Chapter 95: Escape

Li Jingtian was momentarily stunned, a sorrowful expression on his face. He gently stroked Li Xuanling's head and said softly, "I'm sorry to have put you to such trouble."

As soon as Li Jingtian finished speaking, a commotion erupted outside the tent. Many voices clamored, and then Mu Jiaoman's deep, angry voice echoed from above: "You again? Who exactly are you?! You've provoked us time and again! Do you think we're pushovers?"

Li Xuanling and Li Jingtian exchanged a look and swiftly lifted the tent flap. They saw a middle-aged man holding a sword hovering above the camp. Semi-transparent, pale blue river-like True Essence flowed continuously around him as he openly looked down at the Mountain Yue soldiers quickly gathering below his feet. It was Li Tongya.

Li Tongya, holding Qingfeng, calmly surveyed the numerous Mountain Yue below. He spoke softly, his voice amplified by magic, reverberating throughout the entire camp: "My Li family and the Mountain Yue have always kept to ourselves. You suddenly attacked my Li family's Lijing Mountain without cause, plundered spirit rice, and abducted our people. And now you ask who I am?"

Below, Li Xuanling immediately let out a long breath and exclaimed joyfully in a low voice, "It's Father!"

Mu Jiaoman, furious, rose into the air, followed by two Mountain Yue Qi Refinement shamans. He said in a deep voice, "The Mountain Yue's passage through Four Peaks Mountain was originally the promised reward from your Demonic Sect! Why are you going back on your word now? Since these spirit rice, spirit fruits, and people have entered our pockets, they are now the property of my Mountain Yue."

Warily, Mu Jiaoman glanced at the flickering sword light in Li Tongya's hand. He gritted his teeth and said, "If you retreat now, we will not hold this against you."

Li Tongya sneered. His grayish-white longsword was already raised, and he swept out several sword qi, astonishing Mu Jiaoman and the other two, who immediately became wary as if facing a great enemy.

Over ten days ago, Li Tongya had crossed through this area searching for Li Xiangping and had already fought with Mu Jiaoman and his companions. All three knew this person was not easy to deal with and immediately began to frantically cast spells and form hand seals.

The three of them, Mu Jiaoman included, had used secret tribal techniques to advance to Qi Refinement. The mixed qi they absorbed was hastily cultivated without proper Qi gathering methods. Not only was their spiritual power inferior to Li Tongya's, but their skill in controlling qi and manipulating wind was even worse. Thus, they once again fell into a disadvantageous position.

Li Tongya had diligently cultivated his Profound Water Sword Art for nearly thirty years. Its sword light was both fast and sharp, for a time forcing the three of them into continuous evasion. The military camp was thrown into utter chaos, like a stirred-up pot.

"What a chance!" Li Xuanling immediately kicked off the shackles on his leg, pulled Li Jingtian up, and with a hand on each, twisted the necks of the Mountain Yue guards at the entrance. He hurried a few steps and leaped over the wooden fence.

Outside this section of the fence, two more Mountain Yue soldiers were stationed. They stood open-mouthed, staring blankly at the sky. Li Xuanling directly struck both their heads with two Golden Light spells. Without caring whether they lived or died, he slapped a Swiftness spell onto his own legs, and carrying Li Jingtian, he plunged into the mountain forest.

His movements were smooth as flowing water and swift as a leopard. Taking advantage of everyone looking up at the sky, in just a few breaths, he had brought Li Jingtian outside the camp. The few people near the military tents had just realized what was happening, but he was already gone.

There were no masters nearby. The few Fetal Breath realm cultivators present had already gone to quell the chaos. Their spiritual sense, at the Qi Refinement stage, extended merely a dozen zhang. The people fighting above were even less aware.

"Damn it!" Mu Jiaoman, in the air, roared furiously, gnashing his teeth in hatred, and shouted angrily, "If the Great King were here, how could he tolerate your impudence!"

Gani Xi, a Qi Refinement seventh-layer cultivator, had an extraordinary encounter in his early years. Not only did he cultivate orthodox methods, but he also ingested a kind of spiritual energy from heaven and earth. His blade techniques were divine and unparalleled, which allowed him to subdue no less than seven Qi Refinement shamans from various forces, big and small, across the entire Northern Foothills.

Li Tongya bothered not to respond. He simply compared Gani Xi's strength with Li Chijing's in his mind. With a flick of his Qingfeng sword, he mused to himself: "I am only at the second layer of Qi Refinement. These three — one at the fourth layer and two at the second layer — I'm only suppressing them with my Profound Water Sword Qi. If this drags on, I might actually be worn down and die here. I must be careful."

With a single sword qi, he forced back the three who were closing in. Li Tongya looked down with some worry, seeing the camp below gradually stabilizing. He thought: "I wonder if the two children managed to escape. I'll fight for another dozen rounds and then retreat. Then I'll look for another opportunity."

After parrying for a dozen more moves, Li Tongya again swung his sword, forcing back the three. Without a word, he stepped into the air and headed east. Mu Jiaoman, in a fit of rage, yelled, "Such audacity! Do you really think you can come and go as you please?"

Mu Jiaoman gritted his teeth, rubbed his hands together, and a stream of black qi surged forth. His vitality immediately diminished somewhat. This was precisely the shamanic secret art that the Mountain Yue excelled at.

The thick black qi swirled for a moment, then expanded several times in size, carrying a massive skull atop it, and charged straight towards Li Tongya.

Below, Lu Jiangxian, who had been watching with interest, was startled. This black qi felt very familiar. It vaguely had the aura of something produced by a Dharma Mirror; he even felt as though he could beckon it with a flick of his finger and devour it.

After pondering for a few breaths and seeing Mu Jiaoman's slightly diminished vitality, Lu Jiangxian chose not to expose himself rather than consume a trivial "dessert." He continued to feign death within the mirror, merely sending out a trace of his spiritual sense to carefully observe Li Tongya's condition.

Although Li Tongya in the air didn't understand the spell the Mountain Yue leader was using, he knew it certainly wasn't good news. He dodged and weaved in the air for a while, but saw the black qi surge faster and faster and strike hard against Li Tongya's back.

Mu Jiaoman laughed loudly and shouted, "Shamanic curses are exceptionally mystical. No matter how far you fly, to the ends of the earth, you cannot escape!"

Li Tongya felt a chill in his limbs. The circulation of spiritual power within him became slightly sluggish, and his flying speed slowed by a fraction. He carefully felt for a moment but found no further abnormalities.

"That's it?" Li Tongya was even slightly surprised. He looked at the three people behind him, who, despite his slightly reduced speed, were still being slowly outdistanced, and his expression was somewhat peculiar.

Mu Jiaoman was even more shocked and furious. Feeling the strange looks from his two subordinates behind him, he immediately felt a prickle on his back and muttered to himself, "What in the world is going on?"

Only Lu Jiangxian, who was silently moving through the mountain forest with Li Xuanling below, chuckled softly. He felt that most of the black qi, whose control he had seized with his spiritual sense, was now clinging motionless to Li Tongya's clothes. He carefully examined the structure within the black qi.

"It's a bit like Talisman Qi, but vastly inferior," he mused. "It's more like the object of prayer in the 'Sacrifice Method' was changed from the Dharma Mirror to the caster himself. It has been drastically modified and weakened, more like a desperate measure taken without a Dharma Mirror..."

"The path of shamanism must have many connections with the Dharma Mirror!"

Recalling the Golden Core Yellow Talisman in the direction of the Great Imperial Court, Lu Jiangxian silently stored the insights he gained from the black qi in his mind. He then casually dispersed the black qi where it was and thought to himself, "When I have time, I can certainly study this thing. It would save me from having nothing to do but sleep all day in the Dharma Mirror."