Chapter 20: Intense Battle
That black net was a special magical weapon, and the gray whirlwind it raised made Mu Xiuqun feel dizzy and her head spin before it even approached her.
She quickly cast two medium-grade talismans.
Hum!
Two consecutive layers of golden light shields protected Mu Xiuqun's body.
It was a first-rank spell, Golden Light Shield.
However, the moment the black net pressed down, the golden light shields made a "sizzled" sound and visibly blackened and shattered at a visible speed.
The first layer of the golden light shield collapsed in the blink of an eye.
The second layer of the golden light shield did not even last a breath.
The black net was also a medium-grade magical weapon, the power it was exerting in the hands of someone in the late Qi-Refining stage was appalling.
Mu Xiuqun's pretty face turned pale, and gritting her teeth, she cast another light blue superior-grade talisman.
A bone-chilling coldness condensed, and a shimmering crystalline water shield enveloped Mu Xiuqun's body.
The black net pressed against the crystalline water shield, its threads intertwining with the water flow and making a "hissing" sound, but was finally blocked.
However, the crystalline water shield was rapidly dimming and could not last more than a few breaths.
Taking the opportunity, Mu Xiuqun swallowed a detoxifying pill.
At this moment, a ray of light like a firework shot up from the herb field not far away, visible for hundreds of miles around.
"Signalling talisman!"
Ge Yi and Mu Xiuqun instinctively looked over to see a young man in a white robe crushing a talisman slip in his hand.
As the guard of the herb garden, Lan Chang'an had to do something.
"Junior! You didn't get poisoned?" Ge Yi's swollen eyes narrowed slightly, somewhat surprised.
The "Marrow Corroding Powder" he had used was not an ordinary poison, able to mix into the aura of plants and grass. An ordinary Qi-Refining cultivator in the middle stage would definitely be unable to resist it.
"Fortunately, this lan practiced poison resistance when learning martial arts in the past, so the poison did not penetrate...deeply"
Lan Chang'an's face was grim, and he gritted his teeth with effort as he stood up quickly and swallowed a detoxifying pill. In fact, he was just putting on a show.
The poison had been dissolved by his Evergreen mana as soon as it entered his body, saving him some trouble.
The so-called poison resistance training, which would damage one's physical foundation, was something Lan Chang'an had never practiced.
"Lan Chang'an, I'm glad you're alright! With the two of us joining forces, there's still hope." Mu Xiuqun's starry eyes flashed with a brilliant light as she exclaimed joyfully.
Lan Chang'an was also in the middle stage of Qi-Refining, so joining forces with him, they only needed to hold out for a moment before reinforcements from the Mu family arrived.
Feiyue Manor was more than two hundred miles away from here.
"Just relying on this kid?" Ge Yi sneered and, while suppressing Mu Xiuqun, casually shot out a clump of ghastly green flames. He had never taken a cultivator like Lan Chang'an, who had just entered the fourth level of Qi-Refining, seriously.
Facing the ghastly green flames, Lan Chang'an acted swiftly, activating a Water Curtain Talisman.
A layer of misty blue water screen appeared in front of him.
Boom!
The ghastly green flames exploded, and the water screen suddenly dimmed as a large amount of water vapor rose.
After about one or two breaths, the water screen shattered.
The ghastly green flames were also mostly extinguished by the water flow and did not harm Lan Chang'an who had dodged away.
Ge Yi couldn't help but let out a light exclamation of surprise.
Although water overcomes fire, an ordinary first-rank mid-grade talisman should not have been able to block his secret fire spell of the late Qi-Refining stage.
It seemed that Lan Chang'an had used a rare and high quality talisman.
"My lady, I'll get close and put pressure on him."
Lan Chang'an was not afraid of Ge Yi overhearing, and left an afterimage on the spot.
Besides being a cultivator, he was also a Martial Innate, with a physique that was stronger than that of non-martial artists in the Qi-Refining stage.
Once he got close, the combination of his martial arts combat skills and cultivation techniques would not be something to be taken lightly.
"Foolish little brat! How ridiculous!"
Ge Yi was about to break through Mu Xiuqun's defensive barrier, but when he saw Lan Chang'an charging at him, he did not dodge or evade, revealing a mocking sneer.
Poof! Poof! Poof!
Before Lan Chang'an could get close, several earth spikes shot up from the ground beneath his feet, each over a zhang (3.3 meters) high, capable of instantly piercing even the body of a tiger or elephant.
Lan Chang'an's footwork was like he had eyes on the soles of his feet. Leaping and shifting his body, he narrowly dodged the continuously appearing earth spikes.
These earth spikes that appeared without any warning were not spells cast by Ge Yi.
"This kid reacts pretty quickly."
Ge Yi showed a slight regret, having expected Lan Chang'an to surely die.
Boom!
Where the earth spikes emerged from the ground, dust flew as a huge brownish-yellow rat-shaped demonic beast emerged, its four limbs extremely robust and claws and fangs like iron and steel.
"Earth Burrowing Rat!"
Lan Chang'an's eyes narrowed slightly.
With this, it became clear how Ge Yi had planted the evidence earlier.
The framing was not deliberately aimed at Lan Chang'an but intended to lure out the Mu family's young lady and disrupt the marriage alliance between the Mu family and the Huang family.
Previously, everyone in the herb garden had been deceived by Ge Yi's arrogant and ill-tempered appearance. At most, they had suspected Ge Yi of coveting the medicinal herbs. This was probably a flaw he had deliberately revealed, since greed for wealth is a normal human trait.
...
At present, this Rock Rat possessed spiritual power on par with the pinnacle of the sixth level of Qi-Refining.
The stealthy earth spike attacks earlier could instantly kill even someone at the seventh level of Qi-Refining.
Poof!
Rock fragments as big as millstones were shattered by the Rock Rat's claws.
Immediately after, its ferocious eyes flashed red light.
It charged towards the airborne Lan Chang'an at an extremely fast speed.
At this moment, Lan Chang'an had no room to evade, forcefully stomping down with one foot and erupting his martial arts qi, while simultaneously enveloping his leg with a layer of Evergreen magic power.
A tremendous sound erupted as a large pit was blasted open in the ground.
Lan Chang'an's blood and qi churned as his bare foot went numb, borrowing the force to leap dozens of meters away, separating himself from the Rock Rat.
As a Martial Innate, although his physical body was strong, compared to a demonic beast of this level, there was still a considerable gap.
As he retreated, Lan Chang'an threw out three fireballs that slammed into the Rock Rat's body.
The Rock Rat howled, its fur blackened in several spots.
Its body swayed slightly, but it did not seem greatly affected as it charged towards Lan Chang'an once more.
"Earth-type demonic beasts, they really are thick-skinned." Lan Chang'an felt a bit troubled.
Of course, the Earth Burrowing Rat's higher cultivation level was also an important reason. As the Rock Rat charged again, Lan Chang'an's face turned solemn as he formed hand seals and chanted swiftly, rapidly expending his magic power.
Instantly, a large amount of plant and wood spiritual essence gathered.
The Rock Rat's body shuddered slightly, revealing an uneasy look in its eyes.
In the next moment, from the surrounding ground and plants, thorny vines condensed and, at a speed faster than lightning, bound and restrained the Rock Rat.
"Squeak....."
The Rock Rat squealed and struggled violently, showing fear on its face.
But those thorny vines were extremely tough and formed a prison that bound it tightly.
"The Restraining Vine Spell!" Ge Yi's expression showed astonishment.
The Restraining Vine Spell was a relatively difficult wood-type spell, rarely mastered by cultivators in the Qi-Refining stage.
By taking advantage of the dense wood and plant spiritual qi in the herb garden, Lan Chang'an was able to employ a clever trick to cast this spell despite only being in the middle stage of Qi-Refining, which could be considered an ingenious application of techniques.
The Restraining Vine Spell also happened to be the perfect counter against an earth-type demonic beast.
"Old man! Let's see what other tricks you have."
After restraining the Rock Rat, Lan Chang'an slapped a Wind Speed Talisman on himself, leaving an afterimage as he swiftly charged toward Ge Yi.
"This kid is not only a Martial Innate Master but also proficient in spells..."
Ge Yi finally started to panic a little and hurriedly took out a Flying Shuttle magical weapon.
Swish!
A cold rainbow flashed as the Flying Shuttle slashed towards Lan Chang'an's face in an instant.
Although Lan Chang'an was fast, he could not match the attack speed of the magical weapon.
Without time to think, he took out a dark green shield and expanded it, like a stone wall blocking in front of him.
The Bedrock Shield.
This was a middle-grade defensive magical weapon he had exchanged using his family's contributions!
"Clang!" With a loud sound, the Flying Shuttle left a groove on the Jade Rock Shield, sparks flew, and an ear-piercing screeching sound of friction could be heard.
Lan Chang'an let out a slight sigh of relief. Although they were both medium-grade weapons, one wielded by a late Qi-Refining cultivator would be far more powerful.
Fortunately, since Ge Yi was fighting both of them, this hasty weapon attack only had about 70% of its full power.
But Lan Chang'an had achieved his goal. By having to deal with Lan Chang'an, Ge Yi's suppression of Mu Xiuqun had slackened.
Just a moment ago, the black net had already broken through Mu Xiuqun's superior-grade defensive talisman, leaving her in grave peril.
"Well done!" Mu Xiuqun's eyes lit up as she seized the opportunity!
Without hesitation, she took out her trump card - a superior-grade offensive talisman.
The Blazing Flames Technique!
Fiery spiritual energy boiled as a twisted, dark red fireball erupted and slammed fiercely into the black net overhead.
The black net was blasted apart, its light dimming somewhat.
However, the crisis was not resolved.
Ge Yi's spiritual power was abundant and his magical weapon was intact, so his combat prowess remained undiminished.
Mu Xiuqun had not completely resolved the poison in her body and could not hold out much longer.
Poof!
Mu Xiuqun's face turned deathly pale as she circulated her spiritual power, forcing a few drops of her vital blood out from the tip of her tongue and onto a silver ruler.
Blood flames burst out on the surface of the silver ruler, sending forth dazzling light which transformed into a practiced strike that, in the brief moment the black net was blasted apart, slashed towards Ge Yi's face.
The power of this strike was comparable to the late Qi-Refining stage.
"Not bad." Lan Chang'an silently praised her, as she had seized this opportune moment for a counterattack very well.
Generally, a late Qi-Refining cultivator could only control two medium-grade magical weapons or four low-grade ones at the same time. Even if Ge Yi had another weapon, he would not have the capacity to use it.
"Insolent brats!"
Ge Yi's face turned ashen with rage, gritting his teeth furiously. He could only slap out a Golden Light Shield talisman and forcibly conjure a mana force shield.
Poof! Poof! Bang!
The silver ruler broke through the Golden Light Shield, then left a crack in Ge Yi's spiritual force shield.
But it was ultimately blocked!
Sweat beaded on Ge Yi's forehead as he reached his limit, fighting on two fronts while maintaining two medium-grade weapons and also sustaining his spiritual force shield.
But just then, an abnormality suddenly occurred!
Swish swish—
Several small, dim needle rays shot toward Ge Yi from the side.
"Not good!"
Those few needle rays pierced through the already cracked spiritual force shield protecting Ge Yi.
Two of the needle rays went straight for his face.
Terrified, Ge Yi hastily circulated his spiritual power in a desperate attempt to evade them.
Buffered by the spiritual force shield, the speeds of those needle rays slowed slightly, allowing him to dodge most of them.
Pluck!
However, one of the needle rays pierced into Ge Yi's leg.
He let out a slight sigh of relief, at least having avoided his vital areas.
But in the next moment, Ge Yi's leg went numb, his body staggered, his face turned black, and he gritted his teeth as he glared at Lan Chang'an:
"You little beast! You actually laced the needles with poison..."
(End of chapter)