"This is bad! Retreat!"
The burly rogue cultivator had been pressing Xu Qianhuan hard. It would not have taken him long to wound or even kill his opponent, but the moment he heard the commotion in the distance, he knew the fight was lost!
The Xu Family had noticed. Reinforcements were coming!
If they lingered to fight, they might all die here!
"Go!"
He acted with utter decisiveness, immediately fleeing into the distance.
The remaining rogue cultivators unleashed bursts of power as well, broke away from their opponents, and retreated together.
"You dare run wild at the Xu Family's doorstep? Leave your lives behind!"
A thunderous roar accompanied the rapidly approaching Spell Boat!
The Xu Family cultivators had just breathed sighs of relief when they saw a palm-sized bronze mirror rise from the Spell Boat and shine toward the backs of the fleeing rogue cultivators.
Hiss!
The bronze mirror shuddered, spewing a hazy, earthen-yellow beam of light that raced after them. The wounded rogue cultivator at the Third Level of Qi Refining was the slowest, and the beam pierced straight through his chest.
A ragged, bloody hole appeared. The man screamed, toppled headfirst to the ground, and died.
The bronze mirror turned again, sending out another earthen-yellow beam. It was about to kill the cultivator at the Third Level of Qi Refining now bringing up the rear.
"Hmph!"
The burly rogue cultivator looked back, a cold glint in his eyes. He thrust his spear, unleashing a flash of bloody light that blocked the beam.
The rogue cultivator at the Third Level of Qi Refining had narrowly escaped death, and both his legs trembled.
After giving the newcomer aboard the Spell Boat a cold look, the burly rogue cultivator caught his companion with his magical power and led the others into the mountains, disappearing from sight.
"Don't pursue a desperate enemy."
Xu Qianhuan stopped the emboldened Xu Family cultivators who had set off in pursuit, then stepped forward to meet the newcomer from the Spell Boat.
The newcomer was a middle-aged male cultivator at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer. He leaped out of the Spell Boat, frowned at the scene of devastation, and ordered, "Assess our losses and tally the spoils."
"Yes, Patriarch."
Two uninjured Mid-Qi Refining cultivators who were still in good shape answered loudly together and set to work.
By then, Lin Changheng had already gone over to check on Master Mo and Shopkeeper Xu. Master Mo replied with a rather haughty "Unharmed," while Shopkeeper Xu gazed at him with admiration in his aged eyes, murmuring that he was getting old and could no longer compare with the young...
Only then did Lin Changheng's heart settle completely.
He next looked toward the newly arrived patriarch of the Xu Family, whose name was Xu Xuheng. Lin Changheng had seen him twelve years ago, when he appeared at the Immortal Seedling welcome banquet.
Back then, he had already spent quite some time at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining. Now, he had only just finished refining and consolidating his cultivation at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
He was only in his early fifties and still had a chance of reaching Foundation Establishment, though the odds were slim.
Of course, Lin Changheng could not discern the man's cultivation level himself. Xu Fugui had told him all these recent details over their last meal together, and they were hardly great secrets.
In a Qi Refining lineage like this one, young geniuses needed to be concealed for fear of assassination, but its strongest members had to be loudly proclaimed throughout the lineage to foster a sense of security and unity.
Four more Xu Family cultivators hurried over from the distance.
By then, the assessment of their losses was complete.
"Reporting to the Patriarch: our lineage lost two mortal members. One Pill-Refining Apprentice was seriously wounded, and two Mid-Qi Refining cultivators suffered minor injuries."
"Have they taken pills?"
Xu Xuheng interrupted.
"They have. They're resting now."
"How many did we kill? How much did we gain?"
"Three rogue cultivators at the Third Level of Qi Refining died, along with one at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining. The Patriarch killed one of those at the Third Level, and the Third Elder killed two others. As for the remaining cultivator at the Third Level..."
His voice faltered there; he clearly was not certain.
At that moment, Xu Qianyou stroked his beard and chuckled, speaking up at just the right time. "Changheng killed that third-level rogue cultivator. The one the Patriarch killed was also wounded only because Changheng assisted me."
"It was merely a lucky kill." Knowing he could not conceal it, Lin Changheng shook his head with a faint smile.
In an instant, everyone present turned surprised, curious gazes toward Lin Changheng.
It was not merely because he had killed someone at his own level, but also because of his identity... he was a ranked Pill Master!
Almost everyone in the Xu Family knew that one Immortal Seedling had finally become a ranked Pill Master after twelve years as an apprentice. They had not expected him to possess a fair talent for magical combat as well...
"Well done."
Xu Xuheng looked at Lin Changheng and offered a word of praise, then nodded to the male cultivator making the report.
A Storage Bag was promptly handed to Lin Changheng.
"This is...?"
"Our lineage rules are measured in reward and punishment: an Immortal Seedling who kills an enemy alone may keep all the spoils."
Xu Xuheng offered that brief explanation.
Inwardly, however, he valued Lin Changheng's identity as a Pill Master more. What did it matter if he could kill someone at his own level or had a talent for magical combat? His mixed spiritual root limited his potential, dooming his accomplishments to remain modest.
The Xu Family recruited Immortal Seedlings rejected at the spiritual root testing assembly so vigorously and offered them such generous treatment precisely to uncover talent in the hundred arts and take a gamble on the chance of their descendants having spiritual roots.
Expecting these Immortal Seedlings to amount to something truly great was unrealistic...
Thus, the battle ended.
The Xu Family had suffered losses, but they were not great. The rogue cultivators, on the other hand, had taken a heavy blow.
Yet if the Xu Family's patriarch had arrived a little later, Xu Qianhuan would have been wounded or killed. Once the burly rogue cultivator had his hands free, everyone present would have had only death awaiting them.
Victory and defeat, success and failure, truly hinged on a single instant.
Realizing this only strengthened Lin Changheng's original resolve to avoid strife and combat.
Then again, even if Xu Qianhuan alone had been killed, losing a top combatant at the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining would have dealt the Xu Family a blow to its very sinews and bones.
Unfortunately, neither the dead rogue cultivators nor their Storage Bags bore any identifying marks.
There was therefore no way to know where this band of rogue cultivators had come from or why they had come.
Holding the Storage Bag he had been given, Lin Changheng did not open it immediately. Instead, he silently followed the others, soon crossing the Blackwater River and reaching the lineage's settlement.
It was a vast complex of estates built along the river, stretching for dozens of miles.
The Xu Family's mortals all lived in ordinary towns.
Its cultivators were spread among the locations of its Spirit Veins.
The Xu Family had one Superior-Grade First-Tier Spirit Vein and one Mid-Grade Spirit Vein. The upper-grade vein supplied core members such as Late Qi Refining cultivators.
Lineage members at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining could also apply to move there.
Everyone else shared the Mid-Grade Spirit Vein, though there were distinctions within that as well.
Mid-Qi Refining cultivators and guest retainers lived along its main trunk, where the spiritual energy was richer, while the rest established their cultivation grounds along its branches.
The original group of Immortal Seedlings had been assigned to a branch of the Mid-Grade First-Tier Spirit Vein beside the Blackwater River, called the Tide Listening Dojo.
The party had barely entered the settlement when many people came forward to meet them, their expressions grave.
They all clamored to ask what had happened.
Among the crowd, Lin Changheng also spotted a dark-skinned male cultivator grinning broadly and waving at him.
It was Xu Fugui.
He smiled back in greeting.
Seeing that the people ahead were surrounded and no one was paying attention to him, he simply went over to Xu Fugui and began chatting quietly with him, talking and laughing.
Suddenly, a young woman who looked like a goddess drifted over from the distance.
Her raven hair cascaded like a waterfall, her eyes held a frosty radiance, and her jade-like face bore crimson lips.
A pale purple gown trailed along the ground, offering glimpses of icy skin and jade bones. What a cool, noble young lady she was!
The people gathered around voluntarily parted to make a path, their faces showing either respect or amazement.
"Who's that?"
Lin Changheng noticed the commotion as well and turned to ask Xu Fugui.
"The Xu Family's young lady, the Patriarch's daughter by his principal wife, Xu Hanji."