You're Acting Strange!

Three days later, on an unnamed small lake dozens of miles from Xiang Mountain, a Spirit Boat floated on the water, drifting with the waves.

"Uncle-master Liu, why have we stopped? We're still some distance from Xiang Mountain."

Yu Ying was already impatient to achieve the feat of saving a beauty in distress.

Over the past three days, he had constantly monitored the state of Li Xiaowan's soul flame. Thus, he was the first to discover that it had stopped weakening, indicating that Li Xiaowan's life was not in danger for the time being.

Moreover, Xiang Mountain was now right before them, and they had a fellow sect Martial Uncle at Foundation Establishment Mid-stage by their side. Yu Ying felt greatly reassured, but crooked thoughts rose along with that confidence.

"Nephew Disciple Yu, you have lost your composure. What situation do you think Junior Disciple Li is in right now?"

Liu Jing's voice was slightly cold. He had long seen through Yu Ying's little scheme. The man merely wanted to show off in front of the Li Family.

With the enemy situation still unclear, he was already entertaining such crooked notions. He truly needed a lesson!

"Er, this junior was reckless. Please forgive me, Martial Uncle. As for Junior Sister Xiaowan, this junior believes she must have accidentally entered some dangerous place, suffered severe injuries as a result, and been unable to escape on her own."

Yu Ying's heart tightened. Liu Jing's amiable manner over the past three days had nearly made him forget that the man was a Foundation Establishment stage Cultivator. With his mind filled with Li Xiaowan, he had spoken so rashly.

"Judging from the changes in the soul flame, the situation you described is indeed the most likely. But another possibility remains."

Liu Jing Scanned the three of them with a stern gaze. After pausing for a moment, he continued:

"That an Evil Cultivator captured Junior Disciple Li and imprisoned her!"

"To guard against this worst-case scenario, before we enter Xiang Mountain to search, I must first recover the Magic Power I have expended from controlling artifacts over these past days."

Luo Hong nodded repeatedly as he listened, secretly giving Liu Jing ten thousand praises.

As expected of an Evil Cultivator slayer, Liu Jing's combat experience far surpassed that of ordinary Cultivators. Without having read the original novel, he had somehow learned thirty percent of Old Demon Han's caution.

"Martial Uncle's instruction is correct."

Yu Ying admitted his mistake and yielded on the surface, but he still felt that his own guess was more reliable.

To wait for Liu Jing to recover his Magic Power, the Spirit Boat drifted across the lake for the entire night.

At sunrise the next morning, a flash of azure light crossed Liu Jing's face. He then ended his meditation and rose to his feet.

"Let's go."

At the Same Time, deep within Xiang Mountain, in an underground Stone Cave, Li Xiaowan and Li Xiaoqing leaned weakly against each other.

Li Xiaowan's face was as pale as gold paper. She sat motionless with her back against the stone wall, her delicate brows occasionally knitting together. Though her injuries had stabilized, it Could Not Possibly be Healed under the conditions here.

"Big Sister, will we die here like Senior Brother Gu?"

Li Xiaoqing had no injuries on her body, but her expression was extremely haggard, her cheeks covered in tear tracks. Her gaze occasionally darted toward a dried corpse in a Yellow Maple Valley Uniform not far away.

"Be good, Xiao Qing. We'll be fine. The Martial Uncles will definitely come save us."

Li Xiaowan soothed Xiao Qing, who trembled in her arms like a sickly kitten. After a long while, she took over a dozen Spirit Stones from her Storage Bag and handed them to her.

"Xiao Qing, the Spirit Stones for the Defensive Great Formation should be nearly used up. Go replace them with fresh ones."

The Stone Cave they were Located In was the secret cave dwelling of an ancient Cultivator.

That day, they had suffered a fierce siege by Evil Cultivators. If Not For Li Xiaowan finding the Array Eye of the cave dwelling's Defensive Great Formation, and if not for the formation merely lacking Spirit Stones rather than being damaged, they would already have fallen into the Evil Cultivators' hands. They might even have suffered every humiliation by now.

Watching Xiao Qing head deeper into the Stone Cave, Li Xiaowan finally could not hold back her coughing. She hurriedly swallowed a Healing Pill that treated the symptoms but not the root cause, and only then did it gradually ease.

"I hope the Martial Uncle coming to aid us has Foundation Establishment Mid-stage cultivation. Otherwise, it may be..."

Li Xiaowan knew her own value very well. She knew best how many resources the family had spent raising her to become an alchemist. If she died, those resources would be wasted, so she was not worried about whether rescue would come.

Even so, a trace of unease remained in Li Xiaowan's heart. There had been no Foundation Establishment stage Cultivators among the Evil Cultivators who had besieged them that day. Yet when she swallowed the Blood Rage Pill and protected the other two as they entered the Stone Cave, a streak of blood light shot out from among the Evil Cultivators!

That blood light had been incomparably fast. It pierced through Senior Brother Gu's protective Magic Artifact in an instant, and as it passed through his chest, it drained every drop of blood essence from his body.

This was now their fourth day trapped here, yet the area outside the Defensive Great Formation remained quiet. Those Evil Cultivators seemed to have no intention of breaking the formation, which made Li Xiaowan even more worried.

The Spirit Boat flew above Xiang Mountain. Looking at the endless mountain range below, the colorful mist floating among the trees, and the faint, ferocious roars of beasts, Luo Hong felt his scalp go numb.

This place was too dangerous. He absolutely could not act alone.

"Uncle-master Liu, Xiang Mountain is so large, and the Soul Tablet's sensing range is limited. Let's split up and search."

Senior Brother Yu, you're acting strange!

Yu Ying's proposal nearly made Luo Hong attack him on the spot. He truly Didn't Know whether to call the man deeply devoted or simply ruled by lust.

Fortunately, this fellow did not have the final say. Liu Jing definitely would not—

"It's Fine. You two can each search the eastern and western directions." Seeing them agree, Liu Jing turned his gaze toward Luo Hong behind him.

Why did you agree? Where was your caution? What if there really were Evil Cultivators?

"Nephew-disciple Luo has not yet reached Qi Refining Late-stage, so continue following me. With my flight speed, handling the north and south directions alone will not be slower than the two of you."

Excellent, Uncle-master Liu! You are truly wise!

"Junior Brother Luo, are you truly willing to cower in the rear? You should know that Junior Sister Xiaoqing is still waiting for you to rescue her."

Yu Ying said something utterly baffling, then signaled with his eyes for Luo Hong to Looked At Li Mingjing.

That old man already had one foot in the grave, so of course he wasn't afraid of dying. You Want me to imitate him? You must be sick!

Luo Hong was furious inside, but he barely kept his expression under control and Cupped His Hands and Said:

"This junior is willing to travel with Martial Uncle. Martial Uncle need only focus on controlling the artifact; this junior will certainly keep watch over the soul flame's movements at all times."

"Mm. Evil Cultivators are ruthless and cunning. If one wishes to eliminate evil and uphold justice, one must be willing to take risks. When facing matters, one indeed must not shrink back in fear or cherish one's own life too much, but sometimes one must also act within one's capabilities and proceed carefully.

"Nephew-disciple Luo understands this principle deeply. He came without hesitation and considers matters thoroughly when the time comes. If he achieves success in cultivation one day, he will surely make the Evil Cultivators of the Yue Kingdom tremble at the mere mention of his name."

Liu Jing wore an expression that said his path was not lonely and that there was someone to carry on his legacy, which left Luo Hong feeling somewhat ashamed.

Slaying Evil Cultivators and following the righteous path were things he could do whenever the opportunity arose. But those who specifically roamed the world seeking Evil Cultivators to kill either had a grudge against them or sought fame and profit.

Luo Hong had neither relatives nor friends who had died at the hands of Evil Cultivators, nor did he care much for such minor fame and profit. Since he had the time, would it not be better spent cultivating?

To ascend from the Mortal World to the Spirit World, one had to possess Deity Transformation cultivation. Old Demon Han had not even waited for his wife before ascending. If Luo Hong wanted to benefit from the Sky Controlling Bottle, he could not cultivate too slowly.

So sometimes, he truly did not understand why other Cultivators were all so idle.