"Remarkable man, only now do I realize why Hong Bai was defeated by you. His loss was not unjust."
Ma Fan, though silent, looked at Wu Tao with profound shock, a mix of envy and jealousy in his eyes.
The three elders, Zuo Zong, Li Zhang, and Zhang Dong, appeared extremely solemn and directly asked, "Fellow Daoist, your cultivation is astonishing. The perfection of your physical body, divine soul, and spiritual energy should have allowed you to break through to the Core Formation stage long ago..."
"We three offer our congratulations. Alas... Fellow Daoist is indeed a heavenly talent, but for what reason have you delayed until now?"
Beside them, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Cong Shujie, and Shi Zhenxiang wore expressions of envy, jealousy, confusion, and bewilderment.
It turned out that after the expedition to the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords, Wu Tao had rebuilt his body and, from ordinary potential, transformed into a innate sword physique. His talent was already considered that of a heavenly prodigy.
Further refined by the Sea of Origins, coupled with decades of relentless cultivation, he was merely a step away from achieving Core Formation.
Precisely because of this, the spiritual energy within Wu Tao's body had begun to disperse.
Facing everyone's questions, Wu Tao waved his hand indifferently and stated, "A standard breakthrough to the Core Formation stage has certain flaws. Once Core Formation is achieved, it cannot be altered. I am unwilling to settle for such a state, hence I have delayed until now, seeking a perfect breakthrough to the Core Formation stage..."
His words were infuriating.
The nine individuals – Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ye Hong, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, Li Zhang, and Zhang Dong – were all left speechless.
Wasn't their desperate pursuit precisely for breaking through to the Core Formation stage?
Foundation Establishment cultivators had a lifespan of only two hundred years, while Core Formation cultivators enjoyed five hundred years, an increase of three centuries.
An ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would never wait for a "perfect" breakthrough; they would only wonder why they couldn't break through at all.
Yet here was someone who, for the sake of a perfect Core Formation, had deliberately prolonged this period!
That was a Core Formation cultivator with a lifespan of five hundred years and immense divine abilities!
"Fellow Daoist's aspirations leave us with nothing more to say..."
Yu Mo was also at a loss for words.
Although he was also at the peak of Foundation Establishment, he knew he was still a long way from Core Formation, and whether he could ever achieve it was uncertain.
Seeing that Wu Tao was unwilling to enter Core Formation due to a minor flaw, choosing instead to wait for perfection, his heart felt like a starving beggar witnessing a rich man carelessly discarding mountains of leftovers – utterly dejected.
Ye Hong, captivated by the aura emanating from Wu Tao and his extraordinary talent, felt a stir of attraction.
Though she appeared young, she was already in her thirties. This was due to accidentally consuming a "Fairy Beauty Red Fruit" from her grandmother in her youth, which halted her physical development while her intellect matured like that of her peers.
What she lost in one aspect, she gained immensely in another. That Fairy Beauty Red Fruit had benefited Ye Hong greatly, leading her to a smooth cultivation path and reaching the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
Furthermore, Ye Hong's background was formidable. Her grandmother was one of the mere dozen or so Nascent Soul cultivators in Tongguan City.
Her grandmother was capricious, acting solely on impulse, making her a constant headache for anyone who encountered her.
Ye Hong had always believed that other male cultivators were not worthy of a heavenly talent like herself. However, she now admitted that Wu Tao's talent was indeed on par with hers.
While Ye Hong considered Wu Tao worthy of her, she also noticed the subtle intimacy between Wu Tao and Lu Yuehua.
If Wu Tao were single, Ye Hong would have added him to her consideration list.
But seeing the apparent closeness between Wu Tao and Lu Yuehua, she had no intention of foolishly inserting herself into the situation as a third party.
As the appointed time arrived, Lu Yuehua, the captain, had not yet appeared. The ten team members could only wait patiently.
Everyone else remained silent, but Ye Hong, unable to contain herself, suddenly addressed Wu Tao.
"Fellow Daoist Wu!"
"Hm... Is there something?"
Hearing Ye Hong speak, Wu Tao was momentarily stunned before reacting.
Ye Hong's starry eyes fixed on the calm-faced Wu Tao, further reinforcing her perception of his uniqueness. A slight smile touched her lips as she extended her hand.
"From now on, we are truly teammates who will trust each other with our lives. I hope you will display your expected strength and cooperate well with me in our team missions!"
"Rest assured, I will continue to cooperate well with you!"
Wu Tao, his mind a little hazy, took a considerable amount of time before extending his hand and solemnly shaking Ye Hong's.
The other eight, who knew Ye Hong's personality, watched in stunned silence, utterly perplexed by her behavior.
Didn't she usually look down on male cultivators her own age? What was with her today? Had she changed her ways?
After a moment of thought, they suddenly remembered that Ye Hong, at her age, possessed late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, clearly marking her as a heavenly talent as well.
This man and woman were both outstanding among Foundation Establishment cultivators.
However, Wu Tao's feat of defeating a Core Formation cultivator while still in the Foundation Establishment stage was too extraordinary.
Ye Hong's excellence had been overshadowed by others.
Judging by her demeanor, this little devil, Ye Hong, seemed to have taken a liking to the newcomer, Wu Tao.
Just then, Lu Yuehua arrived.
As Lu Yuehua entered, she unfortunately witnessed the scene of Wu Tao and Ye Hong holding hands and gazing at each other.
A sense of crisis, a feeling that if she didn't strive harder, she would ultimately gain nothing, inexplicably arose within Lu Yuehua.
This was a feeling she had never experienced before in her life.
In a daze, Lu Yuehua seemed to envision herself being ostracized, her foundation dug out from under her, and then surrounded by mocking laughter.
"What are you doing?"
Lu Yuehua's voice was clear and deep, yet her tone suppressed an anger that only she could perceive.
Ye Hong, seeing Lu Yuehua's lingering gaze, became somewhat fearful and hastily released her hand, pretending to be a shrinking turtle.
Meanwhile.
Wu Tao suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck, followed by an icy chill that pierced his heart.
A cold, boundless voice spoke hatefully, "In my team, no one is allowed to discuss romantic partners. Those who violate this rule will be torn to pieces!"
Glancing around, Wu Tao discovered a sharp dagger pressed against his throat.
The dagger gleamed with white light and exuded a chilling aura, clearly a formidable weapon for killing.
And before Wu Tao's eyes stood a peerless beauty with skin as white as snow, eyebrows like painted calligraphy, and eyes filled with playful anger – none other than Lu Yuehua.
Sensing mortal danger and feeling utterly innocent, Wu Tao awkwardly touched his head and decisively chose to feign ignorance.
Seeing Wu Tao, Lu Yuehua stood frozen, offering no explanation. Her eyes reddened, and she felt an urge to teach this unfaithful man a lesson.
However, she reconsidered. She had no right to do so; Wu Tao was not her dao companion, and she had no authority over him.
Wu Tao had gotten together with Ye Hong, and it had nothing to do with her.
Although she told herself this, the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
Finding an excuse, she soundly thrashed Wu Tao, then coldly looked at the others, especially Ye Hong.
It was evident that she was truly enraged today.
Facing the furious Lu Yuehua, not only Wu Tao, who had drawn the short straw, but also the other members became solemn. Their words became cautious, and they dared not speak rashly.
Lu Yuehua, having never interacted with men before, did not understand this emotion called jealousy.
This fire of jealousy, once ignited, made everyone restless.
Especially Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, and Zhang Dong – they secretly cursed internally.
What kind of mess was this? What did it have to do with them...
"Everyone is here. Let's depart."
After a while, Lu Yuehua's anger subsided slightly. With a command, the group immediately set off, flying directly outside Tongguan City.
Three hours later, Lu Yuehua, the captain, led Wu Tao, Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, Li Zhang, and Zhang Dong, ten people in total, to the outskirts of Tongguan City.
The colossal city walls, resembling an impassable chasm, were clearly visible. The various runes flickering on the battlements, even from such a distance, revealed their astonishing spiritual power.
Wu Tao gazed at the city walls for a long time, his eyes flickering.
To his knowledge, the protective formation of Tongguan City, when fully operational, could withstand an attack from hundreds of thousands of blood race soldiers.
However, outside Tongguan City, the protective formation naturally offered no sanctuary.
Wu Tao turned his head and looked in another direction.
As far as the eye could see, there were human villages of all sizes, and human cultivators patrolled the skies.
The surrounding environment was lush and green, exuding a peaceful and serene atmosphere, with no hint of danger.
But this was to be expected, with Tongguan City at their doorstep and tens of thousands of human cultivators ready to emerge at any moment.
No foreign race would be foolish enough to cause trouble here.
However, thousands of miles away, in the ChuanYue Plains, due to the great distance from Tongguan City and its unique terrain, blood race incursions were frequent, with many human mortals being captured and enslaved as blood slaves.
Tongguan City had to periodically dispatch teams of elite cultivators to the ChuanYue Plains to hunt and kill blood race members.
But the blood race members who dared to cause trouble were all powerful, especially adept at concealment. In counterattacks, human cultivators also frequently perished.