"Brother Di, a lot of people have already arrived here," Zane Wu whispered.
"Ignore them. We're here to fight." Joe Di had no idea why so many people were standing around, but he was certain that the man with the mottled face who came with them was definitely looking for trouble.
Joe Di continued arranging Rule Array Flags. Since a fight was inevitable, he would simply kill someone first.
Sure enough, the mottled-faced man's ship landed right after Joe Di's, and he brought three others over, smiling as he said, "Friends, fate has brought us together. I have a proposal: let's join forces and venture deep into Hive Shoals. Whatever Stacked Reed Grass we find, we split evenly. What do you think?"
Joe Di had already set up the Killing Array. He was about to send a voice transmission to Maya Mu: kill the mottled-faced man first. As for stalling him with words, Joe Di hadn't even considered it—taking out one enemy quickly was the simplest solution.
Before Joe Di could speak, a deep voice rang out, "Friends who just arrived—we're all here for Stacked Reed Grass, but its toxicity is fierce. I suggest we join forces to venture deeper into Hive Shoals."
As he spoke, a powerful cultivation aura swept over them. At that moment, Zane Wu even felt his breathing grow difficult.
The speaker was a tall man in red. Joe Di scanned him with his divine sense—his cultivation far surpassed Maya Mu's, likely a peak Dao Shaper.
Joe Di sighed inwardly. Seeing this man had already gathered a dozen or so people here, it was clear he had the same idea as the mottled-faced man: find more people to share the toxicity of the Stacked Reed Grass.
At least this man was more principled than the mottled-faced one—he wanted more people to share the poison, while the mottled-faced man's intentions were obvious. He wanted them as slaves to help harvest the Stacked Reed Grass. As for sharing the toxicity, that was wishful thinking.
Joe Di was tempted to ask the tall, red-clothed cultivator: As a peak Dao Shaper, why would you come here to compete for Stacked Reed Grass—a low-level mission?
Gavin Hung instinctively glanced over when he heard this. Upon seeing the red-clothed cultivator, his face showed clear apprehension. He hurried forward, cupping his fists, "Gavin Hung greets fellow Daoist Wayne Scarlet."
He hadn't paid much attention to the crowd before, but with Wayne Scarlet present, it was a different story.
Joe Di understood—this red-clothed cultivator must wield considerable influence in Lightless Sea Divine City, enough to make even Gavin Hung wary.
It made sense. Without some real ability, how could he gather so many people here? Joe Di was sure not everyone joined just because of Wayne Scarlet's words; some must have been motivated by fear of his strength.
Wayne Scarlet only nodded in response to Gavin Hung's greeting, then asked again, "What do you all think?"
Joe Di cupped his fists and replied, "We're planning to try our luck on our own, so we won't be joining any other teams."
Wayne Scarlet's face flickered with hostility—he hadn't expected Joe Di to reject his proposal. Had Wayne Scarlet been away from Lightless Sea Divine City so long that people had forgotten him?
The cultivators gathered around Wayne Scarlet admired Joe Di's bold response, curious to see what he relied on.
Whenever they refused Wayne Scarlet, they always claimed their cultivation was too weak, and teaming up would only drag him down.
As a result, Wei Hongyi said, 'I don't mind your cultivation being weak. In fact, I can look after you.' With Wei Hongyi saying this, who would dare to argue further?
If anyone argued, they'd be seen as disrespecting Wei Hongyi and would be killed on the spot. Anyone who could survive in the Lightless Sea until now was no fool; so far, no one had risked falling out with Wei Hongyi just to act alone.
The man with the mottled face was secretly delighted. 'Daoist Hongyi, we're willing to join your group. But I have a personal grudge with this kid and would like to settle it first.'
Wei Hongyi had intended to act personally, but this remark was clearly meant to curry favor with him. He replied coolly, 'Settle it quickly. Once it's done, we'll head into Hive Shoals. We have just about enough people now.'
Almost at the same moment the mottled-faced man agreed, Maya Mu received a voice transmission from Joe Di: attack the mottled-faced man with full force. Zane Wu received a transmission to protect the other three.
Maya Mu had no doubts about Joe Di. Before the mottled-faced man could act, her twin crescent blades were already sweeping toward him.
Rage surged in the mottled-faced man. He hadn't expected these grasshoppers to dare strike first.
'Attack!' the mottled-faced man roared, summoning his long halberd.
The other three didn't need his command—they attacked simultaneously. But their targets were Joe Di and Zane Wu; as for Maya Mu, they trusted the mottled-faced man could handle her.
But just as they made their move, they immediately sensed something was wrong with the space—a killing array had appeared without their notice.
The killing array trapped all four of them, and four streams of murderous intent swept toward each one. The mottled-faced man and his companions had survived in the Lightless Sea for years, rising from obscurity to become two Dao Shapers and two who had formed Dao Seeds—they were not easy prey.
As soon as they sensed the killing array's trap, all four unleashed their treasures at full force against it.
Boom! Boom! Boom! The space echoed with deafening roars as their treasures struck Joe Di's killing array. The array emitted a brittle crack, and the space around them loosened—each of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Joe Di's killing array was formidable, but it was far from enough to trap all four of them.
Maya Mu's twin crescent blades struck hastily, lacking momentum. The shockwave from breaking the array slowed her attack even more.
Yet the mottled-faced man felt a sense of foreboding. Despite the space being broken and the array shattered, he sensed the threat of death.
It was that woman's twin crescent blades. The mottled-faced man's halberd swept forward, striking Maya Mu's blades with overwhelming force.
Bang! Maya Mu spat out a torrent of blood, regret flooding her heart. Though both were Dao Shapers, she was vastly inferior to the mottled-faced man in both combat experience and strength. In fact, Joe Di had created the perfect opportunity for her, trapping the mottled-faced man in his array.
If she had managed to strike the mottled-faced man before he broke free from the array, she might have seriously wounded him. But now, after breaking the array, he struck first, rendering Joe Di's formation ineffective.
The mottled-faced man breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the threat to his life came from that woman's blades—he'd been overly cautious. Even if he hadn't broken the array, she couldn't have dealt him a fatal blow. Besides, Joe Di's array was nothing to someone like Ji Hong.
No, something was wrong. Just as the mottled-faced man thought this, the sense of impending death still lingered—even though he saw the woman who attacked him coughing blood and retreating.
In that instant, the space froze, and the mottled-faced man was terrified. He might not have eaten pork, but he’d certainly seen pigs run—this was definitely the Law of Time, the Law of Time...
With that thought, he saw a faint blade light sweep toward him, but at that moment, his space was frozen, and time itself was halted.
'Break!' The mottled-faced man frantically burned his essence blood—just a breath, just a breath and he could break free from the Law of Time's restraints...
Not even half a breath remained—a chill tore through his chest. Despair flashed in his eyes; he knew it was over.
Boom! Blood burst forth as Maya Mu, who was preparing to strike again, froze in shock—she watched the mottled-faced man's body split in two.
His soul had just escaped when a faint black flame swept it away, vanishing without a trace. Only a single ring was left, which Joe Di promptly collected.
...