Chapter 278: Qiubei Plain

Li Li Youyi and Long Ting avoided the magic tool, but the power dissipated from the magic tool was still not something their flesh could withstand, and they were hit by lightning and flames respectively, groaning, and throwing out at the same time.

Long Ting was charred all over, hanging on the stone wall with one hand, retrieved the Red Fire Dragon Scale, and looked toward the water surface below, thinking about whether to suppress the injury and take this opportunity to completely solve Li Li Youyi.

But he discovered with terror that the seven Phoenix-Winged Moth Emperors were coming from seven directions.

The defense of these seven exotic insects was so strong?

Scaring Long Ting into immediately changing his mind, he fled into a ground crack, leaving behind a voice that got further and further away: "Wait for me to break through to the third layer of the Dao Seed Realm, and it will be your death day."

His cultivation was already very close to the third layer of the Dao Seed Realm, and he had the combat power to reverse-slay those of higher realms.

Ordinary third-layer Dao Seed Realm martial cultivators were not his opponents. 【278-

Li Li Youyi suppressed his injuries and looked up at the ground fissure a dozen zhang above, but he did not activate his Prefect's official robes to pursue. This was because Long Ting was not alone; many demon clan powerhouses had been traveling with him previously.

Recalling the seven little ones and the Purple Heaven Thunder Seal, Li Li Youyi stepped across the waves and flew back onto the jade boat.

Qin Qian lay at the bow, her gaze toward Li Li Youyi completely changed; her heart was deeply shaken. With his cultivation base, he had actually managed to force Long Ting back.

The magic energy released by the seven strange insects did not seem to be of the Dao Seed Realm either.

Li Li Youyi walked over, staring at her with eyes as sharp as knives, his heart engaged in a fierce internal struggle. In the end, kindness overcame reason; he crouched down, his fingers probing toward her Five Seas, then her Wind Mansion and Ancestral Field, searching and checking one by one.

Qin Qian was frightened by his gaze and dared not move, forced to let him do as he pleased.

"Plop!"

Li Li Youyi grabbed the collar of her chest, threw her entire body into the blood river, and said coldly, "If you don't want to die, wash yourself clean immediately, change all your original clothes, and be quick. I'll give you thirty breaths at most!"

Blood dripped from Li Li Youyi's mouth as he clutched his chest, then pulled a set of men's clothing from his realm bag, threw it onto the boat, and began to regulate his breathing and heal.

In the water, Qin Qian had initially been furious, feeling that Li Li Youyi was being highly disrespectful to her.

But Li Li Youyi's abnormal actions forced her to think hard.

She soon understood the reason.

The possibility that Long Ting had done something to her, allowing him to track her accurately across hundreds of miles, was extremely high.

Just now, Li Li Youyi had been searching the various inner worlds of her body precisely to find it.

Clearly, the reason Li Li Youyi's gaze had been so terrifying earlier was that he was considering whether to harden his heart and throw her away, leaving her to fend for herself.

For some reason, Qin Qian's mind was extremely clear and lucid at this moment.

Having figured all this out.

Qin Qian gritted her teeth and began to undress in the water. Naturally, she felt aggrieved; since she was small, no one in the Thunder Heaven Sect had ever dared to treat her so roughly, and she had never been a burden. But now, it seemed as if it were truly all her fault.

She secretly glanced at Li Li Youyi, who was standing on the boat.

That guy actually didn't look away; his eyes were wide open the whole time, though he wasn't looking at her, but rather thinking about something.

But this was just too embarrassing...

Dozens of breaths later, Qin Qian boarded the boat and changed into the clothes. Her long hair was soaking wet, her whole body remained tense, and her previously pale face was completely flushed.

"Snap!"

Without warning, Li Li Youyi tapped her forehead with a finger carrying powerful mental energy.

Qin Qian lost consciousness and slumped into his arms.

Li Li Youyi shrank the jade boat artifact to the size of a palm, then activated the spatial power of his Prefect's official robes, transforming into a purple mist, and headed toward the ground using spatial travel.

……

Qin Qian slowly regained consciousness and found that she was still on the jade boat.

The difference was.

The jade boat was flying rapidly through the clouds in mid-air.

She looked at the tall, straight figure standing at the bow driving the jade boat, secretly pondering the reason he had knocked her out earlier.

Suddenly, her chest, cuffs, and legs felt chilly as cold wind blew into the ill-fitting, oversized robe, and she had to quickly shrink her slender hands and legs.

Immediately after, Qin Qian discovered that the bones in her body had all been set; for a moment, her emotions were complex, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Li Li Youyi did not turn around: "Thirteen broken bones, including arm bones, collarbone, ribs, tailbone, and finger bones. Long Ting really struck hard. A total of 130,000 Gushing Spring coins, plus the previous 100,000... let's call it 500,000!"

Surprisingly, Qin Qian did not refute him; she was very quiet.

"Because of you, Long Ting was drawn here, causing me to fight him to the death. I am heavily injured; surely that's worth 270,000 Gushing Spring coins?"

Li Li Youyi explained this and turned to look at her.

He felt that her talent was good and her appearance excellent, so he should be able to get 500,000 Gushing Spring coins from the Qin family and Lu Lu Cangsheng. In this way, the debt to Yin Er would be settled!

Qin Qian wiped away her tears and said calmly, "Whatever you say is fine; it's not like I can bargain, can I?"

Li Li Youyi saw that she was in low spirits and couldn't help but reflect on whether he was exploiting her too much, so he comforted her: "People only achieve true enlightenment through great ups and downs. This tribulation with Long Ting, while painful, is also a rare experience, isn't it? A true disaster is one from which there is no return, where one dies and perishes with no chance to try again. At least you are still alive, aren't you?"

Qin Qian said, "The person Long Ting wanted to kill was you, the Senior Brother. I am the victim. I should reflect, but not because of this matter."

Li Li Youyi was slightly surprised, momentarily not knowing what to say.

"The Purple Heaven Thunder Seal was once a supreme treasure of the Thunder Heaven Sect. It is said that it is now the war weapon of a certain tycoon of the Nine Li clan. During the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival, it was only lent to you; it has already been recalled," Qin Qian said suddenly.

Li Li Youyi frowned: "You don't sound like you're bargaining; you sound like you're courting death."

"If I die, the Thunder Heaven Sect won't let you go. If Long Ting escapes, he will surely spread the news of our affair. Hmph, you can't threaten me!" Qin Qian added, "Besides, if you kill me, who will give you money? If you, Li Li Youyi, were a ruthless person, you would have thrown me into the underground blood river long ago."

Li Li Youyi was amused by her; the key was that what she said made a little bit of sense.

Qin Qian was afraid that Li Li Youyi would really kill her to silence her, so her tone softened: "Don't worry, I won't return evil for good. I'll pretend I never saw the Purple Heaven Thunder Seal, and I will definitely find a way to give you the 500,000 Gushing Spring coins. I just feel that you shouldn't treat me like a fool, and even less should you look down on me like that."

"As long as you pay! If Long Ting really talks nonsense, I won't let him off."

Li Li Youyi's expression relaxed, he smiled, and added: "If Old Lu misunderstands, let me know, and I will definitely help you explain. He is a smart man..."

"As for him, you'd better not talk nonsense."

Qin Qian snorted coldly, stopped speaking, and began to heal herself.

The jade boat flew north for several hundred miles, and Li Li Youyi's magic power was severely depleted.

So he returned to the ground, preparing to rest for two hours to absorb the magic energy of heaven and earth.

The Qiubei Plain was vast and boundless.

It was the season of crisp autumn air; looking out, yellow and red leaves covered the land, with withered grass a foot high—desolate yet magnificent.

The strange thing was.

On the plain, many grave mounds and stone tablets appeared, densely packed in an abnormal way. Under the setting sun, they cast long shadows.

The grave mounds had bulged directly from the ground, the vast majority only a few feet high.

As for the stone tablets, they were all very old and damaged, with inscriptions that could be traced back a thousand or several thousand years.

If Li Li Youyi hadn't heard Brother Zuoqiu Zuoqiu Cangwu speak of it long ago, he would have thought he had mistakenly wandered into the Netherworld of the dead.

The sense of strangeness and the shock felt after witnessing it with his own eyes could not be described in words. There was truly an eerie atmosphere, as if the apocalypse were descending step by step.

He released his mental energy to investigate.

Most of the grave mounds contained skeletons, with varying degrees of decay.

"What kind of power is this, exactly?"

"Whoosh—"

Li Li Youyi pressed his palm to the ground.

Threads of spirit light spread out, but he found no strange energy underground.

Qin Qian said, "Stop investigating! Even an ancient Saint Spirit Mind Master of the Thunder Heaven Sect couldn't find the cause, let alone you?"

Li Li Youyi withdrew the spirit light threads: "Where are the people from your Thunder Heaven Sect? I can take you to a place not far from them."

Qin Qian pondered for a moment and explained: "After the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival ended, we young disciples of the Five Seas Realm didn't actually return to the Eastern Region, but gathered in the region where the entrance to the underground Immortal Mansion is located, exploring and treasure hunting under the leadership of sect elders and true disciples."

"It wasn't until the strangeness of the underground Immortal Mansion erupted that we retreated."

"Many tycoons and big figures from the Thunder Heaven Sect rushed over. After investigating the strangeness in various places, some went to the Prefectural City to communicate with the Jiang family. They believe that the Jiang family, having occupied the Prefecture for many years, must have some understanding of the situation underground."

"Others went to the Qiuzhou Juncheng, intending to visit that transcendent of Confucianism. They believe that a transcendent of mental energy must be able to investigate and understand this strange power."

"On the way to the Qiuzhou Juncheng, we were ambushed by the demon clan, and in the chaos, I fell into Long Ting's hands."

"I don't know where to find the people of the Thunder Heaven Sect now... but there should be some true disciples near the entrance to the underground Immortal Mansion."

Li Li Youyi asked, "Do you know the direction of the Qifeng Ancient Commandery City?"

"I've been there; it's only a hundred miles from the entrance to the underground Immortal Mansion, but the direction..." Qin Qian shook her head.

"Heal quickly; there's no telling when the demon clan will catch up."

Along the way, Li Li Youyi had been flying straight north; the demon clan powerhouses could certainly guess that he wanted to head to the underground Immortal Mansion, so tracking him wouldn't be difficult.

The reason he dared to do this was, first, to expose his location to Shi Shi Jiuzhai and Old Zhuo, who might be following behind.

If he kept sneaking underground, those two wouldn't be able to find him even if they wanted to protect him.

Second, this jade boat artifact of Li Li Youyi's belonged to the Prefect Zhu Zhu Qinfeng from a thousand years ago; its grade was extremely high, a treasure for escaping, and it could only exert its speed advantage on the ground.

Entering the Qiubei Plain, martial cultivators were seen from time to time riding flying beasts across the sky or sneaking along the ground, all heading to the underground Immortal Mansion.

Li Li Youyi stopped a Five Seas Realm martial cultivator from Shuzhou to ask the direction of the Qifeng Ancient Commandery City, learning it was only eight hundred miles away.

Ignoring his growling stomach, Li Li Youyi took out the jade boat and called for Qin Qian to board, preparing for the two of them to take turns, flying all the way to the Qifeng Ancient Commandery City before dark to eat hot noodle soup and take a hot bath.

Thinking of this, he became impatient.

"Don't worry, stop fretting! I have a friend over there; I can ask her to help kill Long Ting. Your reputation is important, but mine is more important—what if Brother Zuoqiu Brother Zuoqiu Hongting calls off the engagement?"

Li Li Youyi released magic energy into the palm-sized jade boat, driving it to five or six meters in length.

The length of the jade boat was controllable; the smaller the boat, the lower the magic energy consumption.

Qin Qian boarded, feeling a bit sorry for him, and asked with concern: "After your Ancestral Field was crippled, life in the Brother Zuoqiu Sect must have been very difficult, right? I heard you even tried to commit suicide? If Brother Zuoqiu Brother Zuoqiu Hongting calls off the engagement, she will definitely regret it; your mental energy talent is not simple at all."

"Boom!"

A thunderclap came from the clear sky on the horizon.

It seemed very abrupt.

Li Li Youyi looked over and saw a large black cloud surging toward them: "A powerhouse from your Thunder Heaven Sect?"

After Qin Qian looked over, her expression changed drastically: "Run! That is a demon beast with a thunder-attribute Dao technique, Yingji. Its cultivation is countless times more terrifying than Long Ting's; it is one of the guardian beasts of the Dragon Gate."

The black cloud rolled in from the south, accompanied by a bone-chilling cold wind that swept across the land.

A high-pitched, eerie cry rang out from the clouds.

Immediately, a bolt of lightning streaked across a dozen miles of void, striking the ground where the jade boat was located.

"Rumble!"

Thunder rumbled, and dust flew.

The jade boat turned into a streak of light, shooting into the sky and narrowly avoiding it.

Li Li Youyi poured his magic energy into it without regard for consumption. Inside the jade boat, countless scriptures emerged, and it flew faster and faster, cutting through the sky toward the direction of the Qifeng Ancient Commandery City.

Yingji, pursuing from behind, was a strange bird with two rock skulls; its wingspan was over sixty meters long, and its feathers were covered in countless electric patterns.

In terms of speed alone, it crushed any martial cultivator of the same Dao Seed Realm.

But it couldn't quite catch up to the jade boat in front.

It was too fast!

After flying only two hundred miles, Li Li Youyi's magic energy in his Five Seas and Wind Mansion was exhausted, so he immediately had Qin Qian take over.

He hurriedly sat in meditation, absorbing the magic energy of heaven and earth.

At this moment, the magic energy of heaven and earth showed signs of abnormal flow.

On the left side of the sky, a powerful force appeared, sucking and pulling the magic energy of heaven and earth, making the magic energy in this region increasingly thin.

Li Li Youyi looked to the left.

He saw a bone bird rising from the ground within the setting red sun on the horizon.

Its skeleton was entirely crimson, with blood vessels distributed in the grooves of the bones; it had a long bone tail and was shrouded in red clouds, intercepting the jade boat.

"It's the Bone Bird King of the Yin Mountain, Shanglie."

Qin Qian became nervous; the two demon beasts pursuing them were both notorious powerhouses in the Lingxiao Life Realm. Once caught, they would have no power to fight back.

Only Li Li Youyi, this God-Hidden person of the Nine Li clan, was qualified to disturb them into taking action personally.

Li Li Youyi said in a teaching tone: "The more dangerous it is, the more you must remain calm. You must know how to adapt; our speed is very fast, and they won't catch up so easily. Keep the jade boat flying low, use the terrain to avoid their long-range attacks."

……

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(End of chapter)