As soon as they entered the cave, several people saw a collapsed pavilion with spiritual lights flickering beneath the ruins.
Before this ruin, three cultivators were already fighting each other, the techniques they used even illuminated most of the cave.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan and the other two paused for a moment, then without hesitation, they charged forward, each choosing an opponent.
Zhao Yuansong and Wu Chengqing each selected a middle-aged man and immediately activated their magical artifacts, launching a fierce assault without a word.
As for Ji Yuan's opponent, it was a stout middle-aged woman. Although her magical power was somewhat mixed, it was not as impure as that of wild cultivators from the mountains and marshes, suggesting she was a rogue cultivator with a complete inheritance.
He drew the long whip at his waist, and as spiritual power surged within him, the whip immediately glowed with a bluish-water light, then fiercely lashed out through the air.
With this strike, the whip sent the magical artifact in front of the middle-aged woman flying, and the rebound force caused her to stagger back several steps, a few wisps of blood escaping from the corner of her mouth.
"Little Daoist priest, how heartless you are!"
The middle-aged woman wiped the blood from her lips and said with some reproach, "A child barely grown, no wonder you don't know how to cherish a maiden!"
As she spoke, she winked coquettishly, but her movements did not stop at all. Her hands rapidly formed hand seals, recalling the magical artifact that had been whipped several feet away.
At the same time, the middle-aged woman understood in her heart that although the opponent looked young, she needed to be even more cautious.
In the understanding of cultivators, the younger the opponent, the less one should be careless. For someone to possess such cultivation at such a young age, their talent, background, and other factors would naturally not be weak.
The more such existences there were, the more terrifying they usually were!
Because of this, the middle-aged woman, who had been leisurely entangled in combat, was already pouring out her full strength.
She formed hand seals and then suddenly clapped her palms together. A layer of earthy yellow light permeated the magical artifact in front of her.
It was a short saber about an arm's length, its blade thick and broad, appearing rather unpretentious. As the earthy yellow light flowed over the blade, it immediately exuded a sense of weight and solidity.
With a heavy shout from the middle-aged woman, the short saber broke through the air and, within one or two breaths, appeared above Ji Yuan's head, about to strike down.
However, he was not concerned at all. He slightly leaned back and whipped his long whip towards the short saber above his head.
The whip, glowing with a bluish-water light, immediately coiled around the short saber, and ripples like water waves emanated, forcefully suppressing the power contained within the blade.
The middle-aged woman's expression changed. She immediately tried to unleash the full power of the short saber, but no matter how she urged it, she could not break free from the whip's restraint.
Ji Yuan let out a heavy breath. Then, as he poured spiritual power into it, he also exerted his physical strength to its fullest, forcefully swinging the short saber!
After spinning the short saber in the air a few times, he suddenly flung it towards the middle-aged woman in front of him, simultaneously releasing the long whip that had bound the blade.
The next moment, the short saber turned into a streak of light and shot towards its owner!
Seeing this, and realizing she could no longer control the short saber, the middle-aged woman quickly dodged to the side. However, her movement was a beat too slow. With a strange sound, blood immediately splattered onto the ground.
Her right arm fell to the ground. After a brief moment of stunned silence, the middle-aged woman let out a roar of intense pain.
The spiritual power within her erupted, merging into the severed right shoulder and the large amount of blood gushing out!
Immediately, a large amount of blood condensed into an arrow, shooting towards Ji Yuan's brow.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan remained unhurried. With a flick of his long whip, he formed a hand seal with his other hand.
In just the time it takes to snap one's fingers, a phantom of a seven-story pagoda appeared from within him, manifesting around him, appearing almost tangible!
Clang!!
The blood arrow broke through the air and struck the pagoda phantom, emitting a loud clang like metal on metal!
However, under the middle-aged woman's despairing gaze, this blood arrow, which had condensed half of her life force and nearly all of her spiritual power, failed to break through the pagoda phantom. It then suddenly collapsed, turning into a mist of blood that scattered with the wind!
Crack!
In the next breath, an afterimage flashed, and then a strike landed on her, directly scattering the remaining half of her life force!
The middle-aged woman's body flew backward like a sandbag, finally landing on the ground several feet away. Her eyes were wide open, seemingly unable to accept the reality before her even in death.
Ji Yuan felt no triumph in killing a rogue cultivator at the early stage of the second realm with such swiftness. With his current strength, achieving this was quite normal.
He used the Yuan Chen Whip to pick up the short saber that was stuck several feet away, then flicked his fingers, sending out four or five fireballs the size of millstones to completely incinerate the middle-aged woman's corpse.
As expected, at this temperature, nothing remained on her, only a few glowing silver ingots.
He cast a few water orbs to quickly cool the silver ingots, then used his spiritual power to retrieve them from afar, bringing them to him. At the same time, his gaze swept to the left and right.
Zhao Yuansong and Wu Chengqing, though they did not kill their opponents with the same swiftness as him, had firmly gained the upper hand. If no unexpected events occurred, victory was only a matter of time.
The latter did not need to be mentioned; he possessed cultivation at the mid-stage of the Spirit Point realm and was quite famous within the inner sect. Even without using his full strength, suppressing a wild cultivator at the early stage of the second realm was a sure thing.
As for the former, although he had only broken through to the second realm three to four months ago, he possessed several suitable magical artifacts. Coupled with the sword intent he had comprehended, even if his opponent had been cultivating in this realm for longer, he was still bound to win.
What's more, those two wild cultivators from the mountains and marshes, whose spiritual power was neither pure nor turbid, had already developed a strong desire to retreat after witnessing the swift demise of the middle-aged woman, and were looking for an opportunity to escape.
"It's all secured!"
Just then, Liu Donglai and Wang Xiaoxuan returned from the ruins, shouting to the three of them with joy.
While Ji Yuan and the others were fighting, they had quietly gone around from the side and headed straight for the ruins to collect the flickering spiritual lights.
This was something they had discussed beforehand: the three of them would serve as the main force to deal with other cultivators, while the two would take the opportunity to seize the spiritual items in the field. Once successful, the initiative would be in their hands, whether to fight or retreat.
Sometimes, competing for opportunities did not necessarily require a life-or-death struggle. By employing a few clever tactics, one could achieve similar results without killing all opponents.
Seeing that the two had succeeded, the two wild cultivators from the mountains and marshes no longer hesitated. They forcibly withdrew, even at the cost of suffering some minor injuries, and fled out of the cave without looking back.
However, as soon as they left the cave, they let out a scream. Several cultivators who had been lying in ambush outside smashed their bodies into pieces with their magical artifacts.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan and the others' expressions turned grim. They had been focused on fighting, and in addition, the cultivators outside the cave seemed to be adept at concealing their auras, so they had not detected their presence at all.
At this moment, five youths stepped into the cave one after another, their moon-white robes particularly conspicuous in the eyes of the group.
"It's disciples of the Moon Gazing Sect!"
Wu Chengqing said in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan and the others were stunned for a moment, then reacted.
If they were disciples of the Moon Gazing Sect, with that sect's mastery of illusion techniques, it was indeed possible for them to be so difficult to detect.
"Hand over those spiritual items, as well as your magical artifacts and mountain-river bags, and perhaps we'll let you go?"
A handsome young man at the forefront taunted with a playful expression.
As his words fell, the others around him unleashed their killing intent without any reservation, and moon wheels spun rapidly around them.
"Four early-stage Spirit Point realm, one mid-stage Spirit Point realm, this is a bit troublesome!"
Ji Yuan glanced over and muttered to himself.
However, despite his words, he had already quietly mobilized all his spiritual power, prepared to fight at any moment.
Apart from the fact that they could not possibly hand over the spiritual items they had obtained and their personal wealth, it was also because the Nine Profound Sect and the Moon Gazing Sect were ancient enemies!
Three to four hundred years ago, the Moon Gazing Sect had gathered the luck of an entire prefecture, and there were as many as three Golden Core Great Cultivators within the sect!
Unfortunately, due to a certain incident, they had thoroughly angered the Nine Profound Sect. After a great battle, two of the three Golden Core Great Cultivators perished on the spot, and the remaining one, severely wounded, lingered for more than ten years before also passing away.
It was precisely because of this battle that the luck of Qinghe Prefecture, which had finally begun to trend upwards, was completely shattered. It took more than two hundred years to recover partially and give birth to one Golden Core Great Cultivator.
In the intervening centuries, the two sects had become sworn enemies, meeting each other with deadly intent. Too many fellow disciples had died at the hands of the other, and the accumulated hatred could not be resolved, only by the complete annihilation of one side.
However, due to the laws of the Great Yu Dynasty, the Nine Profound Sect was unable to directly intervene and completely sever the inheritance of the Moon Gazing Sect!
"You want to fight?"
The handsome young man raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, "Are you really not considering it? We don't want to deplete our strength too much by fighting you, thus being unable to compete for the final opportunities!"
Hearing this, Ji Yuan and the others' faces immediately revealed cold smiles. If they were truly insane enough to act on the other party's words, these people would undoubtedly go back on their word.
"Too much nonsense, if you want to fight, then fight!"
Wu Chengqing snorted contemptuously, giving the five disciples of the Moon Gazing Sect a disdainful glance.
His attitude naturally caused anger to surge in their eyes, and the handsome young man was too lazy to play anymore. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
However, just as he moved his finger, his expression suddenly changed. He hurriedly led the four disciples beside him to retreat rapidly.
Almost at the same time, more than twenty talismans were thrown into the air, then transformed into fireballs, water arrows, and the like, shooting out like a torrential storm!
Rumble!!
Roaring sounds echoed, reverberating inside and outside the cave, and countless dust and smoke billowed up!
"Be careful!"
As soon as the handsome young man stopped, he immediately shouted.
He was the first to form hand seals, unleashing torrents of spiritual power that manifested as several shields several feet long and wide in front of him. Then, with a touch of the moon wheel beside him, a clear moon-like radiance erupted, enveloping him.
As his voice fell, the other four disciples of the Moon Gazing Sect all took similar actions, using their spiritual power to cast techniques and form shields in front of them, then using the power of their moon wheel magical artifacts to protect themselves.
However, their movements were still a step too slow. Before the moon-like radiance could fully envelop them, they saw six beads glowing with bluish-water light shooting out from the billowing smoke and dust in front of them.
In just a moment, the shields condensed by their spiritual power were shattered on the spot, and then the six heavy water beads, their power undiminished, directly struck the moon-colored radiance on their bodies!