Li Jingtian was stunned. A look of sorrow crossed her face as she reached out and patted Li Xuanling on the head, saying gently:
"Then I shall trouble you to do it."
The words had barely left her lips when a commotion erupted outside the tent — shouts and cries filled the air, and Mu Jiaofan's deep, furious voice rang from above:
"You again?! Who are you?! How many times must you provoke us?! Do you really think we're made of clay?!"
Li Xuanling and Li Jingtian exchanged a glance, and in one motion threw back the tent flap. There, hovering above the camp, stood a middle-aged man gripping a sword. Translucent, pale-blue River True Essence flowed across his body as he gazed down calmly at the Mountain Yue soldiers massing below. It was Li Tongya.
Li Tongya held the Green Edge sword, his expression placid as he surveyed the Mountain Yue forces beneath him. He spoke, his voice amplified by spiritual power to carry across the entire camp:
"My Li family and the Mountain Yue have always kept to our own affairs. Without provocation, you raided our Lijing Mountain, seized our spirit rice, and conscripted our people — and now you ask who I am?"
Below, Li Xuanling let out a long, relieved breath and whispered joyfully:
"It's Father!"
Mu Jiaofan rose into the sky in a fury, flanked by two Mountain Yue human shamans who had also reached Qi Refining. He growled:
"The passage through the Four Ridge Mountains was promised as payment by your demon sect! Now you come back to renege? These spirit rice, spirit fruits, and people have entered our possession — they belong to the Mountain Yue now."
Eyeing the flickering sword aura in Li Tongya's hand with wariness, Mu Jiaofan said through clenched teeth:
"Withdraw now, and we will let the matter rest."
Li Tongya laughed coldly. The gray-white long sword was already raised. He swept several arcs of sword qi through the air, and the three men recoiled as if facing a mortal enemy.
Li Tongya had fought Mu Jiaofan and the others a dozen days prior, when he had crossed the border searching for Li Xiangping. All three knew this man was no easy opponent, and they scrambled to cast techniques and form seals.
Mu Jiaofan and his two shamans had reached Qi Refining through the Mountain Yue's own secret methods — swallowing miscellaneous impure qi gathered without any proper Qi-Gathering Art. Their spiritual power was inferior to Li Tongya's, and their mastery of aerial movement was far worse. Once again, they fell to the defensive.
Li Tongya had diligently cultivated the Dark Water Sword Scripture for nearly thirty years. His sword aura was swift and keen. In moments, the three were ducking and dodging frantically, the military camp thrown into uproar.
"Now!"
Li Xuanling kicked the shackles from his legs, grabbed Li Jingtian's hand, and with his other hand wrung the necks of the two Mountain Yue guards at the tent entrance. He sprinted a few steps and vaulted over the wooden palisade.
Two more Mountain Yue soldiers stood beyond the fence, mouths agape, staring blankly at the sky. Li Xuanling slapped a Golden Light Art onto each of their heads, not bothering to check if they survived. He cast a Spirit-Walking Art on his legs, scooped up Li Jingtian, and plunged into the forest.
The entire sequence was fluid as flowing water, swift as a leaping leopard. With everyone's eyes fixed on the sky, he carried Li Jingtian beyond the camp perimeter in a dozen breaths. The men beside the military tents had only just realized what had happened — his trail was already gone.
No experts remained nearby. The few Embryonic Breathing cultivators had gone to quell the chaos, and the spiritual sense of those at the Qi Refining level extended only about ten zhang. The fighters above remained entirely unaware.
"Damn it!"
Mu Jiaofan roared in the sky, gnashing his teeth in fury:
"If the Great King were here, he would never tolerate your insolence!"
Ganixo, at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, had received extraordinary fortune in his youth. He not only practiced orthodox cultivation methods but had also absorbed a type of natural spiritual qi. His blade techniques were beyond masterful — this was how he had subjugated all the forces of the northern foothills, commanding seven Qi Refining human shamans.
Li Tongya could not be bothered to respond. Instead, he silently compared Ganixo's strength with Li Chijing's, his Green Edge sword deflecting a blow as he mused:
"I am only at the second layer of Qi Refining. These three are one at the fourth layer and two at the second — I hold them down purely with the Dark Water Sword Aura. In a prolonged fight, they might actually wear me down. I need to be careful."
A sweep of sword qi forced back the three as they closed in. Li Xuanxuan glanced down with concern, noting the camp below was gradually regaining order. He thought:
"I don't know if the two children have gotten out yet. A few more exchanges, then I'll withdraw and look for another chance."
After parrying a dozen more strikes, Li Tongya drove them back with a single sweep of his sword and departed eastward in silence. Mu Jiaofan screamed after him:
"Bold! You come and go as you please?!"
Mu Jiaofan gritted his teeth, rubbed his palms together, and a torrent of black qi erupted forth. His own vital energy visibly diminished — this was the Mountain Yue shamans' most feared secret art.
The thick black qi swirled for a moment, then swelled several times its size, crowned with a massive skull, and hurtled straight at Li Tongya.
Lu Jiangxian, watching the spectacle from below, was taken aback. This black qi was strangely familiar — it carried an unmistakable tang of the magic mirror's make. He even felt that with a flick of his finger, he could seize control of it and devour it whole.
After a moment's consideration, looking at Mu Jiaofan's depleted vitality, Lu Jiangxian chose not to expose himself for the sake of a trivial morsel. He remained silent within the mirror, merely directing his spiritual sense to observe Li Tongya's condition.
Li Tongya above could not identify the technique the Mountain Yue chief was using, but he knew it could not be good. He dodged through the air, but the black qi accelerated and crashed into his back.
Mu Jiaofan laughed triumphantly:
"The shamans' curses are wondrous indeed. No matter how far you flee to the ends of the earth, you cannot escape."
Li Tongya's limbs went cold and his spiritual power flow grew sluggish. His flight speed dropped slightly. He probed the sensation carefully — and found nothing further.
"That's it?"
Li Tongya was mildly surprised. Even at this reduced speed, he was still pulling ahead of the three pursuers. His expression turned odd.
Mu Jiaofan's triumph curdled into alarm. He felt the strange looks from his two subordinates behind him, as if needles were pricking his back. He muttered:
"What in the hell is going on?"
Only Lu Jiangxian, flying through the forest with Li Xuanling, chuckled silently. Most of the black qi had been wrested under his control by his spiritual sense, now clinging motionless to Li Tongya's garments. He studied the qi's internal structure carefully.
"It resembles register qi, but far cruder — as if the Blood Sacrifice Method's invocation target was changed from the magic mirror to the caster himself. A weakened, demonic variant. More like a desperate measure when the magic mirror isn't available…"
"The shamanic arts must have deep connections to the magic mirror!"
Thinking of the Golden Core yellow register in the direction of the Grand Court, Lu Jiangxian filed away the inspiration gleaned from the black qi and casually dispersed it on the spot. He mused:
"When I have time, I might study this. Otherwise, what else is there to do inside the mirror but sleep all day?"