Suddenly, the two looked back and surveyed their surroundings. After watching for a while and deciding they had not been followed, they turned and jumped off the cliff.
Watching this, Chen Ming found the scene strangely familiar. He remembered something similar happening in Qu Ling City in Zhao State. Back then, he had followed someone who looked remarkably like Jia Tianlong to a cliff. Jia Tianlong had likewise jumped down, and not long afterward, people in Qu Ling City had begun disappearing one after another.
"Senior Sister Fengling, what are you doing?"
While Chen Ming stood lost in thought, Li Fengling had already reached the edge of the cliff. Just as she was about to move, he hurriedly darted to her side and pressed a hand onto her shoulder to stop her, speaking rapidly with a hint of anxiety.
"Junior Brother Chen, why are you stopping me?"
Li Fengling had been about to imitate the two men and jump when she felt a large hand press down on her left shoulder, halting her movement. She quickly turned and, seeing that it was Chen Ming holding her back, rolled her eyes at him and spoke with some irritation.
"Senior Sister Fengling, don't get angry yet. Hear me out. There's very likely a formation here. Those two weren't cultivators. At most, they looked like innate martial artists from the mortal world. Don't you think it's suspicious that they dared jump down like that?"
Chen Ming gradually lifted his hand from Li Fengling's shoulder and carefully laid out his reasoning.
"That does sound somewhat reasonable. But Junior Brother Chen, do you understand formations?"
Hearing this, Li Fengling nodded slightly, took a couple of steps, and carefully examined the flowers, grass, and scattered stones near the cliff before turning back to ask Chen Ming.
"I'm fairly capable when it comes to refining pills, but formations..."
As he spoke, Chen Ming could not help spreading his hands with a wry smile, looking utterly helpless.
"Senior Sister Fengling, why don't we head back first?"
Watching Li Fengling fall silent and squat on the ground with her chin propped in her hand, thinking about who knew what, Chen Ming thought, Better one less trouble than one more, and spoke up.
"Oh! Right!"
Li Fengling suddenly seemed to remember something and hurriedly stood up, tossing aside even the little white flower she had just picked. She dusted off her hands and took a Communication Talisman from her Storage Bag.
Her sudden outburst made Chen Ming think his words had convinced her. With a flick of his left hand, the Azure Glow Sword appeared instantly. He was just about to step onto it when her actions left him feeling rather awkward.
"Senior Sister Fengling, what are you doing?"
Chen Ming flicked his hand and instantly put away his flying sword, then looked at Li Fengling in bewilderment and asked.
"Hehe! You don't know about this, do you? This is a Formation-Breaking Talisman. I spent three thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones on it."
Grinning, Li Fengling waved the Talisman Paper in front of Chen Ming and spoke with great pride.
"Watch this."
As she spoke, Li Fengling infused a trace of magical power into the Talisman Paper, which then flew toward the cliff's edge. Suddenly, it burst into flames, and five words appeared: "This formation cannot be broken."
Li Fengling's laughter stopped abruptly. The five fiery-red words, "This formation cannot be broken," froze her in place, and for a moment, everything seemed to fall silent.
"Pfft!"
Chen Ming, who had been full of anticipation, first stared blankly at the sight, then failed to hold back his laughter.
"Ahem! Senior Sister Fengling, where did you buy that Talisman Paper?"
Li Fengling suddenly turned and glared fiercely at Chen Ming, who had burst out laughing. Faced with her piercing gaze, he quickly cleared his throat twice before asking.
It had happened once when Li Fengling came out of the Treasure Gathering Pavilion in Blackstone Market. Just outside the door, she encountered an old Daoist with a white beard, flowing white robes, and a horsetail whisk in his hand, looking every inch an immortal.
She had barely taken a few steps when an old Daoist dressed in gray cloth robes approached her.
The old Daoist's hair and beard were snowy white, his face lean, and his eyes bright and lively, giving him a somewhat immortal air. He strode up to Li Fengling, cupped his hands in greeting, and said with a broad smile:
"This humble Daoist can see that you possess extraordinary bones, fairy maiden. Your beauty is heaven-born, your fragrance celestial, your looks enough to eclipse a nation, and your lone passage leaves spring lingering in the palace. Our meeting today must be fate. I happen to have a Formation-Breaking Talisman here. How about I sell it to you cheaply?"
Li Fengling paused and looked the old Daoist up and down.
She had seen plenty of these street-side talisman-selling tricks. Nine out of ten sellers were swindlers, and the remaining one sold shoddy goods. She had intended to walk straight past him, but one phrase caught her attention-"Formation-Breaking Talisman."
"Oh?"
Li Fengling stopped and looked at the old Daoist with a faint, ambiguous smile. "What Formation-Breaking Talisman? Take it out and let me see."
Seeing her interest, the old Daoist hurriedly pulled a yellowed talisman from his sleeve and carefully unfolded it. The Talisman Paper looked ancient, its cinnabar lines intricate and precise, with a faint spiritual glow flowing through them. It certainly did not look ordinary.
"Please have a look, fairy maiden. This is a treasure passed down from my ancestors. They say a senior at the Nascent Soul stage drew it personally, specifically to break all manner of restrictions and formations. Never mind ordinary mountain-protecting formations-even powerful restrictions left over from ancient times can have an opening forcibly torn through them."
The old Daoist spoke with spittle flying, as though this talisman could soar into heaven, burrow into the earth, and accomplish anything.
Li Fengling took the talisman and examined it carefully.
Although formations were not her specialty, she had come from the Azure Cloud Sect and still possessed a discerning eye. The paper was indeed more than a hundred years old, and the runes on it were neatly drawn. Though the spiritual power it radiated was not especially strong, it was certainly no casually scrawled fake.
"How much?"
She asked casually.
The old Daoist's eyes lit up, and he raised one finger. "Ten thousand low-grade spirit-"
In the end, Li Fengling had bought the "Formation-Breaking Talisman" paper for three thousand Spirit Stones. Who would have thought she had been swindled?
Only after hearing Li Fengling's vivid account did Chen Ming understand what had happened.
"Come on! We're going to settle the score with him!"
After speaking in a huff, Li Fengling summoned the Clear Wind Sword, stepped onto it, and headed toward Blackstone Market.
Chen Ming hurriedly released the Azure Glow Sword and chased after her.
A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall, and Chen Ming understood that principle well. Though he knew they almost certainly would not find the man even if they went looking, he understood something else even better: a fairy maiden's anger could not easily be soothed. He could only follow silently behind her.
In the end, they searched Blackstone Market several times over without finding any trace of the man Li Fengling had described.
"Senior Sister Fengling, we can't find him now anyway. Why don't we return to the sect first and report what happened over there?"
When they reached an alley, Chen Ming could see that continuing their search would accomplish nothing. No longer wanting to keep looking, he spoke up.
"Tell me, do you know something?"
Junior Brother Chen has been acting a little strange today, Li Fengling thought. She could not help looking at him suspiciously, her hands on her hips as she questioned him seriously.
"Nothing much."
Is this that so-called sixth sense? She can even pick up on this, Chen Ming thought, hurriedly replying.
In fact, Li Fengling had not detected anything. It was simply that matters of the mortal world usually attracted little attention in the cultivation world, much less warranted a report to the sect.
"Are you sure? If you still won't tell the truth, don't blame your senior sister for what happens!"
Li Fengling spoke suspiciously, then took an Immobilizing Talisman from her Storage Bag and flung it at Chen Ming, freezing him in place. Next, she pulled out a long whip flickering with arcs of lightning and lashed it against the ground. Electrical crackles rang out as a cloud of dust rose.
Caught completely off guard, Chen Ming had no chance to react before he was immobilized. Seeing her fierce, claws-bared demeanor left him utterly dumbfounded.
"Senior Sister Fengling, hear me out..."
Chen Ming sighed softly, then recounted what he had seen and what had happened back in Qu Ling City.
"I really never imagined that you were a cultivator from Zhao State, Junior Brother Chen-and a disciple of Spirit Beast Mountain at that. If that's the case, why didn't you stay in Zhao State with the others from Spirit Beast Mountain? Didn't Spirit Beast Mountain defect to the Demon Sect and place itself under the Spirit Controlling Sect?"
"Tell me now! Are you a spy planted here by the Demon Sect? Were you behind the Falling Moon Sect being forced to flee?"
Li Fengling had originally been half joking, but the moment Chen Ming said he came from Spirit Beast Mountain in Zhao State, her face darkened. Remembering the fellow disciples who had died during their flight, her eyes filled with bloodshot veins, and she looked ready to devour someone.
She gripped the lightning whip tightly, growing more agitated as she spoke, then lashed Chen Ming with it. The whip struck him, making him bare his teeth and grimace in pain.
"No! Senior Sister Fengling, you have to believe me. Though I came from Spirit Beast Mountain, I am absolutely not a member of the Demon Sect."
Chen Ming felt his misery was impossible to explain and could only speak earnestly.
I should never have opened my mouth. How could I have forgotten about Spirit Beast Mountain? Chen Ming thought.
"You can explain yourself at the sect's Enforcement Hall!"
As she spoke, Li Fengling took out several more talismans and stuck them onto Chen Ming. She then produced a chain and bound him tightly. With a wave of her delicate hand, the Clear Wind Sword appeared. She stepped onto the flying sword and rose into the air, pulling the chain along.
Li Fengling flew on her sword toward the Five Elements Sect, holding the chain in one hand while Chen Ming dangled beneath her in midair.