Upon receiving the good news from
Mount Longhu
, everyone in the
Tianxu Sect
was elated: “So, it was all a
Tianshi
-crafted ‘trap’!”
The latest updates revealed that the
Tianshi
had secretly dispelled the
Reincarnation Curse
on himself long ago. Then, when the
Lin Clan
attacked, he leveraged the
Daoist Holy Land
’s terrain, including the
Ten Thousand Methods Altar
and the
Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation
, to deal a heavy blow to the invaders.
Rumors even suggested that the
Tianshi
had transferred his
Reincarnation Curse
onto the
Lin Clan Leader
, making the opponent suffer a huge loss.
Now, the situation on
Mount Longhu
had completely turned around!
“This is great…”
The usually cold-faced
Xia Qing
also breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the news.
Beside her,
Lei Jun
nodded. “Yes, this is great.”
...But was it really?
In truth,
Lei Jun
wasn’t as optimistic as the others.
Because of the earlier strategic retreat, abandoning many outer defenses,
Tianshi Mansion
had indeed allowed the
Lin Clan
to advance to
Mount Longhu
, but casualties were minimal.
For the people involved, this still meant a perilous situation, where life and death hung by a thread. However,
Lei Jun
instinctively felt that this wasn’t the disaster foretold by the earlier
Lower-Moderate Omen
.
But at the moment, it was just a hunch. He had no concrete evidence and didn’t want to dampen everyone’s spirits.
Lei Jun
could only hope that he was overthinking it, and that a bigger problem wasn’t still looming ahead.
The
Tianxu Sect
collectively relaxed.
With
Tianshi Mansion
now counterattacking and the overall situation reversed, it was enough to deter other petty enemies from making any rash moves.
Word even spread that the
Zixiao Sect
of the
Yunxiao Mountain Range
had resolved their siege, so the
Tianxu Sect
could now lift their special state of alert and return to normal defense protocols.
Lei Jun’s
daily routine remained unchanged.
He began studying the
Xirang Flag
.
First, there was bad news.
Lei Jun
discovered that his ability to activate the
Xirang Flag’s
power was quite limited. This was due to his current
cultivation
level.
The
Xirang Flag
was modest in appearance, yet profoundly mystical.
To truly refine and control its essence wasn’t something a
Lower Heaven
cultivator could achieve.
However, as
Lei Jun’s
cultivation advanced, he would eventually master it.
Fortunately, the previous owner had left no restrictive seals in the flag.
Lei Jun
was now its new master.
Then came the good news.
The flag’s power aligned perfectly with the
Earth
and
Stone
attributes he needed.
After some research,
Lei Jun
successfully crafted a
Spirit Talisman
.
When the
Spirit Talisman
was activated, a billowing yellow dust spread out, with low, rumbling thunder rolling within it.
“Good, the
Earth-Sealing Thunder Talisman
is complete.”
Satisfied,
Lei Jun
nodded. “Now, let’s start the full assembly.”
The need for
Earth
-aligned
spiritual items
was to create the
Earth-Sealing Thunder
as a solid base, capable of providing constant
spiritual energy
.
Earth
formed the framework.
Wood
provided the growth element, using the prepared
Wooden Sky Thunder
and
Wooden Sky Thunder Talismans
as the flesh of the structure.
Then, a touch of
Water
was added.
This
Water
came from the refined
Dark River Thunder Talisman
. Though it wasn’t nurturing, it served as a lubricant.
Next, a
Metal
frame was set as the outer shell.
Finally, a spark of
Fire
was added to bring it to life.
“Is the structure too intricate?”
Lei Jun
stroked his chin thoughtfully as he examined the
Spirit Talisman
.
To him, intricacy was a neutral term. His preference for spells leaned toward simplicity, efficiency, and decisiveness.
His first two
Life-bound Spells
— the
Spirit Strike Talisman
and the
Wind Talisman
— reflected this philosophy.
But since he already had those as a foundation, he figured the third could afford to be more elaborate.
This gave him a broader range of tools for handling diverse challenges.
A balance of orthodox and unorthodox tactics…
If possible,
Lei Jun
hoped for lasting peace, so he could focus on
cultivation
and refining his spells.
Unfortunately, the old saying held true: the more you feared something, the more likely it was to happen.
The latest news from
Mount Longhu
arrived:
“A mysterious enemy launched a sneak attack, catching the
Tianshi
off guard while he was suppressing the
Lin Clan Leader
. He was severely injured!”
The
Tianxu Sect
, which had just celebrated, was thrown into chaos once more.
Pandemonium broke out, and even Sect Leader
Tu Guangyu
struggled to maintain order.
“Who was it? Did the
Southern Wasteland Witch Sect
send another enemy?”
“Was it the
Yellow Heaven Sect
?”
“Did any of the
Five Great Surnames
and
Seven Prominent Clans
get involved?”
“It doesn’t seem to be any major clans. They’re all watching from the sidelines, even the
Lin Clan
of
Youzhou
hasn’t made a move…”
“Then who was it? What’s the situation on
Mount Longhu
? How is the
Tianshi
?”
The news brought both hope and despair, but the overall situation had deteriorated sharply.
At first, the changes were manageable.
Taiping Daoist
, the leader of the
Yellow Heaven Sect
, finally appeared, joining forces with the
Lin Clan Leader
to face the
Tianshi
in a two-on-one battle.
However, the
Tianshi’s
eldest disciple,
Xu Yuanzhen
, also emerged at this moment.
Signs indicated that the master and disciple had long prepared for this. With
Xu Yuanzhen
holding off
Taiping Daoist
, the
Tianshi
could focus on pursuing the
Lin Clan Leader
.
But then, a mysterious powerhouse struck unexpectedly.
This time,
Tianshi Li Qingfeng
was truly gravely injured.
Though
Xu Yuanzhen
managed to break away from
Taiping Daoist
to block further attacks, the situation had spiraled out of control.
Lei Jun’s
assessment was:
“They overplayed their hand.”
If the
Tianshi
had simply consolidated power with
Xu Yuanzhen
,
Li Song
,
Li Hongyu
,
Yuan Mobai
, and
Li Zhengxuan
at
Mount Longhu
, they could have avoided a major crisis despite their enemies’ strength.
The
Tianshi’s
strategy to lure the
Lin Clan Leader
into a trap succeeded — but the final result was a disaster.
They had just turned the tide, ready to pursue victory, only to be struck down again.
Even without considering morale, this increased their costs of adapting to the situation.
Another possibility was that the
Tianshi’s
old injuries hadn’t fully healed, forcing him to gamble on a decisive victory to eliminate the
Lin Clan
threat — at least temporarily.
But the gamble had failed…
Lei Jun
recalled
Xu Yuanzhen
’s words when she first returned to
Mount Longhu
:
“I’m worried that Master is overthinking things.”
Back then, she probably didn’t know the full plan, just worried based on her understanding of her master.
In hindsight, she was right.
She wasn’t the only one who felt this way.
In a
Jiangnan
waterside pavilion,
Chu Yu
stood by the window, frowning.
At a nearby table,
Fang Yue
asked, “Who was this mysterious powerhouse who stooped to such underhanded tactics?”
Chu Yu
responded, “There are only a few unaccounted top-tier experts. But of those who harbor enmity toward the
Tianshi Mansion
…”
She shook her head.
“In the end, the
Tianshi
gave them the opportunity. One scheme against the
Lin Clan Leader
was enough. He shouldn’t have chased him outside the mountain.”
Fang Yue
looked at her.
Sighing
,
Chu Yu
said, “The
Tianshi’s
health hasn’t fully recovered, has it? This gamble harmed not only himself but also the entire situation.”
The latest news confirmed a more tragic outcome than anyone expected:
Li Qingfeng
, the
Tianshi
of
Mount Longhu
, and
Lin Qun
, the
Lin Clan Leader
, had perished together in the
Great River
.