The spell in Li Qiuyang’s hand blazed with roaring flames, streaking down like a bolt of light straight toward the man’s head. With all his attention fixed on the Xiao clan members before him, the man felt the hairs on his body stand on end and whipped around in alarm.
“Insolent thief!”
Seeing the fire spell reach him in the blink of an eye, the demonic cultivator hurriedly shifted his stance to block it. Seasoned in battle and wielding a formidable cultivation method, he managed to forcefully catch his breath and cast a counter-spell to defend himself.
Yet the Xiao clan cultivator behind gave him no opening. Flicking his magical artifact, he barked, “Zhen six, Qian three, advance to attack! Shift formation!”
The golden light he had gathered surged forth abundantly. Bolstered by the unbroken stream of magic power supplied by the Embryonic Breathing cultivators behind him, the spell in his grasp grew ever more brilliant, condensing into a diamond-shaped golden shard that flew toward the demonic cultivator like the wind.
“Damn it!”
An ordinary Qi Refinement cultivator caught in such a pincer attack would surely have lost his life. But this demonic cultivator was no ordinary foe; bloody light surged violently around him as a small red shield materialized over his back.
Clang!
Holding his long axe high with blazing bloody light, the demonic cultivator shattered Li Qiuyang’s spell with a single swing. But by then, the golden beam from behind had struck the center of his back.
The small shield held for only a single breath before vanishing without a trace before the dazzling golden radiance. Fleeting as that reprieve was, it allowed the cultivator to twist his posture and narrowly evade a fatal blow.
With a wet squelch, blood sprayed everywhere. More than half of the demonic cultivator's body was sheared through; a large section from his left shoulder down to his left hip sloughed away, leaving behind little more than half a leg on his left side as a mass of internal organs spilled out in a gruesome heap.
Grimacing, the demonic cultivator cursed under his breath. Forming a hand seal, the severed flesh turned into a cloud of bloody mist before it could even hit the ground. Swirling in like a whirlwind, it swept up the remaining half of his body and darted deep into the alleyways.
Li Qiuyang had never encountered a demonic cultivator before. Staring in shock at how the grievously wounded enemy had vanished in the blink of an eye, he blurted out, “He could flee even like that?! He could survive that?!”
“Brother Qiuyang!”
The Xiao clan cultivator ahead had already dispersed the small formation. Hurrying over, he said gratefully, “Thank you for coming to our aid, Brother Qiuyang!”
“It was nothing,” Li Qiuyang replied, still somewhat dazed. Finding the enemy's methods utterly bizarre, he remarked in disbelief, “He actually got away just like that!”
Seeing that Li Qiuyang was still reeling from the display, the Xiao clan cultivator gave a bitter smile and said quietly, “You might not know, Brother Qiuyang, but demonic cultivators excel at preserving their lives. Of all the paths, they are the hardest to kill. Their arts of Diverse Mansions, Shared Crucible are exceedingly bizarre and troublesome to deal with.
“Moreover, like Shakya cultivators, demonic cultivators place little stock in their physical flesh. While they cannot replace bodies as casually as Shakya cultivators, their physical forms are far less essential to them than ours are to us. He looks terribly wounded, but after a few days of feeding on blood qi and demonic qi, he will recover.”
Even as the Xiao clan cultivator explained, the sky-blanketing white array above exploded with a resounding boom, webbed with cracks. The faces of everyone present drained of color, terror flashing in their eyes.
Li Qiuyang hurriedly said, “Then we had better leave at once! If that demonic cultivator rallies reinforcements and returns with more men, how could we survive?!”
“Indeed!” The Xiao clan cultivator's expression darkened as well, and he said solemnly, “It seems the market is still besieged by demonic cultivators from outside. We can't escape for now. Guanyun Peak has another grand array; why don't you come with me to Guanyun Peak in the center of the market, Brother Qiuyang?
“There is a Foundation Establishment elder overseeing Guanyun Peak. Backed by the grand array, it should hold until reinforcements from my family arrive and keep us safe...”
Li Qiuyang shook his head. Drawing a jade pendant from his storage bag, he carefully sensed the direction it indicated and replied, “Brother Xuan is still somewhere in the market. I have to go help him, so I must decline your offer...”
“Ai!” The Xiao clan cultivator froze. Right now, murder, arson, and looting were running rampant across the market. Li Qiuyang was merely a miscellaneous qi cultivator, weaker even than himself; in this chaos, never mind searching for someone, even surviving on his own was a struggle.
Yet seeing the solemnity and determination on Li Qiuyang’s aging face, he could say no more. Cupping his hands, he muttered, “Take care, brother!”
Flying was out of the question; taking to the sky would make one an open target for the demonic cultivators lurking throughout the market. The men could only cast their Divine Movement Techniques and part ways in haste.
The Xiao clan cultivator quickly led his men into an alley, while Li Qiuyang held a talisman inside his sleeve with one hand and clutched the jade pendant with the other, dashing toward Li Xuanxuan’s location.
***
On Guanyun Peak.
Brisk northern winds blew softly across the bitterly cold mountain summit. Xiao Ruyu stood sideways, his face dark as stagnant water. Outside the array, demonic clouds billowed in an endless churn.
Upon the jade platform before him rested a formation disc etched with intricate patterns. Six starlike formation nodes gleamed brightly, while the other six were dim and covered in cracks—evidently already destroyed.
Contrary to what Li Xuanxuan had guessed, Xiao Ruyu had not departed Guanyun Peak early; in fact, he had been caught completely unprepared. His expression was grim, his teeth clenched tight.
“I'm afraid... we've fallen into a trap,” he murmured.
The jade tablet in his palm glowed faintly with red light, luster shimmering along six carved notches.
“Guanyun Market, Yushan, Xianyou Peak, Yuyuan Market... There's no point hoping for reinforcements from home.”
A chill gripped Xiao Ruyu's heart. The devastation the Xiao clan was suffering in this demonic scourge went far beyond Guanyun Peak. Nearly every stronghold had been hit to varying degrees, and even their main peak, Xianyou Peak, was under attack.
“The ancestor hasn't returned for months, and the demonic scourge suddenly shifted course. My Xiao family is in for a bitter blow!”
Bang!
As he was brooding, two more formation nodes on the disc before him went dark in succession. Xiao Ruyu quietly gripped the magical artifact in his hand and looked up.
Outside, several black-robed cultivators stood in silence, yet they put Xiao Ruyu on high alert and left him thoroughly baffled.
“It was agreed that the demonic scourge would push north along Xunlin Plain and enter Ziyan Gate territory from the east of Lixia Commandery. Now the timing and the trajectory have completely changed. Is the Qingchi Sect... really turning against our clan?”
Xiao Ruyu had once managed his clan for three years and had guarded Guanyun Peak Market for five. He was no longer the impetuous youth who, together with Li Xuanfeng, had slain the young sect master of Tangjin Gate in righteous wrath. Having learned many clan secrets, both his vision and his conduct had changed drastically. He muttered in disbelief, “Impossible... Impossible... How could Qingchi Sect turn against us at a time like this? There are still at least fifty years before Master Shangyuan makes his breakthrough...”
His mind was in turmoil. The shimmering light points before him flickered and finally snuffed out. In the sky, fissure after fissure cracked open across the white array, and misty demonic qi surged in, screaming with piercing shrieks.
“Young Master!”
As Xiao Ruyu watched in stony silence, a low shout sounded beside him. An agile, graceful saber-wielder landed on the peak, two ferocious coiling flood dragons wreathing his body. He said in a deep voice, “Please descend the mountain at once, Young Master! Leave this place to Taojing!”
This man was none other than the saber-wielder Chen Taojing, who had once besieged Yu Yufeng alongside Li Tongya. The Dao foundation he cultivated was likewise 'Vast Sea', and the two light-blue flood dragons circling him bared their claws and fangs with formidable ferocity.
“Uncle Taojing...” Xiao Ruyu looked at him quietly, torn with hesitation.
Chen Taojing said in a gruff voice, “My 'Vast Sea' is extraordinarily deep and suited to holding off many foes at once. I have already prepared pills; please leave immediately, Young Master!”
Xiao Ruyu gritted his teeth, concealed his figure, and hurried down the mountain. Behind him, Chen Taojing stood gripping his saber, gazing out at the figures lurking outside the teetering array.
Chapter 341