Chapter 241: Flame Talisman

The giant sensed something was wrong and tried to retreat, but it was too late.

The three first-grade Earth-Fire Arrays activated, unleashing a powerful surge of spiritual energy; in the roar of the explosion, crimson flames directly engulfed the giant.

When the flames faded, the giant's battered figure finally emerged.

His clothes were torn, his body covered in charred marks; his right side remained intact, but his left side was severely injured, his arm reduced to a bloody pulp.

In that life-or-death instant, the black-robed giant relied on years of combat instinct to avoid the center of the Earth-Fire Array's explosion.

At the cost of one arm, he preserved his life.

Otherwise, even if he didn't die, he would have suffered grave injuries.

"You brat, I'll make you die a miserable death!"

The black-robed giant was furious, yet deeply shocked.

Was that a formation?

Among hermits, cultivators who understand formations are few and far between—where did this formation come from?

"Could it have been drawn by his elder to protect him? It couldn't possibly have been drawn by himself…"

The black-robed giant grew wary; though enraged, he dared not chase Mo Hua rashly.

This young cultivator was strange, and quite good at acting—he couldn't gauge his true strength and dared not act hastily.

He also feared there might be other formations on the ground.

Mo Hua was disappointed—the formation hadn't killed him.

A first-grade Earth-Fire Array could severely wound a beast. It seemed cultivators who had long roamed the cultivation world were more alert to cultivator tactics.

Mo Hua secretly released his spiritual sense to observe the giant's condition.

The giant looked dire, but still retained most of his spiritual energy.

His breath was deep, his physique robust—he was a Body Cultivator at the peak of Qi Refinement Ninth Layer. Judging by his disregard for human life, he was likely a criminal cultivator with extensive experience in combat.

Though injured by the Earth-Fire Array and with one arm ruined, his other arm remained unharmed.

Dealing with him would still be very troublesome.

Both were cautious, standing in stalemate for a moment; the giant dared not chase, and after a moment's thought, Mo Hua fled in a hurried, disordered, panicked manner.

"Trying to run?"

The giant's gaze turned cold—he had suffered such a blow; he would not let Mo Hua go.

He wanted to pursue, but didn't know what other tricks the boy had—his caution rose, and he hesitated.

At that moment, Mo Hua stepped on a stone, slipped, and fell to the ground.

Seeing this, the giant's expression turned savage.

He concluded—the brat was truly panicking and fleeing blindly!

The black-robed giant leapt forward in an instant, following the path Mo Hua had taken, taking several giant strides until he stood before Mo Hua.

"Brat, where are you running to now!"

The giant reached out with his massive hand to grab Mo Hua.

But Mo Hua, fallen on the ground, flowed like water along the earth, vanishing from before the giant in an instant, reappearing behind him in a flash.

The giant grasped air, his heart jolted.

"Body technique?!"

This brat had even learned a body technique?!

The giant broke into a cold sweat, barely turning his head—and saw Mo Hua standing behind him, fingers pinching a jade talisman.

The giant's pupils dilated instantly: "Talisman?!"

Mo Hua activated the talisman with spiritual energy; a flash of red light surged from it, spiritual energy rippled, and flames erupted, engulfing the black-robed giant.

This talisman had been seized by Old Zhao from a Qian family cultivator and given to Mo Hua for defense.

Named the Flame Talisman, it was a first-grade talisman containing a Level Nine Qi Refinement spell—Flame Technique.

Mo Hua had pretended to flee, slipped and fell, tricking the black-robed cultivator into lowering his guard.

Then he instantly activated the Flowing Water Step, circling behind the giant, and activated the Flame Talisman while the giant had no time to react or evade.

Talismans were expensive, so they couldn't be wasted—timing was crucial; one must use them to their fullest potential.

The giant, caught completely off-guard, was struck from behind by a Level Nine Qi Refinement spell—his entire body burned, his meridians seared with pain.

At the same time, Mo Hua drew the Thousand-Jun Staff from his storage pouch with his other hand.

While the giant was wounded and staggering, Mo Hua raised the Thousand-Jun Staff, infused it with spiritual energy, and activated the Thousand-Jun Array.

A gray glow flashed—the staff instantly weighed a thousand jun, crashing down with a gale-force impact.

"Crash!"

The staff struck the black-robed giant's forehead.

The giant's scalp throbbed with agony.

Mo Hua's Hukou went numb from the impact.

"No wonder he's a Body Cultivator—his skull's incredibly hard."

Mo Hua thought, then raised the Thousand-Jun Staff again and brought it down once more on the giant's forehead.

The giant's head spun, his mind growing hazy.

Mo Hua pressed on and swung again.

Only after striking did he realize he hadn't shouted the technique's name—losing much of its momentum—so he swung once more, shouting loudly:

"Weight of a Yang Yang Qianjun!"

The black-robed giant finally collapsed—he rolled his eyes, swayed, then fell forward with a "thud," face-down on the ground.

Mo Hua released his spiritual sense to probe the giant's spiritual energy state.

He discovered that the Han's meridians were filled with Qi, drifting aimlessly and flowing slowly out of control.

This meant the Han had fainted.

Mo Hua still wasn't reassured, so he cast another Fireball, then raised the Thousand-Jun Club and, with great effort, shattered all four limbs of the defenseless Han, finally exhaling in relief.

Mo Hua was panting from exhaustion.

He wasn't a Body Cultivator; even with the aid of the formation, after striking several blows with the Thousand-Jun Club, his arms still ached.

But the goal had been achieved.

The black-clad Han, who had been so menacing moments ago, now lay sprawled on the ground, his Qi chaotic, his blood qi weak, and his limbs paralyzed.

Mo Hua confirmed that the black-clad Han could not stir up any trouble in the short term, then immediately ran to Ji Li's side.

Ji Li's blood was still flowing.

Mo Hua looked solemn, quickly fed him a Small Return Pill, crushed several Hemostasis Pills into powder, sprinkled the powder over Ji Li's wounds, then fed him two Blood Qi Pills.

The Small Return Pill sustained life, the Hemostasis Pills stopped the bleeding, and the Blood Qi Pills replenished blood qi.

These were all taught to him by Laoxiansheng Sect, meant for emergency use to save a life.

Afterward, Mo Hua observed Ji Li's meridians with his spiritual sense and exhaled in relief.

Ji Li's breath was faint, but his Qi still flowed, and his wounds were gradually healing.

"As long as he's not dead, it's fine."

Mo Hua ignited a signal flare and released the signal.

Although his life had been temporarily saved, he still needed to be taken to Laoxiansheng Sect as soon as possible; otherwise, his chances of survival were slim.

Mo Hua alone lacked the strength to carry Ji Li down the mountain.

Besides, Ji Li was now drenched in blood, likely attracting beast beasts—dealing with a late-stage Rank One beast would be even more troublesome.

He could only hope that nearby Beast Hunters would see the flare and arrive soon to lend support, giving Ji Li a chance to survive.

Ji Li lay on the ground, drenched in blood; after a while, his fingers twitched slightly, as if responding.

"Brother Ji! Brother Ji!" Mo Hua called out several times.

Ji Li seemed to hear; he slowly opened his eyes, saw that Mo Hua was unharmed, appeared to relax, then his gaze gradually dimmed, lost focus, and his eyes slowly closed again.

This was a sign of spiritual sense dispersal.

Mo Hua was startled, realizing it was dire—once a cultivator's spiritual sense scattered, even if the body was saved, he was no different from a corpse.

To live, one still needed a stubborn will.

Mo Hua thought for a moment, then said: "Brother Ji, what will Fu Lan sister do if you die?"

Ji Li's eyelids trembled slightly.

Mo Hua continued: "Uncle Ji is waiting to drink your wedding wine."

Ji Li's eyes remained closed, but tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

The fifth watch ended.