Chapter 57

Compared to vicious wolves, the speed of leopards was more than a notch faster.

Moreover, these two leopards had quite a tacit understanding, one on the left and one on the right, and they even changed positions in the middle, making it impossible to guess their line of attack.

*Whoosh! *

Li Yan only felt a blur before his eyes.

Two fishy winds had pounced one after the other.

Good fellow!

Li Yan also felt a jolt, his pores exploding.

The speed of the leopard's movement made it impossible for him to see their neck and abdomen weaknesses clearly.

To strike blindly with his blade, even if he hit, this fierce beast could rip him open after closing in.

But he couldn't dodge either, because Wang Fu was behind him.

Li Yan felt the direction of the fishy wind, bent his body backward, his spine like a great dragon, then suddenly tensed up. With his right foot exerting force in the air, he performed a "Kui Star Kicks the Dipper."

The Kui Star is the deity in charge of literary fortune. Its statue often steps on the head of a great turtle with one foot, symbolizing "topping the list."

Among the ten major sets of Red Fist, there is the "Kui Star Kicks the Dipper" which imitates the statue.

And Li Yan's "Kui Star Kicks the Dipper" involved turning his whole body around, much like a bicycle kick in football, but the force was exerted from bottom to top.

At the same time, dark energy erupted throughout his body.

*Bang! *

Only a loud sound was heard. Li Yan felt his right leg shake, as if he had kicked a rubber tire. The leopard's chest also took a kick, and it flew seven or eight meters away, crashing into the mountain rocks with a *clatter*.

With this move, Li Yan also lost his balance and fell to the ground.

At the same time, the other leopard had also pounced.

"Go to your grandfather's!"

Li Yan was just about to roll over to dodge when he heard a roar from the side.

It turned out that Sha Lifei had gone wild.

Because of the Three Talents Demon-Suppressing Coins, these two leopards, full of spirituality, only regarded Li Yan as a great enemy and attacked simultaneously, letting Sha Lifei off the hook.

This was the limitation of wild beasts.

Even with spirituality, their subconscious was still based on mountain forest habits.

If they encountered a large number of prey, they would be intimidated by their terrifying momentum and scatter, allowing them to be defeated one by one.

But humans were different.

That leopard only cared about pouncing on Li Yan, leaving its flank exposed to Sha Lifei.

Sha Lifei leaned in close, and at the same time, held his blade against his elbow with a backhand grip, directly slamming into the leopard from the side.

He was tall and sturdy, covered in bulging muscles, and directly sent the leopard flying.

At the same time, a bloody hole was stabbed into the leopard's belly.

"Roar!"

The leopard was extremely fierce. It rolled on the ground, then flipped back up. Ignoring the blood gushing from its belly, it bared its ferocious fangs and roared at the group.

*Clatter, clatter... *

The one that had crashed into the hillside also rolled down with mud and gravel, struggling to flip back up, but its mouth was full of blood, and it swayed, unable to stand steady.

This was because Li Yan had used dark energy in that move. Although there was no external wound, it had fractured the leopard's chest bones and caused its internal organs to start bleeding.

The two leopards finally realized the danger. Although injured, they relied on their powerful vitality to endure the severe pain and directly dashed into the woods, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"No need to chase, the main business is urgent!"

Li Yan ignored them and hurriedly looked toward the center of the woods.

For wild beasts, suffering such a severe injury in the wilderness was no different from being dead. If he remembered correctly, he had heard tiger roars before.

What he was worried about was that this commotion would startle the treasure.

Just at this moment, the spiritual light in the mountain forest suddenly disappeared.

"We've received the good fortune!"

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi's joyful voice came at the same time.

The three of them were happy and rushed into the woods.

Soon, they found Zhao Zhao Lu Zi.

Although this young man had a smile on his face, he was pale. He sat on the ground, surrounded by wooden sticks and red ropes, clearly showing that treasure seeking was not that simple.

And their attention was attracted by the lightning-struck jujube wood.

This jujube tree was about one story high and could only be considered ordinary, but its upper part was charred black, clearly having been burned away by lightning fire.

The entire crown had disappeared, leaving it bare, and there were cracks, but its vitality had not dissipated, and many branches had sprouted around it, full of green.

The rope made of Iron Clothing was tied to it.

"Don't get close yet."

Seeing Sha Lifei wanting to cross the wooden sticks and red ropes on the ground, Zhao Zhao Lu Zi hurriedly stopped him, then asked for a long saw and spent a long time sawing it off.

*Boom! *

With a loud sound, the jujube wood collapsed. Only then did Zhao Zhao Lu Zi wipe the sweat from his forehead and smile honestly. "With this, the bolt of heavenly lightning *gang* energy inside is preserved. Even if we take it to Chang'an, it can be sold for a good price. It's a pity it only withstood one bolt of heavenly lightning."

Wang Fu asked curiously, "What is the significance of this?"

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi was stunned. "The Daoist doesn't know?"

Wang Fu laughed in spite of himself. "This poor Daoist is a pauper, and the ritual implements in my hands are only made of ordinary peach wood. Where would I have seen such high-grade treasures?"

"The Daoist is joking."

Zhao Zhao Lu Zi felt a bit embarrassed and hurriedly explained, "For refining ritual implements, maple is considered Heaven, and jujube heart is considered Earth. Maple is the essence of all woods; jujube is the envoy of all woods. They are also called Heaven and Earth Woods."

"Peach wood has better evil-warding power, but its texture is soft and it's hard to survive heavenly lightning, so most high-grade ritual implement materials are lightning-struck jujube wood."

"There are many ordinary lightning-struck jujube woods, but only those that can withstand heavenly lightning and completely preserve that bolt of *gang* energy have the opportunity to become heavenly and earthly treasures."

"But it's a bit like the cultivation of spirits. After becoming a heavenly and earthly treasure, it will welcome a second bolt of heavenly lightning after a certain period. If it can withstand it and absorb that lightning *gang* energy, the ritual implement made from it will be even more powerful."

"I only heard my father say that the Doutian Divine Thunder Seal and the Taixuan Demon-Slaying Sword of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect were made from jujube wood that withstood six bolts of heavenly lightning. But such things are few and far between; it's hard for those without great good fortune to obtain them."

!.

As he spoke, he looked at the lightning-struck jujube wood on the ground and shook his head. "My father discovered this lightning-struck wood back then and, seeing its extraordinariness, thought about waiting a few more years to see if it could withstand a second bolt of heavenly lightning."

"Unfortunately, I waited for so many years without an opportunity, and Shopkeeper Wan took on a big job that specified this item, so I had to collect it in advance."

"Let's do it. The tree roots are also good things. Although they don't have the heavenly lightning *gang* energy, they can be carved into ornaments to suppress the house. We'll split the money from selling them with everyone."

"Brother Zhao is generous!"

Upon hearing there was money, Sha Lifei immediately regained his spirit.

The group swung their hoes and spent a long time taking out the entire tree root, then cut some rolling logs to pad it as they dragged it.

After leaving Leopard Gully, they threw it into a small river with a *plop*.

This saved a lot of effort, pulling it out with ropes.

By the time they left Mount Yetai, a hint of white had appeared on the horizon.

Sha Lifei ran back to Chunhua County, called the laborers he had already greeted, came with an ox cart, loaded the lightning-struck wood, and Zhao Zhao Lu Zi covered it with red cloth and tied it with red rope. Only then was it considered finished.

By the time they returned to Xianyang City, it was already evening.

Shopkeeper Wan, having received the news, had already arrived in person with several disciples.

They did not enter the city but went to a village near Xianyang City.

As for Zhao Zhao Lu Zi, he arched his hands and said goodbye.

He upheld his family rules and would not enter anyone else's residence. His home was settled in a nearby Mountain Spirit Temple. On ordinary days, he guarded the temple and watched the incense, spending more time in the wilderness.

Li Yan noted the address and, after agreeing to find him for a drink another day, followed Shopkeeper Wan and his group away.

The village they went to was called Shangyi Village, Shopkeeper Wan's hometown. It was originally a village of craftsmen in ancient times, and until now, every household made a living by carpentry.

"Whoa, good stuff!"

As soon as the lightning-struck wood entered the village, it attracted many people to watch.

Shopkeeper Wan was also grinning from ear to ear, arching his hands toward the surroundings. "Everyone, time is tight this time. Several good hands in the village need to come and help. If we can finish before the Winter Solstice, I will definitely let everyone have a prosperous New Year!"

"Good!"

Shopkeeper Wan clearly had a high status in the village, and the villagers promised in unison.

Because they were doing carpentry, the courtyards of the villagers were not small, and Shopkeeper Wan's was especially large. Many craftsmen were busy inside, sawdust flying and the sound of chisels constant.

And in the corner of the courtyard, many large drum frames were already on display.

Sha Lifei was a fast talker and hurriedly asked, "Senior Wan, your setup is quite grand. What big job did you take on?"

"I won't hide it from you all."

Shopkeeper Wan invited the three of them into the room and smiled. "The Taibai Mansion of the Doumu Temple is holding a Great ritual on the Winter Solstice and needs a full set of ritual drums. If I can handle this matter well, my disciples' livelihood will be secure from now on."

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

The three of them hurriedly arched their hands to offer congratulations.

No wonder Shopkeeper Wan valued it so much; it turned out to be a job for the Taixuan Orthodox Sect.

Although the Taixuan Orthodox Sect was the state religion, it was vast in scale and not the only one in power; there were various factions within it, mainly worshipping different deities.

Their factions were divided according to "Temples."

For example, the Doumu Temple mainly worshipped the star deities of the heavens.

Further down were "Mansions." The Taibai Mansion was under the Doumu Temple, located on Mount Taibai, connected to Mount Zhongnan, and was one of the thirty-six small grotto-heavens, with an extraordinary status.

"Where, where, just luck."

Shopkeeper Wan exchanged pleasantries, and his expression immediately became serious. "Everyone, Xianyang City is completely chaotic. You should settle down here. Don't enter the city for the time being."

Li Yan frowned. "What happened?"

Shopkeeper Wan sighed and shook his head. "Zheng Xianhuai of the Eight Great Vajras is dead, and his entire family, young and old, was spared by no one."

"Right now, both sides have drawn blades, and they don't care about any rules at all..."

(End of chapter)