"Senior, my father's secret stash is hidden just beneath that big tree up ahead. It can only be revealed by using either my or Xiaoming's blood to activate the formation…"
Lan Xinyi spoke sweetly, her tone noticeably more affectionate than the day before.
Ever since she returned last night, something about her had felt off. She even told me to show more respect to Senior Li from now on…
Xiao Lanming glanced at her with a confused look, only to be met with a sharp glare from his sister. He was left scratching his head in puzzlement.
"Such a blood-activated formation… quite interesting. I'd like to see it for myself,"
Li Ye nodded with a smile, guiding the flying vessel to descend slowly.
This new flying artifact was a contribution from the Foundation Establishment cultivator surnamed Ding. It was a high-grade magical item far more spacious and comfortable than any of Li Ye's previous ones, and much faster too.
It had no trouble carrying several people at once.
They soon landed before a large, ordinary-looking tree. At a glance, it appeared completely mundane not even a spiritual plant, just a regular old tree.
The three stepped off the flying vessel. Lan Xinyi gave a respectful bow to Li Ye before stepping forward.
She pulled out a small dagger and lightly pricked her fingertip, letting a few drops of blood fall onto the ground.
Then, she quickly formed a few hand seals. The blood drops merged, flowing into an unusual sigil. The earth began to tremble slightly, and soon a hidden pit revealed itself below.
Lan Xinyi raised her hand and made a grasping motion, summoning a storage pouch from within.
As her eyes fell on the pouch, a flicker of sorrow flashed through them but it was soon replaced by hatred and steely resolve.
Without hesitation, she turned and handed the pouch to Li Ye without even checking its contents.
"Senior, this is the secret treasure my father left behind."
"I had originally planned to retrieve it when the time was right, then flee to some faraway place with Xiaoming… but now that you're with us, I may not need to run anymore."
Li Ye accepted the pouch without a shred of politeness and chuckled.
"This was only payment for helping you out yesterday, but since we've now sealed our agreement with oaths and a soul contract, we're on the same side from here on out. You can rest easy."
As he finished speaking, the smile on his face deepened.
Sure enough, the plan to lure them out had worked perfectly.
He quickly turned to the siblings. "Someone followed us. You two should step aside for now don't want you caught in the crossfire."
Lan Xinyi's face hardened as she immediately understood his meaning. She didn't waste time with words, grabbing her brother and retreating toward the rocks behind them.
Swish, swish, swish, swish
At that moment, several figures rapidly appeared from the horizon, arriving in the blink of an eye.
"It's him! Mo Lun, that bastard! He and Wang Shuangyan colluded to seize Changcui Mountain!"
Lan Xinyi's face twisted with hatred as she pointed at the bald cultivator leading the group, her voice filled with venom.
As her gaze swept over the others who had come with him, she added in a low voice,
"That wretched woman Wang Shuangyan didn't come… these others are all members of the Lan family."
Seeing the traitorous clan members gathered around Mo Lun, her eyes burned with fury. She wished she could drink their blood and tear them limb from limb.
Li Ye, however, felt a bit of disappointment.
So Wang Shuangyan didn't come after all…
It would've been perfect to catch them all in one go. Seems this group wasn't completely careless leaving someone behind to guard the house.
The bald Mo Lun scanned the siblings, his gaze lingering a little too long on Lan Xinyi's beautiful face. Then he glanced toward the storage pouch in Li Ye's hand, and a greedy light flashed in his eyes.
This must be the secret stash that old man Lan left behind…
It probably holds great value. How could I just let some nobody walk away with it?
Mo Lun gritted his teeth inwardly.
But the memory of how all the Lan family cultivators he sent yesterday were completely wiped out was still fresh in his mind. Even though his cultivation was on par with this stranger's, and he had the numbers on his side, he remained extremely cautious.
Still seated on his flying artifact, Mo Lun forced a courteous expression and cupped his hands in greeting from midair.
"Greetings, fellow cultivator! These two siblings are from my Changcui Mountain. Bringing them back is an internal matter of our sect. I advise you not to meddle…"
Start polite, strike later this was the usual way of handling things.
But to his surprise, the tall man in green didn't even bother responding. With a mere glance at Mo Lun's group, he suddenly tossed out a jet-black alms bowl.
Clang, clang, clang
The bowl expanded rapidly in midair, growing to the size of a water vat. A powerful suction force erupted as it descended, aiming straight for Mo Lun's head.
"An extreme-grade artifact?!"
Mo Lun's face twisted in shock. He hurriedly summoned a high-grade seal artifact and flung it out while urging his flying vessel to dodge sideways.
"That's my father's Yellowstone Seal!"
Lan Xinyi cried out, her voice trembling with fury.
If the artifact her father always carried was now in Mo Lun's hands, then the truth behind her father's death was all but certain.
Li Ye paid her no mind.
With a push of his spiritual power, the black bowl smashed into the earthy seal with a deafening clang and managed to suppress both the artifact and Mo Lun himself into the bowl, slamming him to the ground.
Li Ye then turned his gaze to the stunned and terrified Lan family cultivators.
They were all only at the third or fourth layer of Qi Refining. Before any of them could even activate a spell or artifact, they saw Mo Lun get sealed away just like that the ambush they had planned was over before it even began.
"Manager Mo was defeated!"
"We can't fight this man run!"
They didn't hesitate for a second. All of them turned and fled.
These people had already betrayed their family once just to survive the earlier purge. Expecting loyalty or courage from them now was a fool's dream.
Li Ye gave a wave of his sleeve, and the Radiant Pearl flew out accompanied by a small black cloud.
A closer look revealed the "cloud" was made up of countless tiny black insects with metallic sheens.
They split into multiple swarms and chased down the fleeing Lan cultivators, overwhelming them with ease. Their weak defenses collapsed in an instant as the bugs tore through flesh and bone, sending bodies crashing down.
Those with slightly stronger resistance were swiftly dealt with by the Radiant Pearl, which smashed them into the ground on impact.
Clang!
With a shockwave, the black alms bowl was finally struck away, shrinking as it spun through the air and returned to Li Ye.
Mo Lun, now bleeding from both ears and barely clinging to consciousness, didn't even bother to look back. He picked a random direction and bolted.
He hadn't even gotten close to Li Ye, and he was already heavily injured by the suppression of that damn artifact.
Even the sonic shockwaves produced while trying to break free had severely wounded him from within.
With such a powerful treasure in his hands, there was no way he could win against Li Ye.
If he didn't run now, he might lose his life on the spot!
Coming here on that stupid woman's suggestion had been a huge mistake!
If they wanted to kill this man, they'd need to rely on formations…
Bzzz
Just then, the sound of insect wings echoed.
A black cloud descended, latching onto his entire body.
Blinding pain struck, and in the next moment, a brilliantly glowing orb flew through the air.
Crack!
His skull shattered.
Mo Lun's body and flying vessel plummeted from the sky, hitting the ground with a thud and raising a plume of dust.
Whoosh
Retrieving the Radiant Pearl and his Iron-Eating Insects, Li Ye suddenly heard a sound beside him. Turning his head, he saw Lan Xinyi collapsed on the ground, clutching her brother, tears streaming down her face.
"Father… That traitor Mo Lun has been slain. Did you see it?"
-support me on Patreon for more chapters, 130+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LordoftheReader