Ji Yuan looked up, his gaze falling on the seven-story pagoda, barely a few inches tall.
Its entire body was a sky-blue, and as it rotated silently, threads of light descended.
Perhaps because it had devoured a large amount of the river of blood, a few streaks of bloody light remained on the surface of the tower.
With a thought, the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda trembled slightly, then shed a patch of foul, turbid energy—impurities refined from within the river of blood.
As the impurities were expelled, the entire small pagoda glowed with a rich emerald halo, enveloped by a powerful life force.
"With such actions, you still dare to claim you are not of the demonic path?"
The fire monkey stood unusually still, gazing with a solemn expression.
Upon hearing this, Ji Yuan's heart was at peace, yet a strange, complex emotion surfaced in his mind.
His earlier apprehensions stemmed from the fear of being misunderstood, mistaken for a demonic cultivator, thus attracting countless troubles and being hunted by innumerable righteous cultivators.
This had caused him to fight with restraint in the past, possessing extremely powerful magical treasures but only being able to utilize their defensive capabilities.
Now, because the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda's power was exposed and he was accused of demonic means, and labeled a demonic cultivator himself.
All of this made Ji Yuan feel somewhat... inexplicable!
"You say I am of the demonic path, and so I am?"
He shot the other party an annoyed glance, suddenly feeling as if his heart had shed some kind of shackles.
As these words left his mouth, the fire monkey's eyebrows immediately shot up, ferocity appearing on his face. He seemed to be laughing in anger.
However, Ji Yuan didn't look at him again. Instead, he shifted his attention to Li Buwei beside him.
This person, by activating a crimson round furnace, was actually suppressing Lu Xian, a formation cultivator. The twenty firebirds condensed from flames had already broken through more than half of the opponent's formation, and victory was only a matter of time.
If external forces were to intervene, they could certainly defeat the two opponents completely in an extremely short time, leaving them at least severely injured.
"Seeking death!"
Seeing the young Daoist in front of him ignore him, the fire monkey's rage instantly ignited.
Coupled with his conviction that this person was a deeply hidden demonic cultivator, his attack became even more ferocious.
With a roar, the fire monkey charged forward fiercely, each step covering three to four zhang. At this moment, scorching flames rose around him.
Ji Yuan turned his head impatiently, then lightly pointed forward. The Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda, which had been floating in mid-air, immediately expanded several times as it rotated.
The originally few-inch-tall pagoda tower suddenly grew to forty to fifty zhang in size, and the threads of light descending also became much thicker.
As layers of light fell, they immediately immobilized the fire monkey, who was enveloped in flames. Then, with a whistling sound, the several-zhang-large Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda fiercely descended!
Rumble!!!
The entire mountaintop trembled. When the dust settled, the fire monkey was nowhere to be seen, only a seven-story pagoda tower standing quietly on the ground.
Bang! Bang!! Bang Bang Bang!!!
A few breaths later, a sound suddenly emanated from within the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda, as if someone was continuously striking it.
Ji Yuan flicked a strand of spiritual power with his finger, striking the sky-blue tower body. Instantly, the lowest layer of the tower body became somewhat illusory.
In the next moment, one could see the fire monkey, shrunk by several circles, continuously attacking the solid tower body within the first layer of the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda.
With just a glance, he withdrew his gaze. To damage a magical treasure of good quality, let alone a cultivator at the Dian Ling Realm, even a peak Ming Dao Realm cultivator would find it almost impossible to achieve.
Unless one was a prodigy from a renowned major sect, or even a powerful sect with a thousand-year legacy, and possessed a powerful magical treasure in hand, only then could one possess such strength to achieve this with peak third-realm cultivation.
"Need help?"
After withdrawing his gaze, Ji Yuan asked Li Buwei beside him.
Upon hearing this, the latter grunted without looking back, "Nonsense! Hurry up and lend a hand!"
As his words left his mouth, he sensed that the spiritual power within the other party had only about half left. While appearing to have a significant advantage, he was actually merely holding on.
Seeing this, he immediately raised his long sword, and the abundant sword intent flowing through his body was instantly integrated into the sword's body.
In the next breath, a sword qi shot out, piercing through the twenty firebirds, breaking through layers of spiritual light, and slashing fiercely at that large banner!
Riiip!!!
A strange sound was heard as the banner's surface was torn open by the sword qi, creating a large gap, almost tearing the entire banner in two!
With a 'puff', Lu Xian, whose face had suddenly turned extremely pale, coughed out several mouthfuls of blood as his magical artifact was damaged. His aura plummeted by nearly half.
"Stop! We withdraw!"
Lu Xian hurriedly shouted. Seeing that the opponent had ceased their attack, he reluctantly recalled the damaged banner with great pain and put it back into his mountain and river sack.
Beside him, the woman also put away the formation bases she had set up. The two of them retreated without a word.
After retreating more than ten zhang, they sat down cross-legged at the edge of the mountaintop and took out several pills to swallow. They were both recovering from their injuries and indicating their withdrawal from the competition.
Ji Yuan cast a deep glance at the pair of Dao companions, maintaining a portion of his attention on guard, and then paid them no further mind.
After all, the two sides had no irreconcilable enmity. Now that they had withdrawn from the competition, there was no need to kill them.
The most crucial point was that the other party clearly also hailed from a major sect, otherwise, it would be difficult for them to both walk the path of formation cultivation.
Furthermore, besides them, there was the middle-aged swordsman Nan Xi and the powerful Shi Shan present.
Even Ji Yuan was not confident that he could keep either of them if he went all out, let alone if the two of them joined forces, in which case he would likely be the one feeling a headache.
Under such circumstances, it was even less possible to kill them. Once the news spread, he would inevitably face a series of retaliations from the sects behind Lu Xian and his companion.
Moreover, he was not a bloodthirsty person, killing everyone present just to prevent the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda from being exposed.
"How are you?"
After withdrawing his gaze, Ji Yuan turned to Li Buwei beside him.
At this time, the latter had also retrieved his crimson round furnace, and the twenty dim firebirds had all disappeared into the furnace.
"I'm okay, just a bit too much spiritual power consumed."
Li Buwei gave a wry smile. This was one of his fatal shortcomings.
Although his inheritance was very complete compared to other wild cultivators from mountains and marshes, or even ordinary rogue cultivators, his spiritual power was much less than that of cultivators in the same realm due to various reasons.
This was also why he had always hidden his strength and was reluctant to make a move. His spiritual power was insufficient to support prolonged combat. Unless he could win quickly, he would be in danger if the fight dragged on.
"Now, as long as we deal with these two, we can successfully obtain the fortuitous encounter!"
Li Buwei said, taking recovery pills and looking up.
At this moment, Nan Xi and Shi Shan had also entered the critical stage of their battle, and a victor would soon be decided.
At that time, they would only need to face one of them. If they were lucky, and the opponent fought to a mutual destruction, it would be even more wonderful.
"Aren't you afraid of me?"
Ji Yuan raised an eyebrow, asking with some curiosity.
Logically speaking, after he had unleashed the power of the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda and killed Hong Lie with methods resembling the demonic path, the other party should have been somewhat wary.
However, Li Buwei showed confusion, seemingly not understanding why he asked.
After a moment, he showed a look of realization and then said with a wry smile, "You are either a disciple of a major sect or the heir of a certain noble family. In any case, you have certainly not experienced the life of a wild cultivator from the mountains and marshes."
"For people like us, it's good enough to survive. We rush around for a little money and are often suppressed by disciples from so-called righteous sects."
"Whether you are a demonic cultivator or not, what does it have to do with me?"
"As long as you don't renege on my share of the fortuitous encounter, even if you are the Demonic Dao Master, it has nothing to do with me, Li Buwei!"
He said irritably, then his expression froze, and he suspiciously scrutinized the young Daoist in front of him.
After hesitating for a long time, Li Buwei asked in a weak voice, "You're not really planning to cheat me out of my share of the fortuitous encounter, are you?"
Ji Yuan did not answer him, because at this moment, Nan Xi and Shi Shan had stopped fighting.
They had not decided a victor. Although they had fought fiercely, they had also been constantly observing the situation on the mountaintop.
Upon seeing Hong Lie killed, Lu Xian and his companion withdraw from the fight, and even the fire monkey suppressed, they naturally had no reason to fight to the death.
Moreover, they were not foolish. They knew that if they continued to fight to the death, even if they could defeat the person in front of them, they would likely miss the fortuitous encounter before them.
However, although they stopped fighting, they had both consumed a significant amount of spiritual power and their combat strength was still present, but their threat had greatly diminished.
Now, on the mountaintop, apart from Lu Xian and his companion who had withdrawn from the fight, and the fire monkey suppressed by the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda, only five people remained.
Excluding Zhou Lianying, who posed almost no threat, the remaining four people's gazes met, and a strong fighting spirit rose from them.
Having fought to this point, no one would easily give up and hand over the fortuitous encounter that was within reach.
"Release my junior brother, and I will let you leave safely. Otherwise, you will have to break a few bones, or even drop a realm or two."
Shi Shan said in a deep voice.
A steady aura slowly emanated from him, making him seem like a mountain peak, giving a sense of unshakeable presence just by looking at him.
He pointed at the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda standing on the ground, and then 'kindly' advised, "Without this treasure, you will not be my opponent."
It seemed to him that this pagoda was the other party's strongest means, and facing that powerful devouring force, Shi Shan dared not guarantee that he could resist it.
Hearing this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but chuckle, his fighting spirit stirred.
If he had not been relatively rational, he might have let the other party see what his true strongest means would look like.
"This humble Daoist believes that my Daoist friend seems to have misunderstood something."
He smiled slightly, and with a thought, a devouring force quietly surged within the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda.
The fire monkey inside immediately let out a cry of surprise. One could see pure spiritual power and blood qi being continuously drawn out and devoured by the pagoda.
"At this moment, my Daoist friend is not qualified to make demands. Instead, you must satisfy my demands."
Ji Yuan deliberately blinked a few times, then tilted his head, his gaze falling on the middle-aged swordsman Nan Xi beside him.
"I saw that the two of you were fighting brilliantly just now. Why did you suddenly stop? Why not continue and decide a winner?"
As these words left his mouth, the expressions of Nan Xi and Shi Shan suddenly changed. The former was surprised that the other party was plotting to make them continue to fight for a victory, preferably a mutual destruction.
The latter, however, was surprised that he had been suddenly threatened, and had no choice but to comply, with no room for negotiation.
He glanced at the suppressed fire monkey, and was absolutely certain that if he refused, the other party would definitely increase the devouring force without any hesitation.
"I withdraw!"
Just then, Nan Xi suddenly spoke and retreated.
As he retreated to the edge of the mountaintop, he raised three fingers to the sky: "I swear by my sword Dao that I will no longer compete for the fortuitous encounter here!"
Hearing this, Ji Yuan couldn't help but show surprise. He hadn't expected the other party to swear by his sword Dao.
This was equivalent to staking his Dao path. Once he violated the oath, the heavens would sense it, and he would never be able to advance even an inch in his life, and might even lose his Dao heart, causing his cultivation to uncontrollably regress.
Such a great Dao oath was very heavy for a cultivator. They would not take it lightly, otherwise, once it was known to those with ulterior motives, they would use it to damage his Dao path.
"If you release my junior brother, I can also swear that I will absolutely not compete for the fortuitous encounter here!"
Shi Shan, who looked honest and steady, also spoke decisively at this moment.
Obviously, the other party had also realized that with Nan Xi's withdrawal, he alone could no longer continue to compete.
If his junior brother, the fire monkey, had not been suppressed by the other party, there might still have been a chance.
Seeing Shi Shan also take the oath, Ji Yuan happily retrieved the Xuan Tian Shi Ling Pagoda and released the fire monkey who was suppressed within.
However, compared to before, this person was already somewhat listless. Half of his spiritual power and blood qi had been extracted, and he had little combat strength left in a short time.
Seeing Shi Shan slowly retreat to the edge of the mountaintop with his junior brother, Ji Yuan was not surprised by this situation; he had even anticipated it in his heart.
After all, in the previous situation, Nan Xi and Shi Shan were essentially put on the spot. Any discerning person would know how to choose.
Would they fight to the death with an opponent whose strength was not weaker than their own, and then be taken advantage of by others whose depths were unknown, or would they decisively choose to give up and protect themselves?
The two different outcomes were actually not difficult to choose.