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Chapter 13: Dare You Dismount and Fight
Lin Yi was surprised and slightly disappointed.
He knew that Lan Chang'an was making excuses - time was not really that urgent.
"If fellow daoist Lan is not available, then forget it."
Zhang Tieshan's expression returned to normal, and he did not insist.
Since Lan Chang'an mentioned time being tight, he took the opportunity to bid farewell.
Li Ergou walked at a brisk pace.
"Big brother Lan, are you afraid of ghosts too?"
After leaving the royal marquis mansion, Li Ergou let out a long sigh of relief, looking sympathetic.
"It's alright."
Evil ghosts in the mundane world, Lu Chang'an did not put them in his eyes.
"You refused so quickly, I don't believe it!"
Li Ergou hemmed and hawed, thinking that Lan Chang'an was just like himself.
The difference between the two was:
One was truly afraid; the other was truly prudent.
...
On the official road, the two men galloped their horses towards Feiyue Mountain Villa.
It seemed they would reach Feiyue Lake in one more day.
"Wait!"
When they reached a certain valley, Lan Chang'an raised his hand to stop the horses.
"What's wrong, Big brother Lan?"
Li Ergou was eager to return to his wife and children in the family, his heart longing to go home like an arrow.
"If we take the main road, this is a necessary passage to return to Feiyue Lake but the terrain is treacherous, suitable for an ambush."
Lan Chang'an remembered passing through here three years ago for the first time. Mu, the family head, was very cautious in exploring, but they passed through safely in the end.
"You mean there's an ambush here?"
Li Ergou's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the Zheng family's attempt to kill them three years ago, and his face turned pale.
That attempt had resulted in the deaths of four young disciples, leaving a lingering trauma in Li Ergou's heart.
"Not sure." Lan Chang'an's eyes were slightly closed.
His spiritual sense merged into the Nine Seal Stele in his consciousness.
Compared to three years ago:
The "handsome young man" in the first seal was no longer a gray, lifeless image, but instead radiated with a glowing, lifelike appearance.
This was the result of Lan Chang'an's soul cultivation over the past three years.
The "white-bearded old man" in the second seal, representing his previous life's Core Formation Realm state, was still shrouded in darkness and remained unlit.
"Then what should we do?"
Li Ergou felt a little panicked, feeling that the Zheng family's assassins were lurking in the valley.
"To be safe, we'll take a detour!"
Lan Chang'an opened his eyes, unhesitatingly turning his horse around.
"Big brother Lan really understands me."
Li Ergou laughed heartily, turning his horse with Lan Chang'an.
...
"What's going on? Why did those two kids suddenly turn back?"
At this moment, a few cultivators hidden on both sides of the valley looked at each other in confusion.
"Never mind! Even if it's just two Qi Refining initiates, we'll kill them head-on to avenge our little Yan!"
An ugly woman with a fierce face gritted her teeth.
If Lan Chang'an were here, he would definitely recognize this ugly woman as the Qi-Refining fourth layer cultivator he had fought during the assassination of the immortal seedlings.
"Little Feng, are you sure it's that kid?"
The middle-aged man with a round face, whose cultivation was the highest at the Qi Refining sixth layer, asked.
"Brother! It's him who killed little Yan, I'd recognize him even if he turned to ashes!"
The ugly woman's eyes were bloodshot, her heart burning with rage.
Without waiting for orders, she immediately rode a bronze bell artifact and pursued them through the air.
The speed of flight for Qi-Refining cultivators controlling artifacts was not fast.
But the ugly woman poured her spiritual power frenziedly, and the bronze bell under her feet hummed loudly, bursting with speed that allowed her to catch up to Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou in a short time.
"Big brother Lan, she's catching up!"
Li Ergou felt like he was facing a formidable enemy and took out a low-grade magic weapon.
"Don't panic, she's just a target up there."
Lan Chang'an remained calm.
He was well aware of how weak the combat ability of early and mid Qi Refining cultivators was in aerial battles.
First, there were limitations to their magic weapons.
Generally, early Qi Refining cultivators could only control one low-grade magic weapon due to their limited mana capacity and spiritual awareness.
Mid Qi Refining cultivators could control two low-grade magic weapons or one mid-grade weapon.
Take the ugly woman at the Qi-Refining fourth layer as an example.
Maintaining flight with one magic weapon would already consume more than half of her effort, let alone accelerating at full burst.
How much combat ability could she really exert in such a situation?
...
Pong pong pong!
Lan Chang'an flung three fireballs backwards, causing the ugly woman in the air to sway unsteadily and narrowly avoid falling.
She had no ability to pursue them in the air!
Qi-Refining cultivators did not possess the innate ability of flight and mainly relied on magic weapons, so their aerial agility could be imagined.
Only in the late Qi-Refining stage did they gain a certain degree of aerial combat ability.
"Haha! No wonder she's a target."
Li Ergou suddenly understood, mustering his courage to retaliate with two fireballs. However, his speed and accuracy were far inferior to Lan Chang'an's, and the ugly woman dodged them.
"Little Feng, don't rush! We'll chase them on horseback."
At this time, the middle-aged man with the round face at the Qi-Refining sixth layer, along with two other mid Qi-Refining cultivators, caught up on horseback.
He was experienced and knew the lousy aerial combat abilities of mid Qi-Refining cultivators.
"Don't worry, our spirit steeds were trained by the renowned 'Beast Taming Zhou Family' and have exceptional speed and endurance."
The round-faced middle-aged man was full of confidence.
Indeed, the distance between the two parties was gradually closing.
"You little thieves! Let's see where you can run!"
The ugly woman's eyes were filled with icy resentment as she glared at Lan Chang'an.
On horseback, they wouldn't need to expend man and spiritual awareness.
As long as they got close enough, they could attempt ranged attacks and kill with their spells and magic weapons.
"Big brother Lan, what should we do?"
Li Ergou asked anxiously.
With the pursuers being mid Qi Refining cultivators, getting close meant certain death.
"Ergou, squeeze your legs tighter in a bit."
Lan Chang'an instructed.
"Squeeze tighter? At a time like this, you're still making that kind of..."
Li Ergou couldn't help but laugh bitterly.
Before he finished speaking:
Lan Chang'an took out two cyan talisman slips, which landed on the belly of the Spirit Colt that he and Li Ergou were sitting on respectively.
Instantly!
The two spirit steeds' hooves kicked up wind, their bodies feeling much lighter as their speed increased explosively!
"So fast!"
Li Ergou leaned forward, almost flying off, and obediently squeezed his legs tighter against the horse's belly.
Clop clop! Clop clop!
On the official road, the two spirit steeds galloped at lightning speed, kicking up a trail of dust.
...
"So fast?" The ugly woman and the round-faced middle-aged man were stunned.
"That kid used talisman slips!"
They also had acceleration talismans, such as the low-grade first-rank Wind Tread Talisman.
"Don't be stingy, everyone, I'll cover the expenses."
The round-faced middle-aged man made a prompt decision.
The group of four all used acceleration talismans, sticking them to their horses' bellies.
The round-faced man and the ugly woman each used a mid-grade Wind Speed Talisman for even greater speed.
Yet even so:
The distance between them and Lan Chang'an kept increasing slowly.
"How is this possible? Why can't we catch up?"
The round-faced man was astonished, unable to understand.
He was certain that the talisman slips Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou used were at most mid-grade.
Their spirit steeds were of higher quality, so logically they should have been faster.
"Junior! Dare you dismount and fight?"
Seeing that they couldn't catch up, the Qi-Refining sixth layer round-faced man grew anxious and shouted angrily.
"Your horses can't match our speed. No matter how high your cultivation, what can you do to us?"
Lan Chang'an calmly responded, making the pursuers behind grow increasingly infuriated and hurl nonstop curses.
Before long, the cursing voices grew fainter and fainter, and the ugly woman's group was no longer visible on the road.
"Big brother Lan, that move was really formidable!"
Li Ergou's face was full of excitement. The pursuers couldn't even catch their dust trail - such a sense of security!
Li Ergou couldn't help but ponder: "If our horses ran fast enough, could we even defy Core Formation elders and Nascent Soul True Monarchs?"
"Ah! So you understand the concept of extrapolation - a teachable child indeed!"
Lan Chang'an couldn't help but praise.
...
Two days later,
Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou abandoned their horses and took a detour through the wilderness before hurrying back to Feiyue Mountain Villa.
Upon returning to the family, they immediately reported the matter.
This incident alarmed the upper echelons of the Mu family.
The family head, Mu Maode, personally questioned Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou.
The final conclusion was: vengeance!
For Lan Chang'an's alertness in detecting the ambush, Mu Maode secretly praised him.
Lan Chang'an also believed it was an act of vengeance. From Mu Maode, he learned the identities of the ugly woman and others.
The ugly woman's name was Zheng Feng. The Qi-Refining third layer cultivator named Zheng Yan, who Lan Chang'an had killed before, was her illegitimate son.
The round-faced middle-aged man named Zheng Dong was Zheng Feng's brother, considered a young elite cultivator of the Zheng family.
"Zheng Feng...Zheng Dong..." Lan Chang'an quietly noted their names in his little book, intending to take revenge when he had the chance.
Indeed, he had paid a price, but now there was an opportunity for revenge.
However, he only had a 70% chance of success, which risked exposing himself.
There was no need to take that risk. He would wait until he could crush them like squashing an ant without the slightest hint, then stealthily annihilate them.
Lan Chang'an did not pursue killing opponents above his level. He preferred steady, overwhelming suppression.
After Lan Chang'an and Li Ergou left, family head Mu Maode's expression gradually turned grim.
"How did the Zheng family obtain information about Lan Chang'an's outing and the time of his return?"
...
"As a cultivation faction, it's normal for the Mu family to have spies. I should go out less from now on."
Upon returning to his private residence, Lan Chang'an fell into contemplation.
"But I should consider the present first! I made a five-year agreement with the family head, after which I must take a wife and have children."
Normally, he would be at the late Condensing Pellet stage after five years of re-cultivation, at least reaching the mid Qi Refining stage.
But plans couldn't keep up with the changes.
He did not anticipate the special nature of the Ancient Trees Evergreen Technique, requiring him to absorb the QI of the ages, resulting in such a slow pace of advancement.
This nullified the advantage of his re-cultivation.
Moreover, he cultivated a wood-attribute technique, and only had a low-grade spiritual root in the attribute. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝘯𝘰𝓿𝑒𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝑚
As a result, even after more than three years, his cultivation was still stuck at the second level of Qi Refining.
"Now that I have pills to assist me, I should be able to speed up the process..."
Lan Chang'an consumed a Qi Nourishing Pill and closed his eyes to cultivate.