"…Could it be that you came to congratulate me on forming my foundation?"
Hearing these words, just as he regained his senses, a storm of emotions surged in Xu Pingyang's heart.
He… succeeded?!
Now trapped within the array and entangled by countless vines born of the formation, under the heavy suppression of wood-element spiritual energy, even his protective aura had been broken through.
Both of his top-grade magical artifacts were completely restrained. At this point, he was utterly powerless to resist!
What's more, the vines only held him without killing for now. If they turned violent, he'd be crushed into a bloody pulp in an instant!
Xu Pingyang never expected that he wouldn't even get a glimpse of Li Ye himself just one shockwave from a magical item under this formation's might was enough to suppress him completely…
And now, even Ma Ying, another Foundation Establishment cultivator, had disappeared. Whether he had perished in the array or had also been captured by Li Ye, no one knew!
Such power was truly beyond Xu Pingyang's imagination!
This formation… was too bizarre!
"Li Ye! Don't attack!"
Xu Pingyang shouted in panic, "You heard what I said just now we have no great enmity between us! If you're willing to spare me, I'm willing to share rulership over the Chidi Mountains with you… and offer a massive compensation!"
"There's no rush for that…"
Li Ye's calm voice came through. "The conflict between us isn't worth a Foundation Establishment cultivator making such a big scene just to take down a mere late-stage Qi Refining cultivator…"
"So tell me why did you want to kill me?"
If he didn't get to the bottom of this, it might become a hidden threat in the future. He had to ask before making his move.
Xu Pingyang tried to use the voice to pinpoint Li Ye's location, but his divine sense was still being blocked by the pale green mist surrounding him he couldn't detect a thing.
If he couldn't even locate Li Ye, then even detonating his last resort might not do any damage, let alone drag Li Ye down with him.
At this point, he could only try to stall for time while seeking a way to escape.
Xu Pingyang quickly replied:
"I saw that you had outstanding talent, and feared that once you reached Foundation Establishment, you'd contend with me for control over the Chidi Mountains…"
"You're lying!"
Li Ye's voice turned cold. "Enough. The other Foundation Establishment cultivator is already captured. I have no personal grudge with him if I let him live, I'm sure he'd be happy to tell me the truth. Perhaps I should go ask him instead…"
As soon as the words fell, Xu Pingyang suddenly felt the vines that had left a sliver of space tighten all at once. Dozens of tendrils slithered over, wrapping around his body and beginning to crush him inch by inch.
Death loomed near and with Li Ye having other options Xu Pingyang no longer dared to hold anything back.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
"Beneath the Chidi Mountains, within the underground magma caves, there's a hidden legacy of an ancient sect…"
"I feared that if you reached Foundation Establishment and discovered this secret, you'd compete with us for that sky-shaking opportunity… That's why I wanted to get rid of you first!"
"So that's what it was…"
Li Ye was somewhat surprised. He had long sensed there were places within the Chidi Mountains that Qi Refining cultivators couldn't reach, but he hadn't imagined that deep within the lava-filled earth, there was another hidden realm waiting to be discovered!
He had never imagined that this unclaimed region at most possessing only a second-grade spiritual vein would be hiding such a secret!
"I've already told you everything. That secret realm's entrance is known only to me. Even Ma Ying doesn't know it as well as I do. If you let me go, I can lead you there myself…"
"If we obtain what lies within, reaching the Golden Core stage would no longer be just a dream!"
Xu Pingyang was still trying to tempt him with promises of gain.
But not far away, Li Ye though completely concealed by the formation casually formed a hand seal.
In the blink of an eye, the vines entangling Xu Pingyang suddenly tightened. Like a swarm of writhing tentacles, they surged in with sharp wooden thorns sprouting along them. Massive wooden pillars began to crush in from all directions.
One vine pierced through Xu Pingyang's dantian, crippling his cultivation. Under the formation's overwhelming pressure, even attempting to self-detonate was no longer possible.
"No!"
With a single scream, he was crushed to a pulp.
A dignified Foundation Establishment cultivator once the dominant leader of the Chidi Mountains had his life ended just like that!
"Indeed, after reaching Foundation Establishment, the synergy between divine sense and the formation's power has become far more potent… Killing an early-stage Foundation cultivator hardly took any effort."
Li Ye reflected silently on this small-scale trial of strength, gaining a clearer understanding of his current combat ability.
Purely in terms of personal strength, he still had considerable room for growth after just breaking through.
But if he were within a formation empowered by the Voidrealm Tree, then unless his opponent wielded a second-grade Talisman of Breaking Seals, even a mid-stage Foundation cultivator might not be able to beat him.
As for late-stage Foundation cultivators, he'd likely need the Voidrealm Tree to evolve to the second grade only then, with enhanced domain power, could he easily suppress them.
Now that Xu Pingyang was dead, Pingyang Mountain would soon fall into his hands as well. That day wasn't far off.
Sweeping the area with his divine sense, the vines retracted, revealing a pile of flesh that no longer resembled a human form. Li Ye reached out, and a storage pouch flew out from the heap, bypassing the gore and landing in his palm.
He didn't rush to check its contents. Instead, he turned and walked a few steps forward, soon spotting Ma Ying trussed up like a zongzi suspended in the air, struggling in vain.
His magical artifacts had long been taken by the formation and were nowhere to be seen.
Though both men had been captured swiftly, Li Ye had naturally chosen to interrogate and deal with Xu Pingyang first.
What surprised Li Ye, however, was that even with the formation cutting off sound and aura, as he drew near, Ma Ying suddenly stopped struggling and shouted:
"Fellow Daoist Li, I assume that Xu Pingyang has already met his end at your hands?"
Li Ye remained silent, while Ma Ying continued, as if speaking to himself, "No matter what he said… do you know that it was I who told him about the magma palace?"
"I've already made preparations back home. If I disappear for too long, this matter will be reported to my clan!"
"If you kill me, you may have talent in formation arts but alone, I doubt you can contend with the many Foundation cultivators of my Ma family!"
"How can I trust you?" Li Ye asked calmly.
Ma Ying immediately responded, "I have a partial map of the magma palace. That's how I found this place… I can use it to prove I'm telling the truth!"
"I see… in that case, you can die now."
"What?!"
Ma Ying's eyes bulged in shock, but in the next instant, he was swallowed by the vines.
A chorus of cracking bones followed. Before long, a ruined corpse skull, heart, and dantian all destroyed fell from the air like a broken sack.
Li Ye stored away the man's belongings, then used the vines to sweep up both Ma Ying's corpse and the pile of flesh that had been Xu Pingyang, tossing them beneath the Voidrealm Tree.
The blood and flesh of Foundation cultivators…
To the Voidrealm Tree also empowered by the [Absorption] trait it might be an excellent tonic.
As for killing Ma Ying on the spot…
To Li Ye, it didn't matter who had told the truth Xu Pingyang or Ma Ying.
What mattered was that they were already enemies. So why leave behind a future threat?
As if sparing Ma Ying would stop him from bringing his clan down upon Li Ye later?
Since that was the case, even if the Ma Clan did come for revenge, it was still better than keeping a ticking time bomb of Foundation-level power around!
"This turned out to be easier than expected… With both of them dead, all that's left is to clean up the aftermath."
Li Ye muttered to himself, eyes turning cold as he looked down the mountain.
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