A Chance Encounter with Jing Qiyuan at the Lantern Festival

"Uncle-Master, Happy Lantern Festival! Shall we go see the lanterns together?"

The next day, Xiao Chen was practicing the Seven Stars Swordplay in the courtyard.

Su Wanqing came over again and invited him to go sightseeing together.

Since she began to deliberately suppress her cultivation, she suddenly had a lot more time.

This time, she even styled her hair in two buns and wore a red mink cloak, clearly indicating that she came prepared.

"Are those lanterns really that beautiful that you look forward to visiting them every year?"

"Of course it's beautiful! Once you've been there once, you'll remember it forever."

"Alright, let's go take a look together."

The saying goes, "Work and rest should be balanced." I've been practicing continuously for many days in order to break through, so it's time to relax a little.

Besides, I've never seen lanterns before, so this is a good opportunity to see them.

The two arrived at Li Fire City, which was not far away. It was the largest city within the entire territory of the Li Fire Sect.

It was home not only to a large number of cultivators, but also to many ordinary people.

Xiao Chen had inquired beforehand and learned that there were no mortal kingdoms in Li Province; it was only divided into four categories: villages, towns, counties, and cities.

Various counties, large and small, are managed by nearby sects or powerful cultivation Lineage.

It is said that in some places, ordinary people are living quite well.

After all, the most important purpose of the sect is the annual selection of Immortal Seedling, choosing children with Spirit Root to replenish fresh blood.

Comparatively speaking, they don't place much importance on things like food.

However, it also depends on luck. If you encounter a place that is too lazy to manage it personally and instead sends out a clansman or even selects a representative to manage it on your behalf, then it's hard to say what will happen.

"Wow! It's candied hawthorn! Uncle-Master, would you like a skewer?"

Su Wanqing was very excited. When she saw someone selling snacks, she immediately ran over, grabbed two skewers, and ran back.

I don't like candied hawthorn berries.

Xiao Chen shook his head, his attention focused on the nearby lanterns.

All sorts of lanterns hung along both sides of the street, colorful and varied in shape, like a magnificent painting.

There are lifelike dragon and phoenix lanterns, auspicious lotus lanterns, and ingeniously designed revolving lanterns, which decorate the entire main street in a dreamlike way.

There were even many orchids and plum blossoms in the vase as decorations.

The colorful lights stretch far across the land, and the dazzling lights adorn the distant sky. They seem to connect with the Milky Way like falling stars, and hang like the moon above the building.

"How is it? Pretty, right?"

Su Wanqing held a steaming hot roasted sweet potato in her hands, eating it while asking questions with a smile.

Since arriving in the city, her mouth has never stopped.

I've already eaten two skewers of candied hawthorn, a bowl of hot oil tea, a handful of maltose, a piece of osmanthus cake, a handful of dragon beard candy, and a box of steamed sugar cheese.

Besides that, I still have some uneaten Poria cocos cake in my hand.

Xiao Chen, who originally had little appetite, suddenly became hungry after seeing it. "Can I have a piece of this pancake?"

Su Wanqing generously handed it over. "Here you go, this shop's Poria cocos cake are the best."

He tried a bite, and sure enough, it wasn't too sweet, soft but not mushy, melted in his mouth, and refreshingly delicious.

"It really tastes delicious! This can't be made by an ordinary person, can it? Could it be a Spirit Chef?"

Spirit Chef is also one of the Hundred Arts of Cultivation.

The reason why White Jade Teahouse's dishes rank first in Li Fire Market is because it has Spirit Chef in charge of cooking.

Su Wanqing shook her head. "No, this family doesn't have any cultivators. For generations, they've made a living by making Poria cocos cake."

"The production method has been passed down through generations and continuously improved; I've heard it's been passed down for hundreds of years."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Chen sighed with some emotion, "If that's the case, then they really are amazing."

"And the fireworks later on will be beautiful too."

Speaking of fireworks, Su Wanqing's eyes were filled with anticipation. "Time's almost up, let's hurry and grab a good spot."

Fireworks just didn't quite capture Xiao Chen's attention.

He had seen bigger and better ones, and with Law Technique involved, he didn't find fireworks particularly strange.

So as he looked around, he started glancing left and right.

Upon closer inspection, they spotted a familiar face in the crowd— Jing Qiyuan, the head of the Jing Family.

Although Xiao Chen had only met him once, he still remembered him.

Previously, Jing Qiyuan had visited on behalf of the Jiang Family, saying he wanted to deliver a message, but he was eventually kicked out.

That might be a bit too subjective.

However, in Xiao Chen's mind, he had already been labeled as a lackey of the Jiang Family.

At this moment, he was seen standing together with another unfamiliar Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Xiao Chen immediately realized that they must be in cahoots, plotting some kind of conspiracy.

As the saying goes, meeting is fate.

I was so busy cultivating that I almost forgot about this person.

But now that we've encountered this opportunity, we certainly can't let it slip away again.

He decided to work overtime temporarily, representing the sect's Demon Subduing Hall, to investigate whether Jing Qiyuan had any Demonic Connection.

He casually made up an excuse to trick Su Wanqing into going back.

Xiao Chen, wearing Stealth Cloak, followed Jing Qiyuan at a distance.

With the aid of Divine Sense, the tracking became extremely covert and much harder to detect.

As a result, Xiao Chen saw that the two of them actually went straight out of the city, and the further they went, the more remote the area became.

At first, he thought he might have been discovered.

But soon, he saw that Jing Qiyuan and another Foundation Establishment Cultivator had arrived at a Mountain Hollow.

There were a large number of bound cultivators in the Mountain Hollow, along with members of the Jing Lineage responsible for guarding them.

Nearby, there were still scattered groups of men in black, bringing back new rogue cultivators.

"Brother Qiyuan, I'll need your help to deliver these people over there."

"Brother Xiu, rest assured, leave everything else to me."

After gathering a hundred independent cultivators here.

Jing Qiyuan then directed the Jing Family cultivators to pack them into individual wooden barrels, which were then transported together in a horse-drawn carriage and headed northwest.

The Jing Family definitely can't escape.

In order to avoid alerting the enemy, we should defeat them one by one.

Xiao Chen patiently waited for Jing Qiyuan and his Jing Family to leave, then turned his attention to another group of people.

This group had just finished kidnapping the rogue cultivator and was preparing to return to their Lineage.

As they were halfway across a small bridge, they saw a flash of Golden Light.

Then a mysterious figure in a cloak blocked their way.

The patriarch, who was leading the clan, gestured for his men to stop.

He stepped forward and said, "Fellow Daoist, we are from the Li Huo Zhu Family. May we ask what brings you to our path?"

Oh ho, trying to intimidate me with the Li Fire Sect? You've miscalculated.

Xiao Chen wasn't afraid at all. He took out the Hidden Fire Treasure Gourd and unleashed a move called "Li Fire Cleansing Demons."

Thirty-six Li Fire Thunder completely enveloped all the Zhu Family cultivators present.

Zhu Xiuguo greatly surprised and hurriedly summoned a protective shield.

When he caught a Li Fire Thunder, he turned around and looked back.

The Zhu Family cultivators behind him were lying all over the ground, and not even half of their bodies could be pieced together.

Zhu Xiuguo's eyes immediately turned red, but he remained quite calm, knowing that the situation was not right and that he absolutely could not fight head-on.

Then he pointed at Xiao Chen and said, "You audacious madman, you dare to commit violence within the territory of the Li Fire Sect. The sect's seniors will not let you get away with this!"

"I'll fight you to the death!"

As he spoke, a Talisman floated out from his sleeve.

In an instant, it transformed into a nine-zhang-long python, its massive jaws snapping open as it lunged at Xiao Chen.

Taking this opportunity, Zhu Xiuguo around, mounted his sword, and fled, trying to escape the place.