoed from its far end.

Amplified by the gorge, the sounds became even more eerie.

Hearing the strange sounds, a worried expression appeared on the cultivator surnamed Bao's face, but he did not stop; he continued to fully command his flying sword to break the illusion.

Unexpectedly, the moment the illusion shattered, a sudden change occurred.

From deep within the gorge, a sharp blue light suddenly shot out with incredible speed.

The blue light enveloped a flying sword, which looked very familiar.

The cultivator surnamed Bao's expression shifted slightly, and he reacted extremely quickly, contorting his body. However, the attacker had chosen such a cunning moment that the flying sword pierced his chest after he barely managed a few evasive moves.

Yet, no blood flowed from the cultivator surnamed Bao who had been pierced by the flying sword.

At the same time, several zhang behind, the cultivator surnamed Bao reappeared. Aside from his slightly disordered aura, he had no other injuries.

What had been pierced by the flying sword was merely a clone.

At that moment, a person flew out of the gorge, retrieved their flying sword, and glared grimly at the cultivator surnamed Bao, surprised that their carefully chosen timing had been so easily countered.

"Kong Xin!"

The cultivator surnamed Bao recognized the newcomer without surprise and sneered, "I knew all along you were no good!"

"Not at all! Not at all!"

Kong Xin shook his head in denial. "I've always been law-abiding, which is how I've earned such a good reputation in Boundless Valley. This time, it was out of necessity; I just needed to borrow some of your vital blood..."

Before he finished speaking, a flush suddenly spread across Kong Xin's pale face, and he clutched his chest, coughing violently as if trying to cough out his heart, liver, and lungs.

"So, you're just a sickly wretch! And you dared to scheme against me, Bao!"

The cultivator surnamed Bao's eyes lit up. He sneered and immediately made his move.

Kong Xin hastily commanded his sword to block, but due to his physical condition, his flying sword gradually became somewhat erratic. Suppressed by the cultivator surnamed Bao, Kong Xin persevered for a while, but his aura grew increasingly chaotic.

Kong Xin suddenly shouted loudly, "Are you not going to act? How long do you plan to just watch?"

The cultivator surnamed Bao was startled.

Behind him, a series of eerie cackles suddenly erupted. "I thought, Brother Kong, that your strength was sufficient to easily take down this person without my help..."

Space twisted, and a black-robed figure stepped out of thin air, blocking the cultivator surnamed Bao's escape route behind him.

Kong Xin snorted coldly, "Enough talk! Let's finish this quickly! If we miss this opportunity, the others will escape."

The black-robed figure said with dissatisfaction, "If you hadn't arbitrarily changed the plan and led these people out of the grotto prematurely, wasting my efforts, they would already be dead by our swords. Why go to all this extra trouble?"

"What do you know?"

Kong Xin retorted angrily, "How was I supposed to know there was such a sharp flying sword artifact? I staked my entire fortune with Old Demon Ji for the Blue Light Sword, and it can only leave a shallow mark on stone. Yet, that fellow's flying sword could easily slice off a piece. Do you think I didn't want to stall for time? Luring them into the grotto had already aroused their suspicion. If I had made any unusual move, those people would have immediately killed me!"

The black-robed figure asked in surprise, "What? Old Demon Ji's Blue Light Sword is among the sharpest high-grade artifacts. There's something even sharper than the Blue Light Sword? What grade is it? Could it be a magic treasure?"

"I observed the person commanding the flying sword; it moved freely and was not a magic treasure. I estimate it must have had some special spiritual material added to it..."

The two conversed as if no one else were present, clearly not putting him in their consideration.

The cultivator surnamed Bao's expression grew increasingly grim. Listening to their conversation, he pieced together the situation, realizing that Kong Xin harbored such immense ambition that he had attempted to capture all of them in the grotto.

Fortunately, Daoist Qingfeng's flying sword was sharp enough. Otherwise, if Kong Xin had stalled for more time, and they had expended too much energy, they might genuinely have fallen into his trap.

The cultivator surnamed Bao knew that if he didn't quickly shake off these two, his chances of survival would be slim.

The black-robed figure was mysterious and unfathomable, but Kong Xin's injuries were not fake.

Thinking this, the cultivator surnamed Bao suddenly launched himself on his sword, choosing to break through in Kong Xin's direction.

Facing the cultivator surnamed Bao's desperate attack, Kong Xin's expression remained unchanged. Suddenly, a bloody light flashed between his eyebrows; it seemed a seal had been broken, and Kong Xin's aura completely erupted.

Foundation Establishment, Middle Stage!