Chapter 227: Ultimate Divine Art, Truly Ultimate (Combined)

Fuck, I really want to run away…

Head bowed, he glanced sideways at the withered old man standing on the roof—Linghu Baiman felt his scalp crawl, his limbs trembling uncontrollably.

Huang Fu Kun, deputy head of the Xieshen Sect's Huizhou branch, one of the most ferocious figures in Wutang's intelligence reports, a cultivation veteran who had lived over 120 years.

'This is going to be a major incident!'

Linghu Baiman's chest felt suffocated, as if a boulder crushed his heart.

Many in the martial world knew the Xieshen Sect had some hidden ties to the imperial court, but previously there had always been a veil—on the surface, Wutang was tasked with hunting down the Xieshen Sect.

Secret connections existed, yes, but only in secret—yet now, they weren't even bothering to hide?

This…

Linghu Baiman hunched his shoulders, his sidelong glances revealing that all the Wutang experts had lowered their eyes, pretending not to see a thing.

'May I ask… sir, how do you intend to capture this person?'

An San Yuan Wu's heart stirred slightly.

He knew the Xieshen Sect possessed strange, incomprehensible Qi Gong and dark arts—but over a month had passed, and multiple snowstorms had swept through; how could one possibly track traces by sheer guesswork?

Thousand-Mile Soul Lock?

Several in the courtyard simultaneously thought of this.

'Old man Huang, single character Fu. If Master An doesn't mind, call me "Huang Lao"; if you mind, just call me "Lao Huang."'

Without any visible movement, Huang Fu Kun appeared within the courtyard.

Those who had been bowing their heads saw nothing, but An San Yuan Wu, who had been watching him closely, felt his heart jolt—he hadn't even seen the man's form shift.

Is this the Divine Foot Scripture?!

'Huang Lao…'

An San Yuan Wu bowed his head slightly.

The Huizhou branch of the Xieshen Sect had three chief heads: Master Master Baili was famed as the top in hardening arts, Huang Fu Kun the supreme in movement—seeing him now, An San Yuan Wu couldn't help but feel a chill.

He moved like a ghost—if he wanted to kill me, I wouldn't even know how I died.

Huh!

Huang Fu Kun raised his wide sleeves; a gust of qi surged outward, sweeping over dozens of feet, forcing everyone in the courtyard to stagger back, their clothes and hair whipping wildly, looking disheveled.

Linghu Baiman gasped and looked up—every layer of snow within the dwelling seemed gripped by an invisible hand, instantly compacted into a single snowball that landed outside the street with a dull thud.

'This villain first lay low here, then launched a surprise attack with a heavy hammer—Feng Feng Yuanqing, caught off-guard, never even drew his Fire Dragon Sword; his left arm was shattered…'

'His Meridian Channeling was fully perfected, qi flowing through his entire body—lose one arm, his realm plummets; even with the Fire Dragon Sword, he could never regain his peak. This assassin precisely timed his strike, then launched a second sudden assault…'

Amid the biting wind, Huang Fu Kun paced slowly, deducing the entire battle from a few faint traces—leaving everyone in the courtyard stunned.

This matched the Juan Sect's records perfectly.

'The assassin was inferior to Feng Feng Yuanqing, whose palm hammer was only top-grade blade-tier—it was shredded by sword qi…'

The collapsed wall and shattered tiles still bore traces of Fire Dragon Sword qi; Huang Fu Kun reached out and touched them:

'Close combat, weapon destroyed—the assassin didn't retreat, but advanced instead. Not because his lightness skill was poor, but because he deliberately chose to close in, landing one blow that killed Feng Feng Yuanqing…'

'This old bastard is terrifying!'

Linghu Baiman, who had read the Juan Sect's records, was stunned—this description was even more detailed than what he'd seen with Yue's weight himself.

'This man has excellent lightness skill, so he doesn't fear close combat… but what weapon or technique did he use to kill Feng Feng Yuanqing?'

Huang Fu Kun suddenly stopped and pointed at the massive crater on the ground.

Everyone in the courtyard stared, baffled—except Linghu Baiman, whose heart jolted.

'No matter how refined one's internal qi, it couldn't shatter Feng Feng Yuanqing's internal qi, internal armor, and hardened body from over a zhang away—unless the assassin's qi had transformed into true qi, and his organs were fully refined…'

But if a refined-organ expert wanted to assassinate Feng Feng Yuanqing, he wouldn't go through such trouble.

'This man likely killed Feng Feng Yuanqing with a heavy hammer…'

Shen Tu Hong's expression remained calm; he paced through the courtyard, cross-referencing the Juan Sect's records, and reached nearly the same conclusion.

'If this man approached with a heavy hammer, Feng Feng Yuanqing would have retreated to defend himself—but he didn't… so, did the assassin first close in with a punch, tricking Feng Feng Yuanqing, then suddenly pull out a heavy hammer?'

Huang Fu Kun frowned—he was certain his deduction was sound, but this…

'Whether Li Li Yuanba is real or fake, whether he used a hammer or fists—it doesn't matter. I only want to know what method you have to capture him.'

Shen Tu Hong's eyes flickered for an instant, his expression unchanged: 'Over a month has passed, and multiple snowstorms have fallen—even a master who comprehends yin and yang might not sense a single trace.'

'Snow and wind mask scent—tracking naturally becomes difficult, but why track at all?'

Huang Fu Kun glanced at the deep crater, his gaze dark and deep:

'Master An, who do you think would have killed Feng Feng Yuanqing?'

'Huh?'

An San Yuan Wu's heart stirred: 'Shenbing Valley?'

After Feng Feng Yuanqing's death, both Huolong Temple and he himself first suspected Shenbing Valley—but with the Longhu Banquet approaching, and Shenbing Valley's immense power, he had merely kept watch, then reluctantly let it go.

'Naturally.'

Huang Fu Kun sneered: 'Feng Feng Yuanqing didn't die early, didn't die late—he died precisely when he was about to strike Shenbing Valley. How many coincidences are there in this world?'

'This…'

An San Yuan Wu's expression grew strained; he looked at Shen Tu Hong, who frowned slightly: 'Even if that's plausible, there's still no evidence…'

'The imperial court needs evidence.'

An San Yuan Wu's words were cut off—Huang Fu Kun swept his gaze across the courtyard, coldly smiled, and vanished from the courtyard.

Just as he had come, he departed like a ghost—elusive, traceless.

Huh~

Shen Tu Hong tapped his toe and followed after him, leaving An San Yuan Wu with furrowed brows, scanning the crowd:

"Today's matter, this old man does not wish for anyone to know!"

"We shall remember!"

The crowd in the courtyard bowed one after another, making Linghu Linghu Baiwan's heart prickle with fear.

Damn, there's no escaping now.

Hiss~

Amidst the cold wind, Shen Tu Hong paused his step, landing within a courtyard.

He saw Huang Fu Kun seated inside the room; on the red clay stove, the wine was already warm.

"Brother Brother Huangfu's cultivation grows ever deeper; this old man cannot compare."

Shen Tu Hong walked into the room; aside from Huang Fu Kun, no one else was present.

"Brother Shen Tu's talent surpasses this old man's; if you entered the Holy Sect, not only would blood replacement be possible, but even comprehending the transformation of Yin and Yang might not be unattainable."

Huang Fu Kun poured him a cup of wine.

"This old man has little fortune; I suppose there is no such destiny."

Shen Tu Hong felt some unease and asked instead: "Brother Brother Huangfu, appearing before people today, are you not afraid of startling the snake by beating the grass?"

"Startling the snake by beating the grass? So what?"

Huang Fu Kun held his wine cup, his eyes cold and gloomy: "The Sect has urged us many times; if we do not catch the thief who stole the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer, the Sect's punishment is something this old man cannot bear..."

Just thinking of those punishments within the Sect, even Huang Fu Kun, with such a mind, could not help but feel a chill of fear.

He was unwilling to risk himself, after all, Gong Gong Jiuchuan might not have truly left, but the Sect had urged him several times; if he achieved nothing more, he feared the 'Crimson Flame True Qi' upon his body would burn him to charcoal.

"The Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer, indeed."

Shen Tu Hong did not touch the wine cup; after a slight sigh, he asked:

"Brother Brother Huangfu, does your Sect have any new news?"

In the half-year since the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer appeared, turmoil never ceased in the Jianghu; countless experts gathered at the Hidden Dragon Mansion, yet all news regarding this hammer came solely from the Xieshen Sect.

Whether it was the appearance of the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer, or that suspected master of the Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing, Li Li Yuanba.

"Several months ago, the Sect Master, that elder, went to the coast of the Eastern Sea; utilizing the Spirit Tortoise bearing the Hall, he calculated that the one who obtained the Sea-Splitting Black Whale Hammer should be someone from the Star-Picking Tower; after that..."

Huang Fu Kun shook his head and took a letter sheet from his robe.

"A thousand years of pursuit finally fulfilled; the Sea-Splitter returns to the Divine Weapon Valley?"

Shen Tu Hong took the letter sheet; it contained only that one sentence. He raised his eyebrows slightly: "Was this also calculated by your Sect Master?"

"If it were calculated by the Sect Master, that would be good enough..."

Huang Fu Kun could not help but sigh, taking more than a dozen letter sheets from his robe.

"What is this?"

Shen Tu Hong's eyelid twitched; a single glance swept over them, and he saw words like 'Fire Dragon Temple', 'Iron Sword Sect', 'Huizhou', 'Huai Dragon Palace', 'Dragon Tiger Temple', and so on.

At least no fewer than twenty names.

"Those within the Sect who boast of divine calculations are quite numerous..."

Huang Fu Kun rubbed his temples, his heart truly vexed; if there had been only that one letter sheet from the Divine Weapon Valley, he would have at that moment gone ruthless, risking severe injury, to kill Han Han Chuijun on the spot.

Alas, with so many possibilities, he truly felt powerless.

Let alone him; even if the Crimson Flame Dragon King himself arrived, it would be impossible to annihilate so many sects...

"Is this not searching for a needle in a haystack?"

Shen Tu Hong's brows knitted tightly.

These twenty-plus sects, at the very least, had thousands of disciples each, plus the Huai Dragon Palace and Dragon Tiger Temple, which were impossible to shake...

"Even if it is searching for a needle in a haystack, we must search!"

Huang Fu Kun made a ruthless decision in his heart: "This old man, at immense cost, obtained from the Dragon King the spiritual objects required for the 'Thousand Flavors Sacrifice' ritual; as long as Li Li Yuanba truly appeared, the 'Mastiff King' will surely lock onto that person!"

This, then, was his true trump card?

Shen Tu Hong felt shock and doubt in his heart; the Mastiff King God is one of the official gods appointed by the imperial court, but this 'Thousand Flavors Sacrifice'...

"Brother Shen Tu, this old man invited you here precisely to seek your assistance..."

"Although this old man has the heart to guard the Wudechang Mansion for the imperial court, I will absolutely not assist you in conducting a blood sacrifice!"

Before Huang Fu Kun could finish, Shen Tu Hong's face changed abruptly; he swept his sleeve and prepared to leave.

"Brother Shen Tu misunderstands; the Mastiff King God does not favor flesh and blood; what the ritual requires are various scents; this old man has mostly gathered them, only lacking the essence of the Jiaolong..."

Huang Fu Kun pressed down on the table.

"Jiaolong?"

Shen Tu Hong's expression eased slightly: "Han Han Chuijun?"

"Precisely!"

Huang Fu Kun nodded:

"This old man deliberately spared the lives of those two old men from the Weapon Casting Valley; the intent was to lure Han Han Chuijun into making a move..."

"So that is how it is."

Shen Tu Hong understood in his heart, yet felt a certain chill.

This old fellow, openly inviting himself here and appearing, wanted to startle the snake by beating the grass, to intimidate Lord Master Gongyang Yu; in reality, he intended to strike at Han Han Chuijun...

On the day of returning to the Huishenwei Army's base, Lord Master Gongyang Yu hosted a small banquet, inviting Li Yuan, Ku Yue, Ba Ba Wanli, Fang Fang Bao Luo, Qiu Qiu Changying, Feng Feng Zhongyi, and other elders and true disciples to accompany.

After the daytime banquet, in the evening, Elder Ku Yue hosted a banquet, continuing to entertain...

Grand banquets and small ones, two days and one night; even with Li Yuan's current physique, he should have been drunk and knocked flat, yet there were still more than a dozen banquets inviting him.

The inviters were all elders of the Divine Weapon Valley and commanders of the Divine Guard Army.

Besides them were Gao Liu old acquaintances like Liu Zheng, Wang Wang Peiyao, and Yue Yue Yunjin.

Li Yuan could not refuse any of them, so he only pretended to faint; after closing the door, he urged his internal Qi to dispel the drunkenness, and the entire room was instantly filled with the smell of wine.

"Squeak!"

A shriek came from under the bed; the little rat shot straight for the main door with a "whoosh," but before it could get out, it stumbled, "thumped" to the ground, and fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly.

"..."

Li Yuan wiped his face, pushed open the window; though the drunkenness had dispersed, he still felt a bit unsteady.

"Drank too much."

After massaging his temples for a while, Li Yuan lay back on the bed, feeling still a bit dizzy; whether one's physique is strong or not has truly little to do with one's alcohol tolerance.

A Martial Artist of the Body Transformation realm must get drunk if the situation demands it; after returning, one can naturally force it out with internal Qi, but who can use internal Qi to force out wine at a banquet?

"I will never drink again!"

"Except for Monkey Wine and Hundred Herbs Wine."

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly; in his visualization, his own self assumed the Soldier Body Stance, his tendons and bones around him rubbed and moved in rhythm, and soon, the remaining drunkenness was swept away completely.

Although he had been dragged into drinking for two days, he had not neglected his daily martial arts practice; the cultivation of the Bai Shen Fa had already become stable.

As he entered the realm of the Bai Shen Fa, Li Yuan found the relationship between the visualization object and himself growing ever closer; when visualizing punching, the reaction of his own tendons and bones became ever more real.

"The Bai Shen Fa is truly a Divine Skill!"

Feeling the connection between the visualization object and himself, Li Yuan's heart was deeply stirred.

The Soldier Dao Dueling Hammer also had a matching visualization method, but neither in the book nor from Old Han had anyone ever mentioned such an incredible transformation.

This is not martial arts in the conventional sense.

"Divine Arts and Demon Arts, both deserve the name."

Li Yuan sighed inwardly; the dark place where the visualization object resides is called the "Land of Spiritual Light" in the Bai Shen Fa, meaning the place of one's own spiritual light.

For visualization objects of Xie Fa, they are named after the deity they visualize; for visualization objects of Zheng Fa, they are called the "Spiritual Self."

With a mere movement of his will in the Land of Spiritual Light, the self he visualized immediately retracted its stance, and the Dueling Hammer in its palm vanished accordingly.

Then, only the sound of "clang" was heard; a long blade suddenly appeared, thrusting straight at the "Visualized Spiritual Self."

Sss!

Li Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and stretched out his arm.

When the Spiritual Self was injured, he did not bleed, but his arm muscles and bones seemed as if pierced by a sharp blade, unconsciously tightening and spasming.

This was a genuine reaction to being stabbed!

"Amazing!"

Although he had tried it many times, Li Yuan still found it quite amazing.

"When the Spiritual Self is injured, the body also receives feedback of injury; the absorption of medicinal power is exactly the same... therefore, it is completely feasible for me to cultivate the Ten Thousand Blades Spiritual Dragon Body through visualization!"

Compared to the principle, Li Yuan cared more about practicality.

After entering the realm of the Bai Shen Fa, he had already felt the power of this "Peerless Demon Art."

The Ten Thousand Blades Spiritual Dragon Body has very harsh requirements for the cultivation environment; it is itself an extremely self-torturous art, requiring ten thousand blades to pierce the body, day after day, month after month, year after year...

And there are not a few peerless martial arts similar to the Ten Thousand Blades Spiritual Dragon.

"If it can truly succeed..."

Li Yuan's heart was somewhat stirred, but he quickly calmed down; whether it is truly possible still requires continued cultivation of the Ten Thousand Blades Spiritual Dragon.

If it can truly succeed...

Li Yuan took a deep breath and dispersed the "Visualized Spiritual Self."

He rolled over and sat up, closed the doors and windows, woke the little rat, and threw it outside to stand guard; only then did he take out porcelain bottles one by one from his chest.

While drinking, he also went along the way to various shops in the city and exchanged with a host of True Transmission Elders, obtaining a large batch of pills.

Besides ordinary pills for increasing blood, replenishing Yuan, strengthening bones, and transforming tendons, there were more pills that were rarely used in ordinary times...

"Spirit-Consolidating Pills, Ice-Heart Pills, Calming Powder, Spirit-Gathering Incense, Clarity Incense..."

Li Yuan checked them one by one; this was his preparation for controlling the "Dead Man's Stele." Although he did not know if it would be useful, caution is never a mistake.

"As the Lord of the Army, what can a mere weapon do to me?"

Lighting nine types of auxiliary cultivation incense for calming the mind, holding more than ten calming pills in his mouth, Li Yuan then closed his eyes.

"Control, Dead Man's Stele!"

Buzz!

In less than an instant, Li Yuan, with his eyes closed, seemed to see red light flashing, dyed like blood, sinister and bewitching.

The control impact of a Fifth-Rank weapon; Li Yuan could now fully withstand it, and without even a moment of daze, he had already felt the various messages flowing out from the blood-colored light.

The messages were like water, transforming into broken scenes.

"Yin Corpse Mud, Spirit Beast Human Blood, Crimson Blood Essence Stone..."

"Dragon Spine Bone, only as thick as a finger? Not enough. Never mind, just like this; though broken, it is enough!"

"This object is sinister; the wearer brings misfortune. It must borrow others' luck to be nurtured! The Zhao family is good!"

"Zhao Zhao Yunsheng, this is a spiritual object of the sect; within it are contained various Divine Art scriptures..."

Li Yuan experienced again the benefits of spiritual power growth.

With his concentration gathered, he could even vaguely hear voices from those broken scenes and see the slight process of this Dead Man's Stele taking shape.

He saw the Yin Mud beneath the pit of ten thousand corpses, saw hundreds and thousands of corpses hanging upside down, dripping blood...

"Gong Fa, Gong Fa..."

While sensing the 'Land of Spiritual Light', Li Yuan accelerated his search, sifting through various fragmented images to find those concerning the Xie Shen Fa scriptures.

"Woo~"

Suddenly, Li Yuan felt a slight chill in his heart; outside the dim Land of Spiritual Light, a blood-red light seemed to flicker.

"Trying to erode me..."

Li Yuan's heart tightened; he took advantage of the moment to swallow pill after pill while simultaneously sensing the Zhang Bing Lu.

"The Zhang Bing Lu thinks this is a blessing? Indeed, the spiritual nature of this talisman is not even as good as the little rat..."

With pill after pill going down his throat, Li Yuan focused on two tasks at once: visualizing his spiritual self to practice the Soldier Body Posture, dispersing the few strands of blood light that existed to begin with.

"Found it!"

After a long while, Li Yuan's heart jolted as he heard the three words 'Shen Zu Jing'.

"Hoo!"

In the room, Li Yuan slowly opened his eyes; sensing that the cooldown time for changing his command had elapsed, he immediately swapped out this Dead Man's Stele.

At the same time, he rolled over and rose, muttering in his mind, furiously writing on a sheet of white paper he had prepared long ago.

"Shen Zu Jing..."

With his spiritual power greatly increased, Li Yuan's memory also enhanced significantly; muttering in his mind, he wrote several hundred characters in one breath on the white paper and drew a blurry footprint.

"Got it!"

Li Yuan let out a long sigh, having broken out in a sweat.

However...

"Got it, I got it, but it's incomplete, truly incomplete... Is one-tenth of the content missing?"

Li Yuan picked up that piece of paper and blew on the wet ink.

It wasn't that he hadn't memorized it; rather, within this Dead Man's Stele, regarding the Shen Zu Jing, there was only this much; saying it was one-tenth, he suspected it might be even less.

"Incomplete scripture is fine; in any case, I am only using it as a reference; what I seek is the god within my own body!"

Satisfied in his heart, Li Yuan picked up the trembling little rat from outside the door and brought it back; only then, by the light of the lamp, did he silently recite the several hundred characters he had just written, word by word.

Shen Zu Jing, as the name suggests, is a Wu Gong concerning the feet.

Originally, this Wu Gong covered aspects such as lightness, lifting and leaping, leg techniques, and so on; the incomplete version had nothing of that, only the incomplete footwork revolving around that footprint.

"Footwork, footwork..."

Li Yuan tried walking around the room and found this footwork was very counter-intuitive: forward when it should be backward, backward when it should be diagonal, upside down and topsy-turvy, making one stumble underfoot.

Fortunately, Li Yuan's tendons were strong and his body resilient; he quickly walked through it once, while also discovering that this footwork was very incomplete.

"Try visualizing it?"

After walking it a few times, Li Yuan felt he had already become familiar with it; he sat cross-legged on the bed; out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the little rat had also stood up on its hind legs, putting on an act, as if imitating the footwork he had just performed.

"... You want to learn Wu Gong too?"

Li Yuan was speechless in his heart; he flicked a pill towards it with his finger and paid it no more mind.

It is hard enough for humans to learn Wu Gong; for a rat to figure it out on its own and actually cultivate it would be seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

"Woo~"

Land of Spiritual Light.

Under the effect of pill after pill nourishing the spirit, the visualized spiritual self was extremely excited; with just a slight thought, Li Yuan could drive it, several times easier than before taking the pills.

"The pills weren't eaten in vain!"

Satisfied in his heart, relying on his powerful spiritual power, Li Yuan quickly made the spiritual self in his visualization walk the footwork of the Shen Zu Jing, crooked and twisted.

Under the Bai Shen Fa, it is subdivided into thirteen Shen Gong; this is only what the Bai Shen Zheng Fa acknowledges.

If one counts things like 'Bai Xue Jin Gang Fa', 'Bai Qian Yan Pu Sa Fa', 'Bao Ao Wang Shen Fa', then the number is vast.

The Bai Shen Fa is very difficult to enter.

But once entered, the Shen Zu Jing is not difficult to learn; within the various branch halls of the Xieshen Sect, there are many who have cultivated it to completion.

It can be said that for the Shen Gong under these thirteen Bai Shen Fa, the difficulty of cultivation depends entirely on the progress of the Bai Shen Fa...

"Hoo!"

"Inhale"

Li Yuan tried again and again; inside the room, it was so quiet that only his long breathing could be heard.

With a "Plop", the little rat fell to the ground; it "Squeak-squeaked" a few times, turned its head dully, and its green bean eyes immediately widened.

On the bed, Li Yuan lay with his five centers facing the sky, the soles of his two feet pointing directly at the ceiling.

At this moment, his left foot began to glow with Bai Guang; that light was not fierce, but very pure; it even penetrated the thick boots, illuminating the ceiling, the beams, and even the tattered spiderwebs...

"Squeak?"

The little rat was shocked and puzzled for quite a while before looking down at its own small feet, sitting down heavily on the ground, and desperately trying to lift its own soles up...

"Shen Zu, Shen Zu..."

The spiritual self walked the Shen Zu footwork again and again; not knowing how many times it had walked, Li Yuan suddenly felt heat in the soles of his feet.

Subsequently, in the Land of Spiritual Light, the spiritual self dissipated, leaving only a footprint, radiating Bai Guang...

"Succeeded?"

Li Yuan felt somewhat dazed in his heart; under an invisible pull, he heard the beating of his own heart, the flow of his blood, the stretching of his great tendons, the friction of his bones...

With his eyes closed, he saw the sole of his left foot.

"Why is there only one foot..."

"Huang Fu Kun has appeared in Dechang Prefecture?!"

Inside the barracks, Lord Master Gongyang Yu's expression shifted slightly: "How could it be this fast?!"

"I'm afraid he's long since arrived in Dechang Prefecture, only refraining from showing himself out of fear of Dragon Tiger Temple…"

Elder Kuyue's face darkened: "Like a lingering ghost."

During the half-year the Divine Weapon Valley was relocating, the Xieshen Sect struck out to intercept them many times. Had it not been for Han Han Chuijun's ferocious assault—killing three of the Xieshen Sect's great helmsmen in a row—and trading injuries with Huang Fu Kun, the vast majority of disciples would never have made it to Dechang Prefecture.

Even so, of the five great Inner Gate Elders, only the three of them remained now…

"Huang Fu Kun has appeared so brazenly, met with Shen Tu Hong, and yet word got out this quickly—is there some trickery at play?"

Fang Fang Bao Luo furrowed his brow slightly: "Valley Master, where did you get this information?"

"The information should be true."

Lord Master Gongyang Yu's brow was tightly furrowed—this was intelligence he had obtained from Star-Plucking Tower, so it should be sound.

Yet he too harbored doubts.

That the Wutang and the Xieshen Sect had long been in collusion was known to many in the jianghu, but collusion this brazen was still hard to fathom.

At the very least, they ought to have kept it hidden.

Unless they deliberately wanted the news to leak…

"The one who comes means ill…"

Boom!

Just as Fang Fang Bao Luo was about to speak, a sudden thunderous crash rang out.

"Who?!"

Hearing the direction the sound came from, the faces of those inside the barracks changed drastically. Lord Master Gongyang Yu shot out in a single stride, soaring horizontally several dozen zhang, heading straight for the house where Li Yuan was staying.

Elder Kuyue and the others hurried after him as well, blades and swords drawn, hearts a mix of shock and fury.

"Whoosh!"

Fang Fang Bao Luo, landing last, saw white light flickering in the night curtain, with a faint human silhouette visible.

"That is?"

Elder Kuyue leapt onto the eaves and saw that the roof of Li Yuan's dwelling had burst open, tiles and stones flying. Directly below was the bed, and at this moment a dumbfounded mouse still stood rigidly beside the bed.

"Li Yuan?"

Lord Master Gongyang Yu raised his head—his eyesight was excellent—and as that white light fell, he had already caught sight of a somewhat dazed Li Yuan.

"Whoosh!"

Wind howled. Li Yuan lowered his head, looking at his left foot as the light faded, deeply shaken.

He had merely stamped his foot, yet had leaped over thirty meters off flat ground…

? ￠o

"With the Divine Foot Scripture at first achievement, my leaping power has nearly doubled. So long as I wish, I can burn through every last wisp of inner Qi in my body in one breath, converting it into thrust!"

Li Yuan was somewhat startled. With the Divine Foot Scripture at first achievement, his own speed now seemed comparable to himself when wearing a fourth-grade controlled boot.

And this was only one foot!

Whoosh!

Li Yuan landed lightly. He even had the illusion that his left foot could tread on air.

If the place allowed it, he truly wanted to give it a try…

"Nephew Li, what was that?"

Seeing he was unharmed, Lord Master Gongyang Yu breathed a sigh of relief.

"Reporting to Martial Uncle, this disciple has had a small breakthrough. Overcome with joy for a moment, I did not mean to disturb the various Elders and senior brothers…"

"Hundred Beast Thunder Dragon?"

Fang Fang Bao Luo also came forward to meet him.

"…That's right."

Li Yuan's face stiffened somewhat.

He had only glanced once and found that the Inner Gate's True Transmission Elders and the two great commanders of the Divine Guard Army had all come…

"It's good that Nephew Li is unharmed."

Elder Kuyue sheathed his long sword, glanced at the crowd outside the courtyard: "All of you, disperse."

Only then did the crowd outside the courtyard disperse.

……

"Huang Fu Kun and Shen Tu Hong have both arrived in Dechang Prefecture, hunting for Li Li Yuanba?"

Inside the barracks, the group was still deliberating. Li Yuan was inwardly startled; even the joy of the Divine Foot Scripture's minor accomplishment had largely dissipated. These were the experts Gong Gong Jiuchuan had spoken of, weren't they?

"Defend the gates tightly. For now, slow down the move into Dechang Prefecture!"

When the night had grown deep, Lord Master Gongyang Yu gave the order, then glanced at Li Yuan: "Nephew Li, during this period, you must absolutely not leave. Whatever you need, send your senior brother to handle it!"

"Thank you, Martial Uncle."

Li Yuan bowed in thanks.

After the crowd dispersed, Li Yuan limped back to his room, one foot deep, one foot shallow. His small courtyard had five rooms front and back, so there was no need to relocate.

"Truly like a lingering ghost…"

After closing the door, Li Yuan did not comfort the little mouse squeaking "squeak squeak," and frowned as he pondered.

The Wutang bears the duty of monitoring the realm and suppressing lawlessness, while the Xieshen Sect is the foremost evil cult under heaven. For them to meet so brazenly and let the news leak—something about it just felt wrong to him no matter how he looked at it.

"If I go all out, can a Marrow Refining expert catch up?"

Li Yuan lifted his left foot slightly. Without using any strength at all, he already felt a sense of leaving the ground.

"Two great Marrow Refining experts… best to find someone to ask…"