Chapter 114: Peashooter Cluster
"Everyone, our mission objective is the same. No matter who kills the target, we'll all share the bounty, so we should cooperate to avoid infighting that could allow the target to escape." The highest-ranked cultivator, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator, turned his gaze to the others.
There were five Foundation Establishment cultivators present, and apart from the scrawny one, the others had all accepted the same mission.
Normally, once an assassination mission is taken, others cannot accept it. However, this particular mission was an exception, as it could be taken repeatedly. As long as the mission was completed, anyone who took it would receive a bounty.
The employer who posted this mission was not only wealthy but also seemed to have a strong desire to kill the target. It appeared that the target was merely a Qi Refining cultivator.
However, this Qi Refining cultivator had already condensed their divine sense, and upon hearing this information, the four Foundation Establishment cultivators who accepted the mission immediately understood.
Only such prodigies would be worthy of such a high-level assassination.
Of course, while the reward was generous, the risk was also considerable. The danger wasn't so much from the target, but from the Qinglu Sect behind them. Anyone who could condense divine sense during the Qi Refining stage was certainly a top-tier prodigy, and the Qinglu Sect would never remain indifferent to such an assassination.
But they were all independent cultivators. Once the target was dead, they could simply leave, and even if the Qinglu Sect sought revenge, it would be hard for them to track them down.
With such a hefty reward, they could easily relocate and continue their activities elsewhere.
"That's right!"
With the mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator leading the way, the others all nodded in agreement.
"Then, let's make our move!"
Saying this, the mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator took out a 2nd-grade formation-breaking talisman. Upon seeing this, the other Foundation Establishment cultivators also took out their own formation-breaking talismans, including the scrawny cultivator.
Knowing that the resource point was guarded by a large formation, to obtain the Jade Dew Fruit inside, the first step was to break the formation, and the most efficient way to do that was with a formation-breaking talisman.
Formation-breaking talismans weren't cheap, but as long as the expected reward was high enough, investing in one was no problem at all.
"Guard the formation nodes! Don't let anyone break in!" Wei Yuancai said with a tense expression to the Qi Refining cultivators under his command.
The formation around the resource point was their only line of defense.
But as a formation-breaking talisman was activated, the formation around the resource point began to tremble violently, and cracks appeared in several of the formation stones.
"Boom!"
When the second and third formation-breaking talismans struck, the formation at the resource point collapsed instantly.
"Not good!"
Seeing this, Wei Yuancai was horrified. He hadn't expected the formation to break so quickly. Without the formation's protection, they would now face five Foundation Establishment cultivators and dozens of Qi Refining Ninth Layer or Full Circle cultivators.
"Protect the Valley's true heir!"
Wei Yuancai shouted, and the group quickly gathered around Gu Mo.
Seeing Wei Yuancai and his men move toward him, Gu Mo nodded. Being near him was the safest place. If they scattered, it would be a dead end.
"Kill!"
With the formation destroyed, the attackers surged into the resource point. The four Foundation Establishment cultivators who had accepted the mission to assassinate Gu Mo locked their gazes directly on him.
As for the scrawny Foundation Establishment cultivator and the other Qi Refining cultivators, they made a beeline for the Jade Dew Fruit trees. That was their real goal.
"There are nine Jade Dew Fruits!"
Upon seeing the three Jade Dew Fruit trees, with nine fruits emitting a strong fragrance, the crowd was elated.
At once, a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator, who appeared to have practiced some special body technique, pushed forward and dashed toward the trees, eager to grab a fruit.
"Whoosh!"
But just then, a green energy pea shot out from the nearby spiritual field protected by the formation, slamming into the Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator.
Sensing the danger, the cultivator quickly cast a defensive spell, conjuring a spiritual power shield around himself. However, the green energy pea easily tore through the shield and tore the cultivator apart.
The sudden turn of events caused the others to halt in their tracks. They warily eyed the area from which the attack had come. The attack had come from within the formation.
However, that area was obscured by a concealment array and an illusion array, making it impossible to see what was inside.
As the others looked toward the source of the attack, another figure quickly charged toward the Jade Dew Fruit tree. Who could resist the temptation of such a precious fruit so close at hand?
As for the danger, this Qi Refining Full Circle cultivator had activated a high-quality defensive magical item, confident that he could block the previous attack. With a bit more time, he would be able to pluck a Jade Dew Fruit.
"Whoosh!"
Just as the Qi Refining Full Circle cultivator was about to reach the Jade Dew Fruit tree, the green energy pea reappeared. But this one seemed slightly different from the previous one.
"Boom!"
The green energy pea, in the Full Circle cultivator's horrified gaze, ripped through his body. His high-quality defensive magical item seemed like paper in front of the energy pea.
"It's an attack from a Foundation Establishment cultivator!"
The only Foundation Establishment cultivator left in the group, the scrawny one, observed with a grim expression. He had originally thought he would be the only one to grab the Jade Dew Fruits, but now it seemed the situation was changing.
"Everyone, charge together! Life and death are fate, but wealth is in the heavens!"
Although the deaths of two cultivators caused some wariness in the others, there was no way they would retreat just because of this. Cultivators were not afraid to take risks for opportunities and pathways to advancement.
With their numbers, they could overwhelm the resource point's defenses. They clearly believed that the green energy peas were merely part of the resource point's defensive measures.
"Indeed…"
From within the spiritual field formation, Gu Mo watched the advancing crowd and shook his head. His gaze then swept across the 50 neatly arranged Peashooters in the spiritual field.
These 50 Peashooters were the result of Gu Mo's recent efforts. Among them, 20 were 2nd-grade low-level, while the remaining 30 were 1st-grade top-tier.
The attack that had instantly killed the Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator was from the 1st-grade top-tier Peashooters, while the one that killed the Qi Refining Full Circle cultivator had been launched by the 2nd-grade Peashooters. By using an attack from a higher cultivation level, they had killed the enemy in one blow.
Gu Mo had hoped that this would make the others retreat, allowing him to focus more on the four Foundation Establishment cultivators facing his clone. Unfortunately, he had underestimated the greed of these people. Since that was the case, Gu Mo would not hold back.
At once, the 30 1st-grade top-tier Peashooters all shot out energy peas.
"What's this!"
Seeing the green energy beans shooting towards them, the Qi Refining cultivators who had charged forward were all greatly shocked. The number of attacks was even greater than their own numbers, and the advantage they had in numbers was completely rendered useless.
Fortunately, among these cultivators, many were geniuses from large sects. Faced with the energy peas that had the same power as a peak Qi Refining cultivator, they were still able to resist.
However, those at the ninth level of Qi Refining couldn't endure. In just a few moments, they were blasted to death. Then, the energy pea shooters began to concentrate their attacks. The genius cultivators could still deal with a single energy pea, but when the attacks increased to two or even three, it became impossible to defend.
"Retreat!"
Without hesitation, the remaining cultivators chose to retreat because staying meant certain death.
"You had the chance to leave earlier, but now you want to run? It's too late," Gu Mo said calmly, his gaze fixed on the fleeing cultivators.
He then commanded five second-tier pea shooters, only deploying five second-tier ones because his avatar needed to deal with the four Foundation Establishment cultivators.
Among the four Foundation Establishment cultivators attacking his avatar, Wei Yuan could hold off one. This meant Gu Mo would have to face the other three, one of whom was at the mid Foundation Establishment stage.
However, Gu Mo wasn't worried at all. He immediately assigned ten second-tier pea shooters to the mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, five to one of the early Foundation Establishment cultivators, and he personally planned to deal with the remaining one.
Though this avatar of Gu Mo was at the peak of Qi Refining, both his spiritual power, physical strength, and divine sense were at the level of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Therefore, Gu Mo wanted to test how much of a gap there was between his avatar and a real Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"What's this?!"
The mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, who was about to strike and crush his target, suddenly felt several green flashes of light in his divine sense.
Each of these flashes had the full power of an early Foundation Establishment cultivator's strike, meaning it was as if ten early Foundation Establishment cultivators were attacking him at once.
Even though he was at the mid Foundation Establishment stage, facing ten early Foundation Establishment cultivators working together meant he had to exert his full strength to defend.
"Didn't the intel say there was only one early Foundation Establishment cultivator at the resource point? What the hell is going on here?" The mid Foundation Establishment cultivator thought to himself, overwhelmed. Meanwhile, another early Foundation Establishment cultivator, facing five second-tier pea shooters, was struggling immensely.
He could hardly withstand the attacks for long. Fortunately, the frequency of the attacks wasn't too high; otherwise, with just a few breaths, he could have been instantly killed. But even so, his death was only delayed by a little while.
"Hang in there, I'll take care of the target!"
The Foundation Establishment cultivator left behind by Gu Mo shouted. No matter who took down the target, everyone would earn the bounty.
"Understood!"
Hearing this, the other three cultivators suppressed their urge to give up on the mission. Killing a peak Qi Refining cultivator with a Foundation Establishment cultivator's strength should be an easy task.
"Go!"
Looking at the flying sword from the Foundation Establishment cultivator, Gu Mo also performed a sword control technique, sending out a low-grade magic tool flying sword to clash with the opponent's flying sword.
Gu Mo had obtained two low-grade magic tool flying swords, one for his true self and one for his avatar.
"Ding!"
The two flying swords collided, creating a metallic clashing sound. The Foundation Establishment cultivator's flying sword was knocked back and even developed a small crack.
That Foundation Establishment cultivator's flying sword was not a magic treasure, but rather a high-grade magical weapon, which was common among many independent cultivators. They had exhausted all their resources to break through, leaving them with no resources to upgrade their equipment. If they succeeded in this mission, the bounty would be enough to buy a decent quality magic flying sword.
"This... how is this possible!"
The Foundation Establishment cultivator recalled his high-grade flying sword and stared in shock at the crack. He couldn't believe that he had lost to a peak Qi Refining cultivator in a direct confrontation.
The target was a genius from the Qinglu Sect, and it wasn't surprising that they had a magic treasure. But why was a peak Qi Refining cultivator able to unleash the full power of a magic treasure to this extent? It was no different from a Foundation Establishment cultivator using a flying sword.
"Seems a bit weak, though."
The outcome of this test made Gu Mo realize much more. This early Foundation Establishment cultivator was weaker than he had imagined—weak spiritual power, weak physique, and his divine sense was nowhere near comparable to Gu Mo's, who had the divine sense of a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator.
This was still just Gu Mo's avatar. If it were his true self, the gap between them would be even greater. But that was to be expected—Gu Mo's true self was already on par with mid Foundation Establishment cultivators in combat strength.
"Hiss!!"
The fight between Gu Mo and the Foundation Establishment cultivator was witnessed by Wei Yuan and the other three Foundation Establishment cultivators. They couldn't help but suck in a cold breath, shocked by Gu Mo's fierce combat prowess.
Then, Wei Yuan's face showed ecstatic joy, while the faces of the Foundation Establishment assassins turned grim.
This assassination mission was harder than they had imagined. No wonder the employer offered such a high bounty and didn't limit the number of people who could take it.
"Hold on, I'll destroy the things in the formation!" The mid Foundation Establishment cultivator said, his gaze turning toward the source of the energy peas.
It was these things that had them tied down. If they destroyed them, even if the target displayed Foundation Establishment-level strength, facing their combined efforts, death was certain.
"Alright!"
The Foundation Establishment assassins knew well that the real obstacle to completing the mission was the strange object in the formation. If they could destroy it, the mission would still be a success.
"Whoosh~~"
After slashing through several more incoming energy peas, the mid Foundation Establishment cultivator took a deep breath. His spiritual power erupted instantly, and he forcefully blocked the next few energy peas, charging toward the spirit field formation.
"Break for me!"
After approaching the spirit field formation, the mid Foundation Establishment cultivator slashed with his sword. The outermost concealment formation shattered instantly, and then the sword light continued unabated, crashing into a thin light curtain. However, the light curtain merely trembled slightly before returning to calm.
"What's going on?!"
Seeing that his full-force attack failed to even make a dent in the formation, the mid Foundation Establishment cultivator was shocked. The formation didn't look strong at all. Why was it so tough?
"Is this it?"
Within the spirit field formation, Gu Mo couldn't help but shake his head. The defense formation made with nine second-tier nuts was tough enough that even a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator, let alone a late Foundation Establishment one, would find it hard to break.
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