Don't Give Me Opportunities

Liu Xiaolou drew the Three Xuan Sword, and the Bewitching Incense on his wrist poked its head out. He slowly walked towards the trees where Wei Hongqing and the others had disappeared, stopping at each step, ready to engage the enemy at any moment.

After walking for a while, he found he couldn't move forward, which made him extremely puzzled.

Suddenly, an abyss appeared beneath his feet. Liu Xiaolou, caught off guard, tumbled in. In his alarm, he thrust the Three Xuan Sword towards the ten-thousand-fathom cliffs on either side, trying to embed it into the rocky peaks. The Misty Incense Tendon on his wrist also whipped out, seeking to entwine itself around protruding rocks or tenacious grass roots on the cliff face.

But each attempt was in vain. The sword blade always missed the crevices, and the Misty Incense Tendon could never find a suitable point to grip. He continued to fall towards the bottom of the abyss, tumbling head over heels.

An unending descent...

He kept falling, but the bottom never came.

Liu Xiaolou suddenly realized: this was an illusion formation.

It was his first time encountering an illusion formation, and being lost within its illusions was truly a peculiar experience. He wanted to break free from the illusion, but for the moment, he had no means to do so. He could only watch himself continue to plummet towards the unfathomably deep abyss.

Suddenly, a volley of crossbow bolts burst from a cliff face on one side, their tips glinting coldly, aimed directly at his ribs!

Liu Xiaolou, unable to maneuver in mid-air, could only raise his sword to block. But the volley of bolts was incredibly fierce, with inches-long arrow energy erupting from each arrowhead. With his current cultivation, he doubted he could withstand it.

Was this attack real or fake?

In his panic, Liu Xiaolou couldn't tell. He could only prepare for the worst, desperately channeling his true essence into the Three Xuan Sword to resist the lightning-like power of the crossbow bolts.

An arm emerged from the cliff face on the other side, grabbed his collar, and flung him sideways towards the cliff. Liu Xiaolou watched as he was about to slam hard into the rock face. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, everything from before had vanished. He was back in the forest, hurtling towards a large tree.

At the same time, several crossbow bolts whizzed past him, narrowly missing him!

It was Wei Hongqing who had acted in the critical moment, saving him from the arrows.

Liu Xiaolou pushed off the tree trunk with his feet, using the momentum to land. He saw a person sitting cross-legged before him, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, with shattered remnants of formation arrays scattered around his knees.

It could only be the Western Mountain Hermit.

Liu Xiaolou stared blankly. "Hermit..."

Wei Hongqing and the others had already surrounded the Western Mountain Hermit. Tan Bazhang said angrily, "Xiaolou, the thief we were looking for, it's him! He stole from us and then dared to ambush you. You almost died by his hand! We were so worried about rescuing him, and he's a heartless wretch!"

Zuo Gaofeng was even more furious. Two crossbow bolts were lodged in his leg and arm, the arrowheads buried deep in his flesh, his blood flowing freely. He was so enraged he couldn't speak. He raised his axes, then lowered them, hesitating several times before finally not striking. He looked towards Wei Hongqing.

Wei Hongqing asked softly, "Why?"

The Western Mountain Hermit had run out of crossbow bolts. Surrounded by the four of them, he knew there was no escape. He tossed an empty jade box onto the ground, a spirit elixir held in his palm. He shouted, "I was foolish for a moment. It's too late to say anything now. I only ask that you brothers spare my life, otherwise, I will destroy this Foundation Establishment Pill!"

Tan Bazhang spat, "Pah! Who's your brother? You ungrateful dog!"

The Western Mountain Hermit gave a wry smile. "A Foundation Establishment Pill, is that a small gain? If I had stayed with you then, I wouldn't have ended up like this... You shouldn't have given me a chance, you shouldn't have..."

Wei Hongqing looked at him steadily. "Hermit, you're only at Qi Refining Layer 8. If you want to take a Foundation Establishment Pill, how can you possibly do it without ten or twenty years? What use is it to you now? When you reach Layer 10 Perfection, you can still seek for spirit elixirs, and it won't be too late..."

The Western Mountain Hermit shook his head. "Then it will be too late. How difficult is it to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill? I am fifty this year. By the time I reach Layer 10 Perfection, I will be at least sixty. Where will I find the time to search for a Foundation Establishment Pill?"

Tan Bazhang roared, "So what? You betrayed your brothers? You wanted to hoard it all for yourself?"

The Western Mountain Hermit ignored him and said to Wei Hongqing, "Hongqing, spare my life, let me go, and you can keep the Foundation Establishment Pill. How about it?"

Seeing Wei Hongqing hesitate, he added, "You know, I have a niece in Yongshun who hasn't grown up yet. Her parents passed away long ago, and I'm the one raising her. If I die..."

Wei Hongqing said, "I promise you, I will raise her to adulthood."

The Western Mountain Hermit shouted, "No! I don't need you to raise her, I'll raise her myself. I want to live. You promise to let me go, or I'll destroy this spirit elixir!"

He struggled to twist his body, bringing the Foundation Establishment Pill in his palm to his mouth, fearfully preventing anyone from approaching.

"Don't come near! Don't come near!"

"Tan Bazhang, step back, step back, or I'll eat it!"

"Brother Zuo, I'm sorry for shooting you twice, I'll make it up to you in the future!"

"Hongqing, spare my life..."

All of them took a few steps back. He suddenly remembered something and screamed, turning to Liu Xiaolou, "Xiaolou, you step back, hurry and retreat! Don't come near... Stay far away from me... far away..."

But it was too late. His body swayed, and he felt his head grow heavy and his feet light. In his panic, he tried to stuff the Foundation Establishment Pill into his mouth, but his hand and mouth were misaligned. The Foundation Establishment Pill slipped from the corner of his mouth and fell to his knees.

He still wanted to pick it up, but unexpectedly, his neck felt a chill. He felt the world spin, rotating several times, and saw the white clouds drifting leisurely in the sky from above the treetops.

"As that senior said back then, will I never reach Foundation Establishment in this life?" The Western Mountain Hermit had his last thought. His consciousness quickly blurred and finally dissipated.

The one who struck was Zuo Gaofeng. He wiped his axe on the Western Mountain Hermit's body, removing the bloodstains, and said fiercely, "For shooting me!"

Wei Hongqing walked forward, picked up the Foundation Establishment Pill, put it back into the jade box, and tucked it into his robes.

Zuo Gaofeng and Tan Bazhang's eyes were fixed on the jade box. Only after it was put away did they both sigh, then proceeded to search the Western Mountain Hermit's body. They found two spirit stones, a formation book, and several small gold ingots, which they piled together with the magical artifact crossbow and bolts.

Wei Hongqing said, "You can divide these things."

Zuo Gaofeng, being the eldest and most cultivated among them, did not stand on ceremony. He first collected the magical artifact crossbow and bolts. "Brother Tan, Younger Brother Liu, I have use for this, so I won't be polite."

Tan Bazhang flipped through the formation book for a few pages, then flipped faster and faster. He shook his head and shoved it into Liu Xiaolou's arms. "This thing makes my eyes spin, I can't understand it, and it's not to my taste. I'll take the spirit stones and gold, and you can have this book."

In the path of cultivation, specializing in one area was extremely difficult. Most cultivators were unwilling to divert their attention to practicing other techniques, let alone formations. Furthermore, this formation book wasn't a profound secret of any great formation; it was merely a small illusion formation. Therefore, neither Zuo Gaofeng nor Tan Bazhang chose it. Truthfully, it was a bit like bullying the younger generation.

Liu Xiaolou had been staring at this formation book. His experience in the illusion formation had left him quite amazed, so he was very covetous of the formation book. However, as the junior, he had no choice but to pick last. Fortunately, he finally got his wish. He also secretly resolved that if he wasn't the right material and couldn't learn formations, he could trade it for money. He wondered if he could get a spirit stone for it.

Suddenly, a signal arrow rose in the distance. Wei Hongqing said joyfully, "You all guard Lu Zi'an's body. I'll be back soon!"