"Fellow Daoist Fei, as you saw… I truly hold no hostility toward your alliance. That old bastard made the first move, and I only killed him in response..."
"You will report everything that just happened to your alliance truthfully, won't you?"
Li Ye gave his bronze hammer a sharp swing. With terrifying force, the sticky mess of flesh and shattered bone was easily flung away.
He then casually stooped over the bloody remains, picked through them, and pocketed Luo Chai's leftover storage pouch. He also retrieved the four flying shuttles one by one, all while casting a somewhat grim look toward Fei Xing'an as he asked his question.
At this point, Fei Xing'an had already lowered his arm, clutching his round shield tightly as if afraid Li Ye might suddenly launch another attack.
In truth, among late-stage Qi Refining cultivators, Fei Xing'an's combat strength wasn't weak. But compared to an old fox like Luo Chai someone backed by generations of family heritage and armed with all sorts of trump cards he was still lacking.
And now, even someone like that had been smashed to a pulp by a single strike from this Blackwood Daoist. Fei Xing'an couldn't help but feel a cold sweat run down his back.
He even wondered if I'd stepped in too, would we have been able to take this guy down?
But then he caught a glimpse of the crimson gleam peeking from under Li Ye's robes his expression subtly changed, and he shook his head inwardly.
With that kind of physical cultivation and a powerful close-range armor to boot, this man could probably endure both their attacks, kill one of them first, and then easily deal with the other… teaming up wouldn't have made a difference!
He silently thanked the vice alliance leader's warning, glad he hadn't acted rashly… otherwise, there might've been another pile of blood and flesh on the ground right now.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning, Fei Xing'an quickly forced a smile at Li Ye.
"I'll report everything exactly as it happened. But perhaps, fellow Daoist… you could reconsider"
Whoosh
Before he could finish, Li Ye had already activated his flying disc and left without another word.
Fei Xing'an frowned slightly but quietly let out a breath of relief. He hadn't planned on touching the bloody remains anyway but just then, two more figures flew over on magical artifacts.
Thankfully… they were from his side this time!
"Fellow Daoist Fei, what happened here wait, is that… Luo Chai?!"
Seeing their shocked expressions as they got closer, Fei Xing'an merely shook his head and recounted the events that had just transpired.
Unsurprisingly, it drew two more gasps of disbelief.
....
Atop Changcui Peak, beneath the Voidrealm Tree.
Having wiped away all traces along the way, Li Ye now restored to his original form once again took on the appearance of a refined, jade-like youth, looking even younger and more carefree than before.
He casually opened Luo Chai's storage pouch, which he had already cleaned out, and poured out its contents, searching for anything of value.
"This old bastard was loaded. Only a few hundred spirit stones, but there's a fair number of talismans and low-grade magic tools..."
"Shame I'm already nearing the peak of body refinement. Unless it's a top-tier artifact, plain talismans don't do much for me anymore."
"Hmm… seeds and saplings too? Very nice, very nice this was a big score!"
Li Ye's face lit up with clear joy.
Though the set of four flying shuttles was certainly powerful, what truly pleased him were the seeds and seedlings by far the most rewarding part of this haul.
This guy must've brought them as bait, hoping to lure the Blackwood Daoist into sticking around…
But by the time he arrived, Li Ye had already left the marketplace.
Without the marketplace's protective rules, Luo Chai had probably thought his strength sufficient to take down Li Ye without needing to bother with trickery.
Too bad for him he ended up nothing more than a pile of minced flesh…
"But hey, at least you delivered everything the Luo family had prepared for me. Not a wasted trip, eh, old man?"
Li Ye chuckled to himself, clearly in high spirits.
As a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, Luo Chai had to compete with other elders in the Luo clan for resources, yet his wealth was comparable to that of Lan Chengye Lan Xinyi's father.
After tallying it all, Li Ye realized this loot might even surpass what he had found in Lan Chengye's hidden stash.
"Not surprising though... After all, one's carried wealth is what he depends on daily, while the stash is what he saves up in case of emergencies. Not really the same thing. Who knows this old bastard probably still had more left at home."
Shaking his head, Li Ye stowed away the loot, took out a medicinal pill, and swallowed it, immediately entering meditation to heal his injuries.
With a late-stage elder of the Luo family dead, there was no way they'd let this slide. They were bound to take action soon.
And although Li Ye was eager to plant the many spiritual herbs he'd just obtained...
The smart move was to first fully recover and erase any signs of injury better safe than sorry!
An elder of the Luo clan, slain by the mysterious Blackwood Daoist!
When news reached the Luo family, they were furious. They immediately mobilized people and resources for a full-scale manhunt, swearing to track him down and settle the score with blood!
Even Fei Xing'an, who had witnessed the incident and reported it truthfully, got dragged into the mess.
The Luo clan suspected him of colluding with the Blackwood Daoist in an ambush that caught Luo Chai off guard and led to his death.
There were even calls demanding Fei Xing'an pay with his life!
However, as one of the few capable late-stage cultivators in Pingyang Mountain, Fei Xing'an wasn't someone the alliance would hand over so easily.
Besides, Luo Chai's cause of death bore very specific traits, and there were no signs of Fei Xing'an's involvement and no concrete evidence to convict him.
In the end, the vice alliance leader Xie Yushu stepped forward on behalf of the absent alliance head, clearing Fei Xing'an of blame and promising that the alliance would do everything it could to help the Luo family find the Blackwood Daoist.
That was the official line but in reality, aside from the Luo clan and a few of its close allies, most others in the alliance barely made an effort.
Some mid- and late-stage cultivators seemed to vanish altogether…
Probably holed up somewhere refining the pills that the Blackwood Daoist had sold, trying to break through to the next level.
Still, this whole ordeal stirred an uneasy feeling among the various mountain factions. If the Blackwood Daoist was eventually found, the Luo clan could vent its fury and things might blow over.
But if he wasn't found, and the alliance continued shielding Fei Xing'an, the already tense relationship between the Luo clan and the rest of the alliance would only get worse…
"What's the Luo clan's business got to do with us? There's barely a handful of people on Changcui Peak we've got no time to go looking for anyone!"
Flipping through the letter in his hand, Li Ye rolled his eyes at the few elders of the Lan family standing before him and spoke bluntly:
"If you want to help them, go help them yourself. Don't bother me with this crap again!"
He tossed the letter back to the elder and turned to head up the mountain, clearly unwilling to exchange another word.
"I told you, Second Grand-Uncle why would Li Lang ever get involved in the Luo family's affairs?"
Lan Xinyi gave her elder a pointed look of disapproval.
"You're trying to win favor with them, but did you ever consider that if you upset Li Lang, we might lose more than we'd ever gain from the Luo clan?"
"…I didn't think that far ahead," the second grand-uncle admitted, his expression awkward.
Lan Xinyi gave a cold snort. She turned toward the formation gate, wanting to follow Li Ye inside only to realize the formation had already been sealed. Even her command token had no effect.
Her expression darkened immediately.
It was true that Li Ye had often sealed off the formation to avoid visitors. But doing so right after scolding them for the Luo family matter?
That was confirming everything Lan Xinyi had just said.
The other Lan elders who had followed along looked visibly flustered. Their eyes turned toward the second grand-uncle, filled with blame one step short of outright scolding him.
The second grand-uncle himself was filled with regret. He slapped himself across the face and muttered:
"What an idiot I am!"
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