Chapter 375: Unexpected

Two deafening dragon roars echoed as two white flood dragons, claws bared and teeth gnashing, lunged forward, their long tails striking the two fire carp beasts.

The two fire carp beasts felt an irresistible force, sending them flying backward uncontrollably to crash heavily onto the ground. The moment they landed, countless white ropes emerged from the ground, swiftly coiling around their bodies like lightning. Seizing this opportunity, Mo Yishan and Leng Rumei withdrew the formation.

The two fire carp beasts let out strange roars as a large expanse of crimson flames erupted on their bodies, causing the white ropes to snap one after another. Mo Yishan flipped his hand, producing a palm-sized white mirror. With a flash, the mirror emitted a large expanse of white radiance that fleetingly enveloped the two fire carp beasts. The two fire carp beasts were instantly frozen, transforming into ice sculptures.

Leng Rumei opened her mouth, and a silver light shot out, transforming into a several-zhang-long silver rainbow that struck toward the ice sculptures.

“Boom!”

With two loud bangs, the ice sculptures shattered. The two heavily wounded fire carp beasts were slain by the silver rainbow, their bodies severed, and blood stained the ground.

Seeing this, Wang Mingren and the others breathed a sigh of relief, finally having slain the two fire carp beasts. A faint smile appeared on Leng Rumei's face. Just as she was about to speak, a large expanse of yellow light flew out from the sea around the island, forming a huge yellow light barrier that enveloped them all.

“This is bad, an enemy attack,” Mo Yishan said in a deep voice, his expression changing.

Wang Mingren's face turned grim. It seemed the enemy knew of their return and had already set up a formation, waiting. Their delay in revealing themselves was to let them exhaust their magic power against the fire carp beasts. Leng Rumei's brows furrowed deeply. With most of her magic power depleted, the sudden appearance of an enemy group was indeed troublesome. She had already used her divine sense to search the island and the surrounding sea, yet found no abnormalities. The enemy must possess some unusual treasure and knew they were coming here to hunt demonic beasts; this was a trap.

Two giant blue clam shells emerged from the sea near the island, emitting faint spiritual energy fluctuations, clearly identifiable as magic treasures. The clam shells were tightly closed, making it impossible to see what was inside.

Inside the yellow light barrier, a hurricane suddenly whipped up, kicking up vast amounts of flying sand and stones. A large portion of the sand swirled and transformed into two yellow giants, over three zhang tall. These giants had somewhat dull gazes and uneven bodies, appearing to be pieced together from large stones. At the same time, a large amount of yellow light appeared above Wang Mingren and the others, transforming into large yellow boulders that began to smash down on them.

The two yellow giants strode rapidly toward Leng Rumei and the others. Mo Yishan aimed the white mirror in his hand at the two yellow giants. Two thick white light beams shot out, accurately striking the giants and instantly transforming them into huge ice sculptures.

Leng Rumei activated a magic art, and a silver rainbow soared to meet the falling yellow boulders. Simultaneously, Wang Mingren and the others cast defensive spells upon themselves. A series of bangs and thuds ensued. The falling yellow boulders were shattered by the silver rainbow, and even the occasional one that slipped through failed to breach Wang Mingren and the others' defenses.

Leng Rumei glanced at the two blue clam shells, a cold glint flashing in her eyes. With a flip of her delicate hand, a shimmering purple talisman appeared. The purple talisman's surface was covered with mysterious, rice-grain-sized runes, exuding potent spiritual energy. It was a Tier 4 talisman, the Nine-Element Purple Thunder Talisman, capable of an attack comparable to that of a Nascent Soul cultivator. As one of the Five Prodigies of Taiyi, Leng Rumei possessed a considerable number of life-saving items.

A hint of reluctance appeared in her eyes. With a gentle toss of her delicate hand, the purple talisman shot out, transforming into a streak of purple light that struck toward the yellow light barrier.

Leng Rumei then sent a voice transmission to Mo Yishan: “Senior Brother Mo, team up with me, and we'll break this formation by force.” She then raised her hand, and a shimmering silver scroll shot out as she cast a magic art onto it. With a flash of silver light, the scroll unfolded in mid-air, revealing a painting of dozens of flying daggers of various shapes.

Mo Yishan's movements were equally swift. He opened his mouth, and a yellow light shot out, revealing a small three-legged cauldron. The cauldron was entirely yellow, with a lifelike yellow giant python carved on its body, appearing to exhale clouds and mist.

“Expand!” Mo Yishan gave a soft shout, casting a magic art onto the small yellow cauldron. The cauldron rapidly expanded, its lid flying off. A large expanse of yellow flames shot out, spun, and transformed into a massive yellow fire python, following closely behind the purple light.

With a deafening roar, as the purple light approached the yellow light barrier, it immediately erupted into a blinding expanse of purple light, transforming into a gigantic purple sun that enveloped a large area. The yellow light barrier shook violently, its spiritual light dimming considerably, and the ground trembled continuously.

“Break!” Leng Rumei gave a soft shout, casting a magic art onto the silver scroll. The scroll burst forth with dazzling silver light, and hundreds of flying daggers of various shapes shot out, eagerly striking the yellow light barrier. This "Hundred Blades Spirit Slaying Diagram" was a spirit treasure, bestowed by Leng Rumei's master, a Nascent Soul cultivator, and its power was immense.

With a deafening roar, the yellow light barrier shattered, and hundreds of yellow formation flags broke apart and fell to the ground. Seeing Leng Rumei and Mo Yishan easily break the formation, the two blue clam shells immediately lit up with dazzling blue light and submerged into the seabed. The enemy didn't dare to show themselves; as soon as their formation was broken, they immediately fled. What cowards!

Leng Rumei breathed a long sigh of relief. It was fortunate that the enemy was so cowardly; if a fight had broken out, the outcome would have been uncertain.

“Junior Sister Leng, let’s go back quickly! Lest the enemy launch a counterattack,” Mo Yishan said, putting away his magic treasure and releasing the twin-headed giant python.

Wang Mingren and the others, whose hearts had been in their throats, finally relaxed and quickly walked up. “Let's go.” The twin-headed giant python carried everyone back the way they came, disappearing into the horizon shortly after.

Over a month later, they returned to Spirit Turtle Island.

“No one is allowed to reveal anything about this operation, nor are you allowed to leave the market city. Return to your respective residences to rest and await investigation. If I find out who betrayed us, I will certainly not spare them. Junior Nephew Lin, come with me, I have something to ask you.”

Wang Mingren felt deeply frustrated. What he had thought would be a pleasant assignment had turned into a turmoil. Fortunately, he was an honest person and hadn't associated with cultivators outside their sect, so coupled with Xu Zihua's identity, he should be fine.

Li Xin said in an apologetic tone, “Junior Brother Wang, I apologize for getting you involved.”

Wang Mingren smiled slightly. “Senior Brother Li, you jest. This has nothing to do with you; you had good intentions, and I won't blame you. I just don't know who betrayed us, colluding with outsiders to harm our sect's cultivators. Given how cowardly the enemy is, they must be a small force or rogue cultivators.”

“Forget about it! It's not our concern. Our sect will definitely investigate thoroughly, punish severely without leniency, and the culprits certainly won't escape.”

Wang Mingren nodded, chatted for a bit, then returned to his residence to rest.