Successive Surprises

Hong Linying swooped down from the air, laughing, "Hahaha, just some petty thieving tricks! Zhiyin Insect, ah, what is this?" A miserable scream echoed through the forest. Hong Linying was cut off mid-sentence, letting out a loud shout as he twisted in mid-air, landing clumsily to the side.

Military Advisor Ji still had his back to the two, but several tree roots burst from the ground behind him, piercing the large man who had already taken a step forward, his "Great Monument Splitting Hand" ready to strike. The roots pierced through his lower body, with bloodied ends jutting out from his chest, head, and neck at various angles. He twitched incessantly, clearly on the verge of death.

The "Wood Spike Technique," a low-level Immortal Technique, was Military Advisor Ji's preparation. He had initially used it as a protective measure to prevent small animals from disturbing his Spirit Absorption breakthrough. After seeing Li Yan's earlier "Wooden Spike Trap," he considered using the dense trees to summon roots from the ground as an attack. It turned out to be perfectly suited for the moment, though he was dissatisfied that he couldn't eliminate Hong Linying in one fell swoop. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but he had very little external spiritual power to spare at the moment.

However, Military Advisor Ji didn't even turn his head, muttering to himself, "Zhiyin Insect, it's actually a Zhiyin Insect." Suddenly, he lowered his head, sniffing himself, and then abruptly looked up at Li Yan, sternly shouting.

"You actually put this low-class Jianghu thing on me, and I didn't even notice! Good, good, truly good methods, good methods, hehe." By the end, his laughter was fierce and shrill.

Military Advisor Ji was furious. Firstly, someone as experienced with Jianghu tactics as he was had fallen for this kid's trick. Secondly, if this kid hadn't used this method, he would already be healing, so how could such a change have occurred?

The "Zhiyin Insect," despite its elegant name, was a tool used by the lowest of the low in the Jianghu. It was a herbivorous, ordinary demon beast that could never evolve past level one, meaning it could never gain intelligence. However, it had a natural ability: it liked to spit out a dozen or so transparent, round pellets every day. These pellets emitted a strong odor that other demon beasts disliked, mainly to mark its territory and drive away other demon beasts. Or, if it found food it liked but couldn't take immediately, it would spit out these crystal pellets. Other demon beasts found food covered in these pellets difficult to swallow, but it could return later to retrieve it.

The "Zhiyin Insect" was extremely sensitive to the scent of its own pellets, able to find them within a hundred miles. This could be considered a survival skill granted by heaven. However, some low-class Jianghu individuals exploited this ability, often crushing these pellets and smearing them on the clothes or carriages of their targets, seizing opportunities to rob or steal.

Military Advisor Ji certainly knew about this thing. The closer the insect was to its own scent pellets, the more excited it became. The key was that a Jianghu expert like him could easily identify this scent. Now, hearing Hong Linying mention it and smelling himself, he understood everything with a little thought.

No wonder Li Yan planted so many wildflowers, filling the valley with a strong fragrance. Firstly, it masked the scent of the "Zhiyin Insect" pellets smeared on his clothes. Secondly, his clothes were dried in the valley, and during the spring pollen season, a lot of pollen would fall on his clothes. When he wore them, his nose would be filled with the floral scent, further masking the odor. Thirdly, the flowers were planted in the valley, so every time he returned, he would constantly smell these scents, which would make him accustomed to them, causing him to lose his vigilance. Combining these points, how could he have noticed the scent left by the "Zhiyin Insect"?

Knowing all this filled Military Advisor Ji with anger and resentment, and he began to feel a bit wary of Li Yan's scheming.

At this moment, Hong Linying had already flipped back to his feet, looking at the seated figure and his dying, miserable junior brother with a face of horror. A dignified, top-tier Jianghu expert had lost his life in an instant, and neither of them had noticed the trap set beneath the ground.

One of the reasons they hadn't immediately attacked upon arriving was that they feared Military Advisor Ji had set up some tricks. They had been following from a distance, and hadn't seen Military Advisor Ji digging or burying anything. They had carefully observed the surroundings and found nothing amiss before launching their sudden attack. How could wooden spikes suddenly shoot out from the ground, killing one of them with a single strike?

But he was also a ruthless man. After only a moment's hesitation, knowing the importance of timing, he leaped into the air again, heading towards his junior brother. Just as he approached the dying man, he tapped his toe on his body, using it as a springboard to reach Military Advisor Ji. He aimed a punch at the back of Military Advisor Ji's head, using his junior brother's corpse as cover for his attack.

His attack direction was also cunning. He didn't attack from other directions because he feared there might be traps. By attacking from this direction, using the corpse as cover, and being prepared, it would be much harder for any traps to harm him.

Military Advisor Ji truly had no way to avoid it at this point. He struggled to turn his head, inhaled, tucked his chest, and twisted his waist. Hong Linying's punch grazed his ear. But he was a Jianghu master with a wealth of combat experience. Seeing this, he knew that Military Advisor Ji was in a critical moment of healing and couldn't escape. He immediately circled his empty right hand back, forming a half-embracing shape, his knuckles protruding, turning into a phoenix-eye hammer, and slammed it hard towards Military Advisor Ji's left temple. His left hand also stabbed upwards from below towards his lower back at close range.

This move completely trapped Military Advisor Ji within his attack. Military Advisor Ji had no choice but to tuck his chest and extend his arms again, trying to lean as much as possible into Hong Linying's embrace. His right hand remained far away, suspended above Li Yan's head, a very ambiguous posture, like a woman leaning against a strong man.

With a muffled "bang," Hong Linying's left fist slammed hard into Military Advisor Ji's lower back. The phoenix-eye hammer attack missed because Military Advisor Ji leaned back into his arms. He knew Military Advisor Ji had diverted some spiritual power to his lower back, but he was still a mortal. Hong Linying's decades of skill were extraordinary, causing Military Advisor Ji to spew black blood, splattering a lot on his outstretched right arm and Li Yan's face.

Seeing that he had succeeded, Hong Linying didn't care about anything else. He used close-quarters, short-range force, instantly raising his left and right fists, "Double Winds Entering the Ears," preparing to strike Military Advisor Ji's head in his arms, which would cause his brains to splatter. But at this moment, he felt a great force emerge from his arms, pushing and sending him away. Then, a ball of fire ignited before his eyes, and a scorching heat assaulted him. There was no way to dodge, and in an instant, he was engulfed in flames. He was pushed backward several times by the force, but the fire on his body didn't extinguish in the slightest. He screamed miserably in the fire, trying to stand up and pounce on Military Advisor Ji, but he was powerless. After a few breaths, he turned into a raging inferno burning on the ground.

Just as he punched Military Advisor Ji in the lower back, Military Advisor Ji's body had leaned into his embrace. The previously useless left hand moved, struggling to change its hand seal. A fireball flew from his fingertips, hitting Hong Linying directly. Then, spiritual power flashed between his four fingers, generating a force that pushed Hong Linying backward.

The "Fireball Technique," another low-level Immortal Technique. Many of Military Advisor Ji's left-hand meridians were damaged, making it impossible to move it, so he could only use it at close range. He risked taking a heavy blow to successfully kill Hong Linying.

Turning back to look at Hong Linying, who was still twitching in the fire, Military Advisor Ji smiled coldly. But the next moment, his expression changed drastically. After these two uses, the spiritual power in his body had reached the point where it was out of control. Just after he launched the "Fireball Technique," the Spirit Absorption Art began to operate on its own. He was horrified. Turning back, he wanted to concentrate and hold his breath to fully operate the technique, but suddenly a huge amount of spiritual power drilled into his palm from the top of Li Yan's head. He was shocked. The Spirit Absorption Art clearly required him to operate the incantation to control the size of the opponent's spiritual power input, but at this time, he clearly felt that the incoming spiritual power was extremely surging. How could he receive so much spiritual power into his body at once?

The next thing that happened made his expression change even more drastically. The spiritual power that entered his body made the fire poison in his body boil as if it had encountered oil. It was no longer under his control. The most terrifying thing was that this spiritual power was incompatible with the wood-attribute spiritual power in his body. He was shocked and angry.

"You, you, what kind of technique did you cultivate? How is it fire-attribute?" Before he could finish speaking, another huge wave of fire spiritual power poured into him, making his mind go blank.

"This isn't the cultivation of the early stage of the Qi Condensation Stage, you've cultivated to the late peak of the Qi Condensation Stage, impossible." At this moment, he felt like he had encountered a ghost. Not only was the other party's spiritual power attribute wrong, but even the amount of spiritual power was wrong. Either of these two things was deadly. The former didn't need to be said, and the latter would break his calculated breakthrough balance.

Seeing that his body was boiling like an oil pot, Military Advisor Ji knew that he had completely failed.

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He screamed in anger and rage, "Li Yan, you actually ruined me, ruined me! You die for me!" Immediately, he circled his right hand back with force, bringing Li Yan into his arms. Now that the Spirit Absorption Art was complete, with his right palm against the opponent's swarming spiritual power, he couldn't exert force to destroy his brain. He still used the method he used against Hong Linying, except this time he pulled Li Yan into his arms. When Li Yan's body came within range, he used his left hand to imprint the "Fireball Technique" on him and send him out. He could have approached Li Yan himself, but that would have made it easier for Li Yan to block his momentum.

Just as Military Advisor Ji pulled and brought him in, Li Yan suddenly widened his eyes, forcefully suppressing the amount of spiritual power output from his head. His right hand instantly filled with spiritual power and moved, pulling on the purple buckle on his waist. A white light flashed, and then it disappeared into Military Advisor Ji's abdomen. It was actually a bright, short, soft blade that Li Yan had fastened to his belt, with the handle being the purple belt buckle.

Military Advisor Ji only felt a chill in his abdomen, followed by a great pain. His right hand's movement couldn't help but pause. He looked down in a daze, only to see Li Yan's right hand tightly gripping something inserted into his abdomen. He couldn't help but let out a low roar, "You actually had a backup plan, then you must die too."

When he raised his head, black blood kept pouring from the corners of his mouth. His right hand increased its force, bringing Li Yan into his arms. Li Yan was extremely anxious. He increased the force in his hand and twisted it, wanting to shatter Military Advisor Ji's internal organs by twisting the handle, but it wouldn't budge. Military Advisor Ji had anticipated this move and wrapped the blade inside his abdomen with spiritual power.

Seeing that he was continuing to slide into Military Advisor Ji's arms, Li Yan was extremely anxious. Originally, he was leaning diagonally against the tree and slowly being pulled up, with his legs half bent and half extended. Military Advisor Ji was sitting cross-legged beside him. At this moment, Li Yan suddenly bent one leg and kicked it fiercely towards Military Advisor Ji's chest with an eruption of spiritual power. Military Advisor Ji laughed when he saw this, "You think this little bit of strength can stop me from coming over?"

He thought that Li Yan's foot was just to brace against his chest, using it as a fulcrum to prevent his body from sliding over. And now his left hand could only hang at his waist, making small movements, unable to raise it to imprint the "Fireball Technique" on his leg.

The next moment, Li Yan's foot had already kicked, and at the same time, a crisp sound rang out. A section of white blade extended from the toe of his shoe, sinking into Military Advisor Ji's chest, into his heart.

Li Yan couldn't help but rejoice, but the next moment, a trace of confusion flashed across his face. Just as his white blade pierced in, Military Advisor Ji's face showed a strange smile. His seated upper body moved, and Li Yan felt his toe kick into empty space without much resistance.

It turned out that just as Li Yan's white blade pierced into Military Advisor Ji's wide Black Robe, Military Advisor Ji's upper body twisted and slanted in a bizarre way. Li Yan's white blade had slid across his chest inside the robe. Then, he suddenly straightened his body, pushing and lifting, directly against the sole of Li Yan's shoe. A great force attacked Li Yan's sole. With a "crack" sound, Li Yan groaned heavily, and that leg bent and hung down at a strange angle.

"This is your last trump card, but it's nothing more than this." Military Advisor Ji's hoarse voice sounded.