Chapter 18: Walked Very Peacefully

What a dignified Xianren, yet so destitute, with just a hatchet and a storage Fabao...

Indeed, most Qi Refiners mingling in the mortal world are just hacks in this line of work...

Amid the swirling black ashes, Li Changshou gathered the ring-shaped storage Fabao and the hatchet into his Tianzi No. 4 storage bag, then put away the Soul-Capturing Pearl. He leaped to the edge of the cliff and squatted down in front of the three stalks of Xianjie Grass.

He took out two pre-prepared jade boxes, tucked two detox pills he had refined himself under his tongue, and enveloped his hands in eighteen layers of magical power. With quick yet careful movements, he uprooted the two older stalks of the poisonous herb, roots and all, and swiftly sealed them inside the jade boxes.

Harvest without depleting the source, and good fortune will remain intact.

Finally...

Li Changshou showed a faint smile.

He quickly stood up, not daring to linger, and worried that Yuwen Ling might have other accomplices.

He dashed to the head of the fallen Three-Eyed Biwave Snake, pulled out the storage bag marked "Di Er" from his robe, stuffed the snake head inside, sealed it with a talisman, and stored it in his Xuanzi No. 4 storage Fabao.

This should yield some decent poison; it could serve as protection for his junior sister against threats. The snake's body was too large and tough to handle on the spot, so he had to settle for second best.

The surrounding snake poison still billowed, and the bodies of those masked individuals had already been burned clean by the three "main combat" paper figures.

For non-Xianren targets, the Yin Cold Xuan Fire burned effortlessly; the faint ashes of those people had now merged with their general's remains, waiting to scatter in the wind...

Then, Li Changshou and the four paper figures worked together, sprinkling two bottles of powder across the area.

The human blood on the ground ignited instantly, erupting in patches of green ghost fire that made the bloodstains vanish in an eyeblink.

Hmm, purifying the Hong Huang environment and protecting the Bei Continent ecosystem—these are duties that human Qi Refiners cannot shirk!

After collecting a few more storage Fabao, Li Changshou scanned the surroundings with his gaze, his spiritual awareness probing for any movement within ten Li. He began forming hand seals with his hands.

Once he confirmed nothing was overlooked, the several shadowy figures turned back into paper figures and slipped into Li Changshou's sleeves.

He retracted his umbrella and merged his form into the rock layer, quietly leaving the area.

As the array dissipated, toxic mists and miasmas surged back, bringing a slight breeze.

Beneath the cypress tree, only a headless snake corpse, several pools of highly poisonous snake blood, and the crisscrossing cracks on the ground remained, along with the crumbling cliff...

That old cypress tree, now with a new hairstyle, swayed gently in the wind with its few remaining branches, as if bidding a reluctant farewell to Li Changshou hidden deep in the earth.

...

Li Changshou used Earth Escape to quietly approach the site where his two fellow disciples were fighting.

Youqin Xuanya was frantically attacking Yuan Qing with her flying sword, and Yuan Qing was barely holding on, his body covered in wounds and his robes soaked with blood.

This Yuan Qing...

With his Return to Void realm cultivation, he must have relied on pills to reach it, right?

Is this the so-called second-ranked among his peers?

If the guys on the contemporary disciple rankings are all at this level, then in a few years at the Immortal Sect Grand Competition, if I just prepare more pills and self-made Fabao for Ling'e, she might make it into the top hundred...

Li Changshou stealthily reached the outskirts of their battle, timing his move with Youqin Xuanya's sword strikes. He extended a hand from the ground and hurled a porcelain bottle at Yuan Qing.

—It was the same superior-grade Soft Immortal Powder bottle he had used up earlier.

A faint whooshing sound came from behind, and as Yuan Qing parried two flying swords, he casually swung his sword toward the noise. His strike was stylish and precise, shattering the bottle instantly.

Hmm? Where did this porce... bottle...

Yuan Qing's eyelids fluttered, his sword still mid-swing as his body swayed unsteadily, about to collapse forward.

Just then, four flying swords shot toward him from the front!

As he lurched forward, Yuan Qing almost seemed to throw himself onto the incoming swords!

Youqin Xuanya had no intention of killing Yuan Qing here; even though she saw him as despicable, he was still a sect disciple and needed to be brought back for their masters to judge.

But now, with Yuan Qing suddenly not resisting...

As Li Changshou had calculated, Youqin Xuanya's control over this sword technique was not yet refined. She couldn't retract the swords in time, and they pierced Yuan Qing's neck, forehead, chest, and abdomen in an instant.

The strikes were precise, destroying his three souls and piercing his Dantian, leaving no chance for survival.

"This..."

Youqin Xuanya froze for a moment, then seemed to realize something and sighed softly.

She descended from the air, leaped off her flying sword, and hurried toward Yuan Qing's body...

Yuan Qing had passed peacefully.

He truly had; he hadn't felt any threat of death, slipping into a dream in an instant, his body pierced without waking. A faint smile even lingered on his lips.

Even a trace of superior-grade Soft Immortal Powder was more than Yuan Qing could handle at that moment.

And seeing that smile in Youqin Xuanya's eyes...

"Even someone as wicked-hearted as you, do you feel a hint of remorse?

Were you also forced into this?"

Youqin Xuanya's gaze showed a touch of reluctance. She shook her head, and with a wave, the flying swords swiftly returned, reassembled, and burst into flames, melting back into her great sword, which then hung itself on her back.

Hearing this self-musing, Li Changshou underground couldn't help but give a thumbs-up.

Junior Sister Youqin, true to form as Junior Sister Youqin, even has the incredible ability to motivate herself with pep talks!

That said, after killing an opponent without confirming the surroundings, she just stands there reflecting...

Clearly, she's never faced the harsh blows of life; she's too careless.

At that moment, Youqin Xuanya glanced toward the now-still cliff, completely unaware of any living presence there. The terrifying poisonous beast demon snake was also silent...

'Who knows how Senior Brother Li Changshou is doing? I should take Yuan Qing's body and go check.'

Youqin Xuanya took a couple of steps toward Yuan Qing, about to wrap his body in magical power, when her eyelids suddenly drooped, and she slowly toppled backward.

With a clang, her great sword hit the ground...

Almost simultaneously, subtle ripples appeared in the earth beneath Yuan Qing's body, and the porcelain fragments quietly merged into the ground.

The ripples sped toward Youqin Xuanya, and as they reached her, a hand shot out, grabbing hold of her long hair.

This unyielding iron hand yanked hard, dragging the unconscious Youqin Xuanya straight into the earth...

The ground's ripples gently undulated a few times before vanishing, leaving the surface smooth and solid once more.

A Qi Refiner's defenses were far superior to an ordinary person's, even down to the scalp and hair follicles. Though this method was inelegant, it was convenient, secure, and unlikely to cause misunderstandings—or actually bald a Return to Void realm cultivator.

When Li Changshou acted, he was simply trying to drag her away quickly and escape this trouble spot.

As for Yuan Qing's body...

He hadn't killed the man, so there was no need to dispose of it completely; just clearing the porcelain fragments was enough.

Soft Immortal Powder was just a sedative; it would dissipate completely from a dead body in a couple of days, making it hard to trace.

Besides, if sect Xianren came looking later, the absence of a body would only complicate things.

Deep in the earth, Li Changshou dragged the sleeping Youqin Xuanya, fleeing straight southeast, vanishing like a pair of swimming fish.

...

"Ah! This damn array is so annoying!"

With Jiu Jiu's furious shout, the ground trembled beneath her feet, and the poisonous insects and beasts in the misty realm shuddered in fear.

Thanks to the great array's seal, the earth held firm and didn't crumble under the feet of the Zhenxian.

In a corner nearby, Wang Qi and Liu Yaner leaned against each other, looking exhausted and dispirited.

Trapped here for so long, their spirits were naturally low, but this environment had let their feelings deepen rapidly, and they were now calling each other "Yaner Shijie" and "Qiqi Shidi."

For the record, the "Qi" in Wang Qi doesn't mean "strange"...

Jiu Jiu's irritability was partly stirred up by this young couple...

After venting her frustration, Jiu Jiu crossed her arms, sat cross-legged in midair three feet off the ground, and continued pondering a solution.

Liu Yaner stepped forward slowly and said gently, "Uncle Jiu, don't worry too much. Good people have their own fortunes; maybe our junior brothers and sisters are already waiting in town."

Jiu Jiu snorted, "It's been so long—who knows if their bodies are even left!"

"Uncle..."

Liu Yaner continued, "Didn't you say yesterday that, based on the timeline, the sect should have sent people by now?

Maybe we'll be free soon."

"Ah," Jiu Jiu scratched at her medium-length hair in frustration, "I have no idea if those three are dead or alive!

If Li Changshou really met with trouble, how am I supposed to explain it to his master!

And if those two precious immortal seedlings die, my wine money for the next hundred years is done for!"

Liu Yaner had a few black lines on her forehead. Though she knew Uncle Jiu was speaking from the heart and truly cared about them, it still felt like... Uncle Jiu was more concerned about her wine money...

Suddenly, a light breeze blew through the array, followed by a sigh echoing from all directions.

Then came the flat, aged voice:

"Little Jiu, do you know your crimes?"

Jiu Jiu shivered involuntarily, her legs dropping as she whispered, "M-Master?"

Liu Yaner exclaimed in surprise, "Is Upper Immortal Wangqing coming to find us himself?"

The surrounding white mist began to recede rapidly, and their immortal senses and spiritual awareness finally broke free from the trapping array, extending unimpeded in all directions...

Just then, two figures flew in from the distance and crashed in front of Jiu Jiu.

They were two white-haired elders in black robes, both at the Yuanxian level, severely injured and unconscious, each bearing a sunken palm print.

Wang Qi shouted excitedly from the side, "Uncle Jiu, it's them! They're the ones who attacked me and Yaner Shijie!"

Jiu Jiu hesitated no longer, bending her knees and kneeling on the ground, her forehead touching the earth as she said somberly:

"Master,

Your disciple was schemed against, and three young juniors have gone missing.

I am willing to accept any punishment, but please, Master, quickly search for their traces and see if any can be saved!"

At that moment, the white mist had fully dissipated, and several figures appeared in the distance.

The shortest Daoist at the front, no more than five feet tall, saw Jiu Jiu kneeling so earnestly and felt a bit awkward. He cleared his throat and said with a chuckle:

"Our master isn't here—it's me, cough, your clever and handsome... Fifth Senior Brother..."

"Hmm?"

There's killing intent!

The short Daoist trembled and tried to recover, but in the distance, the junior sister in hemp robes had already stamped her foot and shot toward them like an arrow from a divine bow, creating sonic booms as she flew!