Li Tongya swallowed the Yuya Pill and instantly felt the magical power within his body surge. Spiritual qi erupted from his Qihai acupoint, and he smoothly broke through to the third layer of Qi Refinement.
Compared to the hurdles at every step of the Embryonic Breathing realm, cultivation during the Qi Refinement period was often a smooth path. Some great sects even advocated dividing Qi Refinement simply into early, middle, and late stages; the entire Qi Refinement realm was like a pure accumulation of cultivation, with all obstacles condensed into a single rigorous barrier—refining qi into Foundation Establishment.
Li Tongya spent a night breaking through and another two days consolidating his cultivation. Counting the days, he muttered to himself, "I am already at the third layer of Qi Refinement, so Jing'er is most likely at the peak of Qi Refinement. I wonder how much certainty he has in achieving Foundation Establishment. Rumor has it that Nanjiang is fraught with peril; I wonder if he has been injured."
A wave of doubt rose in his heart, and Li Tongya mused inwardly, *He has been gone for quite a few years now, yet not a single letter home has been sent back...*
Suppressing his unease, Li Tongya emerged from the Meichi Mountain cave dwelling, summoned Li Xuanxuan, and asked in a low voice, "Did the Wuzuo worms spin silk this year?"
"Replying to Second Uncle, they spun silk three times, yielding six spools of silk in total."
Li Xuanxuan looked as though he had not slept all night, busy handling the demon beasts that Li Xuanfeng had hunted back, with specks of dust still clinging to his robes.
"Have someone draw the thread and sew a chi of spirit cloth."
Li Tongya stroked his chin. Watching Li Xuanxuan nod and withdraw, he thought to himself, *Only this spirit cloth can isolate spiritual sense. I might as well use it as a veil to obscure my features so no one remembers my face. It is a pity the stock is so low; it would be best if it could be made into a cloak.*
Taking down the wooden slip left behind by Li Chijing from the shelf, Li Tongya had already read it over countless times. The rawhide cord holding it together was thoroughly frayed, yet each reading filled him with wonder at its ingenuity.
Li Tongya had studied *Lunar Crescent Sword Arc* for over a decade, knowing it inside and out. However, its consumption was immense, so he had never used it in actual battle.
"Talent in the sword path truly defies comparison..."
Li Tongya gave a self-deprecating smile. The Li family juniors had all read *Mystic Water Sword Art* and Li Chijing's *Lunar Crescent Sword Arc*, yet aside from his eldest son, Li Xuanling, who possessed a bit of aptitude, neither Li Xuanfeng nor Li Xuanxuan could make head or tail of it.
After he had browsed for a while, Li Xuanxuan brought up the spirit cloth. Li Tongya received the dim gray fabric and swept it with his spiritual sense; as expected, it could not penetrate. Nodding, he put away the cloth, rose, and stepped out of the cave dwelling.
Taking out several jade bottles containing healing pills from his storage bag and stowing them away, Li Tongya unhooked the storage bag and handed it back to Li Xuanxuan. Lu Sisi was already riding the wind, touching down in the distance at the foot of the mountain. Li Tongya vaulted into the air and quietly landed beside him, cupping his hands. "Senior Lu!"
Lu Sisi nodded. Without exchanging idle chatter, the two rode the wind eastward together. Li Tongya trailed leisurely behind him, noticing that Lu Sisi was suffused with a rich, solid clear qi, his true essence far more lucid than that of the Shanyue Qi Refinement cultivators. He thought to himself, *The Lu family also cultivates an orthodox method; what he swallowed must be Xiaoqing spirit qi.*
Years ago, when Li Tongya had paid tribute alongside Wan Yuankai, he had heard that the Lu family's Qi Refinement relied on Xiaoqing spirit qi. Now he was finally seeing it for himself.
After riding the wind for a time, Mount Huaqian appeared in the distance. Lu Sisi suddenly raised his altitude, slapped his storage bag with his left hand, and a talisman appeared in his palm.
*Whoosh—*
Lu Sisi flicked his wrist and threw it. The talisman flew straight into the sky, bursting into a brilliant red blossom, whereupon silhouettes could be seen darting through the forest below.
The people on Mount Huaqian reacted exceedingly fast. A translucent barrier had already manifested, and two figures rose into the air from the mountain. The man in the lead held a long sabre, his expression solemn; it was none other than Ji Dengqi.
"You are actually at Mount Huaqian?"
Lu Sisi wore an odd expression. His jade ruyi shot forth from his hand as he chuckled, "Just as well, saving us the trouble of ambushing you. Brother An, come out!"
As soon as Lu Sisi's words fell, another figure flew out from the woods. Li Tongya glanced sideways and saw a man with heavy stubble and a large bald head. Judging by his aura, his true essence circulated briskly; he was also at the mid-Qi Refinement realm.
"Lu Sisi!"
Ji Dengqi narrowed his eyes coldly. After watching the men for two breaths, he struck back the jade ruyi with a slash of his sabre and abruptly demanded, "What happened to the Tangjin Sect?"
Li Tongya looked at the grim-faced Ji Dengqi. It felt as though he were looking at himself on the day the Shanyue suddenly attacked, remembering the cold, callous words: *Temporarily endure.* Realization struck him in an instant: *Just as with the agreement between the Shanyue and the Qingchi Sect, the current siege of these abandoned clans must also be part of the promises made between the Qingchi Sect and the Tangjin Sect. That is why Ji Dengqi received not a shred of news...*
Seeing Ji Dengqi engage the two in combat, Li Tongya followed the agreement and stepped forward to confront the other Qi Refinement cultivator of the Ji family.
This person held a long staff and possessed a youthful face, appearing no older than twenty-eight or nine. A look of nervousness and shock was plastered across his countenance. Li Tongya raised his hand slightly, sending a sweeping arc of sword qi that forced him stumbling back.
*This boy has good talent, but at a glance, he has spent twenty-odd years doing nothing but cultivating in seclusion. Even casting spells is clumsy for him.*
Li Tongya forced him back with another sword strike, nearly knocking the staff from his grip. On the other side, Ji Dengqi parried the two opponents, but catching this in his peripheral vision, he could no longer hold back from shouting, "Friend with the sword! My Ji family is in the inner circle of the Tangjin Sect's Young Master! Do not be duped by those two! Withdraw now, and my Ji family will not pursue the matter with your esteemed self!"
Li Tongya sneered. Striking away the young man's staff with a slash, he felt possessed by some strange impulse and spoke aloud, "My surname is Wan!"
Ji Dengqi was instantly struck dumb. Parrying Lu Sisi's jade ruyi with his sabre, he used the recoil to flee northward.
"Don't you run!"
Lu Sisi hurried to intercept Ji Dengqi alongside the An-surnamed man. Meanwhile, Li Tongya reached out to catch the long staff. The Ji family Qi Refinement cultivator opposite him had already fled southward, his true essence lucid and clear; it seemed he, too, had swallowed Xiaoqing spirit qi.
Li Tongya rode the wind in pursuit. With River true essence churning, his speed was a notch faster than the young man's. Driven to desperation, the youth looked back and hurled several Embryonic Breathing talismans, making Li Tongya's heart ache at the waste.
*Those are my spoils of war.*
Li Tongya cleaved apart the incoming spells with a slash, having already made a mental comparison.
True essence tempered from swallowing river clear qi was denser and sturdier than Xiaoqing spirit qi, and straight flight speed was noticeably faster. It was only slightly slower in sharp turns and leaps, which was of little consequence.
Riding the wind for several dozen li, Li Tongya shattered the man's protective true essence with a sword stroke, then shifted his grip and thrust straight into his back. The young man cried out in agony and tumbled crookedly from the sky.
Li Tongya slowly trailed behind. Seeing that the youth was in too much pain to hold a hand seal, crashing onto the ground in a bloody mess with the crunch of fracturing bones, the young man still reached for his storage bag. Quick of eye and deft of hand, Li Tongya severed his arm with a sword strike. Watching the man writhe in unbearable agony, he turned his blade and put an end to his life.
Flicking up the man's storage bag with his sword tip, Li Tongya stowed the staff held in his other hand into it, then tied the pouch to his waist. Now he had a storage bag to use.
With no time to inspect his spoils, Li Tongya rode the wind and flew back toward Mount Huaqian. From afar, he saw the three figures still trading blows in the sky, so he brandished his sword and slashed at Mount Huaqian's formation.
What guarded Mount Huaqian was naturally no longer the Earth-Locking Huaqian Formation of old, but a newly erected formation of the Ji family. Possessing defensive strength merely at the peak of Embryonic Breathing, a single sword strike pierced a gaping hole in it, though it slowly began to regenerate.
Li Tongya slashed over a dozen times. Battered by his attacks and simultaneously assaulted by the Lu family members at the foot of the mountain, the formation flickered erratically. Unable to sustain its magical power, it shattered with a resounding crash.
"Charge!"
The clash of blades and shouts erupted from the base of the mountain. Li Tongya concealed his presence and descended straight into the courtyard.
The surroundings were desolate and strewn with wreckage. Sweeping with his spiritual sense, Li Tongya found that the people on the mountain had all fled to the foot, and the several storerooms were empty as well. Curling his lip, Li Tongya hovered in the air, circled once, and located the entrance to the cave dwelling.
The formation at the cave entrance was still rather sturdy. It took over a dozen streaks of Li Tongya's sword qi before the formation began to flicker, but just then, a tremendous roar shook the air.
*Rumble!*
Up in the sky, Lu Sisi's true essence completely dispersed. Charred black all over, he vomited blood and tumbled crookedly into the woods. The bald man hurriedly backed away, crying out in shock, "What kind of talisman was that?!"
Ji Dengqi kept his mouth shut, his face ashen, and slashed his sabre toward the man. The bald man scrambled to evade and shouted, "You surnamed Wan! I can't match him alone, come help!"
Li Tongya cursed inwardly. He had no choice but to abandon the cave dwelling, riding the wind up from Mount Huaqian. Facing Ji Dengqi, he fired a streak of sword qi straight toward the man's back.
"Wan family remnant!"
Ji Dengqi's eyes widened in fury. Twisting around, he slashed sideways to shatter the sword qi, then raised his sabre and hacked straight down.
Ji Dengqi's true essence was sharp and turbulent, and his sabre technique was ferocious and heavy. Li Tongya parried several strikes with his sword ray, stepping back through the air with each blow.
The bald man's hand seals conjured spells that clung like maggots on a bone, forcing Ji Dengqi to turn and block, only for Li Tongya's sword qi to strike at his back once more.
Ji Dengqi was stretched thin on both sides. After parrying for the span of an incense stick, the screams of the Ji family members below grew sparser and sparser. Gritting his teeth, Ji Dengqi produced a talisman from his hand and activated it.
"Look out!"
Li Tongya and the bald man hastily retreated, but the talisman merely drifted through the air, popping with a few faint sparks. When they turned back to look, Ji Dengqi had already flown a considerable distance.
"We've been duped!"
While the bald man was still cursing in regret, Li Tongya had already stepped forward several paces, saying in a low voice, "We must never let him escape! Pursue!"
Ji Dengqi had fought the bald man and Lu Sisi for a long time. Seeing that he could hold out no longer, he had used his trump-card talisman, only for Li Tongya to take over the fray. The true essence in his body was nearly depleted, leaving him no choice but to flee northward with everything he had.
He had fled for only a few breaths when a jade ruyi came crashing straight down at his head. He was forced to halt and raise his sabre, brought to an abrupt stop.
Lu Sisi was rising into the air, flying crookedly on the wind, his legs stained with blood and looking thoroughly fractured. Blood still hung at the corner of the old man's mouth, and his beard and hair bristled with rage as he shouted harshly, "Don't you dare let him get away!"
Halted by the jade ruyi, Ji Dengqi was overtaken by Li Tongya's sword. Ji Dengqi raised his weapon in hateful defense, his eyes bloodshot, knowing full well that there was no way out for him today.
Seeing the desperate resolve on Ji Dengqi's face, Li Tongya deliberately lagged half a beat behind. Watching the bald man charge forward to meet the blow, he held his sword ready and stared coldly at Ji Dengqi.
Ji Dengqi burst into laughter. Unhooking the storage bag from his waist, he hurled it far into the distance, then turned and raised his sabre toward the advancing bald man. Golden light flared in waves along the blade, heavy and powerful, clearly driven by his full strength.
Li Tongya and Lu Sisi exchanged a glance, and both used their true essence to seize the storage bag. Meanwhile, the bald man took several chops from Ji Dengqi's sabre; numb in the hands and weak in the legs from the impact, he cried out in alarm and fell back.
Ji Dengqi pressed his advantage relentlessly. Upward swept his long sabre, aiming straight for the bald man's chest in a bid to trade life for life. The bald man had no choice but to dodge aside, only to catch a glimpse of a cold gleam bursting from Ji Dengqi's chest.
*Pfft.*
Ji Dengqi coughed up blood and turned his head, just in time to see Li Tongya withdrawing his sword, shaking off the blood from the blade. His body went limp and plunged to the earth, dyeing a large patch of ground crimson.
The two descended and added several spells to ensure the man was thoroughly dead. Only then did Lu Sisi fly over on the wind, clutching the storage bag, his fractured legs having received preliminary bandaging. Beaming with delight, he asked, "Who will go with me to the Ji family's old lair, Mount Huazhong?"
"You two go ahead. I will search Mount Huaqian."
Li Tongya sighed, putting on a dispirited appearance. Most of the spirit stones and spiritual treasures were likely in Ji Dengqi's storage bag; Lu Sisi, being farther from Ji Dengqi, had surprisingly gained the advantage of proximity to snatch it first, which was truly a pity.
Mount Huazhong held little more than the Ji family's heritage scriptures. Since Lu Sisi had already sworn a Xuanjing Spiritual Oath to share them, Li Tongya had no interest in making the trip. It was far better to inspect the cave dwelling on Mount Huaqian.
The An-surnamed man nodded and rode the wind away with Lu Sisi. Li Tongya turned back toward Mount Huaqian.
Mount Huaqian was already in ruins, filled with weeping and cries for help. A ring of Lu family members had gathered before the cave dwelling. Having seen him fighting alongside Lu Sisi earlier, they naturally bowed their heads upon seeing him and addressed him as "Senior."
Li Tongya nodded. He spent the time it took an incense stick to burn bombarding and shattering the cave dwelling's formation, then strode inside openly, leaving the Lu family members staring blankly at one another, stranded outside the entrance.
Entering the cave dwelling, Li Tongya was greeted by a clear spring gushing outward. Sweeping it with his spiritual sense, he reached into the spring and fished out several pieces of jade.
Stowing the jade away, Li Tongya blasted open the stone door without pause. Inside sat a tea table and stone stools, upon which rested two jade bottles, one large and one small.
The small jade bottle contained Yuya Pills, which Li Tongya casually tucked away. The large jade bottle, however, could not be stored in a storage bag. Sending his spiritual sense into it, Li Tongya found that it held a wisp of heaven-and-earth spirit qi, sharp and dazzling. He had no choice but to tie the jade bottle to his waist.
The remaining stone rooms held only sundry goods, along with several letters sent back by the Ji family's daughter. Written with heartfelt affection, they had been carefully pressed beneath wooden slips by Ji Dengqi. Looking at the dates, the most recent letter was already five years old.
"So the Young Master of the Tangjin Sect is named Situ Yi..."
Li Tongya read through them with a furrowed brow, a trace of astonishment slowly surfacing on his face as he murmured the words:
*"The Qingchi Sect has been making frequent moves in recent years; take extreme care at home. If the Shanyue invade eastward, do not contend with them for victory. That great shaman waited a hundred years to finally find someone capable of uniting the Northern Foothills to serve as a sacrifice. He must under no circumstances be killed; the wrath of the Purple Palace realm is not something we can bear..."*
Cold sweat broke out all over Li Tongya, his hair standing on end. Silently stowing the letter into his storage bag, he muttered to himself:
"No wonder... no wonder Jianixi raided Mount Lijing in the east and invaded the clans under the Tangjin Sect in the north without anyone calling him to account, even telling us to 'temporarily endure'... What a massive price that great shaman must have paid! Letting the various branches of the Shanyue invade was entirely to provide cover for Jianixi alone! What ruthless, colossal scheming!"
"Sweeping through the tribes to forge the only unified clan in the Northern Foothills in a century, only to use this chosen one of heaven as a sacrifice—how utterly venomous! Once Jianixi dies, who knows how much turmoil will engulf the Northern Foothills!"
Li Tongya felt as though the sky overhead had turned pitch-black. Slowly raising his head, he narrowed his eyes at the ceiling of the stone chamber. It was as if, through the layered mountain rock and the cloudless night sky, he could see immense hands shifting chess pieces across the board.
Chapter 98