Chapter 64: Blessings Have Arrived
Ji Yuan, after checking the contents of the storage pouch, felt much more at ease.
He turned to look at the figures emerging from both sides.
As he had expected, they were the two tall men he had previously seen beside Qin Wei.
"Fellow Daoist, this is a grudge between our Qin Family and Qiu Qianhai. I advise you not to interfere," Hu Da said in a deep voice, staring at Ji Yuan who stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
Ji Yuan casually dispersed the spirit stone powder in his hand, sensing the fully restored qi sea in his dantian, and sneered, "Kill if you want, if not, get lost. Where do you think all this nonsense is coming from!"
"If you insist on walking this path to the end, then let us see you off!"
With those words, the two stomped heavily on the deck of the spirit boat and leapt toward the island.
Ji Yuan and Qiu Qianhai, positioned on the left and right, each made their move.
"Go!"
Ji Yuan naturally summoned his White Water Flying Sword, sending a flash of white light tearing through the air.
Hu Da, having just landed, saw Ji Yuan attacking but remained calm.
With a flicker of green light on his wrist, a green barrier instantly enveloped him.
The White Water Flying Sword struck but was blocked by this barrier.
A protective magic artifact— and it was a mid-grade one!
Ji Yuan's eyes lit up.
While flicking out several rays of spiritual light with his right hand, he also recalled the flying sword.
Just as Hu Da thought Ji Yuan was backing down temporarily, he hurriedly looked up, only to see above him a mass of rolling purple lightning.
Not just one bolt, but... an entire field.
In Ji Yuan's hand, five mid-grade Thunderstrike Talismans burned to ash.
Of these five, two were his own, while the other three were retrieved from Liu Da's storage pouch.
"Damned bastard!"
Cursing, Hu Da hastily slapped a high-grade protective talisman onto himself.
Against such a thunder technique, a mid-grade talisman was a joke. If he didn’t want to die, he had to rely on a high-grade one.
While the two clashed instantly, on the other side of the island, Qiu Qianhai and Zhang Kai had already begun their battle.
But in comparison, Qiu Qianhai was clearly struggling much more.
He was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, and both his magic artifacts and talismans were inferior to Zhang Kai, who hailed from the Qin Family.
It took only moments before Qiu Qianhai was forced into a retreat.
Even a single sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator could push him to such a state, and earlier the Qin Family had dispatched three at once... Without Ji Yuan's presence, death would have been certain for him.
Even now, Ji Yuan had just gained the upper hand with a barrage of talismans when he noticed Qiu Qianhai falling into danger once again.
With no time to spare, Ji Yuan took several quick steps to position himself between Zhang Kai and Hu Da.
Just as Qiu Qianhai thought Ji Yuan was about to take on both opponents alone, Ji Yuan flipped his right hand, revealing a small black flag.
The flag grew rapidly in the wind, expanding to its full size in an instant.
Ji Yuan then stabbed the flag into the ground.
Yin Ghost Formation, activate!
Black mist surged from the ground, engulfing all four of them and even covering the central part of the island.
At first, Qiu Qianhai felt a wave of panic at the oppressive yin energy.
But then, remembering that Ji Yuan had deployed it, he relaxed.
"Shortly, I’ll position you behind them. The moment you catch even the slightest glimpse of them, strike without hesitation."
Ji Yuan’s voice sounded in his ear.
Qiu Qianhai gave a silent nod.
At that moment, the black mist before him parted slightly, revealing a figure standing with his back toward him, surrounded by a white glow.
It was time!
He first threw out two mid-grade offensive talismans. Then, with a wave of his hand, two crescent moon-shaped scimitars flew through the air, followed by over ten water blades.
Meanwhile, Ji Yuan released the two fifth-level Qi Refining yin ghosts.
The two ghosts let out shrill howls as they lunged at Hu Da, entangling him.
Controlling three techniques at once placed immense strain on Ji Yuan.
"Hmm?"
The moment Zhang Kai entered the black mist, he sensed something was wrong.
He quickly activated his defensive Mystic Light Barrier and gripped a high-grade protective talisman tightly.
In a life-or-death situation, one couldn’t afford to be stingy.
Just as he heard movement above, he immediately crushed the talisman. With double protection, he spun around abruptly, his hands spreading apart.
In an instant, a narrow flying dagger split into five, slicing through the black mist.
"Not good!"
Sensing the commotion, Ji Yuan quickly activated the illusion formation, confusing Zhang Kai’s senses and making him believe Qiu Qianhai had retreated swiftly.
The flying daggers chased after the illusion of Qiu Qianhai.
In reality, Qiu Qianhai hadn’t moved at all. He felt the flying daggers graze past him, and couldn’t help but sigh in relief...
"Go."
Ji Yuan realized that Qiu Qianhai alone wouldn’t be enough to bring Zhang Kai down. If they wanted to avoid wasting more time, he had to act personally.
"Hold him off for a moment."
Hearing Ji Yuan’s voice in his ear, Qiu Qianhai nodded slightly and continued to manipulate his scimitars, slashing at Zhang Kai.
Ji Yuan then took out the high-grade Golden Seal Offensive Talisman.
He had nearly been struck by this very talisman in his previous fight with the Ghost Island Master, so he was well aware of its power.
Seeing that Zhang Kai was occupied by Qiu Qianhai, Ji Yuan crushed the Golden Seal Talisman.
As expected, its activation caused quite a stir.
Hu Da, still entangled with the two yin ghosts, noticed immediately.
Shouting "Zhang Kai," he hurriedly pulled out two more high-grade offensive talismans.
Including the high-grade protective talisman he had used earlier, he had already used three high-grade talismans in just a few moments.
‘Damn, no wonder these clan cultivators are so damned rich,’ Ji Yuan thought.
Generally speaking, cultivators from clans and sects were far wealthier than rogue cultivators.
Although the Qin Family was merely a minor Qi Refining clan entrenched in the marketplace, with a powerful backer and decades of development, its cultivators were still better off than ordinary fishermen.
"Break for me!"
Hu Da guessed he had likely fallen into a formation, but knowing nothing about formations, brute force was his only option.
As he crushed the two high-grade offensive talismans, Ji Yuan first retracted the two yin ghosts, then opened a gap in the formation.
Two massive golden swords slashed across the air.
Hu Da’s eyes lit up—there was light again. But the light wasn’t from his breakthrough; it was because Ji Yuan had deliberately opened the formation.
Though the swords missed, they still left a massive sword light across the air.
"Damn it!"
Though it seemed like a waste of two high-grade offensive talismans, it wasn’t entirely in vain since they forced Ji Yuan to open the formation.
Hu Da took a step forward, his boots flashing with green light.
In an instant, he exited the formation.
However, just as he did, a blood-curdling scream came from within the formation… Qiu Qianhai, witnessing the two yin ghosts materialize and bite Zhang Kai’s head off, was too frightened to advance.
Seeing Zhang Kai utterly slain by the yin ghosts, Ji Yuan dismissed them and withdrew the Yin Ghost Formation.
The black mist on the island slowly dissipated, revealing Ji Yuan’s figure.
He pressed his index and middle fingers together, forming a sword gesture, and swung it forward expressionlessly.
"Go!"
The flying sword surged forward like white water.
Hu Da activated his Mystic Light Barrier again, but this time Ji Yuan didn’t retract his flying sword. Instead, he pushed it with full force.
At the same time, Qiu Qianhai’s two scimitars relentlessly slashed, clashing with Hu Da’s five flying daggers.
The daggers seemed standardized—both Qin Family members had a set.
The sound of metal clashing filled the air, occasionally sparking.
Just as Hu Da thought to first break Ji Yuan’s flying sword, he noticed a trace of red light among the white sword’s glow.
He hurriedly slapped two more protective talismans onto himself.
But this time, they were mid-grade talismans.
High-grade talismans weren’t plentiful. Once used, they were gone.
The life-threatening needle shot out again but was blocked by the two talismans. Seeing the needle stop just inches from him, Hu Da broke into a cold sweat.
Had he reacted a moment later, he might have been dead…
"Pu—"
Suddenly, Hu Da coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He looked down in disbelief.
Beneath his feet, a yellow earthen sword had emerged without warning.
It pierced through all his defenses and ran through his body in an instant.
Opposite him, a high-grade talisman turned to ash in Ji Yuan’s hand.