No matter how much Tian Zhiqian regretted it now, the situation was already laid out before him, leaving no room for regret. He could only choose to stand or fall with Ling Yunfei—he understood Ling Yunhe's character all too well. Since he had already chosen betrayal, there was no turning back. Once Ling Yunhe broke free, he would absolutely not let him go.
But this spirit beast was truly troublesome. It was a Cang Dragon, a sea beast skilled in water-attribute spells. Among the Five Elements, Metal governs hardness and sharpness, Wood governs growth and entanglement, Water governs moisture and binding, Fire governs ascension and ferocity, and Earth governs thickness and heaviness. Among the Five Elements spells, Wood, Water, and Earth all have restraining effects, with Water being the most headache-inducing because its softness makes it difficult to sever, perfectly suited to the characteristic of entanglement.
Tian Zhiqian was a formation master. Without support from other cultivators, facing water spells, he had no other methods besides evasion and counter-restraint. Unfortunately, Mo Tiange was also quite knowledgeable about formations. The moment he made a certain move, she would remind her spirit beast how to dodge. Add to that Tian Can, who always circled over to his side intentionally or unintentionally. He was wary of Tian Can's terrifying strength and was constantly being restrained.
After fighting like this for a while, Tian Zhiqian couldn't help but grow weary. Having associated with Ling Yunhe for a hundred years, the two often partnered up. Whenever they encountered danger, he only needed to set up formations at the right moment, while Ling Yunhe would naturally stand before him to slay the enemy. If they faced a crisis, Ling Yunhe would also think of a solution, never leaving him constrained at every turn.
Thinking of this, he cast a complicated glance at Ling Yunhe, who stood motionless in place. He had always believed that Ling Yunhe was not generous enough toward him, always relying on his own strength to overlook his presence, ordering him to do this and that. But only now did he realize that the reason he could live so easily for over a hundred years was because Ling Yunhe had shielded him from the front.
Unfortunately, it was too late for regrets now. Remembering the conditions Ling Yunfei had offered him, Tian Zhiqian's eyes once again ignited with fighting spirit. So what if he no longer had Ling Yunhe in the future? With those pills, he could already attempt to advance to the late stage. How precious was a Core Formation late-stage formation master? Even if he never ventured out or faced danger again, people would still come begging, offering heavenly treasures and earthly wonders in exchange for the formation tools he crafted. By then, reaching Nascent Soul would not be without hope...
"Yunfei, fall back!" Tian Zhiqian shouted. Blaming Ling Yunfei now was meaningless. Ling Yunfei's strength was indeed inferior to Ling Yunhe's, and his combat experience was not as rich, but he was not weak. The current situation of being constrained at every turn was only because Tian Can was stronger and happened to counter Ling Yunfei. This kind of situation was not something he hadn't encountered before when with Ling Yunhe.
"Use your flying swords to harass the enemy, don't engage him directly. Stay calm!" After speaking, Tian Zhiqian raised his hand, sending a cloud of mist billowing toward Tian Can.
This support came at just the right moment. Tian Can's offensive was momentarily blocked, allowing Ling Yunfei to disengage.
"Use your Living Soil to trap this spirit beast!"
Upon hearing this, Ling Yunfei reached into his Qiankun Bag and threw a small black object toward Xiaofan.
"Xiaofan, retreat!" Mo Tiange also shouted.
Xiaofan hurriedly retreated, but its experience in Dharma Combat with cultivators was too limited. It was just a bit too slow when it saw the Living Soil land before it, rapidly swelling into a large mound of earth. Xiaofan was astonished; it had never seen such a Magical Treasure in the sea and had no idea how to deal with it.
Seeing this, Mo Tiange patted her forehead, helplessly watching Xiaofan circling within the earthen mound. She could tell this was no ordinary mound; this earth-attribute Magical Treasure was extremely powerful. Xiaofan, having no experience, couldn't free itself for the time being.
Seeing the Living Soil trap Xiaofan, Ling Yunfei was overjoyed. Immediately, he heard Tian Zhiqian's voice again: "Over here! Use your flying swords to harass!"
In this short time, Tian Can had already broken free and was pouncing on the two of them again.
But this time, his advantage was no longer so obvious. With Tian Zhiqian directing, Ling Yunfei was no longer as frantic as before. Xiaofan was trapped, so it was two against one. Tian Can, constantly wary of Tian Zhiqian's invisible formations and harassed by Ling Yunfei's Pair Flying Swords, found the situation at a stalemate.
"Fellow Daoist Qin!" Tian Can shouted, "How long are you going to keep sitting there?"
"Just watching Fellow Daoist Tian Can display his mighty prowess," Mo Tiange said with a smile. Although Xiaofan was trapped, while Ling Yunfei and Tian Zhiqian were tangling with Tian Can, they were also being tangled by him, leaving them no time to deal with Xiaofan. She didn't need to worry about Xiaofan's safety at all.
"You—you—you—" Tian Can was so angry he nearly jumped, glaring fiercely at her. "If you keep sitting, I'll take everything for myself!" Although his strength was great, the two cultivators before him were, after all, one at the middle stage of Core Formation and one at the early stage, and neither was weak. While he wouldn't necessarily be defeated, defeating them would be difficult.
"Then go ahead and take it all," Mo Tiange continued lazily. "Anyway, I'm not interested in their things."
"..." Tian Can rolled his eyes. Seeing Mo Tiange preparing to stand idly by, he gritted his teeth in annoyance. He refused to believe that without this woman's help, he couldn't handle these two.
"Fellow Daoist Tian Can, left, left!"
"Ah, I said left, why are you ignoring the right? Above!"
"...Look at you, I said above, but you're focused on below. Not listening, got hit, didn't you?"
"Shut up!" Tian Can threw out a punch, the powerful force blocking Ling Yunfei's short flying sword. His body immediately leaped back, avoiding the long flying sword, not even having the energy to glare at Mo Tiange. He regretted it. Why did he have to get involved just because that woman was meddling? He had nothing to lose in this matter anyway.
While Tian Can was fuming, Tian Zhiqian and Ling Yunfei felt both joy and suspicion. They were glad Mo Tiange didn't intend to help now, but suspicious because her leisurely demeanor seemed as if she had a plan well in mind. Did she have a backup plan already? Although the spirit-trapping formation could temporarily restrain a cultivator, she was, after all, a middle-stage Core Formation cultivator and proficient in formations. There was no way it could hold her for so long...
Tian Zhiqian pondered back and forth but couldn't figure it out. Meanwhile, Tian Can, angered by Mo Tiange, intensified his attacks, momentarily throwing the two of them into disarray.
"Yunfei, stay calm!" Tian Zhiqian shouted. "Don't let them disrupt our formation, or we're definitely finished!"
Ling Yunfei took a deep breath, his gaze focusing. If Tian Zhiqian's retreat meant defeat and death, then for him, it meant dying without a burial place. Would Ling Yunhe spare him for the sake of their two hundred years as brothers? Perhaps, but this Tian Can and Qin Wei definitely would not. Even if Ling Yunhe broke free, he was seriously injured and no match for these two. At that point, it would be good if these two were willing to spare Ling Yunhe's life. The most likely outcome was as Qin Wei had said earlier: kill the two of them, then kill Ling Yunhe, and take all their possessions. That was the way of powerful cultivators like them.
Under Ling Yunfei's control, the Pair Flying Swords—one long, one short, inseparable in life and death—circled above, one light blue, one silvery white, emitting dazzling light, sword energy running rampant, Spiritual Qi crisscrossing.
Seeing this, Tian Zhiqian was overjoyed. He knew this was the strongest killing move of Ling Yunfei's Magical Treasure. If successfully executed, it wasn't impossible to kill Tian Can in one strike. So, he now had to ensure Ling Yunfei remained undisturbed.
In his mind, the battle situation was as clear as if in the palm of his hand. All moves were understood in his heart, executed naturally. He was starting to recapture the feeling of fighting side by side with Ling Yunhe—yes, everything he did today was right. Ling Yunhe was not the only one. As long as he himself was strong enough, he could also control the situation.
The Jade Plate in his hand spun wildly, five-colored lights flashing upon it, Yin and Yang shifting in an instant. Tian Zhiqian stared unblinkingly at the Jade Plate, waiting for the surrounding Five Elements and Yin-Yang to reach the most suitable moment—
"Clang—thud—" He heard two sounds. The first was the sound of sharp weapons clashing; the second, the sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh.
The next moment, his eyes widened. The Jade Plate failed to stop, spinning more and more wildly, ultimately missing the moment to set the formation, causing a slight chaos in the surrounding Five Elements and Yin-Yang.
He gripped the Jade Plate tightly, watching as it spun faster and faster, the spiritual light on it growing dimmer and dimmer. He knew this was because the Jade Plate had lost the support of its owner's Spiritual Qi.
He slowly turned around and saw Ling Yunhe standing expressionlessly not far away. He only had time to utter one word: "You..."
Ling Yunhe moved his right hand. The Crescent Jade Blade detached from Tian Zhiqian's body, blood gushing out wildly.
Watching Tian Zhiqian slowly fall, Ling Yunhe lowered his gaze and said softly, "When I asked you for help, it only took one sentence. But do you remember, when you asked me, you didn't even need a single word?"
Tian Zhiqian's eyes widened, staring fixedly at Ling Yunhe. In his eyes were fear, panic, resentment, anger, and even more, regret.
Ling Yunhe continued, "I thought that between us, there was no need to discuss transactions, no need to discuss rewards. Just one sentence, and we would risk life and death for each other. I thought this was what it meant to be sworn brothers who share life and death—but I was wrong."
Finally, the light faded from Tian Zhiqian's eyes. No one knew if the last thought lingering in his heart was one of bitter regret.
His death brought the ongoing battle to a halt.
Tian Can retracted his claw spikes, stopping not far away to watch this scene. As for Ling Yunfei, he was frozen stiff.
Ling Yunhe tightened his grip on the Crescent Jade Blade and walked toward him step by step.
Ling Yunfei's Pair Flying Swords involuntarily stopped, watching helplessly as he approached.
Blade light and sword light flashed simultaneously.
The long sword pierced through Ling Yunhe's body. At the same time, the glow of a crescent moon lit up, and an incredibly sharp strand of Spiritual Qi passed through Ling Yunfei's chest.
"This sword strike is Second Brother repaying you, for these two hundred years during which I never truly understood your heart," Ling Yunhe stood quietly, allowing the blood from his wound to gush forth. "This blade strike is you repaying me. For your greed and ingratitude over these two hundred years."
"Second Brother..." Ling Yunfei closed his eyes, tears rolling down, before finally collapsing headlong.
All reasons could not conceal his true heart. If he had sufficient ability, he wouldn't need Second Brother's gifts. If he had sufficient strength, he could stand in Second Brother's position. He knew he couldn't obtain it, so he was angry. All of this was because of jealousy.