Chapter 125: Jiang Yan, must you really treat me this way?

Lin Qi flew back onto the roof and said to Li Dabao, "Don't forget to send over all the remaining spirit wine."

A flash of ecstatic joy crossed Li Dabao’s eyes, and his voice trembled slightly. "Master Immortal, has the fortune of our mountain range been restored?"

Lin Qi nodded slightly. "The formation that was stealing your fortune has been broken by me. You need only wait until tomorrow for your mountain's fortune to fully return."

Upon hearing this, Li Dabao was overwhelmed with emotion. He bowed deeply, his forehead nearly touching the ground. "The kindness of Master Immortal is like the sun, the moon, and the stars. We, the Profound Bamboo clan, will remember it forever! I shall immediately order my tribesmen to bring all the spirit wine."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Dabao quickly contacted his clan to relay the order. A response soon came from the other end, filled with excitement and anticipation: "Ch-Chieftain, this is wonderful! Our Profound Bamboo clan is saved! I will bring the spirit wine over immediately."

Li Dabao hung up, and only then did Lin Qi turn to look at Jiang Yan, a gentle smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "My dear disciple, did you memorize the hand seals I used to break the formation just now?"

Ji Chuxue also looked at Jiang Yan with curiosity, pondering to herself. Her master’s hand movements had been as fluid as flowing water; although she had tried her best to memorize them, she had only managed to retain the first few gestures. She wondered how many little six had committed to memory.

As an honor student with a photographic memory, Jiang Yan had, in fact, imprinted the entire sequence of hand seals into his mind. However, he thought, what good was remembering just the hand seals?

He asked skeptically, "Master, I did memorize the hand seals. But surely there are corresponding incantations that go with them, aren't there? Furthermore, I noticed that you broke out in a light sweat while breaking the formation. Does this mean this secret technique consumes the internal energy or spiritual power of us cultivators?"

Hearing Jiang Yan's questions, Lin Qi’s eyes glinted as he patted Jiang Yan on the shoulder. "You are quite right, my dear disciple. These hand seals do indeed require specific incantations to unleash their true power. As for the consumption, breaking such a formation naturally comes at a price. Among you disciples, you possess the highest level of fortune and an extraordinary memory, making you perfectly suited for this technique. Once we return to the sect, I shall teach you the complete method for breaking such fortune-stealing formations."

Jiang Yan caught a spark of cunning in his master's eyes and couldn't help but feel that something was suspicious. Could it be that the old man was actually going to fulfill his duties as a master this time?

There shouldn't be... a trap here, right?

Despite his doubts, Jiang Yan agreed, "Yes, Master." He thought to himself that learning an extra skill could never be harmful. Besides, the master saying he had the highest fortune made him feel quite accomplished! This was the kind of treatment reserved for a protagonist; heh, truly befitting a Long Aotian like himself!

About half an incense stick of time later, the spirit wine arrived. The messenger was a one-eyed giant panda, a head shorter than Li Dabao, wearing a black eye patch over his left eye, giving him the air of a mountain bandit. He handed a cloth bag to Li Dabao and flashed a smile, revealing teeth as white as snow with a charming, simple-minded look. "Heh heh, Chieftain, all the spirit wine is in this spatial bag."

Li Dabao nodded at him. "Thank you for your hard work, Ada."

He then turned the bag over to Jiang Yan, his tone tinged with respect: "Immortal, this is the remaining spirit wine. Would you like to check it?"

Jiang Yan took the storage bag, swept it with his spiritual sense to confirm the quantity was correct, transferred the wine into his own spatial ring, and returned the empty bag to Li Dabao. "Yes, it is all here. Li Dabao, all good things must come to an end; let us part ways here."

After saying this, he took out a small porcelain bottle and handed it to Li Dabao, saying earnestly, "This is the antidote for the Pig Demon chieftain. Keep it. If he dares to cause trouble again, just cut off his supply."

Li Dabao’s eyes were filled with gratitude as he thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, Immortal. Thank you, Immortal."

"Cough, cough... cough, cough..."

At that moment, Lin Qi let out a perfectly timed cough, as if to remind them of something. Li Dabao immediately turned toward Lin Qi and launched into another round of deeply moving expressions of gratitude. Satisfied, Lin Qi’s mouth curled into a smile.

After bidding farewell to Li Dabao, Jiang Yan and the others flew back in the direction of the Qilin Sect.

However, that night, while some were filled with joy and anticipation, others were tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

At the Profound Spirit Sect, Lin Yurou suddenly felt a violent surge of blood and qi, and she spat out a large mouthful of bright red blood. Her face turned pale as snow in an instant, and three twisted, red blood vessels appeared on her face, looking as sinister as venomous snakes.

She stared wide-eyed at herself in the mirror in terror, the reflection causing her heart to shatter. She quickly pulled out a healing pill, swallowed it, and then used a silk handkerchief to gently wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. She then picked up another clean handkerchief and tried to wipe away the three sinister red veins on her face. But even after scrubbing her skin until it was raw and red, the veins remained stubbornly in place.

Lin Ruyan’s heart sank to the bottom of a well. With trembling hands, she cast a sound-insulation barrier in her room and hurriedly took out a spirit bead from her spatial ring, asking anxiously, "Spirit Bead, Spirit Bead, what is wrong with my face? What is happening?"

But the spirit bead had grown dim and offered no response. Lin Ruyan’s voice was filled with panic as she called out repeatedly, "Spirit Bead, Spirit Bead, what is wrong with you? Why won't you answer me?"

She stared intently at the bead and finally noticed a crack so thin it was almost invisible on its surface. This made the world spin around her, as if everything were blurring into confusion. If the spirit bead were gone, what would she do?

The spirit bead emitted a faint glow, as if using its final strength. On its surface, two words appeared with great difficulty: *Backlash.*

Following that, two more words appeared: *Slumber.*

Then, the glow of the spirit bead slowly faded until it lost its luster completely and stopped responding altogether. Lin Ruyan was filled with unease as she roughly guessed what had happened. It must have been the restoration of the Profound Bamboo clan's fortune that had caused this massive backlash. It seemed Jiang Yan had an expert helping him.

She was incredibly anxious but helpless; she could only wait for the spirit bead to recover. She gently touched her face, a flicker of hatred flashing in her eyes: "Jiang Yan, are you really going to treat me this way?"