You Might Not Be Able to Kill Me

At this moment, Chen Li was also dressed in black, his ordinary, unremarkable face uncovered by any mask.

As expected.

This Man in Black was a fake!

At the same time, the moment Chen Li appeared, Mu Ye clearly felt the effect of the Water Prison Talisman intensify.

"The mistress was right after all..." the black-clad cultivator said with a hint of smugness. "You really do have some connection with this brat. I didn't expect you would actually come out for his sake. No wonder this kid didn't reveal a single thing about you..."

"Hahaha..."

His laughter was filled with triumph.

Mu Ye was not surprised; from the very beginning, when this person attacked without the intent to kill, he had already guessed as much.

But... what was the point of luring Chen Li out?

Could it be...

Mu Ye looked at Chen Li.

To be honest, Chen Li felt quite like a stranger right now.

Logically speaking, both of his legs had been crippled. When he first returned, one was already healed.

The second time they met, although he was covered in blood and looked injured, his legs were fine.

This time, he was limping, yet there was no damage to his leg; walking like that seemed more like a habit formed over many years.

The biggest change, naturally, was his eyes.

In the past, Chen Li's gaze had revealed a clear, honest nature... at a glance, he looked like a plain, unremarkable, honest man.

Now, his eyes were cold and indifferent, more like those of an old cultivator who had weathered the ups and downs of the world.

But it was not incomprehensible. After all, he had experienced the betrayal of his wife, being abandoned while crippled, and having his cultivation base destroyed—he had suffered even more than a mortal. It was normal for him to change if he could survive all that.

Perhaps he had encountered some fortuitous opportunities?

"Huang Li only sent you?"

Chen Li looked at the latter, silent and mute.

"You are trapped in the Water Prison Talisman, your cultivation suppressed..." the Man in Black sneered. "I can deal with you all by myself! There is no need to trouble the mistress! Hand over that treasure now, and I might spare you. Otherwise..."

With that, the Man in Black raised his hand and struck with a Blood Hand Great Compassion Mantra.

The giant handprint, reeking of a foul, bloody stench, was no more powerful than the last time, but its speed was much faster.

However, Chen Li also reached out with one hand, his palm coalescing into a scarlet hue.

It was the same Blood Hand Great Compassion Mantra, but strangely, Chen Li's version shimmered with a brilliant, radiant Buddha-light. There was no foul, fishy stench to it; within the handprint, it seemed as though many infants were pressing their palms together in prayer, appearing quite mysterious and eerie.

As the two collided, the expression of the Man in Black shifted, and a light barrier immediately rose around his body.

"Just you?"

The palm shadow struck, instantly crushing the spiritual power barrier on the Man in Black and sending him flying backward.

Mu Ye was secretly astonished. It seemed Chen the Lame had encountered quite a significant stroke of fortune. Not long ago, his cultivation was only at the first or second layer of Qi Condensation. How much time had passed since then? This technique looked like the Blood Hand Great Compassion Mantra, yet when he cast it, it was smooth and fluid, as if he had practiced it countless times, possessing the air of a high-level cultivator.

Moreover, the power of the two was completely different...

"Seventh layer of Qi Condensation..."

Mu Ye estimated Chen Li's current strength.

Wife's betrayal... surviving a great disaster... cultivation skyrocketing...

Mu Ye thought to himself, why does this feel a bit like the protagonist of a story?

At this moment, several figures darted out from the surroundings. Each of them had a water-element talisman attached to their bodies, allowing them to enter the Water Prison Talisman with ease, seemingly completely unaffected by its effects.

Leading them was a young woman dressed in a pale yellow gauze dress.

This young woman was beautiful and curvaceous, especially her eyes, which held a rather bewitching quality.

Mu Ye guessed that this must be Chen Li's ex-wife, Huang Li.

She was a rogue cultivator in Qinghe Market, a female cultivator at the first layer of Qi Condensation.

Later, she had been introduced to Chen Li by a matchmaker in Qinghe Market.

"Brother Li..." Huang Li said in a sweet, coquettish voice, "We were husband and wife once, why must it come to this? You used to swear you loved me, even going so far as to spend every last Spirit Stone you had just to buy a box of Qi Condensation Pills to help me improve my cultivation... Now that I want to ask you for something, why won't you give it to me?"

"Do you have any idea? After you went missing, I wept every single day... I thought of you day and night, waiting until the flowers withered... If the young master of the Spirit Beast Pavilion hadn't said he was willing to send people out to look for you, I would never have agreed to marry him..."

"Everything I did was for you!"

"..." Mu Ye.

This woman's voice was incredibly seductive; an ordinary cultivator would likely have their heart softened by at least three parts upon hearing it.

However, wasn't this a bit too shameless?

Back then, it was Chen Li who had been forced to go out and hunt spirit beasts to earn Spirit Stones, only to be attacked by a group of evil cultivators midway, losing his cultivation after one of his legs was severed.

And not long after that, his wife, Huang Li, had remarried into the Spirit Beast Pavilion.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that someone was clearly pulling the strings behind the scenes.

The reason was simple: when rogue cultivators caused trouble, as long as you handed over your Spirit Stones and valuables, you could keep your life. They wouldn't cripple or kill you.

Even rogue cultivators understood that killing you was less profitable than coming back to rob you again later.

If they crippled you, how would you earn Spirit Stones for them to steal in the future?

Unless it was a last resort or there was a genuine blood feud, they wouldn't kill you.

Chen Li was such an honest man. How could he have any enemies?

If he encountered robbery cultivators, he would have handed over his Spirit Stones without a word to save his life.

How could he have been inexplicably crippled? And to do it out in the open was effectively the same as killing him.

Combined with how his wife had remarried at lightning speed, anyone with a bit of sense could see that something was fishy.

However, such matters were commonplace in the Cultivation World.

Chen Li didn't speak. He raised his hand and fired several Ice Spear Techniques, attacking from tricky angles.

There was no emotion in his eyes, only a pure desire for slaughter.

Mu Ye secretly circulated his Sea-Covering Supreme Art to adapt to the Water Prison Talisman while waiting for an opportunity, watching the two sides fight.

Huang Li's side had four cultivators, all at the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Refining. They coordinated well, clearly having come prepared; the Man in Black from earlier was just the vanguard.

However, Chen Li's strength exceeded Mu Ye's expectations.

He only knew a few spells, yet facing four or five cultivators of the same cultivation level, he moved with ease. His combat experience was clearly immense.

It was as if...

Is he a smurf?

Could this guy have an old soul residing in him? Was he possessed? Doesn't look like it, though...

Not long after, Chen Li suddenly pulled out a Blood-colored Short Staff. It was as if a god of slaughter had possessed him; his strength skyrocketed. In just a few breaths, he defeated several people in succession, though his breathing was extremely ragged, as if he were burning away his own life.

In this state, the cultivators on Huang Li's side could not hold their ground. Before long, they were defeated one after another. Two of them were killed by Chen Li in a single strike of his Ice Spear Technique, which pierced through both their hearts, leaving blood and viscera scattered across the ground.

Huang Li's face turned pale with terror. Suddenly, she had an idea. She looked at Mu Ye, who was trapped in the Water Prison Talisman, and immediately rushed over with the remaining two cultivators to take Mu Ye hostage.

"Chen Li, don't move! If you take another step, I'll kill him!" Huang Li shouted, her face deathly pale.

Chen Li froze, the blood-red hue in his eyes gradually fading.

He was covered in blood—some of it his enemies', and some his own.

The blood-colored short staff looked even more terrifying against the backdrop of fresh blood.

"You have no spiritual energy left, so you cannot cast spells," Chen Li said coldly, as if his calculations were precise. "I can kill you before you even make a move."

"Who told you that one cannot kill without spiritual energy?" Huang Li said with a faint smile.

One of the cultivators placed his palm on Mu Ye's neck and said arrogantly:

"I am a body cultivator. Although I have only just entered the path, ending the life of a second-level Qi Refinement cultivator is nothing more than a flick of the wrist."

Chen Li narrowed his eyes and lowered the blood-colored short staff.

Just then...

"Um..." Mu Ye suddenly spoke up, "You might not be able to kill me..."

"Hm?" The three of them were slightly stunned.

Before they could respond.

Taking advantage of their momentary distraction.

Mu Ye's fingertips moved lightly, dancing like a butterfly through flowers, flashing across the bodies of the three men.

Zuixiang Eighteen Hands: Life Severing.

The next instant, the three men shuddered as if struck by lightning, trembling violently all over. After only a moment, they collapsed.

They were lifeless.

Mu Ye shook out his clothes and slowly exhaled. He still hadn't mastered the Sea-Covering Supreme Art; it had actually taken him nearly the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

"?" Chen Li.

Looking at the three fallen men, his eyes were filled with confusion.

Did I fight for that long just now?

Chen Li suddenly slumped to the ground, the short staff in his hand half-propping him up, and for a moment, he remained silent.