Chapter 56

One hour ago.

Yan Wushu, who had narrowly escaped from Lan Zhu and Fang Fuzang’s ambush, returned to the Xiang family’s main residence, barely clinging to life.

The chaos within the main residence was as he had expected, but when he realized that the Xiang family had been pushed to the point of using the Infinite Sea on their own cultivators, Yan Wushu hesitated in his steps.

Zhongli Lingzhao had already sent him several jade slip messages, but he couldn’t go back just yet.

The situation was more dire than he had imagined.

Xiang Lishen was clearly at a breaking point, and Zhongli and Jiufang, as high-ranking individuals, were not easily targeted by the enemy. Even if they had the ability to kill them, they would not want to provoke such trouble.

But what about their subordinates?

The Infinite Sea that could be fed to the Xiang family’s personal guards could also be fed to their subordinates.

Yan Wushu only had two choices in front of him: one was to flee, the other was to make a contribution.

While fleeing might save his life, it would end his future, which was not an option.

To make a contribution, there were only two paths. The most direct was to join the forces resisting the Jimo family’s main force, led by Xiang Chao. However, with his current severe injuries, that path was too dangerous.

Thus, only one clever path remained.

The Jimo family had not yet been able to capture the estate, and their greatest obstacle was the Infinite Sea.

They would surely send people to destroy the Infinite Sea.

Sure enough, Yan Wushu, hidden in the shadows, saw a group of people stealthily entering the southern courtyard’s Shennong Lodge.

They split into two groups: one to distract the main forces stationed there, and the other—specifically, a child—was tasked with collecting all the Infinite Sea within the Shennong Lodge and taking it away in a mustard seed bag.

Yan Yue Niang.

His younger sister.

At times, Yan Wushu felt that fate was unfair, that with such talent, he was born into a lowly common family.

But at other times, he felt that fate had been kind to him. Otherwise, how could it have given him the opportunity to turn the tide when he was at his lowest?

“—No!”

Yan Wushu’s outstretched fingers twitched.

“I… I am already loyal to the Jimo family. I cannot give this to you!”

Yue Niang, crawling and rolling, hid behind the crippled puppet, swallowing nervously as she spoke:

“Brother, just this once, let me through. I’ll listen to you in the future, I promise!”

Xiang Ling tilted his head and looked at Yue Niang:

“So, it’s your brother? There are healing pills in the mustard seed bag. If you want to give them to him, I can tell you which one.”

Blood dripped steadily from Yan Wushu’s right arm. His chest bore the burns left by Fang Fuzang’s sweeping fire, a mark of the battle he had just fought.

He stood at a distance, neither too close nor too far, scrutinizing Yue Niang.

The transparent figure beside her… no fluctuations in Qi flow, like a soul or spirit.

Only this puppet was worth paying attention to. Although it had a limp, it had no sense of pain and would just attack, requiring caution even in normal circumstances, especially since it was now injured.

Yan Wushu still wanted Yue Niang to hand it over herself.

“The Jimo clan? Never heard of it, a small clan. The Zhongli clan is well-established, your brother is doing fairly well. If you give this mustard bag to your brother, he will ask Miss Lingzhou to give you a chance to go to Lingyong Academy. Anything the Jimo clan can offer, the Zhongli clan can offer too.”

He stepped forward, leaving bloodstains on the floor, resembling a demon from hell, yet his tone was gentler than ever.

“You’ve always wanted to go to Lingyong Academy, right? Every time I return home, I see you secretly eyeing the books I bring back from the academy, asking me about the palace officials like Ji Yu, the thousand-year unflowering jade rain from Yingzhou, and the famous Spirit Immortal Dao Conference of Lingyong… in the future, you can see these things for yourself.”

Yue Niang’s teeth chattered as she said:

“…I don’t need you to beg for me! I can earn it myself! Just don’t stand in my way!”

The puppet, controlled by Yue Niang, creaked and moved, blocking her path.

Yan Wushu’s eyes gleamed coldly, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“Right now, it’s you who’s standing in my way, little sister.”

A flash of sword light cut through the air, Qi flowing into a sharp wind blade.

The Xingming Sword Technique—Sixth Form—Waist Chopping.

This was the most powerful attack in the Xingming Sword Technique. In an instant, the puppet standing in front of Yue Niang was split in half, revealing the struggling wooden gears inside.

Even so, the puppet continued to follow the order given by Fang Fucang, attacking from both sides.

The puppet creaked, “Protect Yue Niang… Protect Yue Niang…”

Xiang Li Ling, standing aside, frowned slightly.

The puppet spun like a top, its Qi flowing violently, turning into hidden weapons that flew toward Yan Wushu.

Yan Wushu’s expression darkened.

This was the very reason he didn’t want to fight puppets.

The Fa Family’s Xingming Technique was famous for destroying one’s mental will, but puppets had no pain, no intellect. As long as the Qi core wasn’t broken, the attacks wouldn’t stop—this puppet was expensive. How could Yue Niang afford such a thing?

Xiang Li Ling observed the young man, whose every move was lethal, and then glanced at Yue Niang, who was barely standing.

“Forgive me for asking, but is that truly your biological brother?”

Yue Niang answered seriously, “Yes, more real than gold.”

Xiang Li Ling: He didn’t understand, but seemed to have glimpsed the diversity of the world.

Taking advantage of the puppet’s efforts to buy time, Yue Niang dashed towards the designated exit in the southern courtyard.

As long as she handed over the object to Miss Liuyu, she would be saved!

However, when she finally reached the end of the long corridor—

A roaring wind and sudden rainstorm appeared.

At the highest point visible to her, the Miss Liuyu she had been thinking about was surrounded by several cultivators.

The two leaders among them were none other than Zhongli Lingzhu and Jiufang Shaogeng.

At this moment, these two were staring at Liuyu in front of them. Despite her plain appearance and seeming to be only a seventh-tier cultivator, they didn’t dare to show any disrespect.

“If I’m not mistaken, you must be the head of the Jimo clan, the one called Jimo Gui, right?”

Jiufang Shaogeng scanned Liuyu from head to toe, saying:

“The relationship between the Xiangli clan and us is not significant. If you hand over the six hundred Wuliang seas and Xiangli Hualian, Taiping City and the Xiangli family will all belong to you. How about it? It’s a very profitable deal, right?”

Zhongli Lingzhu remained silent, still examining the person before her.

Her figure resembled that of Yinshan Liuyu.

No wonder Yan Wushu had said that.

But, based on her understanding of Yinshan Liuyu, even if she were to disguise herself, she would at least give herself a pretty face. She wouldn’t look like this—plain and simple, a typical country girl; it didn’t align with her aesthetic.

Liuyu looked around at these two long-lost familiar faces and their twenty or so bodyguards.

Behind her, Dansui and the Ghost Girl were protecting (or controlling) Xiangli Hualian—who, after all, was a living Wuliang Sea.

If the Zhongli and Jiufang families got their hands on her, who knew how many more dead soldiers like today would be created.

“Fine.”

Liuyu smiled, her previously plain expression now filled with a unique liveliness.

“Everyone leave the residence. Tomorrow morning, I will present it to you.”

Zhongli Lingzhu sneered.

“Don’t try to play these little tricks. No one here is a fool. We’re still calmly talking with you. Once our patience runs out, this opportunity will be gone.”

If she truly wasn’t Yinshan Liuyu, then having the opportunity to face them like this already was a courtesy.

Liuyu tossed a stone in her hand and tilted her head.

“Why waste time talking then?”

It was exactly what she wanted.

In an instant, the silver-moon sword whip was drawn from Zhongli Lingzhu’s waist.

The torrential rain washed over the sword whip, crafted from nineteen Kunwu dark iron pieces, connected by countless threads, turning it into a silver dragon that swam through the moonlight.

Jiufang Shaogeng’s right eye cracked with ice.

Liuyu found it amusing in her heart.

They spoke so arrogantly, but in reality, these two clearly couldn’t wait to use their deadliest moves to kill her as soon as possible.

They had no intention of holding back.

Earlier, this person, with his seventh-tier strength, had single-handedly killed the genuine eighth-tier cultivator Xiang Yuan and several sixth-tier cultivators by his side. They still couldn’t figure out how she had done it.

They had to finish it quickly, with one strike to defeat her—

The immense Qi they released in that instant was faster than the current storm, a terrifying pressure sweeping from all directions.

In the center of the storm.

Amid the fluttering of hair and robes, the girl, with her eyes closed and fingers pinched, suddenly opened her eyes just before being crushed.

Her pupils were deep black, like a beast poised to pounce.

“Curse Ban · Twelve Meridians Sea.”

As the girl spoke these words, the surrounding storm momentarily stagnated.

Zhongli Lingzhao’s pupils immediately contracted.

Then, the Qi flow, which had been coming like a tidal wave, reversed at an incredible speed in that instant, as if the clouds atop a mountain had been stirred by an unknown force, surging and flowing, until they were diverted back into the Qi Sea through the twelve meridians of Qi release.

There were two moments.

Both Zhongli Lingzhao and Jiufang Shaogeng felt a panic as if their Qi Sea was being sealed, an overwhelming sense of drowning.

Behind, Yan Wushu, who had been chasing them, looked at the scene and immediately recalled the person he had seen in Taiping City who had fought against Fang Fucang.

It was her.

The person he saw that day was indeed Mo Gui.

But today, her curse sealing technique was not dealing with just one person, and its effect was clearly weaker than before.

At the moment when the girl materialized a stone sword and killed seven or eight cultivators, Zhongli Lingzhao and Jiufang Shaogeng broke free from the curse’s suppression, and life Qi surged back into their bodies.

Ten cultivators had already died at her hands.

Liuyu turned to the ghost girl and said, “Leave the rest to you!”

Without needing to say more, the ghost girl unleashed the ghost gu, and swarms of black, ominous insects came rushing toward them, as the remaining bodyguards revealed expressions of fear.

“That’s it,” Zhongli Lingzhao said with a serious expression. “She used this to kill Xiang Yuan.”

The peak strength of the Seventh Realm was not far from that of the Eighth, and no one knew she had such an ability. A surprise attack was her forte. With the power of her stone sword just now, it wouldn’t be difficult to instantly kill an Eighth Realm cultivator.

Zhongli Lingzhao no longer hesitated, throwing out his sword whip:

“Heavenly Machine Sword · Eight Style · Dragon and Snake Rise.”

The sword light transformed into silver threads, intertwining into a wheel, slashing toward Liuyu’s face with a sharp, cutting wind.

Liuyu rolled sideways, passing over the roof, the ruins collapsing in her wake, narrowly avoiding the sword whip. If she were even a fraction slower, this flexible whip-sword would have torn her to pieces.

Yue Niang stared at this scene in disbelief.

This was true cultivation, a battle between high-realm cultivators.

“Your master is finished, Yue Niang, still not handing it over?”

Yan Wushu’s voice, out of breath, came from behind her.

The massive blood loss left his face pale, and his lungs felt as if they were leaking air.

Xiang Li Ling narrowed his eyes and said, “If you don’t treat yourself quickly, you’re going to be finished as well. You two are siblings, you should be supporting each other…”

“Get lost.”

Yan Wushu, with no expression, passed through Xiang Li Ling’s soul and grabbed Yue Niang by the collar, reaching for the mustard seed pouch at her waist.

Without hesitation, Yue Niang slapped him.

Even as a Third Realm cultivator, her slap made Yan Wushu dizzy, and his grip on her loosened.

Yue Niang quickly ran toward the ghost girl.

But after only two steps, Yan Wushu caught up from behind, slammed her to the ground, and punched her lightly.

“Let go.”

Yue Niang’s cheek rapidly swelled, yet she tightly clutched the mustard seed pouch, staring at him intently.

Xiang Li Ling, seeing how hard she fought, couldn’t help but feel pity. He squatted beside her and said, “You’ve tried your best, let go.”

“No!”

Yue Niang’s voice was muffled with a sob of unwillingness.

“Why should I always be the one to give in to him? Why? I won’t give in! Since I was young, I’ve had nothing, why am I always the one who has to give in?!”

The careful nurturing from the elders.

The opportunity to study at Lingyong Academy.

The future she had finally fought for on her own—was she supposed to give that up just to help her brother fulfill his family’s loyalty, an enemy of her own?

Xiang Li Ling didn’t expect her to react like this.

He turned to Yan Wushu and said, “As an older brother, you should protect your sister, yield to her, and put her first in everything…”

“Why should I?” Yan Wushu sneered. “If a person doesn’t act for themselves, heaven and earth will punish them. If I get stronger, I can naturally protect her. But if she wants to rise above me and succeed, don’t blame me for cutting ties.”

“Then why are others willing?”

Yue Niang bit Yan Wushu’s arm hard, drawing blood, but he didn’t let go.

“This brother is willing to die for his sister to be free from Xiang Li Shen’s threat! Why isn’t my brother like him?!”

Xiang Li Ling scratched his head, “Well…”

“Then in your next life, be born as his sister,” Yan Wushu coldly retorted.

Finally, he snatched the mustard seed pouch from Yue Niang’s hand.

Now, it was in his hands.

Yan Wushu turned and prepared to leave this dangerous battlefield as quickly as possible.

“Yue Niang!”

Xiang Li Ling’s cry of alarm came from behind.

Yan Wushu was about to turn around, but a fierce punch came at him, smashing through a courtyard wall.

Yan Wushu collapsed in the ruins, coughing up a large amount of blood.

Covered in dust, he barely lifted his head and saw his sister, who looked a little like him, slowly walking toward him.

Her body was surrounded by the Qi flow of a Fifth Realm cultivator.

“You…”

Before he could finish, Yue Niang threw two punches at him.

Yan Wushu spit blood from his mouth, watching as Yue Niang snatched the mustard seed pouch from his hand.

She swallowed the Wuliang Sea.

“…Yan Yue Niang! Are you crazy?!”

Yan Wushu forced the words out through clenched teeth, filled with fury.

Was he angry because he lost the opportunity to make achievements or because Yue Niang was so foolish as to consume the Wuliang Sea?

Yue Niang had secretly hidden a pill in her bag when they looted the Shennong Liao, preparing it for emergencies.

I didn’t expect it to really come to this.

“Uwaa…”

Yue Niang suddenly burst into loud crying.

“It’s all your fault! I’m going to die! You’re the one who killed me! When I see Mom after I die, I’m definitely going to tell her it’s all your fault!”

She cried as she turned and ran in the direction where the ghost girl was.

Everything happened so suddenly that Xiang Liling didn’t know what kind of expression to make.

This little girl… actually resembles her brother quite a bit.

Both ruthless and mad.

As she thought, Xiang Liling caught up with Yue Niang and came face to face with a pair of teary eyes in the crowd ahead.

Xiang Liling froze.

“Hualian.”

He softly called out his sister’s name, his tone full of sighs and regret.

“I’m dead. Nothing can bind you anymore. Save them. I know, as long as you want to, you can always do anything.”

Tears flooded Xiang Lihualian’s eyes.

A loud crash came from the distance.

It was the sound of Liuyu being thrown to the ground by a sword whip.

“Tch,” Jiufang Shaogeng frowned. “Still no blood. What’s wrong with you?”

Zhongli Lingzhao looked down from above, staring at the dust-filled direction.

“What’s the hurry? If she only has this little bit of ability, bleeding is only a matter of time. If it’s really like that, then your Dayuan Heavenly Eye won’t even be needed.”

There was movement in the ruins.

The girl slowly stood up from the shattered tiles and walls. She didn’t care about the dirt on her body, her gaze fixed on Jiufang Shaogeng’s wrist.

What was that on his wrist?

Why, whenever she got close to Jiufang Shaogeng, did the flow of qi in her body get disturbed by the bracelet on his wrist, causing a tearing pain deep in her mind?

But Jiufang Shaogeng seemed completely unaware of it.

What on earth was that thing?

“Is this all you’re capable of?”

Zhongli Lingzhao sounded somewhat disappointed.

As a peak seventh-level cultivator, she could keenly sense that during their earlier confrontation, the opponent’s control over their qi flow wasn’t as strong as she had imagined.

The ability to single-handedly kill Xiang Yuan must have also relied on her curse-binding techniques, which was somewhat unexpected.

She raised the sword whip in her hand.

“But I’m curious, why did you use stones as the medium for refining your qi? Even if you’re poor, can’t you afford agate or jade?”

In the rain, Zhongli Lingzhao couldn’t clearly see her expression, but she heard a faint voice:

“Yeah, no matter how poor people in this world are, it’s probably something Miss Lingzhao can never imagine.”

Zhongli Lingzhao slightly furrowed her brows.

She had completely dismissed the idea that this person was Yinshan Liuyu.

It couldn’t be her.

“No need to imagine,” Zhongli Lingzhao’s voice seemed to come from the immortal palace high in the heavens, “I only need to rule.”

She would stand at the top of millions of people.

And those who crawled beneath her feet were nothing more than nourishment for the power in her hands.

“That’s right.”

Jiufang Shaogeng raised his chin slightly, showing a light, contemptuous smile.

“Those people are too noisy. I don’t want to hear their voices.”

They wanted food.

They wanted money.

They wanted houses to shield them from the wind and rain.

Shouting and demanding, as if the world owed them something. If they wanted it, they should earn it themselves. If they couldn’t, who could they blame?

Liuyu heard this meaning in their haughty tone.

The heavy stone sword danced lightly in the girl’s hands.

She was covered in dirt, her black hair was matted with dust, and rainwater soaked her, making her look messy and filthy.

But her eyes still shone brightly, as if forged by fire.

“You can’t do whatever you want.”

She raised her head and looked up at the two above, a smile forming on her lips.

“Forget about the agate and jade, but I’m in need of a bracelet. I wonder if my husband could give me one?”

…Husband?

Zhongli Lingzhao was the first to react, the sword whip moving like a silver dragon through the rain, but it still didn’t stop the black shadow from suddenly darting past them from the side.

“Hiss—! It hurts!”

Jiufang Shaogeng immediately grabbed his wrist.

In the blink of an eye, blood gushed out, and the thread that had been tied to his wrist was torn away, disappearing without a trace.

This thread was something he had picked up in the chaotic flow beneath Yashan.

It looked very much like the five-colored silk used during purification and prayers to avoid ghosts and soldiers.

But the five-colored silk had been soaked in blood, turning dark red, and it had solidified on the thread. No matter what method he used, he couldn’t wash it off.

Jiufang Shaogeng knew that this object must have some hidden significance and had planned to study it further with a learned expert once they returned to the Immortal Capital.

But he didn’t expect to have it suddenly snatched away at such a moment.

He immediately reacted:

“This thing is important. I can’t let them take it!”

Otherwise, why would this Ji Mo Gui come to snatch it at this moment?

Zhongli Lingzhao certainly understood.

However, the moment her gaze fell on the shadow hiding in the dark, she saw the girl, soaked in the heavy rain, slowly channeling her qi in the ruins.

The qi flow in the Qi Sea was being controlled and circulated with precision and stability, a level of control far exceeding that of an ordinary seventh-level cultivator.

Yet, she was indeed a seventh-level cultivator.

“Stop her!”

Zhongli Lingzhao shouted at Jiufang Shaogeng.

The overwhelming fear of losing control over their surroundings surged once again.

Jiufang Shaogeng, gritting his teeth through the excruciating pain in his wrist, began to channel the Qi Sea:

“Dayuan Heavenly Eye · Ninth Form…”

Another black shadow rushed at him from the darkness. Jiufang Shaogeng immediately raised his qi shield to block.

This time, Jiufang Shaogeng finally saw what it was.

It was an exceptionally thick purple-black tentacle, controlled by a young man who was manipulating it.

“Shut your mouth,” Mo Lin said indifferently, “It’s not your turn to speak now.”

The moment his words fell.

A subtle tremor came from deep within the ground.

Zhongli Lingzhao, who had just landed, didn’t have time to support Jiufang Shaogeng before she saw the young girl in the ruins surrounded by a storm.

Broken stones.

Shattered tiles.

Broken branches.

Fallen flowers.

The energy of all things could be refined.

The Way of Heaven, Fourth Level, All Things Are Soldiers.