Dividing Lizhou into Four

It was indeed someone from Mount Coffin. A flicker of astonishment flashed through Yang Qingxi's captivating, luminous eyes, and then her gaze settled squarely on the curly-bearded monk standing outside the main entrance in a red kasaya. The monk stood nearly two meters tall, burly and dark-skinned, with a face round as a millstone and eyes piercing as lightning, devoid of any semblance of benevolence or mercy. To be entrusted by the Yang clan to liaise with the major factions, Yang Qingxi had clearly earned the elders' recognition in cultivation, intellect, and tact alike. How could she fail to recognize the monk standing before her? He was the abbot of Five Burials Temple, Grand Chan Master Yuzhen. A figure of resounding renown in the Jiazi Register. With such standing, he was undeniably qualified to represent Mount Coffin. What Yang Qingxi found inconceivable was that just a month ago, they had still been plotting against Mount Coffin and framing the Fodu Bandits. Yet tonight, the man had not come to demand an accounting, but rather to negotiate cooperation. Shi Jiuzhai said, "The Heavenly King's position is that with Mount Coffin joining in, the combined strength of our four factions will be enough to take Lizhou, even if we have to take it by brute force." Four factions. First was the Sui Sect backing Yang Qingxi. Second was the ten-million estate, the Dragon Gate. Then came two of the Three Great Barbarian Bandits of the Southern Border: the Earth Wolf King's Army and the Mount Coffin Fodu Bandits. Yang Qingxi grasped everything in an instant. Clearly, once the frame-up was exposed, Mount Coffin's leadership had gone to the Earth Wolf King's Army to demand an explanation, and in the end, the two barbarian bandit factions had turned swords into plowshares, resolving to join forces and carve up Lizhou together. From the perspective of the Sui Sect and the Yang clan, they were naturally unwilling to let Mount Coffin take part. The only reason the Sui Sect wanted Lizhou in the first place was to secure a territory of their own. At present, the Sui Sect's influence was distributed along the Sui River, scattered on both banks. Granted, the Sui River traversed the Lingxiao Realm of the Living from north to south, flowing through seven provinces, and its tributaries reached into a dozen more. But they knew their own plight: the waterway did not belong to the Sui Sect. The million-tier clans and million-tier sects of each province extorted them from time to time, and worse, they had to keep their heads down before behemoths like the ten-million estates, walking on thin ice at all times. The Sui River was a vine. What the Sui Sect needed was a patch of soil where that vine could take root; otherwise, they would forever remain duckweed without roots. Only by taking Lizhou and becoming its masters would the Sui Sect truly possess a domain of their own. And only by first securing a single province would the Sui Sect ever have a chance in the future to grow into a ten-million sect, or even march northward to contend for supremacy over the realm. The Earth Wolf King's Army and the Dragon Gate were both far from Lizhou; what they wanted was nothing more than resources and grain supplies to fund their campaigns across the realm. Mount Coffin, however, was practically on their doorstep. If they joined, how could they not demand territory? How could they not desire that immense goldmine of resources bestowed by heaven—the Blood Sea otherworld coffins? Yang Qingxi swept her gaze over Shi Jiuzhai, Grand Chan Master Yuzhen, and the others before asking, "Young Master Long, where does your Dragon Gate stand?" Standing at the prow, the noble young man surnamed Long said, "At this point, there is no other choice. We can only attack head-on by force and wipe out the Jiuli. With one more faction involved, the price each of us pays will naturally be smaller. After all, the Dragon Gate and the Earth Wolf King's Army are currently fighting the Lingxiao Palace's armies on multiple fronts, so the forces we can divert to Lizhou are limited indeed. "My recommendation is to strike as soon as possible. We must seize the cultivation resources, grain, funds, weapons, mutated beasts, medicinal pills, and thousands of years of accumulated foundations stored by the Jiuli tribes, and send them to the front lines. If we don't take them, are we supposed to leave them for the Lingxiao Palace?" With even the Dragon Gate supporting Mount Coffin's inclusion, Yang Qingxi knew there was no longer any room to push back. Just as she was pondering how to fight for greater benefits... Outside the door, from among the Mount Coffin contingent, an elderly, mocking sneer rang out. "Do you gentlemen truly take the Jiuli Nine Tribes for nine grain silos and treasuries ripe for the plundering? You grossly underestimate the thousands of years of foundation held by the Jiuli Clan!" Every pair of eyes turned toward him, including the man surnamed Long and Shi Jiuzhai. This person did not seem to belong to Mount Coffin! Mount Coffin had brought an outsider along. The aged voice came from an old man completely wrapped in a loose black robe. He stood behind Grand Chan Master Yuzhen, the abbot of Five Burials Temple, side by side with the White-Robed Lay Practitioner. He wore a deep hood, and black mist enveloped his entire body, preventing anyone from catching a glimpse of his face beneath the cowl. The hooded elder in black mist continued, "Fourteen years ago in the Battle of Mount Mang, Yang Shenjing was indeed awe-inspiring, defeating six chiefs of the Jiuli Clan in succession. But if those six chiefs had joined forces, would he still have been a match for them? "Furthermore, the strongest aspect of the Jiuli Clan has never been the power you see on the surface. Have any of you heard of the Jiuli Hidden Gate?" The Sui Sect had followed the Jiuli Clan for many years, so they naturally possessed deep insight into them. Yang Qingxi said, "The Jiuli Hidden Gate has always been nothing more than a legend; it has never truly appeared in the world. Even during a clash as fierce as the one fourteen years ago, not a trace of them was seen. I do not believe this legend is true. "Even if it were, it would only be an empty name, exaggerated beyond all reason. Otherwise, how could they stand idly by and watch the Jiuli Clan decline? How could they watch the Jiuli Clan's core interests carved away?" The hooded elder in black mist gave a dry cackle. "If your Sui Sect holds such a view, you will inevitably pay a catastrophic price for your arrogance. Look over at the riverbank... that cat-and-mouse game you fancy so lightly is a microcosm of the entire realm's situation. In a single instant, it can turn upside down and birth bizarre new developments." ... ...... Yang Yun could hardly believe his own eyes. Three Top Hundred martial artists, including Shi Chuanyu who had opened eight springs, had all been sent flying in a single instant by a heavily injured man. From beginning to end, his attitude had been one of mockery; he had never taken this nameless seven-spring martial cultivator seriously. Yet at this moment, meeting his opponent's eyes again, Yang Yun felt that steady assurance of having everything under control slip away. It was as if he had been locked onto by a ferocious beast in the jungle. Li Weiyi's sixth spring orifice had opened, but only two silver trace veins had rooted themselves in the orifice. It would take time to clear them all. Shi Chuanyu, who had crashed onto a fishing boat to Li Weiyi's right, was the first to scramble up, clutching his chest in excruciating pain. In that clash just now, he had distinctly felt how overwhelmingly immense the other man's palm force was. Even without the amplification of those silver-thread gloves, a dharma artifact, he himself might not have held the slightest advantage in raw power. Yao Zhengsheng, who had plunged into the river, hauled himself out. The water was two meters deep, yet it came only up to his waist and abdomen. In the Yongquan Realm, when had he ever lost in a contest of strength? After Lu Can was thrown backward, snapping a mast, he climbed back to his feet with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. Coupled with one of his tiger claws having been pierced earlier by the Yellow Dragon Sword, his combat prowess was severely diminished. Yang Yun steadied his mind and toyed with the Yellow Dragon Sword in his hand, laughing. "He broke through! But there's no way he stepped into the Wuhai Realm. At most, he opened an eighth spring, relying entirely on the dharma artifacts on him to show off! When have figures like us ever feared anyone beneath the Wuhai Realm? Kill him! Whoever grabs his dharma artifacts gets to keep them! Of course, once you take them, you can also trade them to the Yang clan for Wuhai Pills!" Li Weiyi's explosive burst just now had indeed been terrifying, but equally obvious to everyone were the wounds covering his body. No matter how strong a man was, there would always come a moment when he fell. There would always come a moment when his strength ran dry. Earlier, Li Weiyi had driven the spring-piercing needle into his Danzhong point with extreme speed. Shrouded by the night, none of the Yongquan martial cultivators present had seen it clearly, and they had no idea that what he had opened was only his sixth spring orifice. *Boom!* Li Weiyi slammed his foot down against the fishing boat and sprang into the air, the vessel instantly shattering into pieces. Treading upon empty air as if upon solid ground, he shot straight toward Yang Yun. Yang Yun showed no fear. Channeling the eight-spring dharmic power within him, he surged it into the Yellow Dragon Sword, only for his brow to furrow deeply. The sword in his hand... showed no reaction at all, unable to summon even a sliver of sword light. A blast of palm wind rushed at his face; Li Weiyi was already before him. Yang Yun shifted the Yellow Dragon Sword into his left hand for the moment and clenched his right into a fist. Upon his fist, brilliant dharmic light erupted, blasting through the palm wind like a dazzling star to collide head-on with Li Weiyi's silver-clad palm. *Boom!* In this instant, Yang Yun gained a profound understanding of why the three Top Hundred martial artists had been thrown backward. The other man's palm force was simply too overwhelming, possessing power vast enough to cleave mountains and shift peaks. And this was merely a strike thrown mid-leap, delivered without gathering momentum! Cracks spiderwebbed through the hull beneath Yang Yun's feet. He stumbled backward step after step, the wooden boat groaning and creaking beneath him with every pace. Only when his back slammed into the thick cabin wall did he finally arrest his retreat. The fingers of the fist that had directly met Li Weiyi's palm throbbed with tearing agony. With that hearty, uninhibited palm strike, the third trace vein within Li Weiyi's Danzhong spring orifice instantly extended outward through his body. In the distance, atop a mast five zhang high, the twang of a bowstring resounded. Murong Xiao had fired her final arrow. Streaking through the night sky, the arrow vanished the instant it left the bow. In the next instant, a sight occurred that drained all color from Murong Xiao's face. Li Weiyi neither dodged nor retreated. Planting his legs wide and letting ripples of dharmic power surge along both arms carrying a brilliant silver glow, he drove a heavy fist straight into the oncoming shaft. He had had enough of one hidden arrow after another. He refused to dodge any longer; he wanted to punch straight through everything! *Boom!* The two forces collided. The thumb-thick, two-meter-long arrow was battered down by that single punch. Unable to withstand the force, the wooden shaft snapped and splintered into pieces on the spot. Within his body, a fourth trace vein was born! *Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...* Led by Shi Chuanyu, Yao Zhengsheng, and Lu Can, more than ten figures charged in unison from every direction. All of them overflowed with dharmic power, wrapped in mist and haze; not a single one among them was weak. Li Weiyi knew full well that no matter how strong he had become, he had only opened six springs. One man could not fight an entire crowd... unless it was an even contest among peers of the same realm. Once encircled by this mob of formidable enemies, each possessing cultivation at least a realm higher than his own, a single strike from each would be enough to tear him to pieces. *Whoosh!* Even as he scanned for a weak spot in the enemies' encirclement, he channeled dharmic power into the ghost banner. Instantly, bone-chilling cold and nether mist surged violently from the banner, blanketing the dozens of fishing boats around him. The cold unleashed by the ghost banner was far more biting than when he had activated it with five springs, and white frost rapidly formed across the surfaces of the fishing boats. To these powerful Yongquan Realm martial cultivators, the banner's chill posed little lethal threat, yet it bred in their hearts a creeping dread of the unknown. *This dharma artifact is definitely not simple. We need to be careful.* Looking down at the ice crystals forming on the decks, the exact same thought crossed every one of their minds. The nether mist grew so thick that every light in the surroundings vanished. With their vision obstructed, the crowd could only rely on sound to determine positions, rendering them even more apprehensive. Li Weiyi locked his sights onto the injured Lu Can. Shifting his footing, he flashed before him and unleashed the Heaven-Overturning Hand Seal he had already primed and charged.