After lingering on Danxia Star for two months, Li Xue and her companions prepared to return to Jinxing Star. Several Nascent Soul Daoists remained behind to handle other matters, so Li Xue’s group set out on their own first. To everyone’s surprise, Bai Xingyu accompanied them; Bai Fenghua had specifically designated her to go out for tempering.
Bai Xingyu had never left Danxia Star, so traveling with them was reasonable enough, yet Li Xue could not help but feel that matters were not quite so simple.
After observing the interactions between Ji Rufeng and Bai Xingyu for a while and finding them perfectly normal, Li Xue set her suspicions aside for the time being.
Just as the group arrived at the transit station leading to Jinxing Star, a powerful pressure characteristic of a Nascent Soul cultivator suddenly surged toward them. Everyone immediately summoned their flying swords and defensive dharma treasures to protect their minds and spirits.
"Granduncle, it’s those two!" a voice called out.
The group looked ahead to see a Nascent Soul cultivator accompanied by a Core Formation early-stage cultivator. Li Xue and Li Lin recognized the latter at a glance—it was the man from the Tie family whom the rogue cultivator Bugui Sanren had seized to take as a disciple. His name was Tie Qingyuan. After he had regained consciousness at the Yuxuan Sect, he had departed quickly. What was he doing here now?
The Nascent Soul cultivator, named Tie Yi, nodded. He pointed at Li Xue and Li Lin, saying, "You two stay. The rest may leave!"
Li Xue felt a sinking sensation in her heart. "Senior, what are your instructions?" she asked.
"Hmph! Shameless juniors, you dared to obstruct my descendant’s future. Give up your lives!" Tie Yi snorted, preparing to strike.
"Wait!" Li Lin shouted immediately. "Senior, what is this 'shameless' act you speak of? When we met this fellow Daoist, Divine Lord Cangyu of the Yuxuan Sect was also present!" Li Lin’s mind raced as he began to grasp what was happening.
"Granduncle, they are the ones who ruined my future! Hurry, avenge your grand-nephew!" Tie Qingyuan interrupted frantically the moment he heard Divine Lord Cangyu’s name.
Tie Yi hesitated for a moment upon hearing of Divine Lord Cangyu, but his expression darkened further at his grand-nephew’s words. Without another word, he moved to attack.
"Senior, they are Guest Elders of the Yuxuan Sect. If there is a misunderstanding, it can be cleared up at the sect. Bai Xingyu of Danxia Star offers her greetings!" Seeing the situation turn dire, Bai Xingyu quickly announced her identity. She pricked her finger, forcing out a drop of essence blood to merge into her Bai family jade pendant, signaling the Bai family on Danxia Star.
Tie Yi paused. "You are of the Bai family? Step aside; this does not concern you!"
Bai Xingyu wanted to say more, but Tie Yi had already raised his hand, reaching out to seize Li Xue and Li Lin. They would not submit so easily; they summoned every dharma treasure they could activate and engaged their maximum defenses.
Ji Rufeng, Dongfang Jing, and Yu Ming simultaneously unleashed their treasures to attack Tie Yi. Even if the gap in their cultivation realms was vast, they would not sit idly by and wait for death.
Tie Yi snorted disdainfully, "Overestimating yourselves!"
Li Xue’s mind suddenly cleared. Tie Qingyuan must have later learned that Bugui Sanren was a Grandmaster Smith. Regretting his escape and not daring to seek trouble with the Yuxuan Sect, he had come to vent his frustrations on them instead. It seemed they were in serious trouble this time.
Li Xue and Yu Ming exchanged a glance, simultaneously summoning Chi Ze and Hei Yan. Zi Ying had not yet taken human form, so bringing her out would be useless.
When Tie Yi saw the two transformed spirit beasts, a flash of jealousy crossed his eyes. He said fiercely, "Do you think having transformed spirit beasts will allow you to escape?" He sacrificed a dharma treasure—a golden ring. The ring expanded rapidly, instantly trapping Li Xue and the others within its scope.
The six people and two beasts launched their strongest attacks. Amidst a cacophony of cracks and booms, their attacks were all reflected back. One by one, they fell to the ground, coughing up blood.
Li Xue spoke rapidly, "Tie Qingyuan, you were the one unwilling to apprentice under Bugui Sanren! Who can you blame for sneaking away? Divine Lord Cangyu and Sect Master Yu Yuntian both know the truth. Do you think you can hide it from everyone?" Li Xue hoped to clarify the matter, wishing Tie Yi possessed enough reason not to resort to killing.
Unfortunately, Li Xue had overestimated these people.
Tie Qingyuan said with venomous spite, "You lie! It was clearly because you wanted to join Bugui Sanren yourselves that you plotted to scare me away!"
Hearing this villainous reversal of the truth, Li Xue and Li Lin realized he was beyond reason. They summoned their treasures once more. With the exception of Bai Xingyu, the five of them acted in perfect unison, pulling out all their talismans and launching a combined assault.
Even with his Nascent Soul cultivation, Tie Yi found the barrage of talismans difficult to withstand. He used teleportation to dodge. A series of thunderous explosions followed, blasting several deep craters into the ground.
Before Li Xue’s group could react further, a burst of golden light swept toward them. Seeing the danger, Li Lin hurriedly activated the Youyin Shield to protect everyone. With a sharp *pssh* sound, the shield’s dark light flickered out. Li Lin sprayed out a large mouthful of blood and collapsed.
"Xiao Lin!" Li Xue cried out, rushing to pull her son into her arms. Seeing him unconscious, her heart twisted with agony. She glared at Tie Yi with murderous rage, vowing inwardly: *If anything happens to Xiao Lin, I swear to level the Tie family within my lifetime!*
Tie Yi was somewhat surprised that Li Lin’s Youyin Shield could momentarily stall his treasure, but he soon gave a sinister laugh. "Hehe, let you juniors taste the power of my Tie family’s Golden Light Wheel once more!" He launched another attack.
This time, the group had no time for other maneuvers. They strained to circulate their spiritual power to reinforce their personal defenses, but it was of little use. They were struck again, coughing up blood as their heart meridians sustained damage.
Chi Ze let out a dragon’s roar, spitting Red Lightning and Crimson Thunder at Tie Yi once more. The lightning fell like rain. The Chi Ze Flood Dragon’s body was indeed formidable; under the attack of a Nascent Soul cultivator, it was merely injured, faring better than Li Xue and the others.
Hei Yan also manifested two clones to attack Tie Qingyuan. Being injured, he could only manage two clones.
Tie Qingyuan shrieked and scrambled to dodge, but he was still struck by one of Hei Yan’s clones, falling to the ground and spitting blood. He had not expected anyone to target him and was caught off guard.
The golden light flared brilliantly again. Chi Ze and Hei Yan were hit once more, falling to the ground, unable to rise. Li Xue and Yu Ming looked at each other, prepared to take everyone and flee into the Dream Realm. Compared to their lives, no secret was more important.
"Tie Yi, you dare to intercept and kill the Guest Elders of my Yuxuan Sect? Do you wish to incite a war between our two sects?" Bai Fenghua’s furious voice boomed across the area.
The moment they heard Bai Fenghua’s voice, the group’s spirits finally relaxed. Except for Li Xue, everyone lost consciousness.
When Bai Fenghua, Bai Ruihua, and Li Yuhong saw the juniors lying unconscious and near death, their eyes turned red with rage. Without a word, they summoned their dharma treasures and attacked. Tie Yi brought out his strongest defensive treasure and used continuous teleportation to flee, but he was no match for three late-stage Nascent Soul experts. He was driven into a pathetic state.
As for Tie Qingyuan, he had long since passed out under the crushing pressure of the Nascent Soul battle.
Tie Yi used some unknown treasure to withstand a combined blow from the three elders, then grabbed Tie Qingyuan and bolted toward the teleportation array. The three pursued him with their treasures. A scream rang out as Tie Yi, though wounded, finally managed to escape.
***
