Chapter 51: Li Shui Pearl (Mid-Autumn Festival Joy)

Zhang Yan stumbled and staggered through the passage, glancing back occasionally, relieved to find Luo Yao wasn't chasing him.

He never imagined Luo Yao had such a deadly trump card.

What does this prove? It proves she has a Foundation Establishment cultivator behind her.

Zhang Yan's face was grim; he regretted offending Luo Yao.

But now, no matter what he said, it was too late—more importantly, he must preserve his life; revenge could wait.

He tried entering the nearby Stone Room to hide and evade Luo Yao's pursuit.

Previously, Luo Yao had tricked him; he barely escaped from her grasp after enduring countless hardships, nearly losing half his life.

"But A Li isn't useless—A Li can make the master swim like a fish in water!"

With the Li Shui Pearl, she could conceal her aura underwater, even swim and breathe like a fish.

Crack!

And the Li Shui Pearl where A Li resided was the main body, yet now it was reduced to only about ten thousand square pings in size.

In the days that followed, A Li wandered endlessly, serving countless masters.

Though the Long Sword blocked the attack, the immense force flung him through the air, slamming him to the ground.

"Can you tell me what happened?"

Zhang Yan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out—so long as Zhao Yang heard his words, that was enough.

In the center stood a Palace, but it was ruined, as if it had endured a brutal great battle.

So Zhao Yang unhesitatingly swallowed the Boundary-Breaking Pill, eager to boost his strength as soon as possible.

If it were me, I would never miss such a golden opportunity.

"Too much!" Zhang Yan suddenly stopped, glaring at Zhao Yang. "You die."

Thus, Zhao Yang's gains were pitifully small, and he began cursing under his breath.

Sure enough, the next second, he saw the killing intent radiating from Zhao Yang.

"Still, thank you for the information."

When Zhang Yan saw Zhao Yang, his heart sank to the bottom—he and Zhao Yang were already sworn enemies, and now he was severely wounded…

Yet Zhao Yang didn't know that Zhang Yan's meager supplies had all been consumed resisting a Foundation Establishment attack.

But many years ago, A Li encountered a demonic cultivator who tried to extract A Li's consciousness and forge it into a Puppet; fortunately, A Li had once served an Immortal, and though an Artifact Spirit, still possessed survival techniques.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

"Boundary-Breaking Pill?"

Yet when Zhang Yan tried to strike and intimidate Zhao Yang, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and his technique vanished instantly.

Fortunately, he discovered the Boundary-Breaking Pill Zhang Yan hadn't yet used.

Even A Li's consciousness nearly perished; ultimately, just before dying, Jiuyou Xianzi extracted a thread of A Li's consciousness and took the largest fragment of the Li Shui Pearl, embedding A Li's consciousness within it.

"Don't kill me—I can tell you a secret!"

Only hesitating a moment, Zhao Yang swallowed the Boundary-Breaking Pill—after all, though he didn't know what Zhang Yan had endured, with his Qi Refining tenth-layer cultivation, Zhang Yan was already this broken; his own strength was surely insufficient.

Luo Yao stared blankly for a long while, then realized.

"Puff!"

Worried she might be discarded, A Li quickly patted her little chest, showing she was useful.

Yet Zhao Yang ignored her entirely, continuing to charge at him with the Long Spear.

Taking advantage of Zhao Yang's momentary stun, Zhang Yan swiftly fled the spot.

With Xiao A Li's explanation, Luo Yao learned much information.

"Good! Good!"

Zhao Yang had already wanted to kill Luo Yao; now, hearing Zhang Yan's words, it was merely one more reason.

As long as you plant a seed, it will eventually take root and sprout.

But the next second, he noticed something was wrong—Zhang Yan was drenched in blood, barely clinging to life; instantly, the gloom on his face vanished, replaced by wild joy.

Luo Yao paused, then understood her meaning.

Zhang Yan turned and ran out of the Stone Room without hesitation.

Before Zhang Yan collapsed, Zhao Yang thanked him.

…………

Zhao Yang was also stunned—he never expected to run into Zhang Yan again, of all people.

Puff!

Yet he ultimately couldn't escape Zhao Yang at full strength; looking down at the Long Spear piercing his chest, he stared, filled with bitter resentment.

The safest place in the entire Cave Abode was the Stone Room—he didn't know if other dangers lurked in the Passage, so he must recover his injuries as quickly as possible.

Jiuyou Xianzi also perished in the great battle; the Li Shui Pearl shattered amid the Immortals' war, and the vast miniature world shattered into countless fragments scattered across the Immortal Cultivation World.

"Yaya ya, someone finally came!"

If you stayed in the space every day, even without cultivation, your strength would slowly increase.

Zhang Yan's Dharma Treasures had already been used up in self-explosions; he could only pull out a mundane weapon to barely block.

Seeing Zhang Yan blocking the entrance, Zhao Yang's heart sank to the bottom.

A tiger fallen to the plains is bullied by dogs.

"Master, master, it's A Li! You've finally come! Waaah!"

"That's right!" Xiao A Li lifted her head, her big watery eyes fixed on Luo Yao.

Inside was another person.

Seeing this, Zhao Yang's face lit up with wild joy; his Long Spear darted like a flying dragon toward Zhang Yan.

He took Zhang Yan's Storage Bag, destroyed the corpse with a Fireball Technique, then hid inside the Stone Room.

Aside from the Palace, there was nothing else around.

"Are you an Artifact Spirit?"

Qi Refining tenth layer—you must have quite a few good items by now.

Earlier, Zhao Yang was chased everywhere by Zhang Yan; now the tables have turned, and Zhang Yan is being chased everywhere by Zhao Yang.

The little girl looked no more than five years old, her skin pink and tender, her large eyes shining like stars, dressed in a long red dress, appearing extremely adorable, with two tiny buns tied on her head using pale blue ribbons.

Zhang Yan had good luck—he finally found a Stone Room he could enter, walked in excitedly, then froze in surprise.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yang froze in surprise.

However, the spiritual energy within the space was extremely dense—so dense, in fact, that it was ten times richer than that of the main lineage of the Xuanyuan Sect.

But A Li, who had already been severely wounded, fell into a deep sleep due to her battle with the demonic cultivators; when she awoke, she had become this tiny child and lost most of her memories.

This Lishui Pearl is a Dharma Treasure of the Ancient Immortal Jiuyou Xianzi. It is said that back then, the Lishui Pearl was nearly evolving into a miniature world, and A Li was the consciousness born at that time. But during the Ancient Era, heaven and earth underwent drastic changes, spiritual energy plummeted, and the Immortals fought a great war.

But who knew that after recovering from her injuries, she had barely entered an empty Stone Room when she encountered Zhang Yan.

Luo Yao did not know what happened to Zhang Yan afterward—she was currently inside the "Lishui Pearl."

The little girl calling herself A Li quickly flung herself into Luo Yao's arms, crying while rubbing her head against Luo Yao with her tiny buns, sounding utterly pitiful.

Zhang Yan's face turned extremely grim, and he shouted, "Your junior sister obtained an Immortal Artifact!"

The Lishui Pearl was vast—stretching as far as the eye could see, it spanned over a thousand square meters.

Zhao Yang rummaged through Zhang Yan's Storage Bag and found that Zhang Yan was even poorer than he'd imagined—or rather, his wealth was even less than Zhao Yang's current holdings: not a single decent Dharma Treasure, barely any Pills, Talisman Paper, or Spirit Stones.

However, Zhang Yan was unaware of the animosity between Luo Yao and Zhao Yang; though they were fellow sect siblings, both sought to kill each other.

Zhang Yan wanted to drive a wedge between them, but he did not realize their relationship needed no such manipulation.

"Where are you running?!"

Suddenly, a crisp voice sounded beside Luo Yao's ear, and she saw a tiny girl, as if carved from pink jade, appear before her.

Zhang Yan instantly felt this—he saw Zhao Yang charging forward again, and his proud demeanor vanished, replaced by sheer terror.

Seeing Zhang Yan stop and roar, radiating an intimidating aura, Zhao Yang froze in surprise, a flicker of fear rising in his heart.

What is meant here is not Luo Yao hiding inside the Lishui Pearl and using it to move through water, but Luo Yao breathing directly in the water.

Luo Yao had not expected the Lishui Pearl to have such a function—she immediately showed a delighted expression; if combined with Water Submersion Technique, wouldn't she be invincible in underwater combat?

PS: Wishing everyone a happy Mid-Autumn Festival··*

(End of Chapter)