Golden Spirit Ginseng

The night was still young; it was only the first half of the night.

Li Ye did not continue cultivating the Nine Heavens Crimson Thunder Art. Taking advantage of the darkness, he headed down the mountain.

"Have you heard? The Iron Saber Society was wiped out."

"I heard too. Several hundred people—every last one vanished from the Human World. They couldn't even find the bodies."

"A great devil who killed without blinking did it. I heard quite a few Iron Saber Society members were scared to death by his vicious, hideous appearance."

"Oh, Brother Li Bai is here. Brother Li Bai, have you heard about what happened to the Iron Saber Society?"

Outside the Corpse Refining Courtyard, a group of Corpse Incinerators had gathered to discuss the matter. They were all unfamiliar faces; Li Ye had only seen them once a few days ago and did not know them well.

Li Ye nodded and said blandly, "I've heard a little. They say it was done by a young, handsome, kind-hearted, beautiful man."

After exchanging a few casual words with them, he went down the mountain.

At a spot down the mountain where he had hidden some clothes, he dug up an Oil Paper Bundle. Inside was the Blue Robe he had worn when he went to the Iron Saber Society that day.

Where had this robe come from?

Zhou Bao had been captured at the time, and the situation had been urgent, so Li Ye had simply stolen one along the way.

However, when Li Ye passed by that shop afterward, he secretly tossed in a piece of Loose Silver. That counted as payment for the clothes.

"Golden Ginseng, here I come."

Li Ye muttered. After changing clothes and putting on the Shapeshifter Mask, his entire body turned into an Afterimage and vanished from where he stood.

In the middle of the night, a Night Roaming God could race over a thousand li.

Li Ye had inherited the Night Roaming God's innate abilities, so naturally, he was no weakling either.

The Great Barren Forest was only a little over a hundred li from the Divine Concealment Sect. Li Ye arrived in just over half an hour.

Though it was deep in the night, this wild mountain wilderness was incredibly lively.

The moment Li Ye arrived, he saw magic artifacts shining brilliantly within the pitch-black Great Barren Forest, one after another.

Cultivators rode Flying Swords through the woods and flew through the air.

A fierce battle seemed to have broken out in the depths of the Great Barren Forest.

The clang of weapons, the explosive collisions of cultivation, and the booms of the earth rose and fell without end.

"The world of cultivators..."

Li Ye murmured.

Then he silently recited in his heart: Daily Divination.

Buzz!

Li Ye's Mental Magnetic Field immediately changed. Information concerning the Golden Ginseng surfaced uncontrollably in his mind.

The spiritual medicine was currently thirty li away from Li Ye and was still moving rapidly. Its path twisted and turned without any pattern.

But according to the analysis of the Heavenly Secrets, in the time it took to burn an incense stick, it would stop to rest beneath a certain tree in the northeast.

"I'll head northeast and wait for it first."

Li Ye thought, then slipped into the depths of the Great Barren Forest.

This was Li Ye's confidence.

Though masters were as numerous as clouds among those eyeing the Golden Ginseng, they were all searching blindly like headless flies.

Li Ye, however, could divine the Golden Ginseng's exact location.

He moved with astonishing speed, his whole body like a blue Gale. Wherever he passed, the air boomed, sending sand and stones flying.

Ever since the Devil Sect's Golden Ginseng had escaped, the Devil Sect had been searching for it across the world. By now, many people knew of it.

At this moment, the Great Barren Forest contained people from every walk of life, a tangled mass of dragons and snakes.

All of them wanted a share of this world-shaking fortune.

Bang!

Someone was sent flying sideways and crashed down in the distance. He wailed, feeling as though his buttocks had shattered, baring his teeth in pain.

"Who the hell was that? Clearly a Great Expert of the Qi Gathering Realm, yet instead of using Sword Flight, he insists on running on two legs."

"So what if you run fast? Didn't you know you could hurt someone by accident?"

"This is bullying!"

The Bald Strongman cursed at the blue Gale racing away in the distance.

He was at the Great Perfection of the Body Tempering Realm. Anyone capable of easily knocking him flying had to be a Great Expert of the Qi Gathering Stage.

"Sorry, sorry."

"But with your cultivation, you should just go home and hold your child."

Li Ye's voice was flung back from ahead.

"Pah, you're the one carrying a child."

"Golden Ginseng is definitely mine, Old Yang's."

After listening, the Bald Strongman retorted in a furious rage.

In mid-air, a glowing flying sword moved swiftly. Standing atop its blade was a young man with his hands clasped behind his back, bearing himself with imposing elegance.

The young man wore splendid robes and fine jade at his waist, radiating nobility.

Hmm?

Suddenly, he noticed Li Ye sprinting frantically across the ground below. "Qi Gathering Realm?"

The young man was slightly surprised.

Though he could not sense any fluctuations of heaven-and-earth Spiritual Power from Li Ye, he still judged his realm from Li Ye's speed.

The young man's gaze flickered. As he controlled the flying sword to follow Li Ye, he pondered, "Clearly he's in the Qi Gathering Realm, yet he travels on foot. Is it because he has no flying Magic Artifact, or because he doesn't want others of the same realm to notice him?"

"This man is rushing along in great haste. Could it be... that he has clues about Spirit Ginseng?"

"That must be it."

At that thought, a sneer appeared at the corner of the young man's lips. He immediately formed hand seals with both hands, pouring a surge of mana into the flying sword. Its speed abruptly soared.

Swiftly closing the distance to Li Ye.

A flying sword was a type of Magic Artifact, also known as a Spirit Sword.

Such weapons possessed spirituality and could bear the Great Dao of heaven and earth.

After refining one through certain profound methods, cultivators of the Qi Gathering Stage could wield artifacts to fly.

A Spirit Sword was extremely expensive and was usually controlled by major sects. It was no exaggeration to say that anyone in the mortal world who possessed a Spirit Sword was certain to be either rich or noble.

For an ordinary person to obtain one was harder than ascending to heaven. Take Shen Heng, for example—despite exploiting Licheng City for so many years, he had never acquired a Spirit Sword.

"Someone's following me."

Li Ye sensed something and abruptly turned around. He saw a glowing flying sword streaking through mid-air like lightning, carrying a young man around his own age.

Seeing that he had been exposed, the young man gave a hehe laugh without speaking. Yet Li Ye read the meaning from his expression, as though he were saying: I've got you in the bag.

"Laugh at your sister! Get the hell out of here!"

Li Ye flew into a rage.

The muscles in his legs bulged high, his Big Tendons standing out. He stomped hard against the ground, and his entire body shot directly dozens of meters into the sky like a cannonball.

Then he threw a punch.

Boom!

An arm-thick crimson electric arc burst from Li Ye's Fist. The gale howled as it surged with the force of thunder, arriving before the young man in the blink of an eye.

The young man's face filled with astonishment, utterly stunned by Li Ye's action.

Because even he could not leap so high without controlling a Magic Artifact.

What kind of physique was this? Was it even flesh and blood?

Seeing Li Ye's punch reach him, the young man lightly scolded, "Water Cloud Art."

Buzz!

He formed hand seals with both hands, and a thick Water Wall made of Spiritual Power instantly appeared before him, blocking Li Ye's attack.

Bang!

Li Ye's fist force arrived and slammed into the young man's Water Wall. A blinding radiance instantly erupted between them, shaking the sky with a thunderous roar before both shattered apart.

The explosion directly blasted the young man dozens of meters away, leaving him in a miserable state.

"Trying to follow me? Try again next life."

Li Ye laughed loudly. By then, he had already landed and resumed his frantic sprint.

Roar!

The young man's roar rang out from high above, filled with boundless fury.

He had actually been knocked back.

Though he had been caught unprepared.

"Good, good, good!"

"You actually managed to drive This Seat back with one punch, but you've exposed yourself as well."

"You... don't have a Spirit Sword. You're dead for sure!"

The noble young man grinned viciously.

He continued controlling the flying sword beneath his feet as it shot forward. This time, he increased his mana output, catching up to Li Ye in the blink of an eye.

A shrill sword cry rang beside Li Ye's ears, and he cursed, "Damn it, are you done yet?"

"Fine, fine, fine. You want to compare speed, do you? Then I'll show you what real speed is."

With that, Li Ye fully mobilized the power of Swift Wind Leg. The Muscles in his thighs unknowingly swelled several degrees thicker, Big Tendons rising beneath the skin like Flood Dragons.

The power in his legs surged explosively.

Whoosh!

He shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bowstring, leaving Youngster far behind...

Watching Li Ye vanish into the distance like a ghostly phantom, Youngster could not help but gape in stunned disbelief.