Boss Zhao's residence consisted not only of a wooden hut, but even featured an independent small courtyard.
At this very moment, a massive stone table stood in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by seated people.
Candlelight illuminated the scene.
Even in the dark of night, the small courtyard remained as bright as day.
"Boss, are we really going to just stand by and watch this time?"
The man sitting below Boss Zhao had an extraordinarily burly build and a scar on his forehead. He was Zhao Yu, who held the second-highest status right below Boss Zhao.
Looking at the roast chicken in front of him, he tore at it with force, ripping off a leg in an instant.
Then he took huge bites out of it.
Chewing as he spoke, he looked over at the boss beside him and asked in confusion.
Boss Zhao picked up a white jade wine cup from the side, took a gentle sip of fine wine, and then smiled contentedly before speaking:
"That little fellow is hardly simple. Just that powerful farming technique alone, not to mention his remarkable luck to encounter a First-Tier high-grade spirit plant."
Having said this, Boss Zhao's tone suddenly shifted. Looking down at Zhao Yu with a faint smile, he offered a chuckle of a reminder: "If you had discovered that Dew Condensation Grass, I imagine you would've wanted to keep it all to yourself."
"Only that kid would think to share it with others."
"Cough, cough..." Pointed out like that by his boss, Zhao Yu gasped in surprise, nearly choking.
He hastily picked up the alcohol nearby and took a deep gulp, finally washing the chicken down his throat and catching his breath.
He quickly looked toward Boss Zhao, eager to display his loyalty: "How could that be possible?"
"If I had found that Dew Condensation Grass, I would definitely have presented it to you, Boss."
"And I know Boss wouldn't treat me unfairly either."
Boss Zhao maintained a faint smile, gently patting Zhao Yu on the shoulder. "That is good then."
Yet he did not believe a single word of Zhao Yu's statement.
"Hehe."
Seeing the boss's forced, insincere smile, Zhao Yu immediately responded with an awkward laugh.
In truth, suppose he had been the sole person to discover the Dew Condensation Grass.
His primary choice would undoubtedly have been to keep it all for himself, never once considering sharing it evenly.
He was certainly not content to remain number two forever, subservient to someone else.
Only Ye Hao was foolish to such a degree.
He actually chose to split the spirit stones earned from selling the Dew Condensation Grass with others.
Now he had brought trouble entirely upon himself, getting exactly what he asked for.
"Keep eating."
Boss Zhao had known long ago that these guys lacked loyalty, so he was merely offering a few words of warning.
If someone truly went behind his back to target Ye Hao later, they couldn't blame him for not warning them; whether they lived or died was not up to him to decide.
...
"And here I thought they weren't coming."
Ye Hao turned slightly, his ears twitching subtly as he sensed over a dozen people creeping toward him within a hundred meters outside the wooden hut.
Ye Hao had originally thought there would only be two or three people.
He had not expected the number of incoming intruders to reach double digits.
Night fell like dark ink, and the chirping of insects in the mountain forest was cut short in an instant.
Over a dozen dark shadows darted out from the tree cover, all of them Third-Layer and Fourth-Layer Qi Refinement cultivators.
Clutching low-grade spirit artifacts, they silently surrounded the wooden hut in the mountains.
"Attack!"
The middle-aged man in the lead let out a low bark.
In the next instant, several artifacts flashed with spiritual light, lunging straight toward the wooden door of the hut.
Just as the artifacts were about to hit the wooden hut, the First-Tier high-grade Red Fire Strike array disc buried in the soil surrounding the hut burst into brilliant light.
Crimson patterns broke through the soil as a pillar of red fire shot into the sky, and the array domain expanded instantly.
Fine, tiny fire threads gushed out in vast numbers, turning into short crimson tongues of fire.
Interweaving in every direction, they swept across the area with scorching heat.
"Damn it!"
"It's an array!"
"Scatter, quick!"
The intruders' faces paled dramatically as they hurriedly conjured protective spiritual light.
Yet the power of a First-Tier high-grade array disc's flames far exceeded their expectations, incinerating their thin protective spiritual energy like paper in a split second.
Shrieks rang out one after another as the tongues of flame tore into flesh, and blazing fire exploded among the crowd.
Within just a few breaths, all of the dozen-plus figures collapsed to the ground, a scorched stench permeating the night air.
The firelight slowly receded, and the array disc's spiritual glow dimmed away.
The wooden hut stood completely intact, resting quietly beyond the scattered, messy remains.
Gulp!
"Are we still going in?"
From a pile of rocks not far away came the sound of someone swallowing hard.
Having been just a step behind, they had witnessed the entire scene.
Now, after witnessing such a terrifying sight, they lost all nerve to charge forward.
"If we don't run right now, what else do you think we should do?"
The leader slapped his subordinate on the head, then turned and bolted madly into the distance.
That guy Ye Hao had actually spent all his spirit stones on an array instead of using them for cultivation!
What an utter waste!
If they had known beforehand that Ye Hao had bought an array, they never would have come looking for trouble, and fortunately, his luck was exceptionally good.
A sudden stomachache had allowed him to escape this disaster just in time.
Otherwise, they likely would have followed in the footsteps of those dozen or so people.
After a long silence, Ye Hao finally stood up to look outside.
Seeing the bodies in front of the wooden hut already burnt to ashes, he immediately frowned, waving his hand to blow them away.
Scattered across the ground were also a few low-grade spirit artifacts.
Gathering them, he put them into his storage ring.
These spirit artifacts had barely met the threshold of being ranked, so he held no interest in them whatsoever.
However, selling them outside would yield at least a dozen low-grade spirit stones.
He couldn't let them go to waste; he would treat them as compensation for these people disturbing him.
...
The next morning.
"Thank goodness you're alright."
Ye Yu gently pushed open Ye Hao's door. Upon seeing Ye Hao sound asleep on the bed, he immediately let out a heavy sigh of relief.
The wooden huts where he and Ye Hao lived were actually quite secluded, with very few handyman disciples residing nearby.
Even so, quite a few people had still noticed the commotion last night.
Yet remembering what Ye Hao had told him earlier, he had not dared to draw near.
Only when morning came did he hurry back.
Now that he saw Ye Hao safe and sound, he was completely at ease.
"This guy..."
Ye Hao had actually sensed Ye Yu's approach long ago and heard his quiet muttering.
Helpless, he stood up right away.
"I told you I'd be fine. There's no need to worry about me."
Ye Hao said with a smile as he looked at Ye Yu while washing up.
"The noise on your side last night was huge. If you hadn't warned me, I would've rushed over long ago," Ye Yu waved his hand and replied.
"I buried an array beneath the wooden hut. Forget about that mob last night—even an outer disciple wouldn't fare well against it."
"So don't worry."
Ye Hao said with a smile.
After this, at least within the sect, he would be safe for the time being.
No one should come targeting him anymore.
"So it was an array."
Hearing Ye Hao's explanation, Ye Yu came to a sudden realization.
"Alright, head on back."
"In a bit, I'll head over to your spirit field to cast the Lesser Spirit Rain Technique for you."
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