Cultivation is just so scientific! Chapter 1702 - 897: Trap (Part 2)

In the vast Cultivation World, great cultivators mastering the speed rule are exceedingly rare, and even those rare ones usually possess rather weak combat power.

Great cultivators specializing in the speed rule lack mighty offensive rules, leaving them to depend solely on speed—primarily handy for fleeing.

Five great cultivators shot out from the Long-distance Flying Boat, defying the Sword Intent Chongxiao Pavilion Intelligence Department's report of just five Nascent Soul Middle Stage experts.

Four among these five great cultivators reached the peak stage, while the remaining one fell short of that peak, yet his aura felt oddly distinctive.

"Cui, Yu, when did you two join the Yuqing Sect?" Li Yuanba spotted two peak great cultivators and questioned them sarcastically.

Master Cui Cheng serves as a peak great cultivator from the Infinite Sect, while Great Cultivator Yu Chao holds the same rank in the Beidou Sect. The other two peak great cultivators likely hail from major superpowers too.

Shockingly, all of them lurked aboard the Yuqing Sect’s Long-distance Flying Boat, poised to ambush its own cultivators. Unwittingly, Li Yuanba had stumbled straight into their snare.

"I never thought it would be you, Mr. Li. Looks like you’ve forged a bitter grudge against the Yuqing Sect—your tactics are vicious indeed!" Master Cui shot Li Yuanba a venomous glare.

He vividly recalled his defeat and narrow escape at Li Yuanba’s hands, fueling his constant thirst for vengeance.

This occasion, after taking Yuqing Sect’s rewards and allying with fellow peak great cultivators to waylay their targets, they had snared Li Yuanba by sheer fortune.

Brushing off Master Cui’s taunts, Li Yuanba turned his gaze to the non-peak great cultivator, confusion flickering in his eyes.

"Who are you? Do I know you? Why such deep resentment toward me?" He demanded of the great cultivator.

"Li Yuanba, I’m Lin Yuan of the Guiyuan Sect. You’re the cause of my present plight!" The great cultivator spat through clenched teeth.

Enlightenment dawned on Li Yuanba; that aura rang a bell now, though he hadn’t placed it before.

This turned out to be the very cultivator whose fleshly body Li Yuanba had shattered and Nascent Soul seized—though a Guiyuan Sect heavyweight later ransomed the Nascent Soul with precious treasures.

Li Yuanba eyed Great Cultivator Lin’s form with curiosity; surely that Guiyuan Sect powerhouse employed some secret art to propel him back to Great Cultivator Realm in record time.

Typically, Nascent Soul rebirth means merging into a fresh body, channeling Nascent Soul-refined energy to fortify it, and transforming surplus Nascent Soul energy into the body’s cultivation base.

Yet Great Cultivator Lin’s state suggested he’d forfeited a chunk of his Nascent Soul cultivation as cost, letting him resume directly at Great Cultivator Realm sans retraining.

"Fellow Daoist Lin, you shouldn’t have shown up. I let you live before, but now I won’t show mercy!" Li Yuanba declared gravely.

"Li Yuanba, you die today!" Great Cultivator Lin glared at him with seething fury.

Li Yuanba shook his head helplessly before eyeing the remaining two peak great cultivators.

Yet those two showed zero interest in self-introduction, simply manifesting their artifacts and bracing for combat.

No longer caring to probe their backgrounds, he dismissed them as mere peak great cultivators from certain superpowers.

He wasn’t some drifting great cultivator without backing; foes couldn’t overwhelm him through sheer might unless his Sword Elder patron abandoned him.

Regarding other cultivators’ threats, his current strength let him clash with peak great cultivators fearlessly.

"I figured it was Li Shizhen at first, but it’s you, Mr. Li. The Yuqing Sect slipped up, yet this simplifies our mission considerably!" Master Cui remarked coolly.

Li Shizhen’s fighting skill famed for felling two peak great cultivators, with whispers even of him killing a half-step great power.

Still, solid proof of that half-step great power kill remained absent—mere hearsay.

With irrefutable evidence, these five wouldn’t have touched the assignment.

As peak great cultivators from superpowers themselves, plus Great Cultivator Lin’s prior peak status, they grasped the chasm separating great cultivators from half-step great powers, refusing to credit Li Shizhen with such a feat.

Master Cui's admission that his power fell short of Li Shizhen's left Li Yuanba utterly unangered; instead, a hint of amusement stirred within him.

As Li Shiming's doppelganger, he possessed deep knowledge of his original self's prowess, which truly outmatched his own.

Very few cultivators could actually push Li Shiming to unleash his full might.

The pinnacle of Li Shiming's power came from deploying all five Nascent Souls in battle, a technique he almost never displayed.

"I’m curious, what benefits did the Yuqing Sect offer you, making it worth designing such a trap?" Li Yuanba inquired with a grin, calling forth his Lifebound Flying Sword Xingyi.

"I’ll tell you before we kill you!" Master Cui snapped back with icy venom.

"Slash!" Li Yuanba launched the first strike; delaying would let the four peak great cultivators claim optimal positions.

Confronting four peak great cultivators demanded absolute vigilance from him, without a trace of laxity.

This kind of clash set his blood racing and ignited his battle lust to new heights.

Even though original and doppelganger formed a single entity, the doppelganger Li Yuanba burned with fiercer combat drive, having endured countless more fights than Li Shiming the original, providing the bulk of their collective combat savvy.

His bellow of "Slash" conjured a sword gleam right before Master Cui.

Xingyi closed in on him before Master Cui had any chance to respond.

Just as Li Yuanba figured Xingyi's velocity would eliminate Master Cui swiftly, an Ice Crystal Fortress materialized around the man.

Xingyi's slash against the Ice Crystal Fortress produced a subtle hum.

A minor fracture emerged on the Ice Crystal Fortress, yet the impact fell short of demolishing it.

Li Yuanba's eyes flicked toward Great Cultivator Yu of the Beidou Sect; that Ice Crystal Fortress stemmed from an array technique, a hallmark skill of Great Cultivator Yu.

He'd tangled with the Ice Crystal Fortress previously and mastered ways to breach it.

Yet prior to pressing his offensive further, the onslaught from the four peak great cultivators barreled toward him.

Li Yuanba sighed in resignation, recalling Xingyi and morphing into sword light to evade the onrushing blows.

Here, his velocity superiority shone brightly, for in Sword Escape mode, the ’Speed Rule Imprint’ enhanced his pace beyond that of the four assaults.

Li Yuanba tapped Xingyi lightly with a finger, causing it to fragment into sword light.

This sword light carried his form; despite a minor dip in quickness, he retained a narrow lead over the assault velocity of the four peak great cultivators.

Meanwhile, Xingyi's core form hurtled once more toward the Ice Crystal Fortress.

Failing to pierce the Ice Crystal Fortress's barrier meant he couldn't touch the physical forms of the four peak great cultivators.

As the four peak great cultivators sought to block Xingyi, it nimbly threaded through their assault energies like a fish darting in currents, landing exact hits on the targeted section of the Ice Crystal Fortress.

Merely three blows later, a sharp crack resounded, and the Ice Crystal Fortress dissolved into dispersing ice crystals.

The Ice Crystal Fortress Array's arcane method demanded advance setup; after shattering, redeployment proved impossible for the immediate future.

Solemnity etched onto the faces of the four peak great cultivators as they each unleashed defensive treasures and surged their own powers.

They grasped too that this confrontation would prove arduous; Li Yuanba's swiftness overwhelmed, even under curbs on his Divine Foot Skill. Absent those curbs, a battle might not have been necessary at all.