*What a fine talisman.*
The moment Chi Zhihu's talisman touched his hand, its extraordinary quality was obvious. Crafted upon a cyan-and-white base, it was inscribed in gold lacquer. But knowing neither its rank nor its symbols and incantation, he naturally could not employ it.
Li Xizhi gave it no further glance. Forming an incantation seal with his hand, he raised his thumb and tapped two fingers in succession, then shifted into sword-fingers. He pointed first toward the northern sunset glow and then toward Mount Xiashan in the east. From his fingertips emerged three specks of iridescent glow: emerald jade, earthy brown, and dark gold.
How could the three stand by and watch him cast his art? Chi Zhihu raised his hand at once, a shimmering white needle-shaped dharma artifact floating up from his palm. Magic power circulated and converged, yet he did not know which figure to strike.
Wu Weibai was struck speechless at the sight, an overwhelming frustration welling up in his chest:
*Back then, when you were told to diligently study the nature of dharmic arts and material attributes, you yawned non-stop and only cared about learning overwhelmingly powerful arts... Now your retribution has come!*
Reasonably speaking, scrying artifacts of that sort should not only see through Li Xizhi's movements, but naturally discern these illusory clones as well. Yet of all things Chi Zhihu could have brought, he had to bring the Mingyang daylight artifact, the Qingmu Mirror!
There were many arts capable of producing illusory clones, but when using artifacts to scry illusions, daylight and rosy glow could not see through each other...
"If only he had brought Wen Liuguang or the Taiyu Sword... why would we even have to fuss over these clones!"
While Wu Weibai grumbled internally, little did he know that beneath his composed facade, with the mirror hovering overhead gleaming brilliantly, Chi Zhihu was also inwardly groaning. No matter how much of a dissolute playboy he was, he was at least in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment now; how could he have made such an oversight?
*Wen Liuguang was borrowed by Ning Hejing, and the Taiyu Sword was taken by the Lingu family to purge demons in the South Sea... The Qingmu Mirror is better than nothing!*
Wu Weibai darted a glance, yet his hands did not pause. Being older, he had mastered many arts. Even as he cursed inwardly, his fingers had already begun forming incantation seals. Raising his sword to rest against his lips, he shouted:
"Vast flames surge ceaselessly; exhale and kindle the Apricot Brightness... Edict!"
From his mouth immediately gushed an apricot-yellow flame that rapidly expanded in the air into a blazing, brilliant orb. In an instant, as if a silver vase had burst, it unleashed countless streaks of Xingming Lihuo.
These surging Lihuo flames dyed the sky in a vast ring of apricot-yellow, sweeping across the dozen-plus figures of Li Xizhi, each treading upon rosy glow and forming seals. Xia Yun was instantly overjoyed. Waving his hand to slash apart the approaching rosy glow, he cried:
"Senior, splendid art!"
Yet Li Xizhi formed a seal with one hand while closing the other, and all dozen-plus clones swung their sleeves in unison, casting out iridescent colors that hovered before them, blocking the gushing apricot-yellow flames.
"What?!"
This move made Wu Weibai's face drain of color. He had fought Lingu Xia in the past and had personally shattered those rosy glow clones. Since when could rosy glow clones cast arts?!
With no time to react, Chi Zhihu could only hastily loose the spell in his hand, randomly dispelling one clone. Xia Yun was still maneuvering his dharma artifact to chase down and destroy clones, while Wu Weibai barked:
"Defend immediately!"
Li Xizhi had already completed his incantation seals. Ninety percent of the rainbow silhouettes within the formation had been shattered, leaving only two rainbow silhouettes and his true body standing at three corners of the formation, bathed in an eerie glow.
"Chao Yinhong!"
The three specks of rosy light—emerald jade, earthy brown, and dark gold—leaped into the air together. Crossing the sky in a flash, they descended upon Chi Zhihu. Seeing this, Chi Zhihu's expression turned to sheer delight, and he bellowed:
"Splendid!"
The jade pendant hanging at the burly man's neck shattered with a sharp bang. A halo of bright yellow light flared across his body and condensed in midair into a three-tailed feathered beast that pounced forward with a roaring posture, checking the rosy light in its tracks.
At this sight, all three of them were overjoyed.
Li Xizhi's rosy glow art had arrived with ferocious momentum. Wu Weibai was somewhat better off; having a clear idea of what to expect, the old man had already sacrificed dharma artifacts and talismans. But Xia Yun had been scared out of his wits.
After all, among the three, only he was a soft target. Following the logic that severing one finger is better than injuring ten, killing him first made the most sense. Unable to gauge the depth of this rosy glow, how could he not be terrified?
Yet Li Xizhi had chosen Chi Zhihu instead. Chi Zhihu was of the Chi family direct lineage and possessed protective treasures; the rosy light was halted in an instant. Chi Zhihu was overjoyed, Wu Weibai grew suspicious, and Xia Yun leaped about the most excitedly. Raising his dharma sword to cast a spell, he laughed:
"What do you think you are?!"
With a thrust of his sword, he pierced through a rosy glow clone, only to hear Wu Weibai cry out in horror:
"Not good!"
The old man surged up with his sword, only to be parried with a loud clang by a fan glowing with deep blue light. Beneath the cover of the emerald, brown, and dark gold radiance, a speck of golden light leaped forward. Li Xizhi actually materialized right before Chi Zhihu, standing with his hand pressed upon his sword.
"Disaster!"
Though they saw how superb his arts were, they had not forgotten that the Li clan was a lineage of sword immortals! What was more, after that brief exchange earlier, Wu Weibai's swordsmanship had been like a joke before Li Xizhi, parried at whim—ample proof of this man's cultivation in the sword.
The dharma sword worn by this Peak Lord of Changtian Peak was certainly no ornament!
*Too close!*
Seeing his opponent appear right in front of him, Chi Zhihu's hair stood on end in terror. Hurriedly reversing his art, he forced his internal magic power into turbulence to dispel the fire art gathering in his hands, while violently slamming his spiritual sense into the necklace at his throat.
"Return!"
As Chi Zhihu urgently recalled the three-tailed feathered beast released from the jade, Wu Weibai, seeing his master in peril, bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, shouting:
"Hold!"
Wu Weibai was indeed a veteran cultivator. This shout rang out like a rolling clap of thunder, converged into a single line, and detonated right beside Li Xizhi, causing him to pause abruptly. Chi Zhihu finally seized his chance. Greatly relieved, his shock turned to joy.
"What an opportunity!"
At the cost of self-inflicted injury, Wu Weibai had halted Li Xizhi. The three-tailed feathered beast suppressing the tri-colored rosy glow in midair vanished instantly from the sky, reappearing right in front of Chi Zhihu. Baring its fangs and claws in a roaring stance, it spewed a misty golden light straight into Li Xizhi's face!
*He took the strike of the Mangjin feathered beast condensed from the jade! The victory is decided!*
Chi Zhihu knew his own treasures best. This jade had been obtained by an ancestor from a grotto-heaven, bearing the likeness of the long-extinct Mangjin feathered beast. A blast of this dense mist was enough to claim the life of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Though Li Xizhi possessed profound cultivation, he would fare no better!
*What a stroke of luck...*
Having bumbled his way into dealing Li Xizhi a grievous blow, before the joy could even spread across his face, astonishment surfaced first.
Before him, Li Xizhi melted away completely, like lingering snow under bright sunlight.
"A clone?!"
Wu Weibai's pupils dilated violently. Only a single thought remained in his mind:
"The Qingmu Mirror...!"
Sure enough, the reflection in the old man's pupils captured the golden brilliance of Golden Fall in the Clouds. A fair, powerful hand materialized out of thin air, bit by bit, casting a sheet of rosy glow and clamping down onto the crystal-white mirror Chi Zhihu had left suspended in midair.
"Floating Light Object Retrieval!"
Chi Zhihu's full attention had been fixed on the three-tailed feathered beast; how could he withstand this sudden ambush? He felt a hollow heaviness in his chest as his heart-blood surged. His spiritual sense suffered a heavy blow, and his connection to the treasure abruptly weakened.
*Dharmic arts... can actually be used like this?!*
Once the Qingmu Mirror was seized by Li Xizhi, the clear light rippling in the air vanished instantly. Li Xizhi felt as though he held a thrashing sparrow, its weight fluctuating between heavy and light in his grasp. With his other hand, the rosy glow he had long condensed struck home, slamming hard against the mirror's surface.
*Clang—!*
An arc of rosy glow scattered like mist. Li Xizhi took a step back and vanished from midair. Before Chi Zhihu could even react, a wretched shriek rang out beside his ear:
"Aaaagh—!!"
It turned out that when Chi Zhihu recalled the Mangjin feathered beast, the tri-colored rosy glow had already broken free, veering off to crash directly into Xia Yun.
Xia Yun had only been promoted thanks to his close ties with Ning Hejing, and he had trimmed his sails to curry favor with Chi Zhihu. Though he possessed some strength, he had never expected that Chi Zhihu would withdraw the feathered beast, allowing the tri-colored rosy glow right beside him to wheel around and strike him.
Over the past two years, this fellow had amassed quite a fortune. Several rings of white light bounced from his body, offering slight resistance. Combined with the Foundation Establishment talisman he had released earlier, most of the blow's power was neutralized. Yet the strike had come far too swiftly for him to make further preparations...
Chi Zhihu looked over, only to see Xia Yun's head pierced clean through by the tri-colored rosy glow with a fist-sized hole, through which the distant seascape was faintly visible... The youth retreated in frantic terror, pulling out rice flesh to plug the hole in his skull.
*The one surnamed Zhao is still tangled with that xiayao under the water...*
Chi Zhihu did not need to look closely; the fluctuations of magic power beneath his feet had never ceased from start to finish. Having fought to this point, he was already exhausted and had lost all will to fight:
*This man's mastery of arts is so profound... What on earth is Liaokong doing?! Why hasn't he struck?! How much longer is he going to wait?! If he waits any longer, Xia Yun is going to perish!*
With the Qingmu Mirror seized, Li Xizhi shifted and vanished into the air once more, hiding within the surrounding permeating rosy glow. As Chi Zhihu sacrificed a turtle-shell shield before himself, he heard Wu Weibai cry out in surprise and joy:
"Eh?"
Chi Zhihu looked up sharply and saw that the figure that had dissolved into golden light had reappeared, tumbling out of midair. Realizing what had happened, he was overjoyed:
"The Qingmu Mirror is an ancient dharma artifact! How could it be taken away so easily?!"
*Golden Fall in the Clouds was interrupted...*
Li Xizhi had gripped the Qingmu Mirror; had he dissolved into rosy glow once more, the three would have been helpless against him. Unfortunately, the Qingmu Mirror was an ancient artifact of Qingchi after all, of extraordinary quality. It struggled relentlessly, thereby shattering his movement art.
As he tumbled out, Wu Weibai seized the opportunity and drove his sword forward to strike. That dharma sword was like a banded krait of gold and silver, variegated in pattern and darting continuously, looking like an insidious weapon. The old man shouted:
"Activate the artifact!"
Reminded by this, Chi Zhihu dispelled the spell in his hand, closed his eyes tightly, and poured all his strength into activating the Qingmu Mirror. The struggling force in Li Xizhi's hand multiplied several times over, forcing him to divert his attention to suppress it.
Li Xizhi's gaze swept across them, clarity dawning in his mind:
*Though Chi Zhihu possesses abundant treasures, he has little combat experience. Xia Yun is merely here to make up the numbers. Only this Wu Weibai is seasoned and shrewd... Though his arts are unrefined, his cultivation is profound and robust.*
Seeing Wu Weibai charge forward, he formed seals and incanted with one hand while urgently spurring his spiritual sense, reaching out through their spiritual bond:
"Qiyun!"
*Clang!*
Just as Li Xizhi sent the call, that snake-like sword darted in.
With the Qingmu Mirror still stubbornly stuck in Li Xizhi's grip, Wu Weibai had no fear of him seizing his dharma sword. The old man's gaze locked straight onto the person before him. Yet this dignified youth remained poised and unruffled, holding the mirror with one hand while resting the other upon his sword.
*Clang!*
An arc of sword qi soared straight toward the heavens. Half of the serpent sword in Wu Weibai's hand was deflected, the sword's pommel tilting sharply upward. A moon-white sword qi curved gracefully in, and three nimble bursts of sword qi flew out from the spot.
Though the two forms of Yueque in Li Xizhi's hands were not as sharp and ethereal as Li Xijun's, they were exceptionally fluid and continuous. Wu Weibai did not understand sword forms, and the sword in his hand was more of a spell artifact than a true sword weapon; he was instantly thrown into disarray.
*Rumble!*
The sea water quaked, and a column of snow-white sea water surged into the high sky. Out of it flew a streak of rosy glow. The rosy ray Li Qiyun brushed past Li Xizhi, and the Qingmu Mirror was passed off in that split second, falling into the rosy ray's grasp.
Freed from his burden, Li Xizhi activated Golden Fall in the Clouds at once, his figure splitting again into dozens of streaks of rosy glow that wheeled and soared within the formation.
"He slipped away..."
While Li Qiyun held onto the Qingmu Mirror, Guest Elder Zhao finally flew out of the water, his face twisted in fury. But the moment they met, another brilliant streak of rosy glow crashed down, blasting him back into the sea with a thunderous roar.
Having lost the Qingmu Mirror, Wu Weibai and Chi Zhihu grew ever more cautious within the rosy glow. Chi Zhihu looked grim, while Wu Weibai sighed:
"Your Highness... That spirit beast seems to be a Foundation Establishment-level xiayao... It doesn't have much combat capability, but it is exceedingly troublesome when tangling. Zhao Fu has been checked by it and cannot tear himself away."
The situation had become glaringly obvious: the three had no way of dealing with this master and servant pair. If Liaokong still did not intervene, even escaping would become a problem for them...
"How can his mastery of arts be so profound?!"
Chi Zhihu knew full well what the old guest elder implied, but what kind of madness had taken Liaokong?! To this moment, he was still hiding in some unknown corner, nowhere to be seen!
As the two struggled in distress, two streaks of rosy light surged toward them. Both struck out to resist, scattering them cleanly with a wave of their hands—evidently just two more illusions.
*Puff!*
A muffled sound came from nearby, and Xia Yun's aura withered away. A vigorous, hazy flame expanded outwards, thinning the rosy glow considerably. Gripped by terror, Wu Weibai said in a low voice:
"Your Highness!"
Chi Zhihu felt immense frustration. He clearly possessed fine dharma artifacts and many overwhelmingly powerful arts, yet every blow fell like a punch into cotton; he could not even touch the man's shadow. The fury and terror in his heart had reached a crescendo.
*Are we really going to have to let him walk away... Wouldn't this entire setup be for nothing?!*
Lowering his gaze to watch the sword qi gushing from within the rosy glow, he bellowed in a deep voice:
"Liaokong!"
That shout rolled like thunder, putting Li Xizhi on guard as the rosy glow receded considerably. Yet several breaths passed without the slightest sound. Gritting his teeth, Chi Zhihu bellowed again:
"Liaokong!"
Only dull echoes reverberated within the grand formation. Wu Weibai's expression changed abruptly, turning dreadful as he urged in a low, urgent voice:
"Your Highness, retract the formation and withdraw at once!"
Chi Zhihu also sensed something was wrong. Terror surfaced on his face. He hurriedly formed incantation seals, his spiritual sense channeling magic power into the formation disc concealed in his sleeve.
In midair, the bright yellow formation remained completely motionless, steadily enveloping the sky.
Wu Weibai nearly coughed up blood, on the verge of fainting. Chi Zhihu formed several more seals, but seeing the grand formation in the sky standing firm as Mount Tai without the slightest tremor, the color drained from his face as well.
Wu Weibai felt a rush of blood surge to his head, consumed by absolute horror. Trembling all over, the old man discarded all honorifics and cried out in terror:
"You weren't able to borrow Wen Liuguang and the Taiyu Sword... was that it?!"
As if jolted awake from a dream, Chi Zhihu looked at him in dazed panic.
Wu Weibai raised his head in despair. The three specks of rosy light—emerald jade, earthy brown, and dark gold—were condensing within the rosy glow once more. Dozens of illusory colors from numerous clones slowly flickered, like hungry wolves baring fangs and claws in the misty rosy glow, ready at any moment to tear their prey to pieces.
Folding Fan Roster
Li Ximing had barely taken a glance when Wang Long was already busy packing up the books. Zhang Gui took two steps forward, silently picking up the volumes. The two of them stacked the thick tomes neatly before Zhang Gui finally murmured in a low voice:
"Indeed, it is not here..."
The two exchanged a glance and, as if sharing an unspoken understanding, fell silent. Wang Long uncovered a purple... underneath.
Chapter 680