Those Who Cross the Line Die

Relying on vision and hearing far superior to martial cultivators of the Same Realm, Li Weiyi secretly surveyed every street outside the residence and indeed spotted several suspicious figures.

Clearly, they had been placed under surveillance.

"We haven't provoked anyone. We only just moved in, and already we've run into such enormous trouble. So Jiu Li City isn't some good place to settle down and build a life either. We only want to survive, to live properly. Why is that so hard?" Qin Ke sat uneasily, consumed with worry.

She had not drunk Golden Crow Blood, because the vast majority of Research Team Members who had drunk it ended up like Old Liu, growing enormous bird heads. The transformations of Dr. Cai's and Gao Huan's Pure Immortal Bodies had merely been low-probability events.

She still cared greatly about retaining a human appearance.

"Survival is the same everywhere. Every place has its own hardships."

Zhao Zhizhuo explained to the newcomers, "Any gang that can establish itself in the outskirts of Jiu Li City must have a Five Seas Realm expert holding down the fort. We can't afford to provoke them. It wasn't like this before. Who knows which powerful family this Changlin Gang is backed by, but they're far too bold. Why don't we head into the city and hide for the night while it's still early? Or simply abandon this residence—it's rented anyway."

"That was two thousand six hundred Silver Coins, with one month's deposit and one month's rent."

Sitting on the steps beneath the eaves, Li Weiyi added, "Besides, they already have their eyes on us. How could they give us a chance to escape into the city? If we run now, we'll only reveal our weakness. They'll definitely think we're easy to bully and act even more without restraint."

Zhao Zhizhuo thought of another plan. "I can pretend to go purchase supplies, when in fact I'll enter the city and ask to see the Young Tribe Leader. If he steps in, the Changlin Gang will surely retreat in the face of difficulties."

"I'm afraid the Changlin Gang leaves no gaps in its work and won't give us that chance."

For the safety of everyone in the residence, no matter how reluctant Li Weiyi was to become entangled with the Cangli Tribe, he had to compromise. But he was deeply worried that Zhao Zhizhuo might meet with misfortune once he left the residence.

Zhao Zhizhuo smiled. "My life should have ended back in Immortal Burial Town. It was Brother Li who saved me, allowing me to live until now. Now that everyone is in trouble, I must fight for a path to survival. Naturally, I cannot shrink from my duty. Besides, the Changlin Gang may not be quite so cautious."

With lives at stake, Li Weiyi stopped hesitating. As he saw Zhao Zhizhuo off, he solemnly said, "If we make it through this trial, there will surely be a generous reward in the future."

"Master Urn, how exactly do I use this Spring Breaking Needle of yours?"

Li Weiyi did not know when the Changlin Gang would strike, nor how powerful their enemies truly were. But reading Water Margin had taught him that surrender was useless. Surrender would only lead to an even worse fate.

Only fight!

Only by fighting could they carve out a place to plant an awl.

Only by fighting could they win a patch of peace.

Right now, he desperately needed greater strength. If he could break through and open the Fifth Spring, he would be able to control the Evil Camel Bell to a certain extent and face the stormy waves that might arrive tonight with greater confidence.

Inside the room that had just been cleaned.

Li Weiyi removed his shirt, sat cross-legged, and opened the jade case containing the Spring Breaking Needles.

The Spring Breaking Needle was as fine as a strand of hair, yet clear as ice crystal, giving off wisps of chill as though it had been condensed from some medicinal spring.

"First adjust your condition and bring yourself to your peak. Once this Spring Breaking Needle enters your central acupoint, it will rapidly melt, using the medicinal power within it to soften the barrier, making it easier for you to open the spring aperture."

"The medicinal power of one Spring Breaking Needle can only last half an hour... Hmm, it has only been a little over ten days since you opened the Fourth Spring. Breaking open the Fifth Spring will not be easy, so you must be mentally prepared."

Whoosh!

A wisp of soul mist drifted out from the Blue Flower Urn, condensing into a half-real, half-illusory hand that pinched up the Spring Breaking Needle.

After using the Breathing Technique, Li Weiyi distinctly felt that things were different from before. The spiritual energy between heaven and earth seemed unusually dense and active, and the speed at which his power circulated through the forty-eight Trace Meridians in his body had increased slightly.

This was the advantage of a giant provincial capital city. Its cultivation environment was beyond comparison elsewhere.

Living here long-term would inevitably allow one to break through realms faster.

He quickly entered a tranquil state of harmony between man and nature, gathering all awareness and perception upon the central acupoint on his back. He sensed himself, sensed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and sensed the barrier between them.

Hiss—

The Spring Breaking Needle shot out, striking the central acupoint with perfect precision and sinking into the barrier.

In an instant, a wave of cold spread from the center of his back throughout his entire body.

Li Weiyi shuddered all over, as though he had fallen into an ice cavern. His limbs became numb, as if he had lost all sensation. Only the power within his forty-eight Trace Meridians continued flowing without end.

No wonder Master Urn had said that opening the fifth, sixth, and seventh springs carried a certain degree of danger. They truly were different from opening the first four.

Fortunately, Master Urn's technique was superb, and he had used the Spring Breaking Needle with impeccable precision. If another martial cultivator were this eager for quick success, the risk would certainly not be small.

As time passed, under the grinding force of the spiritual energy drawn forth by the Breathing Technique, along with the Blood Qi and power in his body and the Spring Breaking Needle—a fourfold force—the barrier visibly thinned.

But even after the Spring Breaking Needle's medicinal power was exhausted, it still did not break open.

"Use the second one," Li Weiyi said.

"Use it now? There's no such thing as using them consecutively." Master Urn worried that his body would not be able to endure it.

Li Weiyi said, "I don't feel any discomfort. It should be fine."

"Now that's strange! After using a Spring Breaking Needle, the acupoint is supposed to ache for a long time. It takes several days to recover. Not even a Pure Immortal Body is as durable as yours."

Muttering this, Master Urn picked up the second Spring Breaking Needle and drove it in.

Half an hour later.

The medicinal power of the second Spring Breaking Needle was exhausted. Li Weiyi finally felt pain in his central acupoint, but only a thin layer of the barrier remained. With normal cultivation, it would naturally break open in just a few more days.

But Li Weiyi had no idea what tonight would bring. He had to break open the Fifth Spring. "Use the third one. I can take it."

"This isn't a matter of whether you can take it..."

Master Urn hesitated greatly. He had no confidence at all in using the third Spring Breaking Needle.

"Don't worry. I hate gambling with my life most of all. I'm not forcing myself—I truly feel that the pain in my central acupoint is still within a tolerable range," Li Weiyi said.

In another room.

Zhao Meng was also circulating the Breathing Technique. Perhaps Jiu Li City's heaven-and-earth aura was especially dense, perhaps the external pressure was too great, or perhaps his accumulation had already reached the threshold.

In one stroke, he broke through the Sole Spring Eye and opened the First Spring.

As magical power flowed through his entire body along the Trace Meridians, his already faintly golden skin shone with a luster like gold. His reddish-golden hair blazed like burning flames.

Such a physique, such a sight.

Cultivators unaware of the truth might well believe he possessed at least the combat strength of the Five Seas Realm.

The sky gradually darkened, and Qin Ke finished preparing the meal.

But Old Liu and Old Guan, waiting anxiously in the courtyard, had no appetite at all. Their gazes kept shifting between the main gate and the house.

So much time had passed, yet Zhao Zhizhuo still had not returned. Most likely, something had happened to him.

The two who were cultivating had also remained behind closed doors.

By the time the setting sun had completely fallen beyond the gray Mang Mountain Range, the vast residence was wholly swallowed by darkness. No one dared light a lamp. Qin Ke, timid to begin with, crouched silently in a corner, as though the slightest sound could make her tremble in fright.

"Creak!"

Zhao Meng crawled out through the main hall's three-story-high doors. His body was no longer glowing and had returned to normal. He complained, "This door is way too small. Once we make some money, we absolutely have to build a huge house and get an eight-meter-long bed. What are you all doing over there? Light the lamps, or people will think we're scared!"

At that moment.

Li Weiyi pushed open the door and walked out as well. "That's right! Even if we're going to die, we should die somewhere bright. You must all be hungry, right? Sister Qin, go heat up the dishes. Uncle Liu, Uncle Guan, move the table beneath the poplar tree and bring the lamp over too. We'll eat in the courtyard."

Seeing Li Weiyi so calm and composed, Qin Ke and the others seemed infected by his bold spirit. Much of the fear in their hearts dispersed, and they each got busy.

Seated beneath the tree like a giant Buddha, Zhao Meng said, "Zhao Zhizhuo must have met with misfortune. No one will come to save us tonight. We can only rely on ourselves."

The dishes on the table steamed hot, their fragrance filling the air.

The four of them sat in different places.

Li Weiyi had an excellent appetite. Enduring the piercing pain in the central acupoint on his back, he held his bowl and kept picking up food. Hearing Zhao Meng's words, he paused slightly. "Then let the Jade Emperor bless us, and may the Changlin Gang by no means let me survive tonight. Otherwise, I'll make them pay the most terrible price!"

"When the fighting starts later, all of you hide inside. Senior Brother, protect them!"

The night gradually deepened.

The bustling sounds outside faded away. Only from the large brothel a hundred paces diagonally across from the residence came, carried on the wind, the sounds of silk and string music, carriage wheels and hoofbeats, coy laughter and shouted curses.

Layers of protective Light Veils rose in the direction of the moat and city walls, far more dazzling and brilliant than during the day.

Li Weiyi sat alone beneath the old poplar tree. A bone lamp hung from the branches overhead, while the Yellow Dragon Sword leaned against the trunk.

On the third floor of the distant brothel, two middle-aged men stood by a window, gazing into the distance at the lone lamp and lone figure in the dim residence.

One of them, a tall, thin middle-aged man with a black mole between his brows, said, "He's actually this calm and unruffled. What courage. What is that on the table beside him... a Spirit Tablet?"

"Is that set out for us? How arrogant!"

The other middle-aged man had a thick beard and streaks of gray at his temples. "Have Master Qi make a move. Let's first see what he's made of."

Hearing the disturbance outside, Li Weiyi stopped studying the spirit god cultivation method with Senior Spirit Tablet and turned his gaze toward the open main gate several zhang away. "I don't like slaughtering innocents. Tonight, this threshold is the boundary. Whoever crosses it dies."

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two arrows shot from the darkness in reply.

There was almost no sound of them cutting through the air, and they were incredibly fast. They were clearly no ordinary arrows. If he had not broken through the Fifth Spring and greatly heightened his senses, he might not have detected them in advance.

Li Weiyi rose from his seat. As his figure flashed aside, he reached out and caught the two black arrows.

The arrows were one chi long, as thin as iron wire.

Yet they were exceedingly hard and, strangely, weighed more than a jin each.

He had learned the Flying Needle Technique. The two black arrows flew from his hand in an instant, piercing through the half-chi-thick courtyard wall with two bangs. Two muffled groans immediately sounded from the darkness outside, followed by the sounds of bodies falling.

Suddenly.

"Rustle, rustle!"

An eerie disturbance came from underground. The ground became uneven, and wisps of black smoke rose from the soil.

Damn, I messed up the scheduled release today. I scheduled Chapter 46 for another time.