Wenhu

Yet when it came to these direct descendants of his clan, Li Zhouwei still hoped they could devote more time to their own cultivation. Over the years, Li Minggong and Li Chengkun had both been delayed quite a bit. Affairs on Mount Qingdu were inevitable, but the rest was truly a waste of time. 'Back then at Lake Wangyue, the Fei and Yu families... Though the Yu family had an illustrious ancestry, their lineage was wiped out long ago, leaving no direct line. Fortunately, we gained the An family, which has now become our backbone. As for the Fei family... their forebears were never distinguished, and it was hard for them to produce Foundation Establishment cultivators... Moreover, they are an external tributary, so in the end, it is somewhat different.' The An father, sons, and even grandsons all held good positions within the Li family, and An Siwei was the first foreign-surname Foundation Establishment cultivator. Though they were utterly loyal, having things this way was ultimately not a good thing. Li Zhouwei had actually kept this matter in mind all along. Taking note of it as they galloped past, he committed the sizes of the cities and the numbers of cultivators to memory. Calculating the time, he said: "Baiye Duxian Dao most likely knows by now. Flying here by spirit boat will take them less than a quarter of an hour!" Li Zhouwei had spoken with Li Ximing beforehand. As a Violet Palace master, Li Ximing had been exceedingly lenient toward Wenhu, clearly displaying from start to finish an attitude of refusing to stir up trouble and wishing to keep the peace. Their Li clan's sudden, violent strike was something Duxian Dao had most likely not foreseen. Yet fearing that Duxian Dao possessed no shortage of bizarre techniques and could not be judged like an ordinary lineage, it was safest to assume they had become aware of the attack the very moment it began. Li Chengkun nodded and replied, "A quarter of an hour... We only have time to take two more mountains. Once the people from Baiye Duxian Dao arrive, regardless of how they choose to handle it, we will most likely sink into a stalemate and have to repartition the territory. It will be difficult to make a move afterward." Duxian Dao was, after all, a Violet Palace sect relocated from the East Sea, nothing the people of Miyun Cave could compare to. In the entire Miyun Cave, the most outstanding in prowess was Wenhu, yet in Duxian Dao, he was merely on the level of a "Peak Master," while Miaoshui was only a guest elder. "Take two more mountains..." Even taking two more mountains would account for only forty percent of the territory—not even enough to split Miyun's lands evenly with Duxian Dao. Li Zhouwei was hardly satisfied with that, and that was only one reason. "What is more... the Ding family is still at the foot of Mount Hongfu, Miyun Cave's main mountain..." When Fuyun Cave fell, the Ding family—a prominent local clan with over ten thousand members—had naturally been carted off to the foot of Mount Hongfu. Ding Weizeng was bound to be a capable pillar of the Li family going forward; leaving his clansmen in enemy hands was by no means a good thing. Seeing Li Zhouwei frown, Li Chengkun, who clearly understood the situation as well, said in a deep voice, "If we can take Hongfu Peak, seventy percent of the territory will fall into our hands." "Taking it would be best. But if Clan Uncle goes with me, can Aunt and An Siwei's group still conquer the two mountains to the rear? If they cannot, and we push forward as an isolated force, we will be in trouble!" Li Zhouwei had a Violet Palace talisman in hand named Xuanjin Baoyou, which could summon a divine ability to protect him, allowing him to come and go freely north of the river. This talisman had originally been bestowed upon Yu Muxian by Real Person Yuanwu. When Yu Muxian was slain by their immortal sword, this Violet Palace talisman had fallen into their family's hands. As for the Dao of Talismans, in Qingchi at the time, only two people had attained the Violet Palace realm: one was Chi Wei, who cultivated Lushui—since Lushui aided talisman craft—and the other was naturally Real Person Yuanxiu, who possessed deep ancestral pedigree. Li Xuanfeng had previously asked Yuansu about this talisman; it had been drawn by Yuanxiu. Having hailed from the same master, Yuansu naturally recognized it. Thus, Li Zhouwei now had a Violet Palace talisman at his disposal and could break away even if besieged. But the same could not be said for Li Chengkun. As he was speaking, the Great Void rippled, and out flew an imposing man with a swallow's jaw and curling whiskers. Tall yet agile, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted like a tiger and bear, he wore a suit of crimson soft armor, looking truly formidable. "Greetings, Family Head!" Li Ximing sending Ding Weizeng over this time truly resolved an urgent crisis! Li Zhouwei chuckled and said in a clear voice, "Congratulations, Weizeng!" "This subordinate dares not accept such praise!" Ding Weizeng's build was like a tiger, standing a full head taller than those beside him. Li Zhouwei knew that Li Ximing had healed his injuries, and felt immense gratification. But now was not the time for long chatter, so he merely said: "With Weizeng taking action, I have full confidence! Clan Uncle, you and Aunt Minggong lead our people to sweep flat the rear. Weizeng and I will make an immediate dash for Mount Hongfu to rescue the Ding family!" He stowed his halberd. When these words fell, Ding Weizeng was genuinely stunned, only then realizing that the entire Ding family had already been taken to Mount Hongfu. Deeply moved, he nevertheless advised: "Family Head, Mount Hongfu is held by Wenhu and others, four Foundation Establishment cultivators in total. Wenhu, Wang He, and the rest are not to be underestimated, and they rely on a Foundation Establishment grand array. Relying solely on the two of us may be pushing things too far." Li Zhouwei merely summoned Miaoshui forward and smiled. "We have her too!" Ding Weizeng frowned, yet still rode the wind eastward alongside him. As Li Zhouwei sped through the wind with him, he smiled and said: "Besides... given the current situation, could there really still be four Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding Mount Hongfu? And must I attack Mount Hongfu head-on? Not to mention, his Immortal Foundation is Juguinyin, while my family cultivates Mingyang, Thunder, and True Fire... He is running straight into our blades!" *** "Li Zhouwei broke through Tanshui Mound?" Wenhu's eyes were sinister and cold as he stood amidst the mountains, his heart seized with extreme unease. Ever since learning that Chidu had not gone to the Li family, Wenhu had appeared nonchalant on the surface, but inwardly he knew things were ruined. Relations between the Li clan and Duxian Dao backing him were bound to deteriorate, and caught in the middle, his fate would likely be grim. 'What kind of madness is this...' Distressed and frantic, he knew that Baiye Duxian Dao would learn the news not much later than he did, yet he still sent someone to notify them, pacing in circles with anxiety. "In my present predicament, aside from holding off the Li family as much as possible for Duxian Dao... there is no other path!" The worries he had felt upon leaving the Li family had proven prophetic, yet Wenhu had never imagined it would come so swiftly. What was sadder still was that Pingwangzi's words had also come true: 'Birds fly to the woods, men turn to a lord; where is there room to straddle both sides?' "The people from Baiye Duxian Dao will arrive immediately, so I needn't fear for my life. Right now, no one can stop Li Zhouwei; only I can personally step forth." Though he had only been a guest elder in the East Sea with little major experience, he still knew how to ward off enemies. He designated one person to guard the mountain, while the remaining two accompanied him out of the formation to reinforce the front. Wenhu understood deeply that anyone in Miyun Cave could surrender to the Li clan, but not him. He had been personally recruited by Daoist Chidu; the others served him, but he alone served a Violet Palace master. "Violet Palace masters stand high above; there is nothing between them that cannot be settled amicably. These lands are mere bargaining chips. If I surrender to the Li clan, once the two sides make peace, they will surely offer me up as a scapegoat. "Right now, the only way to save my life is to fully support Duxian Dao and resist the Li family. The fiercer I fight, the more likely I am to survive. At most, it won't exceed half an hour; Li Zhouwei cannot kill me!" Wenhu was, after all, Chidu's man and had seen the wider world. Where Miaoshui had needed Li Zhouwei's reminder, Wenhu understood the stakes on his own. Emerging from the mountains, he sped forward along the way. Yet barely a hundred li out, a bright flash suddenly burst before his eyes, followed by a searing pain in his chest. "Ah!" Wenhu vaguely caught sight of a string of sparks trailing dense white mist rising from his chest. Immediately after came another stabbing pain, with a brilliant beam of light sweeping from afar. He hastily sealed the wound on his chest, swallowed back his blood, and roared: "Li Zhouwei!" The halberd expanded rapidly from the distance like a shooting star. A cold sweat broke out across Wenhu's body. He believed Li Zhouwei could not kill him, but that did not mean he could protect himself if struck by two preemptive blows from this white qilin. Hastily clapping his hands together, he conjured a burst of clear qi. As the clear qi surged, Wenhu materialized over a dozen zhang away. His wound had been sealed, but his magical power still surged with intermittent weakness. He secretly congratulated himself: 'Fortunately... Mingyang is an open and upright path. Ambushing someone with celestial light naturally diminishes its might by a few parts... Otherwise, that blow alone would have been more than I could stomach...' The halberd was already thrusting toward his chest. Wenhu dared not utter any curses; he merely activated his white jade magical implement and cast out talismans to ward it off. Before him, the youth manifested, his golden eyes deep and somber as he smiled: "You are quite clever!" Clang! Accompanying his words, the halberd whipped against the magical implement, shattering the radiant glow of the talismans into fragments. The white jade magical implement groaned and creaked. Wenhu had specially bought this object after True Monarch Shangyuan attained his title, and it had indeed served a great purpose. Right then, Wenhu spat out a plume of black qi. Whoosh! A gale abruptly howled through the forest, thick with chilling black qi. A light drizzle was already falling, which only made his Immortal Foundation, Juguinyin, all the more potent, causing frost to secretly form in every direction. Yet Wenhu had no confidence in his heart. For no other reason than that the Li family was led by a Mingyang Violet Palace master! Sure enough, Li Zhouwei simply drew a small banner from his sleeve and tossed it lightly into the air. In an instant, the wind ceased and the rain stopped. Five hues of Lihuo—brownish-yellow, pale yellow, goose yellow, bright red, and vermilion—leaped forth, blazing so brightly that the surroundings were illuminated, and the yin qi was utterly dispelled. Wenhu felt helpless, but he had at least bought a moment of respite. His two subordinates quickly gathered round; one of them held a feather fan, Wenhu's capable right-hand man Wang He, who wore a look of considerable trepidation. Before Wenhu could rejoice, a reddish-bronze halo emerged, and a burly man with the jaw of a swallow and curling whiskers manifested in midair. His face bore a sneer, his eyes glaring straight at them. "Ding... Wei... zeng!" For the first time, Wenhu's mind was stunned into a blank void. He swiftly realized what had happened. Black qi rolled in his hands, only to see Ding Weizeng, an icy expression on his face, press Wang He down with a single palm strike. Ding Weizeng stood suspended in midair, like a ferocious tiger watching its prey. In an instant, Wenhu's mind went completely blank as envy, jealousy, and dread surged into his heart all at once. In all fairness, Wenhu did not wish to offend the Li clan, nor did he wish to offend the Duxian Dao behind him. He knew he was something that barely even qualified as a pawn; if either side bore a grudge against him, his end would be wretched beyond measure. That was precisely why he, Wenhu, had chosen not to defend Mount Hongfu! Did he not know that stubbornly defending Mount Hongfu was the method of minimal loss? If four people stood firm within the Foundation Establishment grand array, no matter how Li Zhouwei tried to conquer it, the total territorial loss would never exceed half. With Mount Hongfu preserved until Duxian Dao arrived, the Li clan would never gain any advantage in the entire Miyun Cave region. Yet within Duxian Dao, Chidu already had plenty of enemies. If Wenhu simply hid in the mountain like a dead man, those stubborn Dao-cultivating ghosts of Duxian Dao would certainly raise their voices. He, Wenhu, had to be gravely wounded, and losing territory would then be taken for granted—after all, the opposing side was a Violet Palace immortal family, and the attacker was none other than Li Zhouwei. And had he held firm, the Li clan's interests would have been severely thwarted, causing them to despise him to death. Wenhu did not wish to provoke the Violet Palace Master Zhaojing and Li Zhouwei, who was immensely likely to attain the Violet Palace in the future. Only yielding Mount Hongfu would satisfy the Li family. Thus, between incurring blame for mediocrity versus incurring blame for harboring treacherous intentions and showing cowardice in battle, he had chosen the former. In his calculations, Miaoshui had nine chances out of ten surrendered; Li Zhouwei would take the opportunity to occupy the mountain, then circle back to besiege him, batter him into severe injury, whereupon Duxian Dao's reinforcements would arrive. How the two factions partitioned the territory thereafter would have nothing to do with him—only that way would he offend neither side! Yet Li Zhouwei had intercepted him right here... and Ding Weizeng, whom he had found an eyesore in every possible way, had actually become a key pillar of the Li family! Wenhu nearly lost his composure, unable to stop the indignant thoughts raging in his mind: 'A hundred schemes cannot compare to handsome looks and a fine lineage... A thousand weighings cannot match good fortune turning disaster into blessing!' Yet, having risen from a mere rogue cultivator to rival the Foundation Establishment cultivators of great sects, his mindset was far beyond ordinary men. His mind cleared instantly. Even though his entire body was emitting wisps of green smoke under the glare of celestial light, he gritted his teeth and did his utmost to fend off Li Zhouwei's halberd arts. If one truly compared them, Wenhu's cultivation was far higher than Li Zhouwei's, having already broken through to the late Foundation Establishment stage. Were it any other Dao Foundation, he could most likely have traded blows back and forth with this white qilin. Now, his magical implements and spells were both inferior, his Immortal Foundation was thoroughly suppressed by the other, and his chest had been pierced preemptively by his opponent's opening strike. His magical power struggled to circulate, leaving him able only to rely on his rich experience and deep foundation to barely hold his ground. Li Zhouwei had no time to let him drag things out. He formed an incantation with one hand, extending his index finger forward. Faint rays of solar light pierced through the clouds above, and a bright radiance lit up at his fingertip! "Solar Yingli Technique!" The *Solar Yingli Technique* was a skill of myriad variations. At this moment, mirroring the sunlight, it held fast the jade shield. The halberd's dark silhouette bore down heavily, thrusting straight toward Wenhu's wound. Yet Wenhu was no ordinary cultivator. Biting down hard on the tip of his tongue, he spat out a mouthful of vital blood, which hissed and roared within his mouth before erupting into a deep black radiance that surged toward Li Zhouwei, shattering the celestial light around him into fragments. For the first time, a look of surprise crossed Li Zhouwei's face. "Chongyuan Great Gale?" This was naturally not the true Chongyuan Great Gale renowned for knocking down magical implements; Wenhu had merely imitated a fraction of its wonder by relying on his Dao Foundation, Juguinyin. Yet it was enough to catch ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators off guard and caused Li Zhouwei to falter slightly. However, Li Zhouwei was familiar with this wind. The Chongyuan Great Gale from his own family's Chongming Dongxuan Screen was what truly deserved to be called formidable; it was just that the implement was of extraordinary origin and was currently kept in Li Ximing's hands. With a light wrench, Li Zhouwei broke free, and the great wind lost its source. Although Wenhu had not expected him to break free so quickly, his next spell had already finished gathering, condensing into a stream of black light around him. He barked coldly: "Edict!" A beam of black magical light surged forth, stirring up howling gales and chilling ghostly qi. The space between Li Zhouwei's brows lit up as well, and Shangyao Fuguang flew out, colliding head-on with that black magical light with a violent roar. Boom! Shangyao Fuguang blasted the black magical light into oblivion without suspense, crashing down upon Wenhu as he wielded his jade shield in the distance. It battered the jade shield until white smoke billowed and fissures covered its surface. Yet Li Zhouwei narrowed his eyes slightly, sweeping his golden gaze across the scene. "Fine spell!" Taking a step northward, Li Zhouwei bypassed the Wenhu standing there, his halberd gleaming with radiant celestial light as it thrust into midair. A muffled groan of pain sounded, and a figure was struck out of thin air, covered in blood. Who could it be if not Wenhu? "To cultivate a petty Juguinyin to such a state... You can truly be considered a talent!"