A Sudden Attack

By then, night had fallen and the moon had risen. At the foot of the mountain, pitch-black canopies blanketed the land in swaths. A faintly visible trail wound upward, thorns and shrubs thick along its sides. On the platform halfway up the mountain, only a few enormous pines swayed gently in the night wind, with sparse grass and exposed rock beneath them.

Strategist Ji had been observing Li Yan all along. After Li Yan picked up the overturned waterskin, he noticed something different. The rock beside Li Yan was a shade darker under the moonlight than the surrounding stone. There was nothing unusual about a darkened water stain; after all, that spot had been soaked by the water spilled from the overturned waterskin.

But just as Strategist Ji's gaze swept past and was about to move away, something stirred in his heart. He vaguely sensed that something was wrong, so he looked back at that spot.

With spiritual power poured into his eyes, he could see as clearly beneath the moonlight as in broad daylight. He spotted a faint crystalline glimmer there, clearly a reflection caused by water clinging to some object. Yet the distance was too great; with his current cultivation, he still could not make it out clearly.

He lowered his head and looked toward the foot and middle of the mountain again, calculating silently. There were no large trees farther up from the foot of the mountain. Mostly, thorny shrubs spread upward. This low vegetation generally grew sideways close to the ground from the roots, vines and branches tangled in every direction. It would be exceedingly difficult to hide among them without making a sound. Still, there were several taller trees near the foot of the mountain.

At once, he turned and dropped from the enormous treetop like a nimble squirrel, reaching the ground in a few motions. After several more leaps, he arrived beneath the trees at the mountain's foot. He chose the tree with the best angle for observing Li Yan, then lightly and supplely climbed it once more.

Li Yan sat on a rock with his eyes closed, leaning against a pine tree. He looked as though he were merely dozing, but in truth, he had raised his spiritual power to its utmost limit and was listening intently to every sound around him.

He had been here for more than two days. Just now, he had suddenly felt as if someone were watching him. Though he had heard no sound and seen neither person nor beast, in that brief instant, the natural balance of heaven and earth that had become familiar to him seemed to have been torn apart by a single hand.

Was it him? What a pity the Gui Water True Scripture had only been cultivated to the peak of the middle stage of the first layer. If I could break through to the second layer, I could release my Divine Sense. That should greatly improve my chances of staying alive.

After several months of bitter cultivation of the Gui Water True Scripture, Li Yan's spiritual power had surged rapidly, and he had begun to familiarize himself with many of this immortal art's applications. Because this cultivation art cultivated the Five Elements and allowed them to generate one another, his spiritual power was naturally far greater than that of cultivators at the same level. For instance, ordinary cultivators could only release their Divine Sense at the third layer of the Qi Condensation Realm, while the Gui Water True Scripture allowed one to do so upon breaking through to the second layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.

It definitely wasn't Hong Linying just now. I gave him that Breath-Guiding Art as the first-layer cultivation method of the Wood Yin Technique. Those incantations were the genuine article; he won't be able to find any flaws in them anytime soon.

He has no spiritual root either, so naturally he cannot cultivate any sensation. But as long as he knows the "secret manual" is real, he will surely recognize its extraordinary qualities. Given his martial-obsessed temperament, he should come and fight for the subsequent techniques. Then that strange feeling just now most likely meant Ji Wenhe had already found this place. Though it lasted only an instant, it can basically be confirmed. Ji Wenhe has already tracked me here, yet Hong Linying still hasn't arrived. Must I really withstand this alone?

Strategist Ji returned to the treetop. Though this tree stood only at the mountain's foot and was not as tall as the one from which he had previously lain in ambush, he could still barely see the platform, and his view was much closer.

A moment later, a sneer appeared on Strategist Ji's dark face. "So it's a powerful foot-braced crossbow. Hong Linying even gave him this thing. How vicious. If I were careless, it could become quite troublesome."

The powerful foot-braced crossbow had a string twisted from the tendons of several ordinary demonic beasts. It was fitted with a bolt box containing seven heavy bolts, loaded in advance. Its killing power was five or six times that of an ordinary bow and arrow, and two or three times that of an ordinary crossbow.

Normally, it took three or four people to draw it, making it far too impractical. Later, skilled craftsmen in the army improved it repeatedly, allowing a single master trained in internal energy to operate it. Even so, a second-rate martial artist could generally fire only around three bolts in succession.

Further improvements added a groove to the crossbow, large enough for the front of an adult's foot. The trigger mechanism could be activated by leg strength, allowing even an ordinary adult to possibly fire a bolt. Thus, it was also called a powerful foot crossbow.

Such a devastating portable weapon could be fatal even to immortal cultivators. Before reaching the Foundation Establishment Realm, ordinary cultivators were only somewhat tougher than common people aside from possessing spiritual power and knowing a few immortal arts. If struck by such a deadly weapon, they would perish just the same. Of course, that was another matter entirely if they were prepared beforehand.

There was another kind of cultivator: body cultivators. Even at the Qi Condensation Realm, their physical toughness far surpassed that of ordinary people. Just how hard their bodies were depended on the body-tempering technique they cultivated.

Strategist Ji carefully observed that small area. The powerful foot-braced crossbow was concealed in the crevice between the huge rock and the ground. Perhaps because the crevice itself was small, and because it needed to be drawn quickly without exposing the user's intentions, only a little of the bowstring was visible.

When Li Yan had accidentally knocked over the waterskin, droplets had clung to the bowstring. Had Strategist Ji not noticed that faint glint of water reflecting from the string, he might have fallen into the trap through carelessness. Hatred for Hong Linying rose in his heart. That man had actually given such a killing weapon to Li Yan.

Looking at the low thorny brush stretching uphill beneath the tree, Strategist Ji frowned. He was still more than two hundred zhang from the platform halfway up the mountain. If he could sneak forward another hundred zhang, he was absolutely certain he could close in on Li Yan before Li Yan had time to react.

But his brows quickly relaxed. This was no problem at all. Now that he had found Li Yan, all that remained was to wait for an opportunity.

To put it plainly, that opportunity was when Li Yan grew tired. Even someone at the third layer of the Qi Condensation Realm like himself could not use meditation and cultivation to replace sleep, much less someone at the early stage of the first layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.

Li Yan continued sitting on the rock. The night deepened in the valley, and the moonlight overhead grew ever colder. Wave after wave of drowsiness washed over him. Slowly, he relaxed his body and leaned against the pine tree, his eyes closing of their own accord.

Strategist Ji lay atop the tree, his eyes unblinking as he watched Li Yan. It was already midnight. Seeing Li Yan slowly close his eyes, he too began closing his own, gradually regulating the spiritual power within his body. His mind had been stretched taut for the past two nights, and he had traveled without rest. Even a cultivator as strong as him was exhausted.

Now that he had confirmed Li Yan had begun to sleep, he regulated his breathing and gathered his strength, while also allowing Li Yan to sink into a deeper slumber.

Half an hour later, Strategist Ji slowly opened his eyes. After watching Li Yan for a while longer, his figure flashed and vanished from the tree. Then, on the mountain path, his silhouette flashed once before disappearing again, only to reappear farther ahead the next instant. Only the occasional thorny branch along the trail swayed faintly.

As the platform halfway up the mountain drew closer and closer, Strategist Ji's heart remained as still as water. Li Yan became clearer and clearer before his eyes. He calculated silently: in two more breaths, he would be able to close in before Li Yan.

Looking at Li Yan sleeping peacefully against the tree, an inexplicable unease suddenly rose in his heart. Could someone truly sleep so soundly in this valley?

Though there were few demonic beasts here for some unknown reason, the closer he came, the more clearly he saw Li Yan's sleeping posture, and the stronger his sense that something was amiss became. Spiritual power surged wildly into his legs, and he no longer concealed himself.

At the very instant Strategist Ji made his decision, Li Yan abruptly opened his eyes. Determination flashed in his bloodshot gaze. He lowered his body, one hand and one foot already reaching beneath the rock. In the next moment, all he needed was to grab, pull, and release.

Strategist Ji was still in midair when Li Yan suddenly opened his eyes. He cried inwardly, Not good! Yet in that flash of lightning and spark of flint, he made his judgment. His body twisted, and he pounced toward the powerful foot-braced crossbow.

It sounded like a long tale, but it had all happened within a breath. Li Yan's hand had just touched the bowstring, ready to seize and pull it free, when Strategist Ji had already swooped in ahead of him, his black robes snapping in the wind.

He bent the fingers of both hands into claws. One hand seized toward Li Yan's outstretched wrist, while the other enlarged abruptly as it grabbed for the bowstring in the crack between the rock and the ground.

Li Yan was horrified. How could he still dare to take the powerful foot-braced crossbow? He swiftly withdrew his arm, kicked off the ground with his toes, and rolled away in a wretched tumble.

Strategist Ji immediately grabbed empty air. He had been trying to seize two things at once, and the reach of his arms was limited. But his other hand had already caught the bowstring in the crevice between the rock and the ground.

His strength spent, his body landed. He pulled outward, touched the ground with his toes, and was about to take the crossbow and leap into the air again to capture Li Yan.

Li Yan had rolled only a short distance from the rock and had not yet risen to steady himself. With one rise and fall, Strategist Ji could reach him.

But at that moment, Strategist Ji suddenly felt his foot tighten. A tremendous force yanked him upside down into the air. In an instant, he was already airborne.

Then came a thunderous crack. His body suddenly accelerated, plunging rapidly toward the cliff behind the pine tree, like a falling meteor smashing toward the earth.

This sudden change greatly alarmed Strategist Ji. In his haste, his head spun, wind howled past his ears, and his body shot toward the bottom of the cliff like a meteor. Within one or two breaths, he had already fallen seven or eight zhang.

Strategist Ji was indeed formidable. After steadying himself slightly, he flicked a finger, sending a crescent-shaped wind blade flying toward his feet. His feet immediately grew lighter, and his descent slowed sharply.

Seizing the chance, he shot out his other hand like lightning and grabbed the cliff face. With a muffled thud, he forcibly embedded all five fingers deep into the hard granite wall.

With a burst of strength from those five fingers, he hauled himself upward. He tapped a protrusion on the cliff face with his toes, propelling himself more than a zhang higher. After several successive footholds, he had returned to the top of the cliff.

Only then did the faint sound of a heavy object striking the valley floor drift up from below. The cliff was surely no less than a hundred zhang high. The moment Strategist Ji reached the top, he saw a figure darting downhill.

It was Li Yan. Just now, he had poked his head over the cliff and looked down, only to see Strategist Ji fall merely seven or eight zhang before using an immortal art to cut apart the boulder beneath his feet and fly back up. Li Yan immediately knew things had gone badly.

Seeing this, Strategist Ji shouted, "Wretched disciple, where do you think you're going?" He was furious beyond measure, killing intent boiling in his heart. He had actually fallen for this boy's scheme. If not for the immortal arts he possessed, he would have been buried beneath the cliff by now. Even now, he did not understand how he had fallen into Li Yan's trap.

His furious shout shook the forested valley. Flocks of roosting birds burst from the woods. Hearing it, Li Yan panicked and, without choosing a path, threw himself into the thorny shrubs beside the downhill trail.

He no longer cared about thorns slicing his body. Staggering and tumbling, he rolled diagonally downhill.

Strategist Ji gave another cold snort and pounced through the air. But Li Yan was rolling as if his life depended on it, and his descent became much faster. After several rises and falls, Strategist Ji had failed to intercept him.

After several more breaths, Li Yan was nearly at the mountain's foot, but Strategist Ji had almost caught up from behind. Li Yan's black robe had been torn to rags, yet he forcibly stopped rolling and staggered to his feet just as he was about to plunge into the woods.

Strategist Ji was still in midair. Murderous intent flashed in his eyes, and he flicked his finger again. A blue crescent wind blade slashed toward Li Yan's legs. He was determined to sever Li Yan from the legs down.

Li Yan flooded his entire body with spiritual power. Though he had suffered many injuries on the way down, they were all superficial; his internal organs had been protected by spiritual power and were completely unharmed.

Just as he rose to his feet and was about to disappear into the forest, he suddenly sensed a sharp force shooting toward his legs. Alarm bells rang in his heart. He poured spiritual power into his legs and forcibly twisted his body to one side, abruptly changing direction.

The sudden twist made his five viscera and six bowels constrict painfully, and he nearly passed out from lack of breath. Then a piercing pain tore through his leg. Looking down, he saw a blue blade of light flash past his thigh, ripping away a mass of flesh.

His reaction had been swift, but whether in spiritual power, martial skill, or combat experience, he was far inferior to the seasoned Strategist Ji. Not to mention that Strategist Ji had attacked with an immortal art. Though the strike had not completely severed his thigh, it had still carved away a large chunk of flesh.

Li Yan let out a muffled groan and collapsed as strength left his leg. Seeing this, Strategist Ji approached with a sinister smile.