Just as Zhao Yi was about to die on the spot, a layer of golden light flared around him in the nick of time, blocking every attack. The golden barrier flickered incessantly under the blows, holding for two breaths before shattering!
Two breaths were enough. Zhao Yi broke free of his restraints and charged like a giant beast, smashing through the spikes rising from the ground. In the blink of an eye, he reached the bamboo building!
Zhao Yi kicked the door open. Fire flashed inside, making his pupils widen in alarm. Three fireballs came howling toward him!
"A Chain Fireball Talisman!"
In that instant between life and death, Zhao Yi gripped his longsword with both hands, True Qi racing through his meridians. An inch of sword Gang emerged from the tip. Under the threat of death, his True Qi had entered a new stage: True Qi condensing into Gang. If he was lucky enough to survive and devoted several months to cultivation, he could pierce the Qi Origin Gate with a single thrust!
Zhao Yi slashed the first fireball. Boom! It exploded instantly, scattering sparks in all directions!
Yet even with all his strength, Zhao Yi had only destroyed one fireball. The remaining two hurtled straight toward him!
Thinking of Liu Yu and Li Hai behind him, Zhao Yi roared. His towering body stood like a mountain in the doorway. Without retreating a single step, he bore the full force of the Chain Fireball Talisman!
Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out in succession. The blast tore a huge hole through the bamboo building's ground floor, leaving it on the verge of collapse!
Zhao Yi's chest now resembled charcoal. All his hair had burned away, the Inner Armor over his chest had long since turned to ash, and his clothes hung from him in a few tattered strips.
Pfft!
A mist of blood sprayed into the air.
"Kill!"
A streak of sword light struck!
Zhao Yi raised his sword to block, scattering sparks, then swept his blade sideways with all his strength.
Clang!
His opponent's sword was knocked straight to the ground!
For a moment, both Zhao Yi and the cultivator opposite him froze. The explosion really had left Zhao Yi somewhat dazed. Liu Yu, behind him, reacted first and slashed. This time, the cultivator had nowhere left to retreat and could no longer dodge. The blade struck his shoulder, then Li Hai thrust his sword straight into the cultivator's heart, finishing him.
Zhao Yi shook his head, pulling at his wounds and baring his teeth in pain. Though the cultivator had reached perfection of Meridian Opening, he had been far too weak. He could not even hold on to his sword. No fun at all.
"Eldest senior brother!"
"Senior brother!"
Liu Yu and Li Hai looked anxiously at the charred Zhao Yi. Up close, they could smell the aroma of cooked meat.
"Cough, cough!"
"I'm fine. I won't die. Quick! Spring Return Pills!"
Liu Yu hurriedly handed him a bottle of Spring Return Pills. Zhao Yi took it, opened it, and poured the pills into his mouth. They dissolved on his tongue and flowed into his belly, instantly transforming into an enormous surge of spiritual energy that made him spit several more mouthfuls of blood.
Seeing this, Liu Yu hurried forward and used his True Qi to ease the immense spiritual energy within Zhao Yi, while Li Hai stood in front of him and set his breastbone and ribs back into place.
"Quick, give me a few Qi-Replenishing Pills too!" Zhao Yi took the pills Liu Yu handed him and stuffed them whole into his mouth. Without sitting down to refine them, he nodded at the two. "Don't worry about me! Hurry! Search the place!"
Liu Yu entered the building to search for spoils, while Zhao Yi and Li Hai began gathering honey.
They headed straight for the beehives. Zhao Yi was about to open one with his bare hands when Li Hai stopped him and stuck a Golden Light Talisman onto each of them.
Zhao Yi opened the hive without fearing the stings and was about to stuff the honey into a cloth sack.
Just then, Li Hai suddenly said, "Eldest senior brother, why don't we take the hives instead? These are Jade-Pattern Bees, a kind of unranked spirit insect. They have one particular trait: if you split off part of a colony, as long as there are enough bees, they'll produce a Bee Queen of their own after a while, even if they don't have one."
"So what are you suggesting?"
"Eldest senior brother, let's take four hives with us. I think we can raise them ourselves once we return to Linghua Island. Then we'll have all the honey we want!"
"They really are Jade-Pattern Bees, but will four hives be enough?"
Liu Yu walked over and asked.
"Then take six. Hurry! I can sense something dangerous deep in the valley. It's very likely the Bee Queen you mentioned! Its aura is at least at perfection of Meridian Opening, and it might even be at the Spirit Attraction Stage! If we don't leave now, it'll be too late. Besides, dozens of breaths have passed since the gong sounded. People will be coming down the mountain too. Look!" Zhao Yi pointed toward the distant mountain.
Sure enough, lights appeared on the mountain and were rapidly descending.
The three nodded. Zhao Yi picked up four hives and took off running, no longer concealing himself. The other two followed with one hive each, and Liu Yu also carried a cloth sack.
Zhao Yi ran fastest and reached the valley entrance first. Liu Yu had already notified Wang Qing, who leaped down from the mountaintop at full speed.
With a few pushes off along the way, he landed on the ground.
"Eldest senior brother, how did it go?"
"Go! Wang Qing, bring up the rear. Hold them off with Talisman Arrows!"
"No more hiding. Run straight for the harbor!"
"Quick! Hurry!"
The four ran with the hives. Fortunately, it was already November, and temperatures in Beihai had plummeted. The entire colony, including the Bee Queen, had begun hibernating. Otherwise, even if they escaped being caught and beaten to death, the soldier bees would have stung them to death!
Jade-Pattern Bees were highly venomous!
The four really were lucky!
On the way, Zhao Yi felt the others were running too slowly, so he applied Divine Movement Talismans as well. They raced like the wind, breaking through several islander patrols trying to stop them. Who knew where those people had found the courage! Wang Qing shot several dead!
After sprinting all the way, they finally reached the harbor and put the hives aboard. "Li Hai, sail away first! Wang Qing, summon Guiwu and have Guiwu scuttle that Two-Masted Ship. Liu Yu and I will stay to deal with them!"
"Eldest senior brother, I'll stay with second senior brother. You go with Li Hai!" Wang Qing said anxiously.
"Stop arguing! Once the ship's scuttled, hide with Guiwu and be ready to help us!"
"Li Hai, go!"
Li Hai nodded, untied the mooring rope, and sailed away. It was not that he was unworried; he simply trusted Zhao Yi!
They watched the two leave.
Zhao Yi asked Liu Yu for several more Qi-Replenishing Pills and swallowed them. He had taken over a dozen pills this time alone. Though they replenished True Qi and healed injuries, they still contained pill toxins. Taking so many at once, Zhao Yi really was enjoying a feast! Unless he recuperated for a year or so after returning, he would never expel all those toxins!
Liu Yu took two as well.
At the Harbor Wharf, one stood while the other sat. Liu Yu was still dressed in black with his face covered, but Zhao Yi had no need for that; he was charred all over. The Spring Return Pills worked quite well. Though his skin was burned, new flesh had already grown underneath, and his broken bones had begun to mend.
Beneath the pale moonlight, Liu Yu stood in black with his head and face covered, a powerful aura bursting from him. Intimidated by his presence, the pursuing cultivators slowly stopped and stood opposite him, also casting several glances at Zhao Yi, who sat nearby.
"Who are you, and why did you attack our Kongqing Island?"
A young cultivator opposite them demanded in fury.
Liu Yu said nothing. He stared fixedly at the cultivator while twirling his longsword through flourishes.
At Liu Yu's arrogance, the young cultivator leaped ten feet high like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Rage surged in Yuan Huaqing's heart. This is too much! Too much! Ever since I began cultivating, I've never suffered such humiliation.
Several months earlier, during the attack on Black Wind Island, he had defeated two veteran cultivators at perfection of Meridian Opening in succession, then defeated the combined assault of Black Wind Island's eldest and second senior brothers. He could be called the foremost cultivator in the surrounding waters.
To think I'd be treated with contempt here! Fine, fine, fine! Today, I'll show you what I can do!
Sword light flashed, the blade darting like a venomous snake straight toward Liu Yu's chest.
Beside him, an elderly cultivator kept his sword half drawn and stared motionlessly at Zhao Yi. Having roamed the seas for decades, he possessed an exceptionally keen instinct for danger. It had helped him escape certain death many times. Tonight, he once again sensed mortal danger from this cultivator as black as charcoal!
Sensing his gaze, a flash of white appeared on that blackened face. Under the moonlight, it was a set of teeth as white as jade!
"Heh!"
The laugh stabbed like a sharp blade into the attacking Yuan Huaqing's heart. He still dares to laugh!
With a light flick of his sword, Liu Yu deflected Yuan Huaqing's blade, then thrust diagonally at his wrist.
Clink!
Yuan Huaqing brought his sword back to block. Liu Yu seized the opening to flick his blade upward, knocking his opponent's sword aside before thrusting straight at his right arm.
"Ah!"
The young cultivator screamed. Unable to keep hold of his sword, he clutched his arm and retreated. Seeing this, the elderly cultivator hurried in front of Yuan Huaqing to shield him.
"You've wreaked havoc on our Kongqing Island and taken what you wanted. It's time you left!"
As he spoke, he took a talisman from his robes and held it between his fingers!
Liu Yu did not pursue. Holding his sword, he began slowly backing away. The cultivators opposite them advanced no farther. Once the two reached the shore, they turned and walked into the water, Treading the Waves. A dozen breaths later, they had vanished from sight.
Beneath the moonlight, the cultivators of Kongqing Island stood on its beach in prolonged silence, all astonished that the thieves could walk on water.
After a long while, Yuan Huaqing spoke. "Fourth uncle, have you ever seen cultivators below the Spirit Attraction Stage walk on water?"
"In all my years of cultivation, I've heard that some geniuses from great sects and powerful clans can perform feats beyond ordinary people's imagination at perfection of Meridian Opening. But today was truly the first time I've seen it!"
The young cultivator gazed into the distance without a word.
Looking at the boat receding into the distance, one of the younger cultivators asked, "Fourth granduncle, should we take a boat and chase them?"
The older cultivator sighed. "No. What could we do even if we caught them? Can our Kongqing Island afford to have even one more cultivator killed or injured?"
"If a few hives are gone, let them be gone. As long as the Bee Queen remains, the colony can keep growing. Our Kongqing Island can become strong again too."
He turned to the young cultivator beside him and asked with concern, "Huaqing, how's your injury?"
"Fourth uncle, I'm fine. The bone wasn't hurt. A few days' rest will do!"
"Good. Come on, let's return. I'm afraid second brother's chances are grim. We still have to bury his body when we get back!"
"Remember what happened today, all of you. If you ever discover an island selling Jade-Pattern Bee honey, they're the enemies we faced today!"
The others nodded firmly.
"Fourth granduncle, isn't the Clear Spirit sinking?" the young cultivator who had suggested pursuing them spoke again.
The older cultivator whipped his head around and cursed, "Those damned thieves! Quick! Go repair the ship and patch the holes!"
"No! Go check on Huahai and Huachen first!"
Little did he know, the two were already cold!
Before you continue