"Yet another dharma artifact."
Yan Qingqing froze, finding it hard to believe. She had never encountered such an odd person before.
Li Ling was nearly speechless. She thought Li Weiyi was extraordinarily calculating—he clearly possessed the strength to contend with the two pursuing them, yet he had kept her, an injured casualty struck by a flying needle, taking the brunt at the front. Furthermore, before her brother, he had even posed as a mere three-spring dharma-martial cultivator.
"Don't let him get away! His cultivation isn't high," Xing Wanxing called out, not angered in the slightest, but thrilled instead.
Because that mysterious oddball's cultivation was not very high—having likely opened only five springs—capturing him would yield multiple dharma artifacts.
***
The roar of water boomed ahead. They were on the verge of breaking out of Immortal Burial Town to reach the Dragon-Slaying Pass waterfall.
Yet Li Weiyi suddenly came to a halt.
Toward the eastern exit of the town, beneath the thousand-year-old apricot tree, stood a tall, thin figure clad in monastic robes.
Shi Jiuzhai's seventh disciple, Fang Tong, had his back turned to Li Weiyi and Li Ling as they rushed up. His gaze was fixed on the giant silver skeleton resting inside the silver coffin. Beneath the silver glow, his shadow stretched across the street right to the feet of Li Weiyi and Li Ling.
Shi Jiuzhai's disciples were ranked not by age, but by cultivation depth.
Fang Tong's combat strength was naturally superior to Yan Qingqing's.
"A star for a heart, silver for bones—the skeleton of the Silver-Skeletal Celestial Clan. An otherworld coffin like this appeared once before in history, stirring up two decades of chaotic warfare and claiming the lives of countless cultivators who sought to claim it for themselves.
"Unopened, this coffin was worth three hundred million. Opened, its value exceeds a billion."
Fang Tong continued, "Logically speaking, with the silver skeleton here, the Immortal Dharma Star located at the heart should also be inside the coffin. Which of you opened this coffin?"
His voice was deep, yet clearly audible to everyone in town, demonstrating profound dharma power mastery.
Having caught up, Xing Wanxing was spooked by Fang Tong's words and immediately explained, "This has nothing to do with us! It was opened by the Cangling Tribe long before. The Immortal Dharma Star you speak of was definitely taken by them ahead of time."
Fang Tong turned around, revealing a long donkey-like face. "It had best have nothing to do with you! A treasure like the Immortal Dharma Star is something not just Master, but even the Heavenly King would seize at any cost. The entire Southern Realm will be shaken. I shall report this matter truthfully."
Yan Qingqing said, "In any case, by the time I arrived, the coffin was already open."
Xing Wanxing inwardly cursed the bitch. She could clearly have testified for him, yet she chose to keep her hands completely clean. He looked at Li Weiyi and Li Ling, quickly scheming in desperation. "These two arrived in Immortal Burial Town before me, and they carry multiple dharma artifacts. It's very likely they took it from the coffin!"
Fang Tong's gaze finally settled upon Li Weiyi and Li Ling.
Li Ling was in terrible shape. All the traces of light had retreated into her brow. She whispered, "Whatever trump cards you still have, use them quick! This donkey-faced man is probably even harder to deal with than that canine mutant auntie."
She did not hold out much hope.
If this "Xie Jin" fellow was truly powerful enough to deal with a seven-spring dharma-martial cultivator, why would he have been fleeing in such a disheveled state all this time?
Still, as long as they broke through and rushed toward the Dragon-Slaying Pass waterfall, a sliver of hope remained. The river below the waterfall led directly to the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits and the Blood Sea Coffin Dock—these people certainly wouldn't dare chase them in there.
"Then only one final move remains. I must summon... a helper!"
Li Weiyi slashed his wrist with the sword, spilling blood onto the ground.
He was truly out of options!
Li Ling was at the end of her rope as well.
If it were only Xing Wanxing and Yan Qingqing, they could have put up a fight, but now an even more formidable donkey-faced man had appeared. Perhaps only that utterly outrageous existence—his dao-protecting wife—could help him overcome this crisis.
"No matter whom you summon, you cannot change your destined death today."
Gripping a three-foot flexible sword, Yan Qingqing darted forward.
Li Ling snorted softly. A cluster of bright light appeared at the tip of her right index finger, which she slashed through the air. Instantly, an arc of light several meters long flew out, forcing Yan Qingqing back.
On the other side, dharma power radiance surfaced across Xing Wanxing's palms as he closed in before Li Weiyi.
Li Weiyi swung his sword in a slash, yellow light dazzling.
How could Xing Wanxing dare meet a dharma artifact with bare palms? He hurriedly dodged.
Bolstered by the speed and movement technique of the scripture belt, the two traded blows back and forth for a short while.
Li Weiyi's brows furrowed, doubting his own strength for the first time. *Could it be that I can cross three realms to stand toe-to-toe with a dharma-martial cultivator who has opened six springs? But even a Pure Immortal Physique can only suppress opponents across a single realm.*
Li Weiyi swiftly severed that thought. As a mortal who had cultivated for less than a month, how could he dare let his ego inflate?
Those who grew conceited never met good ends.
Seeing that Yan Qingqing and Xing Wanxing failed to take the duo down after so long, Fang Tong was about to step in personally.
Yet his pupils shrank.
Where Li Weiyi had previously spilled his blood, blood qi rapidly spread across the ground.
*Smack!*
A hand wrapped in ghost-flame burst through the soil, followed by a head, torso, legs... A middle-aged man with disheveled long hair crawled out from underground, his entire body enshrouded in ghost-flame, with a bizarre, bloody character inscribed upon his forehead.
Fang Tong's face changed drastically. He sensed fluctuations of power from the middle-aged man no weaker than his own. "He actually summoned a terrifying aberration!"
*Smack!*
*Smack!*
...
On the street, beside the ancient well, inside the abandoned houses... hand after hand thrust up through the earth. One figure after another clad in ghost-flames, strange characters on their foreheads, crawled out.
The elderly, children, men, women—every single one possessed formidable power, as if all of Immortal Burial Town were coming back to life.
The soldiers of the Earth Wolf King's Army were paralyzed with horror. Yan Qingqing and Xing Wanxing turned deathly pale as well. The scene before them was too spectacular, and too terrifying.
They had never heard of such a monstrous blood-sacrifice summoning technique!
"You summoned all of them? Didn't you say one..." Li Ling looked at Li Weiyi.
"Just run!"
Li Weiyi was utterly bewildered himself; this had nothing to do with him!
He suspected that Immortal Burial Town was abnormal to begin with—its name, location, giant stone statues... Who knew if some half-dead, half-alive things had already been buried beneath the ground?
One after the other, the two broke out of the town.
Rather than leaping from the waterfall, they rushed down the steep, forested slope of Dragon-Slaying Pass. Just as they reached the foot of the waterfall, the whistling sound of rushing wind came howling toward them, a cloud of grey dharma power blotting out the sky.
"It's Shi Jiuzhai." Feeling that familiar aura, Li Weiyi was horrified out of his wits.
Without a second thought, he dragged Li Ling and jumped into the rushing Sui River, holding his breath at the riverbed and drifting downstream with the current.
A moment later, Shi Jiuzhai's towering, haughty figure appeared by the pool beneath the waterfall.
His grey dharma power cloud enveloped Fang Tong, Yan Qingqing, and Xing Wanxing. As for the rest of the Earth Wolf King's Army soldiers trapped in Immortal Burial Town, there had simply been no time to save them.
Shi Jiuzhai scratched and patted his head in exasperation, his head throbbing as he berated them: "Truly, not a single one of you can handle things on your own! Even retrieving a coffin went awry! If I hadn't arrived in time, would you have been completely wiped out?"
Shi Jiuzhai had originally gone to capture Cang Li, but had been ambushed by three tribal first chiefs of the Jiuli Clan and forced to flee in disgrace. Naturally, such humiliating matters would never cross his lips before his disciples.
Yan Qingqing said in a trembling voice, "The mysterious man traveling with Li Ling is formidable..."
Before she could finish, Shi Jiuzhai cut in: "How formidable could he be? If he were truly that formidable, would you even be alive right now?"
Fang Tong said, "His true cultivation is only around five springs, but he carries many dharma artifacts and trump cards."
"Five springs!"
Shi Jiuzhai laughed out of sheer fury, then roared, "Then what are you waiting for? Search downstream along the current! If you can't find them, don't even think of returning—spend the rest of your lives right here!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Yan Qingqing and Xing Wanxing had never seen their master this enraged. They immediately hurried toward the downstream reaches of the Sui River, hoping to intercept the duo before they could flee into the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits.
Otherwise, perilous as the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits was, they would have to brace themselves and plunge in after them.
Fang Tong said, "Master, it is not entirely bad news. An Immortal Dharma Star may have emerged from that silver coffin. If it is not in those two's hands, it must be with the Cangling Tribe. This disciple leans toward the latter!"
"The Immortal Dharma Star!"
Shi Jiuzhai was visibly moved. If it was truly that legendary item, even he was unqualified to touch it and had to inform the Heavenly King at once. He said, "It seems great turmoil in Lizhou is a foregone conclusion. Though the Cangling Tribe obtained a treasure, that very treasure will bring the crime of clan extermination upon them.
"I must return. I leave this place to you!"
Shi Jiuzhai tossed Fang Tong a necklace hung with a four-inch wolf tooth.
"Take the Snow Wolf King. I want both of them alive. If you fail to capture them, even Master won't be able to plead for you before the Heavenly King."
This was a death-bound command!
Fang Tong's expression shifted, and he responded in a low voice, "Yes."
***
The Mist Domain of Departed Spirits was only two hundred li across, yet its sinister reputation was widespread. Not only were departed spirits and fiendish demons active within it, but heavy fog hung year-round; no matter how high one's cultivation, entering it risked losing one's way.
The Sui River flowed through high mountains and gorges to this point, where the riverbed widened and the current slowed, gradually disappearing into the mist.
Li Weiyi dragged Li Ling onto the riverbank. Looking up, his eyes met only thick, pitch-black sinister mist.
Only scattered points of light emitted by strange insects in the bushes and grasses faintly illuminated the misty expanse.
She had already passed out.
Li Weiyi lay prone on the ground, channeling three-spring dharma power into his right ear. Within one li, he heard no pursuing footsteps from behind. That grey cloud of dharma power earlier had definitely been Shi Jiuzhai in person; had they hesitated even slightly before jumping into the river, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"Phew!"
He let out a long breath, releasing the tightly wound tension.
After resting for a brief moment, Li Weiyi looked over at Li Ling lying on her back beside him.
He first checked her breathing, then examined the wound on her waist and abdomen where Yan Qingqing's flexible sword had pierced her. After confirming her life was in no danger, he left her by the shore and headed straight toward the Blood Sea on his own.
In any case, the people of the Earth Wolf King's Army most likely wouldn't dare barge into the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits. He had already fulfilled every duty of benevolence and righteousness.
From behind, Li Ling suddenly sat up. "Hey! You're just walking away like that? You really don't care whether I live or die?"
"Do women love acting this much?"
Li Weiyi instantly realized she had been faking unconsciousness the entire time. He added, "If I didn't care whether you lived or died, I wouldn't have dragged you ashore. Anyone else might have drowned you in the water."
Li Ling naturally understood the reason behind Li Weiyi's callous indifference. "You haven't been acting? You haven't lied? Why do you think I followed you all this way? The fundamental reason is that you lied to my brother, and you couldn't fool my sharp eyes. Hypocrite! Liar! Calling me an actress—aren't you just the same?"
Only now did she display a bit of a young girl's demeanor.
Yet the contrast was far too jarring.
It felt to Li Weiyi as though two distinct persons lived inside her body.
For the sake of Gao Huan, who had gone to the Jiuli Dao Academy, and so the expedition members would have a place to settle, he said, "I harbor no malice. I only wish to secure a haven for my displaced companions."
Li Ling stood up. Soaking wet, her clothes clung tightly to her figure as she strutted over with a smug air. Smiling, she said, "You aren't very good at lying, are you? But I am, which means I'm also good at seeing through liars. A Spirit Divine Mentalist's perception is exquisitely subtle. Back at Zaomei Manor in Yaoguan, barely a word out of your mouth was the truth."
"I harbor no malice," Li Weiyi reiterated.
Li Ling nodded with a faint smile. "I can believe now that you harbor no malice, because you... your character isn't bad. But back in Yaoguan, how was this young lady supposed to trust a complete stranger like you?"
"So your faked faint just now was to test me?" Li Weiyi said.
Chapter 38