In the depths of the fiery pit, Yu Mingzhi's clothes had long since been burned away by the purple-black cold fire. However, a layer of armor-like substance had appeared on Yu Mingzhi's body, protecting him.
"A defensive magical artifact?" Ye Bufan pondered.
Yu Mingzhi painfully stood up from the pit. The armor on his body was a sect artifact of the Five Poisons Sect.
However, Ye Bufan's punch from earlier had left many dents on this artifact, but it had still saved Yu Mingzhi's life.
"Kid, didn't expect this, did you? I have a protective artifact." Yu Mingzhi let out a "桀桀桀" laugh. Ye Bufan's heart had long since coveted this artifact.
Who was Lin Xiaoyao? He had trained Ye Bufan to be incredibly powerful in alchemy and artifact refining. In Lin Xiaoyao's words, even if those from Earth broke through the shackles, it would be difficult to find many foreign cultivators who could match Ye Bufan's mastery in artifact refining and alchemy.
"Earth-grade artifact, not bad. I was just worrying about not having an artifact to protect people," Ye Bufan said.
"Kid, I hope you can still be this arrogant later." Yu Mingzhi's face was grim. He was certain that Ye Bufan had no way to deal with his protective artifact, and thus became extremely bold.
"Still not acting?"
Just then, Yu Mingzhi gave a sharp shout. Nine figures appeared from all directions. Among them, three were Grand Martial Venerables, and the rest were either Martial Venerables or High-level Martial Artists.
"Oh? A formation?" Ye Bufan stopped in mid-air. These people were all holding a blood Ruyi scepter.
The nine figures began chanting incantations. The blood Ruyi scepters suddenly emitted a dazzling red light and flew towards Ye Bufan's head. They converged into a single point, forming an arc-shaped red net that descended upon Ye Bufan.
"Condensing Blood Heavenly Net!" Yu Mingzhi roared. Then, a red long sword appeared before him, instantly flying above Ye Bufan's head, about to pierce his crown.
"Two Sleeves Green Serpent!"
Chongxu Lei Jue and Zixu Jian Jue, running in parallel, the broken sword instantly flew out from Ye Bufan's body.
"Rumble—"
At this moment, a bolt of heavenly lightning descended from the sky, striking the broken sword. The broken sword instantly erupted with powerful lightning, transforming into a giant sword of lightning.
"Break!" Ye Bufan said in a very casual tone.
The lightning sword easily sliced open the blood-red heavenly net, turning into nine streams of lightning that struck down upon the nine figures below.
Apart from the three Grand Martial Venerables, the remaining six Martial Venerables and High-level Martial Artists all fell, their lives extinguished.
The three Grand Martial Venerables slowly climbed up from the ground. Looking at Ye Bufan in mid-air, their eyes were filled with terror.
"This! This is... a Grand Martial Saint... or a Martial God?"
The eyes of the three Grand Martial Venerables were filled with dread, their legs trembling uncontrollably. One of them directly knelt down before Ye Bufan.
"Rumble—"
Another bolt of lightning descended, this time striking Ye Bufan. His entire body was instantly enveloped in lightning.
"Die!" Ye Bufan slashed downwards at Yu Mingzhi with his sword.
All the蛊虫 (gu worms) before Yu Mingzhi converged into a giant shield. Then, he waved his hand at the sky, and another giant shield appeared. Combined with the protective artifact on his body, there were three layers of defense.
Ye Bufan sneered, his voice amplified by a sound transmission technique, "Do you think this will save you?"
"Sword Qi Rolling Dragon - Two Sleeves Green Serpent - Sword Splits Mountains and Rivers!"
Three sword techniques layered together, the thunderous giant sword descended from the sky, easily breaking through the obstacle formed by the蛊虫. Immediately after, the shield artifact in Yu Mingzhi's hand also shattered into pieces, leaving only the protective artifact on Yu Mingzhi's body.
"Break for me!" Ye Bufan roared.
Cracks appeared on Yu Mingzhi's protective artifact. Yu Mingzhi looked at the artifact on his body in disbelief.
"No... this is impossible..."
"No—"
Yu Mingzhi's veins bulged. The thunderous giant sword struck his body, emitting a massive explosion. The entire Xiangshan Villa shook, and everyone thought it was an earthquake, rushing out of their houses.
At this time, someone noticed the commotion in the woods, but no one dared to venture in.
Yu Mingzhi turned to ashes, and his protective artifact shattered into five pieces.
Ye Bufan took a breath and landed on the ground.
"Hmm?" Ye Bufan turned to look at the two Grand Martial Venerables who were still standing. Upon seeing Ye Bufan, they instantly knelt down.
The three Grand Martial Venerables knelt before Ye Bufan, each pleading, "Senior Ye, spare us. We were blind and foolish. Please, Senior Ye, let us go. We will serve you like oxen and horses."
Ye Bufan took a deep breath and used an absorption palm technique to collect the five fragments of the protective artifact into his spatial ring.
"Scram," Ye Bufan roared at them.
Hearing Ye Bufan's words, the three of them scrambled away from the woods as if fleeing for their lives.
After they left, Ye Bufan's legs went weak, trembling slightly.
The previous move, the superposition of three sword techniques combined with Chongxu Lei Jue, had pushed Ye Bufan's true qi circulation to its limit. However, it also achieved Ye Bufan's goal of a swift victory and served as a deterrent.
This was an attempt Ye Bufan had conceived on impulse. The lightning power of Chongxu Lei Jue, combined with his sword techniques, had greatly increased its power. The only drawback was that it consumed a tremendous amount of true qi.
Ye Bufan sat cross-legged on the spot, absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. His body was instantly replenished with strength under the nourishment of the spiritual energy.
"It seems that the Foundation Establishment stage is not enough to support this idea. This method cannot be used casually, but it should be able to help me in critical moments," Ye Bufan concluded.
...
Meanwhile, the Jin brothers were comfortably seated in the grand mansion of the Jin family.
"Eldest Brother, this time, with Mr. Yu leading the charge, and three Grand Martial Venerables, six Martial Venerables, and High-level Martial Artists coordinating, this Ye Bufan is finally finished." Jin Zaixing raised his wine glass to toast Jin Sihuan.
"Hahahaha, we will just wait here for Mr. Yu's good news and have him bring Zhu Zizhen back to us. Hahahaha." Jin Sihuan happily drank a glass of wine.
Jin Dalang sat to the side, also beaming with joy.
"Big Brother, will Chu Mengyao of the Chu family then obediently submit?" Jin Dalang asked.
Jin Sihuan looked at Jin Dalang's incompetent demeanor and nodded helplessly, saying, "Third Brother, you are no longer young. You should share some of the burden for the family."
"I understand, Eldest Brother. After this matter is over, I will talk to Father and learn business from you all."
Just as the three of them were fantasizing about Ye Bufan's tragic demise and Zhu Zizhen being captured by Yu Mingzhi and brought to the Jin family, a phone call came in.
"Young Master Jin, our cooperation with the Jin family ends here. No matter how much money you offer, we will no longer serve your Jin family."
The voice belonged to one of the three surviving martial artists.
Jin Sihuan was slightly stunned and asked the caller what happened.
"Don't ask. And don't have any illusions about the Mr. Yu you found. The person is gone, and there isn't even a corpse left."
Jin Sihuan tried to inquire further about what had happened, but the caller hung up with a series of beeps.