Li Weiyi's residence was located just a few miles from the Sui River, separated by a bustling market with three lively streets and a low-lying area of fishermen's houses with blue-tiled roofs. If he could reach the river, he could throw himself into the water and escape.
With the endless flow of spiritual energy within his body, he could stay submerged for a full day and night without suffocating. Other martial practitioners didn’t have such enduring energy. ... The ghost flag draped over his body like a black cloak, Li Weiyi moved like a swift black shadow, crossing the three bustling streets in just a few breaths.
In the distance, he could already see the masts and sails of countless boats moored by the Sui River, and faintly hear the fishermen's laughter and curses as they finished their work.
Suddenly.
A sense of unknown danger surged through him, causing every hair on his body to stand on end. Without a second thought, he channeled his energy into his legs, and his Qingxu Cicada Step burst forth, instantly altering his path.
"Boom!"
A thick, four-feathered arrow as thick as a thumb shot down from above. The arrowhead sank deep into the stone pavement. The part of the arrow that remained above the ground was still as tall as a person, trembling violently.
Its speed had far exceeded the speed of sound, and only after it struck did the piercing whistle of the arrow reach Li Weiyi's ears as he continued to flee. Such a powerful arrow—had he not dodged it, even with his corpse armor and ghost flag, he would have been severely injured.
A three-meter-tall female mutant with black wings on her back hovered three hundred meters above the ground, holding a massive bow that was equally three meters long. Her quiver still held nine arrows. Her deep blue eyes flashed with surprise.
How had the kid on the ground sensed the arrow before it came? He couldn’t have seen it. Was he not just a martial practitioner but also a spirit sense master?
She nocked a second arrow, and as she drew the bow, the silver bowstring, thin as a strand of hair, began to glow. This bow was a magical artifact. The Five Seas Pill from the Five Burial Temple—she was determined to get it.
"Whoosh!"
The long whistle of the arrow sounded again. Li Weiyi narrowly dodged the second arrow, but it grazed his right ear, drawing blood. This was Murong Xiao, ranked twenty-first among the top hundred martial practitioners in Li Prefecture.
With her ability to fly and a low-grade magical artifact bow, she had killed over ten seventh-rank martial practitioners. She had even ambushed a Five Seas Realm expert once. Though she failed to kill him, she had escaped unscathed.
In recent days, while taking Zhao Zhizhuo to rebuild his spring eye, Li Weiyi had visited the Seven Springs Hall and learned about the top hundred martial practitioners in Li Prefecture. Having dodged these two arrows, Li Weiyi's speed was hindered, allowing a masked expert chasing him from the rooftops to catch up.
This masked expert was also a mutant, with long limbs and remarkable speed.
"Crash!"
He kicked off the roof tiles, causing the eaves to collapse and shatter. In the next moment, he was above Li Weiyi, his phoenix-shaped axe cutting through the air with a tearing sound. Just as Li Weiyi's head was about to be severed, his shoulders shifted, and his figure blurred, reappearing a step away.
He dodged the axe and slashed back with his sword.
"Thud!"
Even though the masked seventh-rank martial practitioner blocked with his other axe, he was still sent flying, crashing through the wall of a fisherman's house on the street. Blood gushed from his abdomen. He had prided himself on his speed among the Spring Surge Realm martial practitioners, but he had been outmaneuvered by Li Weiyi's more elusive movements.
"Are you Xie Jin or Li Weiyi? You’d better clarify before you leave."
Shi Chuanyu, the banner leader of the Changlin Gang, caught up, his voice sharp and soft. Silver needles flew from his hands in a dense barrage. As someone who had accompanied the gang leader and deputy leader to meet Yang Qingxi, Shi Chuanyu was no ordinary figure.
He was an eighth-rank martial prodigy who had once obtained a Five Seas Pill from the Yang Clan but failed to break through. Of course, eighth-rank prodigies and top hundred martial practitioners—those with great combat strength or potential—generally had the chance to obtain a second Five Seas Pill.
As for those with Pure Immortal Bodies, getting a third or even fourth Five Seas Pill wasn’t unusual. However, each martial practitioner could only consume one Five Seas Pill per year. If they failed to break through, they had to wait a year before trying again.
Shi Chuanyu had made a misjudgment that cost the Changlin Gang dearly, so he had to personally make up for it. Besides, killing Li Weiyi would earn him another Five Seas Pill. He was confident that this time, after taking the pill, he would definitely break through to the Five Seas Realm.
With his talent and strength as an eighth-rank martial practitioner breaking into the Five Seas Realm, the Changlin Gang would soon be renamed the "Shi Gang."
"Ding! Ding! Ding..."
As Li Weiyi retreated, his sword danced like a waterfall, deflecting all the flying needles. In that brief moment, three more figures caught up. Among them, Yao Zhengsheng, ranked among the top hundred martial practitioners, was the most imposing.
His four-meter-tall gorilla-like body carried a newly forged thousand-pound iron rod. Each step he took shook the ground. The other two seventh-rank martial practitioners were masked, one wielding a sword and the other a spear.
They circled around from the rooftops to block Li Weiyi's path to the Sui River. Unlike the top hundred martial practitioners, they were more cautious, fearing retaliation from the Cang Li Tribe and thus not daring to reveal their identities. In an instant, Li Weiyi was trapped in a life-and-death situation.
Whether in the sky or on the ground, every direction was blocked by top-tier experts. To make matters worse, more Spring Surge Realm martial practitioners, drawn by the allure of the Five Seas Pill and magical artifacts, were arriving. Some lurked in the shadows, waiting for Li Weiyi to weaken before striking.
"I can’t wait any longer, or I’ll never escape today!"
"Kill!"
Li Weiyi let out a long roar, crushing the second blood bag tied to his scripture belt. Then, he charged at the two masked seventh-rank martial practitioners blocking his path, his fighting spirit reaching its peak. The sword-wielding seventh-rank martial practitioner's energy overflowed like mist, and he swung his sword horizontally, aiming for Li Weiyi's legs.
The spear-wielding seventh-rank martial practitioner bent like a drawn bow, channeling all his strength into a thrust. Dozens of spear shadows appeared, forming an impenetrable wall.
"Whoosh!"
Murong Xiao, flying above, predicted Li Weiyi's movement and shot another arrow. A three-pronged attack! Despite never having met before, the three attackers coordinated perfectly, a testament to their rich combat experience.
Li Weiyi had always been most wary of Murong Xiao above. The moment he charged forward, he altered his trajectory in a way that defied physics, slashing at the sword-wielding seventh-rank martial practitioner. With the scripture belt's enhancement and the Qingxu Cicada Step's mystique, Li Weiyi's movements were ghostly, unpredictable.
"Boom!"
The massive arrow from the sky struck three feet to Li Weiyi's right. The sword-wielding seventh-rank martial practitioner looked up in shock at the young figure leaping above him, the yellow light of his sword descending.
"Thud!"
The yellow light left a bloody line from his forehead to his chin. A single slash split him in two! Before his body could separate, Li Weiyi had already escaped several feet behind him, sprinting toward the Sui River at full speed.
The sky darkened, the afterglow of the sunset growing colder. Li Weiyi inwardly cheered for the heavens' help. Once night fell, even if his pursuers were powerful, their vision would be impaired.
His chances of escape would greatly increase. From behind, Shi Chuanyu's soft voice rang out: "Li Weiyi, do you really think the people in that courtyard can make it into the city alive? Offending the Changlin Gang comes with a heavy price.
Those two women will be sent to the Moon Embrace Pavilion. I hear one of them has a Pure Immortal Body." Li Weiyi's heart sank to the depths.
But he quickly calmed himself, believing Shi Chuanyu was deliberately trying to unsettle him, to make him lose focus. After all, according to Zhao Zhizhuo, Cang Li hadn’t left Nine Li City yet. With his twenty personal guards escorting them, how could the Changlin Gang, without absolute benefit, target Zhao Meng and Cai Yutong?
And even if some nameless assassins attacked, Zhao Zhizhuo could definitely handle them. Zhao Zhizhuo's combat strength was on par with the top ten martial practitioners, if not stronger. Shi Chuanyu added, "Do you think I’m bluffing?
With all this commotion, haven’t you noticed that the City Defense Camp hasn’t shown up yet? Do you think the Changlin Gang has that kind of influence?" Li Weiyi glanced back at him, revealing a set of tightly clenched, snow-white teeth. ...
Yang Qingxi sat in the main hall of a massive warship anchored in the center of the Sui River. The table before her was covered with a light blue embroidered cloth adorned with birds and cloud patterns. On the table were exquisite silver wine vessels, rare fruits, and a magical artifact bone lamp.
Tendrils of spiritual energy drifted from her slender, snow-white fingers, activating the bone lamp. The hazy light made her surroundings indistinct, her figure and the sounds within the light's range becoming ethereal.
The light made her Pure Immortal Body's skin appear even more delicate and pale, tempting any man to reach out and touch it, to feel its softness and elasticity. Yang Qingxi gazed at the shore a hundred paces away.
As night fell, both the residential area on the shore and the rows of fishing boats on the river lit up with warm yellow lights. In a narrow alley, bursts of spiritual energy clashed, and yellow sword light flashed. Walls of houses occasionally collapsed, and blood splattered in the night.
The battle was undeniably fierce.
"To think he could fight his way to the Sui River—I must admit, I’m impressed," Yang Qingxi said, her veiled face showing no emotion, her eyes like two clear pools.
Xue Zheng stood guard at the main hall's entrance, his body resembling forged silver, his skin entirely metallic. In a metallic, grating voice, he said, "Miss, shall I end this?"
"Why end it? Isn’t it entertaining? A game of cats chasing a mouse—I find it quite amusing," she replied.
Previously, Yang Yun had planned the assassination on Divine Dragon Avenue, earning a harsh rebuke from Yang Qingxi. She felt her brother had overestimated an ordinary seventh-rank martial practitioner and shouldn’t have appeared at the scene, leaving evidence. But after the fierce reactions from Li Songlin and Cang Li, Yang Qingxi began to sense something amiss.
Upon closer investigation, she discovered many oddities. That’s why she had allowed Yang Yun to act freely this morning. She wanted to see why Li Songlin, Cang Li, and Li Ling valued Li Weiyi and the people in that courtyard so much, hoping to uncover their secrets.
Especially the secret of the Pure Immortal Body's transformation.
"Rustle..."
A gentle breeze swept across the river. A handsome figure in a silver robe and white coat silently descended from the night sky onto the bow of the two-hundred-meter-long warship. No one knew where he had come from.
In fact, no one had even noticed when he had landed. Only when he spoke did his presence become known: "Miss Yang, parking your ship here is quite bold. Aren’t you afraid our secret plans might be discovered by some old fellows in the city?"
The handsome, noble figure held a two-foot-long bone flute, his voice rich and magnetic. Had Li Weiyi been there, he would have recognized him. This was the same noble guest who, wearing a Buddha head mask, had ambushed the Cang Li Tribe's coffin bearers in Burial Immortal Town alongside Shi Jiuzhai.
His attire, the bone flute, his voice... The only difference was that this mysterious guest wasn’t wearing the Buddha head mask now.
(End of Chapter)