He glanced at the trio across from him and saw they were all dressed like Loose Cultivators.

’Just as I thought. Not one of them is a Sect Disciple,’ Lü Zhong noted, silently taking everything in.

So, he dispensed with the pleasantries and directly unleashed the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment aura hidden by his Breath Concealing Skill. The expressions of the trio opposite him changed at once. Though he was only a single Small Realm of cultivation above them, they hadn’t been able to see through his Breath Concealing Skill, which meant the young man’s mastery of Magic Skills was far beyond anything they could compare to.

This could only mean one thing.

He was a disciple from an Elite Sect!

The trio’s expressions changed drastically at the thought.

There was a consensus in the Cultivation Realm: at the same cultivation level, a Loose Cultivator stood almost no chance of defeating a Sect Disciple, who would not only possess multiple life-saving items but also have a systematic combination of Magic Techniques and Cultivation Techniques.

The only way to win was to have a numerical advantage and wear them down through a battle of attrition.

But their current situation clearly didn’t meet the conditions for that.

The leader, who appeared to be a stout male cultivator, saw the situation was dire and immediately tried to rally his comrades, sending a voice transmission: "Don’t panic! We’re protected by the Tier Two Illusion Array, the Cyan Bamboo Tent. Even if we can’t beat these two Sect dogs, it’s enough to trap them for a while. We’ll have plenty of time to escape!"

His reminder brought the other two cultivators from Huayi Domain to their senses.

Meanwhile, Lü Zhong had already made his move while they were talking.

His body flickered, leaving a trail of afterimages as a Magic Skill propelled him forward.

He crossed a hundred zhang in the blink of an eye!

The masked Female Cultivator looked up, stunned, just in time to see a figure rush before her. The next moment, a Buddha figurine on her person crumbled, forming a shield of light that intercepted a Sword.

"This is bad! Activate the Array!"

The stout male cultivator shouted, rapping a bamboo joint in his hand with a sharp CLACK. Spirit Patterns on its surface lit up one after another. A brilliant cyan light then erupted from his body, and illusory bamboo shoots burst from the earth, growing into a Cyan Bamboo Forest in the blink of an eye.

Lü Zhong slashed out again, but the Female Cultivator before him vanished in a flash of white light.

Looking around, he found that at some point, he had been completely surrounded by the bamboo forest.

’An Illusion Array!’

He was unfazed, however. Judging by the flow of Spiritual Qi in the formation, none of the three was an Array Master. This meant they couldn’t make the Illusion Array execute any intricate changes and were limited to the few variations preset by its creator.

This was where the value of an Array forged by a master truly showed.

If the Array Flags and Array Disc had been forged by a master, its preset transformations would be as potent as if an average Array Master were personally controlling it.

’Looks like this is just a run-of-the-mill Tier Two Array. The Array Master who forged this Array might even be slightly less skilled in the art than I am.’ A Spiritual Light flashed in Lü Zhong’s eyes. After getting a clear look at the flow of Spiritual Qi, he formed a hand seal to create a Prohibition and precisely struck a mundane-looking cyan bamboo stalk not far away.

Instantly, the Cyan Bamboo Forest churned and distorted.

Some stalks withered and turned yellow, while in other places, the process of the bamboo shoots bursting from the earth replayed.

For a brief moment, he caught sight of Chen Xiaohe being swarmed.

’I didn’t expect the teammate I picked up along the way to be so useful so soon!’ The thought flashed through Lü Zhong’s mind. At the same time, he guessed the trio’s plan: they wanted to eliminate the relatively weaker Chen Xiaohe first, then join forces to deal with him.

Seeing that his method for breaking the array was effective, he took advantage of his teammate distracting the enemy and immediately began dismantling it with all his might.

He fired off a series of Prohibitions, and the Illusion Array, which had been running smoothly just moments before, immediately began to flicker and distort.

Every so often, it would revert to the area’s original appearance.

The increasingly frequent anomalies showed that the Illusion Array was failing.

This scene alarmed the opposing trio, and they hurriedly intensified their siege on Chen Xiaohe.

But before they could shatter yet another layer of the Lingyue Sect disciple’s light shield, the surrounding Cyan Bamboo Forest began to crumble, piece by piece. Then, the bamboo joints that formed the array, buried over a wide radius, spontaneously combusted and exploded one by one, sending up pillars of dust.

’The array is broken!’

The thought flashed through the trio’s minds.

Watching the calm and composed Lü Zhong walk toward them, the stout cultivator felt an immense pressure bear down on him.

’Damn it all! We’re both at the Foundation Establishment Cultivation level, yet it feels like I’m facing a Golden Core Master head-on!’

Gritting his teeth, he stepped in front of his two companions and said without turning back, "This is my fault; I chose the wrong target. You two, run while I hold this monster off!"

Upon hearing his words, the two behind him gave him a grateful look and flew away.

"Hmph. Trying to escape?"

Lü Zhong snorted and slapped the Insect Bag at his waist.

A loud BUZZING erupted as dark clouds surged out.

Having acquired the fortunes of three Insect Cultivators, he now possessed a considerable number of Spiritual Insects. Even if most of them were just filler to pad out the numbers, they were more than enough to handle two ordinary Loose Cultivators.

An Insect Flute appeared in his hand, an item specialized for controlling insects.

Using it was simple: he only needed to infuse it with his Divine Thought. The Insect Flute would then automatically translate his thoughts into sound waves, effectively giving orders to the Insect Swarm.

Instantly, the dense Insect Swarm split in two, each cloud chasing after one of the escapees.

When the stout male cultivator saw this, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He charged forward, roaring, "You Sect dog! I’ll give you everything I’ve got!"

He had barely taken a few steps before a wall of fire blocked his path.

It was Chen Xiaohe who had cast the spell. She had been heavily injured in the earlier siege. Her carefully styled hair bun was in disarray, and her hair now hung loose and wild. Even her Dharma Robe was torn in several places, revealing flashes of skin.

While forming hand seals and Chanting, she said to Lü Zhong, "Fellow Daoist Lü, I’ll be responsible for holding him back!"

With that, she engaged the stout male cultivator in battle, appearing to even have the upper hand.