novelraw Chapter 169 : Hua Yaoyue: “Come see me.”
Chapter 169 : Hua Yaoyue: “Come see me.”
Chapter 169: Hua Yaoyue: “Come see me.”
Let alone four Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivators engaging in combat—even if it were four Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivators fighting—Ji Yuan would never dare to step in to assist.
Being able to shout from afar was already the extent of what he could do.
Yet that single shout seemed to have had quite a noticeable effect.
Whether it was because the three Demonic Cultivators saw him emerge unscathed from their encirclement, or because they were truly worried a Golden Core Real Person was approaching—
In any case, just as Ji Yuan called out, those people immediately disengaged from the battlefield, each one staring in shock at the figure standing atop the flying boat.
After a moment of hesitation, Feng Xiuxiu made a prompt decision.
“Go!”
As her voice fell, the three Demonic Cultivators darted westward at astonishing speed.
Ji Yuan didn’t know whether Liu Yuan could catch up, but regardless, he himself did not pursue. As he landed back on the city wall, his feet gave out, and he hurriedly leaned against the wall for support.
Only then did he manage to stabilize himself.
Seeing this, Ji Yuan quickly reversed his Vital Energy, and in just an instant, his complexion turned abnormally flushed.
He coughed out a mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed straight off the flying boat, heavily crashing to the ground.
Seeing that he was barely breathing, Liu Yuan quickly urged the flying boat over to him. As he helped him up, he fed him two Recovery Spirit Pills.
The pills melted the moment they entered his stomach, and Ji Yuan’s complexion finally looked a bit less terrible.
He once again forcibly coughed out a mouthful of blood. Looking at Liu Yuan, who clearly wasn’t pretending to be weak, he gave a bitter smile and said, “Brother Liu, we really dodged death today.”
Liu Yuan also leaned back into the nearby ruins, looked skyward, and sighed, “How could we not have? Damn it, they really think highly of me, Liu Yuan—three Foundation Establishment mid-stage Demonic Cultivators besieging me, and even using a Talisman Treasure.”
“Who told Brother Liu to be so strong in the first place.”
“But you, Brother Ji—you killed three?!”
Liu Yuan suddenly sat up straight, his face filled with disbelief as he stared at Ji Yuan.
Familiar, yet somewhat unfamiliar.
Ji Yuan waved his hand. “Only killed two. The other one used a Talisman Treasure to escape.”
“A Demonic Cultivator who can obtain a Talisman Treasure in Shangdong is truly no ordinary person.”
Upon hearing that even a Foundation Establishment early-stage cultivator could have a Talisman Treasure, Liu Yuan couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Indeed.”
Ji Yuan hadn’t felt it much before, but after today’s battle, he truly understood.
Demonic Cultivators were not to be underestimated!
Especially the Demonic Cultivators of Shangdong.
The two rested beside the ruins for a moment. Once they had recovered slightly, they supported each other and stood up. Seeing the lingering mist still not completely dissipated, Liu Yuan asked, “Brother Ji, are you also a Formation Master?”
“Just happen to be slightly proficient. Compared to my Senior Brother, I’m still far behind.”
“The Island Lord of Heaven Pivot?”
Liu Yuan knew that Ji Yuan was the disciple of the Island Lord of Forgotten Worry Island.
Similarly, Ji Yuan also knew Liu Yuan was the disciple of Real Person Yun Yuan.
“Yes.”
“His formations truly are formidable.”
Liu Yuan had heard of his renown.
As the two conversed, Liu Yuan glanced toward the north. It remained calm and peaceful. Then he sent a Divine Sense Transmission:
“Brother Ji, ever since the fight began, I already sent a message to the sect. Now it’s been almost the time of three incense sticks burning—by reason, with Demonic Cultivators attacking Linshui City, the Sect Master Martial Uncle should have already invited other Martial Uncles to come investigate. But now?”
Not only was Liu Yuan confused, Ji Yuan was equally curious.
He had sent messages to Real Person Xuan Shui and also to his master Hua Yaoyue.
Even if Real Person Xuan Shui didn’t come, Hua Yaoyue would most likely show up.
Linshui City wasn’t that far from Forgotten Worry Island to begin with. With Hua Yaoyue’s suspected Late Golden Core Stage cultivation, she should’ve arrived long ago.
As for Hua Yaoyue deliberately delaying her arrival, that thought had never crossed Ji Yuan’s mind.
“Then, what does Brother Liu think happened?”
Ji Yuan used his Divine Sense to stir two items in his storage pouch: one was the wine cup bestowed by Hua Yaoyue, and the other was the Talisman Treasure: Sky-Escape Shuttle.
In case anything really went wrong, Ji Yuan had to ensure he could flee instantly.
“Don’t know.”
Liu Yuan shook his head, but from the look on his face, he clearly didn’t look like he didn’t know.
“Let’s go, we’d better return to the city first—Sect Master has arrived!”
Before Liu Yuan could finish his words, his voice suddenly rose.
Ji Yuan didn’t activate his Divine Sense again, because his eyes had already caught sight of a water-blue stream of light rushing down from the north.
But immediately after, a second stream of light—moving even faster—shot across like a falling star.
In just a breath’s time, it had gone from the horizon to right before them.
The light circled once above the city, then Ji Yuan heard a familiar voice echo in his mind.
“Come see me.”
Once Hua Yaoyue spoke, she headed north again and disappeared from sight.
With her strength, a mere sweep of Divine Sense was enough to know Ji Yuan wasn’t injured.
Quite the opposite—he was rather fine!
To Hua Yaoyue, as long as Ji Yuan was unharmed, that was enough.
Everything else had nothing to do with her.
Once Hua Yaoyue departed, the other water-blue Escape Light remained motionless. Only after she left did it fly in from a distance and finally land before Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan, transforming into the figure of Real Person Xuan Shui.
“The Sect Master Martial Uncle actually came in person.”
Even though Liu Yuan had already sensed it was Real Person Xuan Shui coming himself, he still looked extremely surprised.
As if he never expected Real Person Xuan Shui to come.
But how could Real Person Xuan Shui not come?!
He had thought Linshui City had just been purged and was a top-tier safe zone, so he deliberately stationed Ji Yuan, the disciple of Real Person Wangyou, and Liu Yuan, the disciple of Real Person Yun Yuan, here.
He placed two disciples of Golden Core Real Persons in this place.
Not only that, he also purposely selected a strong and ambitious late Foundation Establishment cultivator, Wu Nanchun, to serve as City Lord, hoping to reduce the burden on the two of them.
Thinking everything was perfectly arranged.
Real Person Xuan Shui still sometimes felt pleased at how meticulous this plan had been.
Who would’ve thought Demonic Cultivators would actually dare attack the city?!
And Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan both sent him distress messages. Honestly, Real Person Xuan Shui panicked a little upon receiving them.
If these two disciples had really perished—
True, he wouldn’t suffer much consequence.
His position as Sect Master would remain rock-solid.
But facing Yun Yuan, the Grand Elder, and Real Person Wangyou, he wouldn’t be able to explain himself.
So once he got the messages, he hurried at top speed to Linshui City.
Fortunately, the two disciples were largely unharmed.
Since that’s the case—
“The Demonic scum dare act so brazenly! Rest assured, you two. I, Real Person Xuan Shui, will give both of you—and all the cultivators of Linshui City—a proper explanation!”
Real Person Xuan Shui roared loudly, his voice echoing throughout Linshui City.
At once, the many cultivators within the city, who had been full of fear, calmed down.
To them, if a Golden Core Real Person was willing to make such a promise, what more could they want?
It’s not like they would actually go knocking on his door, demanding compensation for their losses.
Not to mention, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators from Water Dragon Sect had acted promptly, so the majority of cultivators in the city hadn’t suffered much.
Even those who had suffered losses—many were rogue cultivators of the so-called righteous path who took advantage of the chaos to make a fortune.
After stabilizing the city with a single declaration, Real Person Xuan Shui then turned to Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan and asked, “What exactly happened here? And where is Wu Nanchun? Why don’t I see her?”
Real Person Xuan Shui instinctively assumed she had perished.
But just then, a flying boat rapidly approached from the south.
Before Ji Yuan could even raise his head to look, Real Person Xuan Shui had already moved.
His figure turned into a stream of light and, within a breath’s time, he had already departed and returned.
By the time he came back, there was already another person beside Ji Yuan.
Her robe was in tatters, blood flowed from her seven orifices, and even the flying boat beneath her feet was damaged.
Her aura was extremely faint.
Yet upon seeing the person before her clearly, she still forcibly straightened herself. With a casual wave of her hand, a corpse appeared on the ground.
Real Person Xuan Shui glanced at it; the corpse was none other than the Island Lord of Qinghan.
"Re—Reporting to the Sect Master, di—disciple did not disgrace the mission, and has slain the traitor within the sect."
Having spoken, her eyes shut, and her body collapsed straight to the ground.
With Real Person Xuan Shui present, she couldn't even fall if she wanted to.
He shielded her body with spiritual energy, then raised his hand to feed her a healing pill before placing her onto the flying boat.
As the Sect Master of the Water Dragon Sect, Real Person Xuan Shui naturally understood what had happened without needing further explanation.
That the Island Lord of Qinghan had defected to the Demonic Path—he was already aware.
Now that the events in Linshui City had unfolded, it was most likely a ploy by the Island Lord of Qinghan to lure away the strong.
If Wu Nanchun had returned empty-handed, she would surely have borne the blame.
But now, she had successfully killed the Island Lord of Qinghan.
That changed everything. She was now a hero within the sect.
Then, three more flying boats arrived from the north and landed behind Real Person Xuan Shui.
Ji Yuan first noticed a tall, well-proportioned woman.
Of course, Ji Yuan's attention wasn't caught by her exposed snowy-white long legs—
It was because of the massive sword strapped to her back.
Calling it a sword might even be inaccurate; it was as large as a door panel.
This tall female cultivator appeared rather petite in contrast to the oversized sword.
As for her aura, Ji Yuan couldn’t discern it.
He estimated she was at least in the late Foundation Establishment Stage, if not at its peak.
The other two male cultivators seemed quite unremarkable by comparison.
Ji Yuan didn’t recognize them.
"Senior Sister Rou."
As soon as the female cultivator arrived, Liu Yuan quickly greeted her.
"Mm, it's fine as long as you're okay. Master asked me to come check on you."
The female cultivator called Senior Sister Rou looked Liu Yuan up and down. Despite Liu Yuan being seriously injured, in her eyes, he seemed unscathed.
Ji Yuan could guess a few things from this.
This female cultivator was most likely the disciple of Real Person Yun Yuan, the Grand Elder—also Liu Yuan’s direct senior sister.
"Alright, I’ll leave this place to the three of you. First stabilize Linshui City."
Real Person Xuan Shui said in a low voice: "I will bring these few back to the sect for healing. As for the Demonic Path matters, I will decide personally."
"Yes."
The three newcomers all cupped their hands in acknowledgment.
With a wave of his large hand, Real Person Xuan Shui turned into an escape light and flew north, bringing Ji Yuan and the others with him.
Midway, he naturally inquired about what had happened here.
Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan both told the truth without concealing a thing. After listening, Real Person Xuan Shui only replied with a "Mm" and refrained from further commenting.
Instead, he said, "Both of your strengths are quite impressive. In less than half a stick of incense’s time, you wiped out these demonic cultivators. Ji Yuan, you truly live up to being Martial Aunt Wangyou’s prized disciple."
Ji Yuan and Liu Yuan exchanged glances.
Eventually, Liu Yuan spoke: "The demonic cultivators had been here for a while. We sent a message to Sect Master Martial Uncle three incense sticks ago."
"What?!"
Real Person Xuan Shui immediately halted in midair.
Everyone hovered in the air.
"You mean, you had already messaged me earlier?"
"Exactly."
Ji Yuan nodded along.
Real Person Xuan Shui fell silent for a moment, seemingly pondering something. After a while, he finally said:
"In a while, both of you return to your respective islands to heal. There’s no need to go back to Linshui City."
"If you find any clues about the demonic cultivators, remember to inform me immediately."
Finding clues mainly referred to whether Ji Yuan could discover anything from the storage pouches of the two demonic cultivators.
"Understood."
Linshui City wasn’t far away. A Golden Core Real Person came and went quickly.
Before long—
As Real Person Xuan Shui passed over Ji Yuan’s Wuyou Island, he already let him down.
Passing through the formations arranged by Yun Qianzai and returning to his second home, Ji Yuan finally let go of his anxious heart.
Indeed, today’s battle was quite sudden.
After all, who would have thought those Demonic Path cultivators would really dare target Linshui City?
Back in his Cave Dwelling, Ji Yuan first consumed a few spirit-gathering healing pills, then performed several techniques to dispel the dust on his body before opening the [Enlightenment Room] and stepping inside to calm himself—
And to clear his thoughts.
Calm the spirit before major matters.
Likewise, after every battle, Ji Yuan had the habit of reviewing the events.
Just like today’s battle.
Ji Yuan’s most vivid realization was that although the fight seemed dangerous, it still didn’t push him to his limits.
Not to mention he hadn’t used his life-bound flying sword embryo.
Even just in terms of formations, he still had the Yin Ghost Formation hidden.
Once deployed, that formation with two fearless early Foundation Establishment Yin Ghosts—plus the trapping Yin Ghost Formation—
Ji Yuan estimated that just this Yin Ghost Formation alone could have captured both early Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators.
With the aid of formations, even three Foundation Establishment cultivators weren’t his limit.
However, his actions still lacked caution. For example, in the recent battle, the best approach would have been to deploy the formation upon discovering the three demonic cultivators, first shielding himself.
Had he done so, he wouldn’t have fallen into the Thirty-Six Smoke Formation outside the East City Gate.
Ji Yuan did consider it at the time, but he also felt that while he could avoid danger this way, the many cultivators and mortals in the city might have suffered at the hands of those three demonic cultivators.
Ji Yuan felt he couldn’t yet be that cold-hearted.
In terms of the fight, after reviewing it, the main issue he identified was not using the talisman treasure "Thousandfold Chains" after dodging the short man's secret art with the Substitute Clay Doll and entering a stalemate.
Had he used it then, he surely could’ve trapped all three demonic cultivators. Even if not, trapping two would’ve freed Ji Yuan’s hands to slay the third.
But when Ji Yuan summoned the formation and felt he had the upper hand, he didn’t think to use the talisman.
Unexpectedly, Hu Li exploited the gap and used a talisman treasure to escape.
Otherwise, they could have been captured all at once.
Of course, he hadn’t expected the enemy to possess an escape treasure like the Sky-Escape Shuttle.
Still, the result wasn’t bad. Three early Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators tried to encircle and kill him, and the outcome was two dead, one escaped, and he was seriously injured.
It at least meant he’d kept some cards hidden.
If he had truly killed all three, once word spread, his fame would have exploded.
At that point, with his strength exposed under everyone’s eyes, it would be hard to conceal anything—far too dangerous.
By comparison, Ji Yuan still preferred to quietly farm on his island.
When there was nothing else to do, he could go honor his master and deepen their relationship.
After finishing his review, Ji Yuan was just about to take out the storage pouches of those two demonic cultivators to see if there were any treasures—
When suddenly, an urgent voice rang from outside Wuyou Island.
"Little Junior Brother, Little Junior Brother, are you back yet?"
The anxious voice of Feng Zhi Tao came through.
Using the formation to observe, Ji Yuan saw that not only had Feng Zhi Tao come, even Yun Qianzai was with her.
Should he get a little more injured?
A thought instinctively flashed through Ji Yuan’s mind. Back in Linshui City, he had already faked it once, but in the end, his physique was too strong, his recovery too quick. Not long had passed, and all his injuries had already healed.
So be it, a lie is a lie.
Ji Yuan once again reversed his vital energy and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, making his face pale, then opened the formation to let Feng Zhi Tao and Yun Qianzai in.
"Little Junior Brother, you—"
Feng Zhi Tao looked at Ji Yuan’s unusually pale face, seeming for a moment to want to speak but hesitating.
But Yun Qianzai wasn’t so considerate. He directly said, "Didn’t Master say you weren’t injured? How did you end up this badly hurt?"
"ㄴ—so you already went to see Master."
Ji Yuan’s face immediately looked a bit rosier.
"Yeah, we just came from Master. He said you encountered a demonic cultivator assault while on duty."
"It’s nothing, just a small wound."
Ji Yuan waved his hand and quickly changed the subject. "I wasn’t really injured. The one truly hurt was Wu Nanchun. And you would never guess who she killed..."
"Oh? Who?"
Feng Zhi Tao was instantly intrigued by Ji Yuan’s sudden exclamation.
Yun Qianzai, with arms crossed before his chest, cast a faintly warning glance at Ji Yuan. "She’s only in the late Foundation Establishment Stage. Who could she kill? No one, I’d say."
Feng Zhi Tao rolled her eyes at him. "Enough, we know you're at the peak of Foundation Establishment. No need to brag. Little Junior Brother, hurry and say it."
"She killed the traitorous Island Lord of Qinghan—"
"What?!"
Right after, Ji Yuan recounted the entire course of events in full detail, and by the time he finished, both Feng Zhi Tao and Yun Qianzai had completely forgotten about his supposedly injured state.
After he was done speaking, Feng Zhi Tao suddenly remembered something. "Right, Master asked us to call you over."
"Alright, then let’s go see Master first."
Ji Yuan had originally planned to sort through the storage pouches, but now it seemed he’d have to wait until after meeting Hua Yaoyue.
Moreover, the fact she had deliberately sent Feng Zhi Tao and the others meant it was likely something important. So be it—he would know once he met her.
—
Once Ji Yuan had boarded Feng Zhi Tao’s flying boat and departed—
On the nearby Youlan Island, several strands of divine sense converged.
"Isn’t that the Island Lord of Fire Phoenix Island and that one called the so-called Island Lord of Heaven Pivot, 『Yun Xiansheng』?"
"Didn’t I already say, this Ji Yuan is the disciple of Martial Aunt Wangyou? Now it’s confirmed."
"Right, speaking of this Yun Xiansheng, I actually heard a funny story about him not long ago——"