Chapter 162

"Scolding Chen Xun, Sheng Qingyan, and Huo Qiankun like household slaves. This is simply inconceivable; even the Coffin Mountain Four Truths and the Heartless Golden Ape are not this arrogant," Yin Eleven said.

Li Youyi thought of the sparks that emerged after Zuoqiu Ting cracked the skin of the left and right attendants, and said, "They are very likely Cinder Spirits, just hidden beneath human skin."

Yin Nine's gaze was grave: "That makes sense. Only the Cinder Spirits from the Far West Ash Region have such terrifying energy. It is said that when the young geniuses of the major forces withdrew from the edge of the Nether Realm of the Dead to Li Province, they encountered Cinder Spirits and suffered heavy casualties."

Yin Ten keenly grasped something: "If Cinder Spirits possess the ability to hide within human bodies, then after they ambushed the young martial cultivators of the major forces, how many have already hidden inside these young martial cultivators? What exactly are they trying to do?"

Li Youyi thought of what Chan Hai Guan Wu had said and replied, "The Far West Ash Region is not simple. Their strength is so great that only Longevity Realm giants can glimpse the truth. What they are plotting will definitely not be just some struggle of the younger generation. With the Sui Sect, Three Chen Palace, and Tianyi Sect mixed up with them, we must be careful!"

Yin Nine and Yin Ten nodded gently, feeling the danger and pressure.

"This is the box I snatched from their hands; Chen Xun and the others seem to value it extremely highly."

Li Youyi took the black metal box out of the Evil Camel Bell and placed it in the center of the room.

The box was tall and bound with chains.

"Whoosh!"

Yin Eleven dropped from the roof beam, her snake tail supporting her body, and touched it with both hands, her eyes shining: "Why does it feel like it contains a living thing?"

Just as she touched it, runes emerged on the box.

"I will break the runes."

Yin Ten flicked her sleeve, sending Yin Eleven flying, and her jade-white brow released a tyrannical mental power spirit fire. Her whole person was shrouded in scorching flames, and as her fingers touched it, the runes burned into blue smoke one after another.

"This is the final realm of a Great Mentalist, Disaster Fire!"

Li Youyi was very surprised; not only was Yin Ten's martial cultivation unfathomable, but her mental power attainments were also astonishing.

A Nine Springs pure immortal body, combined with a Disaster Fire Realm Great Mentalist—her strength was truly extraordinary.

"Bang!"

After breaking all the runes, Yin Eleven pointed, and the sword Qi overflowing from her fingertips severed the chains on the iron box.

"I'll open it!"

Li Youyi walked over.

Yin Ten stepped back, leaving the opportunity to open the box to him, as it was he who had snatched it back.

Li Youyi opened a crack in the lid of the iron box and glanced inside. His expression, already very grave, instantly sank to freezing point, and his mind went blank for a brief moment.

"Bang!"

Li Youyi slammed the iron box shut, causing Yin Eleven, who had drifted over and poked her head in to look, to let out a strange cry, her head nearly getting caught.

Li Youyi struggled to calm his emotions and looked at Yin Nine and Yin Ten: "Three of you, why don't you go out for a moment?"

Yin Ten had powerful mental energy and had just sensed the situation inside: "I'll stay!"

"I can do it alone!" Li Youyi said.

Yin Nine rose silently, took his axe, and walked out first; Yin Eleven was also dragged away.

Yin Ten brought a set of robes and handed them to Li Youyi.

She walked out and closed the door.

Li Youyi took a deep breath and reopened the metal iron box.

Inside the box was a bloody body that had been skinned; it was curled up in the box like a lump of rotten meat, the head bald without hair, the entire scalp having been peeled away.

A lot of blood had seeped into the box.

The ears were bloody, and the eyeballs had been gouged out, leaving her with no sight or hearing.

But she was still alive.

Sensing the iron box being opened, she curled up in terror and panic, but the skinless flesh was so painful as it rubbed against itself while curling.

Li Youyi gripped the edges of the metal box so hard they nearly deformed, and using mental power, he told her gently: "Zhuang Yue, it's me... Sima Tan... no, Li Youyi, I am Li Youyi, don't be afraid... don't be afraid..."

Zhuang Yue, curled up in the box, was quiet for a moment, then slowly raised her head and sobbed.

No matter how high one's cultivation is, one is still just a young woman and must have a vulnerable side to their heart.

Even if it were just seeing a stranger in such a tragic state, Li Youyi could never remain indifferent. He didn't have a deep friendship with Zhuang Yue, but how could Li Youyi not feel pity and sympathy for a girl who had once smiled at him?

Li Youyi released strands of spirit light, weaving them onto her body like a layer of skin, emitting a cool temperature to alleviate her pain.

"Tell me, what happened?" Li Youyi did not spare his gentleness, draped Yin Ten's clothes over her, and insulated her with spirit light.

After Zhuang Yue told him everything, Li Youyi used mental power to hypnotize her, and she fell into a quiet sleep.

Opening the door, Li Youyi walked out to meet the gazes of the three Hidden Ones waiting outside: "She is a person of Jiang Ning, the Luan Terrace Angel. She was captured by a high-level expert among the Cinder Spirits, who peeled off her skin, most likely wanting to transform into her appearance to deal with Jiang Ning."

Yin Ten, being a woman, could empathize deeply and said coldly: "Too cruel! Ten times crueler than stripping a woman of her clothes. The loss of spiritual dignity and the physical pain are superimposed."

Yin Nine said: "To the Cinder Spirits, this is not cruel at all, just like humans peeling the skin of animals and eating their flesh."

"Perhaps many of the young experts who came to Qiu Province this time have already been skinned and had their inner essence replaced," Yin Eleven said with a trembling heart.

Li Youyi said: "That hunting battle broke out at dawn yesterday. Jiang Ning, Yin Thirteen, and Zhuang Yue were besieged by the Cinder Spirits, Night City, Coffin Mountain, and Chen Wenwu and his group."

"Zhuang Yue was separated from them and captured."

"She said that before she was skinned, she heard people talking. Jiang Ning should have activated the hundred-character scripture artifact Jade Boat and escaped with Yin Thirteen, but with her cultivation, flying the Jade Boat, she could fly at most five hundred miles before her magic power would be exhausted."

"My view is that I cannot manage the affairs of the imperial court and the various rebel armies, and I will not manage them. But Senior Brother Thirteen is a person of our Nine Li Hidden Sect; I must manage his life and death."

"What do you three say?"

Yin Nine appeared to be thinking, and after a long while: "Don't you worry about this matter; hurry to the provincial capital with Li Ling, it is much safer there. As for old Thirteen, we three will find a way to rescue him!"

Yin Ten said: "I will first send people to scout for information and see what the situation is now. Li Youyi, you can rest assured; although we Hidden Ones are all the ruthless characters who were the only ones to survive in our batch, we will never be cold-blooded toward our Hidden One brothers."

After Yin Ten left, Yin Nine also left quickly.

Yin Eleven said: "Those two are just like that; they are powerful, so they have very strong opinions. If you want to command them, I reckon you'll have to wait at least three years. Your cultivation speed is too fast!"

"By the way, what do you plan to do about that woman? Help her reclaim her skin, or send her to a doctor quickly? Why not drink the blood of an ancient immortal giant beast? Transforming into a freak species is also quite good, it's just that her eyeballs were gouged out, which is very hard to deal with... skin is much easier to grow back..."

"Help me keep an eye on her."

Li Youyi deeply realized the cruelty of the enemy and returned to the Cloud Pavilion, preparing to keep Li Ling by his side.

If he truly encountered danger, he could timely bring her into the Blood Mud Space.

Just as he arrived outside the Cloud Pavilion and hadn't walked in yet, he saw a figure holding a fan standing in the shadow of a lantern, as if they had been waiting for a while.

Li Youyi's expression shifted, and he walked toward him.

Zuoqiu Ting still had the appearance of Long Ting, but it had changed to be more vivid, his face grave and heavy with worry: "You have caused a massive disaster. Do you know what kind of formidable figures you have provoked?"

Li Youyi was in a bad mood: "A dignified successor of the Zuoqiu Sect, coming all the way to find me just to scare me?"

"Scare you?"

The worry between Zuoqiu Ting's brows was so thick it couldn't be dissolved, and he said: "You deliberately used the cyan yin banner in the Heaven Pavilion, wasn't it just to lure me to find you? Tell me, how many good things did you get in the Thirty-Three Li Mountains?"

Li Youyi deliberated: "A deceased spirit senior once told me that the Zuoqiu Sect's upbringing is excellent, and the successor's character must be upright."

Zuoqiu Ting temporarily put away his thoughts, his eyes full of hope, and asked: "Was it the senior who taught you the Heaven-Penetrating Eye? Where is she?"

"In the Nether Realm of the Dead, I once practiced for a period of time with that senior." This was the story Li Youyi and his Master Lingwei had agreed upon in advance.

Zuoqiu Ting's eyes dimmed, but he didn't seem surprised.

Li Youyi continued: "In the Thirty-Three Li Mountains, I was truly afraid that you would use means of returning evil for good for the secret of the Heaven-Penetrating Eye, which is why I slipped away."

Zuoqiu Ting said: "Why did you take the initiative to lure me to appear now?"

"Because I want to participate in the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival in more than two months, and my identity will be exposed sooner or later."

Li Youyi added: "Moreover, I believe in that deceased spirit senior, and I also believe in the uprightness of the Zuoqiu Sect's successor."

"You should have believed it long ago!"

Zuoqiu Ting was furious: "How much immortal soil did you dig?"

The Zuoqiu Sect values immortal soil very highly.

This is also why a dignified successor would lower himself to take the initiative to see Li Youyi.

Li Youyi wouldn't expose his chips so quickly, saying: "I want a thousand-year essence medicine, preferably of the ice attribute."

"Just for one essence medicine?" Zuoqiu Ting said.

The target of essence medicine is too big; with Yao Qian's ability, even after buying essence medicine, it became known to everyone.

Li Youyi knew his own limits too well and didn't dare take this risk; trading with the Zuoqiu Sect would be much safer.

In any case, first cultivating the seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors to the level of the Fifth Realm of the Five Seas Realm was the top priority. Li Youyi was incomparably eager for strength.

He added: "I also want an alchemy furnace, as well as all the medicinal herbs on this list."

Zuoqiu Ting took the medicinal herb list he handed over: "Are you trying to refine pills that quickly increase magic power?"

Li Youyi was startled: "How did you know?"

Chan Hai Guan Wu had long since told him the pill formula for the Qi-Raising Pill.

The medicinal herb list he gave Zuoqiu Ting had actually been tampered with, adding several other precious medicinal herbs. The amount of each herb was also written as ten jin or twenty jin, not according to the pill formula.

Zuoqiu Ting said coldly: "The main ingredients for pills that increase magic power are only those few types. You don't think that only your Nine Li Hidden Sect possesses such pill formulas, do you?"

"Every major sect has similar pill formulas, but the pill effects are different, and the grades vary. Instead of buying so many medicinal herbs to refine pills, which might end up wasted, it's better to buy them directly from the Zuoqiu Sect."

Li Youyi clearly trusted the pill formula Chan Hai Guan Wu brought out more; its grade and effect were definitely not comparable to the Zuoqiu Sect's.

He said: "How did you know I am a person of the Nine Li Hidden Sect?"

"I have met your Yin Lord once while by the side of the Ancestor. Even if you don't appear, I can find you; the monk can run, but the temple cannot." Zuoqiu Ting rolled his eyes: "What other conditions, speak them all out at once."

(End of chapter)