Chapter 99 - 96: Attack
Chapter 99: Chapter 96: Attack
For the next few days, Li Yuan’s life revolved around talisman crafting and cultivation.
He drew one Fireball Talisman after another, his success rate stabilizing at over sixty percent.
With a daily output of five or six, his stock of finished talismans steadily grew.
This afternoon, Li Yuan was at his desk, drawing his fourth Fireball Talisman of the day.
He was halfway through layering the Fire Gathering Pattern when his brush tip was about to press down—
HUMMM.
A low hum vibrated from the outskirts of the mine.
It was feedback from the Investigation Array.
Li Yuan’s wrist froze. The Spiritual Ink bled into a small patch on the paper. The talisman was ruined.
He set down his talisman brush and perked up his ears, listening for a moment.
No alarm sounded outside immediately.
According to standard procedure, once the Investigation Array detected an approaching Cultivator or Demon Beast, the person on duty should have immediately confirmed the signal and issued a warning.
But outside, it was quiet for several breaths. There was no movement at all.
Li Yuan frowned and pushed the door open to step outside.
The one on duty for the Investigation Array today was a Qi Refining Fourth Level cultivator from the team, surnamed Qian. He was usually a quiet man who did his work conscientiously enough.
Right now, this Cultivator Qian was squatting beside the Investigation Array’s core stone pillar, one hand on the pillar and the other frantically pouring Spiritual Power into it.
Guilt was written all over his face.
The Spirit Patterns on the array’s stone pillar flickered twice, then erupted in a piercing red light. A sharp buzzing sound suddenly echoed throughout the entire mine.
The alarm.
An alarm that was several breaths too late.
The commotion startled Cultivator Qian. He shot to his feet, blurting out,
"Someone’s approaching! Several of them!"
Li Yuan was no longer looking at him.
His gaze was fixed on the breach in the earthen wall to the north of the mine.
Seven people.
Seven figures were rapidly approaching along the gravel slope. They were moving fast, spread out in a semi-encircling formation as they closed in on the mine.
They were less than eighty zhang from the earthen wall.
The leader was a tall, thin man who looked to be in his early thirties. He wore a dark brown, narrow-sleeved short robe, and a narrow-bladed long saber was tucked into his waist, its scabbard wrapped with a dark leather strap.
Qi Refining Sixth Level.
The same level as Li Yuan.
The other six were scattered behind him on both sides. Their Cultivation levels were varied, with the highest at Qi Refining Fifth Level and the lowest only at Qi Refining Third Level.
The leader’s gaze was already locked onto the mine, his hand resting on the hilt of his saber.
Li Yuan moved, heading toward the breach in the earthen wall to meet them.
Before he could even reach the breach, the leader of the opposing group attacked.
The tall, thin man drew his saber with extreme speed. The moment the blade left its scabbard, it was enveloped in a layer of hazy gray Spiritual Light. With a flick of his wrist, a blade of qi shot out, slashing straight toward Li Yuan.
He attacked from over sixty zhang away.
The blade of qi was fast. The grayish-white arc carved a shallow mark on the gravel ground and cut through the air with a HISS.
Li Yuan sidestepped to dodge.
The blade of qi grazed past his right shoulder by two inches and slammed into the earthen wall behind him, sending a chunk of dirt flying with a BOOM.
Li Yuan raised his right hand, and a fiery light gathered in his palm.
Fireball Technique.
A crimson Fireball, compressed to the size of a fist in his palm, shot out.
Empowered by the "Swift Fire Casting" trait, its formation speed was twenty percent faster than normal. And with the "Precision" trait, his aim was perfect.
But his opponent was over sixty zhang away.
Li Yuan didn’t expect this shot to hit; he just wanted to force the man to change direction.
As expected, the tall, thin man dodged to the side. The Fireball grazed past his left ribs and slammed into the gravel ground behind him, exploding in a burst of fire and sending shards of rock flying.
But his dodge had broken the rhythm of his advance.
This was exactly what Li Yuan wanted.
A flash of fire ignited under his feet. He activated the Fire Escape Skill, shot out from the breach, and charged straight at the tall, thin man.
In a matter of breaths, the distance between them closed from sixty zhang to fifteen.
Li Yuan raised his right hand again; a second Fireball was already formed.
This one had no frills. It flew straight for the tall, thin man’s chest.
The tall, thin man’s reaction was quick. He held his narrow-bladed long saber horizontally in front of him, and the Spiritual Light on its blade flared as he took the hit head-on.
BOOM.
The fire exploded against the blade. The tall, thin man was thrown back four or five steps, the soles of his boots gouging two white marks into the gravel.
A numbing vibration shot through the web of his thumb, followed by a tearing pain.
A glance revealed an inch-long gash had opened up.
The Fireball’s impact was far greater than he had anticipated.
The tall, thin man steadied himself, his expression changing.
He looked at the cultivator of the same level before him, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.
’His Cultivation is similar to mine, so his Magic shouldn’t be this powerful.’
But he didn’t have much time to think.
Li Yuan had already closed to within ten zhang.
The Fire Arrow Skill was unleashed.
HISS.
A line of fire shot straight through the space between them, aimed at the tall, thin man’s right shoulder. At this distance, the "Precision" trait was practically a lock-on; the trajectory of the fire line didn’t deviate at all.
The tall, thin man was forced to dodge sideways, flicking his saber tip downward in an attempt to parry the line of fire with his blade qi.
The blade qi and the line of fire met mid-air, sending sparks flying.
The line of fire was deflected but didn’t dissipate. Its remaining force grazed the outside of the tall, thin man’s right arm, searing a black mark onto it. The flesh, even under the protection of Spiritual Power, was burned and curled back.
The tall, thin man grunted in pain and recoiled his right arm.
Before he could regain his posture, the second fire arrow had arrived.
This time, it was aimed at his legs.
The tall, thin man had no choice but to abandon any thought of counterattacking. He leaped sideways, barely dodging the attack. He stumbled upon landing and had to brace himself by digging the tip of his saber into the ground.
Only a few breaths had passed since the fight began.
He hadn’t managed to land a single strike.
Just as he was about to channel his saber for another attack, he caught sight of the situation at his flank out of the corner of his eye—
The people from the mine had arrived.
The Lu-surnamed cultivator charged out from the breach in the earthen wall with three others. Sun Liang followed at the rear, his steps unsteady but a Magical Artifact clutched in his hand. Steward Liu also came around from behind a wooden shed, wielding a short sword. Although his aura was only at the Qi Refining Fifth Level, his positioning was expert, and he directly cut off the enemy’s flanking retreat path.
The six attackers were now tied up by the miners.
The difference in Cultivation was clear. The strongest among the attackers was at the Qi Refining Fifth Level, with the rest at the third or fourth levels; they held no advantage against the mine’s defenders. Moreover, with their leader pinned down by Li Yuan alone, their morale had already plummeted.
The two sides clashed in a chaotic melee, Spiritual Light flashing wildly across the gravel ground.
The tall, thin man glanced at the battle, his face sinking completely.
"Retreat!"
He roared.
The tall, thin man violently channeled all his blade qi into his feet. The gravel on the ground exploded outward, and he used the recoil to launch himself backward, covering more than ten zhang in a single bound.
Hearing the command, his six subordinates also began to disengage and flee.
The people from the mine gave chase.
The Lu-surnamed cultivator’s spear pierced through the calf of a Qi Refining Third Level cultivator. The man fell to the ground and was pinned down by Cultivator Qian, who had caught up from behind.
Steward Liu caught up to another at the Qi Refining Fourth Level. His short sword struck the man’s back, breaking through his defensive Spiritual Light. The man grunted, fell, and was pinned under Steward Liu’s foot.
A flash of fire appeared under Li Yuan’s feet. He activated the Fire Escape Skill and chased after the retreating tall, thin man.
A fire arrow shot from his palm, flying toward the tall, thin man’s back.
The tall, thin cultivator screamed as he was blasted to the ground by the fiery light. He rolled twice on the gravel, his entire back scorched black. He was barely breathing.
Li Yuan turned and walked back.
The gravel ground was a complete mess.
Several of the attackers were pinned to the ground, their hands and feet bound by Spirit Ropes, their faces pressed into the gravel.
Counting the man with the pierced calf, the one struck down by the short sword, and the tall, thin cultivator, a total of four were left behind; three had escaped.
No one from the mine was seriously injured. The Lu-surnamed cultivator had a shallow cut on his arm, Steward Liu’s short sword was slightly chipped, but everyone else was unharmed.
Li Yuan walked over to the bound attackers, crouched down, and began to collect his spoils of war.
None of them had storage bags. The first person only had a few Spirit Stones, half a bottle of medicinal liquid, and some miscellaneous items.
The second had a bit more: two bottles of pills and a roll of beast hide.
He went through the third and fourth as well, emptying all their belongings into a pile on the gravel ground.
There weren’t many Spirit Stones, only a dozen or so in total. There were a few bottles of pills, several Magical Artifact components, and some fragmented ores and herbs.
’They were all broke.’
He gathered everything in one place to inspect more closely later.
Then Li Yuan turned his head to look at the tall, thin cultivator. He was no longer breathing.
Steward Liu walked over, squatted down, and glanced at the pile of loot, then at the four people tied up on the ground.
"What should we do with them?"
Li Yuan stood up, dusting off his hands.
"Lock them up for now. We’ll wait for someone from the Wang family to arrive."