Facing the Enemy

"Pass the word down. Put aside whatever intelligence work you have on hand; we move at once! Once we loot Changle Mountain of the Li Family, the resources will absolutely last us for several years."

"Yes."

Ying Wanfeng left the main hall and swiftly relayed the news.

Two Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivators and five Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivators—this was the current makeup of this band of loose cultivators.

A gang of seven loose cultivators could deal a fatal blow to certain Qi Refining cultivation lineages if they failed to defend themselves properly.

Loose cultivators rarely included Early-Stage Qi Refining cultivators.

Early-Stage Qi Refining cultivators were beginners in the Cultivation World, weak in strength.

If an Early-Stage Qi Refining cultivator became a loose cultivator, they might very well die on their very first operation.

They always pinched the soft persimmon first, and weak loose cultivators were no exception. Given how much ordinary cultivators hated loose cultivators, they would surely kill every one they could. Weak loose cultivators were easier to kill than strong ones.

"Brothers, tonight we're pulling off a big one!"

"Move out!"

At Qiu Peichang's command, he took the lead, with Ying Wanfeng following close behind him.

The other five Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivators moved almost at the same time. The two Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivators who had previously met with Li Qianbao were among them.

The distance was over four hundred li. At their speed, they would reach Changle Mountain around the fourth watch of the night.

Within Changle Mountain.

All Li Family cultivators at Mid-Stage Qi Refining and above lay in ambush.

They were patient. The bait had already been cast; now they only had to wait for the fish to bite.

Li Qianqing knew the situation of the loose cultivators very well. Even if he displayed only the strength of an ordinary Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator, together with all the Li Family cultivators participating in battle, they would be capable of wiping out this band even without using the First-Grade High-Quality Mist Cloud Array.

But if they did that, some clan members would very likely perish in battle.

That was not what Li Qianqing wanted to see.

He wanted to wipe out this band of loose cultivators without losing a single person.

Every cultivator was precious to a cultivation lineage, especially one at the lower levels, with only Qi Refining stage and Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Even if a cultivator's spiritual root talent was not much to speak of, they could still help the lineage develop better in other areas. For example, tending Spiritual Fields and spiritual herbs—such work was beyond ordinary mortals.

In Li Qianqing's view, although the Li Family had developed for several centuries, it was still in the initial stage of a cultivation lineage's development. They had only one Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Only when the Li Family's influence could rank among the powers of the Five Kingdoms Region would its development more or less enter the next stage.

As time passed.

There was still a little time before the fourth watch when the Li Family cultivators spotted the loose cultivators.

At that moment, all the Li Family cultivators watched Li Ditu's hand signals.

It meant they were ready to strike.

Once the loose cultivators entered the First-Grade High-Quality small-scale Mist Cloud Formation, it would be about the best time for them to act.

The moment the Mist Cloud Formation activated, when the loose cultivators realized something was wrong, would also be when they were most flustered.

One, two... seven. There were seven loose cultivators in total.

Ordinary loose cultivator gangs in Xiangshui Prefecture usually numbered between five and ten. There were also larger gangs, but not within Xiangshui Prefecture.

Throughout Zhao Kingdom, there were also quite a few notorious Foundation Establishment Realm loose cultivator gangs. The leaders of such gangs were generally Demonic Cultivators who practiced exceedingly bloody cultivation arts.

"Why don't I see that brat Li Qianbao?"

"You expect him to come down and welcome us? Li Cunlan has Passed Away, so he must be running about everywhere. Don't forget, among the Li Family cultivators, he was closest to Li Lihe, and Li Lihe is Li Cunlan's grandson."

After arriving at Changle Mountain, the loose cultivators began to converse.

"I suddenly have a bad feeling."

"Why is it getting foggy?"

"Not good! We've fallen for it—we've entered a Bewildering Formation..."

"Damn it! That brat Li Qianbao actually dared deceive us!" Loose cultivator leader Qiu Peichang burned with fury. Right now, he wished he could tear Li Qianbao into ten thousand pieces.

"Boss, it probably wasn't Li Qianbao who deceived us. More likely, he was discovered, and then..."

Fei Xiangqing did not continue. Now was not the time for explanations; their most urgent task was to leave the Bewildering Formation.

At first, Fei Xiangqing had been responsible for contacting Li Qianbao. He dared guarantee that Li Qianbao had been deeply dissatisfied with the Li Family and wanted to join them as a loose cultivator. Li Cunlan had happened to be nearing the end of her lifespan, giving Li Qianbao an opportunity to present a Token of Allegiance.

Dense fog filled the Mist Cloud Formation.

Outside the formation, the Li Family cultivators could see everything clearly.

"Attack."

At Li Ditu's command, he activated the formation plate. At once, eight strands of spiritual power connected to Li Qianqing and the other seven.

This way, when they entered the First-Grade High-Quality Mist Cloud Formation, they would not be affected by the Bewildering Formation.

Li Ditu, who controlled the Mist Cloud Formation, would not fight directly.

Li Dzhong and Li Liling had obvious targets. The former targeted loose cultivator leader Qiu Peichang, while the latter targeted Ying Wanfeng, the other Late-Stage Qi Refining loose cultivator.

Just as Li Qianqing had analyzed, the loose cultivators who dared come to Changle Mountain upon Li Cunlan's passing consisted of roughly two Late-Stage Qi Refining cultivators and five Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivators.

Among the five Mid-Stage Qi Refining loose cultivators, one was at Qi Refining Sixth Layer, while two each were at Qi Refining Fifth Layer and Qi Refining Fourth Layer.

"The Qi Refining Sixth Layer loose cultivator is mine!" Li Qianyin shouted, charging straight at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer loose cultivator.

At that moment, Li Qianqing turned back to glance at Li Ditu, giving his Second Grandfather a reassuring look. He would watch over Li Qianyin.

The other four loose cultivators at Qi Refining Fifth Layer and Qi Refining Fourth Layer could be fully handled by the Li Family's other Mid-Stage Qi Refining cultivators, not to mention Li Lihe, a Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator.

Li Lihe had originally intended to deal with the Qi Refining Sixth Layer loose cultivator, but after Li Qianyin shouted that and he glanced at Li Qianqing, he could only shift his target to a Qi Refining Fifth Layer loose cultivator.

Fei Xiangqing was the Qi Refining Sixth Layer loose cultivator Li Qianyin had mentioned.

Ranked third in cultivation among the gang, Fei Xiangqing was its strategist. Many of the gang's operations had been his ideas.

Qiu Peichang valued Fei Xiangqing even more than Ying Wanfeng, who was at the Late-Stage Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

After discovering that he had entered a Bewildering Formation, Fei Xiangqing immediately activated his spiritual power and poured it into the Jade Pendant around his neck. A wave of coolness washed over his head, and the area he could see expanded somewhat.

He had to leave the Bewildering Formation quickly to have a chance of escaping the Li Family cultivators' ambush.

After taking only a few steps forward, he saw a short young female cultivator at Qi Refining Fifth Layer rushing toward him, wielding a pale-blue longsword.

The pale-blue longsword was a Mid-Grade Magic Tool.

One glance at the petite young female cultivator's manner of attack showed that she had little combat experience.

Were the Li Family cultivators looking down on him, Fei Xiangqing? Or had the Li Family run out of people? The thought flashed through his mind as Fei Xiangqing took out a green disc and held it before him.

This was his Mid-Grade Defensive Magic Tool, and also his best means of defense.

After discovering that he was trapped in the Bewildering Formation, Fei Xiangqing had guarded against everything around him at every moment. At the slightest disturbance, he would fully activate the green disc to defend himself.