Ming Li and his companion stood frozen in shock.
Things had taken a turn no one could've seen coming.
As it turned out, the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect had caught wind of the Old Residence and had secretly dispatched a team to crack the formations from the other side. Maybe it was because they had home turf advantage, but their progress was just slightly ahead of Li Xun's. Even though they arrived a day later, they were nearly neck and neck with him.
Just as Li Xun had managed to crack one of the key points, the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect had made a breakthrough on their end as well. But what no one expected was that the restrictive formations surrounding the Old Residence were secretly connected in a subtle, almost undetectable way.
One after the other, both sides happened to break through two key points, and unknowingly triggering a hidden part of the formation.
Deep within the mountain, tens of thousands of qi mechanisms shifted all at once, setting off a chain reaction that altered the entire formation structure. In the blink of an eye, a new set of restrictions had formed.
But in that brief moment of transition, a faint clue to the location of the Old Residence had been finally revealed.
Li Xun offered this simple explanation, but didn't mention just how insanely difficult it was to spot the tiniest irregularity among those tens of thousands of shifting qi mechanisms. And then to calculate, amidst all that chaos, the one correct path. That kind of insight took both immense mental precision and a serious amount of luck.
It was a nearly exhausting deduction. Now, his limbs felt weak, and just standing was a struggle.
Not forcing himself any further, he simply plopped down, patted the ground beside him, and asked, "Either of you know how to Earth Escape?"
Both Ming Li and You Wushen nodded.
As the mission entered a critical stage, Li Xun's role among the trio had become increasingly central. With the authority granted to him by Underworld Flame Yama, he had naturally taken on the lead.
"That's good," he said, casually drawing a few lines on the ground. "The Old Residence is about seventy zhang underground, just a li and a half in a straight line from here. Now that we know where it is, dealing with the restrictions will be much easier. Should we head down now?"
"Hell yes!" Ming Li grinned, clearly excited, but quickly followed up with a question: "What about the other two sides?"
Li Xun smiled faintly, color returning to his face. "If they can find it too, then even if we fail, I'll accept it without complaint."
What followed went smoother than anyone could have hoped. In less than half an hour, the three of them made it through layer after layer of restrictions and entered the Old Residence. The process was surprisingly easy.
Despite the name "Old Residence," it was really just a small stone chamber, carved entirely within the mountain and completely sealed, except for a few ventilation channels that used special formations to circulate fresh air. The only way in or out was through Earth Escape technique.
The room was no more than five steps across. It was more like a prison cell than a residence.
It was dimly lit by luminous pearls. At a glance, the chamber appeared completely empty, save for a single meditation cushion lying crookedly in the center.
"Where's the treasure?" Ming Li couldn't believe it. After a whole month of grueling effort, was this it? He was already showing signs of frustration.
Li Xun just smiled, walked over, and kicked the cushion aside. After glancing down, he crouched, tapped his fingers on the floor a few times, and with a dull click, a seamless section of the stone opened into a square black hole. The treasure was inside.
There were two palm-sized bronze wheels, a snow-white little cauldron about the size of a baby's head, and a small booklet.
The bronze rings wheels like Buddhist ritual tools, hollow in the center with tiny pea-sized beads embedded within. When shaken, they gave off a delicate chiming sound. The small cauldron was finely carved with images of mythical beasts and made from an extremely rare material.
The booklet was the least impressive; it was just a casual collection of cultivation notes and reflections written by the defector from the Mystic Cycle Sect in his spare time.
Since the three of them cultivate different cultivation methods, reading it was like trying to read a heavenly scripture.
Before coming here, Ming Li had done a bit of homework on what had gone down all those years ago. Although the Mystic Cycle Sect had kept the whole affair tightly under wraps, by piecing together rumors and using his own judgment, Ming Li had managed to guess a few things.
"I don't know about the wheels," he said, "but this cauldron looks like the Jade Elixir True Cauldron. It's used to refine and purify medicinal ingredients by removing all impurities; it's a real treasure for alchemy. With this thing, the quality of Mystic Cycle Sect's pills would drop at least a tier... wait, what's going o..."
A violent tremor suddenly shook the entire stone chamber. Before Ming Li's startled voice had even faded, another loud rumble followed. Cracks split open across the ceiling, and rocks and dust rained down, covering all three of them.
"It's the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect. They're brute-forcing their way through the formations," Li Xun said. He was well aware of what was happening above. Only them had the guts to make such a bold move here.
His face turned grim. This was, after all, their territory. If things turned ugly, the three of them were clearly at a major disadvantage.
Li Xun quickly assessed the situation and made a snap decision. Grabbing his two still-stunned companions, he used earth escape technique and led them deeper into the mountain.
The violent impact had triggered a full-scale counterattack from the formation, but the Sword Sect had the resources to smash right through it.
The formation's disturbance twisted the natural flow of the heaven and earth primordial qi across the entire mountain, causing tens of thousands of preset qi mechanisms to erupt in chaotic turbulence. The resulting shockwave disrupted the surrounding atmosphere, masking the faint signs of the three using the earth escape technique to slip away.
"Shit, this was fucking too smooth!" Ming Li kept cursing, letting out his excitement.
No one expected things to end like this. The brutal battle they'd all imagined never materialized. They had easily broken through all the way out to the area beyond Longhuan Mountain, escaping the chaotic flow of the heaven and earth's primordial qi without a scratch.
Once outside that chaotic area, however, the qi ripples from their Earth Escape technique became much more noticeable. They carefully stashed away the loot, canceled the technique, and cautiously poked their heads aboveground.
They seemed to be on the outskirts of Chicheng Mountain, still surrounded by dense forest. The area was calm and peaceful. Breathing a sigh of relief, the three broke through the soil and glanced back toward Longhuan Mountain.
Even from several dozen li away, they could still see bursts of dazzling sword light erupting from the peak. They were impossible to miss, even in broad daylight.
The trio burst into laughter, turned, and were just about to set off when their bodies all froze at once.
"Well, well... you looked pretty pleased with yourselves. What, no smiles now?"
Just ten or so paces away stood the arrogant young lady, Luo Yuji. Chin slightly raised, she glanced sidelong at them with a smirk. Behind her, seven or eight disciples from the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect stood in a neat line, the air around them crackling with pressure.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
In the air above, Hu Buli, whom they had encountered before, brushed nonexistent dust from his robe, nodding politely with a faint smile. Beside him stood a brawny man with a commanding aura, his back strapped with an enormous broadsword nearly as wide as a hand. He was watching them coldly.
The fact that he stood shoulder to shoulder with Hu Buli said it all. This man was no less formidable.
Ming Li let out a sound that was somewhere between a groan and a sigh. "That's... Dragon Madman Min Ershan..."
Li Xun's face twitched slightly. Even though none of the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect's top-ranked experts—the so-called "One Emperor, Two Lords, and Five Marquises"—had shown up, having two of the Eight Madmen, who ranked just below them in reputation, was already more than enough to show how seriously the sect was taking this.
And yet, the most frustrating part was... he still had no idea how they'd tracked them down.
Could it be… that massive display of breaking the formation on Longhuan Mountain, was all just a ruse?
Li Xun's gaze swept over Luo Yujie's smug, triumphant expression. Something about it made his heart stir. His eyes shifted. And that's when he saw it.
In the hands of one of the disciples beside her was a small, delicate jade bowl. It looked very familiar…
The Sound-Penetrating Sand.
Li Xun shut his eyes, then quickly opened them again. No need to think any further; he already understood. Maybe this was just karma catching up to him.
Back when he used Sound-Penetrating Sand against He Mulan and the two Wanderers, had he ever considered it might be used against him someday?
Now that he had the answer, tracing it back was easy.
With just a slight focus, he noticed a fine , dust-like grain clinging to the hem of Ming Li's robe. There it was.
"The Three Sovereigns Sword Sect sure doesn't hold back, huh?" Li Xun gave a half-mocking, half-self-deprecating chuckle. "You know how expensive this Sound-Penetrating Sand is, right?" Then, with a quick swipe at Ming Li's hem, he picked up the little powder and crushed it effortlessly between his fingers.
Everyone watching was stunned. Their reasons varied, but they shared one common thought—this guy thinks fast.
Luo Yuji, after her initial surprise, laughed even more gleefully. "Without this little thing, how would we have known what you three were really up to? All that talk about hunting a Bloodkiss, when in reality you were out here robbing graves!"
By the way she said it, Li Xun figured the whole extravagant plan might have been her idea. That bumped her up a notch in his mind.
A woman who's willing to spend resources and use her brain? Definitely one to be cautious around.
By now, he'd already finished assessing their situation.
He cast a barely noticeable glance at Ming Li and the other one. Those two usually seemed pretty sharp, but could they really stay in sync with him now? The thought flickered through his mind for just a split second.
There was no time for second thoughts. He shot Luo Yujie a quick smile, then turned his eyes back to the two experts in the sky.
But in the very moment his eyes shifted…he suddenly burst forward.
And not toward the direction he looked. But straight at Luo Yuji.
It was an all-out blitz, without the slightest reservation. Although speed wasn't his strongest suit, the short distance of just over ten steps was more than enough for a quick strike!
It was hard to believe that in a situation where he was practically trapped like a turtle in a jar, he still dared to strike with such lightning speed.
Almost everyone was stunned.
In that brief moment of shock, Li Xun had already closed the distance to just three feet in front of Luo Yujie. Her pale neck was within reach, and the surprise frozen in her eyes was clear as day.
But "almost" was the key word. Because not everyone was caught off guard. And worst of all, the one who wasn't was standing right beside Luo Yujie!
Just as Li Xun's fingertips were about to touch Luo Yujie's skin, a thick, short, and somewhat clumsy-looking finger suddenly appeared out of nowhere, stopping firmly in his path.
Li Xun had been moving so fast, he couldn't even pull back in time; it looked more like he had thrown himself into it.
His fingertip was still half an inch from Luo Yujie, but that thick, stubby finger was already pressed firmly against his chest.
A piercingly sharp sword qi exploded forth from it, shooting straight through from Li Xun's chest to his back. Behind him, the sword qi sprayed a mist of blood that scattered nearly twenty feet away.
Anyone with good sense could tell that the Hundred Ghosts' heart had probably been shattered into powder.
Li Xun's eyes flew wide open, and a guttural sound caught in his throat; it was his blood rebelling, about to burst out.
How could the person who had attacked him let him spit blood onto Luo Yujie's face? With a low growl, they stepped out from behind Luo Yujie, swinging a wide sleeve that brushed across Li Xun's face.
Dongyang Hermit… Ming Li thought bitterly. Three of the Eight Madmen are already here, and the Hundred Ghosts blindly rushed to his death… This time, we're really done for.
While Ming Li was wallowing in despair, things were quite different on Dongyang Hermit's side.
When his wide sleeve brushed Li Xun's face, what it touched felt... wrong. Very wrong.
With centuries of battle experience, Dongyang Hermit had felt the weight of countless skulls. But this.... this wasn't a head.
It was… a hand?
A hand growing out of a head?
No matter how experienced Dongyang Hermit was, even he couldn't help but freeze for a moment.
Right then, under the wide sleeve, thirty-six waves of true qi burst out with a loud bang. The attack came fast. So fast that the thirty-six waves almost merged into one, yet each wave still carried its own distinct pattern, clearly layered and complex.
Caught off guard, Dongyang Hermit was hit by the incredibly precise force. A long tear split open in his sleeve.
Just as he tried to gather his energy again, a thread of elusive hidden energy pressed against his chest and gently pushed forward. It struck at the exact moment when his old energy had run out and new energy hadn't yet risen. A perfect gap. The palm strike wasn't powerful, but it was devilishly nasty.
Though it didn't break through his protective true breath, the brief contact was enough to tug at his already unstable internal flow of qi, tightening, then suddenly loosening.
Dongyang Hermit hurriedly circulated his qi to protect his body, but didn't expect this sudden shift. It was like slipping a small stone under a fast-moving wheel—one moment of imbalance, and his true breath spiraled out of control.
It felt like he'd just slapped himself across the face. Letting out a low grunt, his body involuntarily froze for a moment.
And in that instant—the same Li Xun who had supposedly had his heart blasted into mist.... laughed out loud.
With a swift turn, and to everyone's disbelief, he calmly slipped behind Luo Yujie. Amid her panicked screams, he lightly pressed over ten palm strikes across her pink back.
As he struck, countless streaks of colorful and strange light flashed across her body, but under Li Xun's unusual palm force, none of them offered any real protection. Before her scream could fully fade, her body went limp and collapsed.... right into his arms.
Everyone around was stunned speechless.
The short, stocky, and plain-looking Dongyang Hermit was perhaps the one who understood it best among everyone present. His chubby face twitched as he stared fixedly at Li Xun's pale face. After a long moment, he stammered:
"…Just how many hands do you have?"
Then, realizing how absurd that sounded, he quickly corrected himself:
"…How are you even alive?"