Chapter 83: Meeting on a Narrow Road
"What is your price?"
Jiang Yue had an idea of what they wanted, but he still asked.
At the moment, his and Yu Nianzhen’s lives were hanging on a balance.
If the formation could be solved at a price, he didn’t mind paying it.
However, what would happen after the formation was broken was up to those involved.
When he thought of this, cruelty flashed in his eyes when he looked at the four.
"How about giving us half of everything in your storage artefacts." The woman said, but Jiang Yue didn’t immediately respond.
It was one thing to ask for half the herbs they collected in the underwater garden, but it was another to want half their storage rings.
If they couldn’t get everything back after the formation broke, their loss would be too much.
"Forget it."
Resolutely, Jiang Yue turned around and began to walk back to where Yu Nianzhen stood.
"Can you come as you like and leave as you like?" The woman shouted.
At this time, Jiang Yue was angry.
Of everyone, he hated unreasonable people.
In this situation, it was in everyone’s best interest to cooperate.
However, the group of four not only wanted to rob them, but couldn’t stand when their plan fell through.
Without hesitation, a whip appeared in Jiang Yue’s hand.
In the blink of an eye, he turned around and swung the whip toward the woman.
"You..."
Her eyes were opened wide in surprise, but she didn’t have time to say too much.
Before she could react, the whip fell on her, and a long cut appeared from her chest to the middle of her stomach.
"Don’t push people too far." Jiang Yue said.
His voice was low, and his anger made the atmosphere feel a little cold.
He then glared at the remaining three and continued to walk back towards Yu Nianzhen.
When he arrived, Jiang Yue explained the situation, and his companions glared at the golden-robed young master’s group.
"Let’s find others." Yu Nianzhen said after a while.
At the moment, the young master was still in shock and hadn’t reacted.
When he reacted, Yu Nianzhen feared that he would entangle them because of the female injured by Jiang Yue.
However, this was not the time to be entangled.
They needed to find allies as soon as possible.
’I will deal with him if there is an opportunity in the future.’ He took a last glance at the group and then walked away.
After walking for two cups of tea, they came across another group.
This group had six people.
Even more fortunate, one of them was a formation master.
After that, breaking the formation was a forgone conclusion.
The formation master explained the array and mapped the location of the nodes.
When that was done, the formation master issued disposable communication tokens, and everyone moved to their allocated nodes.
Half an hour later, they attacked using attack talismans, and the formation broke apart.
However, a change occurred in the underwater garden when the formation broke.
The water at the bottom of the lake rushed around violently, and the remaining herbs were swept away.
Soon after, nine eddies formed at the bottom of the lake and rushed toward the nine cultivators who broke the formation.
"There is something at the eye." Yu Nianzhen commented.
Jiang Yue was standing twenty metres away and could clearly hear what the other had said.
He looked at the eddy rushing toward him, and he confirmed there was something within.
"What is it?" He wondered.
However, he didn’t have to wonder for long.
When the eddy was three metres from him, Jiang Yue gasped in surprise.
"Nine-petal water lotus."
His heart beat faster, and he could barely contain his excitement.
The nine-petal water lotus was a mid-grade spirit rank herb.
It was formed by the rapid condensation of still water.
However, not any still water could form a water lotus.
The water had to be still for at least one thousand years, and the demand for its quality was also very high.
In the clear water lake, the entire bottom was condoned by a water boundary.
Because of this, the water at the bottom remained stagnant for many years.
Most importantly, in addition to the many aquatic herbs, the water was nourished by the lives of cultivators who failed to endure the formation attacks.
"Excluding the ginseng, this is my best find so far." Jiang Yue was happy, and he reached out to take the herb.
However, before he could touch it, a whip rushed to him.
When he saw the whip, Jiang Yue immediately recognised it.
It was the same whip that bound his wrist when they were fighting for the dragon-scaled fruit at the eastern bank.
At that time, Jiang Yue didn’t pay too much attention because he was focused on Yu Nianzhen and the dragon-scaled fruit.
When Yu Nianzhen grabbed the fruit, Jiang Yue finally shifted his attention, but his whip-wielding attacker was no longer there.
"I didn’t find you first, but you returned to trouble me." He sneered and looked at the person who was holding the whip.
"It is said that enemies meet at a narrow road." Jiang Yue said when he saw his attacker.
As it turned out, the attacker was the young woman who accompanied the golden-robed young master.
Her injury was already healed, and her eyes were filled with malice.
At this moment, he understood why they had made such an excessive demand.
’Greed is a good thing, but too much greed will lead to disaster.’ He sighed and looked at Yu Nianzhen for a moment.
When the black-clothed young man slaughtered people at the eastern bank, he also took their storage artefacts.
Although he disappeared, the storage bags and storage rings had somehow remained with Yu Nianzhen.
It was because of this that the golden-robed young man and his women had targeted them.
They coveted the dragon-scaled fruit and the treasures Yu Nianzhen gained from the dead cultivators.
As he thought of this, Jiang Yue suddenly realised something.
In the underwater garden, they almost exhausted their defence talismans and were planning to go to the trade valley to trade for more.
However, Yu Nianzhen had yet to check the storage bags and rings he collected.
’There should be a lot of resources in them.’ Jiang Yue sighed again and turned his attention to the golden-robed young master and his harem.
’I will deal with them first.’
His eyes narrowed, and he sneered at the four.
Although the young female had already healed her wound, her eyes were filled with anger.
"That nine-petal water lotus is the price for injuring me." She shouted.
"Are you worth it?" Jiang Yue tilted his head to the side, and a mocking smile curled his lips.
"I am the..."
"I don’t care who you are. You are still an insect in my eyes."
Jiang Yue was only one step away from breaking through to the qi transformation realm.
At his level, he could feel the qi presence of those weaker than himself.
Among the four, none had a qi presence that was higher than his.
This meant that the quality and quantity of the origin qi in their dantian was lower than this.
Although this didn’t sound like a lot, it was significant.
If they used the same martial arts, Jiang Yue’s would be more powerful than theirs.
He could also fight for a longer time than the four of them.
The only thing that could make a difference was comprehension.
If their martial arts comprehension was higher than his, it could make up for the deficiency in their qi quality and quantity.
However, Jiang Yue had experienced the young woman’s attack twice.
He knew without a doubt that her martial arts comprehension was lower than his.
This meant that he could defeat her without any problems.
However, Jiang Yue was still concerned about the golden-robed young master.
With his current strength, it was difficult to break his defence to injure him, let alone kill him.
"If you want the nine-petal water lotus, you can grab it from me."
After saying that, Jiang Yue swung his whip randomly.
His attack wasn’t meant to injure anyone.
He just wanted to distract them for a breath so that he could grab the nine-petal water lotus first.
After all, they were not the only ones at the bottom of the lake.
He didn’t want someone to take advantage of their fight to steal the nine-petal water lotus.
However, he need not have worried.
Just as he was ready to rush to the water lotus, he saw Yu Nianzhen running toward him.
Clearly, the other had already collected his own lotus and was coming over to help him.
When Jiang Yue saw this, his mind relaxed, and he turned back to the foursome.
For as long as Yu Nianzhen was there, the nine-petal water lotus would not be lost.
In that case, he could focus on the fight.
As he thought of this, Jiang Yue’s qi presence rose, and the water around began to ripple outwards.
