Chapter 71

The old man's Qi Condensation spiritual sense and reaction speed saved his life. With just a subconscious sidestep, the Taiyin Mysterious Light only evaporated his left shoulder and entire left hand, leaving the old man with a frost-covered upper body and a purple-frozen face.

"Cough, cough."

The old man spat out a mouthful of dark red blood, which froze into frost in mid-air and landed on the soft soil with a plop.

"Good, very good."

A stiff smile pulled at his aged face. His remaining right hand raised a pale white protective shield, blocking all the attacks Li Xiangping poured out.

This small action made him spit out another mouthful of frost-covered dark blood. Feeling the bone-chilling cold breath wandering through his body, the old man hurriedly formed seals to protect his heart meridian and save his life.

Li Xiangping, seeing that a barrage of attacks couldn't even shake the old man's shield, and knowing that the talismans given by Li Chijing were mainly for life-saving and escape, had no choice but to grit his teeth, abandon the old man, slap a talisman on his leg, and continue to flee north on the wind.

He couldn't go west to the Li family, and going east would be walking into a trap with the ten Qi Condensation cultivators besieging the Wan family. To the south was the rugged Great Lishan, where climbing was certainly slower than flying, so he had no choice but to continue north.

————

Ji Dengqi looked coldly at Wan Xiaohua, who had been cut at the waist and was still propping up his upper body on the ground. His long knife pinned the lower half of the body to the other side, and he said lightly:

"When your Wan family slaughtered their way up Huaishan, you should have been prepared for this day."

The vitality of the peak Qi Condensation stage kept Wan Xiaohua from dying for a long time. The intense pain made his eyes widen, and a wheezing sound came from his throat as he spat out a few words with blood in his mouth:

"Why... ah... why..."

The proud young man in fine clothes from that year slowly appeared before Ji Dengqi's eyes. He bowed quietly and whispered:

"You thought we were what? We were just pigs and dogs raised by these two families, a small weight thrown onto the balance in their transactions. They didn't even care about your stance or the tribute you paid every year. They were just waiting for us to fatten up our flesh and blood. We were just pigs and cattle that could be exchanged and slaughtered once fattened."

Ji Dengqi watched Wan Xiaohua struggle to close his eyes. He shed a tear lightly, closed his eyes, raised his head, and said in a deep voice:

"Now I am going to drive the entire bloodline of your Wan family, along with the eight thousand commoners under your rule, to sacrifice their knives for that lord. Afterward, the lord will take advantage of the situation and head down to the Mushroom Forest, where the Qingchi Sect has no one stationed, to sacrifice and kill fifty to seventy percent of the commoners and cultivators there to collect resentment and blood energy."

A mocking smile curled at the corner of Ji Dengqi's mouth. Looking at Wan Xiaohua, whose corpse was gradually cooling, he continued to whisper:

"And the Qingchi Sect you are longing for is sending troops to invade the border of the Tangjin Gate, doing the same disgusting things."

"Pigs and cattle have become smart, so they must be exchanged and slaughtered."

Gently closing Wan Xiaohua's eyes, Ji Dengqi let out a series of hoarse laughs from the depths of his throat. He raised his head coldly, looking at the golden-clothed man's high-spirited figure in the sky.

————

"Senior Xiao!"

Li Tongya bowed respectfully and saw the Xiao family ancestor, the Foundation Establishment cultivator Xiao Chuting, squinting his eyes and drinking tea. He said softly:

Li Tongya was stunned, a cloud of suspicion rising in his heart. He lowered his brows and remained silent for a breath before saying respectfully:

"I don't know..."

Xiao Chuting waved his hand, interrupting Li Tongya's words, and said softly:

Xiao Chuting's words revealed a lot of information. Li Tongya was stunned, thinking lightning-fast for a few breaths, and thanked him with a bow:

"Thank you, Senior Xiao!"

Xiao Chuting nodded slightly and closed his eyes in thought. Li Tongya understood and took his leave.

Watching Li Tongya leave the courtyard, a young man in fine clothes walked out from behind the spiritual gauze screen in the courtyard. It was Xiao Yongling, whom Wan Yuankai and Li Tongya had met in a tavern years ago. He sat down respectfully and asked in confusion:

"Grandfather, is this Li family truly worth my family's friendship?"

Xiao Chuting drank tea silently and looked at his most proud direct bloodline descendant, saying softly:

"Li Chijing has broken through and cultivated the 'Moon Lake Reflecting Autumn Technique.' The sect is shaken."

Xiao Yongling was shocked, his eyes widening as he exclaimed:

"'Moon Lake Reflecting Autumn Technique'? Where did he get the Taiyin Moon Essence?!"

"Don't worry about where he got it."

Xiao Chuting waved his hand and said in a low voice:

"Build a good relationship with this Li family, but don't be too eager; it won't look good."

Yan Jianxiao Yongling's thoughtful expression, Xiao Chuting changed the subject and said coldly:

"Do you know why the three sects and seven gates have never stopped the families under their rule from fighting and annexing each other? Why they even encourage families on the border to kill each other?"

Xiao Yongling pondered for a few breaths and replied:

"The Qingchi Sect has never needed the tribute of a few spirit stones. What they need is to catalyze great families like our Xiao family, who can organize large numbers of commoners and cultivators to cultivate spiritual objects that provide assistance to Foundation Establishment and even Purple Mansion cultivators..."

"Then can the Qingchi Sect not spare these Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment cultivators themselves? Why must they borrow the hands of our families, and even share a portion of the gains with us? Look at how many spiritual objects and magic tools our Xiao family has hoarded here in Li Xia Prefecture over the past few hundred years. Does the Qingchi Sect not know?"

Xiao Chuting drank tea and asked back slowly.

Xiao Yongling froze, having grasped something, but not daring to say it out loud.

"Let me say it for you: we families are just medicinal herbs planted in the ground by the Qingchi Sect."

Xiao Chuting sneered and said in a deep voice:

"Spend a few hundred years growing a great family, then eat it clean, bones and meat, and then promote dozens of small families to let them kill each other, annex, and develop, raising the next batch of families."

Xiao Yongling lowered his head and shivered, trembling as he said:

"Is this... the conduct of an immortal family..."

"The war between immortals and demons has been over for thousands of years. Who still plays those old tricks? Which of the three sects and seven gates doesn't whitewash their mountain gates, standing on top of flesh and bones?"

Xiao Chuting laughed out loud and asked back:

"How do you think the Moon-Bright Glazed Tree on Qingchi Peak was grown? It was planted in the bones and flesh of Li Jiangqun and watered with his blood. Which corner of your Qingchi Sect isn't stained with blood?"

"Qingchi Immortal Sect, Qingchi Immortal Sect—what a nice name!"

Xiao Chuting stood up coldly and asked Xiao Yongling:

"Do you know what the Qingchi Immortal Sect was called five or six hundred years ago, before it joined the three sects?"

"I don't know."

Yan Jianxiao Yongling shake his head, Xiao Chuting leaned slowly into his ear and said coldly:

"Qingchi Demon Sect."

"Qingchi Demon Sect?!" ===== CHAPTER 72 =====