Slaying

Slaying At the small courtyard atop Li Jing Mountain, a blue-gray Mirror Fragment blazed with white light, boiling white moonlight surging from its surface like water.

The moment Wan Xiaohua appeared, Li Xiangping and the others entered the range of his divine sense. Great Yin Mystic Light within the mirror was already itching to strike. Lu Jiangxian suppressed the urge to act, wanting to see what trump cards this Jade Capital Wheel cultivator possessed.

"Seems... not that impressive?"

Watching Wan Xiaohua suffer setback after setback and stumble from danger to danger, forced by the monster to use a pale-blue talisman, he raised a water shield and sprinted desperately toward the foot of Li Jing Mountain. Lu Jiangxian lost all interest in watching the show. Silently forming a spell, he thought:

Let's use this monster to test the waters!

With a thought from Lu Jiangxian, the Twelve Seal Talismans around the edge of the mirror body lit up one by one. The blue-gray Mirror Fragment, cradling milky-white moonlight, slowly rose from the Stone Platform and gradually adjusted its angle.

"Father..."

Before the stunned eyes of Li Tongya and Li Mutian, white moonlight abruptly burst forth. It shattered the hut's skylight and tore through the air like a dazzling meteor, leaving shattered stones and scattered gray roof tiles all over the ground.

After firing Great Yin Mystic Light, the blue-gray Mirror Fragment slowly settled down, dispersing its white moonlight and returning to the Stone Platform.

Looking at the broken tiles and dust covering the ground, Li Tongya did not know what to feel for a moment. Li Mutian coughed twice from the dust and waved at him. "It must have something to do with that monster... Hurry and see how your brother is!"

Only then did Li Tongya awaken as if from a dream and break into a run, thinking to himself, What else could happen? With such a tremendous display, let alone a Fetal Breath Realm monster, even a Qi Refinement monster would probably have been blasted into minced meat.

Wan Xiaohua slapped a Swift Travel Art onto his leg and sprinted toward the direction of Li Jing Mountain that Li Xiangping had indicated earlier, while regretting bitterly in his heart:

This time, I've really taken a huge loss. One Water Shield Talisman, and there goes another half a spirit stone.

A vicious wind rushed at his ears. Wan Xiaohua swept out with his Spiritual Sense, and a small white shield had already appeared behind him. Borrowing the force of a blow, he opened the distance from the monster once more.

"This..."

Wan Xiaohua looked toward the mountain ahead, intending to estimate the distance, when a brilliant white light suddenly rose from its summit. It curved through the air, dragging a long flaming tail behind it as it shot straight at Wan Xiaohua.

"Fuck me..."

Wan Xiaohua nearly spat out a mouthful of old blood. He hurriedly twisted aside to evade it, but the white radiance ignored him completely and flew past.

So frightened that he collapsed onto the ground, he watched the white light pass across the monster's neck and fly away as easily as if it had torn through a sheet of thin paper, leaving behind a headless wolf corpse that had leapt high into the air.

Boom!

The giant wolf's corpse crashed limply to the ground. Behind it, the white radiance felled a swath of trees before vanishing into the distance, shaking all the snow from the dense forest down at once and nearly burying Wan Xiaohua beneath it.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Wan Xiaohua spat out several mouthfuls of snow full of dust in utter disarray, staring dumbfounded at the mountain-sized monster corpse.

"Patriarch, Patriarch?!"

Wan Tiancang's cries came from near and far. He hurriedly lifted Wan Xiaohua from the snow and asked repeatedly, "Patriarch! How are you?"

Wan Xiaohua stared blankly at Wan Tiancang and muttered, "Why use an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken..."

Wan Tiancang's face was covered in sweat. He drew the vine whip, still bearing scraps of snow, from his robes and said in a grave voice:

"Tiancang feared losing the treasure, so I stayed hidden in the snow. When the Wolf Demon went after Patriarch, Tiancang retrieved this magical artifact."

"Good, good."

At the sight of the magical artifact, Wan Xiaohua abruptly came to himself. He collected himself, tucked the treasure into his robes, hurriedly climbed to his feet, and ran toward the wolf corpse.

Seeing that the wolf corpse's neck was covered in thick frost and not a single drop of wolf blood had flowed out, Wan Xiaohua quickly formed hand seals and patted its joints and several major acupoints, sealing its spirituality.

"This wolf corpse is good stuff. Its spirituality absolutely cannot be allowed to leak away."

Wan Xiaohua said with a smile, stroking the wolf's back, which was as large as a yellow ox.

"Patriarch, that monster... most likely belongs to someone else."

Seeing Wan Xiaohua beside himself with joy, Wan Tiancang carefully reminded him.

The joy on Wan Xiaohua's face immediately froze. He cast Wan Tiancang a sidelong glance and said heavily:

"I know."

"Patriarch Wan!"

Wan Tiancang and Wan Xiaohua were standing there glaring at each other when they heard a loud shout. The two hurriedly turned their heads and saw Li Xiangping and Li Tongya arriving with Chen Erniu and a group of village men.

"Many thanks to Patriarch Wan for coming to our aid!"

Li Xiangping smiled and cupped his hands. Chen Erniu caught his look and quickly called for the village men under him to move the corpse.

"You've seen me make a fool of myself."

Wan Xiaohua smiled bitterly as he shook the snow from his body, then asked:

"That white radiance which saved Xiaohua..."

Hearing this, Li Tongya hurriedly stepped forward and said:

"My father still has several talismans he made himself in his early years. Since the Immortal Master had come from afar to help us, Old Man feared that the monster might harm you, so he had us use them."

"So that was it!"

Wan Xiaohua let out a long breath. Li Tongya's answer was not far from what he had expected, and he said with considerable gratitude:

"Then I must thank your honored father."

"It is we who should thank the Wan Family!"

After exchanging a few courtesies, Wan Xiaohua pointed at the monster corpse and smiled.

"How does your clan intend to deal with this thing? A Wolf Demon corpse is not easy to preserve, but every part of it is treasure. Its bones and blood can be used to make ink and refine medicine, while its hide can be used to make talismans and clothing. It truly is good stuff."

Li Tongya and Li Xiangping exchanged a look, then smiled bitterly. "Our family's foundations are shallow. Talisman-making and medicine-refining are difficult enough, and there is much we cannot use. Patriarch Wan can travel to and from the market, so why not entrust it to your clan to sell?"

"This Wolf Demon is rather large and possesses some unusual qualities. It may have consumed some Treasure Medicine. I won't deceive you—sold bit by bit in the market, it could fetch two or three spirit stones."

Wan Xiaohua pondered for a few breaths, glanced at the two who were listening intently, and continued, "I still have one and a half spirit stones on me. I'll give those to you first, and use some other items to make up the rest."

"Have you read Miscellaneous Cultivation Secrets?"

Seeing Li Xiangping and the other shake their heads, Wan Xiaohua was startled inwardly. Is Li Mutian truly a Foundation Establishment cultivator? There must be some other hidden truth...

Yet he smiled and said, "This book records the Key Points of several spells and cultivation insights from a rogue cultivator at the Spirit Beginning Wheel. I picked it up at the market for one or two spirit stones. It records a few minor techniques, such as the Swift Travel Art and Spirit Sealing Art. How about I include it as payment to your clan?"

Li Xiangping looked at Wan Xiaohua's smiling face, rubbed his chin, and pondered. We can't use this Wolf Demon corpse anyway, and they say it is difficult to preserve. Better to trade it to Wan Xiaohua. We may lose out a little, but each takes what he needs.

Thus, Li Xiangping smiled and said:

"We will leave it entirely to Patriarch Wan."

"Good, good!"

Wan Xiaohua was immediately Overjoyed and continued, "Please have your clan send people to transport this corpse to the border between our two families, and I will call people over to collect it."

"Fine."

The two spoke for a while longer. Li Xiangping glanced at the sky and cupped his hands.

"Would Patriarch Wan care to sit awhile on Li Jing Mountain?"

"No need. Clan affairs are numerous, so I shall return first. If there is anything in the future, simply have Tiancang write a letter!"

Wan Xiaohua quickly declined. There was an array upon Li Jing Mountain. Though the two families appeared cordial now, who knew whether he would be able to leave after entering? Realizing that Li Xiangping was seeing him off, he exchanged a few pleasantries and took his leave.