Chapter 499: Resonance

The Old Taoist flicked his finger, and a hidden Qi, traveling close to the ground, instantly shot under the old horse.

Underneath the old horse were many Talismanic Incantations and spiritual talismans, which formed the Town Dragon Formation, a specialized Formation of the Dao Sect for dealing with Dragons. It was unknown where they had learned it.

This kind of Formation could restrain the Physical Body of various Dragons, suppress their instincts, and was very widely spread. The Dao Sect seemed quite keen on subduing Dragons and tigers, and slaying demons and monsters, so they had many such methods.

For almost all types of enemies, the Dao Sect had countermeasures, and they were all very common, as if someone was deliberately spreading these Formations.

Various Martial Skills targeting zombies, targeting Yin ghosts, for warding off evil from homes, for inviting gods, for expelling demons, for dispelling nightmares, were all very widely circulated and very grassroots, basically everyone had a copy.

Although the quality varied, some could only suppress Ninth-Rank, while others could even bind a True Dragon.

The current Town Dragon Formation was naturally an Eighth-Rank one, just right for the old horse.

However, this kind of temporarily arranged Formation, without a Spiritual Artifact to anchor the Formation Eye and with insufficient Formation Base, was very fragile. Generally speaking, portable Formations usually came with a set of Formation Plate and Formation Flag for quick deployment.

These two Yang Spirit Practitioners obviously did not have a Formation Plate, because the price of a Formation Plate was much more expensive than a Spiritual Tool of the same rank, and they were not among those who could afford it.

Therefore, they could only use people to set up the Formation, arranging these spiritual talismans to suppress the Dragon.

But it was effective.

However—

Suddenly, a strange wind blew, and many Taoists raised their hands to block it.

At this moment, the strange wind suddenly broke a tree branch, which fell on the old horse's tail.

The old horse suddenly felt his tail go out of control, twitching and sweeping once.

Unexpectedly, this sweep happened to hit an important spiritual talisman on the Formation Plate!

Perhaps it was a coincidence, this spiritual talisman happened to be in its most fragile state, without enough magical power to protect itself.

Thus, the Town Dragon Formation was actually swept open with a gap by a single tail!

The old horse was overjoyed! Without hesitation, he immediately flipped over, his body shrinking to the size of an earthworm, and drilled directly into the ground! He bolted away in a flash!

Before running, he looked back and remembered the characteristics of that Qi.

Among this group of Taoists, there were still some good people, but what were they here for? Listening to them, it was for… Mount Luofu?

It's better to go find the boss first.

The old horse quickly fled, disappearing without a trace.

Only a group of Taoists remained in astonishment.

But after the astonishment, there was rage!

"Who is it?! Who let this Prodigy escape?!" An Eighth-Rank Yang Spirit Practitioner roared furiously, flying up and shouting at everyone!

The Old Taoist immediately became indignant and said, "Yes! Who did it? That gust of wind just now was clearly a Martial Skill. Who did such a bad thing and let Ouyang Zhenren's mountain-guarding beast run away!"

As soon as he said this, it left the others speechless.

Ouyang Zhenren calmed down. He landed on the ground and coughed, "Ahem, Wang Jushi, you are mistaken. We captured this demon dragon to repay a kindness and to eliminate harm from this place. Things like a mountain-guarding beast are not important."

"So that's how it is. Then I misunderstood Ouyang Zhenren. I apologize, I apologize!" The Old Taoist cupped his hands and apologized solemnly.

Ouyang Zhenren felt stifled, but since the words were already out, it was not good to get angry again, as it would make it seem like he really wanted to use everyone's strength for his own benefit.

Although… it couldn't be said to be wrong.

So, he helped the Old Taoist up and said, "We are all Yang Spirit Practitioners, and we all owe a debt of gratitude to Mount Luofu. We should cooperate fully and work together to drive away the Prodigy from here. There's no need to apologize. Let's go first. We've only driven one away so far. According to our divination, there's at least one more, possibly even two."

"Indeed, Ouyang Zhenren is right, and we need to be quicker. When night falls, Yin ghosts will run rampant. Although so many of us are not afraid, staying in a place with Yin Qi is not good for our bodies. Everyone should try to finish during the day." The Old Taoist, holding his whisk, looked profound and righteous as he spoke to the others around him.

The other Taoists didn't know what to think, but they didn't resist much. Everyone responded individually, then arranged themselves according to their respective lineage, then raised their Spiritual Tools, struck gongs and drums, scattered various Talismanic Incantations for dispelling evil and demons, and set off again.

Doing so would ensure that no demons would come close. The long procession of thousands of Dao Sect Cultivators was enough to resist many enemies. In the mountain forest, a nearly visible magical barrier rose, encompassing these thousands of Dao Sect Cultivators. Water, jade, ganoderma, stone, pine, wood, Polygonatum, Yunying, and Lingfeisan constantly appeared on it, seemingly circulating the Spiritual Qi of various spiritual objects, thus opening a path through the miasma and Yin Qi in the mountains.

After all, the mountains of the world are not just big rocks with trees.

In the world, all places possess strong Qi, and their quality is extremely high compared to outside the domain. This is a good thing for cultivation, but it also carries some dangers.

For example, the cities of the Human Race, just like when Li Qi first used his Qi-observing technique to open his eyes and saw the newly awakened city. (See Chapter 38 for details)

Cities are filled with human Qi, and the Human Race naturally feels comfortable living in them. Human Race Cultivators also have a geographical advantage. At the same time, cities will also push out other things like Demon Qi and mountain miasma, preventing them from interfering with the city.

Correspondingly, mountain forests, water bodies, the sky, uninhabited areas, and the settlements of various races will naturally have the same effect as cities, repelling external Qi.

Li Qi is a Shaman, and he has good affinity with all kinds of Qi, almost not repelling any Qi, so he generally doesn't pay too much attention to these things. After all, a Shaman's body is a true Inner World, and the Qi of the external world is not harmful to him, even miasma or even poisonous gas.

This is also why many Shamanes live in strange places. Human Race Cultivators usually have to go to remote deep mountains and old forests to find Shamanes. That's because Shamanes have no demands on the environment, but the Human Race prefers to stay in Human Race cities, just as demons dislike cities.

However, precisely because of this, to Human Race Cultivators, a Shaman's Physical Body, their Inner World, is particularly 'turbid,' containing all sorts of things, chaotic and uncomfortable to behold.

In contrast, these Taoists were different. Their cultivation method was to inhale and exhale pure Qi, so their Inner World was pure. Entering this mountain forest, where Yin Qi and miasma ran rampant, they would naturally be eroded.

In fact, a single person entering wouldn't be unbearable, but it would be like a person living by the sea coming to a desert, naturally feeling extremely dry and uncomfortable. At this time, a humidifier would be needed.

Of course, at Shen Shuibi's level, with an immaculate body, these miscellaneous Qi would naturally not be able to approach her, and it wouldn't matter where she went; she wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

Therefore, they formed a procession, set up their magical Formation, pushed away the surrounding Qi, and walked towards the center of Mount Luofu.

As this magical procession was set up, it subtly created some kind of disturbance within the mountain forest.

So much so that—the true central area of Mount Luofu seemed to resonate.

——————

On the old horse's side, he galloped rapidly, without stopping, bursting out with extreme speed, rushing wildly. In a short time, he quickly Transmigrated nearly a thousand li and rushed in front of Li Qi.

Li Qi was swinging a hammer, striking a stone with all his might.

Nothing much, he had dug up a piece of divine metal, but he didn't know what type it was, so he was preparing to break off a piece for testing to determine its type and value.

But just as he was about to smash it, the old horse suddenly popped out.

"Big Brother! Something's happened!" The old horse burst out from the ground, then his body quickly expanded, turning into a Dragon body over one zhang long, and said hurriedly, "Some people who didn't know what was good for them just tried to capture me alive and take me back to be a mountain-guarding beast! With these people around, it's hard for me to do things. They must be after Sister-in-law's family property!"

"Hm? Family property? Oh, you mean someone saw us digging things, so they followed to dig too?" Li Qi asked.

"That's right, exactly. And those people were fierce and shouted about killing. They didn't say a word when they saw me, just attacked directly, and they even threatened and lured me to guard their gate. I gave them a good scolding, and they even wanted to kill me!" The old horse immediately wagged his tail and said, "These bastards must not be left alive. Let's go chop them all up! Chop them into fine mince and bury them all!"

He gritted his teeth, looking truly enraged from being beaten.

"Uh, then how did you escape? You seem to have residual Qi from the Town Dragon Formation on you. With your Martial Skill level, you shouldn't have been able to escape, right?" Li Qi didn't agree to the old horse's suggestion but instead examined his body first to see if there were any injuries.

Fortunately, everything was basically normal, no significant injuries, and he was healthy. It was clear the old horse was exaggerating, and the situation wasn't that serious at all.

However, the matter should be true. He did sense the Qi of Dao Sect Cultivators, and the old horse also had remnants of the Town Dragon Formation.

There was just one thing Li Qi didn't understand: how did the old horse escape?

Unlike Li Qi, the old horse was a typical example of someone who didn't study. His Martial Skill in terms of spells was basically zero. He didn't learn anything, usually just living a lazy life, relying entirely on his Physical Body's natural talent for combat and running. He didn't even know the Dragon-exclusive Martial Skills; in a fight, he could only sweep his tail and spit out green lightning.

If he had seriously studied the Dragon's Martial Skill combat methods, he wouldn't have been suppressed to this extent by relying purely on his Physical Body. As for Martial Skill, something that requires a lot of time and effort to learn, he was even less interested, so when he encountered the Town Dragon Formation, he should have been unable to resist.

Hearing Li Qi point this out, the old horse smiled sheepishly: "It's true that it was hard for me to get out on my own, but those stinky Taoists aren't all bad people. One of them helped me and broke a gap in the Town Dragon Formation, so I took the opportunity to shrink my body and slip away."

"Hmm... so, they aren't united, right? We can go and see first. As for chopping them all up... that's not necessary. I actually think they might be well-intentioned," Li Qi said with a smile.

"Well-intentioned my foot! They almost tied me up, Boss! I wasn't just punishing them without teaching; I used Sister-in-law's name and said we were here to collect the remaining things, but they didn't believe me!" The old horse continued to try and persuade Li Qi.

However, Li Qi, upon hearing this, laughed directly: "Haha! What good is it to use Yu'er's name? Even within Mount Luofu, few people remember such a person, let alone these commoners outside."

The old horse was speechless upon hearing this but couldn't find a reason to refute.

The fact was indeed so. Shen Shuibi was a super homebody, and she hated unexpected events the most. Her ideal life was to stay in her familiar environment, doing familiar things with familiar people.

It would be best if no accidents ever happened in her life. Unlike Li Qi, she had no interest in new external stimuli. Her focus was on her Inner World, even in cultivation.

"My nature is self-sufficient; I walk my own Dao, seeking nothing from outside" was her best portrayal.

Commonly known as socially anxious and a shut-in, although she had enough ability to socialize, even to easily control all the underworld organizations in a city, she truly disliked it.

The consequence of doing so was that few people within Mount Luofu knew her; at most, they had heard her name. Now that the old horse told others her name, these people would definitely be utterly confused.

Shen Shuibi? Moonborne Daoist Master?

Who is that?

"Alright, I just used the Qi-observing technique to look at these people. Their magical procession has the shadow of Mount Luofu's Dao, and you see, it even has a subtle connection with the central area, seemingly forming some kind of resonance. This shows that they indeed have a relationship with Mount Luofu. It's better to go and see their background. Perhaps they actually thought we were here to plunder and wanted to protect Mount Luofu's property. If that's the case, we should thank them."

The old horse rolled his eyes.

And me looking? What am I looking at? I don't know the Qi-observing technique. You're the boss, you call the shots.

Seeing the old horse's expression, Li Qi smiled, stroking the Dragon's head, and said, "But don't worry, if they truly harbor ill intentions, then naturally, we won't let them off easy."

"However, the situation is unclear right now. We must not act rashly out of personal desire, otherwise, it will only cause trouble, incur Karma, and easily wrong good people, blurring right from wrong. Many things still need to be understood and considered before acting."

"Understood, Boss. So, shall we go over now and show them what we've got?" The old horse brightened up again when he heard Li Qi was going to help him.

"Of course, it's not possible to do it openly. You and I will conceal our figures and observe what kind of people they are and what their relationship with Mount Luofu is," Li Qi said.

With that, he put the old horse into his palm, merged with natural, and stepped out, walking towards the magical procession.