Chapter 731: Tai Xu Walks

The original domain name has been compromised; please remember the new one.

‘He wants to kill Kong Haiying.’

Li Ximing scoffed inwardly.

To be frank, there wasn't anything truly irreconcilable between the Immortal Dao and the Li Clan up to this point. But if Ye Hui's sole purpose was to kill Kong Haiying, Li Ximing didn't believe it for a second.

‘If all your actions are targeting Kong Haiying, why did you give my family such a hard time earlier?’

Since Ye Hui was so quick to speak, Li Ximing decided to play along. He feigned a momentary puzzled expression and replied,

“Daoist Ye Hui, didn't Kong Haiying already perish some time ago? The changes in the Xuanyue Earth Vein just before Senior Chang Xi's death were the ominous signs of his demise!”

Ye Hui was momentarily stumped by this sudden fabrication. He stared intently at Li Ximing. Logically, that person should have been Fu En, but if it truly were Kong Haiying, it would make sense for Chang Xi to deliberately refer to him as Fu En. For a moment, he paused.

Regardless of its truthfulness, Li Ximing's statement completely disrupted Ye Hui's original preparations and planned words. Ye Hui said coldly,

“Oh? This... is it true or false... Never mind. Let's see the Myriad Yang Divine Ability.”

As his words fell, the Great Void resonated. Above and below, a dark purple iridescent light floating within the Great Void emitted a solemn, heavy sound, producing a humid mist.

The next moment, a colorful fish, roughly the size of a calf, emerged from the shimmering light. Its scales were ethereal, varying in depth of purple, and its head was, shockingly, a skull-like human head with hollow, empty eyes.

The purple fish thrashed in the air, and countless more of its kind surged from the purple light, densely gathering into a river beneath the Heavenly Gate, rushing upward. Seeing that Ye Hui was serious, Li Ximing's glabella glowed with celestial light, and the Heavenly Gate behind him similarly rumbled.

A roar of battle shook the heavens. The countless golden-armored figures on the Heavenly Gate suddenly came to life, descending from above, wielding spears and swords, each coming forth to meet the attack. Upon their first clash, they blocked the purple river beneath the Heavenly Gate.

But with a resounding boom, Ye Hui opened his mouth and exhaled a stream of white qi. This qi seemed to weigh a thousand jin, immediately sinking and instantly solidifying the Great Void. Li Ximing, along with the entire Gate of Heaven's Visitation, felt as though they were trapped in a mire, sinking inch by inch, experiencing a sense of being caught between a rock and a hard place.

‘No wonder Chang Xi didn't dare fight him. Just with this East Feather Mountain... this old man has considerable control over the Great Void.’

Li Ximing knew this was his second divine ability, East Feather Mountain. He was fortunate that his Myriad Yang cultivation offered decent combat capabilities. Intending not to use spirit artifacts and to take the opportunity to test his own combat prowess, he immediately opened his mouth and unleashed the Myriad Yang Purple Flame.

This purple flame, normally cultivated in the Giant Spire Courtyard, now erupted in a ceaseless torrent. It was no ordinary substance; its fiery light surged with volatile power, colliding with the solidified Great Void.

Li Ximing didn't need to directly counter East Feather Mountain's suppression of the Great Void. He focused the entirety of his purple flame into a single point. No matter how powerful the opponent's suppressive ability, this concentrated impact easily burned a pinprick-sized hole through it.

He only needed that one point!

A single point in the Great Void could be a surface, or even a gate. Li Ximing, along with the Heavenly Gate behind him, vanished, easily breaking free from the combined blockade of South Sorrow Water and East Feather Mountain. He reappeared in another part of the Great Void, transforming into celestial light and fleeing.

Thus, Ye Hui, a formidable Purple Manor mid-stage cultivator, facing a newly ascended Purple Manor cultivator, failed to exert any pressure on his opponent within two exchanges, allowing him to immediately escape!

‘This is the Great Void...’

Li Ximing finally understood just how difficult it was for Purple Manor cultivators to truly battle each other. The Great Void was like a net full of holes. Each Purple Manor cultivator could be as vast as Mount Tai or as minuscule as a speck of dust. How could one possibly trap another from escaping?

Ye Hui was not surprised in the least. His divine ability circulated, and his figure emerged at the edge of the purple light, causing the entire expanse of purple light to shift again, re-enveloping Li Ximing. East Feather Mountain once more exerted its suppression, and the mire-like pressure reappeared.

This time, however, Ye Hui had formed a hand seal. The moment East Feather Mountain appeared, the Great Void beneath Li Ximing twisted and became hollow, causing him to step into empty space and preventing him from directly shifting away. Undaunted, Li Ximing exhaled flames directly at the magic sword in Ye Hui's hand.

The magic sword briefly resisted the flames, but an incredibly sharp aura rose from the Great Void. Li Ximing recognized it as the opponent's spirit artifact. Resisting the urge to summon his own spirit artifact, his glabella pulsed with celestial light, and he let out a sharp cry,

“Halt!”

The flickering celestial light immediately illuminated the entire Great Void, finally revealing a dazzling golden radiance. The Upward Luminary Subduing Light erupted from Li Ximing's glabella and slammed forward.

Li Ximing had actually practiced this Upward Luminary Subduing Light for only a short time. However, with the innate divine ability of his Purple Manor cultivation and his own divine ability's celestial light from the glabella, the combined augmentation genuinely managed to block the spirit artifact.

‘I can't fight you head-on, but can't I at least leave?’

Practice makes perfect. Purple flames surged before Li Ximing, and he once again extricated himself and departed. Ye Hui, however, took another step, his figure emerging right behind him, thrusting his magic sword forward. Li Ximing immediately activated the Heavenly Gate, using his divine ability to block. He felt a chill in his hand as a streak of purple light shot onto the back of his hand.

Li Ximing blocked this divine ability with no serious harm. Seizing the opportunity, he created distance. After flying for a few breaths, the opponent closed in again. This time, Li Ximing learned his lesson: he unleashed a mouthful of purple flame directly onto the sword in Ye Hui's hand. This also dissolved East Feather Mountain, killing two birds with one stone, allowing him to safely escape.

As he shifted sideways this time, he suddenly felt the Great Void become increasingly steep, making it difficult to move an inch. His spiritual sense stirred, and indeed, he saw the extremely obvious Kan Water formation. Looking into the real world, he saw towering mountains and winding streams beneath his feet—it was Mount Xianyue.

Li Ximing had no intention of seeking help from the Xiao family. It was purely by chance that their fight led them to the Great Void above Mount Xianyue. Here, the Great Void was like a vast mountain range, making movement difficult. This wasn't due to any spells or formations, but a matter of spiritual energy: Mount Xianyue was the primary source of spiritual energy for the Lixia Prefecture, rendering the Great Void exceptionally steep there.

Ye Hui clearly noticed this as well. With his South Sorrow Water divine ability and the Spirit Crow spell beneath him, his speed here was far greater than Li Ximing's. He immediately traversed the distance. Li Ximing blocked him with a burst of purple fire, and his figure vanished, only to reappear in the real world.

‘If it's hard to move in the Great Void, can't I just travel in the real world?’

He burst forth in a single breath, causing his opponent to miss. His eyes lit up. Beneath his feet, several spiritual mountains surrounded what appeared to be a small family's domain. A few cultivators were battling in the air. Li Ximing's divine ability circulated, and he instantly recognized the patterns on their robes.

‘The Wu family of Junnan. So I've reached the southern part of Lixia Prefecture.’

These Wu family cultivators seemed to be fighting demonic cultivators, and the battle was quite fierce. The moment Li Ximing stepped out, the weather in the sky instantly transformed from continuous rain to clear, pleasant spring sunshine. The rainwater still suspended in the air hadn't even reached the ground, yet the sky was already bathed in clear celestial light, with colorful clouds drifting.

‘Purple Manor...? Huh?’

A Purple Manor cultivator suddenly appeared overhead. All the cultivators on the field instantly froze like statues. The leading demonic cultivator almost exploded his own head; his mind went blank, and only one thought surfaced:

“Huh? I just wanted to steal some spiritual rice... Is this really necessary?”

The back-and-forth battle instantly descended into comical chaos. Swords being swung floated into the sky, spellcasters nearly bit off their tongues, and the demonic cultivator who had half-raised his shield didn't dare lift it further, allowing his head to be severed by a sword. The opposing Wu family cultivators were even less inclined to fight and almost fell out of the sky.

Xiao Chuting was likely not here. Li Ximing had no intention of bothering with them. Without pausing, the celestial light at his feet flickered, and he vanished from his spot, flying towards the imperceptible distance.

Yet, even though he passed by them from a considerable distance, the demonic cultivator directly in front of him was caught off guard, scorched from afar by Li Ximing's escaping light. He felt a surge of purple flame and brilliant celestial light, a constriction in his chest, his hair and beard instantly incinerated, and his entire robe burst into flames with a whoosh.

If he had been an ordinary cultivator, it might have been better, but he was a demonic cultivator, and his flesh began to burn searingly along with his robe. The surrounding people watched, dumbfounded, but dared not flee.

Fortunately, Li Ximing had only appeared for a fleeting moment before him and paid him no heed, speeding several li away and vanishing. Yet, the demonic cultivator continued to scream in agony, his magical robe long since reduced to ashes.

Before the few could rejoice, the next moment, the Great Void tore open again. The sky, which had just recovered from gloom to clear, instantly became heavy with dark clouds. Solemn and dignified prayers emerged, and Ye Hui's figure appeared before everyone. The True Lord, clad in a deep blue Daoist robe, surveyed his surroundings with his remarkably spiritual eyes.

It's worth noting that Ye Hui was currently fully activating his South Sorrow Water divine ability, with nearly half of his body transformed into a purple halo, further enhanced by East Feather Mountain. This single glance was like a bolt from the blue. Ye Hui's figure also vanished the next moment. Only then did the six individuals react, collectively crying out in pain, each falling downward enveloped in purple light.

Li Ximing had not yet left the Mount Xianyue region. As soon as the spiritual energy eased slightly, he immediately escaped into the Great Void. Ye Hui's purple light then immediately flared again from within the Great Void. South Sorrow Water's speed was indeed fast, forcing Li Ximing to receive another of his moves. He looked up and saw the Xuanyue Sect Gate close by.

Ye Hui, however, also rushed over.

The magic sword was still held in his arms, every dark blue rune on its blade glowing. Having chased all this way, Ye Hui, with a cold expression, formed hand seals and chanted incantations. Another wisp of white qi leaped from his lips.

As this white qi flew out, Li Ximing not only felt his feet sink but also saw the Great Void before him change. The radiance of Xuanyue Sect's Gen Earth formation instantly faded, as if covered by a hazy white glow, and even the Great Void beneath his feet became uneven and undulating.

‘East Feather Mountain has this power too?!’

Li Ximing's spiritual sense stirred. The Great Void near Xuanyue Sect was stagnant, and the entrance to the Purple Manor formation became hazy, appearing alternately near and far. He knew that East Feather Mountain's divine ability could affect the Great Void, but he hadn't realized it possessed such profound mystique.

He exhaled flames, emerging from the Great Void and entering the real world above Mount Xuanyue. He saw the vast Mount Xuanyue shrouded in a layer of purple light, like smoke and mist, drawing the gaze of cultivators from Shanji Prefecture. Ye Hui was seated atop it, riding his dark black crow.

“No wonder Ye Hui is confident he can drag this out for three to five years... If this entanglement continues, it really will be hard for me to escape. Even if he can't kill me, spending three to five years to wear me down to minor injuries would certainly be no problem.”

Li Ximing could not enter, but he wasn't disheartened. As long as Ye Hui intended to pursue him, even if Li Ximing entered the Xuanyue Sect Gate, it would merely be a different place to be trapped. For now, it simply meant remaining outside.

However, he had long prepared a retreat plan. Having rushed to this location, why would he allow himself to be cornered for nothing? He coldly watched the opponent's purple light swirling over the Xuanyue Sect Gate.

‘But... how could Old True Lord Qi remain passive?’

He let out a cold chuckle and entered the Great Void. Although he couldn't enter the sect, he chased and fled, circling back and forth, always revolving around the Xuanyue Sect Gate. Despite taking a few hits from divine abilities, a full half an incense stick of time passed, and the purple aura continuously enveloped the Xuanyue Sect Gate.

Li Ximing knew that Su Mian also valued his reputation. He deliberately prolonged the standoff with Ye Hui. As more cultivators gathered around, Li Ximing re-entered the Great Void and finally saw True Lord Su Mian appear not far away.

The old True Lord sighed and said,

“Daoist Ye Hui... please cease! This old man... promised Daoist Chang Xi to protect Xuanyue and cannot stand idly by...”

True Lord Chang Xi died at Su Mian's Profound Mystery Temple, with his body even delivered to its gates. Which cultivator from Jiangnan or Jiangbei didn't know this? Salty Lake could be defended by Profound Mystery Temple, with the Immortal Dao simply choosing not to attack it. But now, Ye Hui had brought the fight right to the sect gates, and Li Ximing was constantly engaging, yet there was no sign of Su Mian. This would surely invite severe criticism...

Su Mian had cultivated his reputation for several hundred years, much of it related to his posthumous legacy, so he naturally couldn't abandon it. He was forced to emerge, and the moment he stood in the Great Void, Ye Hui ceased his attacks.

“So, it's Old True Lord Qi.”

Ye Hui chuckled and replied,

“I was merely sparring with True Lord Zhaojing, but I didn't intend for the commotion to grow so large and disturb you, Old True Lord. Let's stop here then.”

His relationship with Su Mian seemed not to be bad. He cast a deep glance at Li Ximing, then turned with a smile to Su Mian and asked,

“May I ask, Old True Lord Qi, what duration did you promise Chang Xi? I was planning to visit you these past few days precisely to discuss matters concerning Xuanyue!”

“To turn hostility into friendship is naturally for the best.”

Su Mian replied. Li Ximing, for his part, brushed away the enemy's magical power from his wrist, ignoring Ye Hui, and stated directly,

“I recall that True Lord said you would treat the Xuanyue disciples. One of the Kong family members was crippled and three were severely injured; I'll have them sent to you then. I apologize for the trouble, True Lord.”

Li Ximing couldn't be bothered to engage in pleasantries with Ye Hui. Since Su Mian had arrived, it indicated that he valued his reputation and, at the very least, wouldn't go back on his word. The Xuanyue disciples were gravely wounded, and if he could trouble someone else, he wouldn't do it himself.

Su Mian simply nodded upon hearing this, watching Li Ximing courteously bow and depart. Ye Hui, meanwhile, flicked his sleeves in farewell, leaving Su Mian with an immediate headache.

‘I still need to find a way to resolve this matter. Time is running out, and I also need to focus my energy on that demonic embryo. I can't always have time to deal with these two...’

Su Mian sighed and returned to Profound Mystery Temple on his way, pondering inwardly:

‘I also need to figure out how to open the Little Chamber Mountain Treasury and quickly conclude this matter, lest idle eyes keep looking this way, causing collateral damage and tying my hands...’

The original domain name has been compromised; please remember the new one.