This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

The once bustling streets are now dyed with fresh blood, and from time to time, one can still see ghastly white bones and reddish chunks of flesh.

It's an image that will suffocate anyone at a glance.

Even Cultivators used to grand scenes, upon seeing such a horror, felt endless dread and sorrow in their hearts.

"These beasts!" Xiao Zhi couldn't help but curse softly.

...

The Tiger Squad moved very quickly.

After bidding farewell to Master You Ling's mother and son, they took nearly an hour to pass through three massive areas of ruins that had been reduced to rubble.

The final target location finally came into view.

Before them was a courtyard whose houses had long been destroyed by monstrous beasts, leaving behind only debris and severely damaged broken walls.

Seeing this, Li Zu frowned, "It looks like we're going to come up empty-handed, just like before."

The monsters pervading the city were all from the hands of the Underworld Cultivators; although these beasts had fallen into a state of frenzied insanity. The members of the Tiger Squad had a good idea—the Underworld Cultivators must have some means of avoiding the beasts' attacks.

This could be deduced from the fact that the courtyard under Ximen Zi's responsible Formation Point was left completely intact.

For others, moving around in Zhenjiang City at this time meant proceeding with extreme caution, but for Underworld Cultivators, it was like fighting on home ground, where they moved unimpeded.

"Not necessarily. We've made such big moves, and our victories have been quite remarkable.

Given the cunning of Underworld Cultivators, after realizing that we are seeking to destroy the Great Formation Points, they would certainly not reveal such obvious flaws as before.

They might even deliberately destroy their own courtyards to mislead us, after all, the Formation Points are hidden away in stone chambers underground," Xu Hao spoke up.

Lu Qingshan nodded in agreement with Xu Hao's opinion.

If it was as Xu Hao said, and the Cartographer Cultivators chose to change their tactics in time, creating illusory appearances to conceal themselves, then the difficulty of investigation by Zhi Shou Lou would undoubtedly increase significantly.

However, for the Tiger Squad, this didn't have much impact.

Because, at this time, their team composition contained an additional unexpected element.

Lu Qingshan's gaze shifted to the Rat King of the West.

With one cold glance from Lu Qingshan, the Rat King of the West shuddered, and very consciously, his figure flashed, quickly scurrying through the ruins filled with broken walls and wreckage.

Suddenly, the Rat King of the West stopped, shook its head on the spot as if confirming something, and quickly ran back, nodding its little head at everyone, "There's a situation!"

The Cultivators of the Tiger Squad looked at each other and found that the eyes of the others also twinkled with a bit of excitement.

"Let's hit them with a surprise attack when they least expect it!" Lu Qingshan made the decision.

....

Within the secretive stone chamber underground.

A stele enveloped in black mist stood at the center of the Formation Map, with blood-red Taoist Patterns flickering on it.

Almost sixty percent complete, the Blood River was about to take form!

Daoist Jian Mu watched the blood-red crystal at the center of the stele, his eyes filled with fanaticism. However, for some reason, he kept subconsciously glancing at the dark corners of the stone chamber.

Boom!

An immense explosion awakened Daoist Jian Mu from his frenzy.

The stone door of the stone chamber, extremely thick, had turned into dozens of pieces of rubble, flying in all directions and striking the walls, creating a continuous clatter.

Daoist Jian Mu was shocked to his core, his eyes wide as he looked at where the stone door had once been.

Five Cultivators, each with a distinctive presence, appeared in his field of vision.

It was the Tiger Squad.

Using the Rat King of the West's ability to sense the blood-red crystal, they had silently approached the location of the Formation Point outside the stone chamber without making any noise.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Li Zu, as a Dharma Cultivation, wielded his own Magic Artifact and took the lead in launching an attack that broke through the stone door.

In the instant the door was breached, before Daoist Jian Mu could make sense of the situation, a Flying Sword shot out from Lu Qingshan.

A dazzling Sword Light appeared in the pupils of Daoist Jian Mu.

Daoist Jian Mu reacted swiftly, summoning a round shield that appeared to be made of interwoven vines to meet the assaulting Flying Sword.

Hmm!

Lu Qingshan's normally unstoppable Flying Sword, upon hitting this Vine Shield, was as if a fist had been thrust into cotton, causing not even a ripple.

Lu Qingshan's eyes held a subtle expression, as with his experience, a single collision was enough for him to understand the profound mystery of the Vine Shield.

It was a method that diffused the force, distributing the attack of the Flying Sword across the entire shield.

Unless the power of the Flying Sword was great enough to instantly destroy the Vine Shield, with this magic artifact, Dharma Cultivation could easily handle Lu Qingshan's Flying Sword.

This Vine Shield magic artifact was extremely effective against Sword Cultivators who excelled in singling out a target.

The best way to deal with such a magic artifact would be the wide-area spell attacks of Dharma Cultivation.

Despite his attacks making no headway, Lu Qingshan revealed no hint of discouragement.

Seeing a sudden swirl of black mist appearing beside Dharma Cultivation, Lu Qingshan's heart settled.

This killing move was not his, but that of Zhong Ming, who was skilled in concealing his presence!

That was why from the beginning, Dharma Cultivation could only see five people.

The moment the stone door shattered, Zhong Ming had taken advantage of the immense noise from the flying stones to silently transform into a wisp of light smoke and drift towards Dharma Cultivation.

And Lu Qingshan, seizing the initiative, launched his Flying Sword at the first opportunity.

Faced with such a swift Flying Sword attack, how could Dharma Cultivation have any attention left to spare for other matters?

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Using the great noise of the broken stone door to cover Zhong Ming's entry into stealth, and distracting Dharma Cultivation with Lu Qingshan's lightning-fast Flying Sword, this series of underlying moves could be said to be interlinked perfectly.

And what these arrangements brought about was this one attack from Zhong Ming.

A dagger made of black mist appeared in Zhong Ming's hands, piercing straight toward Dharma Cultivation's brow.

There was no blood, nor any visible wound.

The Mist Blade, the moment it touched Dharma Cultivation's brow, went completely inside from the eyebrow, disappearing without a trace.

The next moment, Dharma Cultivation's entire face turned pitch black instantly, and merely after a single breath, he toppled backward.

This Mist Blade was crafted by Zhong Ming using the Yin Qi from the Land of Extreme Yin, a half-Techniques, half-magic artifact entity, which diminished with every use—a killer move of his.

He would not resort to using this fatal maneuver unless absolutely necessary, but under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to indulge.

However, the sacrifice brought rewards.

To instantly kill a Foundation Establishment late-stage Cultivator, even under the protection of his comrades, could be regarded as an extremely astonishing feat.

Previously, in many battles, Lu Qingshan had indeed stood out, and though as a teammate, he was happy for Lu Qingshan's strength, he inherently had a competitive spirit.

This time, surely Lu Qingshan would feel inferior, right?

Thinking thus, Zhong Ming couldn't help but reveal a smug expression on his face, turning his head to look in Lu Qingshan's direction.

What is that?!

The moment he turned, Zhong Ming's eyes widened in horror.

"Li Zu, be careful!" Zhong Ming bellowed out, trying to warn Li Zu.

But it was already too late.

Dozens of slender black needles, appearing out of nowhere, shot towards the completely unguarded Li Zu.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye, and Li Zu, who had just utilized his magic artifact to break open the stone door, was caught between the old force fading and the new force yet to emerge.

Moreover, he could never have expected that another person was concealed within the stone chamber, leaving him utterly defenseless with numerous vulnerabilities exposed.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Black needles pierced through the body, puncturing Li Zu into a sieve in an instant, with blood spraying from the tiny needle holes.

Xiao Zhi, standing next to Li Zu, had no time to react as Li Zu's blood already splattered onto his face.

Li Zu had fallen!

In the moment of the sudden change, Lu Qingshan immediately activated the Eight Gates Shield Armor state of the Water Cloud Shield while also turning his gaze towards the shadow that had abruptly appeared.

It was a short male Cultivator.

With malicious intent flickering in Rainstone's narrowed, triangular eyes, he looked at the remaining five members of Tiger Squad and cackled, "A Foundation Establishment late-stage Cultivator has been killed in one round by several Cultivators of the same Foundation Establishment Realm. Worthy of the Cultivators of the Guardian Tower, truly cunning means.

But whether your tricks will work on me, that remains to be seen."

Lu Qingshan paid no mind to the male Cultivator's mockery; his expression, however, became extremely solemn.

This Cultivator, who suddenly appeared and killed Li Zu in an instant, was actually in the Golden Core Early Stage!