You Might Not Be Able to Kill Me

Chen Li was dressed in black too, but his plain, ordinary face was completely uncovered.

Just as I thought.

The Man in Black was a fake!

At the same time, the moment Chen Li appeared, Mu Ye could clearly feel the Water Prison Talisman's effect growing stronger.

"My lady was right..." The black-robed Cultivator sounded rather smug. "You really do have some kind of connection with this kid. I never thought you'd actually come out for him. No wonder he didn't reveal anything about you..."

"Hahaha..."

His laughter brimmed with self-satisfaction.

Mu Ye wasn't surprised. From the start, the man hadn't been trying to kill him with his attacks, and Mu Ye 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 seemed like a stranger now.

By all rights, both his legs had originally been crippled. When Mu Ye first saw him again, one had already healed.

The second time they met, Chen Li had been covered in blood and looked injured, but his legs hadn't been hurt.

This time, he was limping, but his leg showed no sign of injury. The way he walked seemed more like a habit he'd developed over many years.

The biggest change, naturally, was in his eyes.

Chen Li's gaze used to hold a clear, honest look... At a glance, he seemed like an utterly ordinary, honest man.

When he returned, his eyes were cold and indifferent, making him seem more like an old Cultivator who had weathered the vicissitudes of life.

But it wasn't impossible to understand. After all, he'd suffered a broken marriage and betrayal, been abandoned with a crippling injury, and had his cultivation crippled. He'd been worse off than a Mortal. If he'd managed to survive, it was only natural he'd changed.

Perhaps he'd even stumbled upon some kind of fortuitous encounter?

"Huang Li only sent you?"

Chen Li looked at him and remained silent.

"You're trapped in the Water Prison Talisman, and your cultivation is suppressed..." The Man in Black scoffed. "I can handle you all by myself! There's no need to trouble my lady! Hand over that treasure now, and I might still let you go. Otherwise..."

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

The enormous handprint reeked of blood, and while it wasn't any stronger than before, it was much faster.

But Chen Li thrust out one hand as well, his palm condensing a crimson glow.

He unleashed the Blood Hand Great Compassion Mantra too. Strangely, his version shimmered with radiant Buddhist light and gave off no stench at all. Within the handprint, it seemed that countless infants had pressed their palms together in prayer, creating a mysterious, eerie sight.

When the two attacks collided, the Man in Black's expression changed, and a shield of light instantly rose around him.

"You think you can beat me?"

The palm shadow surged in, shattering the Spiritual Power barrier around the Man in Black and sending him flying.

Mu Ye was secretly astonished. It seemed Chen the Lame had come across quite the fortuitous encounter. His cultivation had only been at the first or second layer of Qi Refining back then, and now, in such a short time, he was using a spell that looked like the Blood Hand Great Compassion Mantra with effortless fluidity, as if he'd practiced it countless times. It had the air of a great Cultivator's technique.

And the two attacks' power was completely different...

"Qi Refining Seventh Layer..."

Mu Ye estimated Chen Li's current strength.

"His wife betrayed him... He survived a disaster... His cultivation skyrocketed..."

Mu Ye thought, Why does this sound like the makings of a protagonist?

Just then, several figures darted out from the surroundings. Each had a water-element talisman stuck to their body, letting them enter the Water Prison Talisman with ease, apparently unaffected by it.

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

She was strikingly beautiful, with a graceful figure. Her eyes in particular held a bewitching allure.

Mu Ye guessed she had to 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 Refining.

Later, a matchmaker in Qinghe Market had introduced her to Chen Li.

"Brother Li..." Huang Li said sweetly. "We were husband and wife once. Why must you be like this? You used to swear you loved me, and even brought out every Spirit Stone you had to buy a box of Qi Condensation Pills so you could help me improve my cultivation... Now I'm asking you for just one little thing. Why won't you give it to me?"

"Do you know, after you met with disaster out there, I spent every day weeping... Thinking of you day and night, waiting until every flower had withered... If the young master of the Spirit Beast Pavilion hadn't said he'd send people out to search for you, I would never have agreed to marry him..."

"I did it all for you!"

"..." Mu Ye.

Her voice was so alluring and syrupy that an ordinary Cultivator's heart would soften just hearing it.

But wasn't she being shameless?

Back then, Chen Li had been forced to go out and hunt demonic beasts to earn Spirit Stones. Along the way, a group of rogue Cultivators had attacked him, broken his other leg, and crippled his cultivation.

Then, before long, his wife—Huang Li—had remarried into the Spirit Beast Pavilion.

Anyone with eyes could see that someone had clearly orchestrated this behind the scenes.

It was simple. When rogue Cultivators tried to rob you out in the wild, you could usually save your life by handing over your Spirit Stones and valuables. They wouldn't cripple or kill you.

Rogue Cultivators knew perfectly well that killing you was worse than robbing you again later.

If they crippled you, how would you earn Spirit Stones? How could they rob you again?

Unless they had no other choice or held a genuine grudge, they wouldn't kill you.

Chen Li had been such an honest man. Who could he possibly have made enemies with?

When you ran into bandits, of course you handed over your Spirit Stones without a word and worried about saving your life.

Why had he been crippled for no apparent reason, and out in the wilderness at that? It was as good as killing him.

Add in the fact that his wife had remarried at lightning speed, and anyone with half a brain could see something fishy was going on.

Still, this sort of thing was commonplace in the Cultivation World.

Chen Li said nothing. He simply raised his hand and fired several Ice Spears at tricky angles.

His eyes held no emotion, only a pure desire to kill.

While secretly circulating the Sea-Covering Supreme Art to adapt to the Water Prison Talisman and wait for an opening, Mu Ye watched the two sides fight.

Huang Li's side had four Cultivators, all at the sixth or seventh layer of Qi Refining. They worked together with practiced coordination; it was obvious they'd come prepared. That Man in Black had only been the vanguard.

Still, Chen Li's strength exceeded Mu Ye's expectations even more.

He knew only a few spells, yet he held his own with ease against four or five Cultivators at the same level. His battle experience was clearly incredibly rich.

Almost like...

"A side character?"

"Could this guy have an old grandpa living inside him? Did he get possessed? No, that doesn't seem right..."

Before long, Chen Li suddenly pulled out a Blood-colored Short Staff. It was as if a god of slaughter had possessed him; his strength surged, and within a few short breaths, he defeated several of them in succession. But he was panting heavily, as if he were burning through his life force.

Under that onslaught, Huang Li's Cultivators couldn't hold out. One after another, they fell. Chen Li even pierced two of them through the heart with a single Ice Spear Technique, killing two birds with one stone. Blood and entrails spattered across the ground.

Huang Li looked terrified. Then, in a flash of inspiration, she looked at Mu Ye, who was trapped in the Water Prison Talisman. She and the two remaining Cultivators rushed over and seized him.

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

Chen Li froze, the bloodlust in his eyes slowly 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 blood.

"You're out of Spiritual Power. You can't cast any spells," Chen Li said coldly, as if he'd calculated it with extreme precision. "I can kill you before you can do anything."

"And who told you that you need Spiritual Power to kill someone?" Huang Li said with a faint smile.

One of the Cultivators placed his hand on Mu Ye's neck and said proudly,

"I'm a Body Cultivator. I may have only just begun, but it would take no more than a hand to finish off a second-layer Qi Refining Cultivator like him."

Chen Li narrowed his eyes and lowered the Blood-colored Short Staff.

Just then...

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

"Hm?" The three of them froze.

Before they could say anything—

While the three were distracted, Mu Ye's fingers flicked lightly, sweeping past them like butterflies flitting among flowers.

Zuixiang Eighteen Hands: Life Severing.

In the next instant, all three shuddered as though struck by lightning. A moment later, they fell to the ground.

They were silent.

Mu Ye brushed off his clothes and slowly let out a breath. He still hadn't mastered the Sea-Covering Supreme Art; it had taken him almost the time it took an incense stick to burn.

"?" Chen Li.

Looking at the three fallen figures, his gaze turned somewhat dazed.

Had I really been fighting all that long?

Chen Li suddenly collapsed to the ground, the Short Staff in his hand propping him up halfway. For a moment, he sat in silence.