As the qi within Li Guanyi began to rapidly transform.
The battle in the sky reached its most intense moment.
Dragons and tigers intertwined, arrows and halberds clashed fiercely, continuously forcing out the hidden powerful cultivator. The dark-colored soft armor covered him like dragon scales, one hand gripping a slender sword, a dark golden mask obscuring his face.
With a single sword strike.
The owl bird spread its wings and let out a long cry, the black wind surged.
The energies of both dragons and tigers were torn apart, and Yue Qianfeng and Xue Daoyong both evaded.
Seeing the dark golden mask of authority, Yue Qianfeng suddenly became furious: "Chengying Sword, Wulong Entangling Armor, and the heavy golden mask worn by the Taiping Duke when he dominated the Western Regions, why is it in the hands of a despicable person like you?!"
Clad in precious armor, wielding one of the top ten assassination weapons in the world.
Xue Daoyong's eyes were filled with a chilling intent.
A Dharma Aspect level martial artist, wearing the Wulong Armor that concealed his aura, wielding the nearly undetectable Chengying Sword.
With such an assassin approaching him, if he struck hard...
The White Tiger paced in the void, the old man laughed and said, "Good."
"The tenth-ranked assassin in the world, Situ Deqing, with the third-ranked assassination weapon, the Chengying Sword."
"The old man's life is truly precious."
"I almost want to buy it myself."
Before the words fell, the White Tiger roared, arrows shot like light towards the opponent, Situ Deqing's cold gaze swept through the forest, landing on the young man who was galloping away from the battlefield, his brow furrowed slightly. He felt that the young man's face seemed somewhat familiar.
Why was there a hint of heart palpitations?!
He instinctively raised his hand to touch the mask on his face.
An instinctive irritation and killing intent towards that young man surged up.
He raised his hand, and in the forest, more than a dozen figures sprang up.
Some of them held crossbows made of black gold, equipped with golden nets specifically designed to restrain martial artists' Dharma aspects, adorned with talismans from the Daoist sect, Buddhist relics, and Confucian scholars' artifacts, soaring into the air.
Others leaped like stars, their speed swifter than galloping horses, pouncing towards Li Guanyi. The old man in the sky suddenly drew his bow, and when he released the bowstring, a hundred beams of golden light shot forth.
The golden streams of light struck down, intercepting the assassins pursuing Li Guanyi, creating pits in the ground. Yue Qianfeng raised his hand, and a red dragon roared in the sky, suddenly opening its mouth wide, swallowing the sea, forcibly pulling back the majority of the assassins.
His left hand clenched tightly, red flames gathered, and then he suddenly threw a punch.
The red flames fell to the ground like a great sun.
With one punch, he incinerated the qi within a thirty-mile radius.
He suppressed all the martial artists who had entered the realm, forcing them to lose their various miraculous abilities. Previously, they could move through the air as swiftly as galloping horses, but now their speed was abruptly hindered. They were almost about to catch up to Li Guanyi, but were instead thrown back a distance.
Xue Daoyong shouted angrily, "Return to the city!!!"
Yue Qianfeng also shouted, "Don't look back, charge forward!"
Situ Deqing sneered, "You two should worry about yourselves. Without the precious armor and divine weapons, how much strength do you think you have left after fighting fiercely for a stick of incense?!" The owl bird flapped its wings in response to the thunder, while most of the remaining assassins rushed to utilize the treasures of the Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian sects to suppress the auras of these two top martial artists.
Li Guanyi galloped wildly, and after entering the realm, the bronze cauldron shook violently.
The battle between Yue Qianfeng and Xue Daoyong fully unleashed the energies of the dragon and tiger, the bronze cauldron hummed, and the jade liquid began to accumulate at an astonishing speed. According to Li Guanyi's 'research' on the bronze cauldron, each recognized Dharma aspect could be seen as a significant progress bar, absorbing the divine essence transformed into jade liquid, which was related to Li Guanyi's realm.
Essentially, the lower Li Guanyi's realm, the less power the bronze cauldron could absorb.
Now that Li Guanyi had entered the realm.
The bronze cauldron also rose accordingly, allowing it to absorb more divine essence to transform into jade liquid.
The energies of the dragon and tiger surged into the cauldron. Because Yue Qianfeng and Xue Daoyong were fighting with all their might, this time the jade liquid was filling up at a speed visible to the naked eye. At that moment, Li Guanyi heard the sound of wind, hung his bow on the horse, and then picked up the long spear hanging from the iron hook beside him.
Without even looking.
He flicked his wrist, sweeping the spear.
The spear blade transformed into a cold light, suddenly colliding with a short sword. The spear sank, combined with the galloping momentum of the warhorse, the clash of weapons erupted in a burst of flames. Li Guanyi's tiger mouth throbbed with pain, and the assassin was also knocked back, landing on a tree.
Li Guanyi remained calm; his objective was achieved, and it was time to escape.
A third-party force could not act alone.
Li Guanyi had learned this when Yue Qianfeng first taught him.
Yue Qianfeng's punch dispersed the surrounding qi, and the recovery of the world's qi required time, while that recovered portion would be exhausted by the fierce battle between Yue Qianfeng, Xue Daoyong, and the assassins pursuing Li Guanyi, who were all martial artists above the entry realm.
But now they could only display strength akin to that below the entry realm.
All the sword energies and blade lights, along with their mysterious techniques, were completely suppressed.
Like cooking without rice, or drawing water without a source, it was difficult to utilize.
Yet even so, they were not worried about pursuing the young man who had disrupted their plans.
After all, he was just a young man; not everyone was like Xiao Wuliang, who could charge into battle at thirteen. Even without many mysterious techniques, their physical qualities and combat experience were not something a mere youth could match.
More crossbow bolts were shot out, and Li Guanyi seemed to have eyes on his back.
He lunged forward, lying on the horse's back to avoid the bolt.
The spear in his hand thrust out.
A burly man crossed his arms.
He wore black iron arm guards.
The spear was blocked, and Li Guanyi squeezed his legs around the warhorse, which neighed as if adding fuel to the fire of the spear. The man let out a muffled grunt and was forcibly lifted off the ground; after all, he was an assassin, skilled in aura rather than physical strength.
Four assassins pursued Li Guanyi.
Even if they sealed their qi, they still surpassed ordinary people with their physical bodies. They leaped into the air to attack, like galloping horses. Li Guanyi rode his warhorse, abandoning his battle knife, gripping the long spear with both hands, the spear spinning like a swimming dragon, piercing and blocking.
Relying on the power of his mount, he firmly withstood the first wave of attacks from several assassins.
A round of crossbow bolts shot out, and Li Guanyi's long spear deflected the bolt.
Suddenly spinning the spear, the spear tip pressed against one assassin's sword edge, while the spear's tail pressed against another, his arms surged with divine strength, blocking a heavy blade that came down from the air. Li Guanyi nearly blocked four people, his brow furrowing as he felt a series of dull pains in his meridians.
Yue Qianfeng's sealing of qi caused Li Guanyi's breakthrough into the entry realm, which was supposed to guide the world's qi to refine his body, to be stifled.
The internal qi remained within, seeming to be at the entry realm but not truly entering.
This qi could not connect with the world and was trapped within Li Guanyi, refining and tempering his physique.
This fierce battle instead caused the star power and his physique to become increasingly intertwined, like a volcano about to erupt suddenly being blocked, the pressure building heavier and heavier, and the pain in his meridians gradually intensified. The continuous attacks from these assassins acted like external forces, dispersing the condensed qi within Li Guanyi's body.
The dispersed qi directly merged into his body.
Instead, it made Li Guanyi feel an indescribable sense of relief.
Then, this condensed qi was naturally replenished by the divine essence absorbed by the bronze cauldron when it drew in the jade liquid.
Anyone being targeted by multiple assassins of a higher realm would feel fear.
But at this moment, there was not a ripple in Li Guanyi's eyes.
Having faced the sharpest edge of the world, he found it hard to feel fear towards these people. Suddenly shaking the long spear, he was unsure if it was an illusion, but because the qi within him was dispersed and mixed into his body, his strength surged violently, merging with the horse, and the long spear swept across, forcibly pushing back the assassins.
"Get lost!!!"
The assassins were forced back, their expressions grim.
What kind of fierce bravery was this?!
Among them, the oldest assassin had just felt that Li Guanyi looked familiar.
Now, seeing the young man charging into battle, wielding the long spear, his eyes cold, hair flying, with a small mole at the corner of his left eye, sword-like brows and starry eyes, awakened his long-buried memories. His expression changed drastically, and he blurted out: "It's you!!!"
"It's the..."
"It's that child from ten years ago!!!"
His face turned pale, as if he had seen a tiger cub escaping or a nightmare.
Stunned for a moment, he lost the calm of an assassin and shouted:
"Kill him! We must kill him!"
Li Guanyi heard this and felt a sudden jolt in his heart, questioning, "Ten years ago?!"
People from back then?
That group, weren't they the Night Rider Cavalry?
What had once been certain now seemed to show a hint of difference, revealing an unexpected change beyond Li Guanyi's expectations. Today, the young man charged out with spirit but caught a glimpse of a secret he cared about the most.
The assassin who recognized Li Guanyi seemed to believe this was more important.
Without hesitation, he abandoned his teammates, Li Guanyi, and even Xue Daoyong, turning to flee.
The other assassins exchanged glances, each using techniques to cover their retreat. Li Guanyi turned to pursue, arrows shot out, and the White Tiger Arrow struck the assassin's back. He extended the long spear, suddenly hearing a crisp sound by his ear, and with combat instinct, swept the spear horizontally, cutting through the opponent's weapon.
But then he felt a weight in his hand; the long spear was locked by chains.
The chains flew out from other directions, locking the tail of Li Guanyi's spear.
The other end of the chain was directly embedded into the mountain rock.
There were still ambushes from the assassins.
If it weren't for Yue Qianfeng disrupting the qi, these would be enough to unleash their other techniques, meant to leave a backup for Xue Daoyong.
The cold light was sharp, and assassins were already pouncing forward. Li Guanyi flicked his hand, throwing the long spear away, abandoning his weapon, and his body leaped from the horse. The cold light fell, and the warhorse that had accompanied Li Guanyi out cried out in anguish, crashing to the ground, black blood flowing from its seven orifices, its hooves trembled, and it no longer moved.
The young man's eyes widened in fury.
A burly man retracted his right hand.
In his right hand was a massive meteor hammer.
It was covered in blood, smashing down to kill the warhorse, preventing Li Guanyi from using its momentum. In the moment of flipping, he had already grasped the bow and arrow, spinning as he drew the battle bow, the energies of the dragon and tiger swirling. Although the qi was sealed here, the power of the Dharma aspect remained, and the arrow burst forth with flowing light.
An assassin at the third level of the entry realm raised his hand to block an arrow.
The blazing flames erupted, shaking his weapon upward.
The second arrow followed closely, shooting through his throat, pinning him to a tree.
But the enemy was not just one.
A sharp cold light flashed by, and Li Guanyi could only hastily raise his battle bow. His wrist ached as the bow worth over a thousand coins was cleaved in two by a sharp knife. The reflection of Li Guanyi's eyes was captured by the descending blade. He reacted swiftly, twisting his right hand.
The bowstring ensnared the assailant's wrist, and then his arms twisted.
The bowstring acted like a knife, instantly severing the man's wrist, blood gushed out, dripping down. There were still five assassins remaining, surrounding Li Guanyi. He exhaled a breath of turbid air; although he had entered the realm, he could not communicate with the world's qi. The qi circulated within him, raising his body temperature.
Releasing the battle bow, he held the dark-colored knife, his eyes calmly gazing at the five assassins ahead.
Clearly, they were five individuals of higher realms than him.
Yet in that moment, the assassins felt a sense of illusion, as if the opponent had intercepted them. The blade of the dark knife whistled, and the assassin who had killed the warhorse attempted to shatter Li Guanyi's state of mind with words, coldly saying: "You can't escape. If you surrender, I will spare your life."
"Even if we can't use the techniques of the entry realm."
"But this experience in battle is not false, and it is not something you can contend with."
"Without the advantage of the warhorse, how much of your martial arts can you display?"
He spoke each word deliberately, suppressing Li Guanyi's state of mind.
Whether it was coincidence or instinct, when fleeing, one often subconsciously chooses familiar directions, and this place was not far from the secret realm of the Xue family.
Li Guanyi scanned the area where the stream converged, knowing that Yaoguang was just behind the mountain rock, feeling relieved.
He wouldn't be reduced to gnawing on steamed buns.
He raised his knife, just like General Xue, and lightly said:
"I learned to ride in just seven days; what I excel at..."
The opponent did not hear the end of this sentence because it was merely bait. Upon reaching this point, the young man charged like a fierce tiger, his black hair flying, and the assassin saw a shadow flash before him, a domineering blade crashing down.
"It is foot combat."
...
The assassin who discovered Li Guanyi's true identity quickly left, intending to relay this unexpected discovery. He was certain that with this young man's face and aura, even if today did not end in discovery, he would eventually be found out. But he was fortunate.
At this moment, the one who discovered him was himself, which meant he could turn his crime into merit.
Feeling relieved, he suddenly found that the arrow wound was not so serious. He did not know why, but the forest, which had seemed impossible to escape, now appeared exceptionally beautiful, the sunlight bright, flowers fragrant, and the wind rustling through the treetops.
The sound of rustling leaves was like the sound of a zither.
Melodious and beautiful.
?!!!
"Zither sound?!!!"
He suddenly halted his steps.
(End of this chapter)