Chapter 32: Staying Overnight at Yao Guan

Li Youyi wanted to finish the battle quickly, so he went all out.

Catching up to the ape-like deviant, he struck with both palms, wind whistling, intending to suppress with sheer force.

He had only opened one spring...

Just push through and suppress it with force.

The ape-like deviant dared not clash head-on with Li Youyi, swinging its spinal-bone bow to block.

It felt that the kid in front of it had opened more than three springs, possibly four. With the enhancement of that pair of silver-thread glove artifacts, it might even be able to trade blows with a Dharma-Wu cultivator who had opened five springs.

To be at the four-spring realm and be able to make the artifact shimmer with silver light meant it was likely not a low-level artifact.

To possess an artifact at the Spring-Gushing realm?

Who exactly was this kid?

The ape-like deviant couldn't figure it out no matter how hard it thought. After taking several palms, its spinal-bone bow snapped inch by inch, its hands bled, and its internal organs felt like they were splitting apart.

It decisively turned and fled.

How could Li Youyi let it escape?

It had to be silenced.

Catching up, he used his hand as a blade, executing the "Taiyi Sea-Opening."

A silver palm-Qi blade light slashed onto the ape-like deviant’s back, severing its spine.

Its massive body crashed to the ground with a boom.

"Bang!"

He added another palm, shattering its skull.

Only after confirming it was dead did Li Youyi walk back quickly, pick up the Huang Long Sword, and wrap it in cloth.

Zhao Zhizhuo hurried forward to thank him: "May I ask the little benefactor’s name? Zhao Zhizhuo of the Cangli Tribe will remember this forever."

"Old sir, you should hurry and fetch reinforcements; that is the urgent priority," Li Youyi said.

Zhao Zhizhuo’s face was pale, his eyes filled with anxiety and worry, enduring the intense pain of his wounds: "This old man has a presumptuous request... could the little benefactor help to the end? In my current physical state, if I set off alone, I fear I will fall from my horse within dozens of miles."

That iron arrow had too much destructive power, tearing through a large area of flesh and damaging the bone.

Li Youyi really didn't want to get involved in this, fearing future liquidation by Shi Jiuzhai.

But then he thought, once the people on the bronze ship came down, they would need a place to settle and survive; otherwise, how could they live? If he could solve this matter, it might be worth taking the risk.

Li Youyi had ridden horses, but he couldn't call it horsemanship.

However, having opened two springs in his soles, his body was extraordinary, so controlling a horse was easy.

The three of them rode one horse.

Zhao Zhizhuo lay prone in front, Gao Huan hugged Li Youyi’s waist tightly from behind.

Fortunately, the sturdy horse they were riding had drunk the blood of a Zouwu exotic beast, its bones were tough, its muscles solid, and its body was covered in tiger stripes, far larger and more ferocious than ordinary horses. Even carrying three people, it was still fast as lightning, capable of traveling a thousand miles a day.

Yao Guan City, nearly three hundred miles from Burial Immortal Town, had a population of over two hundred thousand. It had no city walls, gates, or moats, more like a large, freely accessible market town.

The entire Yao Guan City was like a large pancake, spread out on the fertile plains on the west bank of the Sui River, connecting to the mountain-filled Mang Mountains in the west.

It was already night.

The bone lamps on both sides of the street lit up, emitting a ghostly light.

Li Youyi and Gao Huan stayed at the third-largest large restaurant in the city, Yao Hua Ting. They took a hot bath, ate not only noodle soup but also more than a dozen delicious dishes.

After entering the city in the afternoon, Zhao Zhizhuo immediately went to the City Lord’s Mansion to seek help.

Before long, a deafening roar of a hundred beasts came from the Mang Mountains. Some Dharma-Wu cultivators rode flying birds with wingspans of several dozen meters, others rode strange giant beasts resembling tigers, elephants, or rhinoceroses, all rushing toward Burial Immortal Town.

The scene was quite grand.

Lizhou was the territory of the Nine Li Tribe, which had been peaceful for hundreds of years, and such a vicious incident had never occurred.

Although there were conflicts and competition among the major tribes of the Nine Li, if a real disaster occurred, any tribe would absolutely go to rescue them.

The Nine Li Tribe had intermarried for generations, their bones broken but their tendons still connected.

Zhao Zhizhuo finally came to Yao Hua Ting, thanking Li Youyi again, so excited he wanted to kneel, but was firmly supported and couldn't kneel down.

He wore gray-white cloth clothes and looked to be sixty or seventy years old, his temples frosted, but his muscles were strong, showing that he must have been tall and majestic when he was young.

"If it weren't for the little benefactor’s righteous action, my Cangli Tribe would have suffered heavy casualties this time. Tomorrow, the Young Tribal Chief will definitely come to thank you in person. At that time, if the little benefactor has any needs, just speak up."

Zhao Zhizhuo’s shoulder had been cleaned and bandaged, and treated with special secret medicine.

"Has it been saved?"

Li Youyi was very concerned about whether the battle in Burial Immortal Town had ended, wanting to return to the bronze ship as soon as possible.

Zhao Zhizhuo nodded and said: "The Young Tribal Chief and the others haven't arrived at Yao Guan yet, but news has come back that the Buddha-Crossing Thieves have retreated."

"Buddha-Crossing Thieves?"

Li Youyi was confused; weren't the people led by Shi Jiuzhai the Earth Wolf King Army?

Zhao Zhizhuo had long known that the two in front of him were not Buddha-Crossing Thieves, but refugees who had come to Lizhou and caused a misunderstanding by wearing the same monk robes as the Buddha-Crossing Thieves.

Li Youyi had told him this on horseback.

Nowadays, the world was in chaos, refugees were everywhere, and the number of refugees fleeing to Lizhou to avoid disaster was countless. Zhao Zhizhuo naturally trusted Li Youyi, who had saved his life, deeply.

Zhao Zhizhuo’s eyes held hatred and anger, his chest heaving violently, affecting his old illness, and he said in a somewhat wheezing voice: "Southern Barbarians, Northern Di, Eastern Yi, Western Rong. In our southern states, the most hateful and terrifying are the three great barbarian thieves: 'Xu Fodu' of Coffin Mountain, 'Yuwen Yan' of Night City, and 'Shi Na'er' of the Earth Wolf King."

"Everyone says Lizhou is decided by the Nine Li Tribe, so it has been peaceful for hundreds of years."

"But who knows that for this peace and stability, the Nine Li Tribe has been swallowing its anger, sending a large amount of tribute and wealth to Coffin Mountain every year. Precisely because of this, the 100,000 Buddha-Crossing Thieves under Xu Fodu only scrape and extort in a small range in Lizhou, and large-scale conflicts have never occurred."

"The Buddha-Crossing Thieves were so fierce and bloody this time, it was truly abnormal; I don't know what they are intending."

In Li Youyi’s mind, many thoughts occurred in an instant, and he asked: "What about the Earth Wolf King Army?"

Zhao Zhizhuo said: "The Earth Wolf King’s power is not in Lizhou, so it has nothing to do with us."

"Has Zhao Lao heard of Shi Jiuzhai?" Li Youyi asked.

Zhao Zhizhuo’s expression froze: "Shi Jiuzhai is extraordinary. He is the adopted son of Shi Na'er and one of the ten Dharma Kings of the Earth Wolf King Army. He only rose to fame in the last twenty years, but he is already a figure in the 'Jiazi Record'. Little benefactor, why are you asking about him?"

Li Youyi always felt that Zhao Zhizhuo was very afraid of the three great barbarian thieves, and it seemed that even the Nine Li Tribe had to pay tribute to the barbarian thieves.

He didn't dare to say it anymore!

If he said it, he would definitely be pushed to the forefront, and the key was that the Cangli Tribe might not be able to protect him. Even, he might eventually become a victim of the struggle between big forces.

Low profile, low profile.

Getting involved to this point was already very dangerous.

"I have heard his name for a long time, like thunder piercing the ears."

Li Youyi quickly changed the subject and asked: "Zhao Lao, please help the junior answer some doubts about cultivation; I have always been practicing blindly, and I don't understand many things."

"Practicing blindly can lead to opening three springs, or even four springs?"

Zhao Zhizhuo looked at the silver-thread gloves on Li Youyi’s hands, thought of something, and quickly reminded him solemnly: "Little benefactor, this old man dares not ask where you got this artifact, but you must not easily activate and use it in front of others. An innocent man is innocent, but his treasure makes him guilty."

Li Youyi could see Zhao Zhizhuo’s true feelings, and while moved, he asked: "Are artifacts so precious?"

Zhao Zhizhuo finally believed that the young man in front of him had always been practicing blindly and really knew very little about the martial arts realm: "Let’s put it this way! If this old man weren't old and had lost his spirit, seeing this artifact of yours, I might have been jealous and moved. This is not returning kindness with enmity, but the temptation is too great, and it is human nature."

"In other words, if a celestial beauty strips naked and walks on the street without the power to protect herself, then any danger she encounters is her own fault, and she can't blame anyone."

"Understood!" Li Youyi took off the silver-thread gloves and hid them: "Please help me keep it a secret, Zhao Lao."

Zhao Zhizhuo quickly guaranteed, and said again: "Little benefactor, don't mind too much; this old man just speaks directly. In fact, in this world, there are not many absolutely good people, and not many absolutely bad people; the most are those who dare not be too good and dare not be too bad."

"Rest assured, even if I met you when I was young, I could never do anything to return kindness with enmity. It’s just that I’ve eaten rice for decades more, seen too much, and couldn't help but want to warn you a few more words."

"Thank you!"

Afterward, Li Youyi asked Zhao Zhizhuo for advice on some cultivation-related questions.

Outside, it suddenly became lively.

The quiet night was shattered by the sound of breaking wind and the roar of a hundred beasts.

The Beast Li Tribe’s troops were back!

Zhao Zhizhuo immediately said goodbye and left, going to welcome the Young Tribal Chief. When he left, he asked Li Youyi if he wanted to go together. Li Youyi naturally shook his head; the big figures of the Cangli Tribe were afraid they would be busy tonight, so it was not the time to meet.

And this form of meeting would have endless future troubles.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 33 =====