Chapter 83: Already Tall and Canopy-Like

“Old Man Li, Jiangdong’s Sword Immortal truly has an extraordinary aura—Elder Jiang slew the Mother of Ten Thousand Ghosts, and her corpse is hung on the walls of Anning Prefecture.”

Wu Tu spat wildly as he spoke with great enthusiasm.

Jiang Lin the Immortal slew the Mother of Ten Thousand Ghosts.

The Ghost Ming Cult in Qinghe scattered like birds and beasts; there’s no longer any need to fear attacks from Ghost Ming Cult members.

“It’s strange—the Mother of Ten Thousand Ghosts’s three top disciples, Chi Lian Nü, reportedly vanished without a trace, and the Ghost Ming Cult is searching everywhere for her. Isn’t that peculiar?”

Li Rui glanced at the soil beneath his feet.

Chi Lian Nü?

The grass on Chi Lian Nü’s grave is already a foot tall.

No wonder martial artists are precious.

Even as fertilizer they’re useful—late autumn, and the old willow trees are sprouting new buds.

He ought to thank Jiang Lin the Immortal.

Chi Lian Nü’s affair might fool others, but it could never deceive Ghost Ming Cult members.

The Mother of Ten Thousand Ghosts is dead.

Now the Ghost Ming Cult is preoccupied with its own survival; they likely have no time to care about Chi Lian Nü’s matter.

Moreover, the young disciple who knew Chi Lian Nü had come to his home has already been sent away—he’s probably left Anning Prefecture by now.

Best if it becomes an unsolved case.

Even if someone investigates, it’s nearly impossible to trace it back to him.

Ten li outside Qinghe City.

Beside the official road, among the trees.

Ghost-Faced Knife Huyan Zhuo regarded a thin, pale-faced man with wary eyes.

“I didn’t kill the Mother—why are you blocking my path?”

With the Mother dead, the Ghost-Faced Cult members in Qinghe were leaderless; Huyan Zhuo had no intention of staying in this place of turmoil.

He gripped his knife.

But he did not strike.

Because he had no confidence he could kill the man before him.

The name “Green Snake Spear” was enough to make him cautious.

Correct.

The man standing opposite Huyan Zhuo was none other than Gongyang Han, one of the Mother of Ten Thousand Ghosts’s three top disciples—the Green Snake Spear.

Unlike Chi Lian Nü Su Xuan, Gongyang Han became the Mother’s disciple through sheer martial prowess—he was a genuine Seventh Rank.

“Foolish.”

Gongyang Han looked down at Huyan Zhuo with disdain.

Huyan Zhuo’s temple veins bulged—no one had ever spoken to him like this before.

Gongyang Han, as if oblivious to Huyan Zhuo’s fury, continued speaking calmly:

“Do you truly believe the Mother is dead?”

Huyan Zhuo was startled, his eyes narrowing slightly: “What do you mean?”

“The Mother long ago attained an immortal body. Jiang Xing merely severed one of her forms—the Mother will not die.”

“!!”

Huyan Zhuo’s pupils shrank sharply.

He recalled a forbidden technique circulating within the Ghost Ming Cult, and asked in disbelief: “Did the Mother truly master it?”

His voice trembled slightly.

Gongyang Han still wore his condescending air: “How could mortals comprehend the Mother’s realm? I advise you to stay in Qinghe—or bear the consequences yourself.”

“.”

Huyan Zhuo fell silent.

If Gongyang Han spoke true, he truly dared not leave.

Otherwise, with the Mother’s methods, he would not survive her retribution.

Gongyang Han’s thin lips curled slightly: “Enough. I have another matter to ask you.”

“What is it?”

Huyan Zhuo replied.

“Where did Su Xuan go?”

“I’ve asked many people; all say you were the last one to see her.”

Gongyang Han’s gaze burned as he stepped forward.

Pressuring Huyan Zhuo.

Huyan Zhuo snorted: “I’m not her father—how would I know?”

“Then tell me what you do know.”

Huyan Zhuo had wanted to rage, but remembering the Mother, he held it back: “After she killed the Zhu family, she returned to Qinghe, saying she wanted revenge against Tang Sheng and the Heaven-Earth Alliance. Beyond that, I know nothing.”

After that woman killed someone from the Zhu family, she returned to Qinghe County, saying she wanted to seek revenge against Tang Sheng and the Heaven and Earth Alliance; I don’t know anything else.

Gongyang Han’s thin lips curled upward, appearing even more cruel.

Huyan Zhuo muttered: “Didn’t realize people like you still had brother-sister affection.”

Fu Yanzhu muttered, “I never would’ve guessed people like you still have brother-sister bonds.”

Gongyang Han nearly burst out laughing.

He longed to kill Su Xuan, that revolting woman, with his own hands.

His search for Su Xuan was not out of sentiment.

It was for the Immortal Treasure.

Yes—the Mother of Ten Thousand Ghosts, after acquiring the Immortal Treasure, foresaw today’s situation and split it into four parts: seven-tenths remained with herself, the remaining three-tenths were given to her three disciples.

Correct—the death of the Mother was all part of her scheme.

She faked her death on purpose.

Even Xu Hua was deliberately manipulated by her to defect to the Ghost Ming Cult, solely to draw Jiang Lin’s attention.

The Mother knew she could never hoard the entire Immortal Treasure; three-tenths was more than enough.

Gongyang Han cared nothing for Su Xuan—he only wanted to retrieve the Immortal Treasure from her.

He merely wished to fulfill the Mother’s orders.

A month passed in the blink of an eye.

Li Rui had never enjoyed such luxurious living.

He could consume one spirit pill every day.

Wu Gu’s reputation as the number one under heaven stemmed from its overwhelming superiority.

Though it could not make someone ascend to heaven overnight, it allowed one to outpace others in every aspect.

Take spirit pills, for example.

Ordinary martial artists could manage at most one pill per week—after all, medicine carries poison, and spirit pills were no exception; the more one consumed, the weaker the effect.

True martial masters were indeed pill addicts, but they were not built solely from pills.

Yet Wu Gu could suppress the toxicity of pills to the bare minimum.

Li Rui’s realm surged rapidly.

Before the Tianyi Hall.

“Master, what martial art are you practicing?”

Liang He stared at Li Rui in bewilderment.

Li Rui’s movements had grown slower, sometimes taking half a day to shift a single step—appearing utterly devoid of offensive power.

Li Rui’s movements had grown slower and slower, taking half a day to shift a single step, appearing utterly devoid of any threat.

Liang He racked his brains but could not fathom it.

“Master is practicing a brand-new martial art.”

Out of unconditional trust in his master, Liang He thought to himself.

No matter how strange the matter, every time, Master had proven right.

Li Rui clasped his hands in a circle before his chest.

“This is slow overcoming fast.”

Liang He was even more bewildered.

In martial arts, speed is invincible—this was nearly universally accepted in the Jianghu.

No matter the weapon.

If one was fast enough, one was strong enough; countless martial artists pursued speed.

Yet Li Rui did the exact opposite.

He pursued slowness.

Impossible to understand—utterly incomprehensible.

Liang He felt his insight was far too poor, inferior to Master Li by a thousandfold.

Li Rui offered no further explanation.

Such matters can only be understood through personal insight.

If you understand, you understand; no one else can help.

Finished cultivation.

It was already the hour of Hai.

Li Rui returned to his room and carefully took out an elixir from a small jade vial.

It was precisely the seventh-rank spiritual elixir he had obtained from Chi Lian Nü.

“It’s time.”

Li Rui could already feel he was but one step away from completing Bronze Bone.

This was the perfect moment to take the elixir.

He tilted his head back.

The seventh-rank spiritual elixir slid down his throat.

A wave of heat surged upward; every pore in his body opened at once, and within a single breath, his back was drenched in sweat.

“Break!”

(End of Chapter)