Chapter 4343: Attack

Ye Haitang’s gaze fell on the bottom right corner of the cave, where a magic formation, over a hundred *zhang* in size, was situated. The formation featured numerous uniform grooves; most contained a high-grade immortal essence stone, while five held an Immortal Gathering Jade each.

A faint ripple of restrictions emanated from the rock wall, with mysterious runes visible in certain spots. It appeared someone had set up these restrictions specifically to cultivate the Blood Infant Jade Apricot Tree. For unknown reasons, the cultivators never returned to harvest the Blood Infant Jade Apricots, which proved fortunate for them.

"It seems we overthought things; Xu Di's accident was just a coincidence," Wang Yunyue said with a smile.

"It's hard to say," Ye Haitang instructed. "Let's harvest the Blood Infant Jade Apricots first!"

Wang Yi'er put on a pair of snow-white gloves, then flew to the Blood Infant Jade Apricot Tree. He carefully harvested all the Blood Infant Jade Apricots, placing them into several jade boxes.

"With so many Blood Infant Jade Apricots, Ancestor Qingbai should be able to refine Blood Infant Jade Apricot Pills!" Wang Yingjie exclaimed excitedly. "Even if we can't cultivate an immortal body, our physical bodies will still become significantly stronger."

The stronger one's physical body, the more potent the Three Cosmic Fingers—a physical divine ability—becomes.

"Cousin Qingbai's alchemy skills are quite impressive," Ye Haitang agreed wholeheartedly. "With this many Blood Infant Jade Apricots, he'll certainly be able to refine a batch of Blood Infant Jade Apricot Pills."

After harvesting all the Blood Infant Jade Apricots, Wang Yi'er and Wang Yunyue retrieved their formation flags and disks to set up an array. They prepared to transplant the Blood Infant Jade Apricot Tree and bring it back to Qinglian Island.

Once the formation was set, Wang Yi'er and Wang Yunyue each took out a pale yellow formation disk. Simultaneously, they cast a magical incantation. The ground gently quaked, and a faint yellow light erupted from beneath the earth as the Blood Infant Jade Apricot Tree slowly ascended, rising above the surface.

Some of its roots snapped, exuding a reddish, blood-like liquid.

A dazzling green light emerged from Wang Yingjie's palm. The light fell upon the severed roots, and the wounds quickly healed—the Law of Wood at work!

After successfully transplanting the Blood Infant Jade Apricot Tree, they collected the immortal essence stones and Immortal Gathering Jades from the formation before departing.

No more blood-colored lightning struck from above. The Six Absolutes Blood Thunder Array had been set up here by someone, but for unknown reasons, the original creator had never returned.

They retraced their steps, finding the journey back relatively smooth, with some alarming moments but no true danger.

Shortly after they exited the cave, a yellow flying sword burst from the ground and shot directly towards Wang Yingjie.

Wang Yingjie reacted swiftly, his right index finger flaring with spiritual light as he met the sword head-on, colliding with the yellow flying sword.

A metallic "clank" echoed as the yellow flying sword was sent flying back.

Ye Haitang flicked her sleeve, and a black scroll flew out, releasing a black mist that enveloped Wang Yi'er and Wang Yunyue, drawing them into its depths.

Anyone daring to ambush them had to be a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, and Wang Yi'er and Wang Yunyue would be unable to help.

A long red arc of light shot towards them, causing the ground to spontaneously ignite and the flames to surge.

Ye Haitang summoned a black-glowing flying dagger. Numerous ghostly figures could be seen on its blade, emitting a piercing wail of ghosts as it flew to meet the red arc of light.

The black flying dagger collided with the red arc of light, producing a muffled clang of metal. The red arc of light recoiled, revealing a long sword shimmering with red light.

Ye Haitang's expression turned cold. She lightly pointed her right index finger into the void, and a black light shot out, speeding towards a specific point in the empty space.

The void lit up with spiritual light, revealing the figures of Yang Yan, Chen Ying, and Chen Lei.

They had been delayed by restrictions and arrived a step too late. By the time they reached the cave, the Wang family cultivators had already harvested the Blood Infant Jade Apricots.

Realizing that Ye Haitang and Wang Yingjie were only in the early Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage, they harbored malicious intent, planning to eliminate them and claim all the Blood Infant Jade Apricots for themselves.

The Wang family had the Nangong Immortal Clan as their patron, while the Tianhe Sword Sect was backed by the Myriad Beasts Palace. Since the Nangong Immortal Clan and the Myriad Beasts Palace harbored private grudges, the Tianhe Sword Sect members held no fear of the Wang family.

Chen Lei flipped his right hand, and a yellow light flashed as a yellow-glowing flying sword appeared. With a flick of his wrist, a vast expanse of yellow sword light swept out, coalescing into a giant yellow sword that slashed towards the black light.

The black light collided with the giant yellow sword, shattering it into countless fragments.

Chen Lei then summoned his yellow flying sword, which barely managed to block the black light.

"A peak True Spirit! A high-grade immortal artifact!" Chen Ying's delicate brows furrowed in a frown.

Among the three of them, she was the only one who possessed a high-grade immortal artifact, which she had acquired by spending most of her family fortune. It was astonishing that Ye Haitang, merely in the early Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage, also possessed such an item.

Considering that Immortal Lord Taihao was highly skilled in artifact refining, she found it less surprising.

Chen Lei and Yang Yan's gazes burned with desire. They had been in the Grand Unity Golden Immortal stage for over five hundred thousand years yet still lacked a high-grade immortal artifact, primarily because they spent most of their time in secluded cultivation, with few avenues for acquiring wealth.

"The Tianhe Sword Sect! Ambushing us from behind—is that how your sect operates?" Wang Yingjie's tone was icy.

"We discovered the Blood Infant Jade Apricot first," Chen Lei sneered. "You snatched something belonging to our Tianhe Sword Sect, and you still claim to be in the right?"

"Junior Brother Chen, silence," Chen Ying interjected, stopping Chen Lei. She then said courteously, "We initially mistook you two fellow daoists for the evil cultivators who killed Junior Nephew Sun; it was a misunderstanding. How about you hand over a small portion of the Blood Infant Jade Apricots, and we will depart immediately?"

Immortal Lord Taihao was known for his mastery of artifact refining, even possessing Yellow-grade Immortal Warships. Chen Ying, unsure if Ye Haitang and Wang Yingjie carried such a vessel, was reluctant to engage them in a direct confrontation.

"Do you take us for fools?" Ye Haitang retorted coldly. "Do you truly expect us to believe such words? Had you spoken directly, we might have considered it, but since you've already launched a sneak attack, there's nothing left to discuss."

"Sister Chen, they prefer to take the hard way," Chen Lei said. "Let's stop wasting words. Kill them, and all the Blood Infant Jade Apricots will be ours."

Once the arrow was shot, there was no turning back. As long as they eliminated Ye Haitang and Wang Yingjie, no one would ever know who was responsible.

A cold glint flashed in Chen Ying's eyes. She nodded and said, "Set up the sword formation to deal with them." She flicked her sleeve, and a golden-glowing flying sword shot skyward. Chen Lei and Yang Yan each summoned nine yellow flying swords and nine red flying swords, respectively. The nineteen flying swords circled erratically high above, forming a massive circular sword formation.

The three of them simultaneously performed their sword incantations, causing the circular sword formation to spin continuously. Countless sharp, colossal sword energies swept forth, coalescing in mid-air into two enormous sword dragons that lunged towards Wang Yingjie and Ye Haitang.

Ye Haitang's right hand erupted with black light. She slapped towards the void, and a black-glowing giant palm flashed forth, meeting the two sword dragons.

One sword dragon collided with the black giant palm, its massive body trembling slightly before disintegrating into specks of spiritual light. The other sword dragon met the same fate upon impact with the black giant palm.

The black giant palm then shot directly towards the circular sword formation with great speed.

The circular sword formation rotated rapidly, and countless sharp sword lights swept forth, transforming into a river of swords that slashed towards the black giant palm.

However, the river of swords was as fragile as paper, shattered to dust by the black giant palm.