“Rise!”

Hummm——

A vast expanse of white mist exploded out of thin air, instantly filling the entire passageway.

This mist was no ordinary water vapor; it was Su Ming’s specially concocted “Heavy Water Mist.”

Every droplet of mist contained viscous spiritual energy. The moment the Earth Fire Scorpions charged in, their originally swift movements visibly slowed down, as if they had sunk into a quagmire.

Immediately after, a piercing “sizzling” sound erupted.

That was the reaction produced by the clash of water and fire. The fire-tainted energy on the Earth Fire Scorpions’ bodies was suppressed by the water mist. The red glow on their carapaces rapidly dimmed, and their originally iron-hard defensive power was greatly diminished.

“Ice Condense!”

Su Ming changed his hand seals once more.

Countless fine, fragmented ice crystals abruptly formed within the mist, adhering to the joints of the Earth Fire Scorpions.

This violent alternation between extreme cold and heat caused the dozens of scorpions at the forefront to emit pained shrieks. Some even had their carapaces directly crack and split open.

“Now! Kill!”

Without needing Su Ming’s reminder, Lei Hu and the Chen brothers, who had long been poised for action, moved.

The heavy sword in Lei Hu’s hand swept out, carrying a fierce wind. Under the formation’s suppression, those scorpion shells, originally difficult to penetrate, were now as brittle as thin wafers. The sound of “crack-crack” was incessant, with severed limbs and broken carapaces flying everywhere.

The Chen brothers were even more in their element. Their sword techniques followed an agile and nimble path. With the Earth Fire Scorpions’ movements now sluggish, they were practically living targets. Two streaks of sword light weaved through the mist like swimming dragons. Each thrust precisely pierced the cracks in the scorpions’ splitting carapaces, aiming straight for vital points.

Su Ming stood at the very rear of the team, his hands clasped behind his back, but his ten fingers were constantly making minute adjustments to the formation plate’s spiritual energy output within his sleeves.

He was like a precise puppeteer. Where the scorpion swarm was denser, the mist there grew thicker. Where someone’s defense was struggling, the ice crystals there became more substantial.

Liu Qing stood beside Su Ming, holding the medicine basket. The detoxification pills she had prepared remained unused, not a single one.

She watched the almost one-sided slaughter ahead, then glanced at Senior Brother Su beside her, whose robes weren’t even rumpled. Her small mouth hung slightly open, her eyes dazed.

This was… the combat style of a formation master?

This was just too… too comfortable!

“Be careful!”

Just as everyone was killing with rising fervor, a sharp shriek suddenly came from deep within the mist.

An elite Earth Fire Scorpion, its body as large as a millstone and colored a deep red bordering on black, violently crashed through the mist.

It was clearly more resistant than ordinary scorpions. The fiery light on its body actually forcefully repelled the surrounding ice crystals. Its thick, child’s-arm-sized venomous stinger, carrying a foul wind, shot straight towards Lei Hu’s face.

Lei Hu had just swung his sword, his old force spent, new force not yet generated. It seemed he was about to be hit.

The Chen brothers wanted to turn back to assist, but they were entangled by several ordinary scorpions.

At this critical moment.

Su Ming’s expression remained unchanged. He merely gently hooked his right index finger.

“Bind.”

The accumulated water beneath that elite scorpion suddenly came to life.

Several dark blue water ropes shot up without warning, tightly entangling its six legs and the base of its tail.

Although these water ropes lasted only for the space of one breath before being torn apart by the scorpion’s terrifying brute force, that one-breath pause was enough for an experienced veteran like Lei Hu.

“Die for me!”

Lei Hu roared. Seizing this brief opening, he lowered his stance, evading the venomous stinger. His heavy sword swept upward from below, carrying earth-splitting, rock-cracking force, viciously striking the scorpion’s softest underbelly.

Squelch!

Dark green fluid splattered out.

That arrogant elite Earth Fire Scorpion didn’t even have time to shriek before being gutted by this sword, collapsing to the ground with a heavy thud.

The battle ended even faster than imagined.

When the last Earth Fire Scorpion fell, the narrow mine tunnel was piled high with corpses.

Lei Hu, panting heavily, kicked aside a scorpion corpse in front of him, wiped a smear of blood from his face (it was the scorpion’s), turned to look at Su Ming, and gave a thumbs-up.

“Brother Su, exhilarating! Damn exhilarating!”

Lei Hu grinned from ear to ear, his teeth showing. “When teaming up with others to kill these things before, every time we’d end up covered in grime from the fire poison fumes, and we’d have to watch out for the venomous stingers. Today’s fight was like chopping melons and slicing vegetables!”

The Chen brothers sheathed their swords, exchanged a glance. The previous trace of disdain in their eyes had long since vanished.

Chen Feng walked up to Su Ming, cupped his hands in a salute, his tone solemn. “Junior Brother Su, that control earlier, impressive. Without your formation suppression and that final water-binding technique, Brother Lei would likely have been injured.”

“Senior Brother overpraises me.”

Only now did Su Ming “appropriately” reveal a trace of weariness, wiping sweat from his forehead that wasn’t actually there. “My cultivation is low and weak; I can only handle some auxiliary tasks. For truly slaying the enemy, we still rely on the valor of you senior brothers.”

“Tsk tsk, acting again,” Lin Yu commented within the Consciousness Sea. “But I give this performance full marks. It showcased your value without stealing the main attackers’ thunder. This is workplace survival wisdom.”

The subsequent cleanup of the battlefield became exceptionally easy.

The sect reward of one hundred spirit stones was fixed, but these scorpion corpses were also a windfall.

According to the prior agreement, although Su Ming didn’t directly kill any monsters, his control was the greatest merit, so he received thirty percent of the spoils.

He didn’t want those bulky scorpion shells, specifically choosing to take all the venom sacs and that elite scorpion’s tail stinger.

“Junior Brother Su, you only want these?” Liu Qing felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, she had just shouted a few “keep it up” from the back the whole time. When dividing the spoils, her face truly felt a bit hot.

“My Repair Hall happens to lack some auxiliary materials for refining special substances.” Su Ming smiled, storing the venom sacs into a specially made jade box. “Each takes what they need, that’s all.”

When the group walked out of the mine tunnel, the sky outside was nearing dusk.

This mission took only about two hours. Each person received forty spirit stones in profit, with no one injured and minimal consumption.

When handing over the mission at the Hall of Stewards, the steward responsible for inspection looked at the completely unharmed five people, then at the mountain-like pile of scorpion shells, his eyes filled with surprise.

“Good! Very good!” The steward stamped an “Excellent” character seal on the mission archives. “Among outer sect disciples, it’s rare to see team coordination executed to this level. Su Ming, right? The formation use was excellent. You have a clever mind.”

Walking out of the Hall of Stewards, Lei Hu threw an arm around Su Ming’s shoulder, lowering his voice. “Brother Su, if there are more good missions like this in the future, I’m coming to you first! You, this is what’s called professional! Teaming up with you, that’s truly worry-free!”

Su Ming smiled and agreed, watching the others depart.

Returning to Clear Stream Valley, Su Ming closed the cave dwelling door, the smile on his face gradually fading.

He placed that elite Earth Fire Scorpion’s tail stinger on the stone table. Under the lamplight’s illumination, the tip of the stinger shimmered with a heart-palpitating dark blue luster.

“Master, the materials are complete.”

Su Ming said softly. “With the fire poison crystal in this thing, plus the previous ‘Thunder Fire Sand,’ ‘Bumper Harvest No. 1’ should be able to be upgraded to ‘Bumper Harvest No. 2.'”

“Hmm, not bad.” Lin Yu drifted out, circling the venomous stinger. “But before that, use up those three bottles of Qi Gathering Pills first.”

Su Ming took a deep breath and sat cross-legged back on the meditation cushion.

This time, no one came to disturb him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep