Li Xiangping shut his eyes and concentrated for a moment. His face suddenly paled as a wave of realization washed over him, prompting a harsh whisper through his clenched teeth.
“Ten cultivators of the Qi Cultivation Realm?! How are we supposed to intervene now? Where did the Ji Family find so many skilled cultivators?!”
Inside the mirror, Lu Jiangxian was urgently trying to gather more information as he observed the seven auras surrounding a central one, his mind racing with concern.
“What’s going on here? If Li Xiangping hadn’t been careful, anyone else rushing in recklessly would have surely met a quick and brutal end.”
His relief was short-lived as he detected the aura of another cultivator of the Qi Cultivation Realm emanating from Moongaze Lake.
Li Xiangping closed his eyes and sensed the auras in the vicinity. He, too, detected a powerful aura emanating from Moongaze Lake in the distance, seemingly moving westward.
An alarm went off in Lu Jiangxian’s head as he recognized the aura’s distinct pull. “That aura... It’s identical to the one from Moongaze Lake that I sensed years ago, the one capable of repairing the mirror!”
The distinct aura of greed and malice exuded by the cultivator of the Qi Cultivation Realm blazed like a glaring red beacon in Lu Jiangxian’s divine sense, sparking a flurry of thoughts in his mind.
“There’s no doubt about it. This cultivator is coming for me. He’s been bidding his time at Moongaze Lake for over ten years!”
At the same time, Li Xiangping felt a surge of shock as the menacing aura approached him like a shooting star. Breaking into a cold sweat, he instinctively cast a Divine Movement Spell to his legs and swiftly sprinted northward.
“Who is that person?! How does he track me so accurately from a distance? Damn it, the Wan Family really got me into big trouble!”
As Li Xiangping dashed desperately, thoughts raced through his mind incessantly.
“This person is heading my way, so he must be a cultivator of the Qi Cultivation Realm! I can’t risk leading him toward our home in the west. My own demise is one thing, but putting my family in harm’s way is a risk I can’t take. With the mirror in my possession, I must proceed with caution.”
————
Wan Xiaohua watched Ji Dengqi standing outside the formation, hatred oozing out of his eyes. Beside him stood a haughty-looking man with a large forehead, dressed in a dark green silk cloak, who impatiently voiced his frustration.
“Brother Wan, why hasn’t the Li Family taken action yet? Aren’t they supposed to make a move once the Earth Locking Huaqian Formation is activated?”
“Patience, Brother Pingyuan. The moment will come!”
The man was none other than the Lu Family’s newest cultivator of the Qi Cultivation Realm whom Li Tongya had met on Cloud Crowned Peak. The Wan Family enlisted him at great expense to ensure Ji Dengqi’s downfall.
Wan Xiaohua forced a wry smile, though doubt was swirling in his mind.
Li Xiangping is a smart man. How could he fail to see the gravity of our demise? The downfall of the Wan Family would leave the Li and Lu Families vulnerable to the Ji Family’s advances. Even a fool like Lu Pingyuan can see the need to support us. Why doesn’t Li Xiangping?
Wan Xiaohua’s unease deepened, prompting him to let out a heavy sigh.
After waiting for another half an hour, Lu Pingyuan rose to his feet, unable to contain his frustration. Ignoring Wan Xiaohua’s attempts to calm him, he activated his flying shuttle and flew out of the formation to confront Ji Dengqi.
“Hey, Ji Family Head! You won’t be able to break this tortoise shell anyway, so why waste your time surrounding this mountain? The Wan Family is now under the Lu Family’s protection. Leave this instance and I’ll spare you from a fight!”
The declaration left both Wan Xiaohua and Ji Dengqi momentarily stunned. Wan Xiaohua was rendered speechless in the face of Lu Pingyuan’s stupidity. How did an idiot like him attain the Qi Cultivation Realm?! Life can be so unfair!
Ji Dengqi merely narrowed his eyes as he muttered under his breath, “My underwear probably has more brain cells than this idiot.”
Just as Ji Dengqi raised his saber and prepared to advance, laughter pierced the air. A man dressed in gold emerged with his entourage, clutching his stomach in amusement as he pointed at Lu Pingyuan.
“Hahahaha! This is truly amusing, I can’t believe there’s someone more arrogant than myself!”
Wan Xiaohua lifted his gaze to the sky from within the formation. The sudden arrival of those cultivators drained color from his face, causing his heart to plummet and his mind to reel in shock.
“One, two, three... Eight... All of them are cultivators of... the Qi Cultivation Realm... How can this be?!”
Overwhelmed by the situation, he nearly coughed up blood in agitation as he barely managed to call out, “Yuankai! Wan Yuankai!”
Wan Yuankai rushed over to support the head of his family, his face etched with concern and his eyes tinged with redness. “Yuankai is here, Family Head.”
Wan Xiaohua gasped for air, then spoke grimly. “I’m afraid today marks the end for the Wan Family. Li Xiangping’s absence suggests that he’s in trouble too.”
“Summon our kin. Should the formation falter, we must scatter to evade capture and flee toward the Li and Lu Families.”
Wan Xiaohua’s face was pale, yet his thoughts remained sharp and focused. He gave himself a firm slap on the face, then said, “No, Ji Dengqi won’t spare the Wan Family that easily. Go and relay my command: only the direct descendants aged between seven and fifteen with spiritual orifices should head west. The rest, including those from our main family, must defend the mountain. If the formation breaks, we scatter and flee. Ji Dengqi intends to wipe us out entirely. As for the children of the side families...”
Before he could finish, the formation suddenly shook violently, and a macabre rain of blood poured down. Lu Pingyuan’s cries for mercy were in vain as the man in gold gruesomely ripped him apart.
The man dressed in gold picked up his storage pouch, then proceeded to examine it with his spiritual sense, only to frown in disgust and curse, “Ugh, what a broke guy.”
Glancing at the shimmering Earth Lock Huaqian Formation, he took out a long saber ignited with crimson flames. With a grin, he declared, “Let me try my hand at Wan Huaqian’s work.”
————
Li Xiangping’s attempt to escape was cut short by a sudden, chilling breeze. A Daoist-robed elder on a flying shuttle blocked his path. With a gentle wave of his horsetail whisk, he asked with a smile, “Where are you rushing off to, fellow Daoist?”
Lu Jiangxian jolted in the mirror. He could feel a pull from the elderly man, as if an invisible thread bound them together. A realization then dawned upon him. This man is in the mid-Qi Cultivation Realm. Judging by his aura, he must have already attained the fifth or sixth heavenly layer. This is bad.
Li Xiangping gritted his teeth and asked, “Who are you? Why do you stand in my way?”
The elderly man chuckled, then calmly replied, “I’ve guarded Moongaze Lake for almost thirty years. You’re finally here, fellow Daoist.”
With that, he took out a glowing snow-white jade pendant. The tassel at the bottom of it seemed to have an invisible string tied to it and was pointing straight at Li Xiangping.
“If you surrender the item, I’ll make sure you at least die in one piece, fellow Daoist.”