Chapter 123: Rescue
‘Oh no… Master noticed my earlier hesitation within the formation.’
Lu Guo trailed behind Fang Xi, silentlymenting his predicament.
He realized that hisck of apparent loyalty had led to this critical moment, where instead of staying safely at Jade Cliff, he was now venturing into danger with Fang Xi.
‘Fortunately… after Master shattered the defensive barrier with a single strike, it seems his Body Tempering cultivation also experienced a breakthrough. With both realms advancing, even if we encounter someone at Peak Qi Refining, we should still be able to hold our own for a while…’
Having gained experience through past adventures, Lu Guo’s keen judgment told him that following Fang Xi during this chaos might actually be safer than remaining at Jade Cliff.
Fang Xi steered the ck Feather Boat, covering the distance of several miles swiftly.
Boom!
In the near vicinity, a spirit boat over thirty feet long unleashed relentless bombardment. Shockwaves and lightning danced wildly,bining with numerous magical artifacts’ attacks, causing the moonlight illusion on Mirror Moon Lake to shatter instantly, revealing the vast structures beneath.
The Water-Moon Grand Formation, broken! “This…”
As Lu Guo saw a figure d in silver armor leap from the flying boat, he involuntarily eximed, “It’s a Silver-armored Demon?!”
He had hoped it was merely a group of ordinary tribtion cultivators, but instead, they encountered the worst-case scenario!
His face instantly turned grim.
“Ha ha… Kill!”
“Follow the boss, feast on victory!”
Rogue cultivators riding various magical artifacts descended like a swarm of locusts, setting aze both residences and spirit fields… mes soared high, dispersing the night’s darkness for their amusement.
Soon, Twin Peaks were also engulfed in fire!
“Go!” Fang Xi shouted briefly, directing the ck Feather Boat towards Twin Peaks.
“Huh?” Lu Guo looked at his master, puzzled.
Without turning back, Fang Xi replied, “My life is far too precious to directly confront such a powerful Silver-armored Demon. We’ll head to Twin Peaks where there are fewer enemies; save as many as we can…”
Inbat, he always emphasized overwhelming through superior realms.
His effortless defeat of Mo Qingyu earlier exemplified this strategy,bining mastery in Body Tempering, the ninth level of Qi Refining, and sheer dominance with divine sense!
Facing that pseudo-Silver-armored Demon, however, posed some risk.
After all, it was undoubtedly a master at least at the Peak Qi Refining level.
And Ruan Dan? What friendship did Fang Xi have with her?! In fact, there were minor grievances between them; thus, he wouldn’t be med for not rescuing her…
“I’ll head to West Peak, you go to East Peak and check on Mu Zhong’s family…”
With a startled expression on Lu Guo’s face, Fang Xi propelled him towards the eastern peak while flying himself to the west.
At West Peak:
The low-tier first-rank Illusion Formation had already been breached long ago.
From within the valley, continuous sounds ofbat echoed out.
<em>Swish!</em>
Witnessing this scene, Fang Xi felt a chill surge through him. He poured magical energy into the ck Feather Boat, transforming it into a streak of ck light as it swiftly entered the valley.
Inside the valley:
mes engulfed the flower garden, casting a crimson glow across the surroundings.
Hua Chanjuan and her daughter, wielding their magical artifacts, battled against a group of tribtion cultivators, clearly struggling at a disadvantage.
<em>Bzzz!</em>
Countless jade bees vibrated their wings, generating a thunderous hum. Under themand of a queen bee, about palm-sized and pristine like white jade, they continuously swarmed towards three cultivators.
Leading these three cultivators was a male with an eighthyer Qi Refinement cultivation base, his face twisted in a sinister grin. He controlled a red-skinned gourd, continuously spewing toxic smoke and mes that incinerated numerous jade bees.
The other two tribtion cultivators wielded sword-like magical artifacts, fiercely shing against those released by Hua Chanjuan.
“Forget about the old hag; keep the young one alive!” shouted the male cultivator at the eighthyer of Qi Refinement. “I’m currently mastering this ‘Dragon Roar Art’ and need some high-quality furnaces! Heh heh… girl, if you surrender quietly, I might consider sparing your mother!”
“Never!” With a fierce determination, Hua Chanjuan spat out a mouthful of vital blood and performed a cultivation technique.
Instantly, her flying de artifact glowed with a crimson aura, surging with immense magical energy, nearly reaching Late Stage Qi Refinement potency.
“Watch out, she’s using a secret life-threatening technique!” The tribtion cultivators’ artifacts were sliced apart by the scarlet de light.
Hua Chanjuan expelled another mouthful of vital blood, transforming her flying de into a streak of zing crimson, directly targeting the leading male cultivator!
“Heh heh, mere trifles!” The male cultivator sneered, calmly summoning a green shield that effortlessly repelled the de’s glow.
With his cultivation at the eighthyer of Qi Refinement, even if Hua Chanjuan employed a vital energy-consuming secret technique to go all out, she could barely surpass Late Stage Qi Refinement for a few strikes - insufficient to harm him significantly!
“Yi Xi, I’m going to detonate the queen bee, sacrificing myself to hold them off. You must flee immediately, don’t look back!” Hua Chanjuan, her hair disheveled and blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, resembling a fearsome demon, whispered urgently to her daughter beside her.
Twenty-year-old Wei Yixi, now grown into a young woman, eyes red with emotion, choked out, “Mother…”
In this moment, mother and daughter faced imminent separation.
<em>Boom! Boom!</em>
The ground suddenly cracked, unleashing sharp wooden spikes in a surprise attack.
“Ahh!”
Amidst agonized screams, all tribtion cultivators except the male attacker met their demise instantly!
“Who’s there?” Panicking, the male cultivator hastily positioned both his shield and gourd defensively around himself. “My boss is the silver-armored figure! Daoist friend, think twice before acting!”
<em>Swish! Swish!</em>
From the surrounding gardens, roots of spirit flowers and nts rapidly grew, twisting into numerous dark green vines adorned with fine thorns, swiftly enveloping towards the male cultivator.
“Move!” With a grim expression, he performed a cultivation technique, unleashing a torrent of mes from his red gourd to scorch the vines.
Wave after wave of vines turned to charcoal, yet more continued to surge forth endlessly from the ground!
“Not good!”
Feeling the immense depletion of his magical energy and noticing his diminishing room for evasion, the male cultivator decided to retreat. He hastily released a blood-red escape talisman, ready to activate it.
Ping!
Amidst countless vines, a peach wood sword suddenly pierced through, striking against the blue shield with a crisp sound.
Following closely behind the flying sword was a human figure!
His fist surged with true astral energy, resembling a colossal axe capable of splitting the heavens, as it descended forcefully!
Boom!
The shield flew aside, and effortlessly, even the cultivator’s magical energy barrier was torn apart.
In an instant, an astral energy bolt, akin to a flying sword, pierced through the male cultivator’s forehead, leaving a tiny bloodied hole. He copsed onto the ground.
These swift actions unfolded like lightning, and throughout it all, the cultivator never had a chance to activate his life-saving paper talisman.
Countless vines recoiled back into the earth, revealing Fang Xi’s slender figure, sturdy as a pine tree.
He smiled at Wei Yixi and promptly collected the fallen cultivator’s bag of holding without hesitation. After a moment’s thought, he also retrieved the nearby tribtion cultivator’s corpse into the same bag.
“Uncle!”
Seeing the familiar figure just as she remembered, Wei Yixi eximed joyfully.
“Fellow Daoist Hua…”
Fang Xi looked at Hua Chanjuan, noticing her rapidly fading vital signs.
“It’s no concern; I merely expended some vital energy. I can still hold on! Won’t die just yet!” Hua Chanjuan recalled her flying knife magical artifact, and strands of her remaining dark hair instantly turned white, making her appear several years older within moments.
“Mama…”
Witnessing this transformation, tears welled up uncontrobly in Wei Yixi’s eyes. <hr>
At East Twin Peak, Lu Guo wielded his shuttle-shaped magical artifact, transforming it into a streak of light that pierced through the chest of a tribtion cultivator unable to dodge.
“Dying… dying…”
He was also holding onto a young boy, whom he had rescued from Mu Zhong’s family. The situation there had been dire; Mu Zhong instructed Lu Guo to escape with the child while their entire family stayed behind to dy the attackers.
Despite their sacrifice, even as Lu Guo fled down the mountain with the boy, they were still pursued by tribtion cultivators.
“Heh heh… you think we’d let you get away?” A female cultivator d in nearly translucent pce attire emerged from the darkness, smirking. “It’s only because our second-inmand heard about beautiful female cultivators on the West Peak, their yin essences intact, and rushed over impatiently. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have made it this far…”
“Headed to the West Peak, huh? They’re likely doomed now…” Lu Guo coughed, responding with a cold smile.
“You seek death!” The alluring yet icy-faced female tribtion cultivator waved her snowy-white serpent whip, ready to send Lu Guo to his demise.
<em>Pffft! Pffft!</em>
In the next instant, numerous vines erupted from the ground, swiftly entangling the surrounding tribtion cultivators.
“Is this…the Entangling Spell? Help me!”
“How can such a basic spell be so powerful? Ah…”
Countless thick vines ensnared the tribtion cultivators, constricting like pythons with relentless force until their bones snapped and they perished.
“Ah, spare me, Senior! Spare me!” The expression of the alluring female cultivator drastically changed as she knelt, pleading for mercy.
In the next instant, a merciless wooden splinter pierced her exquisite head without hesitation.
“Lu Guo…” A flying boat halted nearby, Wei Yixi’s voice resonating from it; she still recognized this helpfulpanion.
“Hua Auntie, I’m relieved you’re both safe!” Lu Guo spotted Hua Chanjuan and her daughter, visibly easing his tension.
“All right, take him along, and prepare to leave.” Fang Xi stood at the bow of the ck Feather Boat, hands sped behind his back, gazing towards Mirror Moon Lake.
With so many people aboard, the ck Feather Boat appeared quite crowded.
This was all he could manage; the rest would merely involve staunchly defending Jade Cliff.
Hmm, if these tribtion cultivators ventured into his territory, it might indeed be quite a spectacle.
Jade Cliff was his stronghold, fortified by the Demon Tree, making it virtually impregnable… <hr>
At Mirror Moon Lake.
“Kill them!”
“Charge!”
Young men and women, mostly in their twenties, eyes filled with fervor, fiercely engaged at the frontline.
The glow of magical artifacts and paper talismans illuminated the area, but due to their shallow realms and weak magical power, they were often swiftly overwhelmed by tribtion cultivators, resulting in decapitation after just a few exchanges.
These individuals were past generations’ immortal sprouts, raised from childhood with unwavering loyalty. They represented the most devoted group to Ruan Xingling and were meant to be the future backbone of her forces, yet now, they met meaningless deaths…
It was eerily reminiscent of the Lu n’s annihtion decades ago.
Bang!
Kou n’s leader, d in white turtle armor, crushed someone’s head underfoot, akin to a cat ying with its prey. He scrutinized a young girl dressed in red across from him, standing before a tier-2 spirit peach tree.
With his strength, he could effortlessly kill Ruan Dan, but orders demanded she be taken alive. Thus, Kou n’s leader didn’t mind indulging in some sport.
“You fiend!” Ruan Dan spat, crossing her hands to ring the ‘Mind-Bewitching Bells’.
Jingle!
As the crisp bell sound echoed, Kou n’s leader momentarily froze.
Seizing this opportunity, Ruan Dan quickly activated a terrifying tier-one high-grade talisman. A sh of lightning pierced through, shattering Kou n leader’s magical force shield.
‘A chance!’ Ruan Dan’s expression hardened as she unleashed both her red ribbon and mirror artifacts, wielding a short jade-red sword. With a swift motion like a rainbow piercing the sun, she aimed straight for Kou n leader’s throat!
That junction between the armor seemed rtively weaker, potentially a vulnerable spot!