Chapter Seventy-Two: Mad Ox

Soon after, Li Mu returned, with Li Ying behind him, holding several wild game in her hands, her face brimming with joy.

He kindled a simple flame, and the wild game was swiftly roasted, turning their meal into a rustic feast. Li Ying ate with great relish.

“It truly is the top-grade Spirit-Replenishing Pill. Its effects are more than twice as effective as the superior grade,” Shen Bingxue opened her eyes, glancing sideways at the delicious wild game, then looked at Li Mu.

Li Mu sighed lightly, “It’s a pity. The Spirit-Replenishing Pill is only a first-grade pill. It offers little aid for us at the Foundation Spirit stage.”

Indeed, for cultivators in the Qi Condensation stage, the Spirit-Replenishing Pill could restore a substantial amount of spiritual energy. But for those at the Foundation Spirit stage, with their vast spiritual reservoirs, the required dosage was noticeably greater.

Shen Bingxue felt the same and nodded, saying, “That’s true. But this is a third-grade Spirit-Replenishing Pill, and none exist within the entire Cloud Mountain Realm, let alone its recipe. I’ve heard of something called the Soul-Restoring Pill; if we could refine it, that would be ideal.”

“We’ll certainly be able to craft it,” Li Mu replied. He had tried before, but had failed. Now, however, he had acquired many herbs. When the time came to refine, any pill below third grade would only be a matter of time.

“I’m not entirely convinced,” Shen Bingxue said, tapping lightly with her jade fingers, causing a piece of wild game to float toward her. She took a small bite, her expression tinged with curiosity. “Still, it’s hard to say. You always intrigue me—who can tell? Like this wild game: you used no seasonings, yet the flavor is so delightful.”

“That’s inherent to the meat itself, nothing to do with me.”

Half an hour later, their two flying shuttles soared through the sky.

They flew for nearly a month. The further north they went, the more perilous the landscape became, and the colder the climate. Even the sky, less than a hundred meters above, was often swept by fierce winds. The higher the winds, the stronger they grew, making it nearly impossible to control their magical treasures.

They had no choice but to lower their shuttles, activating defensive barriers to protect themselves, which greatly slowed their progress.

“We’re approaching the border,” Shen Bingxue said, her face tinged with caution.

In the world of cultivation, realms are separated by borders. The border between two realms is vast, with unpredictable weather and relentless winds. Only cultivators at the Vein-Training stage or above can cross safely; for Foundation Spirit stage cultivators, crossing the border is exceedingly difficult.

Li Mu looked ahead and nodded. “Yes, but don’t worry. I promised, I’ll—”

“Stop!” a thunderous shout rang out, echoing from several miles away. The voice was as loud as a clap of thunder, startling everyone aboard the shuttles.

In the blink of an eye, a yellow light shot toward them, halting before their eyes.

A few meters away, Wang Lin stood atop a flying shuttle. Though small in stature, his presence was as imposing as a mountain, his every gesture accompanied by a biting chill. His eyes were like those of a hungry wolf, scanning each face. “Who? Who killed my nephew Wang Fu! People of Jade Valley, how dare you make a move!”

Wang Lin had left Jade Valley for Deyang City, intending to visit the Jade Iron Sect. But upon arrival, he found Deyang City besieged by a formidable cultivator, making entry impossible. He questioned several cultivators outside the city and learned Wang Fu was not inside, then tracked their movements to this point.

Now he had finally arrived.

Within the raging winds, Li Mu’s body trembled slightly, inwardly cursing his luck. Wang Lin wore the robes of Jade Valley, his cultivation clearly at the late Vein-Training stage, and his presence rivaled that of Ye Yibai. There was hardly any chance of victory—escape was the only option.

Li Mu reached out, pulling Li Ying toward Shen Bingxue’s shuttle. Shen Bingxue caught her quickly, her face full of alarm.

“I killed him. It has nothing to do with the others. If you want revenge, seek me,” Li Mu shouted, glancing at Shen Bingxue and nodding slightly, then drove his shuttle away at full speed. Shen Bingxue immediately understood Li Mu’s intent to lure Wang Lin away and hurried off in the opposite direction.

“Trying to escape? No one will get away!” Wang Lin’s face darkened, the markings on his face twitching uncontrollably, writhing like living creatures.

Fear surged in Shen Bingxue; she turned, shielding Li Ying’s eyes.

Wang Lin waved his hand, silently tossing out two rope locks, which looped around the heads of the two flying shuttles like reins.

Shen Bingxue poured her spiritual energy into her shuttle desperately, but it wouldn’t budge—the gap in cultivation was simply too vast.

Li Mu took out the Flame Gourd, hoping to destroy the ropes. But within the violet flames, the ropes transformed, showing no sign of damage. Clearly, they were at least third-grade treasures; the Flame Gourd would not suffice in such a short time.

“Come to me!” Wang Lin summoned, and the shuttles shot toward him like arrows.

His face twisted in fury as he roared, “Crash!”

He collided the two shuttles in mid-air, intending not only to kill Li Ying but even Sun Qi and Sun Sanjiu—none would survive such malice.

Li Mu, unable to move the Flame Gourd, summoned several treasures from his spiritual sea, all striking at the ropes. Though the ropes were sturdy, they were dozens of meters long and had weak points; under the repeated blows, they began to loosen.

“Hurry over!” Li Mu shouted to Shen Bingxue.

She was startled. Facing a Vein-Training stage cultivator, she was usually thrown into confusion, unlike Li Mu’s composure. Hearing his call, she snapped back to clarity. “With the Flying Leaf, what do I have to fear?”

She produced the Flying Leaf, pulling Li Ying and Sun Sanjiu onto it, and relaxed.

Ding!

At that moment, a long sword qi shot up from below, striking the rope and severing it cleanly.

The shuttles lost control, spinning wildly through the sky.

Li Mu put away his treasures and looked down.

He saw a figure in tattered blue robes, sitting cross-legged on a large wine gourd, slowly drifting upward. The man’s body was greasy, his demeanor lazy, and the sword in his hand was badly rusted. He looked more like a beggar than a cultivator.

Wang Lin’s expression changed instantly. “Mad Bull, is this your concern? Why are you here?”

“Mad Bull?” Li Mu was surprised, and Shen Bingxue seemed to recall something, her gaze full of shock.

Mad Bull, whose real name was Niu Dian, was an eccentric of the Cloud Mountain Realm, known to many cultivators, but most had only heard his voice and never seen him.

A rogue cultivator, late Vein-Training stage, living by his own rules and free-spirited, hence called Mad Bull. Many sects had tried to recruit him, but he always declined with utter indifference; some bore him grudges, but none could do anything about him. His cultivation was exceedingly high, and he practiced a bizarre escape technique, making capture nearly impossible, even for those encircling him.

Mad Bull sat cross-legged on his gourd, took another from his waist, and drank deeply. He spoke slowly, “I do as I please. Can you stop me?”

Wang Lin, unable to restrain himself, shouted, “The affairs of Jade Valley are not yours to meddle in. Leave now!”

Mad Bull drained his wine, his clothes soaked, then casually wiped his long-unwashed face with a sleeve. He glanced at Li Mu, noting his unusual composure—most Foundation Spirit stage cultivators, when confronted by those at Vein-Training stage, could only be captured, but Li Mu quickly devised strategies, which Mad Bull found intriguing.

“Wine from Azure Flower Pavilion, quite to my taste.”

Seeing Mad Bull’s indifference, Wang Lin trembled with rage, the markings on his face almost leaping out. “Mad Bull, are you truly going to help them? Consider carefully—they are enemies of Jade Valley, bearing hatred toward me. If you help them, you can forget about living freely!”

“Freedom? Heh, where in this world is there freedom? A good dream, a drunken slumber, that is freedom.”

Mad Bull slowly stood, his face unchanged but his expression shifting.

Three parts pride, seven parts vigor, a sharp light in his eyes. “Jade Valley—some matters are due for reckoning.”