Chapter 143: Middle-Grade Spirit Mine Poof! With a crisp sound, a bloody flash appeared. Lu Yangrong had just turned around when his head was pierced by a flying sword and he died on the spot! The flying sword continued its momentum and continued to stab at the people behind. Su Zimo was the first to be targeted. Su Zimo’s spirit perception had long alerted him to it as he instantly drew his Cold Moon Saber and slashed against the incoming flying sword, knocking it away. The speed of that attack was way too fast to be from a Qi Refinement Warrior! If Su Zimo wanted to defend using flying swords, he would have to use his sword formation. However, it would take too long to set up and he wouldn’t be able to deal with the situation on hand. Lu Yangrong’s blood splattered all over Su Zimo and Guan Jin. Apart from Su Zimo, the rest were stunned and their eyes were filled with shock. Even with Leng Rou’s personality, she still looked somewhat flustered at the moment. None of them could imagine how someone who had just been laughing and talking to them a moment ago had turned into a corpse in the blink of an eye! Swash! Swash! Two more flashes of light appeared, targeting Su Zimo and Guan Jin. Standing where he was in a dazed manner, Guan Jin did not manage to shatter the protective talisman in his hands right away. Su Zimo extended his palm and yanked Guan Jin back, hollering, “Hurry, retreat!” Clang! Clang! Flipping his hands, Su Zimo slashed twice and the two incoming flying swords fell to the ground. The two swords carried quite a bit of power in them – their attacker was early-stage Foundation Establishment at least! The change in circumstances had rendered Lu Yangrong and Guan Jin’s earlier predictions invalid. Within the spirit mine, there were at least three Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Furthermore, all three of them did not care if they were going against Ethereal Peak. Every single attack of theirs was lethal, showing no mercy at all! Finally, Guan Jin and the others snapped out of their stupor. Shattering his protection talisman, a light barrier appeared around Guan Jin’s surroundings. Leng Rou and little fatty then sped towards the exit. Clothes could be heard fluttering from the depths of the mine and by the sound of it, there were quite a number of people! When the people inside saw that their flying swords could not kill Su Zimo and the rest, they gave chase outside. As Su Zimo retreated, he drew out a blood-colored bow. Before the five peaks face-off, Su Zimo had already refined the Cold Moon Saber and Sanguine Crystal Bow into inferior-grade spirit weapons. In the blink of an eye, three arrows were loaded. Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! The sound of arrows piercing through the air echoed as three flashes of light tore through the darkness of the mine. “Ah!” “Ah!” Two shrieks could be heard while the third arrow was blocked. “Be careful, everyone!” Someone yelled from the depths of the mine. Within that narrow mine, there was not much space for cultivators to dodge and as such, Su Zimo’s arrows dealt quite a bit of damage. Running with all their might, Su Zimo and the rest got out before long. Outside, all of them were rattled. The blood-eyed crows that flew by them earlier on were now surrounding and pecking at little crane and the spirit tiger. Because it was a spirit demon after all, little crane could defend itself against the attacks of the blood-eyed crows. However, the spirit tiger sustained a lot of injuries because it could not fly. Howling on the spot, it was trying to defend itself desperately. “Frost Wind!” When Leng Rou saw that, she conjured hand seals and hollered, pointing towards the skies. A cold gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and swept through the blood-eyed crows. Instantly, a number of them were frozen and fell to the ground, shattering to their deaths. That was the power of spirit arts! Thanks to Leng Rou’s assistance, little crane broke out of the encirclement and panted slightly, looking somewhat fearful. Residing in the sect most of the time, it had never seen such a bloody scene. “Ride on little crane and leave this place for now!” Su Zimo ordered swiftly. “Hahahaha!” Right then, a haughty laughter came from deep within the cave. A group of people came forth. The leader who was donned in grey robes declared, “None of you will leave today. Stay here!” “Late-stage Foundation Establishment!” Little fatty’s pupils constricted as he exclaimed. The grey robed cultivator who spoke was at late-stage Foundation Establishment! Among them, Lu Yangrong who was at mid-stage Foundation Establishment had already died within the spirit mine. Not only that, a steady stream of cultivators continued out of the mine. At a glance, there were more than thirty people! However, what was terrifying was that all thirty odd of them were Foundation Establishment Cultivators! Other than the grey robed late-stage Foundation Establishment, there were nine others at mid-stage and the rest were all at early-stage. There wasn’t a single Qi Refinement Warrior! “It’s over!” Guan Jin looked at the thirty odd Foundation Establishment Cultivators that surrounded them and despair gushed into his heart, draining all color from his face. Little fatty wielded his gigantic axe in one hand and a flying sword in the other, looking nervous. Leng Rou’s sword hovered in front of her. Even though she looked cold as usual, her palms were covered in sweat. Of the four people present, Su Zimo was the only composed one as he surveyed his surroundings. “We’re cultivators of Ethereal Peak! Who are you guys?” Guan Jin took a deep breath before questioning sternly. “Fufu.” The grey robed leader chuckled softly. His eyes were filled with mockery as he raised his brows. “Ethereal Peak? Big f*ck! Yesterday, I just slaughtered an Ethereal Peak disciple who doesn’t know what’s good for him!” Indeed, the messenger disciple had already perished. Back when Lu Yangrong died in the mine, Su Zimo had already sensed that today’s events would not be easy to resolve. Still bearing a sliver of hope, Guan Jin tried to first show weakness. “Fellow daoist, what you want is the spirit mine before us. Alright, Ethereal Peak will give up on it then. There’s no need for you guys to kill us.” “Furthermore, isn’t it just an inferior-grade spirit mine? It’s useless for us anyways, fufu,” Guan Jin forced a laugh. “Inferior-grade spirit mine?” The grey robed cultivator scoffed coldly, “Let me correct you. This is a middle-grade spirit mine!” “Ah?” Instantly, Guan Jin’s expression changed – he finally understood why there were so many Foundation Establishment Cultivators. If it was a middle-grade spirit mine, it would definitely be attractive to Foundation Establishment Cultivators! If they knew beforehand that this was a middle-grade spirit mine, Ethereal Peak would have sent out the strongest of inner sect disciples or even have legacy disciples lead the team! Su Zimo remained silent and watched coldly. Carefully, he noticed that the thirty odd Foundation Establishment Cultivators before him were all dressed differently and did not have any identification badges – they were clearly all itinerant cultivators. What was it that gathered all these itinerant cultivators here to snatch this spirit mine? This grey robed cultivator before them was not enough of a reason for this. Even though a late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator is strong, he’s not compelling enough a reason for others to join him at the risk of offending Ethereal Peak. Guan Jin forced himself to be calm and said grimly, “Fellow daoists, to be honest, we’ve already relayed a message back to the sect. Before long, reinforcements will come...” “Fufu, by then, you’ll all be dead.” Before Guan Jin could complete his sentence, the grey robed cultivator interrupted him. Scoffing coldly, he continued, “Besides, we would have left long ago by the time your reinforcements arrive.” “Hahaha!” The surrounding Foundation Establishment Cultivators roared with laughter. Watching Guan Jin’s expression carefully, a strange glint appeared in the grey robed cultivator’s eyes as he smiled. “Fellow daoist, haven’t you noticed anything wrong in your body?”