"Little Daoist, your hand is a bit too heavy!"
The old woman held a yellow paper lantern, her face filled with a chilling darkness as she spoke.
As her voice faded, the eerie green light within the lantern suddenly blazed, casting a strange glow over the entire courtyard.
Ji Yuan's expression remained unchanged, as if he hadn't felt the chill falling upon him. Compared to the old woman radiating killing intent, his attention was mostly focused on Li Mufeng.
Despite being in a sorry state and moments ago a prisoner of the ghostly entities, Li Mufeng gave him an extremely dangerous feeling, more formidable than the specters and ghosts right before him.
As if oblivious to Ji Yuan's meaningful gaze, Li Mufeng, after breaking free, first comforted the young girl before taking several pills and swallowing them whole.
"You dare to wreak havoc in my residence, do you know you have committed a capital offense?"
Seeing that they showed no fear or other emotions, the old woman spoke sinisterly.
She blew a breath onto the yellow paper lantern in her hand, and immediately, eerie green flames shot out, growing several times larger against the howling wind, transforming into two fire pythons that lunged towards them.
Witnessing this, Ji Yuan instinctively swung his whisk. The seemingly gentle strands of the whisk erupted with astonishing force in an instant, directly swatting away one of the attacking fire pythons.
However, in doing so, his whisk inevitably became entangled with the eerie green flames. In just a few blinks of an eye, more than half of the originally white strands on his whisk were burned away.
Ji Yuan glanced at the whisk in his hand, then tossed it onto the ground. Although this whisk was a cheap item bought for a few coins, it had accompanied him for several years, so he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret.
*Clang!*
As the swatted fire python attacked again, he reached for his waist, drew out a slender soft sword, and his movements became as ethereal as smoke and clouds.
With every flash of cold light, Ji Yuan managed to sever the fire python's body with his soft sword. However, since it was not a living creature, as wisps of Yin energy flowed into its form, the damage it sustained was healed within moments.
He attempted to dissolve it with talismans, but the few talismans imbued with Yang energy that he threw out could not inflict any damage on the fire python. At best, they only caused the eerie green flames on its body to dim slightly.
After several attempts to probe, Ji Yuan's heart became clear. This fire python was not, in essence, a specter or ghost, but merely a manifestation of an artifact's offensive capabilities.
This artifact itself had no elemental affinity. It happened to be absorbing Yin energy at the moment, which was why it could be affected by talismans containing Yang energy, but it could not be truly harmed.
"This is troublesome!"
He muttered to himself, his gaze drifting to the distance.
At this moment, Li Mufeng and the other two were entangled with the other fire python. They held the upper hand for a time, but the fire python could not harm them, nor could they inflict any substantial damage upon it.
If the situation continued like this, they would eventually be exhausted, either falling prisoner or being ensnared by the fire python and burned to death by the eerie green flames.
Ji Yuan felt the latter probability was higher.
Therefore, after reciting a respectful title, his footwork suddenly changed. His ethereal and elusive movements suddenly became swift as a gale, covering several yards.
He leaped past the fire python in a few steps, appearing before the old woman, and without hesitation, thrust his sword fiercely.
Seeing this, the old woman quickly retreated and reached out to slap the slender sword, attempting to deflect the tip aimed at her brow. However, the moment her palm touched the sword, a golden light suddenly appeared.
"Ah!"
The old woman cried out in pain, withdrawing her arm as if it had touched a red-hot coal. She looked down to see black smoke billowing from her palm, a hideous wound instantly scorched into it.
The soft sword, following the force of the old woman's slap, suddenly twisted, and then with lightning speed, pierced the back of the hand holding the lantern.
Instantly, a golden rune appeared on the gleaming sword. As the golden light flashed, the old woman let out a scream and could no longer hold onto the lantern.
She retreated in terror for three to four yards, her hands burned by the golden light from the soft sword, continuously emitting wisps of black smoke, which was concentrated Yin energy.
At the same time, as the yellow paper lantern fell to the ground, the two fire pythons that the old woman had blown out instantly dissolved into specks of light and collapsed on the spot.
"Your target has always been the lantern!"
The old woman's voice was chilling, her face contorted with rage, appearing truly ferocious and terrifying from afar.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan smiled and shrugged, ignoring the old woman's gaze that seemed capable of killing, and stepped forward, reaching out to pick up the lantern that had fallen to the ground.
For a Qi cultivator, the value of a magical artifact was self-evident. Even if its power and effects were unsatisfactory, or even somewhat mediocre, it could still incite contention among those who sought it.
Not to mention that the power of this yellow paper lantern itself was already quite impressive.
However, the moment he reached out, a powerful gust of wind howled from behind him, and two sharp killing intents descended stealthily.
Already prepared, Ji Yuan turned and swung his sword. The flexible blade danced, creating several sword flowers in the air, deflecting all the hidden weapons that shot towards him.
At this moment, two figures arrived successively, wielding long swords and attacking his heart and abdomen respectively.
*Clang!* *Clang!*
Under the moonlight, several sparks flew with crisp sounds. Ji Yuan retreated rapidly, using the momentum. Seeing the two in front of him attempting to press their attack, he immediately threw out several talismans, which transformed into fireballs, blocking their path.
"You scoundrel Li Mufeng, you're truly despicable!"
As soon as he regained his balance, he immediately berated him, his eyes full of mockery.
This guy had held back his strength while fighting with his junior brothers and sisters earlier, and now, seeing an opportunity, he did not hesitate to launch a sneak attack. Such behavior truly tarnished the name of 'renowned righteous sect'!
"Treasures and opportunities in the world belong to those who are virtuous."
Li Mufeng smiled calmly. With a flick of his toe, the yellow paper lantern on the ground landed in his hand.
As soon as he grasped the lantern and felt the abundant spiritual energy within, the smile on his face grew more pronounced.
A magical artifact of good quality, not to mention how much it would enhance its wielder, its intrinsic value alone was astonishing, enough to allow an ordinary Qi cultivator to not have to toil for decades.
"Oh? Is that so?"
However, before Li Mufeng could revel in his success for long, a low whisper sounded next to his ear.
"Senior Brother, be careful!"
The next moment, the young girl's anxious cry followed.
A chilling cold suddenly enveloped him. The smile on Li Mufeng's face froze. Without thinking, he lunged forward, simultaneously turning and grabbing the cold-faced man beside him, dragging him to where he had just stood.
*Pfft!*
A stream of blood exuding a chilling cold erupted from the cold-faced man's mouth. His complexion turned instantly pale, and ice-blue frost began to form on his body and clothing.