A Single Sword Took His Life

Li Weiyi knew very well that Li Ling must have some purpose in tracking him down, but so far, she did not seem to harbor any obvious malice.

It was as though she had come to see whether any of his companions had newly transformed Pure Immortal Bodies.

But this performance of hers had truly caught Li Weiyi off guard and left him unable to parry. It was like... a sword of lingering affection—deadly, yet capable of winning through surprise...

But what meaning was there in such a victory?

Did she not know that those who loved acting, if they acted their emotions too sincerely, often ended up acting themselves into the role?

"Something cobbled together can never be the truth. Li Ling, shall we talk alone?"

Li Weiyi knew that with everyone watching, she would keep putting on her earnest performance. Thus, he took the lead and walked toward the distant mist.

After bidding everyone farewell with gentle courtesy, Li Ling followed him.

Li Weiyi kept a careful distance and did not dare go too far. If they completely left the others' sight, those people would likely sketch out countless more scenes in their minds.

"What exactly are you trying to do? What benefit do you gain from putting on such a grand show?"

Only after she knew the others could not hear did Li Ling sidle up beside him, wearing a smug yet playful smile. "Who told you to leave me alone at Coffin Dock Crossing? When you left, you did not say a single word."

Li Weiyi did not beat around the bush and spoke frankly. "Although you have hardly ever shown any malice, you are too deliberate. You give me a... false feeling. I cannot see through your purpose, so I can only keep you at a respectful distance."

"Then shall I be more sincere from now on?" Li Ling widened her eyes, looking utterly innocent.

"How about being more straightforward?"

Li Weiyi truly had a headache. He immediately added, "Didn't we agree that once we left the Departed Spirit Mist Domain, all past grudges would be wiped clean? If you will not tell me why you are approaching me, how am I supposed to believe your sincerity?"

Li Ling said, "I merely wanted to see whether you truly had miraculous medicine capable of transforming someone into a Pure Immortal Body. You can understand my longing for a Pure Immortal Body, can't you? But looking at your companions, they are either Deformed Races or ordinary people. That longing in my heart, so close to obsession, has already faded."

"It had better be true."

Li Weiyi said, "Come back with me and make things clear to everyone. Stop stirring up trouble. At the very least, we may still have a chance to get along as friends in the future."

"I can do that, but first I need to discuss something serious with you."

Li Ling's expression turned solemn, restoring the nobility and cold aloofness she had shown when they first met. "Shi Jiuzhai's three disciples have chased in! You know that canine-like Deformed Race woman has an extraordinarily keen sense of smell. She followed our scent through the Departed Spirit Mist Domain."

"While you went to retrieve your companions, fortunately, I kept leading them in circles and tying them down. Otherwise, the first person they would have pursued would definitely have been you. The artifacts are all on you, and you are the one most likely to have taken the Immortal Law Star."

"Now that we have gathered together, it will not be long before they track us here."

While fleeing, Li Weiyi had once shouted Shi Jiuzhai's name. Later, the two of them had discussed the matter in the Departed Spirit Mist Domain.

Shi Jiuzhai was a figure recorded in the Cycle Record, renowned throughout the Southern Realm like thunder in one's ears. Thus, Li Ling already knew that the ones who had attacked the Cangli Tribe were not necessarily Buddha's Crossing Bandits—they were very likely the Earth Wolf King Army.

"I do not particularly care. I am fast enough to escape anyway. But that woman has already smelled your scent as well. If they track you down, what will happen to them?"

Li Ling pointed at Zhao Meng and the others in the distance, adopting an earnest posture. "Lend me a hand and kill them. At the very least, we must kill that canine-like Deformed Race."

A hundred thousand Buddha's Crossing Bandits, ten directions of Earth Wolf banners.

Both forces could be called utterly vicious, their methods brutal, with experts within them as numerous as a forest.

The matter was of tremendous importance and might concern the safety of all Lizhou.

Therefore, Li Ling had to capture one alive and bring them back.

At the very least, at the very least, she had to bring back the head of someone important enough from the Earth Wolf King Army.

Li Weiyi knew what Li Ling wanted, but since she had sought him out, she had clearly anticipated that he would cooperate with her. And that was indeed the case now. They had to eliminate this hidden danger before those people caught up.

Li Weiyi said, "We can cooperate once more! But first, you have to tell me how you found me so precisely."

"A great enemy is before us, so stop dawdling. Haven't I already said that we should treat each other sincerely from now on? After we deal with the enemy, I will definitely tell you." When Zhao Meng and the others looked over from afar, Li Ling punched him in the chest.

Li Weiyi's greatest problem at present was that he could not accurately judge his own strength. But considering that he had the cultivation of Four Springs and several artifacts, escaping with his life should not be difficult.

Back when he was at Three Springs, with the Scripture Belt's enhancement, he had already been faster than Xing Wanxing, who had opened Six Springs.

Li Weiyi said, "With my cultivation, I may not be able to help much. I will do my best to hold off that fat man who has opened Six Springs."

"If you use that blood-sacrifice summoning method of yours here, I reckon it will be even more spectacular than it was in Immortal Burial Town," Li Ling said.

Li Weiyi recalled that scene in Immortal Burial Town, then looked at the countless Floating Coffins before him. Still shaken by the memory, he said, "I truly do not know any blood-sacrifice summoning method."

"Fine. In any case, do not keep hiding things anymore. We have to weather this trial together. I will also reveal my true trump card. Actually, my martial cultivation is quite high too. At present, only you know this secret. I am telling you because I trust you." Li Ling said this because she wanted to make herself seem more sincere.

In truth, the martial cultivation she spoke of came from the Zen Sea Observing Mist within her body.

Li Weiyi revealed a strange expression. She cultivated both spirit and martial paths, and she had even hidden such a backup plan?

Remembering Zen Sea Observing Mist's instructions, Li Ling asked, "After this cooperation, can we be considered friends?"

Time was pressing, and Li Weiyi had no way to explain much. He said to Zhao Meng, "Senior Brother, I need to handle an urgent matter with her. We will definitely return before dawn. I'll leave this place to you!"

Watching the two figures depart, Zhao Meng said, "One moment they are acting as though they would die for each other, and the next they are flying off together like a pair of lovebirds. What exactly is going on?"

"Matters of the heart, this old man does not understand. But if a woman is willing to live or die over someone, then one of these two must be an expert."

After Master Urn said this in a ghostly tone, he immediately began bouncing with a boing-boing sound. "Cultivate, cultivate! Everyone, circulate the Breathing Technique."

"Zhao Meng, you drank a great quantity of Golden Crow Blood and Black Flood Dragon Blood. With this physique and physical strength, even without opening Springs, your combat strength surpasses that of an ordinary Four Springs martial cultivator. But you must cultivate dharma power so that you can bear the blood of a third Ancient Immortal Giant Beast in the future. With every kind you drink, another giant beast trait will appear on your body. Those ancient legends of transforming into dragons say one must drink nine kinds of blood. That is the lifelong pursuit of every Deformed Race!"

Li Weiyi and Li Ling raced across the endless, layer upon layer of Floating Coffins like two afterimages.

Blue Mist Light Traces streamed from one pair of legs, while silver dharma power scattered from the other's feet. One ahead and one behind, neither paused in the slightest.

"This is truly strange. The Blood Sea Coffin Dock was not this peaceful before. Corpse ghosts howled, coffins shook, and all kinds of sinister creatures—humanoid and misshapen alike—could be found everywhere. What has happened during this time?" she murmured to herself.

Li Weiyi strongly suspected that the Bronze Ship had suppressed the entire Blood Sea Coffin Dock into deathly silence. But now that the Bronze Ship had departed, only its lingering might remained. Before long, this place would likely return to how it had been, becoming dangerous and terrifying once again.

Li Ling's perception was exceptionally formidable. Sensing that Shi Jiuzhai's three chief disciples were already very close, she immediately slowed down with Li Weiyi and tried not to make even the faintest sound.

She was decisive. She hid in the murky, foul-smelling Sea of Blood, using it to conceal every trace of her aura.

Li Weiyi secretly admired her. At only fifteen or sixteen, and born of noble status, she was not the least bit delicate or pretentious. She was absolutely someone capable of accomplishing great things.

After covering his face, Li Weiyi also held his breath and hid in the crimson seawater.

Gradually, three figures rushed out from the shadowy mist, each with rich and powerful dharma power around them.

"We have been chasing them for an entire day. What is that girl thinking? Even if she wanted to flee, she should be fleeing toward Lingxiao Shengjing. The Blood Sea Coffin Dock is said to be extremely dangerous." Xing Wanxing complained bitterly as he ran at the rear.

He was already exhausted beyond measure and only wanted to hurry back to the living realm. The Departed Spirit Mist Domain, Blood Sea Coffin Dock, and Netherworld of the Departed were all places where the living did not belong. Staying too long was immensely oppressive.

Fang Tong had been watching the surroundings. "Perhaps she is afraid Master is still over at Immortal Burial Town, so she does not dare flee back."

Yan Qingqing stopped, having noticed something. She once again gathered dharma power at her nose, and her sense of smell immediately sharpened greatly. Amid the dense stench of rot and decay, she searched for that single thread of human scent that belonged solely to Li Ling.

This was an innate ability possessed by only a very small number of Deformed Races. Even if someone had left an hour ago, or was dozens of miles away, they could still smell the faintest trace.

A moment later, she said, "Strange. The scent of that mysterious man who vanished has reappeared here..."

Fang Tong instantly became vigilant. The seven Springs within him surged, and his dharma power billowed until it wrapped around his entire body.

Swish! Swish! Swish...

Seven bright streaks, each thirty meters long, flew from the water like seven winding, razor-sharp whip swords, slashing simultaneously toward the three of them.

Within a radius of thirty meters, the area became a realm of danger.

Apart from Fang Tong, the other two hurriedly met the attack, bloody sword wounds appearing across their bodies.

Xing Wanxing in particular had a foot-long sword wound carved across his back. The wound had been scorched black as blood seeped out, narrowly missing his bones. He immediately unleashed his movement technique and fled thirty meters away.

Splash!

Li Weiyi leaped from the sea with his sword in hand, water droplets scattering from his body. As he blocked Xing Wanxing's path, he activated his Four Springs and poured dharma power into the Yellow Dragon Sword.

With a clang, golden light flashed like a soaring dragon—swift and blinding.

No matter what, he had to hold Xing Wanxing back and buy time for Li Ling, so he had to go all out.

Too fast!

Xing Wanxing's eyes were stung shut by the radiance of the Yellow Dragon Sword. By the time he opened them again, his throat had already been pierced.

The sword tip emerged from the back of his thick neck, covered in folds of fat.

One sword, one kill!

Li Weiyi was slightly surprised as he withdrew his sword. Xing Wanxing's corpse crashed to the ground with a bang, blood gushing from both his mouth and neck.

In the distance, Fang Tong and Yan Qingqing, who were still dealing with the seven streaks of light, noticed what had happened. Though alarmed, they merely assumed that Li Weiyi had succeeded through a sneak attack, coupled with Xing Wanxing's serious injuries.

"I'll handle Li Ling. You deal with him. Be careful!"

Fang Tong lifted an iron-skinned coffin weighing seven or eight hundred jin. Every muscle and bone in his body crackled as he hurled it toward that stretch of Sea of Blood from which the seven light streaks had emerged.

Li Ling burst from the water first, blue mist shrouding her long, snowy-white legs. She struck with her palm, hitting the oncoming iron-skinned coffin.

Boom!

The iron-skinned coffin flew back and crashed onto the Floating Coffin "land."

Fang Tong hurriedly dodged aside, astonished. "You cultivate the martial path too?"