A life of leisure is worse than a life of flowers and splendour

"The four of them are in the Foundation Establishment stage, so they must have just broken through not long ago. The remaining one is at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. But there are only three of us. Although we are all in the Foundation Establishment stage, facing four Foundation Establishment and one Great Perfection of Qi Refining head-on, our chances of winning are slim. The main reason is that I am an Alchemy cultivator, so I don't have an advantage in attacking. Moreover, I was seriously injured before, so I am afraid that I will be a drag." Ling Ling slowly explained the situation to the people outside.

He continued, "Let's launch a sneak attack and try to hit the target with one strike, preferably seriously injuring the opponent. I don't have any particularly powerful talismans or equipment. I'll deal with the one in the early stage of foundation building first. I'm sure I can kill him or seriously injure him. Chen Kai, are you sure you can seriously injure one of the remaining three early stage foundation building warriors? If we can kill or seriously injure two or three of them with a sneak attack, maybe we can turn the situation around."

"Okay. I'll just go after the two together. If I'm lucky, I might even be able to take down one more." It just so happened that both of them were the ones chasing him before, and it was like enemies meeting and being jealous of each other. As he spoke, he pulled out a stack of second-order fireball talismans. These fireball talismans might only look like talismans, but there were so many of them that even someone at the early stages of Foundation Establishment would be enough to give him a hard time. Previously, Fatty was only at the Qi Refining stage, lacking in spiritual power. It took a long time to activate a second-order talisman, and he could only use one at a time, consuming nearly a quarter of his spiritual power. This could cause some trouble for the other party, but it didn't do much damage, and more importantly, it bought him some time to escape. Otherwise, with only one Qi Refining cultivator at the Great Perfection stage against two Foundation Establishment cultivators and one Qi Refining cultivator at the Great Perfection stage, he would still be a complete loser. This was mainly because he had been trained by his father, but although he had little experience, he still had some foundation. Otherwise, he would have been caught long ago, and there would have been no chance of escape. Things were different now. Xiaopang had successfully established his foundation, and his spiritual power had greatly increased. He could use multiple second-level talismans continuously, and even activate several at the same time, creating a sea of fire that would engulf the enemy. The power was incomparable. As a result, Xiaopang's offensive power was greatly improved, and he was no longer like before, where he could only take a beating without being able to fight back.

"I must let them see how powerful I am. Humph, they bullied me because of my low cultivation level before, but this time I will roast them to death!" Xiaopang swore secretly in his heart, with a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes.

Looking at Du Shuangshuang, neither of them spoke. Everyone knew that Du Shuangshuang came from the mortal world, and no one expected him to come up with anything good. Xiaopang had given her ten talismans of various kinds before, but if used for sneak attacks, there were only three pure attack talismans, and it was a bit risky to use them all to sneak attack someone in the Foundation Establishment Stage. After all, the person must have some protective items on him, and if he wanted to seriously injure him, it might not be possible to use them all at once. It would definitely be enough to sneak attack someone in the Qi Refining Stage, but he didn't know if she was willing to do so.

Du Shuangshuang took the initiative and said, "Then I will deal with the other one who is in the early stage of foundation building."

Xiaopang said, "Don't worry, we're here. We can at least kill or cripple them."

Du Shuangshuang didn't say anything. Everyone would know after the action started.

Of the five people on the opposite side, besides the Foundation Establishment cultivator who had been staring at them, two others were meditating together, not far from each other, perhaps believing they could lend a hand and look after each other in the event of an emergency. Another Foundation Establishment cultivator was also talking to the Qi Refining Great Perfection cultivator not far away. None of them had even set up a protective formation. It seemed their fear of leaving had given them considerable confidence.

The three attacked simultaneously as planned. Du Shuangshuang didn't use talismans, relying instead on her own strength. With the others caught off guard, Du Shuangshuang wanted to see if she could kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator with her own strength. Du Shuangshuang used a heightened version of the Explosive Flame Technique, mixing her compressed fire energy with a hint of wood energy. She launched it towards her target, instantly exploding, taking not only the targeted individual but also a nearby Qi Refining Master. The latter was merely affected, barely able to utter a scream, while the targeted Foundation Establishment cultivator collapsed with a scream.

The person targeted by the fat man didn't even make a sound before being hit by a stack of talismans and turned into charcoal. The people around him screamed and ran away after seeing what they saw. The person targeted by Senior Sister Lingling was also seriously injured and fell to the ground. He twitched twice and then fell motionless. The protective equipment on several people was scrapped, but it couldn't stop the attack.

Everyone inside and outside the formation was stunned. Du Shuangshuang—am I that powerful? Xiaopang and Lingling also looked at Du Shuangshuang in shock. Lingling was shocked by the power of Du Shuangshuang's magic. Xiaopang was even more shocked. Looking at his weak junior sister, he had originally thought she was a bronze, but he didn't expect her to be a king. Wow, wow, wow, Xiaopang was a little bit overwhelmed. Who could have thought that a weakling next to them would suddenly become a powerful big shot? Who could accept it all at once?

Those outside the formation had always assumed the insiders were pushovers, but who could have imagined they were capable of such tactics? Their previous attacks had been met with such unwavering indifference, their lack of counterattacks causing them to let their guard down even further. They must have initially ignored them, perhaps because they were concerned about the progress of others? The remaining person didn't even bother to check on their teammates before fleeing.

Du Shuangshuang and the other two looked at each other in bewilderment. Scared off just like that? After a moment's delay, the three quickly retracted the formation. Du Shuangshuang quickly ran to search the corpse and divided the spoils among their respective enemies. Then, they all left together. Otherwise, if the one who escaped summoned more powerful companions, the three of them would be in trouble.

They walked a long distance away, not stopping until they all felt safe. Du Shuangshuang asked the two about their plans, "Is there anywhere you want to go?"

"I've spotted a senior brother and his group, but I don't know who they are yet. Do you want to come with me?" Ling Ling had just noticed the distinctive scent of the medicinal powder they were carrying. Her contracted beast, the Mysterious Butterfly, had just informed her that the scent of the medicine was lingering here, and that they had just left. This scent was only detectable by the Mysterious Butterfly, and the others also had the Mysterious Butterfly Ling Ling had given them, making it easy for them to find each other. The Mysterious Butterfly was Ling Ling's contracted beast, and while it had no lethality, it was primarily skilled at hiding, making it useful for tracking and scouting, as well as finding special spiritual plants.

Do you want it? Of course you do! This secret realm is too dangerous. I used to think that following the old disciple might bring trouble, but look at what he has in his hands. Of course, it is safer to stick together with fellow disciples. If I were to encounter several demon cultivators or a large formation by myself, I am afraid I would not be able to resist. Unless I can use the teleportation talisman, then I will just follow them. If I have the teleportation talisman, I will just run away if I encounter danger. Let's follow and see the situation of the main force first. "That's great, I will definitely follow you. What do you think, Chen Kai?" Du Shuangshuang nodded quickly. The resources obtained by sticking together will definitely be much less, but the risk factor will be much smaller. I don't think I am the reincarnation of a lucky star and can always escape danger.

"Of course I want to follow you." It was too dangerous to go alone. Thinking about his previous escape experience, which was too exciting and something he never wanted to experience again, Xiaopang quickly agreed. So, the three of them decided to follow Lingling to find the traces of their fellow disciples.

As they walked, Ling Ling recounted his experiences. It turned out that Ling Ling's second-level sword talisman was given to him by his uncle, Ling Chen, who had sealed his own sword energy for self-defense. Before that, he had also had a Nascent Soul stage sword talisman, also given to him by his uncle, but he had used it to escape a difficult situation.

Sword talismans are different from ordinary talismans in that they seal spells. A sword cultivator's sword energy is sealed into a special material through special means. These are usually jade talismans with runes drawn on them, sometimes stone flakes refined from ore, or even refined jewelry. However, these talismans must be strong enough to carry the sword energy, so sword talismans are not as common as talismans. Furthermore, sword talismans are far more powerful than ordinary talismans. It's said that sword cultivators can challenge opponents of higher levels, and the power of these same sword talismans is enough to kill opponents of higher levels.

Ling Ling was deceived by Mu Nanyue before, but she had a bad impression of Mu Nanyue to begin with. In addition, the incident in the food court where she bullied the little junior sister that Uncle Chu Yue had asked them to look after made her dislike this person even more.

But the other party took the token of her senior sister and said that they had discovered the nine-petal holy lotus, but the guardian beast was too powerful, so they came out to find Taoist companions to cooperate with them.

The Nine-petaled Holy Lotus—that's a legendary item, capable of cleansing all worldly impurities, even spiritual roots. The Soul-Cleansing Pill is primarily made from the Nine-petaled Holy Lotus. It's a now-extinct existence on the Tianyuan Continent, and Ling Ling couldn't resist the temptation, yet he remained vigilant. Who knew he'd still fall for it? Ling Ling never imagined that Mu Nanyan, a righteous Taoist cultivator, would help the demonic sect to deceive him.

As they walked, Ling Ling realized something was amiss and was already trapped in a formation. Unable to use formations, she tried to forcefully break through, but found her strength was insufficient to even make a single splash. Ling Ling realized she couldn't escape without using her trump card, so she gritted her teeth and used the only Nascent Soul sword talisman her uncle had given her. Only then could she be sure of breaking through the formation and escaping.

The sword talisman, unleashed, not only broke the formation but also killed one of the enemy, severely wounding two others who narrowly avoided the attack. The others, who were in other locations, were unharmed. He escaped before the sword energy had fully dissipated, only for the remaining enemies to attack him simultaneously. Because he was too close when he used the sword talisman, he was slightly affected by the talisman's attack, though not seriously. He didn't want to be caught off guard. Although the protective jade talisman given by his master blocked most of the damage, he was still injured. The jade talisman was completely destroyed by the enemy's attacks. With no other choice but to expend his own spiritual energy to support his protective gear, he took the opportunity to activate a short-range directional teleportation talisman. Since these directional teleportation talismans travel in a straight line, only a few thousand meters away, they can be traced by following the direction of spatial fluctuations. It wouldn't take long for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to catch up with him.

Activating the teleportation talisman would reveal his escape direction, so he removed his shield and switched directions, employing a light-body technique to swiftly escape. He didn't dare fly too high; if he did, he'd be a target. In the woods, even if the enemy used their spiritual sense, it would be difficult to pinpoint his location. Furthermore, he left almost no trace, effectively concealed by the trees. A careful search would be required to detect him, which bought him time to escape. As a result, he was severely injured, and with his spiritual power dwindling, he was on the verge of revealing himself when Du Shuangshuang rescued him.

After using the sword talisman, Ling Ling regretted it. He should have used the teleportation talisman first. It was all his fault for being too nervous and losing his composure. He had also been a bit too eager for quick success, thinking that if he could kill a few of the other party, he could get some contribution points from the sect. Their direct disciples had additional secret missions. He could also break the formation and escape. Unfortunately, he was a weak fighter and almost didn't make it.

Ling Ling recounted her story to Du Shuangshuang and Xiaopang to warn them about Mu Nanyan. Of course, it wasn't just Mu Nanyan, but everyone else should be wary as well. They needed to be more vigilant to get out of the secret realm alive. She had nearly died at the hands of the enemy, becoming their reward and spoils of war.