Bai Zihe's cultivation speed was terrifying.
Even though...
Xiao Junlin himself only possessed the strength of the Deity Transformation stage.
However, his master was Qin Changkong, who had the strength of the Tribulation Crossing stage, so being influenced by his master, his divine sense was extremely sensitive to sensing powerful individuals.
Bai Zihe...
In just this short while, he had already crossed a minor realm.
If he cultivated for three to five days, wouldn't he break through from the Integration stage to the Mahayana stage?
How terrifying was this!
Perhaps...
Xiao Junlin suddenly thought that bringing Bai Zihe here might not have been a correct decision. On the contrary, he had dug his own grave!
"Whoosh..."
Without a second thought, Xiao Junlin immediately began to set up a formation.
Now, he had ample time to deal with Bai Zihe.
The best method, naturally, was to kill Bai Zihe here. This way, the news of the spirit stone mine would not be leaked, and there would be no danger to his life.
And the formation he was about to set up was the most famous Heaven Mountain Sword Formation of the Heaven Mountain Sword Sect!
This formation...
It was an introductory formation within the Heaven Mountain Sword Sect.
From the outer disciples of the Core Formation stage, who possessed the lowest strength, to the elders of the Tribulation Crossing stage, who possessed great strength, all could set up this formation.
Moreover.
As one's strength increased, and as the materials consumed increased, the power of this formation also increased exponentially!
According to the spiritual energy and spirit stone conditions here.
Xiao Junlin guessed that he could set up a Heaven-tier formation!
Most importantly.
This formation was not a confinement formation, nor an illusion formation, but an extremely powerful killing formation!
Once an opponent entered it, they would be enveloped by endless sword qi. As long as spiritual energy was input, the sword qi would not stop outputting.
Until death!
"Whoosh!"
"Swish swish swish!"
Xiao Junlin continuously moved around Bai Zihe.
He kept marking various anchor points on Bai Zihe's eight key positions.
Then...
He piled spirit stones here, regardless of the cost, onto the anchor points.
In just a few breaths' time.
Each anchor point already possessed countless spirit stones and an unprecedentedly dense concentration of spiritual energy.
"Whoosh..."
After arranging all the positions.
Xiao Junlin arrived at the front of the formation, suddenly closed his eyes, and chanted, "Heaven and Earth are boundless, the universe contains all laws!"
"In my name, I summon the divine swords."
"Swords, come..."
Xiao Junlin roared.
The anchor points that had just been set up immediately erupted with a fierce light.
No.
It was not light.
But streaks of brilliant sword qi.
Only because the spiritual energy was too dense, the sword qi was exceptionally sharp and dazzling.
Instantly.
Streaks of sword qi erupted from each anchor point, shooting towards Bai Zihe's direction.
These sword qi...
They appeared small and exquisite, but were filled with deadly intent.
Each one was not much weaker than the previous sword strike Xiao Junlin had borrowed.
There was no other reason.
The spiritual energy and spirit stones here were too abundant.
It was like...
Although thermobaric weapons were much more terrifying than conventional explosives.
However, if the amount of conventional explosives reached an extreme, for example, tens of thousands of kilograms, hundreds of millions of kilograms...
The power unleashed by such an explosion would naturally be more potent than thermobaric weapons.
When quality is insufficient, quantity will make up for it!
This was the principle.
"Whoosh—"
Though it felt like a long story, it actually happened in the blink of an eye.
In the time it took to blink, those sword qi had already pierced through the previous confinement formation's barrier and reached Bai Zihe.
"Heh..."
Bai Zihe had watched Xiao Junlin's actions the entire time but did not take them seriously.
The Heaven Mountain Sword Formation...
It was indeed powerful, but that was for others.
Compared to Bai Zihe, it was merely showing off before an expert.
This was because.
He himself knew the cultivation secrets of the Heaven Mountain Sword Sect and the mysteries of this Heaven Mountain Sword Formation.
These sword qi...
Not only could they not harm him, but they were the best way to absorb spiritual energy.
Thus...
"Hoo—"
As the sword qi flew towards him, Bai Zihe suddenly opened his mouth and took a deep breath. The sword qi entered Bai Zihe's mouth.
"Arrogant!"
"Bai Zihe, you are too arrogant!"
Seeing this, Xiao Junlin was furious and said with a chilling voice, "Each of these sword qi strikes is not much weaker than before."
"You dare to block them with your mouth..."
"It will definitely pierce through your head, ensuring your most agonizing death!"
"Heh..."
After speaking, Xiao Junlin let out a cold laugh.
"Is that so?"
Bai Zihe continued to catch the sword qi with his hands, saying playfully, "Then why hasn't my head been pierced?"
Xiao Junlin was stunned.
Yes.
Logically, the first sword qi should have taken Bai Zihe's life. Why was he still fine, and why had the sword qi caused no damage at all?
This was unreasonable!
This was extremely unreasonable!
"Whoosh..."
"Swish swish swish..."
As streaks of sword qi fell, the spirit stones at the anchor points were continuously consumed. In just half a minute, more than half of them were gone.
Xiao Junlin refused to believe it.
He added even more spirit stones.
"Rumble—"
However, at this moment, Bai Zihe's aura suddenly surged.
He had broken through again!
He had broken through from the middle stage of the Integration stage to the late stage of the Integration stage!
"You, you..."
Xiao Junlin was instantly shocked and dismayed. He couldn't understand why this had happened. He was utterly bewildered!
In fact, the reason was very simple.
Although the power of these sword qi strikes was great, the actual reason was the abundance of spiritual energy and energy contained within them, not the power of the sword intent attached to the sword qi.
Therefore, Bai Zihe could absorb them directly.
As a result, by now.
"No..."
Xiao Junlin truly cowered.
Bai Zihe was like a freak, he couldn't be defeated, couldn't be contained, and couldn't be killed.
This damn...
Xiao Junlin's eyes darted around, and he finally hardened his heart.
He would take some spirit stones into his storage bag and leave as soon as possible while Bai Zihe was still trapped in the formation.
At worst...
He would go back and tell his master that Bai Zihe was too strong and he was no match for him.
But, he had discovered Bai Zihe's secret and found this spirit stone mine. By then, he would naturally be able to atone for his mistakes.
With his decision made.
Xiao Junlin immediately took action.
"Whoosh!"
"Swish swish!"
"Swish swish swish!"
Countless spirit stones flew towards his storage bag.
In the blink of an eye, it was bulging, containing at least over a thousand of them!
The only regret was.
Xiao Junlin's storage bag had limited space, only three meters long, three meters wide, and three meters high, so he couldn't take much away.
Of course, this was his perception.
This space was indeed too small for a spirit stone mine.
In reality.
It was enough to hold a large amount of spirit stones.
"This is..."
"High-grade spirit stones!"
Xiao Junlin's eyes lit up, and he continued to stuff them in.
A single high-grade spirit stone contained spiritual energy equivalent to nearly a hundred mid-grade spirit stones, which was a very profitable deal.
Time slowly passed.
Xiao Junlin collected more and more, but he found it increasingly difficult to stop.
No cultivator could remain calm amidst abundant spirit stones and avoid becoming lost.
Xiao Junlin was no exception.
A moment later.
"No, I have to go!"
Xiao Junlin suddenly came to his senses and prepared to leave.
However.
A mocking voice suddenly came to his ears: "Thank you for nature's bounty."
It was Bai Zihe.
After saying that, he snatched the storage bag from Xiao Junlin's hand.
Xiao Junlin's soul was terrified.
Only now did he realize.
At some unknown time.
Bai Zihe had actually broken through the formation and come out.
And upon sensing him, Xiao Junlin's heart trembled even more violently. Bai Zihe had actually reached the great perfection of the late stage of the Integration stage!