Family Cultivation: I Become a Mirror-Chapter 96 - 95

Li Jingtian was stunned for a moment, his expression somewhat sorrowful. He patted Li Xuanling's head gently and said in a soft voice,

"I have troubled you to take action."

No sooner had Li Jingtian's words left his mouth, than a clamor rose from outside the tent. Many voices were shouting, and Mu Jiaoman's deep, angry voice came from the sky:

"You again? Who in the world are you? Challenging us time and time again! Do you really think we're made of clay and can't fight back?"

Li Xuanling and Li Jingtian exchanged a glance, then swiftly threw back the tent curtain, to see a middle-aged man standing on thin air above the encampment, holding a sword. His body was half-transparent with a pale blue River True Essence flowing all around him as he looked down at the rapidly gathering Shanyue soldiers below. It was none other than Li Tongya.

Li Tongya stood with Green Peak in hand, his expression calm as he swept his gaze over the numerous Shanyue below. His voice, augmented by Mana, echoed throughout the entire encampment:

"My Li Family and Shanyue have always kept to our own waters. Yet you have attacked my Li Family's Lijing Mountain without cause, seizing Spirit Rice, abducting people, and now you ask who I am?"

Below, Li Xuanling took a deep breath and exclaimed in a low voice with joy,

"It's Father!"

Mu Jiaoman, unable to contain his fury, rose into the air, followed by two of the Shanyue's Qi Cultivated sorcerers. He said in a deep voice,

"The passage through Four Ridge Mountain as payment was promised by your Demon Sect! Why go back on your word now? The Spirit Rice, Spirit Fruit, and people that have entered our pockets are now Shanyue's possessions."

Warily eyeing the undulating Sword Radiance in Li Tongya's hand, Mu Jiaoman ground his teeth and said,

"If you leave now, we won't hold this against you."

Li Tongya let out a cold laugh, his hand already raising the grey-white longsword, sending out several Sword Qi, startling Mu Jiaoman and his two companions into a defensive stance.

Li Tongya had already crossed paths with Mu Jiaoman and the others about a dozen days prior while searching for Li Xiangping, and they knew all too well this man was not easy to deal with. In a panic, they quickly resorted to casting spells and forming hand seals.

The three used Shanyue tribe's secret techniques to advance their Qi Refinement and were powered by mixed Qi haphazardly cultivated without proper Qi Gathering Methods. Their Mana was inferior to Li Tongya's, and their skills in manipulating Qi and controlling wind even more so, placing them at a disadvantage once again.

Li Tongya had arduously practiced the Mysterious Water Sword Technique for nearly thirty years. His Sword Radiance was both swift and sharp, and in that instant, he put the trio on the defensive, causing chaos in the encampment akin to a pot exploding.

"Now's our chance!"

Li Xuanling swiftly kicked off the shackles on his leg, grabbed Li Jingtian, and with one hand, snapped the neck of a Shanyue guard at the entrance. He then hurriedly took a few steps and leaped over the wooden fence.

There were two more Shanyue soldiers guarding outside the fence. They stood with their mouths open, staring blankly into the sky. Li Xuanling struck down both men with two flashes of Golden Light Technique, not caring whether they lived or died. After casting the Godspeed Technique on his legs and clutching Li Jingtian, he dove into the forest.

His movements were smooth and swift, like a leopard. Taking advantage of everyone looking up into the sky, in a dozen breaths or so, he had escaped the encampment with Li Jingtian. Only then did a few people by the military tents start to react, by which time his trace had vanished.

There was no real expert around, and the few who were at the Fetal Breathing Realm had long gone to quell the chaos. The Spiritual Sense of those at the Qi Cultivation Level reached only up to thirty feet, and those above were completely unaware.

"How infuriating!"

Mu Jiaoman roared angrily from the air, his teeth itching with rage, and shouted loudly,

"If our chief were here, he would never tolerate your insolence!"

Ganixi, with his Seventh Layer of Qi Cultivation, had an extraordinary encounter in his early years. Not only did he cultivate a legitimate technique, but he also consumed a type of nature's spiritual energy. His knife technique was so expert that he managed to suppress the many forces big and small throughout the North Foothills, including a total of seven Qi Cultivators who practiced witchcraft.

Li Tongya couldn't bother to respond to him; he merely compared Ganixi's strength with that of Li Chijin in his mind. With a flick of his Green Peak sword, he thought to himself:

"I'm merely at the Second Layer of Qi Cultivation, and among these three, one is at the Fourth Layer while the others are at the Second Layer, all of them suppressed by the Mysterious Water Sword Qi alone. If this continues for too long, I might indeed be worn down to death here; I must stay alert."

With a wave of sword qi that forced the three encircling attackers back, Li Tongya looked down with some concern, noticing that the fortress at his feet was slowly stabilizing. He contemplated:

"I wonder if the two children have escaped yet. After a dozen or so more exchanges, I'll retreat and wait for another opportunity."

After parrying a dozen moves, Li Tongya once again swung his sword to force the three attackers back, then silently stepped through the air and headed east. Mu Jiaoman shouted angrily:

"How audacious! Do you really think you can come and go as you please?"

Mu Jiaoman gritted his teeth, rubbed his hands together, and spat out a stream of black qi. His vitality dropped a notch, revealing the adeptness of Shanyue's witchcraft and sorcery.

The thick black qi spiraled for a moment before swelling several times in size, topped by a giant skull that raced straight towards Li Tongya.

Lu Jiangxian, watching the spectacle from below, was taken aback. The black qi was all too familiar, vaguely hinting at the flavor of the creations of the Dharma Mirror, and he even felt he could simply hook a finger and draw the black qi to himself and consume it.

After mulling over it for a few breaths and seeing Mu Jiaoman's diminished vitality, Lu Jiangxian chose to keep his own identity hidden rather than indulge in what seemed like an unimpressive treat. He continued to feign death within the mirror but with a movement of his divine sense, he observed Li Tongya's condition closely.

Li Tongya, though high in the air and not understanding the sorcery used by the Shanyue chieftain, knew it was definitely not benevolent. He zigzagged through the air to avoid it, but the black qi surged faster and faster, finally slamming into his back.

Mu Jiaoman laughed loudly, proclaiming:

"The witchcraft and sorcery are marvelously strange; no matter where you fly, to the ends of the world, you cannot escape."

Li Tongya felt a chill in his hands and feet; the mana within his body moved a bit more stiffly, slowing down his flight by a fraction. After feeling carefully for a while, he noticed nothing else strange.

"That's it?"

Li Tongya was even slightly startled. Seeing that even though his speed had slowed, he was still pulling away from the three who were following behind, his expression became somewhat peculiar.

Mu Jiaoman was both shocked and furious, perceiving the unusual looks from his two subordinates, he felt like there were thorns in his back and muttered to himself:

"What the hell is going on?"

Only Lu Jiangxian, who was quietly moving through the woods with Li Xuanling, silently chuckled. He sensed that the majority of the black qi's control had been usurped by his divine sense and had become inert on Li Tongya's clothes; he thoroughly analyzed the structure of the black qi.

"It's somewhat like Talisman Qi, yet it's far from the same. It's as if the object of prayer in the 'Sacrificial Method' has been switched from the Dharma Mirror to the spellcaster himself, significantly weakening and modifying it. It's more like a last resort without a Dharma Mirror..."

"The way of witchcraft must have many connections to the Dharma Mirror!"

Recalling the Golden Core Yellow Charm from the Great Jue Court, Lu Jiangxian stored the inspiration he had gained from the black qi silently in his heart. Dispersing the black qi on the spot, he thought:

"When I have the time, I might as well study this thing to save myself from having nothing to do in the Dharma Mirror all day, doing nothing but sleeping."