A squad of five white-robed female disciples from the Moon Crescent Gate were mining spirit stones when they were unexpectedly heavily wounded by a golden miniature sword unleashed by Ye Qin. The remaining four disciples’ beautiful faces shifted in alarm, and they quickly shielded their injured captain while retreating.

Just then, a young, elegant woman in white robes, leading another small squad of Moon Crescent Gate disciples, appeared behind them.

The four retreating disciples, upon seeing this elegant young woman, acted as if they had found their anchor; their panicked expressions vanished instantly, and they stopped in their tracks, excitedly chattering, "Senior Sister Hanruo, Senior Sister Yuan Ping was injured by a flying sword from a Blue Pill Sect cultivator."

The white-robed, elegant young woman glanced at the severely wounded Yuan Ping and asked, "A Blue Pill Sect disciple? How many of them are there?"

The few female disciples exchanged glances, responding with a hint of embarrassment, "Only one. However, this person possesses a flying sword magical artifact, suggesting he might be a high-ranking disciple of the Blue Pill Sect."

"Hmph, just one person, and you are all scared stiff. Useless."

The white-robed, elegant young woman frowned, her beautiful features contorted with anger. She swiftly moved past the group and pursued into the depths of the mine tunnel. Turning back, she saw only her own followers trailing behind her, while the other four remained frozen in place. She couldn't help but shout, "What are you dawdling for? Hurry and follow me!"

"What about Senior Sister Yuan Ping? She is severely wounded."

"These injuries won't kill her. Leave her here; more disciples from our Moon Crescent Gate are on their way. You four follow me immediately and capture that Blue Pill Sect cultivator first. The Blue Pill Sect disciples have already entered the cavern in large numbers; capturing him might allow us to extract some intelligence about them."

"Yes, Senior Sister Hanruo!"

The four Moon Crescent Gate female disciples bowed in agreement and followed closely. Senior Sister Yuan Ping was merely an ordinary squad leader. Her status within the sect was far below that of Senior Sister Hanruo.

The group of nine pressed their pursuit of Ye Qin.

Ye Qin leaped to a junction where three mine tunnels offered a choice: one leading up, one straight ahead, and one leading down. He glanced at the map scroll in his hand, pondered for a moment, and dove into the downward-leading tunnel, sprinting forward.

Behind him, the sounds of rushing cultivators’ ornaments rustling reached his ears.

Ye Qin looked back and saw several white figures following him. He couldn't help but frown deeply. The Moon Crescent Gate disciples were still in pursuit, like persistent ghosts. This time, their numbers were nearly double what they were before, making things extremely troublesome.

As he ran, he sensed something was wrong—not just because of their sheer numbers, but mainly because they showed no fear toward his magical artifact; instead, they chased more fiercely. Could it be that one of them also possessed a magical artifact?

As if to confirm his suspicion, the white-robed, elegant young woman leading the chase flung a dazzling silver light from her sleeve toward him.

Ye Qin knew his sprinting speed certainly couldn't outpace that silver light artifact, so he could only use his own artifact to block it.

With a cold sneer, he flung his golden miniature sword backward to intercept.

Clang, clang, clang—the two magical artifacts struck each other with crisp impact sounds.

The golden miniature sword blocked the silver light, and golden and silver rays intertwined in combat within the tunnel.

Ye Qin finally saw clearly: it was a half-foot-long, curved silver hook artifact. Its power appeared to be in no way inferior to the golden flying sword he controlled.

It turned out that a core disciple of the Moon Crescent Gate had arrived; no wonder they dared to charge ahead fearlessly to hunt him down.

Ye Qin was slightly surprised but remained calm. A single core female disciple of the Moon Crescent Gate was not enough to defeat him.

"A mere Blue Pill Sect cultivator dares to wander recklessly on the second level of this cavern? Surrender now!" the elegant young woman commanded while manipulating the silver hook to entangle the golden sword, simultaneously shouting to the women behind her, "Quickly use your spells and subdue him!"

The eight female disciples behind her immediately prepared to cast spells. The tunnel was narrow; the elegant young woman occupied the center, leaving space for only two people on either side to unleash their magic. They attacked Ye Qin in waves, taking turns.

Fireballs, ice spikes—they rained down on Ye Qin one after another.

They were numerous, taking turns in rotation, intending to wear Ye Qin down until he died purely through manpower. According to their calculations, each person needing to expend only one-eighth of their magical power should be enough to subdue Ye Qin. Furthermore, they could seize the golden miniature sword; such a pursuit was highly worthwhile.

Unfortunately, their hopes were destined to be dashed.

Ye Qin dared to venture alone into this mine tunnel to search for spirit stones rather than regrouping with his sect brothers, naturally because he had something to rely on.

He casually tossed out an azure magical artifact, which effortlessly blocked all the spells directed at him. The spells struck the azure bell with sounds like bubbles hitting stone—poof, poof—and shattered, failing to cause any damage to the Azure Bell.

"The... Soul-Seizing Bell? You killed Yu Yu, the son of Elder Yu from the Ancient Artifact Gate!"

The elegant young woman seemed to recognize the original owner of the magical artifact and exclaimed in shock. Then, recalling the artifact's function, her expression instantly changed. She hurriedly reached into her robes.

Ye Qin frowned.

Yu Yu? Was that the fellow in the golden armor? Was this person famous? It seemed many high-ranking disciples from various sects knew him. However, it wasn't just him who had killed the Yu surnamed fellow; the cultivator named Zhong from the Earth Pit Gate had also been involved.

"Since you recognize this item, then taste what the Soul-Seizing Bell has to offer!"

Ye Qin’s expression turned cold. He poured his full magical power into the azure bell, then flicked his finger, sending a white ray shooting out to strike the bell. With a deep Dong~~~ sound, a muffled chime resonated in the narrow mine tunnel, creating an invisible wave that washed over the female disciples.

The elegant young woman's expression changed drastically. She had already pulled a crystal-clear, luminous, umbrella-shaped magical artifact from a silk pouch in her embrace and hissed, "Azure Canopy Umbrella!" The azure canopy instantly unfolded and expanded, enveloping her, shielding her entirely beneath its translucent surface.

The rolling invisible wave swept through the mine tunnel.

The umbrella began to spin rapidly, emitting a piercing shriek, completely repelling the wave attack.

Regrettably, the elegant young woman’s cultivation was insufficient; she could only barely expand the Azure Canopy Umbrella large enough to contain herself, failing to shield any of her junior sisters behind her.

The eight Moon Crescent Gate disciples behind her were engulfed by the rolling sound wave of the bell.

Their minds instantly went blank with a boom; only a buzzing remained, rendering them muddled and devoid of consciousness, collapsing on the spot. It would take more than a moment for them to awaken.

Only the elegant young woman, sheltered within the Azure Canopy Umbrella artifact, escaped the blow. As the invisible wave passed, she immediately retracted the umbrella and summoned back the silver hook that was swaying in mid-air.

She glanced at her fainted junior sisters, her beautiful face deathly pale, unsure if it was from shock or humiliation and anger. She turned and glared fiercely at Ye Qin. She wanted to attack but hesitated.

Without the assistance of several companions, she lacked the ability to defeat Ye Qin in a one-on-one confrontation.

"No wonder he dared to enter the second level of this cavern alone; he must have the Soul-Seizing Bell. By knocking out a crowd, he fears no siege. How can we capture him now?" The elegant young woman looked anxious, frantically thinking, searching for a countermeasure.

Seeing the elegant young woman evade the Soul-Seizing Bell's attack, Ye Qin inwardly sighed with regret. If that strike had managed to stun her, he could have seized her magical artifact.

That azure, umbrella-shaped artifact was strange; it actually neutralized his soul-seizing attack. This umbrella artifact was likely purely defensive. Breaching this umbrella would not be achievable in just one or two strikes.

At this point, the two were evenly matched.

He couldn't subdue the elegant young woman.

With this realization, Ye Qin shook his head and immediately turned, sprinting toward the deeper parts of the mine tunnel. He still decided it was best to leave quickly. Lingering here would only bring more Moon Crescent Gate disciples, which would be detrimental to him.

When the elegant young woman saw Ye Qin fleeing again, she paused, "Coward, only knows how to run!" She bit her delicate teeth, hesitating whether to continue the pursuit. Finally, she stomped her foot and followed quickly. This Blue Pill Sect cultivator was alone here; she refused to believe she couldn't capture him.

Ye Qin sprinted for about half an incense stick's time before abruptly stopping, staring in astonishment at the ten-plus cultivators in green floral robes blocking the tunnel ahead.

More than ten disciples from the Beast Spirit Gate, clad in green and floral outfits, were diligently digging into the hard rock of the spirit stone mine tunnel with their spirit tools, carving out small holes several inches deep.

They dug such a small hole every half-foot, then tossed various strange insects, controlled only by the Beast Spirit Gate disciples' specialized knowledge, into the holes—insects like ice worms, small green flying rot bugs, poison spiders, and so forth.

Then, using the Beast Spirit Gate's unique secret techniques, they made the creatures remain quietly inside these cavities.

They had carefully observed that this was a tunnel frequently traversed by cultivators. Setting an ambush here offered the best chance to catch "prey." After setting up the traps, they concealed themselves within the tunnel, waiting for the prey to take the bait. They truly didn't believe anyone could pass through this twenty-zhang-long stretch riddled with five or six types of insect death traps.

Indeed, not long after.

A heavily blood-stained and utterly wretched scar-faced man stumbled into this mine tunnel, breathing heavily.

It was estimated that this cultivator had been attacked recently; he had managed to escape here only with great effort, and even his protective light shield was dim and lifeless. The scar-faced man saw that this section of the tunnel was empty and breathed a sigh of relief. He pulled out a spirit stone, grasped it in his hand, intending to rest here and recover his magical power.

The moment he leaned against a rock to sit down, several light whistles sounded, startling him greatly. Before he could flee, over ten jets of variously colored fluids—azure corrosive liquid, blue ice liquid, black venom—sprayed out from the surrounding several feet, instantly drenching him.

The man's dim protective shield was hit by the green corrosive liquid and rapidly dissolved, causing the shield to disintegrate directly. Then, being doused by the ice liquid and venom, he immediately let out a scream; his entire body was frozen into an ice sculpture on the outside, while his flesh and blood inside turned black. He was utterly, irrecoverably dead.

In truth, it was just bad luck for this man. If his magical power had been full, his protective shield might have lasted a bit longer, allowing him to escape this mine tunnel.

"Ha! Another fool taken down. So easy! Our Beast Spirit Gate truly has the advantage. We don't even need to fight directly to eliminate our opponents."

From the other end of the tunnel, more than ten Beast Spirit Gate disciples emerged, all beaming with smiles. They walked through the tunnel unhindered. They quickly took the dead man's storage bag and everything else.

"Junior Brothers, quickly move this corpse away. Also, retrieve the insects from these dozens of small holes and replace them with new ones."

It was highly inconvenient timing.

When Ye Qin arrived at this mine tunnel, he saw three or four green-robed cultivators carrying away the frozen, blackened corpse and cleaning up the scene. Meanwhile, five or six other Beast Spirit Gate cultivators were re-burying insects in the tunnel floor, restoring the traps.

Another man in green robes was holding a tool, digging into the tunnel floor rock, preparing to carve out more small holes to expand the traps. When he saw a scholar in a cyan robe appear before him, he looked up in astonishment. (To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please log on to www**, more chapters available, support the author, support legitimate reading!)