Chapter 60: The Moonlight Spirit Flower Pattern

"Damn it, don't think I can't reach you just because you're hiding in there!" The expert of the Heavenly Core realm was utterly frustrated. Originally, it seemed like a trivial matter that could be easily resolved with a wave of the hand, but he never expected that after using so many methods, his target would escape time and time again.

And now, they had actually hidden themselves inside such a high-grade magical artifact.

Consumed by sudden rage, he unleashed his most powerful attacks, relentlessly pounding against the gourd.

The momentum was earth-shattering; surrounding houses collapsed, the ground split open with deep, gaping fissures, and walls shattered layer by layer. Spiritual herbs were shredded and snapped, buried deep beneath the debris, while plants were violently torn up by their roots.

A series of deafening explosions threatened to completely obliterate the entire Bai family estate, yet the gourd merely suffered a single faint crack.

Inside the gourd!

"Ice Sister, how is she?" Mengyao asked, consumed by worry as she busied herself assisting.

"Her injuries are temporarily stabilized!" Moxuan placed Lan Bing down to the side, gently unbuttoning a corner of her tunic over her chest to apply a medicinal salve to the wound.

Lan Bing shivered instinctively, pressing her hand over the injury as a wince of acute pain crossed her face.

Mengyao flinched anxiously, seeming as though this was her first time witnessing such severe wounds, and turned away, too afraid to look.

At that very moment, the sound of cracking echoed from the gourd.

"Ah, this person is far too powerful! And this is an ultra-grade magical artifact!" Panic gripped Mengyao.

Ultra-grade magical artifact. Hearing Mengyao's anxious muttering, Moxuan was naturally astonished: an ultra-grade magical artifact stood a tier above superior-grade items, counting almost among the supreme treasures in existence.

Yet even it could not withstand the relentless assaults of a Three-Heaven realm expert.

"Will she be alright?" Moxuan lowered his head and asked calmly.

"The artifact will likely be destroyed in the end, but you don't need to worry," Mengyao replied with a confident tone.

Because the barrier surrounding the gourd had developed fractures, the internal spiritual aura leaked out and was sensed by outsiders.

This included Xue Yue. Knowing that Mengyao was staying with the Bai family and sensing that trouble had erupted here, she had rushed over at the very first moment.

Right behind her came a coalition of other allied families.

At that moment!

The giant gourd was already battered beyond recognition and on the verge of shattering.

Only then did Xue Yue barely manage to arrive. Her figure paused momentarily as a torrent of frosty qi instantly froze the nearly destroyed gourd solid.

Then, she shifted her attack toward the Heavenly Core realm expert hovering in mid-air.

"It's you again! Who on earth are you? I advise you not to meddle in other people's business," the man warned, driven to his wits' end.

Xue Yue, however, could not care less. Her sole duty was to protect Mengyao's safety, and the person before her was clearly hostile toward Mengyao.

Originally no match for Xue Yue to begin with, and now fighting in a weakened state, the man sensed after a couple of exchanges that he had no chance of winning and bolted directly.

How could she let him escape so easily? Xue Yue naturally pursued him relentlessly. Her freezing power was chilling to the bone, transforming everything in her path into a frosty realm, yet the man still managed to slip away.

Even so, he had sustained heavy injuries and would undoubtedly not dare to roam about freely for a considerable time.

True to form, Xue Yue did not pursue him to the ends of the earth. For one thing, although the man's strength had been somewhat inferior, he was still capable of fleeing; for another, her own cultivation was incomplete—ever since she had forcibly channeled half of her spiritual energy into Moxuan's body last time, she had yet to fully recover.

Within the span of just a few hours!

More than half of the dozens of Earth Profound realm experts the man had brought had perished right here.

As for the Bai family, this battle had reduced it almost to a pile of ruins. In the end, they managed to hold out for some time solely by relying on the secret chamber housing the teleportation array, allowing the survivors to avoid total annihilation.

Moxuan had initially believed that this entire ordeal was targeted solely at him, but to his surprise, the corpses left behind all belonged to cultivators of the Chen family.

Only now did he realize that the incident on that fateful night had actually been orchestrated by the Heavenly Core realm assassin, who had used the pretext of wiping out the Bai family to ally with the Chen family. The real aim was to eliminate Moxuan, and by extension, to rid the Chen family of trouble by getting rid of the formidable expert protecting Moxuan's side.

What should have been a foolproof plan yielding two gains with a single stroke—backed by a Three-Heaven realm expert guarding the operations—should have spelled certain death, yet it had ultimately failed.

The situation had now reverted to square one! Except that one relatively major faction, the Yue family, was gone, and the Ai family's strength had also been drastically reduced.

Moxuan had never imagined the situation would deteriorate to this extent. Now, with a Three-Heaven realm expert pulling strings from the shadows, the situation had grown even more grim. Regardless of the outcome, Luochuan City's overall strength would drop by an entire tier as a result of this battle.

As a pharmacist, Moxuan kept vigil by Lan Bing's side for days on end.

It was not until the fourth day that Lan Bing finally regained consciousness.

Overwhelmed with emotion, a single teardrop welled up and slipped from Moxuan's eye.

"Sigh..." Faced with Moxuan's sudden embrace, Lan Bing did not push him away; instead, a look of profound astonishment crossed her features.

Over the past few days, major events had also shaken Luochuan City. While the mysterious Heavenly Core realm expert had vanished without a trace after being heavily injured, the Chen family suffered an unprecedented blow.

Neither Moxuan nor Mengyao participated, but the Chen family was jointly eradicated by the local alliance.

Later on, Moxuan learned that the Chen family had never possessed such formidable strength to begin with. They had originally boasted four Earth Nether realm cultivators, but two had perished during the assault on the Bai family, alongside numerous Earth Profound realm cultivators.

The lingering remnants of their strength were simply no match for the alliance.

However, relying on the special status of Chen Pengfei and the long-standing financial backing of the Upper Qing Sect, the Chen family had managed to preserve a core portion of their strength when they suffered heavy losses and evacuated Luochuan City.

When it came time to divide the spoils, Moxuan had no desire to get overly entangled. His wish was simple: he only hoped his loved ones could remain safe and sound. Therefore, he did not ask for a single fraction of the benefits. Moreover, he bore no personal intent to push the Chen family to their deaths; the entire debacle was entirely of their own making for repeatedly provoking him, and Moxuan had merely been fighting back in self-defense.

Three months later!

Early in the morning, crisp birdsong drifted from time to time through the window.

Swish!

A piercing sound tore through the air, shooting directly through the window of Moxuan's room. A dart condensed entirely from spiritual energy struck a wooden pillar inside, carrying a slip of paper. Moments later, the spiritual energy dart dissipated, and the note fluttered down to the floor.

Moxuan had been dozing slumped over his desk, surrounded by piles of raw materials, and was snapped awake by the sudden commotion.

"That was..." Moxuan glanced over, taking in the aftermath.

His first instinct was not to check the note, but to shove the window open, leap outside, and scramble onto the rooftop to survey the surroundings. However, not a single trace of spiritual fluctuation lingered in the air.

"How formidable!" Moxuan recalled the earlier display. Clearly, had that dart been truly intended to assassinate him, not even dodging would have saved him.

Moxuan's movements caught the eye of Lan Bing, who was walking toward his quarters, and she hurried over to ask what had happened.

"Did Ice Sister sense any unusual spiritual auras?" Moxuan asked as he leaped down from the roof.

"No! Don't make a fuss over nothing!" Lan Bing scolded, thinking Moxuan was overreacting—what danger could possibly exist in broad daylight?

Even Lan Bing had failed to detect the intruder. Whoever this person was, their cultivation must be extraordinary. Who could it have been?

"No..." Moxuan rushed back inside the room, picked up the fallen note, and inspected it.

It was a diagram depicting the intricate pattern of a Moonlit Spirit Flower. The dense, delicate lines looked exceedingly complex, eventually curving and intertwining to form a perfect circle.

How bizarre!

Moxuan found it incomprehensible.

"What's going on, running around in such a panic? Let me see!" Taking advantage of Moxuan's momentary distraction, Lan Bing snatched the note from his hand. "Oh, this..."

Lan Bing's gaze instantly tightened. Realizing that Moxuan had not been lying, she swept her senses across the surrounding area.

"Do you know what this means?" Moxuan paused for a moment before shaking his head and asking.

"This is a message condensed through spiritual consciousness. In short, it requires an identical pattern token to reveal the content! If forced open, the message will automatically incinerate. It's a highly secure form of correspondence," Lan Bing explained. Yet, a shadow of unease crept into her heart; after all, the sudden appearance of such an item boded neither clearly well nor ill.

Moxuan decided to put it away for the time being.

Just as he prepared to step outside, a thought suddenly struck him as he crossed the threshold.

"Moonlit Spirit Flower! That name sounds so familiar!" Moxuan turned back to ask Lan Bing, "Does Ice Sister know anything about it?"

Lan Bing paused. At first, she didn't quite catch the reference, but upon hearing the name, understanding dawned on her. "Oh! So that pattern was a Moonlit Spirit Flower. Look at me, haha... Did you forget what you said the last time you showed me that painting?"

At the mention of this, Lan Bing grew flustered. Finishing her sentence, she tucked both hands behind her back and half-skipped, half-walked away, seemingly unwilling to let Moxuan see her expression at that moment.

A jolt ran through Moxuan's heart. The Moonlit Spirit Flower—he remembered it now. Furthermore, he recalled that tomorrow night happened to be the night of the full moon. An urge to verify his suspicions welled up within him, but Lan Bing had already fled the scene.

Sigh!

Just who had deliberately sent such a message?

What were they trying to warn him about?

Never mind, best not to dwell on it. In any case, it was wise to be cautious!

Almost slipping his mind, Lan Bing had mentioned earlier that she had some matters to attend to today and asked Moxuan to take her place in tutoring Mengyao in the arts of pharmacy.

Since Lan Bing had only just recovered, she still needed plenty of rest, so he readily agreed to step in.

At Mengyao's residence!

Everything had already been prepared, but Mengyao insisted on dragging Moxuan over to Fantasy Creek Lake to study while taking in the scenery, claiming that combining sightseeing with learning was a wonderful idea.

So the two of them headed toward Fantasy Creek Lake.

Having no other choice and unable to talk her out of it, Moxuan simply acquiesced.

Fantasy Creek Lake!

At this hour, the crowds were not yet dense. Boats of varying sizes drifted across the water's surface, reflecting the morning light and causing the lake to shimmer brilliantly.

"Haha, this place is truly wonderful!" Mengyao chirped happily, wearing a smug and triumphant expression.

Yet, amidst the scenery, Moxuan caught sight of Chen Pengfei out of the corner of his eye. He appeared to be trailing them.

"Why is he here?" Moxuan immediately raised his guard, sensing that the man's sudden appearance spelled trouble.

By now, Mengyao had already wandered off toward the lakeshore.

As Moxuan started to follow, Chen Pengfei stepped directly into his path to block him!

"Heh, long time no see! Trust you've been well?" Chen Pengfei greeted him with a smile, catching Moxuan entirely off guard.

Naturally, Moxuan had no desire to exchange pleasantries with him. Knowing that this man smiled with a dagger hidden behind his words and might launch a sudden attack at any moment, Moxuan tried to walk around him. However, Chen Pengfei kept shifting to block his way, seemingly intent on speaking. "What do you want? Step aside!"

"No need to be so hasty. With the Chen family ruined and fallen, aren't you feeling quite pleased right now? Are you thinking that at last, no one is left to cause trouble for the Moxuan family?" Chen Pengfei abruptly brought up the subject, his tone laced with deliberate provocation.