From deep underground came dense, strange sounds, like a pair of scissors cutting through stone. Black smoke surged upward, growing thicker, and Li Weiyi dared not relax his guard but held his breath.
“Be careful underground! There are aberrant, vicious insects—an Insect Tamer is nearby,” came a warning voice from the spirit position plaque on the table.
Li Weiyi had heard the senior spirit speak of “aberrant vicious insects” and “Insect Tamers.” Who would have thought that the Changlin Gang actually had such a person? Without hesitation, he quickly backed away and raised his sword, leaping into the air.
He climbed the trunk of an old poplar tree and stopped only when he was several feet off the ground. … The Insect Tamer—a cultivator of the Spirit Sense path—is a specialized type of Breath Master.
Not to mention the Ghost Realm, in the living world, human powerhouses and devilish demon kings rule above ground; but underground, it is the realm of the insect race. Insect Tamers often roam the barren mountains, vast marshes, and deep chasms, searching for rare and exotic insects, taming and commanding them.
Sometimes, a single Insect Tamer can be equivalent to an entire state’s army, capable of seizing cities and even sweeping the world with one hand. In the years of warfare, there were legends of Insect Tamers emerging one after another. …
“Swoosh!”
A strand of white spider silk, as thick as a hair, shot out from the soil like an arrow and coiled around Li Weiyi’s left ankle. The silk was incredibly tough and tightened more and more, tugging downward. Li Weiyi summoned the power of his Five Springs and with a sudden “bang” managed to break it free.
The explosive force brought forth from the earth a spider no larger than a fist. It had eight legs, but its back looked like that of a tortoise with a hard shell, and its fangs were as sharp and unyielding as scissors. One bite from it would surely tear away a large chunk of flesh.
He swung his sword and cleaved it in two.
“That is a rank-insect, an Ao Spider. Be cautious of the spider silk it spits from its abdomen. Under the Five Seas Realm, any level of martial cultivator might be bound and killed by it. A single Ao Spider is not hard to deal with, but a group is a terror,” explained the senior spirit.
“Swoosh, swoosh!”
One Ao Spider after another burst from the ground in the courtyard, densely spewing spider silk toward Li Weiyi who was clinging to the poplar. If one is entangled by several strands—or dozens at once—the consequences would be unthinkable. Li Weiyi channeled his power into the Yellow Dragon Sword.
A bright glow shone along the blade, and as he danced with swift sword strikes, he refused to let the silk get close. The Ao Spiders on the ground moved like soldiers. Suddenly, a group of about a dozen split off and charged toward the room where Zhao Meng and the others were hiding.
At the same time, seven or eight dark shadows flashed along the courtyard wall. Among these shadows were two figures wielding crossbow-like weapons, aiming at him. Li Weiyi immediately activated the Yellow Dragon Ascension technique, stepping into the void and flying toward the courtyard wall about six or seven feet away.
The crossbow weapons fired windless heavy arrows like needles. But with a couple of “cling cling” sounds, Li Weiyi, always prepared, swung his sword to deflect them. The two Changlin Gang members firing the windless heavy arrows were greatly startled.
The heavy crossbows in their hands were divine weapons—dispatching a four or five Spring cultivator was nothing. In a surprise attack, even six or seven Spring masters might meet an untimely death. Who exactly was this kid?
Had he guessed his timing correctly? Before they could fire a second time, Li Weiyi moved like a phantom across the wall over their heads. Their faces turned to terror, and just as they were about to jump off the wall to escape, Li Weiyi’s yellow sword light had already cut through the night right before their eyes.
“Thud!”
The first sword decapitated one of them. The second sword pierced straight through the chest. Both of the four Spring Gang members fell from the wall, their heavy crossbows clattering away with them.
Li Weiyi moved swiftly along the wall from the south end to the north, cutting down enemy after enemy. In the darkness, only cries of agony could be heard. Within several breaths, seven or eight dark figures tumbled down.
In the next moment, he leaped down onto the stone steps in front of the house where Zhao Meng and the others were hiding, and with his sword, he slashed at the ground to intercept the Ao Spiders.
“Sss sss!”
More and more Ao Spiders emerged from the ground, with spider silk falling onto his body. If it wound around his wrists, even if he managed to break free, his swordplay would slow down. If it wound around his legs, his ability to move and dodge would be seriously hampered.
At one point, seven or eight Ao Spiders were even collaborating to weave a net. At that moment, Li Weiyi finally understood what the senior spirit meant when he said that under the Five Seas Realm, cultivators of any level could be bound and killed. Without the Yellow Dragon Sword, his situation would be far direr.
The senior spirit’s voice came again: “The Ao Spiders fear the cold! Use the Ghost Flag to freeze them.”
“Ghost Flag?”
Li Weiyi questioned. He had used the Ghost Flag from that evil Camel Bell before, but it could only release shades of Nether Fog, offering at best a partial defense.
“In martial cultivation, when a Four Spring or Five Spring master channels their inner power to awaken a magical device, the force is vastly different. The law within your body has undergone a fundamental leap,” the senior spirit continued, clearly knowing something about that Ghost Flag.
Li Weiyi retrieved the Ghost Flag. The power emerging from his five internal spring apertures flowed through his sixty meridians and was all channeled into it. Instantly, a burst of Nether Fog and chill energy erupted, spreading out like a black cloud and covering more than half of the courtyard.
Not long after...
“My Ao Spiders! My Ao Spiders…”
A hoarse voice, accompanied by rapid footsteps, burst into the courtyard. How could Master Qi of the Insect Tamers not be anxious?
He had spent decades painstakingly raising nearly a hundred Ao Spiders so that he could stand on par with a Five Seas Realm master, enjoying the privileges of those above others, with even the leader of the Changlin Gang showing him deference.
But at this moment, beneath the shroud of Nether Fog, every Ao Spider on the ground was frozen stiff, unable to move, each covered with a thin layer of frost.
“Swoosh!”
The tip of the Yellow Dragon Sword pointed at his throat. Master Qi was tall and lean, clad in a loose white long robe, with deeply sunken eyes. Even though Li Weiyi could have ended his life at any moment, no trace of fear flashed in his eyes.
“Splash!”
He grit his teeth in anger, a deep hatred burning within him. The spiritual realm in the center of his forehead, where an impression of a lotus might be seen, lit up like a lamp as he launched a mental attack. The mental power, invisible and intangible, struck like a sword aimed directly at an enemy’s soul.
But when his mental power hit Li Weiyi, instead of killing his enemy, it produced a series of bell-like sounds in his own mind, shaking his consciousness into brief chaos and frenzy—just as if he had been hit by the counterattack of a Five Seas Realm martial cultivator’s war technique.
“Five Seas Realm… you are of the Five Seas…”
Master Qi collapsed to the ground, clutching his head with both hands, his face turning as white as paper in agony. Li Weiyi was just pondering why the old man had called him “Five Seas Realm,” when he heard two strong gusts of wind at his ears. With that, he delivered a palm strike that knocked Master Qi into unconsciousness.
“Swoosh! Swoosh!”
Two middle-aged men who had been standing at a window on the third floor of the Qinglou (Pleasure House) quickly rushed over. They were guest officials of the Changlin Gang, both masters of the Seven Springs, and their cultivations were at the Spring Surge peak.
Tonight, they had not planned to intervene in battle but only to enjoy some sport, and to help guard things to prevent anyone from escaping and inviting unnecessary troubles. Such minor tasks, with Master Qi’s skills, could be executed silently and efficiently in less than fifteen minutes. They wouldn’t alert the City Defense Camp, nor disturb the nearby residents.
The next day, everyone would merely think that these outsiders had fallen victim to vicious insects and met an untimely end. No one would investigate, and no uproar would follow. Master Qi, who had nurtured the insects, and they who reaped the wealth, would all be happily content.
But now, the commotion was too great. In just this Qinglou, many people had come to watch the spectacle. If the situation wasn’t resolved, the City Defense Camp would surely arrive soon.
From the sound of the wind ripping past as the two men moved rapidly, Li Weiyi quickly gauged their cultivation levels. A chill swept his heart, and he steeled himself with heightened alertness. Could these two Seven Springs masters truly be at the Spring Surge peak?
To face two of them at once? The last time Fang Tong managed to single-handedly dispatch a Seven Springs cultivator, he had relied on the enormous power of the Evil Camel Bell and a Black Iron Seal. But now, with countless eyes focusing on this scene, Li Weiyi dared not be overly conspicuous.
As for the Ghost Flag and the Yellow Dragon Sword… Their might appeared to be that of low-grade magical devices, so even if their abilities were exposed, the impact would be limited. After all, among those who have reached the Five Seas Realm, who hasn’t a couple of low-grade magical tools?
A middle-aged man with a long black mole on his forehead burst in from the main entrance, moving as fast as a shattered shadow. He threw a punch that sent a depression through the air, followed by a thunderous explosion. The fist force was domineering, like a cannonball.
Li Weiyi braced himself against the punch, and his body was thrown backward, concurrently sweeping his sword against another man who was scaling the wall to attack the thick-bearded Seven Springs cultivator hiding with Zhao Meng and the others. Both of these opponents were not brutish fools but possessed battle wisdom.
One pressed him head-on while the other attempted to seize his companion, aiming to trap him between two fronts. That made him vulnerable. Seeing through their tactic, Li Weiyi decided to play along, preparing to use this opportunity to severely injure one of them so as to avoid a pincer attack.
Thus, his sword cut toward the thick-bearded Seven Springs cultivator. He poured all his strength into the blow, carving a crescent arc in the darkness. The thick-bearded man was taken completely by surprise at Li Weiyi’s speed, his heart pounding in alarm.
But having immersed himself in the martial arts for nearly a full cycle of sixty years, his mindset remained remarkably calm. Even in this life-and-death crisis, he responded coolly. In his hand, a curved, crescent-shaped short knife swung out, clashing with the edge of Li Weiyi’s Yellow Dragon Sword.
“Ssss!”
Sparks flew and the grating sound of metal on metal echoed. Within the blink of an eye, the two separated.
Li Weiyi then landed in front of the door of the building where Zhao Meng and the others were hiding, glancing at the blood trailing down the blade of his Yellow Dragon Sword, then at the thick-bearded Seven Springs cultivator stumbling down the steps below. A look of disappointment flashed across his face.
It had been so close—just by a hair. The middle-aged man with the long black mole charged after him. Li Weiyi had lost the opportunity to land another strike.
With his current cultivation, even with the aid of magical devices, under a surprise attack it was as difficult as scaling heaven to kill a Seven Springs martial cultivator in one swift move. The thick-bearded Seven Springs cultivator quickly rose, touching his neck where his hands were soaked in blood.
Then he looked at the curved short knife in hand—its blade now bearing a deep notch. Keep in mind, this wasn’t an ordinary weapon but a top-secret, heavy military-grade artifact. Even for a magical tool, damaging such a weapon was no easy matter.
That cut was troublesome indeed! The two exchanged a glance. In unison, they attacked, one from the left and one from the right.
Their target wasn’t Li Weiyi himself but the building behind him. When an opponent is trying hard to protect something, that is precisely what one must attack.
(End of Chapter)