At this moment, Li Qinglin walked alone to the mountain peak. The peak was where the clouds and mist gathered the most, creating a scene filled with various jagged rocks that were hazy in the fog, resembling a fairyland.
He reached out to touch the rocks, which were rough and clearly hadn’t been touched by people often. There was nothing special about them. However, he noticed faint dried bloodstains on the stones, suggesting someone had been seriously injured here, blood spilled on the mountaintop.
He pondered for a moment, intentionally scraped his hand on a rock to smear some of the blood on it, and waited quietly for a while, but nothing happened. It seemed the blood was indeed unrelated to any secret.
Instead, he noticed some intricate and irregular patterns carved into the ground, looking like a child’s random doodles with no apparent purpose.
Li Qinglin thought for a moment and took off a jade pendant from his waist, placing it nearby. The clouds that seemed to avoid him earlier now shifted away from the pendant instead. He shook his head, and a faint glow surrounded him, his inner energy pushing the mist away.
This was indeed "grievance energy," but it wasn’t avoiding him because of the danger of the battlefield; it was because of the treasure he carried. However, their martial energy could also suppress this grievance energy without issue.
Li Qinglin put away the jade pendant and was about to check the rocky area for the strange tiger when a sudden fishy smell wafted from the center of the rocks. He gripped his spear and focused, slowly revealing a pair of blood-red eyes the size of copper bells in the darkness.
A half-human tall tiger slowly appeared. Li Qinglin squinted at the tiger's fleshy wings, which were several feet long when fully spread. The blood-red pupils showed a hint of displeasure at being disturbed. Compared to the mutated wild boar he had seen earlier, this tiger clearly had some intelligence… it had already become a monster.
With a roar, the tiger lunged at him.
Li Qinglin intentionally wanted to test the so-called "not chasing people," so he stepped back outside the rocky area.
Sure enough, the tiger seemed to be blocked by something and couldn’t come out.
Li Qinglin’s gaze fell back on the patterns on the ground, and he smiled slightly. This must be the formation that bound the tiger; there was indeed someone skilled here.
"Since that’s the case, I’ll help you get rid of it."
Li Qinglin shook his spear, and it transformed into a silver dragon shape, whistling through the air like a dragon's roar.
Meanwhile, Li Qingjun hadn’t fallen asleep. She was so angry with Qin Yi that she couldn’t sleep, so she sat cross-legged to calm herself. Not long after, she faintly heard the sounds of tiger roars and dragon cries in the wind. Li Qingjun’s eyes widened: "Dragon’s roar? Brother!"
She could no longer sit still, grabbed her silver spear from the bedside, and quickly rushed out.
Seeing Li Qingjun disappear into the night, Qin Yi slowly followed behind.
He had deliberately spread the news about the abandoned immortal traces to attract new seekers to come and deal with the tiger.
This tiger had already transformed into a monster, and he couldn’t handle it alone. He had learned from Liu Su how to set up a binding formation to keep it trapped among the rocks to avoid harming anyone. But this wasn’t a long-term solution; what if one day the binding failed? Ultimately, he needed to eliminate this hidden danger.
Once the monster tiger was dealt with, he could dig out whatever was causing the monster transformation and then be free to roam the world without worries.
He hoped the Li siblings would be reliable.
Before reaching the peak, he could already see silver light flashing like lightning, shining like stars. The terrifying energy waves in the air shook the grass and stones, scattering them everywhere. As he got closer, he felt the sharp energy filling the space, and approaching it felt like being pierced through.
"An impressive martial artist; they must have surpassed the transformation stage and reached the peak of innate power," Liu Su remarked. "I didn’t expect someone in this remote little country to have practiced their martial arts to such a high level."
Qin Yi was somewhat astonished. As a martial artist himself, he understood that this meant Li Qinglin’s martial arts level was already top-notch among mortals. Anyone stronger could be considered an extraordinary master. To advance further would require following the path of sword cultivation or achieving physical sanctification, which was no longer considered mortal martial arts; very few in the world had such opportunities.
That’s why people sought immortals.
Upon reaching the peak, the first thing he saw was Li Qinglin’s silver light flashing. The strange tiger actually spread its wings and flew away, extremely agile. Li Qinglin thrust his spear but missed, instead sweeping it across the tiger’s side. The tiger swiped its wings, and with a loud bang, the massive creature was knocked sideways, crashing into a nearby rock wall.
Li Qinglin only took a slight step back, clearly holding the upper hand.
With a light shout, Li Qingjun joined the fray with her spear. The tiger, still a bit dazed from crashing into the wall, was met head-on with another silver spear, equally fierce.
At the same time, Li Qinglin skillfully thrust his spear at the tiger’s other side, blocking its escape route.
"Roar!" The tiger suddenly jumped, its tail sweeping against Li Qingjun’s spear. She let out a muffled grunt but didn’t back down; instead, she surged forward like a startled dragon.
The tiger lost its chance to break through from that side and couldn’t avoid Li Qinglin’s spear, finally getting stabbed in the side, blood bursting forth.
The injured tiger roared in fury and charged toward Li Qingjun. She braced her spear, and the immense force sent her flying far away, leaving long marks on the ground with her boots. Li Qinglin, still holding his spear in the tiger’s side, dragged it along, slamming the massive beast against the rock, causing the ground to shake.
Li Qingjun crashed into another pile of rocks, a trace of blood trickling from her lips. She didn’t even wipe it away and charged back into the fight.
"She’s quite impressive, this girl," Qin Yi thought, feeling a bit of admiration. This tiger was much stronger than when he had set up the binding formation; it seemed to have absorbed a lot of monster energy here and evolved. If it had been this strong back then, he might not have even been able to set up the binding formation.
And yet, looking at the delicate-looking Li Qingjun, she was surprisingly tough!
This brother and sister pair truly had the spirit of iron-blooded warriors. Although Li Qingjun had a bit of a spoiled attitude, she was definitely not a sheltered flower. He wondered what kind of family could raise such a pair; they looked like they came from a military family.
Li Qinglin alone was enough to handle the monster tiger, and with Li Qingjun’s help, there was no doubt about the outcome. The injured tiger could no longer withstand their combined assault and finally struggled to death on the ground.
A wisp of monster energy drifted away into the air.
Qin Yi let out a sigh of relief. Indeed, this brother and sister pair was reliable…
Liu Su snorted coldly. Qin Yi’s successful plan meant that his more malicious scheme had fallen into the gutter.
"Brother Qin, come out," Li Qinglin said with a smile, his expression unchanged. "You’ve been watching for so long without helping; that’s quite inconsiderate. This is your mountain’s beast."
Qin Yi walked out of the shadows, his face calm, and said with a smile, "Everyone has their own duties; I have other things to do."
Li Qingjun leaned on her spear, panting, and looked curiously at Qin Yi as he walked into the pile of rocks. The siblings exchanged glances and followed him inside.
They soon saw Qin Yi crouching down, pulling out a small shovel to dig at the ground. After a short while, he murmured, "Just as I thought."
He pulled out a muddy object from the ground, brushed off the mud, revealing what looked like a small incense burner, with carvings of monster shapes around its edge, emitting faint dark red smoke.
Li Qingjun suddenly realized something: "So you intentionally spread the news about the immortal traces here to lure people up the mountain to deal with the tiger, so you could get this thing!"
Qin Yi turned to glance at her and smiled, "It’s not that I want to take it, but…"
As he spoke, he raised a wolf-tooth club and smashed the incense burner into pieces.
Li Qingjun was taken aback and still felt a bit resentful: "But you still used us!"
Qin Yi fished out a silver ingot: "How about… I pay you?"
Li Qingjun was so angry she almost spat blood and nearly drew her spear, but Li Qinglin stopped her with a wave of his hand: "Brother Qin already warned us about the monster tiger on the mountain. It was my own choice to see it for myself, and I willingly became a pawn in your hands. Who can I blame? But it seems this tiger was bound here by you, Brother Qin?"
Qin Yi nodded, "I couldn’t let it harm anyone."
Li Qinglin said, "There’s another grievance energy in the mountains that Brother Qin can resolve. Plus, with your familiarity with this special object and understanding of the binding formation, you’re indeed knowledgeable in various arts. I wonder which school you learned from?"
"I’m just playing around on my own; I can’t really be considered a master…" Qin Yi replied, "Does Brother Li have any advice?"
"Oh, it’s like this," Li Qinglin sighed softly, "My father has been misled by some fraudulent masters in recent years, abusing medicinal pills, which has caused his health to decline. As children, we see this and are worried sick. Since Brother Qin has true skills, could you help us rectify the situation for our father and distinguish the true from the false? As for the reward, I will ensure it satisfies you."
After a pause, he added, "Because of this, Qingjun has always had a bad impression of fraudulent masters and acted a bit impulsively; please don’t take offense."
It seemed he thought his sister had caused trouble for Qin Yi, assuming Qin Yi had suffered a loss, so he asked for forgiveness. Li Qingjun lowered her head and said nothing, while Qin Yi didn’t know how to respond, so he simply said, "I’m just a wandering person, used to a carefree life; I’m afraid I’ll disappoint Brother Li."
Li Qinglin said, "Consider it my reward to Brother Qin for dealing with the tiger, how about that?"
Qin Yi choked for a moment, then laughed, "So Brother Li had this planned from the start."
Li Qingjun shot a glance at her brother, realizing why he didn’t mind being used as a pawn; he clearly intended to use this favor to persuade Qin Yi to come out of the mountain.
Only she remained clueless, feeling like a fool.
Qin Yi still wanted to refuse. He was more of a homebody and felt quite content in the village; he didn’t want to get involved in any disputes with masters. After pondering for a moment, he took out the antidote pill he had just made and said, "This medicine can be considered Brother Li’s reward for dealing with the tiger."
Li Qinglin sighed, about to persuade him further, when Li Qingjun could no longer hold back and shouted, "If you don’t want to go, then don’t! What’s the big deal! We’ve looked for others; I refuse to believe there’s only one master in Nanli!"
Li Qinglin gently comforted her, "Qingjun, you know that searching for others will only delay things further."
Li Qingjun retorted angrily, "Looking at him, he’s full of bad intentions; how do we know he’s not the second Dong Huazi!"
Qin Yi had already turned to leave when he heard "Dong Huazi." He suddenly stopped and turned around: "Who do you say you want to deal with?"
The original soul had already been devoured by Liu Su, but the body still harbored the strongest obsession and hatred. The lingering resentment deeply hated the so-called "National Master," wanting to ask "why." This deep-seated obsession had affected many of Qin Yi’s nightmares. He had certainly heard about the National Master of Nanli, whose title was Dong Huazi!
Seeing Qin Yi’s change in expression, Li Qinglin felt a bit regretful. Originally, Qin Yi had shown clear reluctance, and now revealing that he wanted to deal with the National Master would make it even more impossible for him to go. He had planned to coax him into it, but unexpectedly, his sister couldn’t keep her mouth shut and let it slip.
He looked at Qin Yi helplessly and slowly said, "The National Master Dong Huazi of Nanli; if Brother Qin is afraid, then I’ll have to look for someone more capable."
"No," Qin Yi said firmly, "I’ll go with you."
Li Qinglin was stunned: "Brother Qin, you mean…"
Qin Yi pointed at the broken pieces of the incense burner on the ground: "I want to ask him one question: why!"
Even Li Qingjun was shocked, looking at Qin Yi. She hadn’t expected this seemingly unremarkable person to have such a cold and fierce expression, almost as if he wanted to devour someone.
(End of Chapter)