Facing the elder's scolding, Chu Xingchen responded with an even fiercer divine ability.
A sword intent resembling a waterfall surged toward the elder like a tsunami.
The situation of his second disciple didn’t look good at all. From any angle, time was not on his side.
After all, his disciple was only at the Foundation Establishment stage. Even with a teleportation talisman for protection, it wasn’t entirely safe.
The best strategy now was to end the battle quickly.
Mo Chen was horrified, feeling as though all his energy had been locked down. Facing that overwhelming sword strike, he felt the star of death flashing above his head.
"Master, wait! Spare his life for now!"
Li Xingtian suddenly spoke up at the entrance of the mine.
After a brief hesitation, Chu Xingchen withdrew his force at the last moment.
The sword energy shifted slightly, sparing the elder’s terrified head from being severed.
Seeing his master hold back, Li Xingtian quickly sighed in relief before darting forward.
He rushed straight toward the elder, and a bloody spiritual energy emerged from his hand, firmly pressing against the elder’s head.
Although Chu Xingchen’s sword strike hadn’t killed the elder, the elder had still taken the full brunt of its power.
He wasn’t on the verge of death, but he was severely injured. As Li Xingtian charged toward him, Elder Mo Chen didn’t even have the strength to lift his hand.
He could only let Li Xingtian press his hand against his head.
Then, to his horror, the elder realized that the blood energy within his body was being rapidly drained by this Foundation Establishment brat.
A Foundation Establishment cultivator absorbing a Golden Core cultivator’s energy? Such a thing was unheard of, even if he was heavily injured.
But Elder Mo Chen could clearly sense that it was a suppression from a cultivation technique!
This kid’s cultivation technique was even more sinister than his own!
This was something that even devoured other demonic cultivators!
Chu Xingchen watched as his disciple began absorbing the elder’s blood energy like a demonic cultivator.
Both of them were surrounded by a dark red aura of blood energy. Chu Xingchen couldn’t help but frown and ask,
"What’s going on?!"
Li Xingtian turned his head slightly to look at his master and explained,
"There’s a demonic cultivation ritual array here. They’ve been using the miners’ spiritual roots and blood energy to cultivate their demonic techniques!"
Chu Xingchen tightened his grip on his sword and glared at Li Xingtian, saying irritably,
"I’m asking about you! What’s going on with you?!"
"Me?!" Li Xingtian was momentarily stunned, then looked down at his own blood-tinged spiritual energy and suddenly understood.
"I’m fine. It’s just that your cultivation technique seems to interact with those blood pools…"
At this point, Li Xingtian’s expression also turned a bit strange.
After all, he had never heard of any orthodox cultivation technique that could interact with demonic ritual arrays.
And now, the cultivation technique he was practicing had a higher priority than those of the demonic cultivators.
Would he end up leaving mountains of corpses and seas of blood every time he acted in the future?
But there was no time to dwell on this now. Chu Xingchen quickly said,
"As long as you’re fine. Reinforcements are probably on their way. What’s the situation?"
Li Xingtian quickly felt his spiritual energy filling up, and his cultivation level rose rapidly as the technique circulated.
He immediately replied, "I saw Senior Sister heading into the mine earlier. I’ve already killed all the Foundation Establishment cultivators inside, so she should be safe. Master, go to the warehouse, grab what you need, and then we’ll leave. I’ll take care of this guy!"
Chu Xingchen nodded slightly before darting toward the warehouse.
The other Qingfeng Sect disciples had already fled when their elder was struck down by the sword.
No one tried to stop Chu Xingchen as he kicked open the warehouse door.
However, the sight inside made him pause for a moment.
The number of spirit stones in the warehouse was decent, but there was an array that used the blood energy from the mine to nourish these spirit stones.
The spirit stones before him were no longer the usual pale blue, glowing with spiritual energy.
Instead, they were a faint red, exuding a bloody scent.
What the hell… If I take these out to trade, won’t I be labeled a demonic cultivator on the spot?!
What kind of lunatics would defile spirit stones like this?
But there was no time to worry about that now.
With the mindset of "since I’m already here," Chu Xingchen stuffed all the spirit stones in front of him into his spatial ring.
The ring was soon filled to the brim, with only a few scattered spirit stones left.
Chu Xingchen casually picked up two more spirit stones and tucked them into his robe before deciding not to be too greedy.
By the time he came out, Li Xingtian had already dealt with Elder Mo Chen.
The elder now looked like a desiccated corpse, nothing more than skin and bones.
Chu Xingchen glanced over and noticed that Li Xingtian’s cultivation had reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.
He had caught up to Li Yingling’s progress.
Now, Li Xingtian was preparing his first plan.
He was setting up the simplest teleportation array—so simple that the destination and distance were completely uncertain.
Chu Xingchen tossed a few blood-red spirit stones from his spatial ring to Li Xingtian to power the array.
Just then, Li Yingling emerged from the mine, holding someone in her hand.
She was wearing a ghost mask, and the person she was carrying was Ning Qianqian’s father, Ning Kun.
As Li Yingling stepped out, a group of miners rushed out of the mine behind her.
"You’ve all seen it. Staying here means certain death, sooner or later," Li Xingtian said, his hands still working on the array. "I’ve drawn a teleportation array here."
"This array’s destination and distance are uncertain! You might still be caught by the Qingfeng Sect. Or you can choose to stay. I won’t force you, but this is your only chance! Think carefully. If you’re willing, step into the circle."
Li Xingtian’s voice, amplified by spiritual energy, reached the ears of all the miners.
The miners looked at the scene before them with confusion.
However, some of the more alert ones had already noticed something amiss. During Li Xingtian’s battle in the mine, the spiritual energy had shattered part of the illusion array.
As the illusion faded, the miners saw the bloody pools and realized that their blood and energy had been siphoned off.
They now understood that working here as slaves was one thing, but in the end, the Qingfeng Sect would suck them dry, down to the marrow.
One of the miners spoke up excitedly:
"Thank you, benefactor, for saving us! We have no way to repay you!"
Li Xingtian didn’t respond, still focused on finishing the final strokes of the array.
He placed the spirit stones into the array’s foundation, and the array suddenly lit up with a bright glow.
Li Xingtian took a deep breath and said, "Don’t thank me. Just remember, if you ever have the chance, don’t stand by and do nothing."
For some reason, looking at these people, Li Xingtian couldn’t help but think of his childhood friend from the same village.
That friend had died here.
He couldn’t help but let out a self-deprecating laugh. He didn’t know why he wanted to save them.
But wasn’t cultivation about achieving clarity of mind?
If he wanted to do it, then he would. Whether it was for his own peace of mind or in memory of his old friend,
it was simply what he wanted to do.
Then he glanced at his master.
Chu Xingchen simply gave him a slight nod.