Li Yingling's gaze was also fixed on her junior brother below.
After all, one's own junior brother was one's own responsibility. Even if he was bait, he had to be safe bait.
The area where Li Xingtian stood had been layered with barriers set up by Tianyan Sect disciples. To be safe, barrier was stacked upon barrier, covering everything from the spiritual energy level to the divine consciousness level.
Li Yingling had spent quite a few spirit stones on this, but money was ultimately a small matter. Her sect members' safety was what truly mattered.
The barriers were of such quality that even a Deity Transformation cultivator would need some time to break through.
Zhang Miaoyu's level was too low, so Li Yingling hadn't brought her along.
Li Yingling had also observed the formation distribution. The most people were positioned to support her junior brother.
Wang Lin, the strongest in the squad, had been pulled aside by Li Yingling to the right side to prepare for a surprise attack. She herself, along with one squad member, lay in ambush at the rear path, mainly to catch any cowards trying to escape.
There was a plan, there were contingencies. The plan was complete and feasible—that was why Wang Lin had agreed to try.
At this point, it all depended on whether her junior brother was annoying enough. If his taunting skills had learned even half of their master's proficiency, it should be sufficient.
——
Li Xingtian's spiritual energy was fully displayed without concealment, his message clear.
A Golden Core ancestor is here—you bunch of Nascent Soul trash, come out and die.
After his aura drifted for a while, Li Xingtian sensed several thick Nascent Soul auras rushing toward him.
Before even seeing anyone, several terrifying auras came crashing in.
Li Xingtian's expression remained calm as he watched the Nascent Soul Realm attacks collide entirely with the barrier before him.
Boom!
Spiritual energy pressure scattered in all directions—if counted as fireworks, the explosion was quite beautiful.
Due to taking the attacks, the barrier now blazed with light, protecting Li Xingtian's entire body.
Several figures that had been rushing over stopped in their tracks upon seeing the high-grade barrier rising from the ground.
The evil cultivator Old Wang narrowed his eyes... he hadn't heard of anyone setting up formations on the spot during a fight.
Someone asked: "Is it an ambush...?"
"What, did you think he was going to dance for us? There must be an ambush!"
"This kid is definitely from the Evil Spirit Sect! Probably here to take us out. Why don't we retreat first?!"
These words struck a chord with them. All four turned to look at Old Wang.
Old Wang's gaze swept over the evil cultivator who had just spoken—a slightly hunched elderly man.
At this point, to say there wasn't a mole—Old Wang didn't really believe it anymore.
Could this evil cultivator kid be determining their location by throwing sticks?
And this mole was probably among the other four. The hunched old man had now been added to Old Wang's list of suspects.
"Where can we retreat to? If that evil cultivator kid really had people, why wait until now to act? If there really was an ambush, why make such a show of this barrier?"
Old Wang's aura surged, and he shouted sternly:
"I see this barrier is meant to make us suspicious. If we lose our nerve, we might be falling right into their trap."
No one responded. Their gazes still fixed straight on Old Wang.
They were all evil cultivators. They all deeply understood one principle: when encountering something strange, don't question it, don't be curious—just run.
Because strange things really killed people.
Old Wang alone rose up and rushed toward Li Xingtian, leaving behind only one sentence:
"Meng Jun is behind us, watching."
As the words fell, the other four exchanged glances.
Without further words, each one closely followed behind Old Wang.
Old Wang's gaze fixed on Li Xingtian within the barrier, simultaneously observing the barrier itself.
Judging by quality alone, it was extremely high-grade and clearly expensive. Breaking this barrier would take considerable effort.
Old Wang's expression turned cold. His spiritual energy surged, and holding a black soul banner, he shouted sternly:
"Kid, what exactly do you want?! I previously invited the Evil Spirit Sect to participate together—they didn't respond. Now you come to disgust us?"
Several figures then landed inches behind Old Wang, each holding their own spiritual treasures.
Li Xingtian's gaze swept over them. The core members were almost all here—only the leader Meng Jun was missing.
As a leader, he was quite thoroughly cowardly.
A mocking smile appeared on Li Xingtian's face as he mimicked his master's tone:
"So what if I'm here to disgust you? Just mere evil cultivators—what can you do even if you're unhappy?"
Old Wang laughed in anger: "Mere evil cultivators? You're not an evil cultivator?!"
Li Xingtian instinctively retorted: "What I cultivate is proper orthodox mental cultivation. Every step is my own cultivation journey—how am I an evil cultivator?"
Facing such shameless words, Old Wang shouted in fury:
"Your blood qi is overwhelming and you call that orthodox cultivation? The souls in my banner probably aren't even one-tenth of yours. If you're practicing orthodox cultivation, then I must be practicing the world's most virtuous cultivation!"
"Virtuous my ass!" Li Xingtian's gaze turned fierce. "Mere evil cultivators—what do you know of righteous orthodox cultivation? If you don't understand, bark less."
Old Wang said no more. He raised his soul banner, and massive black spiritual energy covered the sky, transforming into countless vengeful ghosts and skulls that charged toward Li Xingtian.
The barrier before Li Xingtian flared with light, catching this seemingly massive attack without even a ripple.
The other evil cultivators, seeing Old Wang get serious, hesitated slightly before also rushing to support, each displaying their abilities, striking toward Li Xingtian.
For a time, dark spiritual energy covered Tuoyun Valley, and miserable wailing echoed throughout.
Everyone cautiously struck for a while, their divine consciousness alert for a long time, only to discover that everything seemed calm—as if this really was just one Golden Core kid who came alone to die.
And the barrier before Li Xingtian was no longer as bright as before, clearly unable to hold much longer.
The things Li Xingtian had done recently were still fresh in these evil cultivators' minds.
"Damn it! I'll smash your turtle shell! Cut off your head to use as a chamber pot!"
One evil cultivator holding a ghost-head saber erupted with spiritual energy, slashing down at the barrier. Terrifying pressure instantly scattered in all directions.
It shattered the surrounding hilltops, and sinister energy washed over everything.
Every plant it touched withered and died.
The barrier was also violently shaken by this slash, as if on the verge of shattering.
Li Xingtian narrowed his eyes, still not sending the signal. He tried to delay a bit longer, to see if he could lure Meng Jun out, or at least reveal his position.
But a certain Eldest Senior Sister didn't think he was safe anymore.
Two streaks of rainbow light from the east flashed rapidly, charging straight toward the crowd of evil cultivators.
Old Wang naturally caught the aura too. He looked over and saw someone wearing Tianyan Sect disciple robes, holding a sword-type spiritual treasure, rushing toward him.
He gave a disdainful laugh. Was the threshold for evil cultivators this low now? They were all evil cultivators—was he the only one unafraid of death?
Tianyan Sect people? Who didn't know the Eighteen Immortal Sects killed evil cultivators without question.
Trying to scare him with a few Nascent Souls? Laughable!
But Old Wang's smile quickly froze. Someone beside him shouted in terror:
"It's Tianyan Sect people! There really is an ambush! Quick, retreat!"
Old Wang had just turned his head when several people around him were already preparing to flee.
He quickly shouted in anger: "Why run? Isn't he an evil cultivator?!"
"If he can call Tianyan Sect disciples here, then I can call Bai Xuanling here!"
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