Fantasia Before Death?

"Memorial Tablet for Zhao Ge."

"Memorial Tablet for Zhao Qian."

Li Yi followed Zhao Ge and his daughter into the main hall of the small courtyard, only to find it arranged like a mourning hall. White, round paper offerings were scattered all over the floor. Two coffins stood in the very center, with two memorial tablets set up before them. An incense burner sat beside each tablet, and a stick of incense was planted before each burner.

The incense sticks were very long. They burned slowly, giving off a strange fragrance.

"We entered Ghost Street by pretending to be dead. To fool the Yin Soldiers, we had to make these arrangements. See those two sticks of incense in the middle? They're Soul-Departing Incense. Before they finish burning, we must return to this courtyard and lie in the coffins. Only then can we safely return to the living world. If anything goes wrong, we'll be reduced to wandering, solitary ghosts in Ghost Street," Zhao Ge explained.

Although Li Yi didn't understand everything, he grasped the general idea. He asked curiously, "If it's this dangerous, why did you enter Ghost Street?"

"To buy medicine." Zhao Qian's eyes shifted slightly as she sized up Li Yi.

Zhao Ge continued, "I was injured by a Yin God, and my spirit was damaged. I need Coffin Grass as medicine to recover. Otherwise, I won't live through the season. That medicinal herb is sold only in Ghost Street, so my daughter and I took the risk of coming here."

"I see." Li Yi immediately understood.

Zhao Ge spoke again. "From your disordered steps and completely irregular breathing, I'd say you've never practiced martial arts. Am I right?"

"Practiced martial arts?" Li Yi immediately shook his head. "No. I've never practiced martial arts."

His mind was quick, and he had already adapted to local customs. Even his manner of speaking had begun to imitate theirs.

"That's strange. Without martial arts training, how could you have such a physique? When I pulled you just now, the flesh all over your body was taut, and you instinctively exerted force. Your strength was incredible." Zhao Ge sized up Li Yi again, astonishment rising in his heart.

"Perhaps I was born with divine strength." Li Yi said, "My friends have always praised me, saying that Yi's Divine Might is peerless throughout the ages."

"Pfft!"

Zhao Qian, standing nearby, couldn't help covering her mouth and laughing. "The way you look, I could knock you down with one hand. And you call that being born with divine strength? Stop bragging."

Li Yi laughed as well.

"Yi's Divine Might, peerless throughout the ages? Fine writing, and a fine appraisal. Your companions must be no ordinary people. Still, this old man's interest has been piqued. I'd like to measure whether a youngster like you truly deserves such praise." Zhao Ge had now sensed that Li Yi was extraordinary. He rolled up his sleeves and strode over.

"Old man, what are you trying to do?" The "appreciative" look fixed on him made Li Yi inexplicably nervous.

"Li Mengde, try to fight back. I want to see your sinews and bones." Zhao Ge suddenly thrust out a hand and grabbed Li Yi's arm. All five fingers exerted force together like iron clamps.

His fingers sank deep into Li Yi's flesh and between his bones, locking onto his acupoints, muscles, and tendons.

With this single grab, even the strongest young man would have half his body go numb before crying out and dropping to his knees.

"Then pardon me." Li Yi understood. This man wanted to test his abilities.

Although he didn't know why, he didn't want to be looked down on. His arm felt numb and weak, but not so weak that he couldn't resist.

He suddenly exerted force. His arm rose high, lifting Zhao Ge's thin body along with it.

"Force running through your entire body? What kind of joke is this?" Zhao Ge cried out.

"Watch out." After lifting Zhao Ge, Li Yi suddenly smashed him toward the ground.

A cultivator's body, evolved and transformed through cultivation, was ferociously powerful. It couldn't be restrained so easily.

But Zhao Ge nimbly spun aside, avoiding Li Yi's heavy blow. Then his rough palm swept along Li Yi's arm, striking with perfect precision each time at his major acupoints, bone gaps, sinews, muscles, and skin.

"Still not falling?" he barked, his voice exploding like thunder.

"This little bit of strength is still bearable." Li Yi punched Zhao Ge with his other hand.

There was no technique to it, only pure speed and strength.

Zhao Ge didn't dodge. He caught the punch with one hand, then followed the momentum with a palm strike to Li Yi's chest.

Li Yi merely staggered half a step, but quickly kicked out again.

"Hmm?" Zhao Ge was even more startled. That palm strike should have been enough to crack Li Yi's ribs, yet it had only made him stumble?

Was this physique that of a monster?

More astonishingly, he could still counterattack.

Although the kick came like a child brawling, utterly without form or method, Zhao Ge still met it leg against leg and took it head-on.

"Bang!"

Zhao Ge felt his right leg go numb. He began to believe Li Yi's words a little. This man truly had been born with divine strength.

Yet he grew even more delighted. He thrust out his palm again, this time with greater force.

Li Yi continued to fight back. Every time Zhao Ge struck, Li Yi felt his body go numb, his strength briefly disappearing. It was extremely unpleasant. However, after evolving, a cultivator's body adapted and recovered quickly. A few seconds later, he was throwing punches and kicks again.

One man held back as he tested his opponent; the other fought back with reckless fury.

As time passed, Zhao Qian, who had been watching the spectacle from the side, grew astonished as well. At first, she had thought Li Yi was all show—a tall, fair-skinned pillow with nothing inside, someone who only knew how to brag. But after watching her father probe his bones and sinews, she realized that wasn't the case at all.

"Father is already using serious force. Any young man who came here to become his disciple in the past would've been lying down after one or two moves. What kind of bones does this Li Yi have? What kind of sinews? Where does he get that endless reserve of strength? Ghost Street really is strange. You can encounter anything beyond belief here." Zhao Qian put away her intention to merely watch the fun and began observing seriously.

Li Yi was young and hot-blooded. Being suppressed and beaten the entire time inevitably made him feel stifled. Although Zhao Ge had saved him, he still wanted to strike back a few times and didn't want to be looked down on.

But no matter how he counterattacked, Zhao Ge blocked every move.

His attacks grew faster and faster, and his angles became increasingly tricky. His body began rapidly grasping certain combat techniques.

Even so, Li Yi still couldn't gain the slightest advantage.

Every time he improved, the old man grew stronger by the same measure, always remaining a step above him.

What Li Yi didn't know was that Zhao Ge wasn't an ordinary martial artist. In his world, he had tempered his sinews, bones, and skin, refined his qi and blood, and channeled force into his acupoints. He was a martial warrior who could even exchange blows with a Yin God.

I can't just increase my strength a little at a time. That won't work. I need to use a trump card.

His mind raced.

But Li Yi had never practiced martial arts and possessed no defensive techniques. He was merely following the cultivation method of his own world and continuously evolving.

No.

I do have one move: Gaze Strike.

Li Yi had now activated the Spirit Medium himself. In theory, he should be able to use Gaze Strike as well.

He immediately recalled what Liu Yan had said: Divine Gaze gathers in the eyes; the eyes can kill.

At that moment.

Li Yi was blessed with sudden insight. Some instinct within him was stirred. His gaze condensed, and his spirit focused.

"Dad, his eyes—" Suddenly, Zhao Qian noticed that Li Yi's eyes were glowing inside the dim mourning hall.

It wasn't an illusion.

They were truly shining with a faint radiance. At that moment, Zhao Qian also sensed a trace of unusual danger, so she instinctively called out a warning.

But by then, Li Yi's gaze had already locked onto Zhao Ge.

Gaze Strike!

Yet in the next instant, Zhao Ge swung a punch. Blood qi surfaced on his fist and burst outward, smashing directly into that gaze.

In an instant, the light that had suddenly flared was extinguished.

Li Yi's Gaze Strike had been shattered head-on.

Zhao Ge didn't attack again. Instead, he retreated several steps and threw his head back in laughter. "Hahahaha! Good, good, good! What Dragon Sinew, Tiger Bone! What born divine strength! What an Innate Divine Ability! I, Zhao Ge, have lived most of my life. I've opened a Martial Arts School, taught martial arts, and taken in more than a thousand disciples, yet I've never seen anyone with talent as astonishing as yours."

"How heaven has favored you! It's practically as if it couldn't wait to stuff every finest foundation of the world's martial artists into your body."

He laughed and laughed, until tears began flowing from his old eyes again.

They were tears of excitement and joy.

"Is your dad crazy?" Li Yi asked, somewhat bewildered.

Zhao Qian rolled her eyes and said nothing.

She understood her father's feelings. He had found a jade worthy of being passed down through the ages. It was just that Li Yi, this foolish giant who loved to brag, apparently didn't realize how special he was.

After laughing excitedly for a while, Zhao Ge finally calmed down. He composed himself, clasped his hands behind his back, and straightened his slightly hunched back as much as possible. Then he said solemnly and seriously, "Li Yi, Li Mengde, become my disciple. I'll take you as my personal disciple. Follow me in practicing martial arts for three years, and after those three years, I guarantee you'll be invincible throughout Xingzhou. Twenty years—no, just ten years—and you'll absolutely be able to roam the world unhindered. In the future, you might even settle the world with your fists, overwhelm the eight provinces, sit upon the golden throne, and make ghosts and gods bow before you."

"Become your disciple? Be invincible throughout Xingzhou? Where is Xingzhou? Settle the world with my fists? What does that even mean? Is my fantasy before death getting worse and worse? But why has this martial-arts-style dream become so ridiculous? I don't even like reading martial arts novels."

Li Yi blinked, his face full of confusion.

He felt that things were growing stranger and stranger.

Also, am I no longer on Earth? Can I still go back?