The triangular-eyed old man was clearly no good. After a failed sneak attack, he saw the sharpness of his magical weapon and tricked him into breaking the formation together. How could he not notice the greed in his triangular eyes?
Did he really think he was a rookie?
If he and his brothers truly joined forces to break the formation, they would likely attack him the next moment.
He wasn't planning on taking on six alone.
So, after briefly letting the triangular-eyed old man down, Lu Tiandu dispatched him with a single volley of arrows.
Now that he knew the formation was specifically targeted at these six, Lu Tiandu wasn't in a rush. He'd let them lead the charge and wear down the setters first, then he could secretly seek a way out.
With the speed of his Spirit Light Shuttle, even a Foundation Establishment cultivator at full power wouldn't be able to catch him.
After all, knowing this formation was called the Sky Wind Fierce Formation, he had a good idea: it was only effective at trapping the enemy, not a particularly lethal formation.
With a flick of his five fingers, a large green hand grabbed the storage bag at the old man's waist and the fallen black hook.
He put the bag away, glanced at the black hook, and tossed it back into the bag.
The black hook was merely a high-level magical weapon, its aura dimmed considerably after its clash with the Suifeng Sword, clearly not worthy of his attention.
With a flick of his finger, a fireball descended upon the old man, and within a few breaths, he was reduced to a pile of ashes.
"Huh, what is this?"
Lu Tiandu suddenly noticed something like a wad of transparent white gauze among the ashes.
Intrigued, he reached out and lifted the gauze for a closer inspection.
Unfolding the thin gauze, he discovered a white cloak, soft and delicate, floating and seemingly weightless.
Since it could survive the fireball spell, it must be something more than ordinary.
Lu Tiandu tossed the cloak into the air, slowly channeling his magical power into it. In the blink of an eye, the cloak vanished from his sight.
Ahead, the sky was still thick with yellow sand, and even his spiritual sense couldn't detect the cloak before him.
"Yes, yes, this old man must have relied on this magical artifact to evade my spiritual sense," Lu Tiandu chuckled. "After infusing this thing with mana, it actually blends in with the surrounding environment. Used for concealment and sneak attacks, it's a rare treasure!"
After experimenting, Lu Tiandu discovered that as long as the user didn't extend their mana beyond three feet, the item's concealment effect wouldn't be detected.
However, this wasn't always the case with someone with powerful spiritual sense.
"It's truly a valuable item!"
"If this old man hadn't suddenly unleashed his magic power to attack me from behind, I wouldn't have noticed..."
Thinking of this, Lu Tiandu smiled faintly. He threw the white gauze cloak over his robe, put on the hood, found a cave, and sat cross-legged inside. In an instant, he blended in with the surroundings.
...
Just as Lu Tiandu hid himself, recovering his mana to remain constant in the face of change.
Above the bare summit of this hill, dozens of feet of space remained blanketed in yellow sand, a raging wind raging.
At the southwest corner of the mountaintop, a small clearing several feet in diameter had retreated from all the wind and sand, leaving a peaceful and tranquil scene.
"Ah, young lady, that man who suddenly appeared a while ago has just killed one of the six wanderers of the Qi family!"
A sudden, sweet, innocent cry echoed from the summit of the nameless hill, shattering the stillness.
On a flat surface at the summit, a young girl, previously dejected, leaped to her feet, clutching a jade plate, and scurried towards a young woman nearby.
The girl, dressed in plain white, wore a look of sorrow and haggardness. Her delicate, jade-white face, with a pair of red, swollen eyes, was a sight to behold.
The girl stared blankly at a corpse beside her, barely hearing a word.
The corpse looked to be in her thirties, and bore a striking resemblance to the young woman. A pool of blood clung to her chest, suggesting she had been dead not long.
"Miss," the dusty little girl, also dressed in plain white, shook the young girl's arm. "The mistress is gone. You must cheer up. We still have to avenge her!"
At this point, a hint of hatred appeared on her tender face.
The young girl suddenly heard the word "hatred" and shuddered. As if coming to her senses, she murmured, "Revenge, I will take revenge on you..."
"Miss, don't be like this..."
Seeing her young lady helpless and forlorn, the young woman felt a growing sense of distress.
"Since this man killed the Qi family, it means they're not part of the same group. I'll go and invite him over. With a sufficient price and the help of our formation, we still have a chance for revenge..."The young woman's eyes lit up as she spoke.
"Even if revenge isn't possible, we can ask this man to help us escape. We'll find another opportunity for revenge later..."
"Yes, Xiaomei, you're right!"
Upon hearing her maid's words, the young woman's eyes lit up, and she grabbed the maid's hand, agreeing repeatedly.
It was then that she suddenly realized how quickly her maid had matured after this encounter, a fact that even she, who had just experienced the loss of a loved one, was impressed.
"Xiaomei, your cultivation is low. Please stay here and watch over my mother's body. I'll ride my flying sword to find that man. I hope he can truly help us!"
A hint of sadness returned to her face.
After a brief tidying, the young woman picked up the jade plate and carefully located the person who had suddenly appeared within the formation.
"What? Your name is Xin Ruyin?"
Lu Tiandu emerged from the pit where he had been sitting cross-legged. He gazed at the young woman in plain white, her face shrouded in sorrow, a look of wonder in his eyes.
He had gone to the Tianxing Sect's market with the intention of finding this talented formation master and cultivating her beforehand.
He failed to find her, and just as he was about to return to Yue State, he was inexplicably trapped within the formation. This person had unexpectedly appeared before him of their own accord. The wonders of the world defy comprehension.
Seeing the young man in a daze, Xin Ruyin repeated her plea for help.
"...If you will help me avenge my death, I will give you several inherited formations left by my mother..."
"Are the six scattered Qi family members hunting you for these inheritances?" Lu Tiandu asked.
He was curious as to why he had encountered Xin Ruyin here.
"That's not the case,"
Xin Ruyin said, a hint of sadness forming again.
"My mother took me and my maid to a senior to exchange a centuries-old elixir for a certain elder's ailment, using a formation. This elixir was supposed to cure my chronic illness..."
"On the way back, we stopped by Baichi Mountain, where there was a casual cultivator exchange fair, and we exchanged some supplementary herbs. Then, somehow, we were targeted by the six vagrants of the Qi family, who demanded we hand over the elixir..."
Through her story, Lu Tiandu finally understood the story of Xin Ruyin and her daughter.
The elixir had been so hard to come by, and it was supposed to save lives, so Xin's mother naturally had no reason to give it up.
After leaving Baichi Mountain, Xin's mother and her two children raced on, eventually being pursued relentlessly by the six vagrants of the Qi family. Xin had to hastily set up an illusion formation to trap the enemy.
Unfortunately, the formation failed to contain the six, and they were soon overtaken by the vagrants. Xin's mother had no choice but to set up this massive formation in this desolate mountain to fight back.
Once trapped in the formation, the six were separated by Xin's mother. However, she feared that if the six gathered and broke the formation, the mother and daughter would be left with no chance of survival.
Therefore, guided by the jade disc, she planned a surprise attack.
As the leader of the formation, with the formation flags protecting her, a sneak attack should have been easy. However, she was unlucky to encounter Qi Lao San—the man who had just attacked Lu Tiandu.
Qi Lao San's mysterious gauze garment concealed his presence and evaded spiritual detection.
Xin's mother, following the jade disc, searched for him in the dark for a long time, but couldn't find him. Just as she suspected a malfunction in the disc and emerged to investigate, Qi Lao San, hiding in the shadows, attacked with his black hook magical weapon and severely injured him. Although Xin's mother managed to escape thanks to the formation flags, she succumbed to her injuries shortly thereafter.
Xin Ruyin, who was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and Xiaomei, at the third level, were left at the top of the mountain, bewildered and at a loss as to what to do.
[Seeking recommendation votes, and follow-up reading]
(End of this chapter)