Ethereal Pursuit

Whooo~~

A wild gale swept in. Just as Wei Wuwei thought his eyes were about to be ruined, a figure clad in coarse gray cloth suddenly appeared before him and launched a hand-and-foot assault at the man in night clothes using finger techniques.

Slap slap slap slap!!!! Bang bang bang!!!

Having witnessed the fighting just now, Ji Yuan no longer dared to underestimate Martial Arts Practitioners. As the saying goes, the martial world was perilous. Those nine Young Heroes he had encountered before really had been mere fledglings!

He had never intended to use swordsmanship, and with no saber at hand, he could only employ the Fist, Foot, and Claw Techniques from the Iron Punishment Battle Post.

Straight punches, hook hands, sweeping kicks, knee strikes, arm swings, leg kicks... every move came like a tempest, dense and impenetrable!

No one saw where this Man in Gray Clothes with bound hair had emerged from. When dealing with Wei Wuwei earlier, the Black-Clothed Figure had used finger techniques with just one hand. Now, even using both hands to parry was extremely difficult, and his eyes could barely keep up.

In only a few breaths, the Black-Clothed Figure's both arms had gone numb. Beneath his clothes, many places on his fingers, palms, and arms had already swollen red. He was relying solely on True Qi to hold on.

What kind of monster is this!!

The Black-Clothed Figure had the strength to defend but none to counterattack. Every collision felt as though he were striking an iron pillar. Not only did it hurt, but it also brought immense recoil. In merely a few breaths, his Protective True Qi seemed about to be shaken apart.

His footwork is in disarray! Right, his movement technique is inferior to mine!!

Ji Yuan's heart stirred. Spiritual Qi circulated, and the body that had just thrown a punch swayed like a spirit snake. He vanished from before the Black-Clothed Figure's eyes and appeared at his side just as the man's heart began pounding wildly.

The Black-Clothed Figure reacted with astonishing speed as well. His left hand swept out in a Palm Blade strike, intending to force Ji Yuan back, but in an instant, he felt his arm being seized.

Ji Yuan pressed his five joined fingers into the Black-Clothed Figure's left armpit.

With a crack, the Black-Clothed Figure's left shoulder jerked upward amid pain.

At the same time, Ji Yuan's hand formed an eagle claw. His claw slid down the man's shoulder from shoulder joint to wrist, then gripped and twisted.

Crack crack... crack crack... crack crack...

Three crisp sounds of breaking bones rang out. His left arm lost all feeling amid excruciating pain, and from the corner of his eye, he caught a gray shadow flashing past beneath his feet.

Bang! Crack...

The tendons and bones of his left leg were already dislocated. Before he could react, Ji Yuan seemed to use Shifting Shapes and Changing Positions, appearing on his right side.

Crack~ crack~

His right arm was dislocated from wrist to shoulder...

At this moment, Ji Yuan, who felt he had finally subdued the Black-Clothed Figure, was both exhilarated and tense. He grabbed the man by the hair and lifted him up to face the other expert, who had not had time to come assist and could not intervene, as well as the remaining bandits.

"Heh... ngh, heh..."

The Black-Clothed Figure Ji Yuan held aloft was in unbearable pain. He merely broke out in a cold sweat and breathed carefully. Every inhale and exhale brought violent agony to his body, as if he were suffering punishment.

For a time, the scene fell into an eerie silence. Everyone stared at this Mysterious Government Expert who had appeared out of nowhere.

He wore coarse gray clothing and had simply bound hair. His face was dark, as if a dark birthmark covered half of it. He appeared expressionless, yet gave off an air of grim slaughter.

Their impression of this man could be summed up in three words—very dangerous!

After a long while, the other Black-Clothed Figure finally spoke in a voice thick with unmistakable dread.

"Iron! Punishment! Art! What fierce and sharp attacks, what heavy hands!! Which Government Master might you be?"

In truth, everyone present, including Wei Wuwei, was afraid. This man's attack had been incomparably brutal. In just a few breaths, he had crippled an expert who had originally seemed unfathomable.

With such methods, Wei Wuwei did not even dare breathe loudly while uncertain of the other party's purpose.

"Whew..."

Ji Yuan quietly exhaled a long breath. Only now did the excitement from his first fight with another person begin to subside, and his thoughts were proven correct. Though he had Practice Martial Arts for only a few months, due to Spiritual Energy Body Tempering replacing the circulation of True Qi, coupled with his considerable talent for comprehension, his Martial Arts were not bad!

Or rather, very strong!

This thought had not come from nowhere. It arose from the experience of that earlier exchange, from the wary words of the other man, and from the tense breaths and racing heartbeats around him.

His attacks just now might have been a little too heavy, but the Black-Clothed Figure was no purely good man either.

After displaying that Martial Arts skill, it was only natural for them to mistake him for an imperial expert. One could even say Ji Yuan had deliberately guided them toward that conclusion.

When the Black-Clothed Figure mentioned the three words "Sword Intent Scroll," Ji Yuan's heart stirred. He immediately felt that it was very likely the Calligraphy Scroll in his own home.

After all, Lord Lu was a tiger demon and never left Niu Kui Mountain. Where would he have obtained calligraphy containing martial sword intent? Clearly, he had acquired it only recently.

Now this group had also set their sights on the Wei Family's Blue Jade. Moreover, the Black-Clothed Figures who appeared later clearly seemed to belong to the same camp as the so-called Thirteen Bandits of Yan. The two Black-Clothed Figures were evidently of higher status than the Thirteen Bandits of Yan. When the two appeared, the Thirteen Bandits of Yan said nothing, yet their breaths changed with surprise. This showed that the Thirteen Bandits of Yan had not known the Black-Clothed Figures were following them; their information was unequal.

This inevitably made Ji Yuan, an outsider, instinctively form a sort of organizational conspiracy theory.

Although film and literary works from his previous life had all told Ji Yuan that getting involved in such matters would be troublesome, it was another matter if this group's targets were things like the Sword Intent Scroll and Blue Jade.

Ji Yuan lowered his voice, then used Spiritual Qi to employ the small True Qi Voice Alteration technique from the Iron Punishment Battle Post. His throat trembled slightly, and when he spoke, his voice was hoarse and low, yet full of vigor.

"Patriarch Wei, do these people bear a grudge against your Wei Family?"

Wei Wuwei jolted, then immediately realized he was being addressed. He could only first assume the newcomer was a friend rather than an enemy. Then again, that made sense. The Iron Punishment Art could not be faked. A Government Master who had cultivated such Martial Arts to this level ought to be someone like an Iron Constable, one who would not tolerate petty evildoers disrupting law and order.

"Many thanks to you, sir, for saving me. I, Wei, bear no grudge against these people, and my Wei Family has always made Good Karma far and wide. If there were some irreconcilable enmity, there is no way I, as the patriarch, would not know of it!"

Having said this, Wei Wuwei hardened his heart. Since the matter of Blue Jade had already become known to those with ulterior motives, he voiced his guess to Ji Yuan.

"Furthermore, few know that my Wei Family possesses ancestral Blue Jade. These people opened their mouths and demanded Blue Jade; they were absolutely prepared. The matter of the Fan Family's Sword Intent Scroll in Dingyuan Prefecture was also the work of the Thirteen Bandits of Yan. I suspect they must have other plans!"

"Mm. Restrain them first, then we'll talk!"

The moment Ji Yuan spoke, warning bells rang in the hearts of the other Black-Clothed Figure and the remaining bandits.

The next moment, this Mysterious Government Expert changed from stillness to motion. In an instant, he flashed before the Black-Clothed Figure, his fists and claws striking once more.

Seeing Ji Yuan move, Wei Wuwei did not remain idle either. Together with two Guards, he attacked the remaining Yan Bandits.

Only when facing Ji Yuan directly did the other Black-Clothed Figure understand how immense the pressure was. After only a few breaths of fighting, he already felt he could not hold on.

As he used every method at his disposal to fend off the attacks, his steps kept retreating to evade them. The pain in both arms had already begun affecting his ability to parry.

"Does Your Excellency truly mean to slaughter us all? Does Your Excellency not wish to take another step upward? Glory and wealth, high office and generous salary..."

Seeing that Ji Yuan ignored him completely, the Black-Clothed Figure shouted sharply in desperation.

"Does Your Excellency not wish to look down upon the world? Does Your Excellency not wish to become immortal?"

At that, Ji Yuan not only did not slow his attacks, but changed moves strangely. His right arm became a blade as he unleashed the Saber Technique from the Iron Punishment Battle Post. The Black-Clothed Figure felt the distance he had just opened in an instant close again. A hand-blade strike, faster than his reaction, passed through his guarding hands and hit right in the middle of his chest.

Bang!

The Black-Clothed Figure was sent flying outright, only for Ji Yuan to seize him by the foot in midair.

Ha!

As if swinging a great club, Ji Yuan smashed the Black-Clothed Figure into the ground with another bang, leaving him with only the strength to twitch.

Over there, Wei Wuwei and the two Guards had also just finished the battle. The remaining four bandits all had their Major Acupoints sealed.

"Become immortal? You think such ghostly nonsense can deceive me?"

Ji Yuan looked at the Black-Clothed Figure on the ground with a cold smile.

"Heh... heh... Immortal Traces are Ethereal... but, but they are not without traces to follow... Legend says Zuo Kuangtu has already broken through Martial Arts to Enter the Dao. You, you should ask Wei Wuwei again... the Wei Family's Blue Jade... heh... its origins are, are not ordinary..."

The Black-Clothed Figure endured the pain wracking his body and finished speaking in fits and starts. After so many years, the thing he had hoped for had finally been within reach. If he fell just before it, how could he not be unwilling!