Gu Tanghai possessed a mid-level Foundation Building cultivation base, making him one of the strong cultivators in the nearby area. Even though he refrained from revealing his true abilities to conceal his identity and didn't resort to his signature techniques, he was still beyond the capability of Bamboo Spear Elder to withstand.
If he wished, he could easily pay the price and kill Bamboo Spear Elder on the spot. However, he would never do such a thing. He had only agreed to act upon the request of his employer, Meng Zhang, who had offered a reward. Gu Tanghai had no grudges with Bamboo Spear Elder, and killing him would serve no purpose.
Meng Zhang's demand was simple – he wanted Gu Tanghai to entangle a cultivator from Green Bamboo Mountain at the Foundation Building stage. Gu Tanghai was content with doing just that, never going beyond the requirements.
With his disguise intact, Gu Tanghai easily restrained Bamboo Spear Elder, leaving him unable to break free.
On the other side, Old Man Bamboo Stick faced Deep Earth Spirit General, who immediately went all out, making Old Man Bamboo Stick seem weaker in comparison. Due to his age and declining vitality, Old Man Bamboo Stick's cultivation base had already slipped from its peak, and among Foundation Building cultivators at the early stage, he was considered relatively weak.
Deep Earth Spirit General, on the other hand, relied on a secret technique to temporarily elevate his Refining Qi completion cultivation base to the early Foundation Building stage. Despite having some gaps in his memory, he was once a Gold Core Daoist Master, and his experience and insight remained. With just a few moves, he easily suppressed Old Man Bamboo Stick.
The fight involved close-quarters combat, which Old Man Bamboo Stick was unfamiliar with. Having lived a comfortable life for many years, he had never engaged in life-or-death struggles before. Deep Earth Spirit General completely controlled the pace of the battle, forcing Old Man Bamboo Stick into a defensive stance.
After just a few hard clashes, Old Man Bamboo Stick couldn't hold on any longer, spewing blood and retreating continuously. Deep Earth Spirit General relentlessly pursued, his punches getting stronger with each strike. He fully tapped into every bit of his potential with the aid of secret techniques.
Unable to match Deep Earth Spirit General and with his declining physical condition, Old Man Bamboo Stick couldn't sustain the fight. Eventually, he fell to the ground, killed by Deep Earth Spirit General's brutal blows.
Old Man Bamboo Stick, despite being a seasoned Foundation Building cultivator with various secret techniques and hidden cards, was caught off guard by Deep Earth Spirit General's sudden attack, leaving him with no time to react.
Bamboo Spear Elder didn't have an easy time either. Despite using all his abilities, he couldn't escape Gu Tanghai's entanglement. If it weren't for Gu Tanghai intentionally going easy on him, Bamboo Spear Elder would have suffered even more.
Not being a fool, Bamboo Spear Elder knew that the other party didn't unleash their full strength for unknown reasons. He could only defend and counterattack cautiously, hoping not to gain any merits but also not to make any mistakes.
After witnessing Deep Earth Spirit General kill Old Man Bamboo Stick so quickly, Bamboo Spear Elder was frightened. To think that his peer had been dispatched so easily, leaving him with no time to come to his aid, showed how terrifying his opponent was.
Once Deep Earth Spirit General's gaze turned toward him after killing Old Man Bamboo Stick, Bamboo Spear Elder's soul seemed to escape his body. He braced himself to withstand Gu Tanghai's techniques, even if it meant being injured, just to escape as quickly as possible.
Bamboo Spear Elder's body soared into the air, rapidly fleeing into the distance.
Gu Tanghai made no attempt to stop him and let Bamboo Spear Elder escape.
Deep Earth Spirit General, somewhat annoyed, glanced at Gu Tanghai, displeased with his apparent lack of effort. Nevertheless, the outburst of strength had depleted him, and he could no longer maintain his Foundation Building stage power.
To prevent Gu Tanghai from seeing through his true abilities, Deep Earth Spirit General used an Earth Escape Spell to disappear underground, vanishing from Gu Tanghai's sight.
The remaining Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators who were struggling for their lives saw their two Foundation Building elders either dead or escaping. Their morale plummeted, and some even lost their will to fight.
After a bitter battle, the cultivators who had barely survived Mirage Secret Realm all perished in Taiyi Sect's ambush.
Meng Zhang and his group swiftly completed the steps of looting the spoils, erasing all traces of the battle, and then promptly fled the scene.
Gu Tanghai barely said a word before hastily leaving as well.
Unaware of the unfolding events, a great storm was already brewing in Green Bamboo Mountain.
With only four Foundation Building cultivators, the loss of one and injury of another had severely weakened the sect's foundation.
The Refining Qi stage cultivators who entered Mirage Secret Realm were all the elite of Green Bamboo Mountain. Many of those who managed to survive would have grown into crucial pillars of the sect. But now, all had perished, shaking the very roots of the sect.
Even more serious was the fact that Green Bamboo Mountain could occasionally purchase Foundation Building Pills from Flying Swan Sect at a friendly price of ten thousand low-grade spirit stones when Flying Swan Sect's Foundation Building Pills were abundant.
Of course, this method alone couldn't sustain Green Bamboo Mountain with several Foundation Building stage elders. There were two other ways for them to obtain Foundation Building Pills.
The first involved Green Bamboo Mountain cultivators collecting various spiritual materials with great effort to exchange for Foundation Building Pills from Flying Swan Sect. However, the Endless Sea of Sand was already under Flying Swan Sect's direct control, making the gathering of spiritual materials a pure gamble of luck.
The second method was the most crucial one. When Mirage Secret Realm opened every hundred years, Green Bamboo Mountain would send its elite disciples inside to collect or seize various spiritual herbs, especially the primary and auxiliary herbs needed to refine Foundation Building Pills. Only with these herbs could they exchange for Foundation Building Pills from Flying Swan Sect.
But now, all the disciples who came out of Mirage Secret Realm had been ambushed and killed, and the spiritual herbs on them had naturally become someone else's spoils. The consequences were dire.
[Read at /maxnkoga , without ads and support the work.]