Chapter 768 541 Tuoba_2

Only the leader was at the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation, with slightly quicker reflexes. He drew his Dharma Sword, red light blooming on its blade as he parried with a backhand.

"Clang!"

A clear ringing sound was heard as the leading devil cultivator staggered back, the rainbow light retracting an inch before lunging at him again.

"What is this thing? Could it be a spell?"

The devil cultivator hailed from the Zhao Country and had spent the first half of his life battling against Buddhist Practitioners but had never encountered an Immortal Cultivator. He froze for a moment before a figure, stepping on rosy clouds, materialized in front of him.

"Damn it!"

The figure flashed before his eyes only for an instant, and his treasured sword had already flown out of his hand, landing in the hands of the Taoist. His fear subsided, but before he could react, his body was tightly bound, preventing him from summoning his Escaping Light.

Li Xizhi took the magic artifact and examined it, finding it crudely made and unsightly to behold. Forged from blood, qi, and soul, the weapon exuded a faint blood light in his hand but lacked any commendable features.

He then rode the rosy clouds to the front of the Formation; behind him, several streaks of rosy light carried the bound men. Using the Token, he opened the Great Formation and saw a tiny marketplace standing in the valley, with several people approaching on the wind.

The marketplace at most consisted of a few courtyards, utterly rudimentary. The Formation looked new and must have been laid down by the Green Pond Sect.

When these people reached him, they all knelt down in reverence. Li Xizhi looked closely to see one at the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation, three at the earlier stages, and the rest merely at Fetal Breathing.

"Quite a sorry sight," he mused.

He felt a bit awkward as the cultivators of Baixiang Valley were overjoyed to the point of sleepless nights, eagerly addressing him as Peak Master.

The old man at the Middle Stage of Qi Cultivation seemed to be the Steward of Baixiang Valley, and he expressed his emotions excitedly:

"Peak Master... I have long heard that the South River is a great place of Immortal Cultivation, and to think you've come from afar to aid us... Bai is endlessly grateful... please accept my bow..."

Li Xizhi was taken aback for a moment and after asking a couple of questions, he realized that all the people present shared the surname Bai and were local cultivators from Xu Country. Aside from setting up the Formation in Baixiang Valley, the rest of the Green Pond Sect's cultivators had yet to arrive.

He chuckled, shaking his head and sighing in relief, thinking to himself:

"It makes sense... Baixiang Valley is also a key defensive location... They wouldn't just leave a few Qi Cultivators for me, it's just the Chi Family's schemes that had me worried..."

With the others yet to arrive, Li Xizhi was in no rush to interrogate the devil cultivators, so he had some rooms cleared, and he waited in silence.

Nearly one night passed before two streaks of Escaping Light arrived one after the other.

The first to arrive was an elderly man with white hair, dressed neatly, looking older than even Li Xuanxuan; he was at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment and appeared to be about a hundred years old, which by the age of Foundation Establishment Cultivators, likely meant he was over two hundred years old.

No sooner had the old man greeted him with a cupped fist salute than another middle-aged man arrived. He was at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, with neatly trimmed beard, and he stepped forward to say loudly:

"I am Quan Yi from Lenghe Peak, greetings to the two Taoist Fellow."

The old man followed suit in a hoarse voice:

"Panqi Peak, Yu Yuwei. The old Taoist also has three disciples, who will all arrive in the coming days."

Li Xizhi wasn't very familiar with the middle-aged man named Quan Yi, but he had heard of the Yu Family's Panqi Peak. He nodded at them, smiling:

"Long Sky Peak, Li Xizhi."

After exchanging names, Li Xizhi pointed to the devil cultivators lying on the ground and said:

"Seniors, I arrived a bit earlier and happened upon this group of devil cultivators acting sneakily, so I caught them on the way here."

The middle-aged man Quan Yi smiled slightly and said:

"I know some spells, which should be useful for questioning them."

He revealed a pale blue flame in his hand, pressed it on the forehead of the person before him, and started questioning in a low voice. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he spoke disappointedly:

"They're just minor cultivators looking to pick up leftovers. Not from the Tuoba Family."

As he stood up after withdrawing his hand, the man before him quickly slumped down, looking dazed and groggy, while the surrounding few grew even more terrified, unable to move as they were bound by the rosy light.

Li Xizhi, thorough as always, picked up the devil cultivator's Storage Bag and rummaged through it, finding merely some qi and a mishmash of blood-stained clothes, along with several torn and tattered Cultivation Techniques.

Hidden among the clothes was a sealed letter. He opened it in front of the two men, revealing it to be a personal letter from the family. The handwriting was quite blurred, clearly something that had been written years ago.

Quan Yi turned back, greatly disappointed. The three of them clearly knew where the main danger they had to face here came from. Yu Yuwei gently shook his head and stroked his beard, saying,

"Taoist Fellow... If it really was a scout from the Tuoba Family, they surely wouldn't have left any incriminating evidence. The Tuoba Family has extremely profound techniques associated with the soul. It is difficult to spot... Our Green Pond Sect's cultivation techniques are clever indeed but, I'm afraid, still inferior to theirs."

This statement was not very flattering to Quan Yi, but he took no offense, nodding in agreement, as if he had an epiphany, and casually killed several people.

These people only had time to gasp in terror before they lost their lives. Only then did he laugh and say,

"I was rash. The elder before us has seen much and knows much. Having been a Peak Master for so many years and coming from one of the Noble Families, could you perhaps explain something about the Tuoba Family?"

Yu Yuwei gave a slight nod and simply said,

"The Tuoba Family has a very significant background. Although they have now declined, they were once one of the great clans... Do you know of the matter of Northern Qi replacing Wei, and then Da Liang destroying Qi?"

Both of them naturally nodded. When they got to the part about Northern Qi replacing Wei, Quan Yi glanced at Li Xizhi. Yu Yuwei then whispered,

"The Emperor Tai Wu of Liang was named Tuoba, with the given name Xuantan."

"So, they were the imperial clan of the Northern Dynasty."

Quan Yi's expression gradually became difficult, clearly startled by this reputation. Li Xizhi had not expected the Tuoba Family to have such a large background either and was silently pondering when Yu Yuwei softly said,

"Later on, the Emperor of Liang perished, and the Shaoyang Demon Lord died as well. Da Liang prospered to the extreme and then declined, falling tragically."

"Da Liang's land was shattered, and the Tuoba Family suffered heavy losses. They only survived by relying on the 'Prosperous Music of Heaven' spell, recuperating for many years. Now, they have established a foothold in Yan Country."

"And they have Cave Heaven!"

Quan Yi had a complex expression. Looking at the two men, he calculated with his fingers and whispered,

"The three of us, plus the elder's three disciples—if the Tuoba Family has only sent one person, we can still fend them off... But if they have sent three or five people... we might as well not offer futile resistance. It's better to accept the punishment than to lose our lives..."

Yu Yuwei heard this and laughed out loud, clapping him on the shoulder, and replied,

"Taoist Fellow is really worrying too much! So many years have passed... The Tuoba Family is no longer as glorious. Even if they have one or two outstanding scions, they would not send them to a place like this..."

"If we are shaken just by hearing a surname, there are many in the world surnamed Li, surnamed Father-in-law, surnamed Tuoba... as well as surnamed Xie, surnamed Wang..."

Quan Yi simply waved his hand and nodded in response,

"The elder speaks the truth... but I still feel uneasy at heart."

His interest did not rise throughout, and after chatting briefly, he found himself an empty room to rest and recollect himself. He sighed a couple of times. The old man, who looked like the Clan Leader of Baixiang Valley, hurriedly vacated his Cave Mansion for him.

The elder took this opportunity to stroll over to Li Xizhi. Yu Yuwei asked,

"Is Taoist Fellow Xizhi from the Li Family of Wangyue Lake?"

Seeing Li Xizhi nod, Yu Yuwei replied with a smile,

"That's quite a coincidence."

Li Xizhi was somewhat puzzled, then he heard the old man say leisurely,

"Back in the day, my Yu Family was very close to the Ning Family. There were Ning Family Members cultivating at Panqi Peak. Counting the generations, they should be my martial uncles."

"Later, when the positions on Moon Lake Peak were vacant, my martial uncle became the Peak Master of Moon Lake Peak. Once, while cultivating on the lake, flying in the wind, he suddenly saw a woman with Fetal Breathing cultivation level, beautiful in appearance and demeanor."

He chuckled and continued,

"He was of a flirtatious nature and struck up a romantic relationship with the woman. They were intimate for a night, unable to part ways, and he brought her back into the sect. What a romantic and beauteous affair it was, stirring up quite some controversy."

"But in the end, the woman's talent was too lacking, and she perished. Before her death, she entrusted her family to my martial uncle, who agreed. Later, my martial uncle also passed away, and Moon Lake Peak wasn't very keen on dealing with the matter, seeing it as something of a scandal, and merely took reluctant care of the woman's brother."

Yu Yuwei raised his head, putting on a nostalgic expression, and mumbled,

"Seems his name was... Lu Sisi! Have you heard of him, Taoist Fellow?"

Li Xizhi remained silent, then said softly,

"I have heard something of it..."