Encountering Qingxuan

"Whoosh!"

Seven zhang away, the window on the fourth floor of the library was open, but no one was in sight.

A book, about the thickness of a thumb, was thrown out and flew rapidly towards Li Weiyi.

A mere ten feet away from Li Weiyi, the book suddenly scattered into hundreds of pages. Enveloped in magical energy, these pages became sharper than swords, raining down like a barrage of arrows, leaving no room for error.

"Swish!"

Li Weiyi drew a circle with his right arm, and his magical energy transformed into a vortex, collecting all the papers and reassembling them into a stack in his hand.

Then, he dashed into the fourth-floor window like lightning.

"Bang!"

A slender white figure burst through the window from another direction.

Li Weiyi pursued her like a ghost, intercepting her in a quiet courtyard within the Coffin Sea Pavilion. He looked her up and down repeatedly, confirming it wasn't Yao Yin. He was both incredulous and overjoyed. "Master Yao, how long have you been back?"

Yao Qingxuan wore a jade hairpin in her hair and a silver veil over her face, revealing only a pair of cold yet Spiritual Qi eyes. She looked at Li Weiyi, who had broken out of her invisibility, with the same surprise in her eyes.

News of the Ancient Kingdom of the Years Ruin has not yet reached Lizhou is a remote and secluded place in the entire Lingxiao Shengjing.

The moment Li Weiyi easily deflected Yao Qingxuan's attack, she knew she was no match for him. Therefore, she decisively fled, preparing to use the formation to fight back.

Seeing that Yao Qingxuan hesitated and did not answer.

Li Weiyi realized something and blurted out, "You didn't leave at all?"

Yao Qingxuan still didn't answer him, but instead asked, "What realm are you in now?"

"Old Li is really going too far. He even lied to me, and I actually believed him. I even comforted him at the time." Li Weiyi recalled the painful scene of Li Songgu recounting Yao Qingxuan's departure to a distant place alone, and he still couldn't find any flaws in his story.

He finally sensed another side of the Cangli Family Head Li, the Hidden Gate Hidden Lord, and his cunning and treacherous nature.

This acting...

Li Weiyi readily admitted defeat.

Yao Qingxuan glanced to the side and said, "It was my idea; it has nothing to do with him."

Li Weiyi nodded slightly, deciding to deal with the immediate matter first before settling accounts with Hidden Lord, and asked, "Master Yao, what exactly happened at the Tribal Mansion?"

"The Tribal Mansion was attacked last night. It seems that the attacker was a Ghost Marquis with extremely high cultivation. He kidnapped some important figure and escaped the city in the form of ghost clouds before the Jiu Li City's City Protection Array was activated, disappearing into the Mang Mountain Range."

Yao Qingxuan added, "For the past two years, I have been hiding in the Jiu Li Insect Valley to cultivate, ignoring outside affairs, only occasionally sneaking into the Coffin Sea Pavilion and the Jiu Li Dao Academy to study scriptures. So I am not very clear about the specifics of what happened."

I'll come find you again later.

Li Weiyi looked worried and immediately went to find the Pavilion Master of the Coffin Sea Pavilion, who was also the Third Elder of the Jiu Li Hidden Gate.

It is also the hidden third year of the previous sixty-year cycle.

Upon seeing Elder Li Weiyi, he was naturally both shocked and delighted, and immediately informed him of the details. "The one who made the move was a Ghost Marquis with a cultivation level of approximately the third realm, who came from the Mang Mountain Range. Its target seems to be the Cangli Family Head Li, but since the Cangli Family Head Li is not at the Tribal Mansion, it captured Li Songlin, who was left to guard the Tribal Mansion!"

"Are you sure?" Li Weiyi quickly asked.

The Third Elder said, "After the incident, I rushed there immediately and reported the news to the previous generation of Hidden Lord was left to guard the Jiu Li Insect Valley."

Li Weiyi considered it carefully.

That ghostly figure was most likely driven by the Nether Disciple of the Taiyin Sect.

They kidnapped Fourth Uncle to lure Old Li out.

"Where is Family Head Li Cang Li?" Li Weiyi asked.

The Third Elder naturally knew that the Family Head Li was the Hidden Lord: "The Hidden Lord's whereabouts are secretive, but with such a major event, he should return to Jiu Li City soon. The previous Hidden Lord left Insect Valley this morning and his whereabouts are unknown."

"Report any news to me immediately. I'll be waiting at the Coffin Sea Pavilion," Li Weiyi said.

"Okay, I'll go and inquire from all sides right away."

The Third Elder was the strongest member of the Jiu Li Hidden Gate in the previous sixty years, besides the Hidden Lord and Yao Qingxuan, and possessed the cultivation of the First Realm of the Longevity Realm.

But even as the head of a sect and one of the most important figures in Jiu Li City, he showed no sign of feeling that "this junior is too arrogant" when faced with Li Weiyi's orders.

This was because Li Weiyi's gaze and aura, when he was in a state of rage, were so oppressive that even the Third Elder, with his cultivation level, felt immense pressure.

In the courtyard where the Pavilion Master of the Coffin Sea Pavilion lived and cultivated, Li Weiyi finally had time to have a proper chat with Yao Qingxuan.

He stood three zhang away under an ancient tree, leaning against the trunk, arms crossed, looking at the white-clad figure sitting in the pavilion. "I can understand Master Yao's initial intention to escape everyone's sight, to fake his death or pretend to leave. However, with Master Yao's martial arts talent, such seclusion and cultivation will inevitably cause him to fall behind step by step. Martial arts is always about competition; without competing for resources and opportunities, one cannot go far."

"But conflict is dangerous. It's safe like this now, and we can enjoy unprecedented peace," she said.

Li Weiyi asked, "Is Master Yao someone who fears danger and challenges?"

This time, Yao Qingxuan remained silent for a moment before saying, "Actually, when I was in the East Sea, I thought about going to the Hundred Realms Life Domain and changing my appearance to show myself under a different identity. It was Li Songgu who persuaded me to stay, saying that with my cultivation at the First Realm of the Longevity Realm, I would definitely not be able to leave the East Sea and would perish in the belly of a demon."

"He also said that we could first digest all the cultivation resources we obtained from the East Sea, and then our cultivation would surely improve greatly. Then we could leave, and he would not try to stop us."

Li Weiyi said, "That's true. The 70,000-mile stretch of sea from Dragon City to the Rainforest Realm is far more dangerous than the sea near the Lingxiao Shengjing. You need at least Great Longevity cultivation level to be safe. Master Yao has already reached the Second Realm, right?"

"The Second Realm seems somewhat inadequate for you in your current state."

Yao Qingxuan originally thought that reaching the Second Realm at his age was an extraordinary achievement, but today, after suffering a severe blow, he suddenly felt shaken and realized that Li Weiyi's talk of "struggle" was very necessary.

Li Weiyi no longer needed to be as cautious and reserved in front of her as before. His tense and cold heart relaxed a little, and he smiled slightly, "Master Yao, do you want to catch up with me?"

Yao Qingxuan gave him a cold glance.

She kept calling him "Master Yao," but Master Yao was in a bad mood. How could she, with her pride and arrogance, accept being surpassed by a boy the same age as Yao Yin?

"Speak up, do you expect me to beg you?" She remained aloof, giving a light snort.

Li Weiyi asked, "Has Master Yao ever heard of the Ancient Kingdom of the Years Ruin?"

"This sounds familiar. Is it some kind of secret realm?" Yao Qingxuan asked.

Li Weiyi then began to recount her story.

Yao Qingxuan's eyes grew brighter and brighter. After listening, he said, "No wonder... there is such a wondrous place in the world. Can we still go in?"

"Anytime is fine with me, whenever I want." Li Weiyi raised her head and looked up at the dark sky.

As dusk fell, a cool breeze swept through.

The branches rustled as leaves drifted down.

Yao Qingxuan looked at Li Weiyi with suspicion.

Such a treasure land, if freely accessible, would have been known throughout the world long ago; how could I not have heard of it?

Li Weiyi said, "The announcement of the 'Longevity Earth Ranking' will be made at the end of this year, which is about ten months away. If Master Yao can reach the third realm, he will definitely be on the list. Once on the list, many things will be much easier to resolve!"

"What do you mean?" Yao Qingxuan asked.

Li Weiyi said, "What you fear is nothing more than the Demon Race. But if you can get the protection of the strongest human, what is there to fear?"

This time, Yao Qingxuan didn't even want to respond, feeling that his tone was getting increasingly arrogant and completely out of control.

Li Weiyi didn't keep her in suspense and said directly, "The strongest human race would certainly not offend Demon Race giant for the sake of a mere Longevity Realm Martial Cultivator like us."

"However, if Master Yao joins the Sacred Dynasty's camp, contributes to this struggle, or even plays a crucial role at a critical moment, sustaining serious injuries and making the whole world aware of it, he could then conveniently stay in the Sacred Dynasty to cultivate."

"If something really happens in the future and the Sacred Son of Heaven doesn't support you, he'll lose face big time! He represents not only his own face, but also the face of the entire human race."

Yao Qingxuan was exceptionally intelligent and knew that there was some truth to what Li Weiyi said, "You have quite the audacity to scheme against even the Martial Path Son of Heaven. But how can you join the Sacred Dynasty's camp? They have no shortage of martial artists in the third realm. To them, our worth is no different from two leaves falling from a tree."

"Well, that's not difficult."

Li Weiyi then added, "If Master Yao doesn't dare to take this risk, you can simply change your appearance, and I have another path for you. But when your cultivation reaches a certain level, you definitely won't be able to hide it anymore. When danger comes, how will you withstand it?"

Old Li was a coward and didn't dare to refine the five Dragon Tendon; he gave them all to Yao Qingxuan.

Yao Qingxuan's talent was already on par with the weaker Taiyin Envoy and Lesser Yang Guard, and now he has naturally made further progress. His future achievements are definitely extraordinary.

"Whoosh!"

The Third Elder swiftly entered the courtyard, his expression grave. "After the Tribal Mansion, the Hidden Lord received a letter and immediately left the city, heading south."

"What letter?"

"Have no idea."

"Didn't you ask him?"

He left in such a hurry that I didn't even have a chance to speak.

Li Weiyi guessed that the letter was most likely sent by someone from the Nether Disciple. The Hidden Lord would certainly not go to see him alone; he had probably secretly contacted experts from the Jiu Li Tribe. Going alone was just a pretense, a performance for the enemy.

The Hidden Lord is cunning and shrewd, and his enemies are certainly not stupid either.

In this confrontation, the enemy was in the dark while we were in the light, and the enemy also had hostages in our hands, giving us a clear advantage.

Li Weiyi immediately set off, exiting the city through the South City.

He didn't contact Coffin Master, believing that if they couldn't handle it, Coffin Master would definitely step in at the crucial moment, as Coffin Master was even more cunning than Hidden Lord.

After leaving the city, Li Weiyi immediately released Second Phoenix to sniff out the scent of the Hidden Lord, and then chased after him south along the Sui River.

They chased after him for fifty miles, but the suburban houses and lights had all disappeared, and the world was plunged into darkness.

Li Weiyi suddenly stopped and turned around. "Master Yao, you didn't need to follow me."

Yao Qingxuan drifted down from the night wind, dressed in Invisibility Nightwalker's Robe: "What is your cultivation level? What exactly happened? Do you know something?"

"How can I explain this to you? Have you heard of the Taiyin Sect? Never mind, let's chase after them first."