As Mi Xingzhe released the palm strike, the tree trunk in front of him shattered instantly. A clear hole appeared straight through the middle of the trunk.
Mi Xingzhe was stunned by what he saw. He looked at the tree trunk, then at his own palm. Since when had he become this powerful?
"Not bad, not bad. With a golden core inside the body, cultivation really can grow step by step." Li Minghan stood to the side, clapping while speaking in a mocking tone.
When he heard this sentence, Mi Xingzhe suddenly felt something was wrong. His master had always told him that the matter of the golden core inside his body must never be mentioned casually. Yet today it had been spoken so easily.
Thinking back on everything that had happened before, Mi Xingzhe immediately felt suspicious. With this thought, the way he looked at Li Minghan changed. He glanced at the grass nearby and suddenly came up with an idea.
"Master, since today is the Dragon Boat Festival, we should burn some wild sweet flag. It can strengthen the body and keep away insects and illness."
Mi Xingzhe casually picked a piece of grass and handed it to Li Minghan.
"Alright." Li Minghan took the grass from Mi Xingzhe's hand. His eyes had already noticed the change in Mi Xingzhe.
The moment Li Minghan took the grass, Mi Xingzhe suddenly struck out with a palm toward his face. Li Minghan easily dodged it.
In the quiet countryside, the only sound was the tree behind Li Minghan slowly falling down. The two of them stood facing each other.
"Quite clever. You even know how to use what you just learned."
Li Minghan looked at the grass in his hand. His tone sounded calm, as if he had expected this.
"You are not my master. Who exactly are you?" Mi Xingzhe asked, staring cautiously at the face that looked exactly like his master.
"It seems this little disciple is not too foolish. But I have not finished playing yet."
Li Minghan smiled playfully and asked again,
"Little one, how did you know I was not your master?"
"My master is skilled in herbal medicine and knows every kind of plant. What you are holding is eastern cattail, not wild sweet flag at all. If it were my master, he would have corrected me for bringing the wrong herb. But you accepted it without even looking at it. That means you know nothing about herbal medicine. Who are you?"
Mi Xingzhe spoke firmly while secretly gathering strength behind his back.
"Interesting. Very interesting." Li Minghan calmly rubbed his fingers. Before he even finished speaking, he flicked out a piece of ice that shot toward Mi Xingzhe.
Mi Xingzhe did not expect him to attack first. He quickly leaned back to dodge. The ice passed close to his face and struck into the tree behind him.
Before he could react, Mi Xingzhe suddenly felt his right leg pulled by an unseen force, and his body was thrown face down toward the ground.
He quickly crossed his arms in front of his face. The moment his arms touched the ground, he rolled backward and barely managed to land on his feet.
After stabilizing himself, Mi Xingzhe rushed toward Li Minghan.
Li Minghan showed no panic. With a light step on the ground, his body rose into the air and landed steadily on a tree branch.
Mi Xingzhe missed his attack. Looking up at Li Minghan in the tree, he angrily leaped upward and ran along the trunk toward him. Just as he was about to reach him, Li Minghan swung his black and gold folding fan backward and struck Mi Xingzhe's knee.
A heavy sound echoed. Mi Xingzhe lost his balance and fell hard from the height.
Mi Xingzhe lay on the ground in pain and could not stand for a moment. A trace of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth. Seeing this, Li Minghan slowly descended and walked a few steps toward him, looking down at him with contempt.
"Enough playing. Let us go back."
Li Minghan opened the folding fan and raised it to cover his lips. The fan trembled slightly, as if he was quietly forming a spell behind it.
Mi Xingzhe tried to stand up, but suddenly felt a burning heat rising from his spine to the back of his head.
"You..." Before he could finish speaking, he lost consciousness.
"Stand up."
At the command, Mi Xingzhe's eyes glowed with a dark red light. His fingers moved stiffly as if he were a puppet on strings. He bowed toward Li Minghan.
"This is a reward for you." Li Minghan took out a pill from his wide sleeve and held it before Mi Xingzhe.
Mi Xingzhe did not hesitate at all. He took the pill and swallowed it.
Inside the cave, it was already deep night and the air was cold. Yun Qingyi had finally gathered some dry grass and branches and started a fire.
"The Medicine King has always been kind and generous. He spends most of his time studying pills and rarely leaves his residence. It is impossible for him to have enemies. Why would such a disaster suddenly fall upon him?" Li Luoning said while thinking.
"Niannian can be carefree sometimes, but his nature is not bad. I cannot understand what kind of cruel person would sacrifice the Medicine King's life just to frame him." Yun Qingyi grew angrier as he spoke and clenched his fists.
"I fear that framing Nian'er was only one step in his plan," Li Luoning said quietly.
"Master means the person behind this may have a deeper plot?" Yun Qingyi asked in surprise.
"I cannot be certain yet, but everything has happened too coincidentally. In the past few years, outside Mirror Cloud Residence..." Li Luoning paused before finishing.
"Master means that the person who framed Nian'nian may be the same group who has been secretly watching us outside Mirror Cloud Residence all these years?"
"I once thought that as long as we lived quietly and acted properly, nothing would happen. I did not expect that in the end the Medicine King and Nian'er would suffer because of me." Li Luoning spoke with guilt.
"Does Master have any idea who could be behind this?" Yun Qingyi asked.
Li Luoning was about to speak when suddenly the sound of fighting came from the cave entrance. A powerful blast of energy shattered the stones blocking the cave.
Yun Qingyi covered his nose and mouth while coughing, trying hard to see the person before him.
"Martial Uncle?"
The person who arrived was their martial uncle Mu Han. After seeing Yun Qingyi, he quickly looked around for Li Luoning.
"How did you know we were trapped here?"
"I sensed the power of your blazing blade technique earlier, so I planned to visit Mirror Cloud Residence to see what had happened. On the way I saw the Glimmer Butterfly and intercepted it. That was when I discovered the message you sent to War God Qingyuan, so I hurried here," Mu Han explained.
"If you had not arrived in time, Qingyi and I might have remained trapped in this cave for quite a while," Li Luoning said.
"Martial Uncle, Master used a lot of spiritual power to save me earlier. His strength has only recovered to half now." Yun Qingyi quickly spoke when he saw help had arrived.
"Qingyi!" Li Luoning interrupted him, not wanting Mu Han to worry.
"This blazing blade technique consumes a great deal of spiritual power. What kind of demons did you encounter that forced you to fight like this?" Mu Han asked while checking Li Luoning's pulse.
"They were not powerful demons, only many small ones. But there were simply too many of them, and some even carried poisonous venom. Master and I were overwhelmed," Yun Qingyi explained.
"Small demons? Although the demon forest has heavy evil energy, it should not gather so many small demons. And today is the fifth day of the fifth month. Many immortals pass through Pingyan Land to celebrate the birthday of the Dragon King Yingde. Normally the demons avoid this day. Why would they suddenly gather here?" Mu Han asked with confusion.
"Not long after Qingyi and I entered the cave, the entrance was blocked from outside. I believe someone deliberately gathered those demons here," Li Luoning explained.
Inside Quanxia Pavilion, Hua Ruoying and Qingping were lying bored at a stone table in the courtyard.
"Ruoying-jie, how long do we have to stay here?" Qingping asked lazily while playing with an apple.
"I would also like to know. Nan Zhe placed a barrier around Quanxia Pavilion. With our cultivation we cannot get out," Hua Ruoying said helplessly.
"I do not even understand why we have to stay here. Those powerful people are really impossible to understand." Qingping sighed deeply.
This sentence reminded Hua Ruoying of something. She suddenly sat up with new energy. Qingping was startled and quickly sat upright as well, looking around.
"Qingping, last time you said you were afraid of someone. Why?" Hua Ruoying asked mysteriously.
"That Immortal Sovereign?" Qingping asked to confirm. When he saw Hua Ruoying nod with curiosity, he sighed and said,
"That day in the great hall I was not completely sure. But after I saw the pattern on his belt, I became certain."
"Certain about what?" Hua Ruoying became very interested.
"I am certain that the Immortal Sovereign is the same person who came to take my father away years ago. That day he came to ask my father to leave with him, and after that I never saw my father again." Qingping spoke sadly.
"So you think that Immortal Sovereign killed your father?" Hua Ruoying asked seriously.
Qingping shook his head.
"Probably not. Our shadow demon clan may not be as powerful as high level cultivators, but we have our own magic. As you saw before, shadow demons can turn into shadows and move freely. Because of this, even if our bodies die, our shadows remain. If we want to be reborn, we can attach our shadows to another person and control them."
"That powerful? If that is the case, your clan should almost be immortal. Why are there fewer and fewer of you?" Hua Ruoying asked.
Qingping sighed helplessly.
"Although we can revive through shadows, when we become shadows our consciousness becomes very weak. Many people discovered this weakness. They captured our people, killed them, tamed the shadows, and then placed them into others to control them."
"Puppet control magic?"
"Because of this, our clan was hunted down in great numbers and became fewer and fewer. Later a powerful god sealed that forbidden technique, and only then did the few remaining members of our clan survive." Qingping lowered his eyes with sadness.
"Qingping, I am sorry. I should not have brought up something that makes you sad."
"Fortunately, no one knows that puppet technique anymore. I should be safe now." Qingping forced a smile.
"Yes... yes." Hua Ruoying answered awkwardly.
The puppet control technique may be gone, but I created a drug called Qianmo that can control people the same way. If Qingping knew that I created it, he would probably run away immediately. I cannot tell him.
Not far southwest of Quanxia Pavilion stood a tower.
Nan Zhe was standing on the upper platform of the tower. He had heard every word of their conversation.
"So there is another layer to this relationship."
Nan Zhe found the conversation quite interesting. He remembered the conversation he once had with Li Minghan at this very place.
"You go help me save someone."
"Oh? What kind of person would make the Demon Lord come personally to ask me for help?"
"When it comes to disguises and illusions, my ability is not as good as yours. Besides..." Li Minghan paused after glancing at Nan Zhe.
"I only want that little disciple. The other two can be yours."
"So generous. I heard Hua Ruoying is your best poison maker. You are giving her to me so easily?"
"She is just a dog that cannot be trained. Besides, she likes poisons just as much as you do."
Li Minghan glanced sideways at Nan Zhe. The two suddenly laughed together.
"Then thank you, Demon Lord. I will gladly accept your offer," Nan Zhe replied with a dark smile.
"There is no need to be so polite between us."
Standing on the tower platform, Nan Zhe smiled.
"One person for two. This deal is not bad."
With that, he jumped down and floated lightly into the courtyard of Quanxia Pavilion.
"Ah!"
When Hua Ruoying turned around and suddenly saw Nan Zhe standing there in dark purple robes, she was startled.
"Appearing like a ghost in broad daylight. Are you trying to scare someone to death?" Hua Ruoying complained with disgust and tried to walk inside without paying attention to him.
"Miss Ruoying."
Nan Zhe suddenly grabbed her wrist and said teasingly,
"You must be bored staying in my residence these past days. How about I accompany you for a walk?"
He gently lifted her chin with his finger and looked down at her with playful eyes.
"I am very busy. Lord Nan Zhe should find someone else." Hua Ruoying shook his hand away angrily.
"Have you forgotten the three things you promised me before? I have not even asked for them yet."
Nan Zhe seemed displeased after being pushed away. As he spoke, he raised his hand and grabbed Qingping from the air, lifting him up.
"What are you doing? Let him go." Hua Ruoying hurried forward.
"My patience is limited." Nan Zhe tilted his head slightly and tightened his grip.
" Sister Ruoying..." Qingping struggled painfully.
"As long as you do not hurt Qingping, I will agree to anything."
"I did not expect a woman who uses poison to have such a soft heart." Nan Zhe released Qingping and rotated his wrist with slight disgust while looking at them.
"Nan Zhe, what exactly do you want?"
"Nothing much. I heard today is the Dragon Boat Festival. I wonder if Miss Ruoying would honor me by accompanying me to avoid the festival's spiritual cleansing rituals."
"Avoid the festival? I thought Lord Nan Zhe feared nothing. Yet you still hide on the day meant to drive away evil spirits." Hua Ruoying laughed mockingly.
"Would you accompany me?" Nan Zhe politely raised his hand in invitation.
"Fine. I will go. Do you really think I am afraid of you?"