Chapter 43: Slaughter

In the small courtyard at the peak of Mount Lijing, a blue-grey mirror was emitting a dazzling white light. Boiling white moonlight surged out from its surface like water.

When Wan Xiaohua appeared, Li Xiangping and others entered his spiritual perception range. The Lunar Profound Light within the mirror was already eager to be unleashed. Lu Jiangxian suppressed his impulse to act, wanting to see what trump card this Jade Capital Wheel cultivator possessed.

"It seems... not very impressive?"

Watching Wan Xiaohua repeatedly falter, facing perilous situations, and eventually being forced by the creature to use a light blue talisman, he then sprinted wildly towards the base of Mount Lijing, protected by a water shield. Lu Jiangxian lost interest in watching the show. He silently cast a spell, thinking to himself:

"Let's test the waters with this creature!"

With a thought from Lu Jiangxian, the twelve sigils on the mirror's edge lit up one by one. The blue-grey mirror, enshrouded in milky white moonlight, slowly floated up from the stone platform, gradually adjusting its angle.

"Father..."

To the astonished gazes of Li Tongya and Li Mutian, the white moonlight suddenly burst forth, shattering the cottage's skylight. It streaked through the air like a brilliant meteor, leaving behind scattered debris and broken grey tiles on the ground.

After unleashing the Lunar Profound Light, the blue-grey mirror slowly settled down, the white moonlight dissipated, and it returned to rest on the stone platform.

Staring at the broken tiles and dust covering the ground, Li Tongya was at a loss for words. Li Mutian, choking on the dust, coughed twice and waved his hand at him, saying:

"It's probably related to that creature... Go quickly and see how your brother is!"

Li Tongya then jolted into action as if waking from a dream, running off while pondering to himself:

"What else could happen? With such power, let alone a Fetal Breath realm creature, even a Qi Condensation realm creature would probably have been pulverized."

****

Wan Xiaohua slapped a Haste spell onto his leg and sprinted furiously towards Mount Lijing, the direction Li Xiangping had indicated earlier, regretting deeply in his heart:

"This is a huge loss; one water shield talisman and half a spirit stone gone."

A fierce wind rushed past his ear. Wan Xiaohua's spiritual sense swept, and a small white shield appeared behind him. Using the force of an attack, he once again widened the distance from the creature.

"This..."

Wan Xiaohua looked at the mountain ahead, intending to estimate the distance, but then he saw a brilliant white light suddenly rise from its peak. It curved in the air, trailing a long tail of flame, and shot directly towards him.

"Goddammit..."

Wan Xiaohua nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. He quickly dodged sideways, but the white light completely ignored him and streaked past.

Terrified, he collapsed onto the ground and watched the white light pass through the creature's neck, effortlessly continuing onward as if piercing a thin piece of paper, leaving behind a headless wolf corpse that leapt high into the air before falling.

"Boom!"

The giant wolf's body crashed to the ground. Behind it, the white light felled a swath of large trees and vanished into the distance, shaking the entire dense forest so violently that all the snow fell simultaneously, almost burying Wan Xiaohua.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Wan Xiaohua miserably spat out several mouthfuls of snow mixed with dust, staring wide-eyed at the creature's body, which was as large as a small hill.

"Patriarch, Patriarch?!"

Wan Tiancang's shouts grew closer. He hurriedly pulled Wan Xiaohua out of the snow, asking repeatedly:

"Patriarch! Are you alright?"

Wan Xiaohua stared blankly at Wan Tiancang, muttering to himself:

"Why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken..."

Sweat covered Wan Tiancang's face. He took out the rattan whip, still clinging with some residual snow, from his embrace and said in a deep voice:

"Tiancang was afraid of losing the treasure, so I stayed hidden in the snow. When the wolf demon went after you, Patriarch, I retrieved this magic artifact."

"Good, good."

Seeing the magic artifact, Wan Xiaohua suddenly came to his senses, cheered up, put the treasure in his embrace, quickly got up, and ran towards the wolf corpse.

Noticing the thick frost clinging to the corpse's neck and not a single drop of wolf blood spilled, Wan Xiaohua quickly formed hand seals and struck the wolf corpse's joints and several major acupoints to seal its spiritual essence.

"This wolf corpse is valuable; its spiritual essence must not be lost."

Wan Xiaohua smiled as he touched the wolf's back, which was as large as a yak, and said cheerfully.

"Patriarch, that creature... it probably belongs to someone else."

Wan Tiancang, seeing Wan Xiaohua's overflowing joy, cautiously reminded him.

Wan Xiaohua's joy instantly faltered. He cast a quick, low glance at Wan Tiancang and said in a deep voice:

"I know."

"Patriarch Wan!"

Wan Tiancang and Wan Xiaohua were standing there, staring at each other, when they heard a loud shout. They quickly turned to look and saw that Li Xiangping and Li Tongya had arrived with Chen Erniu and a group of village guards.

"Many thanks to Patriarch Wan for coming to our aid!"

Li Xiangping smiled and cupped his hands. Chen Erniu, catching his eye, quickly instructed his village guards to move the corpse.

"It's nothing, really."

Wan Xiaohua gave a wry smile, shaking the snow from his body, and then inquired:

"Might I ask about the white light that saved me..."

Hearing this, Li Tongya quickly stepped forward and said:

"My father still keeps several talismans he crafted years ago. Since you, Immortal Master, traveled far to help us, he feared the creature might harm you, so he told us to use them."

"So that was it!"

Wan Xiaohua breathed a sigh of relief. Li Tongya's answer was largely consistent with his own conjecture. He said with considerable gratitude:

"Please convey my thanks to your esteemed father."

"No, it is we who should thank the Wan family!"

After some polite exchanges, Wan Xiaohua pointed at the creature's corpse and smiled, saying:

"I wonder how your esteemed family plans to handle this item. This wolf demon's corpse is difficult to preserve, yet it is full of treasures. Its bones and blood can be used for ink-making and alchemy, and its fur for talismans and clothing. It truly is a valuable asset."

Li Tongya and Li Xiangping exchanged glances and gave a wry smile:

"Our family's foundation is shallow, and we find it very difficult to craft talismans or refine medicine. We wouldn't make much use of it. Since Patriarch Wan has access to the marketplace, perhaps it would be better if your esteemed family sold it?"

"This wolf demon is quite large and possesses some mystical qualities; it likely consumed some precious spiritual medicine. I won't deceive you; it could fetch two or three spirit stones if sold piecemeal in the marketplace."

Wan Xiaohua pondered for a few breaths, glancing at the two men who were listening attentively, then continued:

"I still have one and a half spirit stones on me, which I can give to you now. The rest can be compensated with other items."

"Have you ever read 'Miscellaneous Cultivation Essentials'?"

Seeing Li Xiangping and the other shake their heads, Wan Xiaohua was momentarily stunned, thinking to himself:

"Is this Li Mutian truly a Foundation Establishment cultivator? There must be more to this..."

On his face, however, he smiled and said:

"This essential guide records some key points and cultivation insights from a rogue cultivator of the Spirit Initial Wheel. I acquired it in the marketplace for one or two spirit stones. It contains minor techniques such as the Haste spell and the Spirit Sealing spell. How about I use it to compensate your esteemed family for the rest?"

Li Xiangping looked at Wan Xiaohua's beaming face, stroked his chin, and pondered:

"We can't make use of this wolf demon's corpse, and it's said to be difficult to preserve. It might be better to exchange it with Wan Xiaohua. We'll take a small loss, but each of us will get what we need."

So, Li Xiangping smiled and said:

"We leave it entirely to Patriarch Wan's discretion."

"Excellent, excellent!"

Wan Xiaohua was immediately overjoyed and continued:

"Could your esteemed family please arrange for someone to transport the corpse to the border between our two families? I will then send someone to collect it."

"Alright."

The two conversed for a few more moments. Li Xiangping then looked at the sky and cupped his hands, saying:

"Patriarch Wan, would you care to come to Mount Lijing and rest for a while?"

"No need, thank you. Our clan has many pressing matters, so I'll head back for now. If anything comes up in the future, simply instruct Tiancang to send a letter!"

Wan Xiaohua quickly declined. Mount Lijing had a formation, and although the two families currently appeared to be on amicable terms, who knew if he would be able to leave once he entered? Realizing that Li Xiangping was seeing him off, he exchanged a few pleasantries and then took his leave.