Chapter 113: That Man Has Returned

Thump! Thump...

Accompanied by thundering hooves, four bowstrings twanged in the mist.

The white mist swirled, and the wind was fierce and biting.

Four magical arrows, imbued with the power of lightning, whistled past, heading straight for Hidden Twenty-Five.

Hidden Twenty-Five's movement technique was exceptional, allowing him to dodge all four arrows. However, this brief delay caused him to lose speed in his escape. From the white mist behind him, a yellow figure in a loose monastic robe flew off his mount like a large bird soaring through the sky, landing in front of Hidden Twenty-Five and cutting off his escape route.

A thundering rumble!

The nine riders behind quickly closed in, raising clouds of dust.

They rode massive, powerful steeds, radiating killing intent and overflowing with magical energy. The steeds had lion-like heads, blue fur, and were exceptionally majestic, having clearly drunk the blood of exotic beasts.

The nine people on horseback were all cultivators of the Eight Springs realm, dressed in monastic robes.

Five carried long-handled battle sabers, and four carried bows with quivers on their backs.

The winged mutated human cultivator who had intercepted Hidden Twenty-Five was the strongest; he was a Supreme Being who had opened the Nine Springs Ancestral Field. He wore a bright yellow monastic robe and wielded a heavy magical battle saber.

The Nine Springs monastic cultivator's wings constantly flapped on his back. His left hand formed a Dharma seal, and he said, "Amitabha! The Five Seas realm masters from the Sui Sect and the Three Chen Palaces are guarding the border. If you try to flee back there, the killing intent will be even stronger. Hand over the exotic medicine, and this humble monk will spare your life. A Buddhist cultivator always keeps his word."

Hidden Twenty-Five gripped his battle sword tightly, wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, and gritted his teeth as he scanned his surroundings. "You Coffin Mountain cultivators are truly insatiable. The nine great tribes offer tribute to that taboo entity every year, hoping for peace in return. I never expected that those tributes wouldn't satisfy your appetite, and that you would collude with the Four Great Sects. What, do you also want to carve up Lizhou?"

In the mist, a voice spoke: "You, a dignified Nine Springs Pure Immortal Body, why so much nonsense? What logic do you speak of with these Buddhist thieves?"

Li Weiyi no longer remained hidden. He appeared seven zhang away, his figure standing tall and distinct.

Dressed in night-traveling attire, he was indistinct and mysterious.

Seeing Li Weiyi, Hidden Twenty-Five was overjoyed. He said, "You don't know this, but these ten are elites specially selected from the Buddhist Thief Iron Arhat Army. They've also consumed the Dyed Glow exotic medicine, and all have entered the Eight Springs Wind Palace realm. Each one's combat technique is formidable. With their combined strength, even without relying on array formations, they can encircle and fight a master of the first stage of the Five Seas realm."

"If you can't fight them, I will."

Li Weiyi took out the Malevolent Camel Bell, channeled ancestral field magical energy into it, and shook his wrist.

Jingle! Jingle!

As the bell rang, everyone felt as if they were in a vast desert of yellow sand.

Li Weiyi still had difficulty controlling it, so the malevolent thoughts released by the Malevolent Camel Bell were an indiscriminate attack, appearing in the minds of the ten Buddhist thieves and Hidden Twenty-Five. Their heads felt like bells, constantly ringing as if being shaken. Their consciousness grew hazy, and negative emotions continuously surged.

Boom!

A colossal camel, half-illusory and half-real, burst forth from the Malevolent Camel Bell, galloping furiously with its head held high, sending the nine riders of the Iron Arhat Army sprawling.

Like a rapidly moving iron mountain, it crashed into them.

Upon falling to the ground, four people died instantly.

Li Weiyi employed his movement technique, his feet tracing streaks of light. After changing positions five times, the remaining five were also struck down.

The entire process was seamless, taking only two breaths.

Hidden Twenty-Five and the winged Nine Springs Buddhist cultivator stood stunned. Their minds seemed to have jammed, and they briefly lost the ability to think.

The Nine Springs Buddhist cultivator gasped, as if seeing a ghost. He immediately flapped his wings, attempting to fly into the sky and escape.

"Well, well, how the tables have turned."

Hidden Twenty-Five was only about a zhang away from him. He stomped his foot, and magical energy burst from his sole, propelling him three zhang into the air. With a single sword strike, he forced the cultivator back to the ground.

"I am a disciple of Nirvana Truth! If your Nine Li tribe dares to kill me, do you know the consequences?" the Nine Springs Buddhist cultivator roared.

He felt an unprecedented sense of deadly peril, his heart filled with dread. He swung his magical long saber, clashing with Hidden Twenty-Five, fighting and retreating, wanting only to get away from the God of Slaughter holding the bell.

"So what if he's a disciple of Nirvana Truth? He even dares to kill the sixth-generation descendant of a Demon King."

Hidden Twenty-Five's combat power was significantly higher than that of the Nine Springs Buddhist cultivator. After just ten moves, he had already inflicted three sword wounds on him.

Li Weiyi began searching the corpses on the ground, collecting every money pouch.

Naturally, he didn't miss the four sets of magical bows and arrows, putting all of them into the Malevolent Camel Bell's inner space.

Seeing that Hidden Twenty-Five was slow to defeat the Nine Springs Buddhist cultivator, Li Weiyi sighed and had no choice but to take out a set of bows and arrows.

The bow and arrows were forged from extremely dense metal, feeling heavy in his hand.

The bowstring was a silver thread.

He notched an arrow onto the bowstring.

Li Weiyi channeled magical energy into both the bow and the arrow, and slowly drew the string.

Sizzle! Sizzle!

The silver glow emanating from the bowstring grew increasingly bright. Countless worm-like electric patterns appeared on the arrowhead.

It wasn't easy; he couldn't draw it to a full moon solely with his physical strength.

With the enhancement of magical energy, his arms unleashed ten thousand jin of force, drawing the bow to a full moon, and shot an arrow.

Boom!

The Nine Springs Buddhist cultivator's body was severed by the arrow, his flesh exploded, splattering Hidden Twenty-Five's face.

Li Weiyi examined the black treasure bow in his hand as if he had found a priceless treasure. "So, magical bows and arrows are truly this powerful," he murmured. "I believe they're enough to threaten Five Seas realm cultivators."

Hidden Twenty-Five, covered in blood and not lightly wounded, quickly rushed over. "Magical bows and arrows are inherently more dangerous than other magical artifacts of the same rank," he explained. "Those four Eight Springs cultivators couldn't even draw the bow to a full moon, so they couldn't unleash its true power. The reason they were qualified to wield them was simply due to the environment of Burial Immortal Town, requiring them to possess enough strength to enter and gather exotic medicine."

Li Weiyi slung the bow and quiver onto his back. He was quite dissatisfied with Hidden Twenty-Five's performance. "You've already transformed into a Pure Immortal Body," he said, "yet you couldn't crush a Nine Springs mutated human. Your abilities truly disappoint me."

Hidden Twenty-Five replied, "Every Nine Springs Supreme Being is formidable. Aside from you, how can someone of the same realm be defeated in just a few moves? Give me ten more moves, and I'll certainly slay him."

Li Weiyi picked up the Nine Springs Buddhist cultivator's magical battle saber, which was very heavy and nearly two meters long. "I don't want to hear excuses," he said. "While in Burial Immortal Town, focus more on honing your combat techniques for me. If you can cultivate eight or ten moves that align with the Heavenly Dao, wouldn't killing cultivators of the same realm be effortless?"

Hidden Twenty-Five gave a wry smile. He offered no further explanation and listened in silence.

Mastering techniques is difficult.

For someone his age, even cultivating one or two techniques, let alone eight or ten, would make him a prodigy.

"Where's the exotic medicine?" Li Weiyi asked.

Hidden Twenty-Five quickly took out three wooden boxes containing the Dyed Glow exotic medicine from his robes.

Li Weiyi opened the wooden boxes and looked, instantly regarding Hidden Twenty-Five with new respect. He smiled, "Not bad! In just a few days, you've actually managed to gather three stalks of Dyed Glow exotic medicine."

Hidden Twenty-Five said, "After the internal space of Burial Immortal Town expanded, many exotic medicines were born, making them much easier to gather than before. This is also why young cultivators from the entire Southern Realm, and even further away, have been drawn here."

"Opening the Wind Palace, opening the Ancestral Field, breaking through to the Five Seas realm, and transforming into a Pure Immortal Body," Hidden Twenty-Five continued. "These are enough to make any power take notice."

"Of these three stalks, one I gathered myself," he added. "The other two I seized from the Buddhist thieves."

Li Weiyi said, "Then you deserve to be hunted down. Why steal exotic medicine from others?"

"I fought my way out of the encirclement and was preparing to rush back to Yaoguan City to report," Hidden Twenty-Five clarified. "The exotic medicine was just an opportunistic seizure."

Hidden Twenty-Five's expression grew serious, and he continued, "Although Five Seas realm experts cannot enter here, the Four Great Sects, for reasons unknown, have promised some benefits to powers from outside the province, gathering a large number of Surging Spring realm masters to deal with us. Many factions are involved. The ten riders of the Buddhist thieves were the strongest among them."

Li Weiyi's expression tightened. "Wang Daozhen and his group are likely still guarding the Five Seas realm border; you won't be able to pass," he said. "Come, let's fight our way back."

Rumble!

The two mounted the lion-headed steeds and galloped downstream along the river.

"These three stalks of Dyed Glow exotic medicine, leave them with me for now; it'll be safer," Li Weiyi said. "I'll take them back to the Hidden Sect and hand them over to the Hidden Lord. Without the Hidden Sect's boundless cultivation, you wouldn't have become a Nine Springs Pure Immortal Body. You should learn to be grateful."

Li Weiyi put away the wooden boxes. He then added, "As for the secrets about me, you'd best not reveal a single word."

Hidden Twenty-Five wasn't concerned about the three stalks of exotic medicine. After all, if Li Weiyi hadn't intervened just now, whether he could have broken through the encirclement was a highly uncertain unknown.

However, Li Weiyi's warning reminded him of the eerie power that had erupted from the bell earlier. His heart instantly filled with both reverence and dread, as he felt that this future Divine Hidden One was truly unfathomable.

The further downstream they went, the brighter the white mist became.

Streaks of brilliant immortal radiance weaved through the mist, and their field of vision gradually widened.

From a distance, Li Weiyi could already hear earth-shattering sounds of battle.

The two lion-headed steeds charged up the hillside, pulled to an abrupt halt, neighing and raising their hooves.

Li Weiyi channeled magical energy into his eyes and looked down at the crimson earth wasteland below the slope.

He saw dust swirling there, hundreds of cultivators locked in chaotic battle. Countless corpses littered the ground, blades and weapons clashed, and the light of magical artifacts continuously collided.

The Nine Li tribe had a numerical advantage, but enemies surrounded them from all directions, with even the weakest being Seven Springs cultivators.

Judging by the enemies' attire and their gathering methods, it was clear they came from over a dozen different factions.

This was a very dangerous sign!

Seeing a part, one could understand the whole.

The Four Great Sects' rebellion was something the Nine Li Hidden Sect could endure. But if they offered incentives and invited more factions to participate in this feast of carving up Lizhou, the Nine Li Hidden Sect might not be able to withstand it.

Li Weiyi successively located Cai Yutong and Gao Huan. They were Pure Immortal Bodies whose cultivation time was relatively short, so they were protected in the center of the battle.

Yao Yin stood alone at the very front, fighting over a dozen martial arts masters by herself, four of whom were Nine Springs Supreme Beings.

Although her figure was slender and delicate, she contained infinite energy. Her magical energy transformed into wind, and her robes flapped like banners. She fought a group single-handedly, and cultivators were occasionally struck down by her palm.

"What a fierce girl! Her combat power is truly formidable," one exclaimed. "Could she be a Hundred Meridians Full Silver Pure Immortal Body?"

"What if she is strong?" another retorted. "With the four of us working together, we can even kill a lineage inheritor candidate."

"Let's capture her alive. She's a Pure Immortal Body," a third man said. "Her skin is whiter than snow, her legs are long and straight, and she's at the age of blossoming. Haha!"

The four Nine Springs Supreme Beings who were besieging Yao Yin were none of them weak. They were the Surging Spring realm leaders of four million-strong factions, with profound combat skills and seasoned techniques.

"Three days ago, Yao Yin consumed the exotic medicine she had gathered and broke through to the Nine Springs realm," Hidden Twenty-Five commented from the hillside. "She should be a Hundred Meridians Pure Immortal Body; although not yet full silver, her combat power is already far superior to mine."

Whack!

Hidden Twenty-Five sharply slapped his horse's flank with the flat of his sword, urging his horse down the mountain. Raising a trail of dust, he charged towards the wasteland battlefield, shouting loudly, "Sima Tan is here! Sima Tan has returned! He's not dead!"

The three words 'Sima Tan' were very intimidating.

The cultivators from all factions on the wasteland all looked towards the black-clad figure on horseback at the top of the hillside. Some were startled and doubtful, while others were wary.

The young cultivators of the Nine Li tribe were naturally overjoyed, shouting the name "Sima Tan."

Besieged by multiple factions, they had originally lost all confidence, fighting with the mindset of "killing one means breaking even, killing two means profit." But with that man's return, everything changed. Their confidence surged, and their fighting spirit soared.

Only Gao Huan, among the crowd, felt a wave of annoyance. This repeated name made him quite depressed.

Why that name of all names?

"How could he still be alive?"

Yang Yun was very frustrated. Wang Daozhen had clearly told them Sima Tan was dead and to hunt freely.

Could the one before them be a departed spirit?

Li Weiyi drew his bow and notched an arrow.

Boom!

Boom!

He successively shot five arrows, one for each target.

Of the dozen or so martial arts masters besieging Yao Yin, five bodies instantly exploded in succession, turning into shattered remains and chunks of flesh.

The arrowhead's power was too immense; once struck, it was difficult to leave a complete corpse.

Seeing her attackers cease, Yao Yin finally relaxed. Her slightly rising chest heaved, and she gasped for air. Her exquisite eyes, like blue gems, looked towards Li Weiyi on the mountaintop. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she cried tears of joy.

She had truly believed that Li Weiyi had died under the siege of the Four Great Sects' Five Seas realm cultivators.

"Don't be afraid of him. How strong can he possibly be?" a voice called out. "A few of you, come and attack with me."

A Nine Springs Pure Immortal Body from outside the province, unlike Yang Yun, was not so afraid of "Sima Tan." He quickly gathered over a dozen cultivators, all moving like afterimages, charging towards the top of the hillside.

The weakest among them were all at the Seven Springs realm, and there were three Nine Springs Supreme Beings among them.