He released his divine sense to scan the surrounding environment.
The old man secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
It turned out that he was the evil cultivator who had been causing a stir recently.
Before, Nie Zui had ordered him to capture cultivators, and relying on his artifact for concealing his aura, he had come to this small town.
After all, it was close to Ziyun Sect, and cultivators appeared here more frequently.
When he came today, he happened to see dozens of Li Mingbai's fellow disciples in the wine house, and he was overjoyed!
After controlling their minds with evil potions, he brought them back to his lair.
He was also clever, disguising these disciples as traveling merchants, and no one recognized them along the way.
To avoid attracting attention, he brought these disciples back in batches.
The first two times were smooth, but the third batch encountered an accident.
When he brought the group about three hundred li north of Ziyun Sect, he suddenly sensed the aura of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator nearby!
In a panic, he had to lead the disciples to hide in a cave, and by sheer bad luck, they encountered a Golden Core stage bear demon...
The bear demon, seeing cultivators appear, naturally attacked in a rage. The evil cultivator, in a flustered defense, was forced to expose himself.
The patrolling elder of Ziyun Sect arrived quickly. The evil cultivator, injured, dared not fight and escaped with a life-saving substitute talisman.
He had escaped, but forcibly using a secret technique directly overloaded his body, causing him to faint by the roadside.
The evil cultivator glanced at the sleeping Li Mingbai on the bed.
It seemed this cultivator had saved him; he was indeed lucky.
Now, those cultivators should be searching for him everywhere, but they would never have imagined that he was right below their sect's mountain!
Although he had lost the dozens of sacrifices from before, he still had one by his side, so he wouldn't return empty-handed.
The situation was probably tense these past two days, so he might as well hide in this inn.
Moreover, he could control the nearby cultivator to help him lure some sacrifices back to heal his injuries.
Thinking of this, the evil cultivator raised his right hand.
Threads of black energy began to condense in his palm and slowly moved towards Li Mingbai's heavenly spirit from above the sleeping figure.
Although the evil cultivator was severely injured now and his strength was not that of a Golden Core stage cultivator, his spiritual power had not been affected; he was still at the Soul Transformation stage.
Controlling a Qi Refining stage disciple with the spiritual power of a Soul Transformation stage cultivator was as easy as turning his hand for him!
Especially with Li Mingbai sleeping soundly and completely unguarded.
Just as the black-energy-infused palm was about to cover Li Mingbai's head, Li Mingbai, who was facing away from the evil cultivator, suddenly emitted a faint golden light, clearly visible even through his daoist robe.
Just as the evil cultivator thought he was about to succeed, he suddenly felt a golden light appear in his vision.
His vision blurred, and the world spun.
When he regained his senses, he found himself rolling on the ground!
Strangely, the entire process made no sound, as if he had suddenly teleported to the ground.
The evil cultivator immediately scanned the room tensely.
Because he was shocked to find that the black energy he had condensed in his hand had disappeared!
There was a master nearby!
This was the evil cultivator's first reaction.
He held his breath, his heart pounding.
To be able to strike him while he was completely unguarded meant the opponent was likely beyond his current capabilities!
If the enemy doesn't move, I won't move.
Acting rashly would only put him in a more passive position!
The evil cultivator quickly circulated his evil energy to protect himself, becoming fully alert.
As soon as his evil energy circulated, he caught sight of another streak of golden light from the corner of his eye.
The evil cultivator abruptly turned his head.
Then he was stunned.
He saw Li Mingbai emitting a fist-sized, dazzling golden light, looking like a small sun!
And with the appearance of that golden light, his own evil energy was instantly dispelled!
The evil cultivator's brows furrowed.
The good news was that there was no so-called master; it was all this kid's doing.
It seemed that this kid was using some external force, like a magic item, and it was definitely not his own ability.
The fact that it could purify his evil energy proved that the magic item was indeed very powerful.
However, the other party was ultimately only at the Qi Refining stage, and it was likely that they couldn't use it much longer.
As long as he could exhaust the number of times this kid could use the magic item, he could successfully capture him!
Thinking of this, the evil cultivator condensed another ball of black energy and sent it towards Li Mingbai on the bed.
As expected, the black energy was purified as soon as it left his hand.
The evil cultivator was not flustered; everything was within his expectations.
He condensed black energy again to attack.
It was purified again.
This cycle repeated...
A quarter of an hour later.
The evil cultivator's mood began to sour...
He had tried for a quarter of an hour before, but no matter how he channeled his evil energy, it was all purified by the golden light emanating from the kid's crotch!
He finally realized he had kicked an iron plate.
At least, not something he could deal with in his current state!
Realizing the situation was unfavorable, the evil cultivator had the intention to retreat.
He quietly got up and crept towards the window.
However, as soon as he got up, he was horrified to find that Li Mingbai's golden light suddenly exploded!
In an instant, the entire room was filled with dazzling golden light!
The evil cultivator panicked because he found that the evil energy within him was actually being corroded by this golden light!
He couldn't understand why, even though he wasn't channeling his evil energy now, this kid would react so strongly?
But soon he had no time for idle thoughts and had to grit his teeth and confront the golden light.
Another quarter of an hour later.
Li Mingbai opened his eyes.
He had just had a dream.
In the dream, it was the season of renewal...
When he lit a candle and prepared to change his pants, he was stunned to find a person lying on the ground.
It was the old man he had rescued earlier.
The old man's face was as pale as paper, and his body was so thin that only skin and bones remained!
"Old sir!" Li Mingbai exclaimed, quickly putting on his shoes and walking over.
The evil cultivator's eyes widened, filled with terror.
He had just fought against that golden light for a full quarter of an hour.
But in the end, he tragically discovered that he was completely outmatched, and he watched helplessly as his evil energy was completely purified by the golden light...
Not only that, after the evil energy was purified, the golden light began to ravenously devour his body!
At this point, he was clearly on his last breath...
Li Mingbai had now become the most terrifying existence in his mind. Seeing the great devil Li Mingbai approaching, he screamed inwardly.
Don't come closer!!!
The instinct for survival made him erupt with astonishing potential. He immediately crawled towards the door using his hands and feet: he could only go through the door now; he couldn't even climb out the window...
Li Mingbai walked over in a few steps and gently helped the evil cultivator up: "Old sir, what happened to you to become like this?"
What he didn't know was that wisps of golden light were entering the evil cultivator's body along his hand.
The evil cultivator was unable to break free from Li Mingbai's grasp and could only tremble in his embrace...
These golden lights might not be anything to others, and might even have some benefits.
But for him, they were worse than any poison that could burn through the intestines.
He wanted to beg for mercy, but his weak face lacked the strength to even open his mouth.
Only a desperate plea remained in his heart.
No... don't...