Family Cultivation: Rise of the Wilderness

Chapter 257 Corpse
"The protector of the Mang Cult?"

Li Xiangming's expression shifted rapidly between light and dark.

Why are there Falun Gong practitioners around Dendrobium Market?

Wasn't the space for Mangjiao's activities squeezed into Puxian County?
wrong!

This is just wishful thinking on his part.

In fact, he knew nothing about the Mang religion.

Li Xiangming took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

He had dealt with the Mangjiao (a religious sect) on several occasions.

But all he saw were people like Madam Zhen and Blind Luo.

Although Madam Zhen has the title of protector, her actual strength is not a concern; she relies entirely on the puppet to display its ferocity.

Luo the Blind is indeed powerful, but he is still only at the Qi Refining stage.

As Li Xiangming's cultivation level improved and his family's status increased, his fear of the Mang Sect gradually decreased.

However, he overlooked the fact that although these people were the backbone of the Mang Cult, they were far from the entirety of the Mang Cult.

Under the Mang sect, there are three great protectors.

He only knew Madam Zhen.

How can one then talk about understanding Manchu religion?
"Brother, who exactly is this faceless man?"

Li Xiangming asked in a deep voice, his tone carrying a hint of solemnity.

"Faceless Man"

Li Xiangren pondered for a moment and slowly said, "I first met him near the Ye family. At the time, he seemed to be passing by, but I misunderstood and tried to test him. He was unwilling to get entangled with me and took the initiative to leave."

"What is this person's cultivation level?"

Li Xiangming pressed on, this was the question he cared about most.

"He has at least the mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation level!"

Li Xiangren glanced at Li Xiangming: "At the time, I didn't know he was the protector of the Mang Sect. I only found out later. This person is not only highly skilled, but also has an exceptionally rich array of fighting techniques. He is especially adept at magic. If I didn't have the 'Cloud Slash' in my hand, I would not be his match."

As a prodigy cultivated by the Li family in this generation, Li Xiangren's flying sword is certainly no ordinary item.

When he was eight years old and decided to practice flying swordsmanship, his family specially gifted him a high-grade talisman flying sword.

This flying sword was not only of high grade, but the runes engraved on it were also extremely powerful. It took Li Xiangren a long time to successfully control it.

However, when he was fifteen, the rune-inscribed flying sword was completely destroyed while fighting a demon cultivator in the Bone Fusion stage.

Of course, the other side also suffered heavy losses and retreated back to the South Bank Demon Land in disgrace.

Li Xiangren rose to fame in this battle. His family saw his potential and sent Li Huinan to Hengyue Sect to use Xuanli Zhenren's connections to find a weapon refiner to tailor-make a top-quality flying sword for Li Xiangren, which is the "Zhanyun" he now wields.

As a sword cultivator with a powerful weapon, Li Xiangren's combat strength has always been astonishing.

Even when facing Li Dong, a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator from the Moving Mountain Sect, Li Xiangren showed no fear and fought fiercely to kill him.

However, when the Faceless Man was mentioned, Lee Sang-in's attitude became unusually cautious.

He even frankly admitted that he was able to contend with his opponent only by relying on the advantage of his flying sword.

After listening to Li Xiangren's account, Li Xiangming fell into deep thought.

In fact, he had learned about this faceless man from Master Lingwu many years ago.

At that time, the other side attacked Fuhu Temple, which was on good terms with Bailumen, and killed a Taoist master who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, causing a sensation in Puxian County.

At that time, Li Xiangming guessed that this mysterious protector was quite powerful.

Now that Li Xiangren has confirmed it, he has to reassess the strength of the Mang Sect.

Madam Zhen was also a protector of the Mang Sect, but she took over the position of Liu Xiong Yu, who had suddenly left.

In other words, the cultivation levels of Liu Xiong Yu and the Faceless Man represent the true level of the Mang Sect's protectors.

If Li Xiangming's understanding of the Faceless Man was mostly based on hearsay, then he had three years of direct contact with Liu Xiongyu and a deep understanding of him.

This person is cunning and unpredictable, often leaving others puzzled.

In terms of skill, he is a top-notch fighter.

Liu Xiongyu's magical power was indeed not as profound as that of the Faceless Man who had already reached the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, but it was by no means comparable to that of an ordinary early-Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In particular, the unique magical power brought by his wind spirit root was in no way inferior to Li Xiangren's sword energy. Not to mention Liu Xiongyu's superb escape technique, which even Li Chengkang was helpless against.

Putting aside everything else, just consider the fact that Liu Xiong Yu was able to escape justice despite being pursued by the entire Zhenhun Sect—to this day, there has been no word of the Zhenhun Sect catching the murderer, which speaks volumes about his abilities.

Neither the Faceless Man nor Liu Xiong Yu are ordinary people.

Logically speaking, the last remaining guardian could not be an ordinary person either.

Even more terrifying is that Hou Xianbo, the leader of the Mang Sect, is suspected to possess the Golden Elixir.

It should be noted that there is only one Golden Core cultivator in the entire Pu County.

The highest combat strength of Zhangning Prefecture is only at the Golden Core stage.

All indications suggest that the Mang Sect's ability to provoke the Hengyue Sect and the Bailu Sect is not due to its audacity.

It is understandable that the Mang Sect is unwilling to easily give up its stronghold in Hao County, which it has cultivated for five hundred years, even though it has been expelled from Zhangning Prefecture.

It's not surprising that their protectors appeared in Dendrobium Market!
But why did they suddenly appear in that nameless forest at this particular time?
In a flash, Li Xiangming suddenly realized something and blurted out, "Xu Zibu!"

Xu Zibu has been betraying information about the Mang Cult for many years, so the Mang Cult must hate him to the core.

The Faceless Man's trip was undoubtedly for Xu Zibu.

Upon hearing Li Xiangming's reminder, Li Xiangren quickly reacted and immediately used his divine sense to search the valley carefully.

Soon, the two found some remaining array materials in a mountain hollow.

"Could I really be that unlucky?"

An ominous premonition flashed through Li Xiangming's mind.

Neither of them were array masters; their knowledge of arrays was appalling. They could neither set up nor break arrays.

However, as members of a family, they were exposed to the art of formations from a young age, and their understanding of formations far surpassed that of independent cultivators.

Before long, the two of them made a preliminary judgment on the location of the array's core—it was a large, vibrant tree. Li Xiangming tapped the trunk and immediately determined from the echo that the trunk was hollow inside.

"I come!"

This tree is not simple; without the correct methods, even cultivators would find it difficult to grasp its secrets.

But Li Xiangren had no time to guess; he unleashed his flying sword and began to slash.

Even the formation has been broken, so what ability does this big tree have to withstand Li Xiangren's attack?
In an instant, the tree crashed down, revealing a deep hole the size of a head.

Li Xiangming took out a dark red jewelry box from his pocket; it was a puppet template he had obtained from the corpse-driving craftsman.

The switch was activated, and the wooden box instantly transformed into a humanoid puppet, which, as if alive, deftly slipped into the hole to investigate.

However, the cave was quiet, and there was no reaction.

"It seems like nobody's here."

Li Xiangming whispered and lightly shook his sleeve.

The black water serpent slowly crawled out and burrowed into the cave entrance.

After waiting for a while, the Blackwater Serpent finally crawled out, its cold snake eyes seeming to tell a story.

Li Xiangming looked at Li Xiangren with difficulty: "There's only one dead person!"

Li Xiangren pursed his lips, transformed into a beam of light, and flew inside.

Seeing this, Li Xiangming had no choice but to follow closely behind.

Beneath the tree hollow was a simple stone cave, so rudimentary that it could be described as bare-bones.

But in the recessed part of the wall, there were three or five remaining candles.

This is enough to show that this is a man-made cave.

Li Xiangming did not touch the candles, but instead took out a torch from his storage bag and lit it, restoring light to the cave.

In the firelight, a tattered prayer mat can be clearly seen in the center of the grotto.

Behind the prayer mat lay a gruesome corpse.

The body was that of a middle-aged man of medium build, whose face was covered in blood, but a prominent black mole could still be seen at the corner of his eyebrow.

Xu Zibu

(End of this chapter)