The Road Home Was Far from Smooth

Today was also the day the Xu Family and several other Qi Refining families had agreed to evacuate together.

In roughly two days, the Qingfeng Ridge Wang Family would also withdraw its defensive and patrol forces, put away the grand formation, abandon this market, and cease all care for it.

According to the idle speculation of the other shopkeepers in the market, the Wang Family intended to use this chance to cast off a burdensome enterprise with meager profits, consolidate its strength, then strike out anew into the Wilderness to "attack mountains and seize lands," wrest resources from it, and establish new markets.

Thus allowing the Lineage to advance another step.

As long as they could pile resources high enough to produce one False Core cultivator, along with two or three more Foundation Establishment cultivators, then with their current foundation of two Foundation Establishment cultivators standing side by side, it was not impossible for them to rise into an Aristocratic Clan.

Cultivation was like rowing a boat against the current: if one did not advance, one fell back.

This was true for cultivators, and it was equally true for a Lineage.

By now, Lin Changheng had already stored all the valuable and useful items from his cave dwelling on his person. Yet when he left, he still slung a bundle over his shoulder.

As though he did not possess a storage bag.

And when such a "poor wretch" encountered danger, even robbing cultivators would surely spare him a second glance, most likely targeting those cultivators with empty hands and storage bags on their persons instead.

The danger naturally lessened by a few degrees.

When Master Mo came downstairs and saw Lin Changheng dressed like this, he could not help but pause. He stepped forward and patted his shoulder, sighing inwardly. Young people truly were meticulous and steady! He could not compare.

If he had possessed even a fraction—no, half a fraction—of such steadiness back then, he probably would not have suffered such grave injuries. Even after exhausting every medicine available, his hidden wounds remained incurable, severing his Dao Path.

Of course, only Master Mo knew that Lin Changheng possessed a storage bag. The other clerks, apprentices, and shopkeepers did not. Shopkeeper Xu Qianyou had even cheerfully asked whether he wanted to store some belongings in the shop's storage bags, which still had plenty of space. Lin Changheng had politely declined. Seeing that his bundle was not large, Shopkeeper Xu did not press the matter.

When the group left the market, a Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivator from the Xu Family had already prepared enough half-spirit steeds.

Lin Changheng's gaze flickered, but he did not find riding horses inappropriate.

After all, only Foundation Establishment families could produce large numbers of spirit cranes, great flying vessels, and the like. The Xu Family was merely a Qi Refining family. All they possessed were artifact flying vessels, or flying boats for short, each capable of carrying only two or three people.

Yet there were twelve of them now.

They could only ride horses.

Still, every one of these horses was exceptionally magnificent, more than half again as tall as the blood-sweating steeds of his previous life, and remarkably swift as well. They could travel five hundred li in a day.

They were bred from demon beasts crossed with fine mortal horses, known as Jiao Horses.

"Mount up and stay vigilant! It will take roughly five days to return to the clan!"

Xu Qianhuan, at the eighth level of Qi Refining, mounted his horse with practiced agility and shouted.

"Yes." Everyone, including Master Mo, nodded in response. Without hesitation or delay, they all mounted.

"Take up the established formation. Everyone else, follow me. Move!"

After sweeping his gaze over the surroundings, Xu Qianhuan's expression turned solemn. He gave the order and immediately spurred his horse into a run.

The three Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivators who had come with him each reined in their horses to occupy the left, right, and rear positions, then followed as the group surged away in a swarm.

Lin Changheng was enclosed within the center of the riding formation, hoofbeats roaring like thunder in his ears.

A feeling stirred within him, and he abruptly looked back. Through the rolling yellow-brown haze of dust, he faintly glimpsed the grayish-brown outline of Zichuan Market, where he had lived for twelve years. It was gradually fading into the dust, as though an invisible hand were slowly wiping it away.

"So the ties of the immortal Dao, when severed, are no more than hoofbeats and drifting dust..."

After a quiet sigh, Lin Changheng's gaze quickly hardened. He looked only ahead and rode onward without pause.

"The family residence lies ahead. We will arrive in less than an hour. For this final stretch, all of you had better sharpen up!"

More than four days of travel had passed in the blink of an eye.

Xu Qianhuan remained vigorous and alert, seemingly without the slightest trace of fatigue. His voice boomed like a lion's roar as he reminded them.

The cultivators were doing well enough. Their constitutions were not poor, and though the jolting ride was uncomfortable, they could still endure it.

But the several clerks and apprentices were different. They felt as if their very bones were about to be shaken apart. Their buttocks and inner thighs were bruised black and blue, and they were suffering beyond words.

Even so, none dared ask to stop and rest. They could only force themselves to hold on.

Along the way, things had not been as chaotically dangerous as the rumors claimed. It had been calm throughout, without incident.

Even the three Xu Family Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivators had grown somewhat lax and weary. That was why Xu Qianhuan gave them such a warning.

The instant his words fell, everyone felt as though thunder had exploded beside their ears. Startled, their bodies jolted, and they immediately became alert.

Just then,

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sudden sounds of tearing air ripped apart the mountain road's stillness. Leaves in the forests on both sides shook wildly at once, and dozens of spells poured down like a torrential rain.

Water Arrows, fireballs, wooden spikes, ice blades, and more shot toward the Xu Family party on the mountain road, seeking to kill them.

"Enemy attack!"

Xu Qianhuan, at the eighth level of Qi Refining, bellowed, reacting swiftly.

The jade pendant artifact at his waist instantly spread open a cyan barrier, shoving outward to both sides and colliding directly with part of the incoming spells.

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

By the time the first wave of violent explosions struck the cyan barrier's surface, the three Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivators had only barely managed to cast their first wave of spells.

Golden Light Barriers, Water Wall Arts, Rock Shield Arts...

They tried to protect those in the center.

But there were simply too many attacking spells, and their collisions erupted like exploding fireworks.

Seeing that they could not block them all, they hurriedly brought out artifact shields and talisman barriers...

Focusing on protecting the two alchemists and one shopkeeper within.

"Rip!"

A Golden Light Barrier at the very front was breached. An ice blade slipped through the opening and slashed toward the young girl called Xu Ruolan.

"Ah!"

With a sharp, agonized cry, half her body was cut away. She fell from her horse into a pool of blood, her eyes still open in death.

The appearance of this cruel scene threw the already chaotic formation at the center of the Xu Family group into even greater disarray.

At once, one clerk was so horrified that his liver and gallbladder nearly shattered. He fell from his horse, and with a crack, his leg was trampled broken. He wailed without end.

Master Mo and Shopkeeper Xu were also startled, but they remained orderly, taking out artifacts and talismans to reinforce themselves.

Master Mo still had some strength to spare. At the same time, he searched for Lin Changheng with his eyes and shouted urgently, "Changheng... do you have talismans to defend yourself?"

Yet Lin Changheng had already twisted halfway off his horse, his feet still in the stirrups as he tucked his entire body beneath the protection of the horse's belly.

A [Golden Shield Talisman] flicked from his sleeve. Before the talisman paper could even touch the ground, it burned to ash and transformed into a golden shield on his other side, protecting his vital points.

"This... Such quick reactions! Such agile movements!"

Master Mo's aged eyes widened. He was clearly stunned by the speed of Lin Changheng's decision and the appropriateness of his response. Still, he flung a low-grade [Water Curtain Talisman] into Lin Changheng's hand with spiritual power.

"Thank you, Master Mo. Be careful too."

Lin Changheng shouted back. He temporarily put away the mid-grade [Golden Light Talisman] hidden in his sleeve and instead gripped the [Water Curtain Talisman].

Methods for preserving one's life could not be wasted. They had to be used at the critical moment.

Yet he had already formed a faint guess about the situation—

Though these attacking spells were merely low-level methods, their coordination was exquisite. This was clearly a long-planned ambush!

He did not know whether they were former enemies of the Xu Family, or people who had followed them from the market and arrived first to lie in wait for robbery and murder.