Chapter 31

Pulling out the Three Mystery Swords, the Mílí incense on his wrist also emerged, and Liu Xiaolou slowly walked toward the trees where Wei Hongqing and the others had vanished, pausing with each step, ready to engage at any moment.

After walking forward for a while, he never reached them, leaving him deeply puzzled.

Suddenly, a deep abyss appeared beneath his feet; Liu Xiaolou stumbled and fell, and in panic, he thrust the Three Mystery Swords toward the sheer cliffs on either side, hoping to embed them in the rock peaks, while the Mílí incense vines whipped out, wrapping around protruding rocks or stubborn roots.

But again and again, his efforts failed—the blade always missed the crevices, the Mílí incense vines never found a secure hold, and his body spun helplessly toward the abyss’s depths.

Falling endlessly...

Falling, yet never reaching the bottom.

Liu Xiaolou suddenly realized: this was a phantom array.

It was his first encounter with a phantom array—he was lost within its illusion, and the experience was strangely vivid. He wanted to escape, but had no idea how, only watching himself keep plummeting toward the unknowable abyss below.

Suddenly, a row of crossbow bolts burst from the cliff wall beside him, their tips glinting coldly, aimed straight at his waist and ribs!

Trapped midair with no room to maneuver, Liu Xiaolou could only raise his sword to block. But the bolts struck with tremendous force—each tip erupted with an inch-long aura of light; given his cultivation level, he doubted he could withstand them.

Was this attack real or illusory?

In his panic, he could not tell, so he prepared for the worst, pouring all his true qi into the Three Mystery Swords to resist the bolts’ thunderous might.

A hand suddenly emerged from the opposite cliff wall, grabbed his collar, and flung him sideways—Liu Xiaolou saw himself hurtling toward the cliff face, closed his eyes, opened them again, and everything before him vanished; he was back in the forest, his body hurtling toward a massive tree.

At the same time, several crossbow bolts whistled past his side, narrowly missing a through-and-through strike.

It was Wei Hongqing who had acted in the critical moment, rescuing him from the bolts.

Liu Xiaolou tapped his feet against the tree trunk, using the recoil to land, and saw before him a man seated in meditation, blood seeping from his lips, and shattered fragments of ruined array plates before his knees.

Who else but the Western Mountain Recluse?

Liu Xiaolou stared, stunned: “Recluse...”

Wei Hongqing and the others had already surrounded the Western Mountain Recluse; Tan Ba, furious, shouted: “Xiaolou, the thief we thought we were chasing—he’s the one! He stole from his own comrades and dared ambush you—you nearly died in his hands! All our efforts to save him, and this ungrateful wretch!”

Zuo Gaofeng was even more enraged—two crossbow bolts were embedded in his leg and arm, their tips fully sunk into flesh, blood gushing. He was too furious to speak, raising his axes, lowering them, hesitating several times, finally refraining from striking, and glancing at Wei Hongqing beside him.

Wei Hongqing asked softly: “Why?”

The Western Mountain Recluse had shot all his bolts; surrounded by the four, he knew his fate was sealed. He threw an empty jade box to the ground, holding a single spirit pill spinning in his palm, crying: “I was foolish—I’m too late to explain anything now. I only beg you brothers to spare my life; otherwise, I’ll destroy this Foundation Establishment pill!”

Tan Ba spat: “Pah! Who are your brothers? A traitor who forgets loyalty for profit!”

The Western Mountain Recluse smiled bitterly: “A Foundation Establishment pill—how could that be a petty gain? Had I stayed with you, I wouldn’t have ended up like this... You shouldn’t have given me the chance. You shouldn’t have...”

Wei Hongqing stared at him steadily: “Recluse, you’re only at Qi Refining eighth level. How could you possibly consume a Foundation Establishment pill without ten or twenty years of cultivation? What use is it to you? Wait until you reach full eighth level, then seek a spirit pill—it’s not too late...”

The Western Mountain Recluse shook his head: “It would be too late. How hard is it to obtain a Foundation Establishment pill? I’m already fifty. By the time I reach full eighth level, I’ll be past sixty—where will I find the time to seek a pill?”

Tan Ba roared: “So what? You betray your brothers? You want to hoard it all for yourself?”

The Western Mountain Recluse ignored him, turning to Wei Hongqing: “Hongqing, spare my life. Let me go. I’ll leave the Foundation Establishment pill for you.”

Seeing Wei Hongqing hesitate, he added: “You know I have a young niece in Yongshun—her parents are dead, and I’m the only one who raises her. If I die...”

Wei Hongqing said: “I promise you—I’ll raise her to adulthood.”

The Western Mountain Recluse cried out: “No! I don’t need you to raise her—I’ll raise her myself! I must live! Promise me you’ll let me go, or I’ll destroy this spirit pill!”

He strained to twist his body, bringing the Foundation Establishment pill to his lips, frantically warning others not to approach.

“Don’t come closer! Don’t come near!”

“Tan Ba, step back! Step back, or I’ll swallow it!”

“Brother Zuo, I’m sorry I shot you—I’ll make it up to you later!”

“Hongqing, give me a chance to live...”

Everyone stepped back a few paces. Suddenly, he remembered something and screamed toward Liu Xiaolou: “Xiaolou, step back! Get away! Don’t come near me... Stay far away... far away...”

But it was too late—he swayed, dizziness overwhelming him. He tried desperately to shove the pill into his mouth, but his hand and mouth misaligned—the pill slipped from his lips and fell onto his knees.

He reached to pick it up, but a sudden chill touched his neck—he felt the world spin, turning several full circles, seeing white clouds drift lazily above through the treetops.

“As that elder once said, I was never meant to reach Foundation Establishment,” was the Western Mountain Recluse’s final thought. His awareness blurred quickly, then vanished.

Zuo Gaofeng had struck—he wiped his axe on the Western Mountain Recluse’s body, wiping away the blood, growling: “You shot me!”

Wei Hongqing stepped forward, picked up the Foundation Establishment pill, placed it back in the jade box, and tucked it into his robe.

Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Ba’s eyes locked onto the jade box—only when it was hidden did they both sigh deeply, then begin searching the Western Mountain Recluse’s corpse, finding two spirit stones, a book on arrays, several small gold ingots, along with the crossbow mechanism and bolts, piling them together.

Wei Hongqing said: “Divide these among yourselves.”

Zuo Gaofeng, the eldest and highest-cultivated among them, didn’t hesitate—he took the crossbow mechanism and bolts first: “Brother Tan, Brother Liu, I need this item—I’ll take it without apology.”

Tan Ba flipped through a few pages of the array book, then turned the pages faster and faster, shook his head, and shoved it into Liu Xiaolou’s arms: “This thing gives me a headache—I can’t understand it, and it’s not my interest. I’ll take the spirit stones and gold. You can have the book.”

The path of cultivation is hard enough mastering just one art—most cultivators avoid splitting their focus on other techniques, let alone arrays. And this array book wasn’t some profound secret—it was merely a minor phantom array. So neither Zuo Gaofeng nor Tan Ba chose it, which, in truth, amounted to taking advantage of the younger disciple.

Liu Xiaolou had been watching the array book closely—the experience within the phantom array had deeply impressed him, and he coveted it. But as the least experienced, he had no choice but to take what was left—and at last, he got what he wanted. He secretly resolved that if he proved unsuited to arrays, he could always sell it for money—though he wondered if he could even get a single spirit stone for it.

A signal arrow suddenly shot up in the distance. Wei Hongqing smiled: “Guard Lu Zian’s body—I’ll be right back!”