Chapter 62: Sting Operation

Chen Ping entered the mystic realm.

His vision blurred. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing in a vast, boundless expanse of heaven and earth.

The sky was a dull, hazy gray. No sun, moon, or stars could be seen.

Beneath his feet stretched rolling mountain ranges, covered in ancient, nameless trees, lush and verdant.

In the distance, the faint outline of a majestic structure was visible – it looked like the ruins of a palace from some primordial age.

But what drew the most attention was the howling gale raging through the air.

The wind roared past, carrying a biting chill and tempestuous force.

Wherever it swept through, boulders shattered and ancient trees snapped, leaving devastation in its wake.

Chen Ping took stock of it.

The power of this gale… a Golden Core cultivator probably couldn’t withstand it for long.

Even a Nascent Soul cultivator, exposed for an extended period, would slowly be worn down to death.

He raised a hand. A layer of violet-golden light enveloped his body.

Protected by the Great Dao Primordial Power, those ferocious winds buffeted him like a gentle breeze against his face. Not the slightest effect.

“Where to?”

Chen Ping looked around in every direction.

The mystic realm stretched on without end. He had no idea which way to go.

After a moment’s thought, he simply relaxed his body, letting the gale carry him as it willed, drifting forward.

He didn’t know the way anyway. He’d leave it to fate.

*

He drifted for an unknown length of time.

Suddenly, Chen Ping’s gaze sharpened.

Not far ahead, an ancient tree of crystalline translucence stood silently in a valley.

The tree was about ten meters tall. Its trunk was like jade, its branches and leaves like ice, and beneath the gray sky, it glowed with a faint spiritual light.

Three crystal-like fruits hung from its crown.

The fruits were fist-sized, completely transparent, and within them, dense spiritual energy could faintly be seen flowing and swirling.

The fruits swayed gently on their branches, and with each sway, rich spiritual energy wafted outward.

A Lingyuan Tree.

Lingyuan Fruit.

Chen Ping’s eyes lit up.

This was top-tier stuff.

Top-grade heaven-rank spiritual fruit, containing a vast amount of pure natural spiritual power.

Immensely beneficial for a cultivator’s training, especially when breaking through bottlenecks – a single Lingyuan Fruit was equivalent to years of arduous cultivation.

He swept his gaze around.

No demonic beasts.

No cultivators.

Not a single anomaly.

Chen Ping descended from midair and walked calmly toward the Lingyuan Tree.

*

He reached the base of the tree and raised his hand, preparing to pluck the three fruits.

The instant his fingertips were about to touch the fruit –

An intense sense of danger suddenly surged through him!

Chen Ping’s pupils constricted.

Without the slightest hesitation, he shot backward!

Two dark figures attacked simultaneously from different directions.

One left, one right, one front, one back – perfectly coordinated, sealing off every path of retreat.

Their speed was like lightning, carrying a fierce, lethal intent.

Chen Ping had no time to think. He raised his arms to block!

BOOM!!!

A tremendous explosion. The shockwave rippled outward, snapping the surrounding ancient trees in an instant, pulverizing boulders.

Chen Ping retreated three steps, steadying himself.

The two dark figures landed at the same time, standing three zhang across from him.

They were two middle-aged men, one tall and one short, dressed in gray robes. Their auras were deep and profound, like abyssal depths.

Divine Ability, seventh layer.

Both of them were Divine Ability, seventh layer.

*

The tall man stared at Chen Ping, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

“Qi Refining stage?”

He looked Chen Ping over, then glanced at his companion, his face filled with disbelief.

“A Qi Refining cultivator took a joint strike from the two of us and only fell back three steps?”

The short man’s expression was equally grim.

“Boss is right. This kid’s weird.”

He fixed his gaze on Chen Ping and said in a low voice, “Who exactly are you?”

*

Chen Ping said nothing.

He just watched the two men before him quietly.

Divine Ability, seventh layer.

An ambush.

Perfect coordination.

Add to that this Lingyuan Tree –

“A sting operation?”

He suddenly laughed.

“Using Lingyuan Fruit as bait and lying in ambush for whoever comes to pick it. You two have a pretty good racket going.”

The two men’s faces changed slightly.

The tall man sneered. “So what if you know? Now that you’re here today, don’t think you’ll leave alive!”

As his words fell, both men erupted into motion.

*

And then –

There was no “and then.”

Chen Ping raised his hand.

Just a simple raise of the hand.

An invisible force pressed down like the weight of a mountain. Those two Divine Ability seventh-layer experts didn’t even have a chance to resist before they were slammed forcefully into the ground.

BOOM!!!

A deep crater blasted open in the earth.

The two men lay sprawled at the bottom of the pit, seventy percent of the bones in their bodies shattered, blood spraying from their mouths.

Their eyes were wide with utter disbelief.

One exchange.

Just one exchange.

They hadn’t even seen clearly how Chen Ping had made his move.

*

“Se… Senior, spare us…”

The tall man rasped hoarsely, his eyes filled with terror.

Chen Ping walked to the edge of the crater and looked down at them.

“How many are lying in ambush?”

The two exchanged glances. Neither spoke.

Chen Ping raised his hand.

BOOM!!!

The tall man instantly exploded into a mist of blood. Body and soul, utterly annihilated.

He hadn’t even had time to scream.

*

The short man trembled all over, his face as pale as paper.

“Se… Senior…”

“Open your divine sense.”

Chen Ping’s voice was very calm, but it made the man’s soul tremble.

The short man gritted his teeth. In the end, he opened his divine sense.

*

Chen Ping’s divine sense flooded in instantly.

A moment later, he had the information he wanted.

The Hanling Mystic Realm.

This mystic realm was established in ancient times by a great power called Venerable Hanling.

Venerable Hanling, a peak Quasi-Emperor expert.

In that ancient era, he was forced to retreat to the Southern Region for some reason, and later established the Hanling Heavenly Palace there.

For a time, it became the unrivaled overlord of the Southern Region.

Then, for reasons unknown, the entire Heavenly Palace suddenly vanished.

Many years later, the Heavenly Palace reappeared, but it had already transformed into a mystic realm.

Even later, this mystic realm came under the joint control of the three great sacred grounds – Tianyue Palace, Wuya Hall, and the Shengling Sect.

It opened once every thousand years, allowing their disciples and affiliated factions to train here.

As for the two men before him –

They were from Wuya Hall.

They had deliberately set up an ambush here, hunting down lone cultivators and seizing their resources.

And that Lingyuan Tree was the bait they had set out.

*

Chen Ping withdrew his divine sense.

He looked down at the short man trembling in the pit.

“Wuya Hall disciples… what an elaborate trap.”

He spoke softly.

“Using Lingyuan Fruit as bait, ambushing those who come to harvest. Kill one, seize their resources. I wonder how many cultivators have died at your hands.”

The short man’s face went deathly pale as he shook his head frantically:

“Senior, spare me! Senior, spare me! This junior was only gathering a bit of cultivation resources…”

Chen Ping didn’t let him finish.

He raised his hand.

Boom.

Another burst of bloody mist.

Body and soul, obliterated.

*

Chen Ping lowered his hand and turned toward the Lingyuan Tree.

Three Lingyuan Fruits hung untouched on the branches.

He raised his hand, plucked the three fruits one by one, and stored them in his storage ring.

Then, he removed the two men’s storage rings and probed them with his divine sense.

Inside were heaps of resources: spirit stones, pills, spiritual materials, magical artifacts… clearly the spoils of their ambushes.

Chen Ping took it all without the slightest hesitation.

*

Having finished, he looked up and scanned his surroundings.

The gray, hazy sky. The howling, savage winds. The faint outline of a palace in the distance.

Those two from Wuya Hall were dead, but that didn’t rule out others nearby.

Time to go.

Chen Ping moved, transforming into a streak of light that vanished into the gray horizon.

*

Behind him, the Lingyuan Tree still stood silently.

Only now, beneath it lay two shocking pools of blood.

Soon scattered by the savage winds.