Chapter 1288: Courting Death

Du Bi's timing of attack was almost exactly as Ye Liuyun had anticipated, at the instant Bai Huzi stepped back and Leng Shi turned.

"He does have a killer's potential; his timing's decent!" Ye Liuyun commented while watching: "It's just that his strength is a bit lacking—three moves didn't even finish off a wounded opponent!"

It turned out Du Bi struck three consecutive slashes, yet didn't kill Leng Shi, only cutting once each at his chest and shoulder.

Leng Shi took the heaviest wound, but it wasn't fatal.

At that moment Bai Huzi rushed over, teamed with Leng Shi, and began to grapple with him.

"Who will win?" Lei Ming asked, unable to see which side would prevail.

"That Du Bi!" Ye Liuyun said, "After all, he's the stronger one. And that cold noodle man is about to collapse."

Sure enough, after a moment Leng Shi couldn't hold on, and Bai Huzi was caught in Du Bi's opening and slashed.

Seeing the tide turn, Bai Huzi abandoned Leng Shi and turned to flee.

Du Bi dropped the wobbling Leng Shi and chased straight after him.

"Du Bi, are you trying to wipe him out?" Bai Huzi shouted while running.

"So what?" Du Bi sneered from behind, closing in step by step.

Bai Huzi's cultivation level was lower; Du Bi quickly caught up and cleaved off his head with a single slash.

Du Bi then kicked Bai Huzi's head into his own followers, and strode toward the fallen Leng Shi.

"Everyone, stop!"

His shout rang out, and the bandits' fighting ceased instantly.

"Bai Huzi is dead, and Leng Shi…" He stepped up to Leng Shi and sliced him in two with another slash.

"Now he's dead too; what are you still fighting for? Those who join me may stay; those who don't, scram!"

He barked at the bandits.

The bandits were all cowards; seeing their leader slain, they dared not rescue or avenge him, but immediately surrendered.

They knew that in this area, refusing to join the bandits meant being robbed; better to join early.

"Hahaha, that's right! From now on we're brothers! Those few beauties, everyone gets a share!"

Du Bi said, pointing his blade toward Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun sneered, "I've seen plenty of people courting death; you're no exception!"

Du Bi burst into laughter, "Ha, you kid have some backbone! Too bad your level is too low; I have no interest in taking you as a subordinate!"

"Ugh! Those who don't know death want to recruit us…" Liang Xue had been fuming, but when he mentioned Ye Liuyun's name, he swallowed his words to avoid revealing Ye Liuyun's whereabouts.

"Little brother!" Lei Ming shouted.

"Ha, I love fiery temper! Call me whatever, in a moment you'll be a pile of flesh! Move, what are you waiting for?" Du Bi laughed again, ordering his men to attack.

Immediately, several Earth Sovereign–rank bandits charged at Ye Liuyun and his group.

Seeing few opponents, Ye Liuyun didn't rush to unleash his monster beast.

"Xue'er, can you and Long Nv team up to take down an Earth Sovereign First Rank?" Ye Liuyun asked Liang Xue and Long Nv.

Liang Xue's level has just risen to Sixfold Creation, while Long Nv is at Ninth Fold of Creation; neither has reached Earth Sovereign rank, so they can only rely on their divine artifacts to handle one together.

"Let's try; if it fails I'll summon Qing Lin for help, you don't need to worry about us!" Liang Xue replied.

"Alright! Let's go!" After speaking, Ye Liuyun led his clone and Lei Ming out.

Since absorbing the Demon God's core pill, Lei Ming has spent most of his time cultivating inside Xuan Kong Shi; his level has now risen to Earth Sovereign Fourth Rank, and he needs partners to spar with.

Among the charging bandits were one Earth Sovereign Fifth Rank and one Earth Sovereign Sixth Rank; they expected to easily subdue Ye Liuyun's group, but upon meeting him, they were killed by his strike.

Facing Lei Ming's Earth Sovereign Fifth Rank bandit, before it could act, Lei Ming manifested his true form and leapt; the stunned foe was struck by Lei Ming's Blood Thunder and exploded into fragments.

"So it's a monster beast! A rare variety!" Du Bi exclaimed upon seeing Lei Ming's true form, recognizing it as a rare monster beast.

On the other side, Long Nv also revealed her true form.

"Dragon, Black Dragon!"

Bandits immediately shouted in shock.

"Ha! I'm rich now! Surround them and don't let them escape!" Du Bi grew even more excited, ordering his men to encircle Ye Liuyun's group, fearing they'd flee.

Among these bandits, few could stand against Ye Liuyun and Lei Ming.

Even after Lei Ming reached Earth Sovereign Fourth Rank, he could challenge Earth Sovereign Seventh Rank Martial Cultivators. Ye Liuyun could even spar with Earth Sovereign Eighth Rank Martial Cultivators.

But among the bandits, aside from their leader, none exceeded Earth Sovereign Sixth Rank.

Thus they all rushed toward the lower‑level Long Nv and Liang Xue first.

Ye Liuyun, his clone, and Lei Ming each protected them from different angles, keeping them in the center.

Because the bandits were numerous, they also took many hits.

However, their Physical Bodies were unusually robust, unfazed by attacks from these low‑level Martial Cultivators.

"Use bow and arrow for defense!" Ye Liuyun instructed his clone.

They immediately changed tactics; Ye Liuyun and Lei Ming widened their defensive fronts, while the clone cleared space, shooting one arrow per foe, beginning to slay bandits.

The clone wielded Ye Liuyun's Vajra Divine Bow; even without aiming its accuracy was high, and it fired continuously, soon dropping seven or eight bandits.

The defensive pressure on Ye Liuyun and Lei Ming eased considerably.

Du Bi kept watching from the side, coveting their treasures.

"These little guys have quite a few good things on them!"

Seeing that the clone, Long Nv, and Liang Xue's weapons were Divine Rank, he concluded they were wealthy heirs.

With that thought, he chuckled, leapt forward, and slashed a distant blade toward Ye Liuyun.

His blade intent had always been his prized Trump Card; he assumed Ye Liuyun couldn't block it.

Even if he used his Physical Body to block, the slash would wound or fling him, giving him a chance to break through and strike at Liang Xue and Long Nv.

But he didn't know that his blade intent was, for Ye Liuyun, far inferior even to Ye Tiandao.

Courting death!

Ye Liuyun gave a faint smile; although he wasn't using a blade, his whole body emanated a domineering blade aura, directly rendering his blade intent intangible.

Huh? How did it disappear?

Du Bi originally thought that after Ye Liuyun blocked this strike, he would reveal an opening, and was accelerating forward.