With a burst, the shimmering silver net artifact, wreathed in searing flames, enveloped an area spanning five to six hundred zhang, simultaneously trapping Ye Qin, Huangfu Bing'er, and the Wang uncle and nephew—four mid-stage Golden Core cultivators—intending to sweep them all up at once. With the seabed below, there was nowhere to flee. If they didn't wish to be dragged into the sea by the net artifact, Kuang had only one option: to smash their way out.

Ye Qin narrowed his eyes, forming a hand seal with his right hand, and pointed, controlling his Nascent Soul artifact, the Golden Crow Blazing Light Sword. In an instant, it transformed into a hundred-zhang dazzling golden light, shooting into the fiery net array in the sky and the formation composed of over thirty high-grade flying swords.

A dense clash of artifacts erupted, punctuated by loud clanging explosions. Then, with a sharp hiss, a supremely domineering beam of golden light pierced through the Blazing Flame Net, carrying countless sparks and flames, soaring straight towards the high heavens.

The Blazing Flame Net artifact, which had previously covered a vast expanse of the sky, was torn open by the incredibly sharp golden light, creating a hole several zhang wide. "Retreat!" Ye Qin was entirely unsurprised. With a wave of his hand, he recalled the soaring Golden Crow Blazing Light Sword. Gold-element flying swords were inherently the sharpest armor-piercing swords.

Furthermore, a Formless Artifact could continuously enhance its power, ascending from low-grade to mid-grade, high-grade, top-grade, until it broke through the Nascent Soul artifact level to become an artifact of the Minor Divine Ability tier.

His Golden Crow Blazing Light Sword, nurtured within his Dantian with a massive amount of vital energy for decades, had already been tempered, impurities purged, from its initial low-grade Nascent Soul artifact status to the quality of a mid-grade Formless Artifact. These decades of nurturing were equivalent to a century of nurturing for an ordinary Golden Core cultivator's Nascent Soul artifact.

Typically, an average Golden Core cultivator would concentrate their vital energy on nurturing one or two Nascent Soul artifacts; nurturing more would easily impede their own cultivation. Only a rare few Golden Core cultivators with exceptional talent and immense financial resources would nurture more than three Nascent Soul artifacts.

Precisely because Ye Qin had to nurture as many as five Nascent Soul artifacts simultaneously, these artifacts divided his massive supply of vital energy. Even though he consumed top-tier spiritual pills daily, he was still at a disadvantage in his cultivation progress.

Otherwise, Ye Qin’s cultivation level would likely have long surpassed the fifth tier of the Golden Core stage, reaching at least the sixth tier, or perhaps even higher. Increasing one's cultivation primarily involved growth in realm, magical power, and similar aspects. However, a Formless Artifact directly reflected the strength of a Golden Core cultivator's combat power.

Whether one could defeat an opponent in combat depended not on the height of their cultivation, but on the strength of their combat power. Otherwise, even with high cultivation, one could still perish. Ye Qin sacrificed a portion of rapid cultivation growth to enhance his fighting strength.

And that Blazing Flame Net was merely a top-grade artifact. Although it was augmented by a Heavenly Net and Earthly Web Fire Sword Great Formation composed of dozens of high-grade flying swords, causing its power to surge to be even more devastating than an ordinary Nascent Soul artifact, this could not change the fact that it was still only a top-grade artifact in quality. With its quality, it simply couldn't withstand the explosive power of a single critical strike from the mid-grade Nascent Soul artifact, the Golden Crow Blazing Light Sword.

Having a hole torn in the Heavenly Net by the Golden Crow Blazing Light Sword rendered it incapable of restraining the enemy Golden Core cultivators, its efficacy greatly diminished, making it almost a ruined artifact. "Let's go, break out of the formation!"

Ye Qin called out softly. Along with Huangfu Bing'er, they utilized a spatial dodge, transforming into two streaks of green light that whooshed through the hole in the net, rushing a hundred zhang away, breaking free.

Seeing this, the Wang uncle and nephew were overjoyed and hurriedly followed, rushing out of the Blazing Flame Net to hover beside Ye Qin. "Thank you, Daoist Brother Ye, for your assistance. Daoist Brother displays truly formidable skill; Wang is truly impressed! That gold-element Nascent Soul artifact of yours must be quite valuable!" The elder Wang was filled with envy, completely disregarding his advanced age as he respectfully addressed Ye Qin as 'Brother'.

"Daoist Brother Wang flatters me. By the way, why haven't you refined a Nascent Soul artifact? After all, with Daoist Brother Wang's century of cultivation accumulation, you shouldn't be this impoverished. Moreover, having one or two Nascent Soul artifacts would offer greater safety in the Sea of Blood."

Ye Qin asked with some confusion. He found it puzzling that the Wang uncle and nephew were both mid-stage Golden Core cultivators yet possessed no Nascent Soul artifacts to hold their ground.

"Ha, I originally intended to refine one. But my entire Wang family, dozens of cultivators, all need to cultivate, and spiritual stones are required everywhere! Refining a Nascent Soul artifact is too expensive, so I couldn't bear to spend that huge sum of spiritual stones. I can only make do with a few top-grade flying swords. This trip to the Sea of Blood is solely to find one or two treasures, slay a few Golden Core-level demonic beasts, to help subsidize the family's expenses. I never expected that right after setting out, we would run into this group of treasure-robbing cultivators ambushing us. Today, we owe it all to Daoist Brother Ye's profound methods; otherwise, we wouldn't have lasted the time it takes to brew a stick of incense!"

The elder Wang explained with a look of slight embarrassment. "However, since Daoist Brother Ye is here, that high-stage Golden Core cultivator cannot deal with us. We can certainly hold out until Daoist Brother Pang and the others repel this group of treasure snatchers."

Ye Qin nodded slightly, smiled faintly, and said no more, turning to look at the green-faced cultivator opposite him. He had no intention of taking action again.

In his view, Bing'er, combined with the Wang uncle and nephew, was already enough to defeat that eighth-stage Golden Core green-faced cultivator. He only needed to play a supporting role. "How dare you destroy my esteemed Li's Heavenly Net Blazing Flame Sword Array! Damn you, Daoist Master Li will take your life today!"

The green-faced cultivator opposite hastily retrieved the Blazing Flame Net. Seeing it damaged, he felt a pang of heartache and roared in anger.

This Blazing Flame Net, mixed with a small amount of secret silver, was his most cherished set of top-grade artifacts. Against ordinary Golden Core cultivators, deploying it always ensured victory. Ordinary high-grade artifacts, or even spells below the high-grade, could not harm it in the slightest. He never expected that today it would be destroyed by a single strike from a gold-element Nascent Soul flying sword wielded by a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.

What was even more infuriating was that Ye Qin and the elder Wang were casually discussing artifact refinement as if nothing had happened, completely disregarding him. This fueled his rage, and he raised his hand to attack Ye Qin. "Sir, you are too greedy, relying on your eighth-stage Golden Core cultivation to actually attempt to capture all four of us mid-stage Golden Core cultivators in one go—you underestimate us significantly! Get past me first!"

Huangfu Bing'er waved her Jade Radiance, and an ice sword and a fire sword shot out.

"Ice Fire Sword Array!"

The two flying swords, like two icy-fiery flood dragons thirty to forty zhang long, lunged toward the Li cultivator. On one side was ice and frost, freezing the world; on the other, a sky full of blazing flames and fluttering true fire blossoms. These two diametrically opposed energies intertwined, yet miraculously neither interfered with nor weakened the other.

"Dual-element ice and fire, mid-grade Nascent Soul flying swords? You do have some skill. But can you compare to Daoist Master's high-grade Nascent Soul artifact?!" The Li cultivator snorted coldly.

The aggressive approach of the dual ice-fire flying swords meant the Li cultivator dared not be careless. He opened his mouth and shot out a beam of crimson-gold light—a magical shield—to intercept the ice and fire swords. This Crimson Gold Shield was a high-grade Nascent Soul artifact, shaped like a giant discus, edged with numerous crimson-gold barbs, making it a dual-purpose artifact for offense and defense. The Crimson Gold Shield transformed into a rapidly spinning, massive shield to meet the assault of the ice and fire swords.

Simultaneously, the Li cultivator threw out thirty-one high-grade fire swords with his other hand. Each fire sword was ten zhang long, covering the sky and making one's scalp tingle, all converging on Huangfu Bing'er.

Despite the large number of flying swords, their quality was merely high-grade artifacts, quite ordinary. However, if they couldn't be blocked, they could still slaughter a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator through sheer quantity. Ye Qin watched coldly, fully confident in Bing'er's strength, and refrained from intervening.

However, the Wang uncle and nephew were uncertain and dared not stand by. They quickly controlled three or four top-grade flying swords each to charge forward. At the very least, they could block over a dozen of the Li cultivator's flying swords and relieve pressure on Huangfu Bing'er.

"Daoist Master alone is enough to kill all of you. See how you block my thirty-one high-grade fire swords; all of you, perish!" The Li cultivator roared gleefully, intending to laugh out loud.

He had sufficient reason to be arrogant; how many Golden Core cultivators possessed divine senses strong enough to control thirty-one high-grade flying swords simultaneously?!

Usually, a cultivator's divine sense was singular. Without specifically cultivating divine sense-enhancing techniques, one could control several artifacts at once, but the effect wouldn't be good.

For ordinary cultivators, simultaneously dividing their divine sense to control a few artifacts was already commendable. Too many, and chaos ensues, potentially even interfering with one another and severely impacting combat.

If one wished to manipulate a large number of artifacts, one had to cultivate specific techniques to strengthen the divine sense and endure the excruciating pain of divine sense splitting to master this skill.

Different divine sense splitting secret techniques yielded varying effects, but one thing was common: the need to split the divine sense to perfectly control more artifacts.

Each time the divine sense split, the number of controllable artifacts doubled, and the pain endured doubled. The agony of this divine sense splitting could drive a cultivator mad.

He cultivated a divine sense splitting technique, splitting his divine sense five times, enduring immense pain, finally achieving control over thirty-two artifacts simultaneously. Even cultivators like the Cao brothers and cultivator Pang did not command as many artifacts as he could. "Boom!" The ice and fire flying swords simultaneously struck the Crimson Gold Shield.

The Crimson Gold Shield possessed unparalleled defensive capabilities. Even under attack from two Nascent Soul flying swords at once, it sustained no damage, merely vibrating slightly.

The Crimson Gold Shield vibrated wildly.

The two ice and fire flying swords suffered severe damage; their sword bodies actually shattered completely.

"The Formless Flying Swords are destroyed? That sword quality must be too poor—" "Hmph!"

The Li cultivator laughed heartily, simultaneously controlling thirty-one flying swords to kill Huangfu Bing'er. However, he suddenly froze, his pupils contracting violently. "Not good!" "Ice Soul Severing Art!" "Fire Soul Severing Art!"

Huangfu Bing'er cried out sweetly. The Ice Soul Chill Light Sword and the Purple Jade Leaving Fire Sword each transformed from one into two, two into four, four into eight, and eight into sixteen. In an instant, the shattered sword bodies turned into sixteen small ice flying swords and sixteen small fire flying swords.

These thirty-two mid-grade Nascent Soul small flying swords formed an Ice Fire Sword Array, simultaneously hacking at the Li cultivator's thirty-one high-grade fire swords. "Damn it! This person's divine sense has actually split five times too!"

This thought flashed through the Li cultivator's mind just as he heard the dense, crisp sounds of clashing swords: ding-ding-dang-dang. Pitter-patter, the thirty-one high-grade fire swords exploded in mid-air, pulverized into dust.

On one side, mid-grade Nascent Soul artifacts; on the other, high-grade artifacts. The quality difference was too vast—like a rock hitting an egg; how could the egg not be smashed?! In this brief moment, thirty-one high-grade artifacts were annihilated. "Wait, thirty-two against thirty-one; she has one extra small sword!"

The Li cultivator hadn't even finished lamenting the loss of such a large batch of high-grade artifacts when he realized something, and his expression changed drastically again. He instinctively flashed sideways, his body moving over ten zhang almost instantly. "Slash!" A several-foot-long cold glimmer flashed swiftly past his side.

The Li cultivator hastily recalled the Crimson Gold Shield to protect his front, looking down to see a sharp gash across his high-grade armored magic robe, near his chest. Wisps of piercing cold air still rose from it. He immediately felt his soul departing, covered in cold sweat. If it weren't for the ingrained instinct forged from years of combat in the Sea of Blood, causing him to dodge this fatal blow instinctively, he would have been a corpse by now. "Ten Thousand Swords Returning to One!" Huangfu Bing'er recalled her thirty-two small flying swords, reforming them back into the two original ice and fire Nascent Soul artifacts.

Her expression showed slight disappointment. Her beautiful face beneath the veiled bamboo hat betrayed no excitement as she pouted slightly, dissatisfied, "A pity. If he had moved even a fraction slower, it would have been enough to severely wound him." "For a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator to force a high-stage Golden Core cultivator into such a sorry state is already excellent. Any stronger, and she'd surpass me," Ye Qin couldn't help but give a wry smile at the outcome. Apart from watching Bing'er forge her swords usually, he hadn't seen her fight in a long time. But Ye Qin knew that Sister Bing'er's Ice Soul Severing Art was incredibly tyrannical.

Later, when she refined a fire-element Nascent Soul artifact, it also split into sixteen small swords, forming the Fire Soul Severing Art Sword.

The move just now was Bing'er combining the Ice Soul Severing Art with the high-grade sword array technique, Ice Fire Art, which she had learned only a few days ago after acquiring it at an auction, creating the self-created Ice Fire Severing Art Sword—a combined strike.

Ye Qin couldn't help but sigh; Bing'er's talent for controlling a large number of flying swords with her divine sense was far superior to his own. The Wang uncle and nephew, two Golden Core cultivators standing nearby, were already struck dumbfounded.

Though they were all mid-stage Golden Core cultivators, the difference in strength between them was like heaven and earth. They didn't even have a chance to act before Huangfu Bing'er had forced the opposing Li cultivator to retreat. Ye Qin, Huangfu Bing'er, and the Wang uncle and nephew—four people in total—stood opposite the eighth-stage Golden Core Li cultivator, separated by a thousand zhang. The Li cultivator did not initiate an attack again; he calmed down, staring fiercely at Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er.

He realized that dealing with any one of them alone was easy, but it was difficult to deal with all four mid-stage Golden Core cultivators simultaneously. Especially Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er; he couldn't even gauge the depth of their true strength. If these two attacked together, he would find it extremely difficult to cope.

Moreover, he had suffered heavy losses to his expensive flying swords, now left with only the Crimson Gold Shield and some miscellaneous artifacts in his storage bag, making it hard to handle an encirclement by four people.

Ye Qin naturally wasn't in a rush to strike. Their journey to the ancient ruins was still long, and he didn't intend to expose his strength by fighting a few rogue cultivators halfway there. Allowing the current group of treasure-robbing cultivators to retreat after realizing the difficulty was sufficient for him. Meanwhile, the great cultivator Cao and the cultivator Wei were fighting fiercely on the sea surface, causing the waves to churn violently across a sea area spanning over ten li. During a break in the battle, the great cultivator Cao glanced toward the other battlefields and instantly became annoyed. The other battles were manageable. The young cultivator Cao was locked in a fierce struggle with the cultivator Zhu's one-horned black-scaled python using a Blood Soul Magic Blade. Another treasure-robbing cultivator surnamed Hu was locked in a melee with the cultivator Yang, who wielded a Red Spider Magic Sword. Including himself, three of the four smaller battles held a slight advantage.

Only the Li cultivator, facing four mid-stage Golden Core cultivators, was hesitant to advance, clearly suffering a disadvantage.

The Cao cultivator was startled. He knew the Li cultivator's strength well; he was a top-tier combatant among the treasure snatchers. Even he couldn't easily defeat Cultivator Li.

But those four mid-stage Golden Core newcomers managed to force Cultivator Li into a state of fear, which was hard for him to accept. Those Golden Core mid-stage cultivators looked quite calm and composed, not giving the Li cultivator any regard.

The Cao cultivator's expression turned ugly. The hope of winning this ambush had become extremely low. Even if they won at any cost, it would be a pyrrhic victory. "Li third brother, what's going on?" he asked urgently via divine sense while grappling with cultivator Pang. "Cao big brother, these few are too tough; we should retreat first—"

The Li cultivator watched Ye Qin and Huangfu Bing'er warily, unsure how to explain. He, an eighth-stage Golden Core, fought fifth-stage Golden Core cultivators, had his artifact destroyed, and nearly lost his life. This was a huge disgrace in their group, or among the treasure snatchers. "Does this require asking? Li third brother's proud Heavenly Net Blazing Flame Sword Array is already wrecked! This useless person can't even handle a few new mid-stage Golden Core cultivators."

The young cultivator Cao glared fiercely at the four of Ye Qin's group, his face full of malice. He was having a great time fighting and was forced to stop, feeling utterly stifled. "Cao big brother, let's retreat first and find another opportunity later! Those Golden Core cultivators from the Shang Tang Palace are still following behind, waiting to pick up our scraps. We can't give them a chance!" the Hu treasure robber suggested.

The great cultivator Cao quickly considered and immediately shouted, "Fine, everyone gather over here, prepare to withdraw!" "Hmph, fine! We'll spare your little lives this time!" Although the young cultivator Cao's expression was displeased, he didn't object to his older brother's suggestion.

The Li cultivator immediately steered the Crimson Gold Shield towards the Cao brothers. The four treasure snatchers regrouped, fighting as they retreated, preparing to disengage.

Cultivator Pang saw that Cao's group intended to withdraw and didn't stop them; instead, he relaxed a bit, letting them go. Continuing this fight offered them no benefit, and would only result in unnecessary losses. Since the Cao brothers were voluntarily retreating, he naturally wasn't going to force them to stay.

Cultivator Pang, Cultivator Zhu, Cultivator Yang, and the others also swiftly ceased fighting and gathered together, guarding against a surprise attack from Cao's group.

The great cultivator Cao laughed loudly, "Haha, Daoist Friend Pang, you are lucky this time. Cao will seek guidance again if there is a chance in the future!"

"Daoist Brother Cao, are you genuinely letting us go now? Or are you slipping away because the situation looks unfavorable?"

The cultivator Yang couldn't resist mocking. "Daoist Friend Yang, too many words are useless. The Sea of Blood is vast; if we meet again, please be careful. If you are not confident you can stop us, then we bid you farewell…"

The great cultivator Cao snorted coldly.

As soon as his words fell, the situation suddenly changed.

The young cultivator Cao's eyes flickered, spotting the slightly lax Wang uncle and nephew. A cold smile played on his lips as he suddenly raised his right hand, shooting out an incredibly tiny streak of brown-black light. Cultivator Pang, Zhu, Yang, and the others instinctively used artifacts to defend themselves.

"Nephew, watch out!" But the elder Wang suddenly flashed forward, blocking the middle-aged cultivator.

Chik!

That dark brown, sharp ray pierced through the elder Wang's protective aura.

The elder Wang's face changed drastically. Clutching his chest, his face instantly turned black, and he fell straight off his flying sword. "Uncle!" The Wang middle-aged cultivator's eyes split wide with grief as he let out a tragic cry, grabbing the elder's body.

Cultivator Pang, quick-eyed, recognized the brown object and quickly shouted a warning, "The Nether Sea Scorpion Needle, highly venomous! Once it pierces the lung cavity, the poison can reach the heart meridian in an instant. Quickly protect his heart meridian!" The Wang middle-aged cultivator, hearing this, hurriedly used his spiritual power to shield the elder's chest, stopping the bleeding, his face filled with sorrow. "Hahaha, even if you try, you won't leave with your lives! Thinking of leaving unscathed after fighting treasure snatchers is pure delusion." The young cultivator Cao laughed maniacally and flew away on his artifact, but his expression suddenly changed drastically.

He turned around violently, but it was too late. "Ah!" With a scream, a transparent flying sword, which had appeared silently, pierced straight through his chest from behind—"Puchi!"—shooting out a large spray of bright red blood. The transparent flying sword bent in mid-air, intending to strike again. "Second Brother!"

But the great cultivator Cao had reacted. His expression filled with terror as he waved his sleeve, wrapping up the severely wounded young cultivator Cao, transforming into a ray of light and speeding into the distance. "Go quickly!" The four of them flew wildly, vanishing beyond the sea horizon in a blink, over ten li away.

Only a voice filled with furious rage echoed from afar across the sea surface: "A fine Elder of the Purple Sword Palace! This revenge will be exacted. The next time we meet will be the day you die. Heavenly One Nether Water Sword—Swish—flew back into Ye Qin's hand.

Ye Qin watched the fleeing Cao group of treasure snatchers with a grim expression, saying nothing. He glanced sympathetically at the Wang middle-aged cultivator. For the uncle and nephew to suffer such misfortune!

As for the angry words Cao spoke before leaving, Ye Qin didn't take them to heart at all.

Next time they meet, we'll see who dies and who lives.

Everyone, except Huangfu Bing'er, including the three late-stage Golden Core cultivators Pang, Zhu, and Yang, stared at Ye Qin, completely dumbfounded. They clearly couldn't understand how a flying sword could possess such an astonishingly stealthy effect. Cultivator Pang looked at Ye Qin in shock.

Ye Qin had managed to severely wound one of the opponent's Golden Core Eighth Stage physical cultivators; this level of power was terrifyingly formidable, certainly no less than that of the high-tier Golden Core cultivators present. With these two joining the expedition to the Desolate Spirit Trail for treasure hunting, their chances of success had increased significantly. However, this individual’s sheer might instilled a deep apprehension in Cultivator Pang.

"This child actually possesses such strength. I completely misjudged him!"

"It was a sneak attack, yes, but to execute it so silently and flawlessly... terrifying!"

Cultivator Yang couldn't help but glance at Cultivator Pang, his heart unsettled.

"It seems our initial plan to use those four as cannon fodder will need a complete revision," the stoic Cultivator Zhu, who was currently shielded by his Black Fiend Staff, couldn't help but reveal a flicker of astonishment. He spared Ye Qin and his companion a few extra glances before transmitting his thoughts to Cultivator Pang via divine sense.