Most of Lingu Lanying’s urgency was for her family’s disciples inside the formation and for the people of the counties that would suffer if the line broke. Her concern should be far inferior to that of the Li Family.
She settled down and said softly, “Besides the families on the riverbank, there’s also the Xiao Family, a Purple Mansion Realm immortal family. What if Daoist Master Chuting decides to intervene...”
She spoke the words, but in her heart she knew the hope was slim. Sure enough, she saw Li Xizhi shake his head. “The Xiao Family has been secluded for years. Their Daoist Master has long made it clear that he doesn’t want to interfere. He even went to the Northern Sea a while back. The devil cultivators aren’t stupid; they won’t even touch a scrap of Xiao Family territory.”
Everyone present reached the same conclusion in their heart, Xiao Chuting didn’t intervene even when Lixia slaughtered the prefecture and the Xiao Family’s own lands were massacred. There are so many hidden agendas in today’s north-south conflict, and he’s always been the most rational and meticulous. Why would he get involved now?
They didn’t dare to speak the words aloud, except for Lingu Lanying, who nodded and said, “Then I’ll return to the formation to stand guard.”
She rode the wind away, and only then did Li Ximing speak, his voice somewhat low, “Brother... Could the Purple Mansion Realm cultivators really be willing to sacrifice all these families here and let the northern cultivators flood south? Even the Azure Pond Sect would suffer a huge loss of vital qi... Why would they do that...”
“Hard to say.” Li Xizhi responded and asked, “Has the family replied?”
“Not yet.” Li Ximing activated a secret technique and spoke quietly, “But a few days ago, Zhouwei reached the seventh layer of Qi Cultivation Realm. He’s carrying a Three Aspects Breaking Realm Pill and a Talisman Pill on this trip. With those two combined, he might soon have a chance at Foundation Establishment Realm.
“Foundation Establishment Realm... and he’s not even twenty yet... Even if he secluded himself for five years, he’d still only be twenty-five...”
Li Xizhi frowned, circulating his secret technique, and said softly, “That’s a bit too fast. It’s almost catching up to Daoist Master Junjian’s cultivation speed. Zhouwei’s innate talent is exceptional; he could have built up more strength. But the situation keeps changing, and there’s no time to go slowly.”
Li Ximing sat quietly atop the Radiant Pass, his voice soft. “Not necessarily. People like him can’t be measured by ordinary logic. For him, adapting to the times is more important than slow accumulation. If he establishes his foundation, what difference does one or two spell arts make? How many high-grade Bright Yang spell arts can our family even afford to let him learn before he reaches Foundation Establishment Realm?”
Li Xizhi paused, tilted his head to look at Li Ximing, and nodded in agreement, “Brother Ximing, you have a point.
“We have to get through this hurdle first.”
Li Ximing looked ahead. Dharma light illuminated the world, and torrential rain was pouring between heaven and earth. But it evaporated with a hissing sound before it could even hit the Radiant Pass beneath his feet.
The demonic smoke surged rapidly, countless tendrils of fleeing light shooting out from it, dragging rolling black clouds in their wake. Five beams of light flew close, heading straight for the formation beneath the two men’s feet.
Northern cultivators followed the five devil cultivators like a swarm of locusts, landing one after another in front of the formation. Li Ximing activated his Immortal Foundation and casually selected two of them, smashing down with force.
Boom!
A brilliant light shot out from the grand checkpoint. The Radiant Pass was best at honing and suppressing, and it also countered devil cultivators. Bright light flowed from it, causing the two being suppressed to curse loudly and hastily summon their dharma artifacts to defend themselves.
“Hmph...!”
Their bodies sank under the pressure. Their curses stuck halfway in their throats, turning into muffled grunts. Both of them were only at the early stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, how could they endure such a blow from Li Ximing’s late stage Foundation Establishment Realm Immortal Foundation?
One of them shouted, “Back there! This guy’s Immortal Foundation is weird, like a solid object... Someone get over here and help!”
Li Xizhi drew his sword. His gaze swept over the five, picking out the one with the highest cultivation, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment Realm old devil. He vanished, and a misty golden glow danced in the air. He suddenly appeared behind the cultivator, casting a sleeve of Heavenly Glow.
Gold In Cloud!
The devil cultivator was so frightened that he hurriedly drew the long blade at his waist, but he was caught completely off guard. He didn’t even have time to release any blade energy as Li Xizhi formed another hand seal. He stepped to the side, splitting into several Rainbow Phantom Splits, each forming a seal and chanting.
The old devil was completely unprepared. Li Xizhi even had time to watch his reactions, finding his movements suspicious. All six phantoms drew their swords simultaneously, sending out arcs of white crescent-shaped sword light.
It was Li Xizhi’s first time wielding a Foundation Establishment Realm sword. Xushi allowed his sword light to carry half again its usual strength as it shone with a sharp brilliance.
The old devil finally found the chance to release a wave of chilling blade light, but it was instantly shattered by the sword light. His figure was flung aside in a splash of blood. A miserable howl hung in the air as he reappeared a few meters away, too terrified to stop as he frantically formed hand seals.
Li Xizhi saw that the man’s lineage was shallow, so he summoned a single rainbow light, then tugged and twisted it in the clouds. The man’s spiritual energy instantly fell into chaos. Li Xizhi casually stripped his spell art from his hands and advanced calmly.
The old devil couldn’t hold back any longer and shouted, “Help, quickly!”
A swirl of devil winds churned at his feet, revealing a mid-stage Foundation Establishment Realm female cultivator. She also held a sword, raising its light as she struck at Li Xizhi.
This female cultivator seemed to be of the rare Wood Virtue type of Immortal Foundation from Yue State. A wave of wood spirit qi rose as she swung her sword. Li Xizhi’s expression finally grew a bit serious, and his Immortal Foundation circulated, releasing a flow of multicolored clouds.
He brought two fingers together, and Heavenly Glow appeared. He casually pinched the surging sword energy, then flipped his hand to send out a sleeve of brilliance. The female cultivator’s spirit sword was now in his hand; it was merely at the Qi Cultivation Realm.
Floating Light Gathering! The northern cultivator was visibly stunned, her eyes filled with complete disbelief, There’s actually such a spell art!
Li Xizhi found it all very strange. He had never had the experience of casually leaving his opponent so utterly bewildered, and he felt a tinge of emotion. Since leaving seclusion, the enemies he’d faced were either the first breath of a Dragon Monarch, a prince from the Tuoba Family of Great Liang, or at the very least, deeply entrenched old devils like Chimen Difu with hidden backgrounds.
He’d always found those opponents so difficult to handle that he had almost forgotten that he was the Peak Master of Azure Pond Peak. When facing these northern Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators with no Dao lineage who relied solely on luck and brute strength, the difference was indeed stark.
Yet these two acted like they were facing a dire threat. Even though those last two moves had not been life-or-death struggles, the fact that they had been so easily toyed with revealed the terrifying strength of the man before them.
They exchanged secret messages, “The one before us is probably surnamed Chi! An old devil with years of experience, he’s not easy to deal with. We should call for reinforcements quickly...”