Chapter 141: The Male Deer

Li Xuansuan returned to the mountain, worried. In the courtyard, however, stood a middle-aged man simply dressed in a capable grey robe, holding a sword in his hand, staring blankly at the sky.

"Uncle has come out of seclusion!"

Li Xuansuan was immediately filled with joy. Li Tongya nodded slightly and said softly:

"This breakthrough went smoothly. Having accumulated cultivation for four years, breaking through to the sixth level of Qi Refining was a matter of course."

Counting the years, Li Tongya was forty-six this year. Thanks to the Deep Sea Long Whale Record, he had already reached the sixth level of Qi Refining. He had hope of reaching the peak of Qi Refining before the age of sixty, and thus hope for Foundation Establishment. If he lacked this Deep Sea Long Whale Record, it would truly be difficult to reach the peak of Qi Refining before sixty, and his chances for Foundation Establishment would be even slimmer.

After all, family cultivators like them were not like those disciples of large sects who could cultivate peacefully within the sect; they always had to fight and struggle with others. The older they got, the more their bodies suffered from wear and tear, often with stagnant blood or evil spirits entering their bodies, and without precious medicines or elixirs to heal them, their cultivation speed became increasingly slow.

"Is there anything going on in the family? How is the situation with the Yu family's marketplace?"

Li Xuansuan hurriedly recounted the events one by one, including the matter of Yu Mujian when Li Tongya had just entered seclusion. After he finished speaking, Li Tongya nodded and smiled:

"This Yu Mujian is likely the most talented among the Yu family's disciples. He cultivates at home every year and is devoted to the sword. He has a pure nature; being born into such a large family is also fortunate."

Li Xuansuan nodded in agreement, then changed the subject, saying with a smile:

"The Yu family's marketplace has been open for over a month, and their manpower is all on the side of the marketplace. Then we heard that someone attacked the formation of the Yu family's main house in Milin County, and the Yu family had no choice but to send people back to reinforce."

Li Tongya raised an eyebrow. Sure enough, it was just as he had expected. He took up the conversation and said:

"A simple yet practical open plot. I'm afraid that as soon as they left, someone came to attack."

"Uncle is right!"

Li Xuansuan was also full of enthusiasm when talking about this, and smiled:

"As soon as the Yu family's manpower left, two Foundation Establishment cultivators came to the marketplace and directly attacked the formation. Although the Yu family had prepared in advance, leaving Yu Xiaogui behind and even sacrificing two Foundation Establishment-level talismans to block the attacks of these bandits, it still caused panic. More than half of the customers fled, and there were many who caused chaos, stole, and took advantage of the fire, leaving behind a huge mess that left them overwhelmed."

Li Tongya nodded slightly, pondered for a few breaths, and explained:

"I'm afraid more than half of these people taking advantage of the fire were arranged by the various families, calculating the time to make the Yu family suffer a huge loss."

Li Xuansuan felt that Li Tongya's words made a lot of sense. He paused before continuing:

"Although the Yu family was angry, they had no choice but to swallow this loss. In the months that followed, the flow of people in the marketplace was less than half, and it has not recovered to this day."

"Did our family's disciples participate in it?"

Li Tongya asked with some concern. Seeing Li Xuansuan nod, he said:

"The child kept Uncle's instructions in mind and ordered the family disciples not to go out, let alone go to that marketplace to cause trouble."

"Not bad."

Li Tongya praised, patted Li Xuansuan on the shoulder, and instructed:

"Winter is coming soon. I'm going to the mountains to find a few Qi Refining demonic beasts to prepare for the sacrifice, and also to seek a talisman aura for you all."

"Yes!"

Li Xuansuan was overjoyed to hear this and responded repeatedly. He watched Li Tongya ride the wind and fly up. His lips moved, but the suspicion hidden in his heart was never spoken.

"Forget it, forget it."

Li Xuansuan lowered his head and gave a bitter smile. He walked a few steps into the courtyard and muttered:

"I should talk to Jingtian about this and see how she recorded it. If it's not written in the clan history, that's best. If it is written, it's best to ask her not to record it. That child Yuanjiao can have an easier time, and this lineage can have fewer criticisms and slanders in the future..."

————

Li Tongya flew away from Lijing Mountain. The autumn leaves of Great Lishan had already fallen, and the ground was covered in golden and brownish-red. Following the veins of the mountains, he searched for a while. The cliffs in his memory had lost all their green, exposing the brown surface.

Only that large banyan tree with white leaves still stood on the hillside. The fox was pushing a dilapidated wooden two-wheeled cart, walking back and forth with its head tilted. It was filled with fox cubs of various colors—white, grey, red, and pink—chirping and squeaking endlessly.

"Fellow Daoist is truly good at raising them."

Li Tongya landed under the tree and gave a low laugh. The fox hung its head in dejection and squeaked:

"It's nothing... Winter is here, food is scarce, and many foxes in the mountains have died. Most of these cubs would freeze or starve to death, so I brought them back to raise."

Looking up at Li Tongya, the fox squeaked:

"Three hundred and eighty miles to the east, there is a deer king that has reached Qi Refining. It's under a large locust tree and meets your requirements. In winter, most deer herds migrate. If you go late, you'll likely come up empty-handed."

Li Tongya nodded. Seeing that it was busy, he threw a bag of spirit rice on the ground, cupped his hands to bid farewell, and rode the wind to the east.

After searching for an hour, Li Tongya finally discovered the large locust tree. A group of wild deer was gathered underneath. He landed, and the group of wild deer scattered and fled.

Looking at the bones of an unknown beast on the ground that had been gnawed clean, Li Tongya rode the wind to chase, secretly thinking:

"This deer is quite ferocious. Once it becomes a demon, it starts eating blood food, and it's quite vigilant."

After chasing for dozens of miles, Li Tongya locked onto the remaining tall, sturdy male deer with a demonic aura. The demonic deer's coral-like antlers were still stained with streaks of blood.

This deer was only at the second level of Qi Refining; how could it outrun Li Tongya, who was flying in the sky and ignoring terrain obstacles? Before long, it was caught up to.

Li Tongya wanted to capture the demonic beast alive, so he slapped its head hard without drawing his sword. The deer's body tilted, but it insisted on running. Li Tongya smashed its waist and back, and the deer tilted crookedly, turning its head to bite back fiercely.

Li Tongya drew his sword, and a white light directly severed the demonic deer's antlers. The deer let out a mournful cry, immediately knelt to the ground, and rolled away, leaving a pool of blood on the ground.

"Just a wild demonic beast, doesn't even know a single spell. Quite easy."

Li Tongya used his magic power to lift it up, sealed the blood hole on the male deer's head, and returned to Lijing Mountain.

————

In the dim world within the mirror, layers of grey mist floated in the high sky. Below was a riddled earth and countless dilapidated grey-white building ruins, with patches of crescent-white rubble tilted everywhere. Lu Jiangxian stood alone in the midst of it, holding a spell glowing with white light in his hand.

He had studied alone in this world within the mirror for several years, gaining much inspiration from Shanyue witchcraft, and finally achieved some results. His somewhat illusory figure moved slightly, his palm lifted lightly, and the spell glowing with white light fell like rain, scattering onto the crescent-white rubble in front of him.

"Crack, crack."

The crescent-white rubble immediately trembled and jumped, shrouded in a layer of pale white light, rotating and circling under Lu Jiangxian's feet, piling up into a pile of human-shaped, small figures with hands and feet.

These crescent-stone figures, each with a head shaped like a piece of white rubble, stood blankly in place looking at him. Lu Jiangxian reached out and pinched, squeezing out several pure white Taiyin moon glows, pointing at the tops of these small figures' heads. The rubble-shaped heads immediately lit up.

In an instant, these crescent-stone figures with their shining heads all moved, digging soil, moving bricks, cooperating tacitly, and began to repair the damaged grey-white building ruins.

"This spell..."

Lu Jiangxian had also read many of the Li family's techniques and felt that this spell was completely different from ordinary techniques. The Li family's techniques only required pinching a seal and casting the spell, and the resulting spell was regular and predictable. But his spell was as he wished, without a fixed result, entirely controlled by his own mind.

With a thought, Lu Jiangxian appeared at the top of the mountain peak. In the center of the smooth platform grew a huge tree with white leaves, its roots intertwined, with stone tables and chairs underneath, antique and elegant.

Listening intently, Lu Jiangxian heard a buzzing murmur coming from outside the mirror, saying respectfully:

"So they have come to seek a talisman." ===== CHAPTER 142 =====