Quliu Town, the back courtyard of the Xu family estate.
Xu Zhiyuan sat in a subordinate seat, while in the seat of honor sat a gloomy-faced young man whose eyes were ringed with dark circles, whether by nature or for some other reason. Two black-robed men knelt in the room, not daring to lift their heads.
Xu Zhiyuan said in a heavy voice, "Are you certain Sun Yu fled into the domain with that thing?"
"This lowly one was incompetent and failed to intercept him in time, watching helplessly as he escaped into the domain. But if it weren't for that Double Paragon of Cauldron and Sword, Li Zhi, appearing to interfere, Sun Yu would never have slipped through my fingers!"
Xu Zhiyuan slapped the armrest hard. "That Li Zhi again!"
The young man seated in the center raised his eyes slightly and asked, "Which of you was injured by Li Zhi?"
One of the black-robed men beside him hastily spoke up. "This lowly one was struck and injured by his fire cauldron. This Li Zhi is exceedingly cunning—he held a spear to feint, then ambushed me with the cauldron."
The young man suddenly reached out and made a grasping motion. The black-robed man floated into the air, screaming as an invisible, massive hand crushed him into a ball of flesh, after which a speck of bloody light flew onto the young man's fingertip.
A mid-Dao Foundation cultivator was crushed to death just like that, completely powerless to resist!
Xu Zhiyuan was shocked. "Fourth Elder, this..."
"Since he was wounded by Li Zhi, a trace of karma was formed. I have now extracted that karma. Take it to Master Mu Shang and have him pass it to those things in the west. With this karma, they can use it to place a curse on him. No matter how cunning Li Zhi is, he won't escape death!"
Xu Zhiyuan was overjoyed and carefully received the blood bead.
"I also heard he was involved in your son's disappearance?"
Xu Zhiyuan ground his teeth and said, "Indeed! My boy went west with Sixth Elder to capture Li Zhi, only never to return. This time, he must die without a burial place!"
The young man said, "I heard you have another son. Call him out so I can have a look."
Xu Zhiyuan promptly sent someone to summon him. A moment later, an upright, stalwart young man stood before the hall. Possessing a sharp aura and bright, piercing eyes, he stood firmly upon entering and said in a clear voice, "Xu Jingzhe pays respects to Fourth Elder."
With that, he quietly awaited instructions, appearing remarkably composed.
Seated at the head, Fourth Elder, who looked like a young man, lifted his gaze and nodded. "Reaching the late stage at such a young age is not bad. Zhiyuan, your own abilities are mediocre, but you're quite good at siring sons."
Xu Zhiyuan sighed and said, "In truth, the child who was captured was also decent, but I don't know how he is faring now."
Fourth Elder said, "Since Sun Yu fled into the domain, that item is most likely on him as well. That immortal treasure is peerless under heaven; even if we only obtain one of its subordinate vessels, it would be a tremendous merit. A pity... I would truly like to go into the domain to see that immortal treasure."
Xu Zhiyuan hurriedly said, "Fourth Elder, by no means should you risk yourself! Even Sixth Elder fell in that territory..."
Fourth Elder cut him off. "My arts of concealment may not be peerless under heaven, but they have few equals among dharma idols. The other side doesn't even have a single dharma idol. If I truly wished to go, who could possibly stop me?"
Xu Zhiyuan quickly said, "There is no rush on this matter for now. Hearing that you were coming, I made some special preparations. Why don't you have a look first?"
Fourth Elder laughed aloud. "I've long heard you have quite a few fine things here, and I've always wanted to see for myself!"
Xu Zhiyuan leaned in and whispered, "Everything has been arranged! Two among them are... Xu Zhijie's kin!"
Fourth Elder's eyes shone. "His daughter?"
"Not his daughter. Before his downfall, he made arrangements in advance, which allowed his daughter to escape."
Fourth Elder looked slightly disappointed and said, "Fine then, take me to see. If they are truly decent, I'll speak to the clan later and arrange another position for your son. That way, father and son can administer affairs together, and there will be no need to send another dharma idol over to keep you in check."
Xu Zhiyuan was overjoyed and hurried to say, "Rest assured, Fourth Elder, I guarantee you will be pleased!"
***
At dawn, Wei Yuan was already standing at a mountain pass to the southwest, surveying the terrain and contemplating how to lay out defensive fortifications to inflict the greatest casualties on the Shaman forces.
Their previous battle had already demonstrated that if fortifications such as trenches were utilized well, they could multiply the enemy's casualties. In another day, the domain would expand to cover this area, and Qingming would temporarily reach its limit, shifting to slow expansion thereafter.
Over the course of the morning, Wei Yuan scouted the terrain for a hundred li around, filling in details on his map.
Just then, a stir went through his heart. He sensed that some people seemed to have appeared east of the domain, heading toward it. Among them were familiar auras, but because they were still several hundred li away, his perception remained hazy.
Wei Yuan immediately bolted toward the east, intending to see who had come.
Five hundred li east of the domain, this had originally been an area inhabited by humans, but in a mere two or three years, it had become overgrown with brambles and low brush. Many former roads were now drowned in dense forest.
A group of cultivators was making arduous progress through the thick forest, frequently hacking away the brambles blocking their path. Fortunately, every cultivator in this group possessed no weak cultivation, and when they encountered truly impassable terrain, they simply flew across.
In the middle of the procession were over a dozen young people, while the front and rear ranks were dressed in guards' livery, numbering several dozen in all.
At this moment, a young man said, "Brother Cui, we've already run into six waves of Shamans. Why are there so many enemies in this place!"
Another young girl remarked, "Looking at the map, we're less than a thousand li from our destination. Why don't we fly for a stretch?"
Leading the party was none other than Cui Yu. Blood stained several spots on him, his battle robe was torn, and his cheeks were gaunt, showing he had clearly endured much hardship. Yet the gleam in his eyes had grown all the brighter and more resolute.
Hearing the girl's words, Cui Yu immediately said, "No! Flying consumes too much Dao power and easily draws powerful foes. We only have the last few pills left for restoring Dao power; we must save them for critical moments."
The girl muttered, "But isn't that going to take another whole day of walking?"
Another girl said, "Still better than running low on Dao power when battle comes."
After walking a bit farther, Cui Yu finally said, "We cannot turn back now. Once we reach the domain, whoever wishes to return can tell me, and I will have the clan send people to fetch you."
Yet the young people spoke up one after another. "How could we do that? We've come all this way—we have to win this battle before we can leave!"
"Exactly! What kind of disgrace would it be to go back now?"
At that moment, a sweet-looking young girl was panting for breath when she stumbled and fell to the ground. Her cultivation was not high, and with her Dao power utterly exhausted, she couldn't get back up for the moment.
Cui Yu simply went over, hoisted her onto his back, and continued forward.
Resting on Cui Yu's back to recover her Dao power, the girl said, "Brother Cui, how did you pick this mission anyway? The merit points we've earned over the past ten days are almost more than what we used to get in half a year."
Cui Yu said, "This time, not only are there many enemies, but the family won't send any reinforcements either. Are you afraid?"
The girl said firmly, "If Brother Cui isn't afraid, of course I'm not afraid either!"
Suddenly, a young man in the group changed expression, swiftly rose into the air, cast a glance toward the right rear, and said rapidly, "Enemies are on our tail! Shamans, five hundred and thirty-four in total: eighteen Dao Foundations and four Shaman Scholars—two late-stage, four mid-stage, and sixteen early-stage!"
Cui Yu made a split-second decision: "Halt! Form ranks!"
Chapter 148