Chapter 366: Catching Someone in the Act

Seeing their Martial Uncle depart, Guang Haoyou and his junior brothers exchanged glances and ultimately followed. This was their usual practice; they had to keep an eye on this Martial Uncle. At most, they could stay at a distance and not interfere. If left unsupervised, he might genuinely disappear without a trace once he got away.

The wind was too strong for them to jump across the abyss, so they had no choice but to descend into it to cross. They couldn't understand how their Martial Uncle had crossed; it was unlike their method. It seemed as though he had merged with the wind or had simply been blown away by it.

While they were chasing their Martial Uncle, their Martial Uncle, in turn, was chasing Shi Chun. This was because Shi Chun and his companions had already fled. They intended to slip away quickly before others realized the Boundless Banner had lost its effect. At least, Shi Chun and his companions believed that others might still be unaware that the Boundless Banner had been rendered useless by the lightning strike.

Although they had a head start, they couldn't move quickly. The wind was exceptionally strong, almost supernaturally so. They couldn't use wind scales, and leaping would only cause them to be blown away. Their only option was to sprint across the ground, pushing against the powerful gale.

After crossing a ridge, the three men, always alert, had just descended to the mid-slope when they suddenly froze. Beneath the occasional flashes of lightning, an ethereal figure, with robes fluttering like an immortal's, was illuminated, hovering in the air before them. They initially thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. How could anyone float in such powerful winds? But it was impossible for all three of them to be hallucinating simultaneously. Upon closer inspection, they realized who it was.

"Li Hongjiu…" The three of them exclaimed almost in unison, recognizing him instantly. Their expressions revealed incredulous bewilderment. Li Hongjiu, floating in the air, seemed utterly unaffected by the powerful wind; while their own clothes flapped wildly, his merely drifted gently. He had clearly blocked their path, making it obvious they couldn't escape, and was watching them with a smile. Just by sensing his demeanor, they knew this person was extraordinary. "It seems Young Master Nan's warning about this person was indeed justified," Shi Chun muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the three men simultaneously turned to look behind them. On the slope, a group of people, the Deriving Treasure Sect members, had appeared and were looking down at them.

"Take off your mask," Li Hongjiu commanded, projecting his voice magically.

Shi Chun, looking back, naturally knew he was being addressed. "I have no grievances with any of you," he retorted. "Why are you being so aggressive?"

Li Hongjiu had a playful look on his face. He taunted, "You infiltrated us, treated us like fools, and now you want to talk about having no grievances after playing your games? Isn't that... a bit inappropriate?"

Shi Chun, knowing that if one wanted an excuse, any could be found, immediately realized this person was not to be reasoned with. So he cut straight to the point: "What do you want?"

Li Hongjiu merely repeated, "First, take off your mask, then we'll talk." They hadn't heard Shi Chun speak before, so they couldn't identify the masked person by voice alone. As the saying goes, seeing is believing, especially when catching a thief. The Deriving Treasure Sect disciples observing from the ridge also wore playful expressions, confident that with their Martial Uncle's skill, it would be an easy task. They were all in a mood to watch the show.

Shi Chun retorted, "What if I don't take it off?" He secretly moved his hand, gripping the Immortal Binding Silk. Although his other magic artifacts were either unusable or he hadn't yet figured out how to use them, he still had at least one in his hand. Wu Shanshan had needed to prepare in advance to create an iron frame for defense. Shi Chun refused to believe Li Hongjiu could carry a high-strength iron frame with him; if such a bizarre thing were true, he would admit defeat.

"Then I'll help you take it off."

As Li Hongjiu, with a faint smile, finished speaking, the rapidly swirling wind columns immediately intensified, spinning like mad. The wind speed became ridiculously strong. The group even felt that if they didn't forcibly use their magic to stabilize their footing, they wouldn't be able to stand at all. If they hadn't thought it impossible, Shi Chun and the other two would have suspected the wind was obeying Li Hongjiu. In contrast, Li Hongjiu still floated in the air, his robes gently fluttering.

To remain suspended in such powerful winds required an incredibly powerful cultivation. Unlike standing on the ground, if there was nowhere to leverage oneself in the void, even a typical Human Immortal might struggle against such strong winds. This person's bearing truly gave them a god-like feeling. Honestly, this scene truly unnerved the three of them, yet they also believed that cultivators beyond the Human Immortal realm shouldn't be able to enter this place.

Even more terrifyingly, Li Hongjiu suddenly moved, flashing out of sight. This startled Shi Chun and the other two, who instantly became highly vigilant and raised their weapons. They had expected him to flash forward and attack, but to their surprise, he shifted horizontally and disappeared, moving like a phantom carried away by the wind.

"What was he doing?" The three were initially stunned, then their hairs stood on end in alarm. They saw the phantom-like figure, almost too fast to discern in the night, had circled halfway around and was now charging towards them. Only then did they realize he wasn't being carried away by the wind, but was using it to approach them. He was riding the rapidly swirling wind, accelerating with his own magical techniques; his speed was unimaginable. He covered more than half a circle almost instantly.

Li Hongjiu, riding the wind, moved with the graceful ease of an immortal. With a flick of his finger, the sword at his waist sprang from its sheath and, following his gesture, shot forth towards Shi Chun. The terrifying attack speed of this accelerating sword was unimaginable.

Shi Chun immediately ducked and slid down the slope. The two standing beside him were startled. They had seen his capabilities and wanted to see how he would respond to the challenge, but unexpectedly, he fled without even a warning. This was unlike his previous audacity in challenging the heavens. The two reacted quickly: one chopped with his sword, and the other swung to parry, both striking at the flashing cold light that had arrived in an instant.

Clang, clang.

With two resounding clashes, both swords were simultaneously flung from their hands. One remained intact, while the other snapped into two pieces on the spot. The webbing between their thumbs and forefingers, where they gripped their swords, split open, instantly bleeding profusely. Their arms vibrated with numbness and trembling, and both were knocked to the ground by the immense force. A strike delivered at such terrifying speed produced a force far exceeding the cultivator's actual power; this was Li Hongjiu's momentum-assisted strike.

Xu and You, knocked to the ground, were utterly terrified. They had no power to resist at all. How could they possibly fight? The two quickly took the opportunity to roll down the hill to evade, tumbling past Shi Chun and running faster and further than him. Their swords were no longer a concern; they had already been blown away by the wind.

Riding the wind, Li Hongjiu, moving as if strolling through a leisurely garden within the wind column, casually raised his hand over his shoulder and caught the sword that had been flung into the air by the impact and carried by the wind. His target wasn't Xu or You. Seeing the previously audacious masked man evade him, disregarding his image, Li Hongjiu was somewhat surprised. "It's rare to find someone worth me personally taking action," he thought, "and this is all you've got?"

But it didn't matter. He immediately circled back on the wind, catching up to Shi Chun, who was sprinting wildly, and with a flick of his wrist, sent another sword strike. Shi Chun dodged by rolling over. Boom! Earth and stones exploded from the ground as the sword shot up from beneath. The wind carried the sword back to Li Hongjiu, who, circling in the air, casually grabbed it with extreme grace. Yet, without hesitation, he flung out another sword strike. Boom! Shi Chun, still being pursued, continued to flee and dodge, narrowly evading the attack once more.

Li Hongjiu, continuously circling on the wind, was amused. He wanted to see how long this masked man could keep dodging. Meanwhile, Shi Chun wasn't just waiting for death. He watched for Li Hongjiu to circle back and suddenly flung out the Immortal Binding Silk from his hand. The power of a fifth-rank magic artifact was not something this strong wind could resist. It instantly pierced through the gale and shot directly towards Li Hongjiu.

However, the moment the Immortal Binding Silk broke through the wind, Li Hongjiu seemed to sense it. As if divinely aided, he smoothly drifted sideways in the air, evading it, carried away by the momentum of the wind. He even glanced back with a faint, amused smile, as if watching a joke. He wasn't blind; he had clearly seen the Immortal Binding Silk used against Wu Shanshan. He had long known the masked man possessed this treasure. If he weren't confident in handling it, how could he personally pursue and risk it? He had already accounted for it.

Thus, a bewildering scene unfolded for the Deriving Treasure Sect disciples: Li Hongjiu repeatedly launched attacks at the masked man from the air, while the masked man continuously recalled and fired the Immortal Binding Silk at Li Hongjiu. For a moment, it seemed neither could get the better of the other. The disciples were puzzled, wondering why their Martial Uncle was putting in such effort. Why didn't he just use lightning?

You Mu and Xu Anchang had already escaped this wind column and were hiding behind a ridge, observing. They had also realized that Li Hongjiu's main target was Shi Chun; as long as they didn't seek death, he wouldn't bother with them. The two were torn by this dilemma. They desperately wanted to escape, but dared not. So many people from the Deriving Treasure Sect had seen them; if they could silence everyone, they wouldn't need to flee, but how could they escape without doing so? Afterwards, they couldn't hide it from their superiors, and then, they might not even be able to die comfortably.

Shi Chun quickly understood: *Why would he dare to come and tease you, knowing you have a magic artifact? Fool, he isn't afraid of your magic artifact at all.* At the same time, he also sensed the other party's malicious amusement. The continuously exploding debris was drawn into the wind column, increasing in quantity. At first, he could barely dodge them, but after being hit several times, he knew he couldn't continue like this. Although they were just stones, he couldn't endure an endless supply of them.

The problem was, the wind was too strong, and he couldn't run fast. This wind column was also bizarre; it seemed to be following him, and he couldn't escape it at all. He now strongly suspected that Li Hongjiu, that bastard, possessed wind manipulation techniques. Otherwise, how could he be so leisurely in the powerful winds above? "Also, why was he only targeting one person? Where did those two bastards, You Mu and Xu Anchang, run off to? If you won't share my hardship now, what good are you? Just wait, when I get out, I'll direct the demonic path to destroy you." Then he thought he was overthinking it; those two guys' lives were already predestined. As long as he could escape, it wouldn't be the demonic path's turn to act.

He had originally thought escaping with the cover of the terrain would be easier, but now it seemed he had overthought it. Rather than dying ignominiously, it was better to fight with all his might. He immediately activated his Cloud-Stepping Boots, leaping twice consecutively into the air. This allowed him to escape the impact of the scattered stones below, and he then began to drift with the wind. Of course, his posture while drifting with the wind was not as elegant as Li Hongjiu's; he was like someone tossed uncontrollably by waves in a storm. In fact, his Cloud-Stepping Boots allowed him to move as if on solid ground in the air, but he didn't overtly show it. He was deliberately concealing his ability, feigning weakness, and waiting for the opportune moment. With his other hand, he secretly prepared a paralyzing substance.

Li Hongjiu, riding the wind, saw that Shi Chun had risen and wasn't running anymore. "That's good then," he thought, and with a flick of his wrist, sent another sword strike. As for why he always released his sword for attacks, it was because his own cultivation was limited. While a momentum-assisted strike was indeed incredibly powerful, the backlash from a high-speed impact was also considerable. With his cultivation, forcibly gripping the sword would not only be difficult to control but also easily injure himself. This was completely different from his method of borrowing power from heaven and earth to unleash powerful lightning strikes. Unless the opponent was completely defenseless, he wouldn't dare to engage head-on with anyone of significant strength. Given Shi Chun's proven ability to kill two or three high-level Martial Grandmasters in one encounter, Li Hongjiu had no reason, nor dared, to confront him directly.