Li Xizhi had just stepped out of the grand formation when his eyes, infused with Heavenly Glow, saw a completely different world before him.
Baixiang Valley had once been bathed in a gentle winter sun, its hills lined with maple trees weighed down by snow as soft as white clouds, creating a scene of pure brilliance between heaven and earth. Now, it had turned a dim gray-black, and a hazy gloom stretched as far as the eye could see.
Black clouds now rolled through the sky, the snow had lost its luster, and dense shadows blanketed the forests. The dharma light surrounding the area was now only barely noticeable. Instead, beams of devilish light shot skyward, leaving one dark tail flame after another.
Baixiang Valley had been razed to the ground. Several lonely skeletons stood amid shattered tiles. Their heads had been severed and taken to be used as dharma artifacts. Gray-yellow dust drifted over the surface, and the bone-white remains were still stained with dried blood.
What a wretched land of demonic taint...
Li Xizhi fled swiftly along the mountain pass. A brief glance confirmed that the skeletons belonged to members of the Bai Family. When they had first arrived, the old Bai patriarch had expressed endless gratitude. Who could have thought Azure Pond Sect would use them to fend off the devil cultivators, and only not a single Bai Family member would survive in the end?
There was no time to think further. He opened his palm; what had once been a terrifying wound had now sealed like a small mouth, leaving only a few red seams. Li Xizhi shook out an exquisitely crafted spear from the sleeve of his feathered robe and gripped it tightly.
The spear was already thrashing wildly, its bladed tip flashing incessantly, shedding fragment-like glimmers of light.
As Li Xizhi soared faster and faster on clouds of Heavenly Glow, he formed seals with one hand, tapping the spear from the tail to the bright white center, and finally the thin, razor-sharp blade. Each strike lit up streaks of multicolored light.
This spear can’t be saved. Keeping it will only cause trouble. Judging by Tuoba Chongyuan’s eyes, he’ll come after me for sure... If I discard it at the right time... it might just save my life.
He no longer cared about draining his mana. He layered spell after spell onto the spear in quick succession, sealing it tightly. He let it ride the wind, rapidly forming hand signs and chanting incantations to gather more Heavenly Glow.
Tuoba Chongyuan stepped out of the formation, opened his mouth, and inhaled forcefully. The giant seal in the sky instantly shrank, transforming into the size of a thumb before flying into his mouth.
Tuoba Chongyuan’s expression lit up, his breath steadied significantly, and the dimness in his eyes began to fade. He swept the area with a quick glance and unhesitatingly abandoned Yu Yuwei to pursue Li Xizhi on radiant light.
"Second Young Master!"
The moment Tuoba Chongyuan exited the formation and swallowed the seal, two streaks of black qi rode the clouds toward him. Two devil cultivators emerged, bowing low and keeping their eyes averted.
"Second Young Master... would you have us..."
Tuoba Chongyuan was rising on the wind. He furrowed his brows, and with a flick of his sleeve, he sent them stumbling backward.
He commanded, "Go catch that old Daoist and bring him back."
As he ascended into the sky, a chariot rushed through rolling clouds and halted beneath him. Tuoba Chongyuan sat cross-legged in serenity, silently regulating his breath. The chariot beneath him tore after Li Xizhi on its own.
Ahead, Li Xizhi's eyes were glowing with gathered Heavenly Glow. He cautiously buried the radiance beneath his feet and dove into the heavy mist, only to see black smoke swirling as a devil cultivator hurtled toward him.
The devil cultivator held a large shield, and was clad in black robes. His narrow eyes gleamed from beneath as he shouted, "You're not getting away, boy!"
Late-stage of the Qi Cultivation Realm?
Li Xizhi instantly saw through the man's intentions and let out a snort of laughter, He saw me leave the formation wounded and assumed I had little mana left. He’s not being vigilant at all... Banking on his large shield and the devil cultivator’s tenacious life force, he wants to gamble on killing me to curry favor with Tuoba Chongyuan!
But this devil cultivator had miscalculated. Li Xizhi had already anticipated interference and had long prepared a spell in his hand. Now, as he darted toward his attacker, he unleashed a burst of Heavenly Glow.
The devil cultivator had been overly optimistic, and Li Xizhi’s spell was no mere minor technique. The Heavenly Glow burned through the shield as if it wasn’t even there and smashed into the cultivator's face.
Boom!
Ripples of multicolored light surged as the devil cultivator was blown apart on the spot. His flesh quickly separated from his blood and bones under the caress of Heavenly Glow, scattering pale skeleton fragments in all directions.
Li Xizhi didn’t even pause and continued to shoot forward. He hadn’t lost much time to this obstacle. A flicker of Heavenly Glow carried him forward just a heartbeat before the gray mist behind him parted to reveal a lavish chariot.
Tuoba Chongyuan sat cross-legged in the chariot as the devil cultivator’s broken body still writhed in midair, with pieces of flesh dropping off in chunks. Tuoba Chongyuan didn’t even glance at him as the chariot sped past, leaving behind only the fading wails of the devil cultivator.
Li Xizhi had only put a little distance between him and the battlefield before realizing Tuoba Chongyuan had already caught up. Though his Heavenly Glow gave him far greater speed than ordinary cultivators, it was still no match for the divine chariot, and he could only let the other slowly gain on him.
Tuoba Chongyuan opened his eyes aboard the chariot and called out. "Fellow Daoist..."
Li Xizhi saw that the surrounding devil cultivators had been left far behind and that he was approaching a more open area. Only then did he retrieve his spear.
There were too many devil cultivators before, all Tuoba Chongyuan’s dogs. If I threw the spear then, they’d just fetch it, and he wouldn’t be distracted...
But now, we’re in a clear open stretch, I’ve flown a good distance, and there’s no demonic smoke in sight. This is the right time.
He tossed the spear into the air and kicked its tail. It shot forward like an arrow, streaking rapidly toward the south before vanishing into the layers of clouds.
Tuoba Chongyuan immediately formed a hand seal. But when he saw that his dharma artifact was not returning, he immediately understood that the feathered robe cultivator ahead had sealed its spiritual sense.
He chuckled softly, and his voice boomed like a great bell as he said, "Fellow Daoist, you're overthinking it. Even if I did lose my dharma artifact... who would dare pick up something from the Tuoba Family? Killing you will take only fifteen minutes. I can retrieve it afterward."
Li Xizhi completely ignored him. He slapped both his wrists dozens of times until a talisman leapt into his palm. He flicked his sleeve and it lit up, shooting straight toward the rear.
The talisman turned into a gloomy gray cloth the moment it left his palm. The sounds of drums and gongs rang out around him, accompanied by eerie giggles and wails, as incense smoke filled the air. The cloth expanded as if it was inflated, spinning and leaping through the air like a great bird in flight.
It was naturally the ancient talisman Yang Ruizao had given him!
Tuoba Chongyuan, riding in his chariot, paused for the first time, frowning as he looked at the gray cloth. He thought, Someone from the Underworld...