Chapter 280: Qiubei Plain

Li Youyi and Long Ting avoided the magical artifact, but the power dissipated from the magical artifact was still not something their flesh could withstand, and they were hit by lightning and flames respectively, muffled groans, and thrown away at the same time.

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

But he discovered with horror that 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, fleeing into a crack in the ground, leaving behind a voice that was getting further and further away: "Wait until I break through to the Third Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm, that will be your death date."

His cultivation base was already very close to the Third Heaven of the Dao Seed Realm, and he had the combat power to counter-slay

An ordinary Wu Xiu at the third heaven of the Inferior Root Dao Seed realm was no match for him.

Li Youyi suppressed his injuries and looked up at the 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 powerful demon-race experts had been traveling with him previously.

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

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

The magic Qi energy released by the seven strange insects did not seem to be at the Dao Seed realm either.

Li Youyi walked over, staring at her with eyes sharp as knives, his heart locked in an intense 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 them one by one.

Qin Qian was frightened by his gaze and dared not move, forced to submit to his handling.

"Plop!"

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

Blood dripped from Li Youyi's mouth. He clutched his chest with one hand, then fished a set of men's clothing out of his boundary bag, threw it onto the boat, and began to regulate his breathing and heal.

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

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

She soon understood the reason.

The possibility that Long Ting had done something to her to be able to track her precisely across several hundred miles was extremely high.

Li Youyi's earlier probing of the internal worlds within her body had been to search for it.

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

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

Having figured all this out.

Qin Qian gritted her teeth and began to undress in the water, feeling naturally aggrieved. From childhood to adulthood, no one in the Thunder Firmament Sect had ever dared to treat her so roughly, and she had never been a burden before. But now, it seemed as if it were truly all her fault.

She cast a secret glance at Li Youyi, who was standing on the boat.

That guy actually didn't look away; his eyes remained 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 taut, and her previously pale face was flushed completely red.

"Snap!"

Without warning, Li Youyi's finger, carrying powerful mental energy, tapped against her forehead.

Qin Qian lost consciousness and slumped into his arms.

Li Youyi shrunk the jade boat magic tool to the size of a palm, then activated the spatial power of his Prefect's official robes, transforming into a purple mist light orb, and used the power of spatial travel to head toward the ground.

Qin Qian woke up slowly to find herself still on the jade boat.

The difference was.

The jade boat was flying at high speed 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; cold wind blew into the ill-fitting, oversized robes, and she had to quickly shrink her slender hands and legs.

Following that, Qin Qian discovered that all the bones in her body had been set. For a moment, her mood was complex, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Li Youyi did not turn around: "Thirteen broken bones, including arm bones, collarbone, ribs, tailbone, and finger bones. Long Ting really struck hard. That's thirteen thousand Spring-Gushing coins in total, plus the previous ten thousand... let's call it fifty thousand!"

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'm severely injured; surely that's worth twenty-seven thousand Spring-Gushing coins?"

Li Youyi explained this and turned to look at her.

He felt that her talent was good and her appearance excellent; he should be able to get fifty thousand Spring-Gushing coins from the Qin family and Lu Cang-sheng. That 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 haggle, can I?"

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 great enlightenment through great ups and downs. This tribulation with Long Ting, while painful, is it not also a rare experience? A true catastrophe is to be lost forever, to die and perish with no chance to start over. You are at least 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 Youyi was slightly surprised, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

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

Li Youyi frowned: "You don't sound like you're haggling; you sound like you're looking for death."

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

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

Qin Qian was afraid that 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 Firmament Thunder Seal, and I will definitely find a way to give you the fifty thousand Spring-Gushing 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 Youyi's expression relaxed, and he smiled, adding, "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, stopped speaking, and began to heal herself.

The jade boat flew several hundred miles to the north, and Li Youyi's magic Qi was severely depleted.

So he returned to the ground, preparing to rest for two hours to absorb the magic Qi 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, and the vast majority were only a few feet high.

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

If Li Youyi hadn't heard Zuo Qiu Cang-wu speak of it long ago, he would have thought he had mistakenly wandered into the world of the dead in the underworld.

After witnessing it with his own eyes, that sense of eeriness and shock could not be described in words. There was truly a terrifying atmosphere, as if the end of the world 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 Youyi pressed his palm to the ground.

Threads of spiritual light spread out, but he found no strange energy beneath the ground.

Qin Qian said, "Stop investigating! An ancient Saint Spirit Mentalist from the Thunder Firmament Sect couldn't find the cause, let alone you?"

Li Youyi withdrew the spiritual light threads: "Where are the people from your Thunder Firmament Sect? I can send 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 Territory. Instead, we all gathered in the region where the entrance to the Underground Immortal Mansion is located, led by sect elders and true disciples, to explore and hunt for treasures."

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

"Many tycoons and big figures from the Thunder Firmament 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 since the Jiang family has occupied the Prefecture for many years, they must know something about the situation underground."

"Others went to the Qiuzhou Prefecture City, 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 Qiuzhou Prefecture City, we were ambushed by the demon race, and in the chaos, I fell into Long Ting's hands."

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

Li Youyi asked, "Do you know the direction to the Ancient Qifeng County 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.

"Hurry up and heal; there's no telling when the demon race will catch up."

Along the way, Li Youyi had been flying straight north; the demon-race experts 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, firstly, to expose his position to Shi Jiuzhai and the old man 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.

Secondly, this jade boat magic tool of Li Youyi's belonged to the Prefect 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, from time to time, Wu Xiu could be seen riding flying birds across the sky or sneaking along the ground, all heading to the Underground Immortal Mansion.

Li Youyi stopped a Five Seas realm Wu Xiu from Shuzhou to ask for the direction to the Ancient Qifeng County City, learning that it was only an eight-hundred-mile journey.

Unable to care about his growling stomach, Li Youyi took out the jade boat and called for Qin Qian to board, preparing for the two of them to take turns, hoping to fly all the way to the Ancient Qifeng County 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 even more so. What if Zuo Qiu Hongting calls off the engagement?"

Li Youyi released magic Qi into the palm-sized jade boat, driving it to grow to five or six meters long.

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

Qin Qian boarded the boat and felt a bit sorry for him, asking with concern: "After your Ancestral Field was ruined, life in the Zuo Qiu household must have been very difficult, right? I heard you even committed suicide? If Zuo Qiu Hongting calls off the engagement, she will definitely regret it; your mental energy talent is not simple at all."

"Boom!"

A thunderous sound came from the clear sky on the horizon.

It seemed very abrupt.

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

After Qin Qian looked over, her expression changed drastically: "Run! That is a demon beast with a thunder-lightning talent Dao art, Ying Ji. Its cultivation is terrifyingly higher than Long Ting's; it is one of the mountain-guarding giant 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.

"Rumble!"

Thunder rumbled, and dust flew.

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

Li Youyi poured his magic Qi 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 Ancient Qifeng County City.

Ying Ji, chasing 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 Dao Seed realm Wu Xiu of the same level.

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

It was too fast!

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

He hurriedly sat in meditation to absorb the magic Qi of heaven and earth.

And at this moment, the magic Qi 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 Qi of heaven and earth toward it, making the magic Qi in this region increasingly thin.

Li Youyi looked to the left.

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

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

"It's the Bone Bird King of Yinshan, Shang Lie."

Qin Qian became nervous. The two demon beasts chasing them were both notorious experts in the Lingxiao Life realm. Once caught, they would have no power to fight back.

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

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

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