Concealment

The two exchanged a glance and decided to hold off on chopping trees for now to go over and see what was happening.

Among the many spells Lin Xiao had created previously, there was one called the Concealment Spell, prepared specifically for situations like this.

Sun Yigao had also learned it long ago.

Thus, the two cast the Concealment Spell to hide their auras and quietly walked toward the direction of the commotion.

Upon arriving nearby, they saw several people fighting with swords ahead.

There were five people in total, all looking like youths of sixteen or seventeen, and all wearing identical red robes with silver patterns.

Their swordplay looked somewhat decent; their attacks were quite fast, accompanied by various spins and fluttering robes.

Occasionally, someone would find an opening and shoot out a couple of small fireballs or squirt a few streams of water.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao, who had created a bunch of cool and practical spells, fell silent.

For no other reason than the fact that these people fighting were actually at the fifth or sixth level of Qi Condensation!

So this was how Qi Condensation fifth and sixth-level cultivators fought!

Shouldn't there be a dazzling array of spells, like turning leaves into blades that filled the sky, or achieving oneness with the sword to launch ten thousand swords at once?

Lin Xiao suddenly felt that all the spells he had created before had lost their meaning.

Beside him, Sun Yigao, who had recently been dragged by Lin Xiao to learn all sorts of spells in his spare time from cultivation, was also somewhat silent.

Well, even though they hadn't interacted with outside cultivators before, was this really how cultivators out there fought?

This seemed... well, a bit different from what Brother Xiao had explained to them before.

While the two were lost in their silence, voices rang out from the battlefield.

One of them, a person with a large round face, shouted:

"Yuan Qing! Hand over the Shadow Grass! For the sake of being fellow disciples, we can spare your lives!"

The cultivator named Yuan Qing, who was being shouted at, was standing back-to-back with a companion, fending off the attacks of the other three.

The squinty-eyed cultivator called Yuan Qing gritted his teeth and held his ground, saying:

"Cut the crap! Yuan Gang, give up! Qingqing is still waiting for the Shadow Grass to save her life. I will absolutely never hand it over to you!"

His companion, leaning against his back to fend off the enemies, also spoke up:

"Yuan Gang, you despicable villain! How dare you violate the sect's rule against harming fellow disciples! When we get back, I will definitely report you to the Law Enforcement Hall!"

Even as they spoke, the swords in their hands didn't slow down in the slightest, continuing their endless back-and-forth clash.

However, it was ultimately two against three. The numerical disadvantage was obvious. Gradually, Yuan Qing and his companion inevitably suffered several cuts.

The cultivator named Yuan Gang looked at them struggling to hold on and couldn't help but laugh:

"Xu Juan, am I not being considerate enough of our fellow disciple bonds? Otherwise, you two would have met the King of Hell long ago!"

Yuan Qing took another sword to the arm. He almost couldn't hold on, forced to clutch the wound with one hand while barely parrying attacks with the other:

"Yuan Gang, acting like this, aren't you afraid of the Family Head's punishment?!"

Yuan Gang laughed heartily and said:

"The Family Head punishing me for you? Do you think that's possible? I am the only son of the Second Elder. And you? Just an orphan whose parents are dead, who only has a place in the Yuan family because of a marriage contract with Qingqing. Believe it or not, even if I kill you today, the Family Head won't do anything to me even if he finds out! What's more, he'll even betroth Qingqing to me! Hahahaha!"

Hearing his words, Yuan Qing gritted his teeth and slightly lowered his head.

He knew Yuan Gang was right. The Family Head would definitely not do anything to Yuan Gang, the only son of an elder, for his sake.

Because right now, in both the Yuan family and the sect, he had no power or influence. He was nothing.

Thinking about how they were outnumbered and that he and his brother Xu Juan would likely die here, and that Qingqing might very well be betrothed to Yuan Gang by the Family Head after his death, he suddenly felt quite depressed.

Sensing Yuan Qing's despondency behind him, Xu Juan quickly turned to block a sword for him and said:

"Wake up, Yuan Qing! If you die, then you truly will have nothing left!"

In that split second, Xu Juan took a sword to the shoulder. Instantly, the red robes he wore were soaked a deep crimson with his blood.

Yuan Gang's companion then said:

"Xu, this has nothing to do with you. If you stop helping him, for the sake of being fellow disciples, we can still let you off the hook."

Xu Juan looked at them, scoffed, and said:

"Let me off the hook? Let me go back to the Law Enforcement Hall to report you? Do you really take me for a three-year-old? Even if I die today, I'll skin you alive!"

With that, he raised his sword and swung at them.

Xu Juan had expected his strike to miss, but unexpectedly, with a squelch, the tip of his sword pierced deeply into the opponent's shoulder.

The opponent stood frozen in place, not even letting out a cry.

At the same time, Yuan Qing and Xu Juan realized that the intense barrage of attacks from the three opponents had suddenly vanished in that instant.

The previously despondent Yuan Qing looked up and found that Yuan Gang and his two companions were frozen in place, completely motionless.

Meanwhile, hiding behind a tree not far away, Lin Xiao was marveling at how the Immobilization Spell was truly an excellent tool for murder and robbery.

As long as the opponent's spiritual energy was far weaker than his, they would be unable to break free from his Immobilization Spell and could only stand there at his mercy.

Xu Juan was the first to react. He immediately looked around warily:

"Who is it?!"

Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao didn't move.

Xu Juan shouted again:

"I ask that you not hide in the shadows, sir!"

As he spoke, he slowly shifted his steps.

Unfortunately, the direction he was moving was exactly where Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao were hiding.

Lin Xiao silently cursed in his heart. I immobilized them for you two, yet you still aren't leaving! You're even looking for me! Is there something wrong with your head?

Thus, he decisively lifted the Immobilization Spell on Yuan Gang's group of three.

Regaining their freedom, the three looked around with lingering fear. The other two were already having thoughts of retreating.

But seeing that no one had come out after a while, Yuan Gang's momentarily shrunken courage swelled up again. He assumed that it might have just been some creature of the secret realm passing by.

So he called upon his two companions again, raising his sword to attack Xu Juan and Yuan Qing.

Xu Juan and Yuan Qing both bore multiple wounds and were struggling to cope. Just as they were about to face a desperate situation again, the three opponents unexpectedly froze in place once more.

After this happened twice, Xu Juan and Yuan Qing finally stopped dawdling. They simply shouted a word of thanks into the air and quickly left the dense forest, supporting each other.

Once they were far away, Lin Xiao finally released the Immobilization Spell on Yuan Gang and his group.

The three were alarmed and bewildered, not knowing what was going on, and hurriedly ran away as well.

Actually, with their cultivation levels at the fifth and sixth layers of Qi Condensation, if they had truly used all their strength to break through Lin Xiao's Immobilization Spell, they could have done it.

But clearly, because their lives were not in immediate danger, and because they were frightened, it never occurred to them to use their full strength to break the bindings.