I planted the spiritual roots for my people, and they bestowed upon me a body inscribed with incense

When Zhang Guang saw Li Yuan looking in one direction, he immediately understood Li Yuan's thoughts. Xu Qingfeng, who was lying down, also snapped out of his daze and quickly stood up, moving closer to the others.

Seeing the scene before him, the tall, thin man in the distance finally realized that he had been discovered, but he still had no intention of showing himself.

As the group approached his position, the tall, thin man finally made his move. He silently chanted an incantation, and with a series of hand seals, a wisp of black energy appeared in his hands and immediately attacked Zhang Guang.

Before the black mist arrived, Zhang Guang seemed to sense something, but before he could react, the black mist had already flown in front of him. Seeing this, he quickly constructed a magical shield to try to block the attack.

However, his hastily constructed magical shield was no match for the erosion of the black energy. In an instant, the black energy penetrated the shield and entered Zhang Guang's body.

Seeing this, Luo Tong quickly picked up the bamboo whistle, then activated his magic and blew it. At the same time, Zhang Guang, who was under the spell, collapsed to the ground and foamed at the mouth after only a short while.

At this moment, Du Mei didn't think so much. If the person present didn't die today, none of them could escape. She rode her flying sword and attacked the direction from which the black energy was coming.

The remaining people were not to be outdone, and they also used their magical artifacts to attack the direction from which the black energy was coming. Only Li Yuan was able to unleash two fireball spells.

Li Yuan cannot take out the flying sword from his storage bag. If Xu Qingfeng discovers it, it will be a complete disaster, and Li Yuan cannot withstand the wrath of the Xu family.

Therefore, Li Yuan could only step aside and use magic to provide support while observing Zhang Guang's condition as he lay on the ground.

As the attacks came down, the tall, thin man in the tree knew he had nowhere to hide, so he jumped down from the tree.

As for the attacks from the others, they were all directly blocked by him.

After he revealed his true form, Li Yuan and the others were able to sense the aura emanating from him. Although he was only at the sixth level of Qi Refining, the aura he exuded forced them to retreat.

Du Mei looked at the tall, thin man and slowly said:

"You truly live up to your reputation as someone who managed to escape from a Foundation Establishment cultivator. You easily withstood the combined attack of several of us. I admire you."

Seeing this, the tall, thin man slowly said:

"Delaying time? Even if you try to delay, I can kill you all before the Zhenxie Division arrives."

As he spoke, he moved swiftly and instantly appeared in front of Xu Qingfeng, while his gaze fell upon Li Yuan.

"Kid, we meet again." As he spoke, Xu Qingfeng was sent flying several meters away after receiving only one palm strike.

Only then did Li Yuan realize that this person was the same one who had been guarding the prison with him that day. At this moment, Li Yuan's back was already soaked with cold sweat.

There are two possibilities for this face appearing: either the person's body has been possessed by the old Taoist priest and he wasn't originally like that, or the tall, thin man has been hiding in the temple ever since Li Yuan entered it. However, Li Yuan did use his spiritual sense to detect whether there was any magical power in the tall, thin man's dantian.

Either way, Li Yuan was terrified. He could only hope that the people from the Zhenxie Division would arrive soon, otherwise he feared he would not escape death.

The remaining three people standing nearby looked at Li Yuan with surprise upon hearing this. Seeing this, Li Yuan quickly shouted:

"Keep this person occupied for now, don't get distracted."

As they spoke, Li Yuan unleashed several fireballs and wooden spikes at the man. The others snapped out of their daze and immediately unleashed their best skills to attack the tall, thin man.

The tall, thin man, seeing that he had been seen through, was not angry, but slowly said:

"Do you all know how long it took me to cultivate to the peak of Qi Refining?"

"Hahaha, in just over twelve years, I have cultivated from a wealthy merchant to the peak of Qi Refining. I am only waiting to find a suitable spiritual object for Foundation Establishment before I can attempt Foundation Establishment."

Du Mei and the others clearly scoffed at this remark. Before he could continue speaking, they spurred their flying swords and attacked the man, saying as they attacked:

"Even if unorthodox cultivation methods progress quickly, they are still not as stable as our orthodox cultivation methods when it comes to Foundation Establishment."

Upon hearing this, the tall, thin man burst into maniacal laughter, looking at Du Mei as if she were a fool.

"How laughable! If I had cultivated to the peak of Qi Refining before I turned forty, I would have had twenty years to establish my foundation. But you lot haven't even touched the threshold of the Foundation Establishment realm, yet you claim that your foundation establishment is solid."

At this point, he burst into maniacal laughter again.

Then, seemingly to humiliate Du Mei, he took out a scroll from his storage bag and slowly said:

"This is the cultivation technique I practice. I see that you are all bewitched by Daqing and the Medicine Sect, and you have no idea how wonderful the outside world is. Whether you practice this book or not is up to you."

After saying that, the tall, thin man threw the book into the air.

Seeing this, although no one went to take the book, all four people on the field fell silent, and even Li Yuan was somewhat shaken.

However, at that moment, the white snake in Li Yuan's hand tightened instantly, and Li Yuan was jolted awake from the pain. He immediately realized that this person was so good at bewitching people.

Just as they were struggling, Li Yuan shouted, pulling them back to reality from their thoughts.

The group was shocked to find themselves hypnotized without their knowledge. Had the tall, thin man made his move then, their lives would likely have been in danger.

Upon seeing this, the tall, thin man showed no anger; instead, he burst into laughter.

"As expected, you are all a bunch of hypocrites. Since that's the case, why don't you join my Blood Buddhism? Did you think what I just said was a joke? My ancestral home is in Suiyun County, and the ancient Tuo Temple was built exactly twelve years ago."

"These twelve years are precisely the time it took for me to transform from a merchant into a Taoist practitioner. If you don't believe me, you can send someone to Suiyun County to investigate."

Upon hearing this, the group fell silent again. However, Li Yuan, relying on his powerful divine sense, was not greatly shaken. If he were to truly join this so-called Blood Buddhism, the extermination of the Li family would not be far off.

At that moment, Du Mei was the first to step forward and break the silence.

"You sorcerer, stop spreading your nonsense! We are in the territory of the Medicine Sect and are under its protection. Your so-called Blood Buddhism has no effect on us."

As she spoke, she attacked the tall, thin man. Upon seeing this, the tall, thin man unleashed two magical sword strikes, forcing Du Mei back three meters.

Li Yuan knew he couldn't let this person escape, otherwise the Li family behind him would surely suffer a calamity.

Immediately, all his magical power gathered on the Mo Dao, and after the power was fully charged, a huge golden blade shadow, accompanied by a gust of wind, slashed towards the tall, thin man.

The tall, thin man looked at the blade light that Li Yuan had unleashed, and his expression became much more serious. He clearly hadn't expected that Li Yuan could still unleash such a powerful attack when the fighting spirit of the others had been almost completely worn down.

Immediately, the tall, thin man mobilized his black magic power again to block Li Yuan's attack. At this moment, a few drops of black blood had already spilled from the corner of the tall, thin man's mouth.