Chapter 97: Losses

Mu Jiaoman and the others chased for over a dozen breaths with faces full of embarrassment, cursing and shouting. Before long, they finally stopped, and while still muttering curses, they retreated.

Li Tongya even had the leisure to turn his head and watch Mu Jiaoman and the others leave. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly. He circulated his magic power for just one cycle, and the slight discomfort caused by the curse spell vanished. He thought about it for a while, completely baffled, and could only conclude that this Shanyue leader was poorly skilled and had made a fool of himself.

After regulating his breath to recover his magic power, Li Tongya turned back and flew quietly, hugging the ground. The mouthful of clear energy from the river that he had swallowed into his Qi Sea point surged continuously, making him feel light and airy, his feet barely touching the ground.

"Let me first go back and see if I can find the traces of the two children. If not, I can only sneak into that stronghold to take a look."

Searching carefully while hugging the ground, he flew slowly for half an hour. Li Tongya's expression relaxed, and he finally saw the dirty-looking Li Xuanling and the other child within his spiritual sense range.

Li Xuanling was holding Li Jingtian, having cast a spell on his legs that emitted a faint, pearly white glow. He was poking his head out and looking around in the forest, walking through a thicket of bushes as if on flat ground, but because he had walked too hurriedly, his body was covered in mud and water.

This child had not headed straight east toward Lijing Mountain, fearing he might run into Mu Jiaoman and the others who had failed to catch Li Tongya. He had specifically chosen a long way around, which was why it took Li Tongya so long to find them.

Landing lightly in front of Li Xuanling, Li Tongya looked at the two of them with a beaming smile. Li Xuanling was stunned, his eyes turning red.

Having been on the run and enslaved for these past few days, reaching the point where he had to consider life and death, Li Xuanling also held back grievances in his heart. Putting down Li Jingtian, who was already tear-streaked, Li Xuanling choked out:

"Father!"

Li Tongya's heart twitched. He scooped him up and said softly:

"It's alright, it's over now..."

"It is we, the elders, who failed to do our job well and let you suffer."

Li Tongya sighed low, picked up one child in each arm, and rose into the air, explaining gently:

"That Jia Nixi is indeed a character. He forced our family into such a sorry state, and your uncle was even cut off from his retreat and forced to head west. Now, there is no news of him at all."

Recalling the cold, icy words "Endure for now" on that jade seal from the Qingchi Sect, Li Tongya looked up at the dimming night sky and said in a low voice:

"We must still strive to be strong."

"Father, I heard the Clan Head has already penetrated deep into the Shanyue hinterlands. Have you received any news?"

Li Xuanling wiped his tears, but still remembered the news he had gathered, and asked repeatedly.

Li Tongya paused for a moment, but only comforted him by saying:

"Rest assured, your uncle will turn danger into safety."

————

When Li Tongya returned to Lijing Mountain, Li Xuanfeng was still in seclusion, and Li Xuansuan had already organized the affairs of the various villages, organizing two or three hundred clan soldiers to maintain order.

Seeing the two of them, Li Xuansuan also let out a sigh of relief and immediately asked about news of Li Xiangping. Li Xuanling then recounted the news he had gathered, leaving Li Tongya and the others silent and speechless.

Li Tongya suddenly remembered the four words "avoid death and prolong life" regarding the talisman energy Li Xiangping had received, and his heart eased slightly. He said in a deep voice:

"Do not worry about Xiangping for now. The mist maze formation has been broken; have the formation flags been found?"

Li Xuansuan hurriedly took out the three formation flags and said respectfully:

"Once the great formation was broken, those six formation flags appeared and scattered in the mountains. I only found three; the rest must have been picked up by the Shanyue."

"This time, five spirit fields were raided, with a loss of over three hundred catties of spirit rice and a dozen spirit fruits. Those raided spirit fields have already been replanted by people. Calculating carefully, this loss should be around twenty spirit stones."

Li Tongya nodded, then saw Li Xuansuan speak with a worried expression:

"It's just that this mist maze formation was broken by Jia Nixi. Now Lijing Mountain has lost its protection, and the family has no other formations."

"What does Wan Tiancang say?"

Li Tongya picked up the three formation flags and put them into his storage bag, asking softly.

"This guy is poorly skilled. Of the Wan family's many formation inheritances, he only learned two: the Concealment Formation and the Defensive Formation. Both are small formations for the Embryonic Breath realm and cannot serve as a mountain-protecting formation."

Li Xuansuan shook his head and answered with some disappointment.

Hearing this, Li Tongya pondered for a few breaths and said in a deep voice:

"This raid on Lijing Mountain was largely due to insufficient formations. You first set up some small formations to keep mortals from running up here. In a few years, I will collect another portion of clear energy from the river. If Xiangping has not returned by then, we will sell it to hire the Xiao family from the prefecture to see if they can set up a formation for the Qi Refining stage."

"This..."

Li Xuansuan showed a difficult expression and said in a low voice:

"It would waste Uncle's cultivation time to condense this clear energy..."

"It doesn't matter."

Li Tongya shook his head and answered:

"You all haven't broken through to the fifth level of Embryonic Breath to give birth to spiritual sense, so you cannot collect this clear energy. Even if you had spiritual sense, collecting this clear energy at the Embryonic Breath realm is very slow. It might take eight or ten years, which would instead waste time."

"It is a pity that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is very harsh. Such a large reed marsh can barely condense one portion in five years."

Seeing Li Xuansuan nod, Li Tongya continued:

"Furthermore, once someone in my Li family breaks through to Qi Refining, the Qingchi Sect should issue higher-level spirit plant seeds and change the tribute."

Li Xuansuan hesitated for a while and asked:

"In that case, my Li family will have to pay more tribute. I wonder if it can be concealed..."

"There is no need."

Li Tongya shook his head and answered:

"It would only delay it by twenty or thirty years. Facing enemies and killing demons will expose it sooner or later. It would be better not to offend the Qingchi Sect in vain. Although the Qingchi Sect raises various families year after year, appearing not to care much, one must still be careful. The Qingchi Sect acts strangely, so one must guard against them."

"The Qingchi Sect just treats us like cattle and sheep to be raised!"

A high-spirited youth's voice came through. Li Xuanfeng walked into the room with a smile on his face. Li Tongya swept his spiritual sense over him and immediately smiled:

"Broken through?"

Li Xuanfeng nodded and answered:

"Already broken through to the fifth level of Embryonic Breath, achieving the Jade Capital Wheel! This spiritual sense is truly different; it is indeed magical."

Li Xuansuan laughed, looked at Li Xuanfeng with envy, and offered his congratulations.

Li Xuanfeng shook his head. With Li Xiangping on his mind, he didn't have much joy. He lifted the long bow in his hand and said in a deep voice:

"I will go hunt some demons in the surrounding area, which can also subsidize some supplies for the family."

"Do not go too deep."

Li Tongya gave a word of advice. Li Xuanfeng's strength was more than enough to kill a few demons on the outskirts of the surrounding Great Lishan, but Li Tongya was still afraid he might get hurt.

Watching Li Xuanfeng nod and leave, Li Tongya's gaze lingered on Li Xuansuan, and he said softly:

"Yes!"

Li Xuansuan nodded vigorously, then heard a report from outside the courtyard:

"Young Clan Head! Someone has come to the town, saying it is a visit from the Lu family of Tiaoyun in the east!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 98 =====