Returned

The night curtain slowly fell. Tonight, dark clouds obscured the moon, leaving the sky dim and lightless.

On the city walls, the on-duty guards were slumped over, some already dozing off.

At the same time, a figure quietly arrived beneath the city walls. With a leap, they shot up from the ground as if propelled by a spring, their feet seeming to tread on a clear breeze as they ascended.

After reaching the top of the wall, they flashed and nimbly avoided nonexistent patrolling guards before once again flipping over the wall and descending.

There were indeed more people patrolling the city at night, but they were essentially no different from the soldiers on the wall, merely going through the motions.

Li Yan had elevated his Wind Chasing Wave Treading to the Mastered realm. As he moved now, he was like an immortal descending on the wind, not only incredibly fast but also making almost no sound.

In a short while, he arrived outside the Shangguan Family residence.

However, the Shangguan Family was not in good shape at this moment!

Outside the main gate, many commoners were leaning against the outer wall, fast asleep. Others held torches and constantly patrolled the perimeter, as if fearing people would come, but even more so, fearing people would leave.

Seizing an opportunity, Li Yan leaped over the wall and entered the Shangguan residence.

The situation inside the mansion was the complete opposite of the outside. Not even a candle was lit within the compound; it was pitch black.

Just as he was wondering what was going on, a strong gust of wind suddenly came from behind him. Li Yan instinctively drew his saber in a counter-attack. The Waning Moon clashed with a folding fan in mid-air.

A tremendous force surged, and Li Yan was instantly repelled several yards. As he looked up, he couldn't help but gasp. Shangguan Liuyun was already attacking again.

"Brother Liuyun, hold on! It's me!"

He spoke in a hushed voice. The folding fan stopped about an arm's length from his face, but the astonishing gust of wind still made Li Yan's cheeks sting.

"You're... San Huo?"

A moment later, candlelight flickered in a side hall. Li Yan and Shangguan Liuyun sat facing each other.

"Monster, San Huo, I truly wasn't wrong about you. You are a monster!"

"In just a few short days, your Flower Cultivation and Leaf Nurturing Art has broken through to the third level. If the founding ancestor of this technique were to know, they'd probably drop their jaw."

"This... it's a matter of serendipity..."

Shangguan Liuyun didn't press for details but suddenly frowned and asked, "San Huo, did you encounter any problems when you were breaking through?"

Hearing this, Li Yan thought for a moment before recounting what had happened during his breakthrough to the third level.

Shangguan Liuyun nodded. "This is my fault as well. I thought that even with your extraordinary talent, it would take at least several months to break through from the first to the second level without the aid of elixirs. I forgot to tell you about some of the circumstances during the breakthrough of this technique."

Due to the unique nature of the Flower Cultivation and Leaf Nurturing Art, each breakthrough was essentially a process of a flower blooming.

The terrifying, explosive release of energy could easily backfire on the cultivator if not handled carefully.

Therefore, when breaking through realms, practitioners needed to disperse all their True Qi throughout their muscles, bones, skin, and flesh to strengthen their Physique and withstand the impact.

Simultaneously, they had to clear their meridians to provide space for the impending surge of True Qi.

Even so, every breakthrough was a significant gamble for members of the Shangguan Family.

"Actually, if one could cultivate a body-tempering technique alongside it, the Flower Cultivation and Leaf Nurturing Art would be much safer during breakthroughs. Unfortunately, despite searching for many years, my Shangguan Family has not found a suitable body-tempering method."

Upon hearing this, Li Yan suddenly remembered that he seemed to possess a body-tempering technique.

He hadn't touched the Hundred Beasts Marrow Quenching Scripture since breaking through to the fifth level, mainly because the Attribute Points it provided were less valuable than those obtained from killing.

However, Shangguan Liuyun's words gave him a new idea. Perhaps he could try it out sometime in the future.

"By the way, Brother Liuyun, why don't I see Brother Feiyun?"

"This..."

Shangguan Liuyun looked hesitant. Li Yan immediately sensed something was wrong. "Did something happen?"

After some thought, Shangguan Liuyun finally said, "Come with me."

The two arrived at a side room. Upon entering, Li Yan saw a person sitting on a bed, cultivating in meditation.

Shangguan Feiyun's face was pale, his lips were purple, and the heavy dark circles under his eyes looked like smoky makeup. Without a doubt, he was likely poisoned.

"This, how could this happen?"

"He was poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Li Yan was shocked. He had poisoned quite a few people himself in the past few days and knew how dangerous poison could be. If Shangguan Feiyun was poisoned, wouldn't the Shangguan Family lose another strong fighter?

"That day, the commoners in the city were bewitched and broke into the mansion. Among them were people with ill intentions."

"When Xiyun was captured, I rushed to pursue them, but that resulted in Feiyun being ambushed with a poison needle. I couldn't attend to both matters at once... and Xiyun couldn't be saved either..."

"Fortunately, the poison isn't extremely potent. Feiyun can suppress it by cultivating on his own, but the Shangguan Family currently has no spare combat strength..."

"Furthermore, two days from now, the person who abducted Xiyun is scheduled to trade with the Fierce Wind Bandits. If Xiyun falls into Wang Dingtian's hands..."

As he spoke, for the first time, a trace of hatred and pain flashed across Shangguan Feiyun's usually refined face.

"Don't worry too much, Brother Liuyun. Things aren't irreversible yet."

"San Huo, what are your thoughts?"

Although Shangguan Liuyun considered Li Yan's strength to be average, he didn't believe martial prowess was the sole measure of a person's capability.

Navigating the martial world wasn't just about martial arts; strategy, methods, and temperament were all crucial, often even more so than martial skills.

In Shangguan Liuyun's mind, Li Yan was excellent in all these aspects, even surpassing what was expected of someone his age.

Sometimes, when righteous sects like theirs couldn't come up with a solution, someone unreasonable like Li Yan could easily resolve the issue.

"Let me think..."

After a moment of thought, a fierce glint flashed in Li Yan's eyes as he said, "There is indeed a method..."

"What is it?"

"Deal with the Fierce Wind Bandits first!"

Hearing this, Shangguan Liuyun's eyes narrowed sharply.

He had considered all sorts of possibilities, but he never expected Li Yan to propose such a solution in the end.

If the Fierce Wind Bandits were so easy to deal with, why would they have dragged on until now?

"San Huo, the Fierce Wind Bandits are no ordinary brigands. Although you've killed a group of them, there are still nearly a thousand left. Moreover, how will you deal with Wang Dingtian, who is at the Fifth Level of Meridian Opening?"

"I am unable to split my attention right now, so it's absolutely impossible for me to go with you!"

Li Yan waved his hand. "This matter doesn't require Brother Liuyun's intervention. If you weren't here to keep the Ghouls and Monsters in the city in check, it would be difficult for me to act outside."

"This... What exactly are you planning to do?"

A smile played on Li Yan's lips, and he looked at Shangguan Feiyun on the bed, sneering, "An eye for an eye, that's all."

Li Yan arrived silently, and it wasn't even dawn when he left. After moving cautiously through the city for a while, he found the inn with the white cloth tied to it.

As if to facilitate Li Yan's actions, the window wasn't even locked.

As soon as he entered the room, Mo Cheng, who was meditating with his legs crossed, opened his eyes. "How did it go?"

After briefly explaining the general situation to the other person, Li Yan didn't hide his plan.

After understanding the situation, Mo Cheng nodded slightly and then said, "Everything else is fine, but there's one problem."

"What is it?"

"The people of Dongjiang City!"