Chapter 39

"Another magical artifact."

Yan Qingqing was stunned, feeling it was unbelievable; she had never encountered such a strange person before.

Li Ling was almost speechless. She felt that Li Youyi was calculating and deep; he clearly had the strength to contend with the two people behind, yet he let her, a wounded person struck by flying needles, stand in front. Furthermore, he had pretended to be a three-spring magic-martial expert in front of her brother.

"Don't let him escape; his cultivation isn't high." Xing Wanxing was not angry but rather excited.

Because that mysterious freak's cultivation wasn't high—he should have only opened five springs. Taking him down would be enough to obtain multiple magical artifacts.

The sound of water roared ahead; they were about to rush out of Burial Immortal Town and reach the Dragon-Slaying Mouth waterfall.

Li Youyi, however, suddenly stopped.

Under the thousand-year-old apricot tree at the east exit of the town stood a tall, thin figure in monk's robes.

Fang Tong, the seventh disciple of Shi Jiuzhai, stood with his back to Li Youyi and Li Ling, who had rushed here, his gaze fixed on the giant silver bones in the silver coffin. Under the silver light, his shadow cast on the street reached the feet of Li Youyi and Li Ling.

Disciples of Shi Jiuzhai were not ranked by age, but by cultivation level.

Fang Tong's combat power was naturally still above Yan Qingqing's.

"Stars as the heart, silver as the bones—the remains of the Silver Bone Heavenly Race. A coffin from such an alien world has appeared once in history, causing a chaotic war that lasted for twenty years. Who knows how many cultivators who wanted to claim it as their own lost their lives."

"If this coffin is not opened, it's worth three hundred million. Once opened, it's worth far more than a billion."

Fang Tong added, "Logically speaking, since the silver bones are here, the immortal star located in the heart should also be in the coffin. Which of you opened this coffin?"

His voice was very low, but everyone in the town could hear it clearly, showing his profound mastery of magic power.

Xing Wanxing, who had caught up, was frightened by Fang Tong's words and immediately explained, "This has nothing to do with us! It was opened by the Cang Li tribe long ago; the immortal star you mentioned must have been taken by them in advance."

Fang Tong turned around, revealing a long donkey face. "It had better have nothing to do with you! Treasures like the immortal star—let alone Master, even the Heavenly King would spare no cost to seize it, and the entire Southern Border would be shaken. I will report this matter truthfully."

Yan Qingqing said, "In any case, the coffin was already opened when I arrived."

Xing Wanxing cursed her as a bitch inwardly; she could have testified for him, but chose to distance herself completely. He looked at Li Youyi and Li Ling and said, inspired by a sudden thought, "These two arrived at Burial Immortal Town before me, and they have multiple magical artifacts on them; it's very likely they obtained them from the coffin."

Fang Tong's gaze finally fell on Li Youyi and Li Ling.

Li Ling was in a terrible state, all light traces retracted between her brows, and she whispered, "If you have any other trump cards, use them quickly; this donkey-faced man is probably even harder to deal with than that dog-type mutant auntie."

She didn't hold much hope.

If this guy Xie Jin really had the strength to deal with a seven-spring magic-martial expert, why would he have been fleeing in such a sorry state all along?

But as long as they broke through and rushed toward the Dragon-Slaying Mouth waterfall, they would have a glimmer of survival. The river below the waterfall led directly to the Passing Spirit Mist Domain and the Blood Sea Coffin Dock; these people would definitely not dare to chase them in.

"Then there's only one last move left; I have to summon... a helper!"

Li Youyi cut his wrist with his sword and sprinkled blood on the ground.

He was truly at his wit's end!

Li Ling was also at the end of her rope.

If it were just Xing Wanxing and Yan Qingqing, they could still put up a fight, but now a more formidable donkey-faced man had appeared. Perhaps only that absurdly existing protective wife could help him survive this difficulty.

"No matter who you summon, it won't change the fact that you will die today."

Yan Qingqing held a three-foot soft sword and flew over.

Li Ling snorted, a ball of light appearing at the tip of her right index finger, and she slashed through the air. Immediately, a light arc several meters long flew out, forcing Yan Qingqing back.

On the other side, Xing Wanxing's palms glowed with magic power, closing in on Li Youyi.

Li Youyi swung his sword, the yellow light brilliant.

Xing Wanxing dared not use his palms to catch a magical artifact and dodged in a hurry.

With the speed enhancement of the scripture belt, the two were actually fighting back and forth for a short time.

Li Youyi frowned, doubting his own strength for the first time: "Can I really cross three realms to contend with a six-spring magic-martial expert? But even a pure immortal body can only suppress opponents by one realm."

Li Youyi quickly dismissed this thought; as a mortal who had been cultivating for less than a month, how could he dare to be arrogant?

Arrogant people never had a good end.

Seeing that Yan Qingqing and Xing Wanxing were taking so long to take them down, Fang Tong was about to act personally.

But his pupils shrank.

He saw that the blood on the ground where Li Youyi had sprinkled it was spreading rapidly.

"Slap!"

A hand wrapped in ghost fire broke through the soil, followed by a head, torso, and legs... A middle-aged man with disheveled hair crawled out from underground, his whole body wrapped in ghost fire, with a bloody, strange character on his forehead.

Fang Tong's face changed drastically, sensing power fluctuations on the middle-aged man that were no less than his own: "He really summoned a powerful, strange entity!"

"Slap!"

"Slap!"

On the street, by the old well, inside the dilapidated house... one hand after another broke through the soil, and one ghost-fire figure after another with strange characters on their brows crawled out.

Old people, children, men, women—each one was very powerful, as if the entire Burial Immortal Town was reviving.

The Earth Wolf King Army soldiers were all terrified, and Yan Qingqing and Xing Wanxing were also pale; the scene before them was too spectacular and too terrifying.

They had never heard of such a powerful blood sacrifice summoning technique!

"Did you summon all of them? Didn't you say one..." Li Ling looked at Li Youyi.

"Let's run quickly!"

Li Youyi had long been confused; this had absolutely nothing to do with him.

He suspected that Burial Immortal Town itself was abnormal—the town's name, its location, the giant stone statues in the town... who knew if some undead things were buried underground to begin with?

The two rushed out of the town one after the other.

They didn't choose to jump down the waterfall; they rushed down the steep slope of the Dragon-Slaying Mouth dense forest, and just as they reached the bottom of the waterfall, they heard a whistling sound, and a gray magic power cloud covered the sky.

"It's Shi Jiuzhai." Sensing the familiar aura, Li Youyi was so terrified that his scalp felt like it was going to be lifted.

Without thinking, he pulled Li Ling and jumped into the turbulent Sui River, holding his breath at the bottom of the river and rushing downstream with the current.

A moment later, Shi Jiuzhai's outstanding and arrogant figure appeared by the pool below the waterfall.

Within his gray magic power cloud, he wrapped Fang Tong, Yan Qingqing, and Xing Wanxing. As for the other Earth Wolf King Army soldiers trapped in Burial Immortal Town, there was simply no time to save them.

Shi Jiuzhai scratched his head, feeling a headache, and scolded, "Truly, not one of you can handle things alone. You can even mess up taking a coffin. If I hadn't arrived in time, would you have been wiped out?"

Shi Jiuzhai had originally gone to capture Cang Li, but had been ambushed by three tribal leaders of the Nine Li Tribe and had to flee in a sorry state. Of course, he would never mention even half a word of such a shameful thing in front of his disciples.

Yan Qingqing said tremblingly, "The mysterious man who was with Li Ling is quite powerful..."

Before she could finish, Shi Jiuzhai said, "How powerful can he be? If he were really that powerful, would you still be alive now?"

Fang Tong said, "His true cultivation is only around five springs, but he has many magical artifact trump cards."

"Five springs!"

Shi Jiuzhai was so angry he laughed, then roared, "Why aren't you hurrying along the water to find them? If you can't find them, don't come back; stay there for the rest of your lives."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

Yan Qingqing and Xing Wanxing had never seen their master so angry and immediately rushed downstream along the Sui River, hoping to intercept the two before they escaped into the Passing Spirit Mist Domain.

Otherwise, no matter how dangerous the Passing Spirit Mist Domain was, they would have to bite the bullet and chase them in.

Fang Tong said, "Master, it's not all bad news; an immortal star might have been born in that silver coffin. If it's not in the hands of those two, it must be in the Cang Li tribe. The disciple is inclined toward the latter!"

"Immortal star!"

Shi Jiuzhai was moved. If it really was this legendary item, even he wasn't qualified to touch it and had to notify the Heavenly King immediately. He said, "It seems that chaos in Li Prefecture is a foregone conclusion. Although the Cang Li tribe has obtained the treasure, they have also incurred the crime of genocide because of it."

"I have to go back; I'll leave this to you!"

Shi Jiuzhai threw a necklace with a four-inch-long wolf tooth hanging from it to Fang Tong.

"Take the Snow Wolf King; I want both of them alive. If you can't take them down, I won't be able to plead for you in front of the Heavenly King."

This was a death order!

Fang Tong's face changed, and he whispered his compliance.

The Passing Spirit Mist Domain was only two hundred miles wide, but it was notorious. Not only were various passing spirits and evil demons active, but it was also foggy all year round, and no matter how high one's cultivation was, one could get lost inside.

The Sui River flowed to this point along high mountain canyons, the river channel widened, the current slowed, and it gradually disappeared into the mist.

Li Youyi dragged Li Ling onto the shore, looked up, and saw only dark, gloomy mist.

Only the sporadic light points emitted by exotic insects in the bushes and grass slightly illuminated the mist domain.

She had passed out.

Li Youyi lay on the ground, channeling his three-spring magic power to his right ear. Within a mile, he heard no footsteps of pursuit. That gray magic power cloud just now was definitely Shi Jiuzhai in person; if they had been even a little slower to jump into the river, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

"Hoo!"

He let out a long breath, releasing the tight pressure.

After resting for a moment, Li Youyi looked at Li Ling, who was lying on her back.

He first checked her breath, then checked the wound on her waist and abdomen pierced by Yan Qingqing's soft sword, and after confirming there was no life-threatening danger, he left her on the shore and headed straight toward the Blood Sea alone.

Anyway, the Earth Wolf King Army people probably wouldn't dare to break into the Passing Spirit Mist Domain, and he had already done his best.

Behind him, Li Ling suddenly sat up: "Hey, you're really leaving just like that? You're really not going to care if I live or die?"

"Are women all so fond of acting?"

Li Youyi instantly understood that she had been pretending to faint all along, and added, "If I didn't care if you lived or died, I wouldn't have dragged you ashore. If it were someone else, they might have finished you off in the water."

Li Ling naturally knew the reason for Li Youyi's coldness: "You're not acting, you're not lying? You think I followed you all the way? The root cause is that you lied in front of my brother, and you didn't hide it from my discerning eyes. Acting ghost, liar, and you're talking about me? Aren't you the same?"

At this moment, she finally looked a bit like a young girl.

But the contrast was too great.

There seemed to be two people living inside her, Li Youyi felt.

For the sake of Gao Huan, who had gone to the Nine Li Dao Academy, and for the scientific expedition team members to have a place to live, he said, "I have no malice; I just want to find a place for my displaced companions to settle down."

Li Ling stood up, her whole body soaking wet and clinging to her, and walked over triumphantly, smiling: "You're not good at lying, are you? But I am, so I'm also good at spotting who is lying. The perception of a Spirit Mind Master is extremely subtle; you didn't say many truthful words in the Yao Guan Zao Mei Manor."

"I have no malice," Li Youyi emphasized again.

Li Ling nodded and smiled slightly: "I can believe you have no malice now, because you... your character is okay. But when we were at Yao Guan, how could I believe you, a stranger?"

"So you were testing me when you pretended to faint just now?" Li Youyi said.

(End of chapter)