Li Weiyi's figure became blurry, like a gust of wind, quickly catching up to the two Qi Springs martial practitioners who were attempting to flee. With a flash of sword light, he severed them at the waist, blood splattering everywhere.
Not to mention having the strength to retaliate, the two Qi Springs martial practitioners didn’t even get a clear look at Li Weiyi’s figure. With such strength, who could believe that he had only just reached the Eight Springs?
“Today, no one is leaving this mansion,” Li Weiyi declared, holding the blood-soaked sword, standing tall before the three-meter-wide bronze door.
His eyes surveyed the dozens of martial artists in the courtyard with a gaze of disdain, exuding an aura that suggested he could single-handedly block thousands. Two martial artists from the Stone Gang attempted to climb over the wall, looking to report the news.
“Bang!”
“Bang!”
Just as they leaped over the two-meter-high courtyard wall, two bright and complex formation symbols suddenly appeared in the air above the wall and struck them. Amid their screams, the two fell back, covered in blood. Their deaths were tragic.
“How powerful, they actually activated our formation,” Shi Chuan Yu remained calm.
Yin Ershi added, “I only added a symbol within the formation tower. Now, the formation that envelops the entire hundred-acre mansion has completely lost control; anyone who dares to charge will be attacked.” The members of the gang exchanged glances, their hearts instantly filled with trepidation.
These two fierce individuals were apparently prepared to kill them all? Shi Chuan Yu exchanged a knowing glance with Xu Changlin and then shouted, “The entrance is the gap in the formation; the Qi Springs martial practitioners can break through.
Whoever can kill their way out of the Stone Gang mansion to seek help from the Yang clan will be rewarded with a Five Seas Pill!”
“Kill!”
Xu Changlin's skin was emanating law energy, like a cloud formation. His momentum was overwhelming as he stepped forward, wielding a heavy knife, charging towards Li Weiyi, who stood at the doorway. Dozens of Qi Springs martial practitioners, each holding weapons, followed closely behind, their shouts shaking the heavens.
Shi Chuan Yu produced a mirror-shaped magical item to intercept Yin Ershi, buying time for Xu Changlin. Yin Ershi, aware that Li Weiyi was facing immense pressure, ignored Shi Chuan Yu entirely and floated over from above. He arrived first between Xu Changlin and Li Weiyi, landing gracefully in the open space.
The thousand-pound heavy knife swung down. A surge of law energy erupted from the blade, forming a dazzling radiance. Yin Ershi unleashed the Heaven Wind Palm technique, striking out as if the whole world within dozens of feet was spinning.
With a palm meeting the knife, the wind howled.
“Boom!”
The thousand-pound knife flew out as if it were made of wood, flying over Xu Changlin's head after being struck. Xu Changlin, a renowned expert in the Five Seas Realm for decades, was sent flying back, spitting blood, like a kite with a broken string. The heavy knife fell to the ground, creating a loud crash.
Yin Ershi pressed forward, aiming to finish him quickly. Yet, Xu Changlin displayed his seasoned combat experience, hitting the ground with his toes to stabilize his form rapidly. In just a breath, the energy in his dantian roared, and with one fierce punch, he retaliated.
Shi Chuan Yu approached with the mirror, activated by his law energy, shooting a scorching beam of light from its surface. Yin Ershi thrust out both palms, confronting the two Five Seas martial practitioners in a fierce clash.
“Bang!”
Xu Changlin spat blood again, his face paling to a ghostly hue, collapsing like a rolling gourd. Shi Chuan Yu was slightly better off; with the mirror to defend himself, while his internal law energy was thrown into disarray and his chest ached, he could still stand, not as embarrassingly as Xu Changlin.
After Li Weiyi had slain three Qi Springs martial practitioners, keeping the majority of the Stone Gang experts at bay, he saw Yin Ershi unleash such a powerful palm technique and was amazed. Yet an interesting thought surfaced in his mind. The Heaven Wind Palm was a fundamental martial art of one of the Nine Kings, the Medicine King.
At her sixteen years of age, she had cultivated this palm technique to the merging of Dao and law; she might have even comprehended battle intentions based on the Heaven Wind Palm. This meant that she must have trained since childhood rather than starting after joining the Hidden Door.
Now, here’s the interesting part: Yao Yin trained in the same Dao law merging martial art, the Heaven Wind Palm. These two may very well both be from the Cang Li Tribe, considering their similar ages and that Yin Ershi talked way too much with Yao Yin.
Li Weiyi had reason to suspect they already knew each other and might even have a close relationship, only pretending to be strangers due to their identities. After all, those of the Hidden are required to sever ties to their past.
This thought flashed through Li Weiyi's mind and vanished without a trace as he had no time to ponder; the situation in the courtyard had shifted once again. The group of blue-clad eunuchs guarding the cargo of the convoy stood at the corner of the front courtyard, acting merely as spectators and not actively joining the fight.
Most of them were calm, some with disdain and derision in their eyes.
“This Changlin Gang is indeed a bunch of rabble; they can’t even take down two kids fresh into the Five Seas Realm,” muttered a Qi Springs martial practitioner in his fifties with a sneering laugh.
The strongest among this group was a middle-aged man who had reached the Eight Springs Realm, speaking in a voice like a duck, “That girl is quite remarkable, appearing to be an unbeatable figure at the Five Seas, equivalent to the Nine Springs.”
“One-on-one invincibility? What meaning does that hold? On the battlefield, who fights one-on-one? One charge, and they’ll all be crushed into bloody mud,” another blue-clad eunuch said.
“Take action; eliminate these two. We cannot afford any accidents with the cargo we’re escorting.”
The middle-aged man of the Eight Springs nodded, retrieving a two-meter-long white ghost banner from the cart, yelling, “All soldiers, heed my command!”
“Draw your blades, form ranks.”
“Whoosh!”
The spirits of the thirty-three blue-clad eunuchs instantly sharpened, drawing identical battle knives from their waists, forming a combat formation of three rows and eleven columns. They struck a pose with their blades pointed skyward, filled with a beauty that could only come from absolute synchronization, each blade tip aligned in a straight line.
With a single move, all turned in unison. The thirty-three individuals seemed to transform into a single entity. Under the propulsion of their internal law energy, each blue-clad eunuch revealed a symbol on their uniforms.
The combat formation created by these thirty-three symbols erupted with a deafening roar. A massive shadow of a ghost general holding a phoenix beak knife appeared above the formation, standing six to seven meters tall, releasing a terrifying aura.
Every martial practitioner in the courtyard felt as though they were on a battlefield of thousands, frozen in fear and too scared to breathe. Even Shi Chuan Yu and Xu Changlin were stunned, looking towards the formation in the corner, feeling the pressure.
Yin Ershi retreated beside Li Weiyi, her expression grave, “So you are military personnel; it seems the items in those boxes are indeed not simple.” The middle-aged man with the white ghost banner declared, “Surrender quietly. In front of our formation, your cultivation is simply inadequate.”
Yin Ershi snorted coldly, “The Thirty-Three Character Departing Spirit Formation, coupled with the ghost general’s ghost banner magical item, is indeed quite troublesome, but it won't be enough for me to surrender.”
The middle-aged man with the banner said, “A regular Thirty-Three Character Departing Spirit Formation consists of three Qi Springs martial practitioners, ten Six Springs martial practitioners, ten Five Springs martial practitioners, and ten Four Springs martial practitioners, arranged in a staircase pattern to form the formation. But look at us—do we have even a single four-spring martial practitioner?”
“Since she seeks death, let’s send her on her way.”
A loud voice echoed from within the formation. The middle-aged man with the banner waved it.
“Whoosh!”
A chilling wind swept through, and raging ghosts roared. The ghost general above the formation charged forward, the phoenix beak knife striking down fiercely. Yin Ershi's expression changed slightly as she isolated her hands to form the palm imprint without reservation.
Instantly, winds picked up in the courtyard, and the handprint transformed into a dazzling burst of palm power. The phoenix beak knife, like a withered weed, cleaved through the palm power like it was nothing, falling straight toward her head.
Li Weiyi sensed something amiss and dashed out suddenly, colliding into Yin Ershi, sending both of them tumbling several meters away.
“Boom!”
The phoenix beak knife struck the ground, creating a deep pit as its blade sunk completely in. The two fled at high speed, evading the ghost general's pursuit. Li Weiyi asked, “What’s going on?
A group of Qi Springs martial practitioners, who looked unimpressive, become so strong after forming a battle formation? Even the entire Changlin Gang would likely be unable to match them.” To Li Weiyi, the strength of the Changlin Gang paled in comparison to these blue-clad eunuchs.
The current situation shattered his expectations.
“The Changlin Gang is just a ragtag bunch; they can't compare to a military force.”
“Those of similar realms in cultivation, the Changlin Gang can only bully the weak, usually engaging in drinking and gambling. Meanwhile, the military personnel practice hard every day, battling for their lives on the battlefield.”
Yin Ershi continued, “Soldiers in the formation practice the same knife technique every day, achieving absolute synchronization; this includes the alignment of energy and fighting spirit. Didn’t you notice? When the ghost general swung that knife, all thirty-three blue-clad eunuchs swung their blades simultaneously.”
“This type of absolute synchronized combat is known as the merging of Dao. It requires several years, even decades of rigorous training to accomplish.”
“With the Thirty-Three Character formation to assist them, they are as one.”
“This is just the Thirty-Three Character Departing Spirit Formation; if faced with a thousand-character or ten-thousand-character level formation, their fighting spirit could manifest as cities, rivers, fire plains, mountains, giants, dragons, phoenixes, and starry skies… In short, the military is invincible, and no personal strength can contend against them.”
Li Weiyi reflected, “I shouldn't have underestimated them; I should have taken down a few before they formed their battle formation.”
“I'll break the formation; the rest is up to you!”
Yin Ershi charged toward the formation formed by the thirty-three blue-clad eunuchs, cutting her wrist to use her own blood to activate the Three-Headed Snake Bracelet, preparing to test the power of the blood soul inside this high-tier magical item.
“Leave everything to me?”
Li Weiyi looked toward the distant mansion's bronze door, noticing several Qi Springs martial practitioners breaking the formation. With no other choice, he slapped the insect tube to reveal his true trump card.
“Woo woo!”
Seven Phoenix-Wing Moths simultaneously sprang into the air, transforming into seven vibrant halos, swiftly killing the Qi Springs martial practitioners attempting to break through the door. Bodies sprawled haphazardly across the ground. In the past twenty days, after consuming five hundred-year-old flesh of the Cistanche, they had grown a bit bigger.
Li Weiyi had measured their body lengths repeatedly, now just shy of two inches.
“It’s the murderous insects; he still has a powerful insect tamer among him,” Shi Chuan Yu saw that the battle power of the seven Phoenix-Wing Moths was formidable; their wings moved as swiftly as magical swords, killing Qi Springs martial practitioners as easily as eating or drinking.
Moreover, their speed was terrifying, comparable to Five Seas martial practitioners. A legendary insect tamer could contend with an entire army alone and guard a city by themselves; how could Shi Chuan Yu not be shocked?
“Whoosh!”
He lunged at Li Weiyi with the mirror. The best way to deal with the murderous insect swarm was to kill the insect tamer.
“Swish! Swish…”
Five Phoenix-Wing Moths flew in from five directions, tracing a wavy arc, all attacking Shi Chuan Yu. The remaining two were stationed at the door, eliminating all the members attempting to charge forward.
Shi Chuan Yu was strong; with the mirror-shaped magical item, he managed to swat away the first Phoenix-Wing Moth, sending it crashing heavily against the pillar of a nearby building. The pillar broke on impact.
Yet that Phoenix-Wing Moth quickly recovered and took to the air again, as if its body was made of metal, with such formidable defense that typical magical items couldn't harm it.
“Zhi!”
A Phoenix-Wing Moth sliced past Shi Chuan Yu's arm with its membranous wings, instantly cutting a deep gash. Following that was a second cut, then a third… Under the assault of the five Phoenix-Wing Moths, Shi Chuan Yu was unable to defend himself, becoming increasingly frantic, wounds accumulating on his body.
The more he fought, the more terrified he was, realizing the terror of Li Weiyi’s identity as an insect tamer, prompting him to think of fleeing immediately. On the other side, Li Weiyi and Xu Changlin had clashed for several moves.
Xu Changlin had already sustained internal injuries from Yin Ershi’s earlier attack, and under Li Weiyi's all-out assault, he gradually fell into a disadvantage.
“Boom!”
Their weapons collided with tremendous force, causing both to retreat. Seizing the opportunity, Li Weiyi formed a hand seal with his fingers, channeling law energy from his wind palace to unleash his strongest attack, pointing forward. Compassionate Voyage Illuminated!
Xu Changlin’s battle knife was too heavy; he couldn't swing it in time and could only form a palm imprint. His internal law energy surged madly from his palm, clashing against Li Weiyi's finger strike.
“Puff!”
Xu Changlin's hand was pierced through. A beam of forceful finger energy penetrated his palm and struck his chest, creating a transparent blood hole the size of a wine cup. Xu Changlin screamed, staggering back.
He glanced at his shattered palm and then looked down at the pierced chest, despair written across his face as he collapsed straight to the ground.
Li Weiyi, after confronting a Five Seas Realm practitioner, was also not feeling well; the force of Xu Changlin's palm energy had sent him crashing through a wall, and after a while, he managed to struggle back up.
With blood staining his lips, he approached Xu Changlin's lifeless body, confirming he was truly dead before letting out a long sigh of relief. Killing two Five Seas practitioners in succession was truly perilous and had come at a considerable cost.
(End of Chapter)