Chapter 87: Leaning on the Mountain City

Li Chijing stood silently on the tall, grayish-white city wall, gazing at the surging beast horde below.

Time had left no trace on his face; he still looked like a youth, though his demeanor had matured considerably.

After five years of fighting in the Southern Border, Li Chijing's swordplay had become increasingly refined. He had mastered several sword techniques from his sect and gained some renown. Everyone knew that a "Little Sword Immortal" had emerged from Qinghui Peak, whose sword skills were remarkably formidable.

Wiping blood from his longsword, Li Chijing exhaled a long breath towards the rising sun, a wisp of pure white spiritual energy escaping his lips.

"This Yishan City is truly sturdy."

Deng Qiuzhi, a disciple from the Qingchi Sect, chuckled as he spoke from behind, his magical artifact beads bobbing up and down.

Li Chijing nodded, swallowed the spiritual medicine in his hand, and continuously adjusted the spiritual energy within his body to recover as quickly as possible, hoping for an easier time during the next shift.

"Oh, what a coincidence! Every time our shift starts on this Yishan City wall, a beast tide arrives, each one fiercer than the last!"

Deng Qiuzhi muttered with a sneer, his sarcastic tone making everyone nearby glance at him.

Seeing Li Chijing unmoved and continuing his cultivation, Deng Qiuzhi sat down on the ground and murmured:

"But if they want to consume you and me, they will all perish with you."

"He's starting to go mad again..."

"Aren't all the Deng family like this?"

The people around them whispered, casting strange glances at Deng Qiuzhi. Li Chijing frowned upon seeing this and said in a deep voice:

"Stop talking and quickly restore your spiritual energy, lest I have to save you again!"

Deng Qiuzhi paused, then shook his head with a self-deprecating laugh, only to hear cheers from below.

"They're retreating! The beast tide is finally retreating!"

It turned out that this wave of the beast tide had finally receded, giving everyone a chance to breathe. They cheered and descended the city wall. A smile also appeared on Li Chijing's face as he walked down the ladder, thinking of writing a letter home.

Deng Qiuzhi, however, shamelessly followed him, grinning under the brilliant morning sun.

"Don't you think something's amiss?"

"What's amiss?"

Li Chijing raised an eyebrow, sheathed his pale-green sword, and looked at him with a teasing smile.

"Why have you been so mysterious lately? Is it because your cultivation method is becoming too profound, leading to qi deviation?"

Having fought side-by-side in the Southern Border for five years, facing life and death together, Deng Qiuzhi and Li Chijing had long forgotten their initial differences and had become close friends.

"Every time you and I are exhausted, the beast tide conveniently retreats. How can there be such a considerate arrangement?"

Deng Qiuzhi spoke with a smile, but his eyes were full of deeper meaning.

"At such critical moments of life and death, who can hold back? It's not just us; every disciple from every sect on the wall is exhausted."

Li Chijing retorted, then chuckled as he greeted someone beside him.

"Think about it."

Deng Qiuzhi patted his shoulder and whispered:

"If you were the Demon King of the Southern Border, would you causelessly send thousands of beasts and demons to their deaths? Wouldn't it be better to consume them yourself to enhance your cultivation? Can these demons even topple Yishan City? To send them to the three sects and seven gates for nothing—isn't that foolish?"

"Furthermore, if the Demon King truly wanted to kill these sect disciples, it could simply use continuous beast tides to wear us down to death. Sending them in waves like a fool, and even allowing us to rest occasionally—it looks exactly like providing food for us..."

Li Chijing chuckled and greeted someone else beside him, abruptly interrupting Deng Qiuzhi. Annoyed, Deng Qiuzhi glared, then leaned close to Li Chijing's ear and whispered:

"Do you know when Yishan City was breached last?"

Li Chijing, with a smile, replied softly:

"Twenty-five years ago, many people from the three sects and seven gates died, including Foundation Establishment cultivator Yu Yuxie, who cultivated the 'Panqi Yuzhen Art' and had consumed Lunar Essence."

Deng Qiuzhi froze, his eyes wide with shock, and stammered:

"You... know..."

"Of course I know."

Li Chijing nodded with a smile. The two walked up the mountain in silence and entered Li Chijing's cave dwelling.

Li Chijing watched Deng Qiuzhi enter, then formed a hand seal to isolate the inside from the outside, before silently observing Deng Qiuzhi.

"I've been in this wretched place for five years. I've read all the secret scrolls and records in the city. Combined with everything that happened in the Mushroom Forest, I can definitely see that something is wrong."

"I just don't know when they will make their move, or how long they plan to 'fatten' me up... But you, why are you involved?"

Deng Qiuzhi clenched his fists, gritting his teeth as he spoke:

"The Qingchi Sect long ago lost the complete inheritance of Lunar Essence. My Deng family has a special constitution, so they forced my ancestors, generation after generation, to cultivate that secret art, refining themselves into tonics, which were then used as commodities to exchange for spiritual items with the Southern Border Demon King."

"In the early years, the secret art was incomplete, and every Deng family member who practiced it went mad. Over the past few centuries, it has slowly been refined, and now it actually no longer affects one's sanity as much. However, we still have to pretend to be mad and foolish..."

Li Chijing remained silent. He took off his feather cloak and sat by the stone table, beginning to brew tea.

Deng Qiuzhi sighed deeply, then paused and said:

"I've examined the various spiritual medicines and elixirs given by the sect. They are all components for profound alchemical concoctions. This is... human pill refinement."

"Human pills?"

Li Chijing filled the teacups in front of them, then said with a smile:

"I just wonder which Demon King in the Southern Border is about to break through. What a grand scheme."

Seeing Li Chijing's smiling face, Deng Qiuzhi relaxed considerably and said, annoyed:

"You can still smile."

"What can be done?"

Li Chijing shook his head and replied, resigned:

"The Qingchi Sect is too powerful. You and I have no way out. If I die in this Southern Border without cause, at least on the surface it will be seen as a sacrifice for the sect, which might offer some compensation to my family. Could I really find an excuse to escape, bringing about the annihilation of my entire family?"

Deng Qiuzhi took a sip of tea, lowered his head somewhat indignantly, and exclaimed:

"Even so... did we live this life for nothing, born just to become food for demons and beasts?!"

The smile on Li Chijing's face faded, and he spoke with a desolate expression:

"We are the fish, and they are the chopping board. The fish must accept its fate. Didn't your Deng family also endure this for generations? The Qingchi Sect has flourished for five hundred years; can it truly prosper for all eternity? There will always be a day of decline. As long as our families endure and quietly accumulate strength, there will be a day to avenge generations of grievances."

"Cultivators have long lifespans; rarely is today's grievance repaid tomorrow. Each generation has its own mission."

Li Chijing slowly stood up, gazing at the pale-green sword in his hand, and said:

"Your mission and mine is to feed the Qingchi Sect, so that our families can have a chance to breathe. Otherwise, what else can we do? Can we truly expect to suddenly achieve Purple Mansion cultivation like in the storybooks, forcing the Qingchi Sect to retract its orders?"

"Let's take it one step at a time."

Deng Qiuzhi sat cross-legged and said dejectedly:

"Either way, we dare not escape. If you and I flee from Yishan City, our families will be doomed."