Heqian

"Damn it!" Yu Xiaogui was abruptly startled. He realized that charging directly at Li Tongya without waiting for the Foundation Establishment artifact Jade Smoke Mountain to return had been a lapse in judgment—he had clearly underestimated his foe. He cursed inwardly: 'Everyone says the Li family has a third-rank sword technique, but what kind of third-rank sword technique is this?! Where the hell did such a cursed third-rank sword technique come from!' Though cursing furiously in his heart, Yu Xiaogui still had trump cards to play. With an unfazed expression, he stirred his spiritual sense. Several wisps of gray cloudy vapor materialized around his neck, stubbornly holding off the two streams of light. Meanwhile, he hurriedly pushed aside the sword qi light in his hands and reached back to seize them. How could Li Tongya stand by and watch him resolve the crisis? A flick of his sword conjured a flurry of sword qi, pure white as frost and flowing like water, showering toward Yu Xiaogui. Yet Yu Xiaogui paid it no heed. Just as the sword qi was about to strike his body, a deafening clang rang out. Jade Smoke Mountain had already returned to guard him; shrouds of white misty smoke swirled, firmly holding Li Tongya's sword qi at bay. "What a fine treasure! A Foundation Establishment artifact is truly extraordinary!" Li Tongya sighed inwardly. The clash back and forth had taken barely two breaths, yet Jade Smoke Mountain had already neutralized two of his offensives. He had gone through the trouble of feigning weakness to lure Yu Xiaogui into the trap, only for the artifact to dissolve it all without leaving behind a single wound. Now that Yu Xiaogui was on guard, things would not be so easy to handle! "Begone!" Sure enough, while Jade Smoke Mountain blocked Li Tongya, Yu Xiaogui swiftly shattered the two streams of light, brought his hands together, and smashed the one that had slipped away earlier as well, successfully recovering from his disadvantage. With a solemn expression, he gathered power in both palms and pressed forward once more. Having cultivated to Foundation Establishment, Yu Xiaogui's combat experience was top-notch. He had merely underestimated Li Tongya earlier. Attacking anew, he had already devised a plan: facing the sharp sword qi rushing toward him, he no longer channeled the Foundation Establishment artifact Jade Smoke Mountain, but instead countered each move as it came, shattering the sword qi one strike after another. Yu Xiaogui was a cut above Li Tongya in cultivation strength. By fighting steadily and cautiously like this, he caused Li Tongya's pressure to mount dramatically in an instant. After a brief stalemate, the wind of the palm strikes buffeted Li Tongya until he throbbed with faint pain and his immortal foundation quivered, forcing him to release three streams of light to buy himself time to readjust. "Bring it!" Yu Xiaogui had been waiting for these three streams of light. Forming a hand seal, he sent Jade Smoke Mountain leaping upward to absorb and suppress the three streams of light. He then pressed closely on Li Tongya's heels, raining down attacks to keep him suppressed, clearly unwilling to give Li Tongya any time to catch his breath. Li Tongya only had time to retreat two paces. In a single breath, the Vast Ocean Leviathan Talisman within him shone brilliantly, and all his discomfort dissipated. With absolute clarity in his mind, he thought: 'Yu Xiaogui is relying on his deeper cultivation to suppress me, unaware that I have the empowerment of the Vast Ocean Leviathan Talisman. Everything he is doing is in vain.' Li Tongya understood the situation clearly, but showed none of it on his face. He deliberately wore a grim expression, bringing smug satisfaction to Yu Xiaogui and emboldening him to press his assault even more fiercely, which bought time for Fei Wangbai and his group. Only Li Tongya knew to what terrifying extent the capacity and regenerative power of his Vast Sea and Vast Ocean Leviathan Talisman bolstered each other. If one wanted to engage in a war of attrition with Li Tongya, ten percent of his magic power was equivalent to twenty or thirty percent of an ordinary early Foundation Establishment cultivator's, not to mention the magic power he recovered between breaths. Calculating the time, though Yu Xiaogui had the aid of an artifact, by the standards of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator's reserves, Yu Xiaogui could fight until exhaustion and probably deplete only sixty percent of Li Tongya's magic power. 'I wonder how Fei Wangbai is faring. If that fellow slips up and not only fails to breach the market, but also lets the Yu family's Qi Refinement crowd slip through here, things will become difficult.' Li Tongya had always been prudent. It was only because he had agreed to help the Xiao family, and because this was the perfect opportunity to destroy the Milin Commandery market, that he had had to step forward and provoke Yu Xiaogui. If Yu Xiaogui were allowed to return, while Yu Yufeng failed to return for long, Yu Xiaogui would inevitably realize something was amiss. Once he and Yu Mugao sat down to analyze the situation, they would never let Yu Xiaogui leave the compound again. Thus, Li Tongya had been forced to make this risky gambit. Now the situation was growing clearer, and Li Tongya was completely confident in stalling Yu Xiaogui, yet he still prepared for the worst. With the Green Ruler Sword vibrating ceaselessly behind his back, he thought: 'The Green Ruler Sword still contains Jing'er's sword intent. If it comes to that, I will have no choice but to draw the Green Ruler Sword and force the Yu clan back... Drawing suspicion afterward would be unavoidable, but Fei Wangbai has always been reliable in his dealings. It shouldn't come to that.' *** Meanwhile, having parted from Chen Donghe, Fei Wangbai rode the wind from the cliff. His heart was filled with both joy and suspicion. He was pleased that an opportunity to suppress the Yu family had finally arrived, but suspicious of how abruptly Yu Yufeng had ended up trapped outside. 'Yu Yufeng is a late Foundation Establishment cultivator and a standout among his peers. What is more, he has the Foundation Establishment artifact Jade Smoke Mountain. He has always holed up in his immortal cave without stepping foot outside, so how could he end up trapped away from home...?' Pondering this as he flew for a dozen breaths, Fei Wangbai touched down on Cold Cloud Peak. Seeing his eldest son, Fei Yihe, coming up to greet him, he said in a heavy voice, "Summon those few guest elders and accompany me to the Yu family market!" A matter like this naturally could not be entrusted to his own clan's youth. Fei Wangbai gathered the few guest elders he customarily used and prepared to seek out his Foundation Establishment friend. Below, Fei Yihe shuddered upon hearing the order. Knowing it was a grave matter, he hurried away. Standing alone on the peak, the more Fei Wangbai thought, the stranger it seemed. He mused: 'Could it be Li Chijing? But Li Chijing is a sword immortal, not some practitioner of witchcraft or shamanic arts. How could he make Yu Yufeng obediently leave his cave and get trapped somewhere? And for such a major event as Yu Yufeng's departure, how did they even know where Yu Yufeng was going? Has Yu Mugao gone mad to dare leak such information?' The more Fei Wangbai pondered, the more he felt there were deep secrets behind this, sending a chill through his whole body. Yet looking at the figures gliding over the snow, the guest elders had already arrived before him. Leaving no room for hesitation, he gave a few brief instructions and rode the wind into the sky. "The arrow is notched on the bowstring; it must be fired!" Fei Wangbai gritted his teeth and led the group on the wind toward the market in the east. His mind worked like lightning. Calming himself to analyze the situation, he arrived at a conclusion through fundamental logic: 'The Yu family's strength is simply too immense. Not to mention their numerous Qi Refinement peak cultivators, as long as the late Foundation Establishment Yu Yufeng lives, the Li and Fei families are brother clans united against a common enemy, and neither can afford to harbor second thoughts!' Having made up his mind, Fei Wangbai acted decisively. Leading his retinue past Lake Central Islet, he concealed their forms and landed on a small knoll beside Milin Commandery. Using magic power to transmit his voice, he said in a low, resonant tone, "Brother Heqian, Wangbai is here to visit!" After waiting a brief moment, the ground trembled slightly, and the dark entrance to an immortal cave slowly emerged. Amid hearty laughter, a middle-aged man clad in jade armor stepped out. His features were regular and upright, exuding a grand, poised dignity, and his cultivation was likewise at early Foundation Establishment. He was none other than Fei Wangbai's good friend who had stirred up trouble against the Yu family on the eastern shore for many years. Seeing Fei Wangbai, he cupped his hands slightly and smiled. "Brother Wangbai, what brings you to mind of me?" Fei Wangbai had no time for pleasantries. His expression turning stern, he said in a low voice, "Heqian, Yu Yufeng has been lured into a trap outside by the Li family, and Yu Xiaogui is pinned down at Mount Huazhong by Li Tongya! The Yu family has no Foundation Establishment combat power left... Right now is the golden opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Milin Commandery and the Milin Commandery market!" "What?!" The middle-aged man addressed as Heqian was utterly stunned before wild joy erupted on his face. Venomous hatred beamed from his eyes, and his grand, poised demeanor vanished without a trace as he shrieked venomously: "Marvelous! Truly marvelous! This Jiang has long grown weary of the petty skirmishes and harassment from the clans of the eastern shore. This time... this time... I will make those Yu bandits bleed dearly! Hahahahaha!"