Chapter 174

Qin Garden is located in the Southern City, only two or three miles away from the Immortal Forest, separated by three streets and a river, barely able to enjoy the dense magic Qi drifting out from the Daoist domain.

After meeting with the maid by Qin Li's side, Li Youyi arrived here.

The one who opened the door was none other than Yin Twenty-four, wearing a long-veiled hat.

After entering the garden.

Li Youyi looked back, and the main gate was covered again by a layer of formation light gauze invisible to the naked eye.

The light gauze shrouded the entire Qin Garden; one had to circulate magic power to their eyes to see the formation scripts suspended in the void.

His gaze turned to Yin Twenty-four, who had taken off her hat, and he exclaimed in surprise: "Oh my, I haven't seen you in a few months and you've grown so beautiful. Transforming into a pure immortal body really is different; you look like you walked out of a painting, it makes one almost afraid to recognize you!"

Yin Twenty-four was dressed in a magic-tool night-travel suit, tall and slender. After transforming into a pure immortal body, the flawlessness of her skin, the brightness of her eyes, and the luster of her hair were enough to give a person a brand-new look.

And she was a year older than Seeing Yao Yin, her figure currently in a stage of rapid blossoming.

Although she was still cold, she had completely lost the skinny look of a little girl; her chest and hips were undulating, her figure was much more graceful and charming, truly standing tall and elegant.

She gave a light huff, still fond of rolling her eyes, and led the way directly, unable to suppress the corner of her mouth: "You snatched so many Dyed-Cloud exotic medicines, why haven't you transformed into a pure immortal body?"

"I am a Divine Hidden Person; transforming into a pure immortal body is too high-profile and attracts too much attention. I'm not like some people who, for the sake of beauty, completely forget that a hidden person needs to be as ordinary as possible and needs to hide their edge as much as possible," Li Youyi said, following behind her.

Yin Twenty-four locked her brows and stopped: "I didn't do it for beauty; I did it for power. In the same realm, the combat power of a pure immortal body is far beyond that of a mortal, and it is even possible to cross realms to counter-slay."

"Is that so?"

Li Youyi smiled: "I am also at the second realm of the Five Seas now; we are in the same realm, how about I, this mortal, spar with you, this pure immortal body?"

"You're at the second realm of the Five Seas?"

Yin Twenty-four knew that Li Youyi's cultivation speed was extremely fast and knew how stunning his talent was, but she still found it hard to believe.

"Swish!"

In the garden, a sudden gust of wind rose.

The long-veiled hat in Yin Twenty-four's hand was thrown out.

Her hands formed palm seals, and she unleashed the "Heavenly Wind Palm Technique." In an instant, wind came from all four directions, her feet seemed to be shifting, and she struck a palm toward Li Youyi's chest. Her jade-white little hand was as fast as white lightning.

Li Youyi reached out to catch the flying long-veiled hat and, facing the wind-and-thunder-filled palm seal suddenly attacking from Yin Twenty-four, moved his body sideways with composure.

His speed was so fast it was as if another figure had split from his body.

Before Yin Twenty-four could see what had happened, her wrist was already held by Li Youyi.

The magic Qi circulating to her palm was cut off.

A wave of soreness radiated from her wrist, causing her entire arm to lose strength.

After restraining her, Li Youyi grabbed her wrist and twisted it. Yin Twenty-four felt pain in her shoulder and, like a spinning top, couldn't control her body as she turned half a circle, her back of the head and shoulder falling against his chest.

"The combat power of your pure immortal body isn't that great; it seems you can't beat a mortal in the same realm. Did you transform wrong? Did you transform into something weaker?"

Li Youyi joked, twisting her wrist and locking it behind her waist.

"Don't get cocky! In the same realm, even a hundred-meridian pure silver body can't beat you, so it's normal that I can't. If you have the ability, go spar with Yang Qingxi, Chen Wenwu, and those top experts of the younger generation... ah..."

"Is this the attitude you have when talking to a Divine Hidden Person? Do you submit?"

Li Youyi twisted her wrist and pulled downward.

Yin Twenty-four stood on her tiptoes, chest pushed high, her head tilted back in pain, her whole body trembling slightly, but she refused to beg for mercy or give in.

Yin Twenty-three, Yin Twenty-five, and Seeing Yao Yin arrived and happened to see this scene.

The three had different expressions.

Some were confused, some surprised, and some understanding.

"Why are you bullying my sister?"

Far from the spectator mentality of the other two, Seeing Yao Yin hurried over.

Li Youyi placed the long-veiled hat on Yin Twenty-four's head, released her wrist, and looked at Seeing Yao Yin, who was walking over: "We were sparring; she lost a move and was captured by me."

Seeing Yao Yin walked to Yin Twenty-four's side, confirmed she was truly unharmed, and then glared at Li Youyi with shared hatred, as if looking at a bully who used his power to oppress others.

Li Youyi walked straight to Yin Twenty-five, asked if there was any silver to repay the debt, and after taking a money bag, patted him on the shoulder with a face full of smiles.

"Thank goodness, you finally appeared!"

Yin Thirteen arrived, his face somewhat pale, clearly injured, and added: "I heard that you were hunted by Yuwen Chao and Huo Qiankun at the pier outside Giant Marsh City, fled into the Soldier Ancestor Marsh, and then had no news; everyone thought... you had met with misfortune..."

"Ah!"

Seeing Yao Yin exclaimed.

She didn't know about this.

To be precise, the several young hidden people present were all unaware.

Yin Thirteen continued: "Yin Ten is very annoyed; she said you were insincere, clearly agreeing to leave immediately but insisting on participating in the battle of top experts, unable to distinguish the importance of things. If she had known, she should have knocked you out at the Heavenly Pavilion and tied you directly to the state city."

Li Youyi said: "Don't mind her, I am the Divine Hidden Person. Isn't this me returning safe and sound?"

Yin Thirteen sighed: "She also did it for your own good. Your cultivation base is too low and your strength too weak right now; you need to grow under protection. The meaning from above is that you young hidden people under twenty years old only need to go into seclusion and cultivate upon arriving in Qiuzhou, without participating in any actions."

Li Youyi immediately thought of the words Jiang Ning said when he left; everyone was doing it for his own good, but between the lines, the meaning expressed was—you are too weak!

That's right, his cultivation base was still very low; Li Youyi had self-awareness and knew the huge gap between him and the young experts.

But he just wasn't convinced.

"Has your injury not healed yet?" Li Youyi asked.

Yin Thirteen gave a bitter smile: "It's good enough to have escaped with my life; fortunately, I met Yin Nine and Yin Ten, barely saving my life. What about you? You've been missing for more than half a month, you weren't hiding somewhere secretly nursing your wounds, were you?"

"You actually guessed right!" Li Youyi said.

Yin Thirteen was moved: "That's not simple, being able to escape from the hands of Huo Qiankun and Yuwen Chao. What about Zhuang Yue? Wasn't she taken away by you?"

"She's not a child, she's a Five Seas Realm fourth-realm pure immortal body expert; after her skin grew back, she left! You have already entered the imperial court on behalf of the Hidden Sect, so I had no need to get too deeply involved with people from the imperial court; if she wanted to leave, let her leave!" Li Youyi said with a lack of interest.

The hidden people of the Jiuli Hidden Sect did not all stay in one place, as that would make it very easy for them to be wiped out in one go.

Yin Thirteen told Li Youyi that Qin Garden was an estate left behind by an ancient hidden person, with powerful defensive arrays, and no connection to the Jiuli clan could be traced; for the next few months, the young hidden people only needed to hide here and cultivate.

"My injury has already stabilized, I should be leaving in these two days; Qin Garden will be left to you from now on!"

Li Youyi asked: "Still going back to the imperial court?"

Yin Thirteen nodded: "I have spent many years in the Attendant Palace and have already cultivated a group of my own subordinates; I can't just throw them away. Moreover, the Jiuli Hidden Sect must have eyes in the imperial court no matter what. Don't worry, I risked my life for Jiang Ning, there will definitely be a position for me in the imperial court."

"By the way, tonight all Five Seas Realm hidden people will gather at Qin Garden; Yin Nine said there are important matters to discuss."

In this sixty-year cycle, the Jiuli Hidden Sect selected a total of twenty-five hidden people; adding Li Youyi and Seeing Yao Yin from this year, there were twenty-seven.

But those still alive, counting Li and Yao, were only twenty-one.

Among them, six had reached the Dao Seed Realm. Three were not in Qiuzhou.

That night.

Twelve young hidden people gathered at Qin Garden.

But after Yin Nine and Yin Ten arrived, they announced together that hidden people below the fifth realm of the Five Seas were not allowed to enter and had no right to participate in the discussion. Only Li Youyi was an exception and could go in to listen.

"Anyway, they're just excluding us; we might as well go somewhere else for a secret meeting," Yin Twenty-four complained in a low voice.

In the backyard of Qin Garden, a magic-tool bone lamp was hung.

The light from the lamp covered all sounds and scenes.

Yin Nine and Yin Ten sat on two chairs in the room facing the main gate, one on the left and one on the right. Yin Eleven's snake tail was wrapped around a beam, his body almost hidden into nothingness.

Yin Thirteen sat in a position near the door.

Yin Fifteen and Yin Sixteen stood outside the courtyard, one holding a spear and the other carrying a sword, both standing in the shadows, one observing the outside and the other watching the courtyard, with extremely high vigilance.

Li Youyi stood outside the window, leaning against it, observing Yin Fifteen and Yin Sixteen, whom he had never seen before. The two hid their aura extremely well, just like two ordinary people without cultivation.

But precisely because of this, Li Youyi judged that their cultivation base far exceeded Yin Thirteen's.

Being able to perfectly hide their aura under his perception was the embodiment of their cultivation realm.

"The order from above is for our Jiuli Hidden Sect to track down the Cinder Spirits hidden among the young martial cultivators and help the Brother Zuoqiu Sect clear away as many uncertain factors for the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival as possible. This matter can only be done in secret and cannot be put on the table; the Brother Zuoqiu Sect is afraid of inviting criticism."

"Those Cinder Spirits made their move in the Nether Realm of the Dead."

"Two months ago, the Lizhou turmoil broke out, and the young martial cultivators from all over the world who were seeking opportunities in the Immortal Burial Town's immortal realm space could only pass through the Longshan Mountain Range and walk through the Nether Realm of the Dead to evacuate. During this evacuation process, many people were ambushed, allowing Cinder Spirits to put on human skin or directly parasitize their bodies, hiding within major forces."

"At that time, all young martial cultivators in the Immortal Burial Town were registered and screened once. There are still nearly a thousand suspicious personnel remaining who need us to secretly investigate and clean up."

Yin Nine took out the list and added: "Everyone has some power in their hands; mobilize it all, we must ferret out all the hidden Cinder Spirits before the end of the year."

Li Youyi asked: "Why before the end of the year? There is still half a month between the end of the year and the Lantern Festival."

Yin Ten said: "Because once the New Year arrives, this battle of the younger generation will officially begin. On the night of the Lantern Festival, everyone is just going to get the final result."

The hidden people present were all very confused.

Yin Eleven said: "What does that mean? Deciding the Hidden Dragon before the Lantern Festival? Then how do you determine who is the Hidden Dragon and who can get treasures like the Longevity Pill, Dragon Seed, and Dragon Bone?"

"There must be a standard, right?"

"For example, setting up a ring and fighting with real blades and guns. Who is the true dragon and who is the fake dragon will be clear at a glance."

(End of chapter)