Chapter 489 - 427: 1 Slash

Chapter 489: Chapter 427: 1 Slash

Matsuo’s expression was grim, a shadow of gloom flashing in his eyes.

This morning, Heiqi, Oda, Sen Cheng, and Pinyuan still hadn’t shown up. Even Ji Zhang and Chunying were gone!

He had asked his subordinates, but no one knew where the two Peak Realm Cultivators had gone.

Matsuo guessed the two had left on their own without a word, surely to be the one to claim Zhao Lin’s head. He hadn’t paid it much mind at first, but the tremors gave him a bad feeling.

’The Chenghua Sect daring to dismantle the traps means they have absolute confidence in their strength. What does that imply?’

’He could accept the deaths of the four Qi Refining Realm cultivators, but with Ji Zhang and Chunying’s strength, could they have met with an accident as well?’

"Lord Matsuo, the sound seems to be coming from the direction of Golden Ox Beach. Should we go and take a look?"

A cultivator asked nervously.

If they lost the pearl beaches, the entire seafaring mission would be a failure. They wouldn’t earn a single merit point no matter how many Spirit Pearls they collected, and they would even face severe punishment.

"Let’s go!"

Matsuo said in a calm voice, not letting his inner doubts show.

BOOM...

The group left Moon Deer Beach, and halfway to their destination, another tremor rumbled through.

Now they were certain. The sound was coming from Golden Ox Beach.

Matsuo didn’t lead his men there directly. Instead, he went to the nearby Qingyang Beach.

"You all stay here. I’ll go scout ahead first."

After giving a brief instruction, Matsuo departed Qingyang Beach, riding the water.

...

It took the four Array Masters less than an hour to dismantle three traps.

Just as they were about to look for the next one, Zhao Lin held up a hand to stop them.

"Pause the dismantling. Let’s set up two traps of our own first!"

Seeing their confused expressions, Zhao Lin explained, "Making such a commotion will surely draw out the people from the Earth Dark Sect. They won’t be able to sit still and will come to disrupt us."

"But this is the Earth Dark Sect’s territory. We’ll be at a disadvantage if a fight breaks out."

"Only by setting up traps can we seize the initiative. Even if the battle turns against us, we’ll have a place to fall back to."

Sun Jue and the others agreed. They saw a nearby Sea Ridge that was perfect for setting up a trap, so they went over and began taking measurements.

To prevent the Earth Dark Sect from spying on the Array’s location, Zhao Lin had Du Zhen and Chang Jianqiu lead the cultivators to expand their defensive perimeter.

The cultivators spread out, maintaining a distance of forty zhang between each other. If they spotted anything unusual, they would use Dharma Seals to notify one another.

"Golden Ox Beach has complex terrain, so Divine Sense can’t cover everything. Everyone, be careful," Zhao Lin warned.

Chang Jianqiu accepted the order. He took four cultivators to the north side of the Sea Ridge and arranged them in a fan-shaped formation, with himself at the center and two men on each side.

Yuan Peng was in charge of guarding the west. He stood on a slope of the Sea Ridge, vigilantly scanning his surroundings.

Before him was a stretch of rolling hills, dotted with reefs and seaweed.

’The Earth Dark Sect has one Transition Realm cultivator. I have to be careful.’

Yuan Peng thought to himself. He was the last cultivator to join the team, and he didn’t know if his decision had been right or wrong.

’I hope the mission ends successfully so I can get a larger share of merit points.’

After an unknown amount of time, Yuan Peng suddenly noticed a faint red glow flickering at the base of a nearby hill.

’What’s that?’

Yuan Peng’s attention was captivated by the red light. He immediately infused Spiritual Power into his eyes and peered toward the glow.

He vaguely saw a "rock" the size of a water vat.

The rock was pitch-black, with a conspicuous red marking on top.

"A Red Crowned Conch!"

Yuan Peng’s breath hitched. Although it was far away and he couldn’t see it clearly, he was eighty percent certain his judgment was correct.

The Red Crowned Conch was an extremely rare mollusk. The Spirit Pearl it nurtured was called a Red Spirit Pearl, one of the few Spirit Pearls that contained Fire Spiritual Power.

Rarity determined value. A Red Spirit Pearl was far more expensive than an ordinary Spirit Pearl; a Fourth Grade Red Spirit Pearl was even more valuable than a common Third Grade Spirit Pearl.

The flickering red light must be the Red Crowned Conch nurturing its Spirit Pearl.

Judging from the conch’s size, the Spirit Pearl within had to be at least Third Grade.

Yuan Peng subconsciously took a few steps forward, but then remembered he was on guard duty and stopped.

After a moment of deliberation, he thought: ’It’s so close, it should be fine. Even if I’m unlucky enough to run into a Transition Realm cultivator, it’s not like I can’t even block a few of their moves.’

’A Transition Realm cultivator isn’t a true Foundation Establishment cultivator, after all. There’s still time to notify the others.’

Thinking this, Yuan Peng formed a Fan Fall Seal and sent out an "all is well" message.

Two breaths later, a cultivator nearby returned the Fan Fall Seal.

Reassured, Yuan Peng quickly descended the slope and moved through the water toward the Red Crowned Conch.

As he neared the hill, he slowed down and took out a handful of Sponge Sand from his storage pouch.

Not only could the Red Crowned Conch use Water Element Skills, but its breath also contained a trace of Fire Evil Qi, which was extremely detrimental to one’s cultivation.

If he was hit by its breath, the loss would far outweigh the gain, even if he managed to get the Red Spirit Pearl.

Yuan Peng reined in his Water Manipulation Skill, minimizing his Mana fluctuations. Just as he was about to throw the Sponge Sand, he suddenly realized that there was only a Red Spirit Pearl inside the Red Crowned Conch—the shell itself was empty!

"An empty shell!"

The hair on Yuan Peng’s body stood on end. He instantly realized he had fallen into a trap.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he used his water manipulation to retreat rapidly.

If he could just retreat ten zhang, he could use a Dharma Seal to contact the nearby cultivators.

SWISH!

A brilliant white light flashed across Yuan Peng’s waist.

Yuan Peng only felt a chill before he knew what had happened. After running for several zhang, his body suddenly split in two.

Before he died, Yuan Peng struggled to lift his eyelids and saw a blurry figure. His last thought was: ’Such a fast blade!’

An old man in a grey robe walked over. Without a single glance at the corpse, he grabbed the Red Crowned Conch from the ground, and with a flicker of his figure, vanished...

Zhao Lin circled the Sea Ridge on patrol. He found nothing unusual for the time being, but he didn’t dare to lower his guard.

With his current strength, he was confident he could handle cultivators at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer or even Peak Realm Cultivators. But facing a Transition Realm cultivator was another matter.

Zhao Lin didn’t know this person’s character, but since his side had dismantled three traps, the other party would surely not stand idly by.

Perhaps that person was currently hidden somewhere, secretly observing him.

"How are things? Everything normal?"

Passing the northern side of the Sea Ridge, Zhao Lin saw Chang Jianqiu and stopped to ask.

"I just contacted everyone thirty breaths ago. They’re all there!"

Chang Jianqiu said with a smile, forming a Dharma Seal in his hands as he spoke.

A moment later, several Dharma Seal fluctuations returned.

Chang Jianqiu frowned. "Why isn’t Yuan Peng responding?"

Zhao Lin quickly asked, "Where is Yuan Peng?"

Chang Jianqiu said in a low voice, "He’s over on the western slope. I’ll go take a look."

Zhao Lin reached out to stop him. "You stay here. I’ll go!"

Chang Jianqiu nodded and formed a Dharma Seal to warn the others to be careful.

Zhao Lin rushed to the western slope. Before he even arrived, he smelled the stench of blood.

He released an ultrasonic wave and carefully followed the scent to a hill, where he saw Yuan Peng’s body, severed in two.

Chunying’s dying words echoed in Zhao Lin’s mind: "The lord you’re speaking of... is it Matsuo? He’s a master of the single-strike style..."