The True Purpose?

One of Wu Haoqian's arms and half his body had been shattered. If he had been an ordinary person, he would have been long dead from such injuries.

But Wu Haoqian was a True Qi Realm martial artist—and an Evil Warrior who had mastered strange powers at that. His vitality far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Moreover, Wu Haoqian was the wielder of the Blood Refining Bottle. At that moment, vast amounts of blood mist continuously billowed out of it and merged into his body.

Nourished by the Blood Refining Bottle's blood energy, Wu Haoqian's injuries were steadily recovering, but his recovery was very slow.

"Damn it! How could I be recovering this slowly?"

Wu Haoqian was both shocked and furious. Normally, his injuries would have recovered completely by now, but for some unknown reason, his recovery this time was abnormally slow.

Sensing himself carefully, he discovered a cold, sinister force continuously eating away at his body!

Could this be... poison?

Wu Haoqian was startled. He immediately circulated his true qi, attempting to purge the poison within him.

But Li Yuan's Poison Dragon Palm poison, unleashed at the perfected level, was hardly so easy to purge.

Back when he had been in the Inner Force Realm, Li Yuan's Poison Dragon Palm Force had already been extremely formidable. After entering the True Qi Realm, the technique's power had undergone a qualitative transformation, and the Poison Dragon Palm's venom had become even more terrifying!

After a hundred breaths, sweat faintly appeared on Wu Haoqian's brow. He discovered that he could barely purge any of the poison within his body!

Li Yuan's palm had shattered half his body, and the poison within that palm had long since penetrated deep into his body. Moreover, the poison was of extremely high quality. When Wu Haoqian circulated his true qi to scour the poison from within, it was like waves crashing against a reef.

It did not budge in the slightest!

Wu Haoqian's face turned livid. He could only use his true qi to suppress the poison within him, preventing it from erupting completely.

He hurried onward without a word, crossing dozens of li before stopping outside a secluded mountain cave. After removing the camouflage at the entrance, he slipped inside.

This cave was a hideout for several Evil Warriors. Once daylight came, they would conceal themselves here.

Wu Haoqian found a place to sit and circulated his cultivation method with all his might to recover from his injuries. With the Blood Refining Bottle's supply, he spent half an hour restoring his wounds. Even the arm that had vanished completely grew back.

Having been transformed by strange powers, Wu Haoqian's body could no longer be considered human. It was no different from a monster.

Although his physical injuries had recovered, the poison in his body still could not be purged. He still needed to constantly use vast amounts of true qi to suppress the Poison Dragon Palm Force within him. It was equivalent to more than half of his true qi being sealed!

His strength had plummeted!

That was not all. The Blood Robe Evil Ghosts that the lord had given him numbered only six in total, and five of them had now died outright. Even two of the Evil Warriors who had accompanied him had perished.

Their losses were far too heavy. Taking Meishan County was now impossible.

"What should I do?"

"How am I supposed to answer to the lord?"

Wu Haoqian's heart was filled with unease. He had disappointed the lord's expectations. After hesitating for a while, he still took a yellow talisman from his robes.

The yellow talisman ignited, transforming into a mass of blood-colored radiance. Within the halo, a blood-colored eye could vaguely be seen.

"Speak."

A deep voice came from within.

Wu Haoqian felt a chilling gaze fall upon him. The gaze exerted tremendous pressure, and Wu Haoqian immediately prostrated himself on the ground.

That voice belonged to the strange arts master behind Wu Haoqian—the Blood Shadow Hall's strange arts master.

"My lord, something has gone wrong on my end."

Like beans pouring from a bamboo tube, Wu Haoqian recounted everything that had happened on his side. He went into particular detail about Li Yuan's situation, including how he had been injured and poisoned, how he was powerless to purge it, and how greatly his strength had declined.

After he finished, the other side remained silent for a long while. Wu Haoqian's heart rose into his throat.

"Martial Dao True Intent..."

"Forget it. Stay there."

"If you can't take Meishan, then so be it. Just continue causing some commotion there."

Forget it?

Just cause some commotion?!

Wu Haoqian was stunned. He had never imagined that after he had botched the matter, the lord would simply brush it aside so lightly!

The lord was renowned for being ruthless and merciless. Previously, an Evil Warrior had ruined one of the lord's affairs and met an extremely gruesome end. Even Wu Haoqian, who was accustomed to bloodshed, had been shaken to his core upon witnessing it.

Regardless of what the lord was truly thinking, Wu Haoqian hurriedly bowed to the ground. "Thank you, my lord."

The communication spirit talisman burned away completely. The lord said no more, and the blood-colored spiritual light gradually faded, leaving the air quiet once more.

Wu Haoqian wiped the sweat from his brow and slowly rose. Recalling what the strange arts master had just said, a trace of doubt also surfaced in his heart.

The lord had not punished him, as though he did not care in the slightest whether they could take Meishan County...

He had only said that they should continue causing some commotion there...

Could he be telling them to deliberately draw attention there?!

"Could it be that the lord's true purpose... isn't in Meishan County?"

"Are we merely drawing fire here, providing cover for the lord's true move elsewhere?!"

Wu Haoqian's thoughts raced. He felt that he had vaguely grasped some crucial point.

But he was ultimately only an Evil Warrior, a tool that could be discarded at any time. No matter how much he speculated, he could never guess that person's true purpose.

After thinking it over without result, Wu Haoqian simply stopped dwelling on it and instead began considering what he should do next...

After the battle that night to pursue the Evil Warriors, the situation around Meishan truly settled down considerably. For several nights in a row, no Evil Creatures attacked the city.

The people of Meishan City had fought and slaughtered one another for days and were already utterly exhausted. They took advantage of this opportunity to rest properly.

During these days, Li Yuan had not been idle either. Every day, he would set aside some time to open meridians and puncture acupoints. He worked quickly; with only the time it took two incense sticks to burn, he could open a new meridian.

He had been in Meishan County for four days and had opened four new meridians, bringing the total he had opened to seven. The amount of true qi he possessed had increased sevenfold.

He had already opened more than half of the twelve primary meridians. In just a few more days, he would be able to open all twelve, at which point his strength would rise dramatically.

During this period, aside from cultivating himself, Li Yuan would occasionally offer some guidance on the cultivation of the members of his Nineteenth Squad.

He was now a top martial artist renowned throughout Meishan County. Nearly everyone in Meishan knew that Li Yuan had mastered Martial Dao True Intent.

How many people would break their heads trying to obtain an opportunity to receive guidance from such a genius martial artist?

Even a casual remark from Li Yuan was enough to leave these squad members deeply grateful.

The days passed one after another. The Evil Warriors' attacks were clearly weakening. Usually, only one or two Evil Warriors would emerge to cause trouble, and far fewer Evil Creatures came to attack the city at night.

Li Yuan stayed in Meishan for more than ten days. After conducting several investigations, the people of Meishan finally confirmed that the Evil Warriors no longer had the strength to break through Meishan County's city. It was good news, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The martial artists and Spirit Masters who had come to provide support also returned one after another.

When Li Yuan and the others returned to Jiujiang Commandery, they felt their hearts ease. They had finally returned to familiar ground. Although they had not spent long in Meishan, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.

"All right, let's return to the Special Capture Division and report our mission."

Zong Lin spoke at just the right moment.

The mission was complete, and they could claim their contribution points. Everyone was delighted as they hurried toward the Special Capture Division.