Chapter 123: Chapter 122: Rescue (Congratulations in Silver!)_1
’Damn it... I left traces in the formation earlier and was discovered by the master.’
Lu Guo, following behind Fang Xi, muttered to himself in distress.
He knew that he hadn’t shown sufficient loyalty before, so at this critical moment, he was taken by Fang Xi on a risky venture, unable to stay safely at Jadeite Cliff.
’Fortunately... The master shattered the defensive barrier with a slap earlier, and his body refining cultivation seems to have broken through as well. Combining the two, even if we encounter a Qi Refining cultivator at full circle, we should be able to hold them off...’
Having been out on adventures before, Lu Guo had a discerning eye and thought that following Fang Xi amidst this chaos might even be safer than staying at Jadeite Cliff.
Fang Xi controlled the Black Feather Boat, covering a distance of over a dozen miles in just a short while.
Boom!
Not far away, one could see a Spirit Boat over thirty meters long bombarding wildly, with thunder and lightning dancing tumultuously in unison with a mass of magical artifacts attacking, the moonlight over Mirror Moon Lake instantly shattered, revealing the buildings below.
The Water Moon Array, broken!
’This...’
Lu Guo saw a figure in silver-white armor leaping down from the flying boat and couldn’t help but exclaim in shock, ’Is that the Silver Armored Demon?!’
He had hoped it was just an ordinary cultivation-robber, but he had encountered the worst possible outcome!
His face instantly turned exceedingly unpleasant.
’Haha... Kill them!’
’Follow the boss, and there’s meat to eat!’
One by one, individual cultivators controlled their artifacts, swarming down like locusts, even directly setting ablaze dwellings and Spiritual Fields... igniting colossal flames that lit up the sky, dispelling the night and doing so for sheer amusement.
At Twin Peaks, fiery glows suddenly arose as well!
’Let’s go!’
Fang Xi uttered lightly, and the Black Feather Boat sped towards Twin Peaks.
’Eh?’
Lu Guo looked at the master in wonder.
Fang Xi, without looking back, said, ’My life is too precious; why should I clash with that powerful Silver Armored Demon? It’s better to go to Twin Peaks where there are fewer enemies, and rescue whoever we can...’
His approach to magical combat has always been to rely on realm suppression.
The ease with which he dealt with Mo Qingyu earlier was a classic example of combining a full circle in body refining, the ninth layer of Qi Refining, and the crushing superiority of Divine Consciousness!
Facing that fake Silver Armored Demon was a bit riskier.
After all, the opponent was at least a master at the full circle of Qi Refining.
And Ruan Dan?
Ruan Dan had no connection to him whatsoever! In fact, there was a slight grudge between them, so it was no surprise that he wasn’t going out of his way to rescue her...
’I’ll head to West Peak; you go to East Peak and see how Mu Zhong and his family are holding up...’
In the midst of Lu Guo’s panicked look, Fang Xi tossed him towards East Peak while he himself flew towards West Peak.
West Peak.
The low-grade Illusion Array had already been broken.
Within the valley, the sounds of magical combat were unceasing.
Whoosh!
Witnessing this scene, Fang Xi’s heart shivered, magic power surged into the Black Feather Boat, turning it almost into a streak of black light as it flew into the valley.
Inside the valley.
The fire lit up the flower gardens, casting a blood-red glow all around.
Hua Chanjuan and her daughter were controlling their artifacts, fighting against a group of cultivation-robbers and clearly at a disadvantage.
Humming!
Countless Jade Bees buzzed their wings, roaring as they followed the command of a palm-sized, white-as-jade queen bee, constantly attacking the three cultivators.
The leader of these three cultivators had a Qi Refining level of eight layers, his face twisted with a ferocious grin, controlling a reddish gourd from which he spewed poison smoke and flames, killing bee after bee.
The other two robbers were wielding sword artifacts, clashing with the artifacts released by Hua Chanjuan.
’Forget the old woman, but keep the young one alive!’
The eighth-layer cultivator commanded, ’I’m perfecting the ’Dragon Chant Spell,’ and need several top-quality cauldrons! Heh, if you surrender willingly, young lady, I might consider sparing your mother!’
’Don’t think about it!’
Hua Chanjuan suddenly spat out a mouthful of essence blood, her hands forming a magic spell.
A layer of blood-red radiance swiftly enveloped her flying sword artifact, its magic power so vast it barely seemed comparable to the late stage of Qi Refining.
’Beware, this old hag is using a secret skill to fight to the death!’
The two robbers’ artifacts were split open by the crimson sword light, and as Hua Chanjuan spat out another mouthful of essence blood, the flying sword turned into a strip of blood-red ribbon, slashing towards the leading male cultivator!
’Heh, trivial tricks!’
The male cultivator sneered, casually releasing a green-colored shield, easily blocking the sword light.
After all, he was at the eighth layer of Qi Refining and although Hua Chanjuan was using a life-draining secret skill in a desperate bid, she could only push past the late stage of Qi Refining for a few attacks, barely enough to harm him!
’Yixi, I will control the queen bee to explode soon, stalling those men with my life; you must run and never look back!’
Hua Chanjuan was disheveled, with blood dripping from the corner of her mouth, appearing like a ferocious ghoul, yet she whispered to her daughter beside her.
Wei Yixi had grown into a twenty-year-old young woman with her eyes red and swollen, ’Mother...’
The mother and daughter were facing a life-and-death parting.
Bang, bang!
The ground burst open, and several sharp wooden spikes shot forth unexpectedly.
’Ah!’
Amidst the screams, all the robbers except the male cultivator were slain!
’Who’s there?’
The male cultivator panicked, hurriedly gathering both his shield and gourd in front of him for protection: ’My boss is from the Silver Armor lineage! Sir, don’t make a mistake!’
Whoosh, whoosh!
The roots of the spiritual flowers and herbs in the surrounding flowerbeds suddenly began to grow rapidly, twisting into green vines with tiny sharp thorns, relentlessly sweeping toward the male cultivator.
’Hurry!’
The male cultivator’s expression twisted into a snarl as he made a hand gesture, unleashing a torrent of flame from the reddish gourd to incinerate the vines.
Wave after wave of vines turned to charred ash, yet their number seemed as endless as ever, continuously emerging from the ground!
’Not good!’
Feeling the tremendous drain on his magic power, especially as his range of evasion shrank, the male cultivator quickly considered retreat, releasing a blood-red Escape Talisman, about to activate it.
Pop!
In the midst of countless vines, a peach wood sword darted through the air, clashing with a green shield and emitting a crisp sound.
Following the flying sword was a shadowy figure!
Above his fist, True Gang surged like an axe that could split heaven, crashing down fiercely!
Boom!
The shield was flung away, and soon the man’s magic shield was easily shredded.
A strand of Gang Qi, like the flying sword, pierced through the man’s forehead in an instant, leaving a small bloody hole, and he fell to the ground.
In these quick exchanges, from start to finish, the opponent had not even managed to activate his life-saving talisman.
The numerous vines curled back into the ground, revealing Fang Xi’s figure, tall and straight as a pine tree.
He gave Wei Yixi a smile and unceremoniously began to collect the defeated cultivator’s storage bag.
After a moment’s thought, he also collected the corpses of nearby cultivation-robbers into the storage bag.
"Uncle!"
Seeing the figure that was identical to the one in her memory, Wei Yixi cheered in excitement.
"Sir Hua..."
Fang Xi looked at Hua Chanjuan, only to realize that her life force was rapidly fading.
"It’s nothing, just used up a bit of Primordial Energy, I can hold on! I won’t die just yet!"
Hua Chanjuan retracted her flying dagger artifact, as the remnant blue hair on her head turned white one strand after another, making her seem to age by decades in mere moments.
"Mother..."
Seeing this, tears welled up in Wei Yixi’s eyes.
...
Gemini East Peak.
Lu Guo held a shuttle artifact, transforming into a streak of light, piercing through the chest of a cultivator-robber who couldn’t dodge in time.
"I’m going to die, I’m going to die..."
In his hand, he was pulling along a little boy, rescued from the Mu Zhong’s household.
The situation there was very critical at the time, and Mu Zhong let him take the boy and run first while the whole family stayed behind to cover their retreat.
Even so, by the time Lu Guo reached the foot of the mountain with the boy, they were still caught up by the cultivation-robbers.
"Hehe... how could we let you run away?"
"It’s only because our second in command heard there was a beautiful female cultivator on West Peak, untouched and pure, and he couldn’t wait to go there, otherwise you wouldn’t have even made it to the foot of the mountain..."
A female cultivator dressed in an almost transparent palace dress emerged from the darkness, smiling.
"He went to West Peak, huh? He’s probably done for..."
Lu Guo coughed a few times, responding with a cold laugh.
"You’re looking for death!"
The gorgeous female robber’s expression turned cold, and as she waved a snow-white snake whip artifact, she was about to finish off Lu Guo.
Pu pu!
The next moment, strands of vines emerged from the ground and swiftly entwined the cultivation-robbers present.
"Is this... Entanglement Skills? Save me!"
"How can this low-level spell be so strong? Ah..."
Countless thick vines wrapped around the cultivation-robbers, constricting them like pythons until their bones broke and they died.
"Ah, Senior, spare my life, spare my life!"
The beautiful female robber’s expression changed drastically as she knelt and begged for mercy.
But the next moment, a wooden spike showed no mercy as it pierced through her beautiful head.
"Lu Guo..."
A spirit boat stopped, and Wei Yixi’s voice came from it; she still recognized this errand-running buddy.
"Auntie Hua, thank goodness you’re all right!"
Seeing Hua Chanjuan and her daughter, Lu Guo immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
"All right, bring him along, we’re ready to leave."
Fang Xi stood at the prow of the Black Feather Boat, hands behind his back, looking towards Mirror Moon Lake.
The Black Feather Boat was already seeming a bit crowded with so many people standing on it.
This was all he could do; the rest would simply be a matter of defending Jadeite Cliff.
Well, if these cultivation-robbers went to his home ground, there would be quite a show to see.
Jadeite Cliff was his lair, and with the presence of the Monster Tree, it was as impregnable as a fortress...
...
Mirror Moon Lake.
"Kill the enemy!"
"Kill!"
One after another, young men and women in their twenties or thirties, with madness in their eyes, fought on the front lines.
The radiance of artifacts and talismans shone brightly, yet due to shallow realms and weak magic power, they often had their defenses broken and their heads chopped off after just a few moves.
These were all cultivators of various generations, raised from childhood to be loyal, representing Ruan Xingling’s most faithful group and future backbone, yet they were now dying meaninglessly...
All of this was like a repeat of the downfall of the Lu Family decades ago.
Bang!
The eldest son of the Kou family, wearing White Turtle Armor, crushed someone’s head with a foot like a cat playing with a mouse, eyeing the figure of a girl in a red dress standing in front of a second-tier Spirit Peach Tree.
With his strength, he could easily kill Ruan Dan, but his superiors needed her alive.
Therefore, the eldest son of the Kou family didn’t mind playing around a bit.
"Scoundrel!"
Ruan Dan cursed, crossing her arms and shaking the ’Heart-Confusing Bell’.
Ding-a-ling-ling!
Amid the crisp ringing of the bell, the eldest son of the Kou family paused in his steps.
Seizing the opportunity, Ruan Dan instantly activated a formidable first-grade premium talisman, a flash of thunderlight shattered the Kou family eldest’s magic shield.
’Chance!’
Ruan Dan’s expression was stern as she launched both a red silk and a mirror artifact, holding a Red Jade Short Sword in her hand. With a thrust like a rainbow piercing the sun, she aimed for the eldest son of the Kou family’s throat at the weak joint in his armor, potentially his Achilles’ heel.