The Chu Patriarch's mockery was meant to vent his frustration from being terrified lately, and to hopefully slow Qi Ping down. But Qi Ping didn't care about the insults; his only 'goal' was to escape the encirclement. The pursuers accelerated their closing maneuvers.
"Bee Daoist, you can't run! Surrender!"
A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator intercepted Qi Ping, casting a 'Mountain-Peak' spell to block his path. He didn't press too hard; as the first one to stop the target, his credit was already significant. He was afraid of pushing Qi Ping to the brink and getting caught in a self-detonation.
The previous one had done exactly that. This new Bee Daoist was too similar—same bees, same arrays. The probability of him doing the same was too high! Because of this man's interference, Qi Ping had to stop and change direction. But the others wouldn't let him go.
A second pursuer intercepted him, doing the same as the first: blocking but not sealing the path entirely, lest Qi Ping drag him to the grave.
"Bee Daoist, give up!"
Then came a third, doing the same. These repeated maneuvers nearly made Qi Ping laugh. He had worried about how to gather everyone in one spot and had prepared several backup plans, including the defensive arrays on his armor and the local terrain. He needed to survive long enough to lure them into the array's range—or at least most of them. After all, if twenty people attacked at once, they could kill him instantly despite his Druid passives.
But this? They were making it easy. He realized they were terrified of a self-detonation!
'Do you think I only know how to blow up? Do you think I'm just a repeat of the last guy?'
Qi Ping sneered internally, but his face remained one of panic and desperation, struggling for a way out. Soon, a large crowd of Foundation Establishment cultivators surrounded him. Qi Ping 'forced' himself to activate the defensive array on his armor. Given the speed of these cultivators, it took only moments for everyone to arrive and surround him completely.
At that moment, everyone sighed with relief! Everyone was here! With so many people working together, even a self-detonation would be useless!
"Bee Daoist! You are dead!"
"Even exploding won't save you!"
"Fellow Daoists, watch out for his tricks! Let's crush his body together! We'll capture his soul if we can!"
"This is the price of opposing the Celestial Alliance!"
But as they prepared to strike, they noticed that the Bee Daoist had also sighed in relief! That subtle movement made many hearts skip a beat. An ill omen rose in their minds. Some thought he was just bluffing.
"Bluffing even at the gates of death?"
But reality would not change. In the blink of an eye, a terrifying combination array erupted!
When the massive array, powered by the earth-fire and the Grace of Heaven and Earth, covered the area, a crushing pressure descended upon every cultivator.
"A Rank 2 High-grade array! A powerful one at that!"
"And it's a combination array!"
These experienced cultivators felt their scalps go numb. No one knew better than them how terrifying an array could be when combined with geographical advantage!
"Do you all truly think I am as stupid as the last one, to just blow myself up?"
"My true targets were you all..."
"You are my real prey! Those families were just the bait!"
When Qi Ping's haunting voice echoed, their hearts sank. Then came the roar of six flame snakes born from earth-fire! Golden sword-qi tore through the air! Binding arrays descended! An incredibly dangerous aura saturated the space!
Shielded by the array's movements, Qi Ping instantly vanished from the center. There was no time for thought; chaos erupted! The interior of the array was swept by terrifying magical fluctuations. While the array was powerful, twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators could theoretically block it. The real problem was the endless earth-fire. A battle of attrition was the last thing they wanted.
On the edge of the array, Qi Ping seized his chance. He used his Hundred-Eye Demon Realm, dragging a lone middle-stage cultivator into his mental domain. A golden sword-qi pierced the man's head in the next instant!
The death of the first cultivator triggered a wave of panic and disorder. However, these were prominent figures in the region; they soon reached an agreement and began combined strikes to break the array. After a struggle, they managed to shatter the formation. Qi Ping had used the chaos to kill three more middle-stage cultivators.
"Bee Daoist, did you think a single array could hold us? Too naive..."
Before they could finish their sentence, an identical array snapped into existence! Their faces froze.
"Good job. Keep it up!" the demonic Qi Ping clapped from the edge.
Of course one array wouldn't be enough. That's why he had five!
While they were stunned, he used his Hundred-Eye Demon Realm again and killed another middle-stage cultivator. A new round of melee began! When they broke the second array, five more middle-stage and two late-stage cultivators lay dead or dying.
"Don't worry, there's more!" Qi Ping laughed.
A third array rose! The familiar snakes roared again.
"Bee Daoist, how many arrays do you have?!" a late-stage cultivator screamed, his face twisted in rage.
"Don't worry! I have plenty! I won't let any of you down, and I won't make you wait for Golden Core reinforcements!" Qi Ping replied hauntingly.
Hearing those 'kind' words, they fell into despair. This battle, which had cost Qi Ping a fortune, would have no surprises. After the fourth array was deployed, all twenty-plus cultivators lay dead.
As the last one died, Qi Ping's clone's soul was near collapse. The strain of using the Hundred-Eye Demon Realm repeatedly was immense, but it was the only way to ensure no one escaped. Panic makes the will weak, which was the perfect condition for his technique. Qi Ping gathered the spoils and his bees and vanished.
As word from those watching from a distance spread, the entire Qing Tian Region fell into a dead silence.