Druid Fairy

Chapter 177 Bone-chilling cold wind
Li Yuanhu lay prone in the cold grass, feeling a chill rush from his tailbone straight to the top of his head, freezing his limbs and bones.

It wasn't the chill of the night wind, but a shiver that came from the depths of one's soul.

What did he see?
He saw the celestial official who was usually aloof and always spouted phrases like "serving the country to the death," standing indifferently by the altar. His eyes showed no reverence for the dead; instead, he looked like an experienced old farmer examining the thriving crops in his field.

Li Yuanhu will never forget that look in his eyes.

The pool of blood was churning with the remains of his comrades-in-arms!
Those men who had fought alongside him just moments before, shouting "Defend our homeland!", had now become the "fertilizer" that gave birth to that strange, blood-red spirit stone!
Flesh and blood dissolved, resentment soared to the sky, and finally all flowed into that evil stone, where it was then transformed into the purest energy by the inhuman, ghostly black-robed cultivators on the altar through some kind of formation.

This is no battlefield!

This is clearly an elaborately designed breeding farm!
They, these soldiers who risked their lives, were nothing more than livestock kept by others!

"Beasts...a bunch of beasts!"

Li Yuanhu's eyes were bloodshot, and his fingernails dug deep into the mud on his palms, oblivious to the blood flowing out.

A raging fire burned fiercely in his chest, threatening to consume his reason. He wanted to rush out and, with his battle sword, cleave those bastards in two!

But his remaining rationality held him back tightly.

Charge out? And then what?
To be crushed to death with a single finger by that celestial official who could summon wind and thunder at will, like an ant? And then have one's own corpse become nourishment in that pool of blood?
That's not bravery, that's stupidity!

He thought of his family far away in Peach Blossom Mountain, and of his third uncle, Li Pingcan, who seemed carefree but was actually incredibly shrewd.

Uncle San had warned them, the younger generation, more than once.

Never use your passion to challenge someone else's rules. Before overturning the chessboard, the first thing you need to do is survive and see the whole picture of the game.

“The rules… these are their rules…” Li Yuanhu’s heart turned cold in an instant, colder than the night wind in the valley.

He forced himself to calm down, suppressing his overwhelming anger and grief deep within his heart.

Like the most cunning lone wolf, he retreated silently, every movement extremely cautious, blending himself into the darkness.

He must live!

Just as he was about to leave the valley, a cold gaze, like the forked tongue of a venomous snake, precisely locked onto him!

It was a black-robed monk on the altar!
The cultivator didn't seem to "see" him, but as if sensing something, he flicked his finger in the direction where he was hiding.

"call out!"

A silent, black aura, like a poisoned arrow, pierced through the air!

"not good!"

Li Yuanhu's hair stood on end. His years of battlefield intuition made him roll on the spot without thinking and fall to the side in a sorry state.

"Pfft!"

The black mist grazed almost past his back, striking a rock behind him. The hard rock, without making a sound, was corroded like tofu, leaving a fist-sized hole that hissed white smoke.

This attack completely exposed his location!
"Someone!"

"catch him!"

Several dark figures shot out of the valley like ghosts, chasing after Li Yuanhu.

Li Yuanhu cursed inwardly, no longer daring to hold back, and used all his strength to run wildly into the dark depths of the forest without looking back.

He dared not take the main roads, and could only choose those rugged and difficult mountain paths. He was a child who grew up in the mountains, and a skilled scout in the army. When it came to his ability to move and dodge in the mountains and forests, he was confident that he was second to none.

But those guys behind me weren't human at all!

Their speed was incredible; they moved as if on flat ground on the steep mountainside, their figures elusive and ever-present, and no matter how Li Yuanhu changed direction, he could not shake them off.

"Damn it, are they tagalongs?" Li Yuanhu said as he ran, pulling out a few dark iron lumps from his pocket. These were improved versions of the "Thunderclap Bombs" issued by the military. They might not be very useful against cultivators, but they were loud enough to cause a huge commotion.

He estimated the distance and threw it backward without looking back!

"Boom! Boom!"

Several loud explosions rang out in the silent mountain forest, flames shot into the sky, and rocks flew everywhere.

The pursuing men in black clearly hadn't expected him to have this trick up his sleeve. The sudden explosion slowed them down, and although it didn't injure them, it gave Li Yuanhu a precious chance to catch his breath.

Taking advantage of the moment, Li Yuanhu pulled out a palm-sized mushroom from the deepest part of his pocket.

This was something his third uncle, Li Pingcan, forced on him before he went to war. He said it was a "message mushroom" that he had made using a secret method. As long as a trace of blood and energy was injected into it, it could transmit messages regardless of distance.

At the time, Li Yuanhu thought his third uncle was making a mountain out of a molehill, but he never expected that today he would become his last hope.

Without the slightest hesitation, he bit his fingertip and dripped a drop of his blood onto the mushroom.

"Buzz!"

The mushroom seemed to come alive, emitting a dazzling light.

"Go! Hurry!"

Li Yuanhu used all his strength to inject the scene information he saw into it.

After doing all this, he felt a sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

He glanced back at the approaching shadowy figures, a savage grin spreading across his face.

"Come on, you scum! You want to catch your Tiger Lord? Let's see if you have the ability!"

With no worries about his rear, he stopped running away and instead turned around to draw the battle sword, which was already stained with the blood of the Crimson Flame Army, from behind him. He was about to charge forward against the dark figures!
The next moment, he was surprised to find that the men in black seemed not to have seen him at all, and brushed past him!

In an instant, Li Yuanhu understood, and his expression immediately turned to ecstatic joy.

It must have been Uncle Three who secretly helped us!
…………

Peach Blossom Mountain, Li Pingcan's study.

It was late at night, but he was wide awake. He didn't know whether his daughter Li Mengyue's future would be a blessing or a curse, so he simply sat cross-legged in front of the huge sand table and deduced the last few changes of the [Nine Yang Refining Spirit Array].

Since advancing to the eighth level of Qi Refining, he has been preparing to set up this second-tier grand formation. To set up this top-level formation that integrates offense and defense, his already developing and not-so-wealthy family was stretched thin.

"We're still short of money..."

Li Pingcan sighed and rubbed his temples. "It seems I'll have to go to the cultivator market in a few days to earn some extra money. Even a small amount is still money, and I can't let it go to waste."

Just as he was pondering how to "increase revenue and reduce expenditure," a faint, intuitive light emanated from the distant frontier. "Yuan Hu?"

Li Pingcan's face instantly darkened.

He probed it with his divine sense, and a surge of boundless anger instantly flooded his mind.

A battlefield where blood flowed like rivers, mountains of corpses piled up, a massive blood pool altar, indifferent celestial officials watching from the sidelines, and those familiar or unfamiliar comrades whose resentment and malevolence were drained from the blood pool...

Li Pingcan slowly stood up, walked to the window, opened it, and looked at the cold moon outside, his face expressionless.

The intelligence sent back from the capital, the relics of the ruthless patriarch, and the first-hand information that Yuan Hu obtained at the cost of his life...

"They treat the wars and disasters of the entire dynasty as their own land, using the blood, flesh, and resentment of countless lives to irrigate the so-called 'dragon vein' and hasten the ripening of the 'fruits' that can prolong your lives and increase your power... This is not a dynasty of immortal cultivation, this is a demonic sect in human skin!"

He finally understood.

Why do all the spiritual materials of the second rank and above originate from forbidden areas and ancient battlefields filled with death and resentment?

Why did the war between the Great Yu Dynasty and the Great Qian Dynasty, which lasted for several years, seem to have reached some kind of tacit understanding between the high-ranking officials of both sides, maintaining a "controllable" scale of casualties?

Because this place is rotten to the core!

The upper-level cultivators, those so-called princes, nobles, and powerful immortals, are not protecting this country at all, but rather "shepherding" it!
They need war, they need death, they need a constant supply of "fertilizer" to feed themselves!
As for the Li family, a "wild" force that quietly rises outside of "Mutian," once it shows its face, it will become a thorn in their side.

Either be harvested or uprooted!
"Trying to take advantage of me?" A chilling smirk appeared on Li Pingcan's lips. "I'm afraid your teeth aren't tough enough!"

"I'm sleeping soundly, why are you acting crazy in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

The Azure Dragon yawned, lazily poking its head out, its golden vertical pupils filled with a sleepy haze.

"Sleep? You can still sleep?" Li Pingcan sneered and shared the images that Yuan Hu had transmitted with it directly through the soul contract.

"..."

The green dragon froze instantly.

As it gazed at the blood-soaked altar and felt the soaring resentment, even this ancient and exotic creature showed a hint of horror in its golden vertical pupils.

"These...these people are insane?! This is a forbidden technique used only by ancient demonic cultivators! Aren't they afraid of divine retribution?!"

“Divine retribution?” Li Pingcan scoffed. “In this world, they are ‘heaven’! The so-called divine retribution is nothing more than an excuse they use to punish disobedient ‘beasts’.”

He paused, then suddenly changed the subject, a wicked smile spreading across his face as he coaxed the azure dragon, "Would you like to... taste what that so-called 'Dragon Blood Fruit' tastes like?"

Upon hearing this, the Azure Dragon was taken aback, then its dragon body trembled, and its golden vertical pupils instantly lit up, filled with two words—"Want!"
"You mean... you robbed his mother?!"

“Calling it robbery sounds too harsh.” Li Pingcan waved his hand, his face righteous and awe-inspiring. “What we’re doing is acting on behalf of Heaven to eliminate the demonic sect. As for the spoils, they’re ours to keep, which is perfectly reasonable, isn’t it?”

"Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely right!" The Azure Dragon nodded its head like a chicken pecking at rice. "I've long disliked these hypocrites! When are we going to make our move? I'll be the first to charge!"

“No rush.” Li Pingcan’s gaze returned to the [Nine Yang Refining Spirit Array] on the sand table, his eyes gleaming with calculating shrewdness. “One must eat one bite at a time, and walk one step at a time. Before we have the ability to overturn their table, we must first make sure our own pot is burning brightly. You have to do me a favor.”

He gazed toward the frontier, his eyes cold and resolute.

…………

News of the emperor's edict spread rapidly.

The local gentry who came to offer their congratulations looked at the Li family with a complex mix of awe, fervor, and extreme flattery.

This is hardly a rise.

This is clearly a meteoric rise!

Everyone in the Li family, from Li Pingfu to the younger generation, wore expressions of overwhelming joy and surprise.

But if someone could see through people's hearts, they would find that beneath this cheerful facade lies a heavy pressure.

Inside the study, Li Pingcan looked at the imperial edict that would bring glory to any family, but a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"What a brilliant, open scheme."

He muttered to himself, "He's afraid that my Li family's 'auspicious creature' won't be at ease keeping it outside, so he insists on moving it to his own yard to keep an eye on it before he feels at ease."

The investiture of the princess was a pretense; the real purpose was to use the daughter as a hostage to completely bind the Li family, a promising "ship," to the imperial court.

This seemingly immense favor is in fact the most magnificent and sturdy shackle.

"Yueya'er is still young. In a place like the capital, people's hearts are full of evil. One wrong step and you will fall into an abyss."

Li Pingfu frowned, his words filled with worry, "But if we don't go, it will be considered disobeying the imperial decree and deceiving the emperor. If this serious charge is attached to us, our Li family will likely face annihilation in no time."

Li Pingcan's wife, Xie Yuan, had tears welling up in her eyes. The thought of her beautiful little daughter being sent to the ruthless imperial palace made her heart ache as if it were being torn apart.

It's one thing for Mengze to go, but why does his youngest daughter have to go too?

Going there is like entering a tiger's den; not going there is like walking off a cliff.

Zhao Sisi hugged Li Mengjin, feeling once again relieved by her son's "mediocrity".

"Father, Uncle, Mother, I want to go."

Everyone turned around and saw Li Mengyue, who had changed into casual clothes, her clear eyes shining with determination: "I don't want to be a candy that can only be hidden away, I want to be a sweet osmanthus tree that can shelter everyone from the wind and rain."

One sentence silenced all the elders present.

Looking at the small figure before them, they felt a mixture of heartache and pride.

This is the Li family's child—stubborn to the core, never afraid of difficulties and dangers.

Li Pingcan pulled the Azure Dragon out of its sleep.

"It's your turn to work." Li Pingcan said seriously.

"What are you doing? I've just finished digesting a second-tier demon core and I'm dreaming about getting married. Don't bother me!" The Azure Dragon lazily scratched its belly with the tip of its tail.

“My daughter is going to the capital, and I need you to provide her with remote support at crucial moments. That’s what I need your help with,” Li Pingcan said in a low voice.

Hearing that a job had been assigned, Qingjiao instantly perked up. "Don't worry! If anyone dares to touch your daughter, I, your lord, can spit in their face from eight hundred miles away!"

(End of this chapter)