Chapter 105: One Slash

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao was slender, more akin to a monkey, with a pointed snout, a bumpy forehead, and protruding tusks. It moved with incredible speed, soaring through the air like a cloud of fire, quickly catching up to Hidden Twenty-Five.

Its knife-sharp claws lashed out, forming a crimson glow, and the air crackled as if burning.

Hidden Twenty-Five felt as though the entire world behind him was ablaze. The immense pressure bore down, leaving no escape. He could only gather the last remnants of his spiritual energy from his ancestral field, grit his teeth, turn around, and fight fiercely with his blade.

"Boom!"

The two streams of spiritual energy collided, then exploded.

Sand and stones flew across the beach, and fierce winds raged.

After enduring the blow, Hidden Twenty-Five spat out blood, his body flung backward, landing on one knee to support himself. He still gripped his executioner's blade tightly, but his entire arm was numb with pain and trembled uncontrollably.

Martial cultivators on the various boats along the shore were startled, gathering on decks, at railings, and by windows, many eager to witness the spectacle.

"This black-clothed man's combat power is impressive; he fought the Fire Ape of the Law Dao for over a dozen moves before being defeated."

"Is he a Nine Springs Supreme Being from the Jiuli tribe? He looks unfamiliar; I haven't seen him before."

"Perhaps he's a Nine Springs Supreme Being secretly cultivated by the Jiuli tribe. He's already formidable, but unfortunately, his opponent possesses a Pure Immortal Body. Below the Five Seas Realm, the Fire Ape of the Law Dao's combat power is considered among the strongest in the entire Lingxiao realm."

On the large ships lined up by the water, the martial cultivators from various Jiuli tribe sections had grim faces and heavy hearts, unable to jest or laugh like the other cultivators.

They didn't know who Hidden Twenty-Five was, but anyone who dared to step into the arena and challenge the Fire Ape of the Law Dao was a hero of the Jiuli tribe, worthy of admiration.

At the very least, it showed the world that the Jiuli tribe still had people, still possessed courage and spirit.

"Boom!"

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao cackled menacingly, landing heavily on the ground, its feet stamping out a crater.

Its body appeared to be forged from glazed jade, and the flames burning on its fur were intensely hot, causing the ground to hiss and the earth and stones to melt.

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao looked at Hidden Twenty-Five, who was kneeling and unable to fight further. It wasn't in a hurry to attack. Instead, it deliberately laughed loudly, wanting all the martial cultivators in the entire water area to hear its words: "Is that all you've got? I told you, the Jiuli tribe has no Supreme Beings. Why must you insist?"

These words naturally infuriated countless Jiuli tribe cultivators on the boats.

Yet, they all dared to be angry, but not to speak.

The Tianya Ridge's might overshadowed the Southern Region, and with even the Four Extremes Ape King having arrived in Lizhou, the Jiuli tribe was suffocating under pressure from top to bottom. This humiliating and oppressive feeling, like a knife hanging over their heads, could only be truly understood by those experiencing it.

Hidden Twenty-Five's eyes were sharp and cold. He gripped his executioner's blade again, stood up slowly without a word, assuming a stance of fighting to the death.

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao's eyes were stern: "The Sixth Generation Grandson long ago declared that all you Jiuli tribe cultivators of the Spring Realm should get out and not meddle with the opportunities in Buried Immortal Town. Otherwise, we'll kill every one we see. But you haven't taken his words to heart at all, showing no respect. Instead, you're even holding some 'Longshan Grand Ceremony'. In that case, there's no choice but to start hunting all of you down from that damn ceremony tomorrow. Buried Immortal Town will first bury Jiuli!"

Hidden Twenty-Five raised his voice: "The Jiuli tribe may have declined over the past few centuries, falling behind this era in terms of combat power. But if we lose even our last shred of spirit, if we don't even have the courage to fight to the death, then there truly will be no hope!"

"Well said!" From the inner hall of a massive black iron-framed warship in the distance, someone with keen hearing whispered this.

Then, a tribal leader pushed open the cabin door and stepped out, telling a Five Seas Realm elder guarding outside: "Go save him! The Fire Ape of the Law Dao has broken the rules; it pursued him even after he left the arena. It's utterly lawless."

This tribal leader was very angry but felt helpless. He wanted to use this opportunity to kill the Fire Ape of the Law Dao, but the demon leader of Tianya Ridge was in Yaoguan City, and Suizong leader Yao Qian was also present.

If he were to kill the Fire Ape of the Law Dao, it would surely provoke those two.

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao sensed a Jiuli tribe Five Seas Realm cultivator approaching rapidly across the river. It smirked, then fierce flames surged on its arm as it lunged, aiming for the heart.

"How dare you!"

The Jiuli tribe Five Seas Realm elder was still a hundred zhang away on the water and could only let out a fierce roar, hoping to intimidate the opponent.

Unfortunately, the Fire Ape of the Law Dao paid him no mind.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, everyone believed Hidden Twenty-Five was surely doomed, lamenting the Jiuli tribe's precarious situation.

Yet, they saw.

From the nearest large ship, which bore a "medicine" flag, a golden blade light rose, making the sun in the sky dim by comparison.

The figure, moving as one with the blade, instantly covered a distance of nearly ten zhang, slashing down powerfully.

The executioner's blade was long and heavy.

"Boom!"

A burst of sparks exploded on the Fire Ape of the Law Dao's body, and its glazed, pure immortal demon body was sent flying straight back, smashing through a pier dozens of meters away and scattering shattered wood.

Its body ploughed a long furrow in the ground, and it lay at the end of the furrow, unable to get up again.

One decisive and dominant strike decided the outcome.

The Jiuli tribe's Five Seas Realm elder arrived, came ashore from the water, and was stunned by the sight. His gaze fell upon the proud, heroic black figure standing before Hidden Twenty-Five, holding the executioner's blade.

There was not much joy in his heart; instead, he secretly thought, "This is bad."

In his opinion, Li Weiyi must be a Five Seas Realm cultivator.

Even if the Fire Ape of the Law Dao broke the rules first, how could the demons of Tianya Ridge let it go if a Five Seas Realm cultivator attacked a Spring Realm cultivator?

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh..."

A group of Spring Realm demons rushed forward, stunned by the scene, then surrounded the Fire Ape of the Law Dao.

Some demons tried to help it up.

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao immediately stopped them: "Don't... don't move... it's broken, all my ribs are fractured, my chest cavity is shattered. Quick, quickly summon the strong ones from the tribe..."

An ape demon quickly cast a spiritual light talisman.

"Boom!"

The spiritual light talisman flew straight into the sky, exploding in mid-air and transforming into a bright demonic cloud that lingered for a long time.

Li Weiyi paid no mind to any of this. He was a Spring Realm cultivator, and a Spring Realm cultivator killing another Spring Realm cultivator was typically something that, unless someone wanted to immediately instigate a clan-destroying war, would be grudgingly accepted. Or, they could seek revenge secretly.

If the Jiuli tribe didn't even dare to stand up to this, then they were destined for extinction, and no other force could be blamed.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Li Weiyi turned to look at the heavily injured Hidden Twenty-Five.

Hidden Twenty-Five shook his head: "No! I want to collect the rare medicine for transforming into a Pure Immortal Body. Then, the outcome of our fight won't be so certain."

"You reminded me! The Fire Ape of the Law Dao also offered a rare medicine as a reward."

Li Weiyi, carrying his blood-stained executioner's blade, walked towards the heavily injured, dying Fire Ape of the Law Dao, who was sprawled on the ground. He sighed inwardly, realizing he was too weak from the twelve Broken Spring Needles and hadn't been able to kill it with one strike.

On board ship after ship, countless cultivators were stunned.

"What is he doing? I feel a strong murderous aura from him."

"My heavens, he's not going to deliver the final blow, is he?"

"Standing up to Tianya Ridge so fearlessly and ruthlessly?"

Some Jiuli tribe cultivators were excited, their blood boiling: "Kill him! The Jiuli tribe should have had such a strong, iron-fisted expert of the Five Seas Realm act long ago, to chop down that wildly arrogant ape demon."

"All you know is killing. Do you know the consequences of killing the Fire Ape of the Law Dao? Who can withstand the wrath of the Four Extremes Ape King?"

"Then you'll live in fear your whole life!"

The group of Spring Realm demons surrounding the Fire Ape of the Law Dao saw Li Weiyi approaching with his blade. Not at all afraid, a dozen of them stepped forward, baring their fangs.

"Human, your death is imminent. You heavily wounded Lord Fire Ape; you won't live to see nightfall." An ape demon roared angrily.

Another demon bird sensed Li Weiyi's sharp aura and felt something was amiss, so it threatened: "The spiritual light talisman has been cast; our demon tribe's strong ones will arrive soon. If you escape now, you might still have a chance to live."

"What level of demon dares to threaten me?"

Li Weiyi couldn't understand. Was his aura not strong enough to intimidate them?

So, he swung the 1.5-meter long executioner's blade in his hand, and the blade light swept out several zhang, frightening the group of demons into fleeing in disarray. Two dog demons were too slow to escape and were caught by the blade light, instantly severed into two halves, their blood spilling onto the ground.

Completely ignoring the distant demons' shouts, Li Weiyi walked up to the Fire Ape of the Law Dao, looked down, and asked, "Where is the rare medicine?"

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao was confused, not understanding what the other party was saying.

It lay on the ground, unable to move, its chest continually bleeding.

Li Weiyi squatted down, fumbled around on the Fire Ape of the Law Dao's body, his eyes lighting up as he pulled out a rectangular wooden box.

The wooden box exuded a heavy yin aura.

It was made from the wood of an exotic coffin.

Opening it, wisps of immortal mist and medicinal fragrance wafted out. A white herb lay quietly inside, with three leaves and over a dozen red fruits growing in the center.

The leaves were like jade, the fruits like fire, and they had undergone a mutation from being nourished by the immortal mist, making them extremely valuable.

Li Weiyi quickly closed the wooden box, put it into his embrace, and his rigid impression of the Fire Ape of the Law Dao changed considerably. He laughed: "I thought, with your arrogant personality, that your so-called rare medicine reward was just talk. I didn't expect you to be so genuine; you truly had a rare medicine on you."

The Fire Ape of the Law Dao's chest heaved violently with anger, and blood gushed rapidly from the wound where the blade had severed all its ribs.

Li Weiyi shouted to the cultivators on the boats along the shore: "Everyone, bear witness. I'm only taking what I'm owed. It was this ape itself that offered a rare medicine as a reward for the arena fight."

An ape demon trembled with rage: "You are courting death."

Li Weiyi asked: "Do you want to fight me?"

The ape demon immediately closed its mouth, choosing to endure and restrain itself.

The Jiuli tribe's Five Seas Realm elder was truly astonished; he had never seen such an anomaly in his tribe. He transmitted his voice to Li Weiyi with spiritual energy: "Escape quickly, if you don't leave now, you won't be able to!"

"Roar!"

"Howl!"

Two earth-shattering roars from demon cultivators echoed for dozens of miles, causing the river surface to churn and boats to sway.

Two Five Seas Realm demon cultivators arrived at the dock: a tiger demon and a wolf demon. Their cultivation was profound; they had begun to take on human form and could walk upright, but they still retained their tiger and wolf bodies, their fur not having receded.

The tiger demon went to check on the Fire Ape of the Law Dao's injuries, only to discover...

It had stopped breathing, and the ground was covered in blood.

"What exactly happened?" The tiger demon roared in fury.

The group of Spring Realm demons trembled, intimidated by the tiger demon's power, and knelt down one after another.

The ape demon tremblingly said: "It was still breathing originally... Lord Fire Ape was literally angered to death by that human cultivator."

Li Weiyi had just returned, rejoining Yao Yin and Hidden Twenty-Five, and was immediately astonished upon hearing this.

It actually died?

After understanding the situation, the tiger demon and wolf demon were filled with intense murderous intent. In the past ten years of chaos, only Tianya Ridge had ever killed others; this was the first time they encountered someone who dared to wield a butcher's knife against them.

The two demons menacingly advanced towards Li Weiyi and the other two, clouds of extremely ferocious demonic energy emanating from their bodies.

The Jiuli tribe's Five Seas Realm elder hesitated for a moment, but ultimately stepped forward to block the two demons: "It was the Fire Ape of the Law Dao who broke the rules first. Our Nine Springs cultivator had already surrendered and left the arena, yet it still pursued him."

The wolf demon, standing four meters tall, said: "Are you implying the Fire Ape of the Law Dao deserved to die? It is a Nine Springs Pure Immortal Body. How many of your Jiuli tribe's worthless lives would be enough to compensate?"

The tiger demon said: "This matter won't be easily dismissed. First, take the lives of those three and bring them back to report to the Sixth Generation Grandson."

From inside a massive three-decked battleship very close to the "medicine" flag ship, a melodious female voice echoed: "When Spring Realm cultivators clash, it looks bad for you Five Seas Realm cultivators to interfere. This isn't saving face for Tianya Ridge; it's losing even more face."

All eyes turned towards that massive battleship.

Some were surprised, some bewildered, some shocked.

What did she mean? The human man who killed the Fire Ape of the Law Dao with one strike was actually a Spring Realm cultivator?

How could this be?

Li Weiyi also looked over. He had only made one strike, yet his true strength was seen through. There were many masters present, so why was only her eyesight so formidable?

Unfortunately, the massive battleship's hull was as tall as a city wall, making it impossible to discern the identity of the speaker.