Chapter 69

Li Xiangping closed his eyes and felt for a moment, his face turning pale instantly. He gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice.

"Damn it, ten Qi Condensation cultivators? How is anyone supposed to save them from this plague? Where did this Ji family get so many Qi Condensation cultivators!"

Lu Jiangxian in the mirror kept urging the mirror to transmit information, watching seven breaths guarding the central one, and secretly thought:

"What kind of situation is this? If Li Xiangping hadn't been extremely cautious, anyone else rushing in would have died instantly."

Lu Jiangxian finally breathed a sigh of relief, only to suddenly discover another Qi Condensation breath rising from Wangyue Lake.

Li Xiangping also closed his eyes to check again, sensing from afar a powerful breath rising from the direction of Wangyue Lake, flickering lightly in the air, and coming toward the west.

Lu Jiangxian's alarm bells rang in his heart. Feeling the strong sense of familiarity and attraction from that breath, he almost cursed out loud:

"This damn thing is clearly the breath I felt in Wangyue Lake a few years ago that could repair the magic mirror! It has been lurking in Wangyue Lake for at least a decade!"

The naked greed and malice of that Qi Condensation breath flashed red like a giant lightbulb within his spiritual sense. Many thoughts flashed through Lu Jiangxian's mind like lightning.

"This person must be coming for me!"

Li Xiangping was also stunned. Seeing that breath coming straight at him like a meteor, his hair stood on end. He cast a God-Speed Technique on his legs, changed direction, and ran toward the north.

"Who is this person?! How can he be so clear about coming toward me from so far away? Damn it, I've been ruined by the Wan family!"

While running wildly, thoughts kept flashing through Li Xiangping's mind.

"This person is flying; he must be a Qi Condensation cultivator. I must not run home to the west! My death is a small matter, but if I lead this person home, that would be an unforgivable sin."

"The magic mirror is still in my hand; I must not lose it."

————

Wan Xiaohua looked at Ji Dengqi standing quietly outside the formation, hatred almost flying out of his eyes. Beside him stood a man wearing a stone-blue silk cloak, with a broad forehead and an arrogant expression, who said with dissatisfaction:

"Brother Wan, why haven't the Li family people made a move yet? Didn't we agree that we would act once the Earth-Lock Huaqian Formation rose?"

"Brother Pingyuan, be patient. Let's wait a little longer!"

This man was the newly promoted Qi Condensation cultivator of the Lu family that Li Tongya had met on Guanyun Peak. Now, the Wan family had paid a great price to invite him to help, insisting on killing Ji Dengqi.

Wan Xiaohua gave a bitter laugh, his heart filled with doubts, secretly thinking:

"This Li Xiangping is also a smart man. How could he not know the principle of 'when the lips are gone, the teeth are cold'? Once my Wan family is destroyed, the Ji family will border the Li family and the Lu family. Even a fool like Lu Pingyuan can see the need to help my Wan family hang on by a thread. How can Li Xiangping not know?"

Sighing deeply, Wan Xiaohua's heart became increasingly uneasy.

After waiting for another incense stick's time, Lu Pingyuan rose, cursing. Ignoring Wan Xiaohua's persuasion, he rode his flying shuttle out of the formation and shouted to Ji Dengqi below the mountain:

"Ji family head!"

"You can't break this turtle shell, so what's the point of wasting time surrounding this mountain? My Lu family is protecting this Wan family. Get lost quickly, lest you and I have to fight."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wan Xiaohua in the mountain and Ji Dengqi below the mountain were both speechless. Wan Xiaohua felt a sense of suffocation, thinking viciously in his heart:

"Such a fool can also reach Qi Condensation?! Truly unfair!"

Ji Dengqi narrowed his eyes, filled with disdain, and whispered:

"My underwear has more brains than this guy."

After saying this, he lifted his knife and was about to fly forward, when a burst of loud laughter erupted in the void. It was as if an invisible curtain had been pulled away, and the golden-clothed man, surrounded by a crowd of cultivators, finally revealed himself. He held his stomach and pointed at Lu Pingyuan below, laughing loudly:

"Hahaha, it's quite interesting. There's actually someone more arrogant than this young master."

Wan Xiaohua in the formation looked up at the sky, seeing the group of cultivators standing in the air, his face turned pale, his mind buzzing, and his head went blank.

"One, two, three... eight, Qi Condensation... all Qi Condensation... how is this possible!"

He suddenly felt an abnormal stuffiness in his chest and almost vomited a mouthful of blood. He struggled to shout:

"Yuankai! Wan Yuankai!"

Wan Yuankai was also terrified. He hurriedly went up to support the family head, his eyes slightly red, and said in a deep voice:

"Family Head, Yuankai is here."

Wan Xiaohua caught his breath and said coldly:

"Today, my Wan family is likely doomed. Li Xiangping hasn't appeared for so long; I fear he is also in grave danger."

"Gather all direct descendants of the family. Once the formation is broken, immediately cross the mountain in batches in different directions and head toward the Li family and the Lu family."

Wan Xiaohua's face was pale, but his mind was exceptionally clear. He slapped himself hard and said in a deep voice:

"No, Ji Dengqi will never let my Wan family go like this."

"Pass my order: only those of the third generation of direct descendants who have had spiritual apertures and are between seven and fifteen years old can go west. Everyone else, including you and me, will stay on the mountain. When the formation breaks, scatter and flee. Ji Dengqi won't let my Wan family go until he kills them all."

"As for the concubine-born disciples..."

Wan Xiaohua was still giving orders when he felt the formation shake, and blood rain fell from the sky. Lu Pingyuan's plea for mercy failed, and he was torn to pieces by the golden-clothed man with a laugh in a single encounter.

The golden-clothed man shook his hands, casually scooped up his storage bag, and probed his spiritual sense into it to check carefully. He frowned and cursed in a low voice.

"Poor ghost."

Turning his head to look at the glittering Earth-Lock Huaqian Formation, the golden-clothed man revealed a long knife attached with red flames in his hand and smiled:

"I shall test the handiwork of Wan Huaqian."

————

Li Xiangping had only run for a while when he felt evil winds blowing from all directions. An old man wearing a Daoist robe, riding a flying shuttle, had slowly stopped in front of him. He held a whisk in his hand, flicked it lightly, and said with a smile:

"Fellow Daoist, where are you in such a hurry to go?"

Lu Jiangxian in the mirror suddenly felt a chill. Feeling waves of attraction coming from the old man, as if an invisible thread were connecting them, his heart moved, and he secretly thought:

"This person is already at the middle stage of Qi Condensation, looking like the fifth or sixth layer. This is trouble."

Li Xiangping gritted his teeth and whispered:

"Who are you, sir? Why block my path?"

The old man laughed out loud and said slowly:

"This old Daoist has been guarding Wangyue Lake for nearly thirty years, and I have finally waited for you, Fellow Daoist."

After saying this, he flicked his hand lightly and took out a snow-white jade pendant. The jade pendant was faintly emitting white light, and its tail seemed to be pulled by an invisible thread, pointing straight at Li Xiangping.

"Fellow Daoist, if you hand over the item, this old Daoist can leave you an intact corpse." ===== CHAPTER 70 =====