Chapter 119: Zuo Qiu Ting

The pages of the iron book were as thin as blades, yet incredibly hard. Forged from highly dense metal, these paper-thin pages weighed several pounds each and created vortexes of air when spun in flight.

"Thud!"

A large boulder by the stream was struck and instantly pierced through, as if it were tofu.

"Mid-tier artifact!"

Ape Sheng's eyes widened in alarm, and he quickly fled.

Only a small minority of martial cultivators in the First and Second Realms of the Five Seas possessed mid-tier artifacts. Chen Jingtang possessed one, firstly, because his talent was exceptional, having broken through Nine Springs to reach the Five Seas. Secondly, due to the significance of the Battle of Buried Immortals Town, the iron book was bestowed upon him by an elder from the Three Chen Palace.

Powerful mid-tier artifacts like the iron book cost nearly a hundred million, making them almost as expensive as high-tier artifacts.

Ape Sheng knew he absolutely couldn't defend against all thirty-five pages. Moreover, the pursuer behind him was incredibly fast, likely also a figure in the Second Realm of the Five Seas. There was no escape; he would soon be caught.

There was only one option: rely on his formidable physique to withstand the attacks, charge forward, and fight to the death.

The piercing sound of air being torn grew closer behind him.

Suddenly.

Demonic energy erupted from under Ape Sheng's feet, forming a gray cloud. His massive, ton-heavy body suddenly leaped more than twenty meters into the air, avoiding all the pages.

He raised his hammer mid-air.

Despite his bulky physique, he was remarkably agile. He spun around and smashed the hammer down at Li Weiyi below.

The war hammer and the cloud of demonic energy scattered most of the flying iron pages. Only a few pages continued to slice towards him, but they were temporarily blocked by the demonic energy enveloping his body.

"I must heavily injure him within ten moves, or I won't escape death today."

Unlike the cultivators of the Spring Realm, Ape Sheng possessed a fierce, do-or-die fighting spirit, and his timing was impeccable. This hammer strike, imbued with combat intent, locked onto Li Weiyi's vital energy.

"This big fellow isn't lacking in intelligence! As expected, any life form capable of cultivating to the Second Realm of the Five Seas is not simple."

Li Weiyi experienced the true presence of combat intent for the first time.

The most direct sensation was a constraint on his thought and consciousness.

It was as if a voice was constantly telling him: "You can't dodge, you mustn't dodge, this hammer will kill you, you're dead!"

A cultivator unable to resist combat intent would likely have their will collapse, leaving them to accept death. The human cultivator in the First Realm of the Five Seas, whom Ape Sheng had previously killed with a hammer, most likely encountered the same predicament.

It wasn't just a mental suppression.

More tangibly, invisible walls seemed to appear from all directions, pressing down on Li Weiyi, locking onto, pulling, and suppressing his physical body.

Spiritual flames flickered on Li Weiyi's brow as he used his mind power to resist the combat intent. He sidestepped, his figure flowing like wind, instantly appearing several meters away.

"Boom!"

The war hammer slammed into the ground, creating a colossal crater.

The powerful demonic energy erupting from around the crater transformed into a strong wind, striking Li Weiyi.

Li Weiyi was not intimidated by his opponent's ferocity. Instead of retreating, he advanced, leaping forward and seizing the opportunity to unleash his Heaven's Dao Harmonization Scattered Hand technique, the Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal.

"It wasn't a clash of combat intents, but rather him escaping my combat intent lock with mind power. Could it be... he's not in the Second Realm of the Five Seas, but merely a cultivator in the First Realm?"

The pressure on Ape Sheng's heart significantly decreased. He secretly speculated that the opponent's invisibility cloak was likely a mid-tier, or even high-tier, artifact. The opponent's superior speed must have been due to the power of their artifact.

He figured this was a prodigy, having broken through Nine Springs to Five Seas, trained by a major power.

After opening his Tenth Spring, Li Weiyi's Qi quality improved, and the Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal he unleashed underwent wondrous transformations.

The Heaven's Dao Harmonization manifested itself.

"Swish!"

Streams of bright Qi surged from his palm, intertwining to form a square Heaven-Overturning Divine Seal the size of a millstone.

The base of the seal bore blurred secret runes, and its body featured a coiled dragon phantom.

Ape Sheng launched a fist the size of a water vat to meet the attack. He was momentarily startled by the extraordinary brilliance of the great seal but assumed it was merely an illusion created by an artifact and didn't pay it much mind.

"Boom!"

The human and the demon, whose body sizes differed by more than tenfold, both simultaneously recoiled.

"This kid has immense strength! Was that divine seal projection just now a high-tier artifact?"

Ape Sheng was secretly astonished, further convinced that Li Weiyi was a top-tier genius of the First Realm of the Five Seas, carrying a powerful artifact. He then swung his war hammer and strode forward to attack.

"So, the Twelve Scattered Hands of the Chan Gate are this powerful. The combat strength unleashed bare-handed is even greater than when using an artifact."

Li Weiyi looked at his palm, momentarily stunned by his own power.

Martial cultivation seemed to have become even more mysterious and wondrous.

Seeing Ape Sheng charge forward like a mountain, hammer raised with immense momentum, he decided to test the power of the Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal again. This time, he not only channeled Qi but also activated the immortal mists within his Divine Aperture.

"Whoosh!"

Stepping into a bow stance, he struck out with a palm. Under the flowing intertwining of Qi and immortal mists, the millstone-sized Heaven-Overturning Ancient Seal reformed, brighter than before, imbued with immortal light and Dao essence.

"Rumble!"

Ape Sheng reeled back, as if struck by a stone mountain.

His hands ached from the impact, and demonic blood flowed from the web between his thumb and forefinger. The war hammer had almost flown from his grasp during its collision with the divine seal projection.

Li Weiyi stood his ground, his feet sinking into the earth from the explosive force transferred through the war hammer. Excited and with high battle intent, he shouted, "Again!"

He sprang up, rushed forward, and while controlling the thirty-five iron pages, he unleashed the Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal once more, carefully observing its profound mysteries.

Several miles away, a figure enveloped in Qi swiftly moved across the grassland.

He stopped beneath a giant black tree on the mountaintop. His figure was tall and straight; it was Wang Daozhen, one of the top three young masters of the Wang family from the Sui Sect.

Like Ape Sheng, he had been ordered to guard this location and ensure the capture of "Sima Tan."

Wang Daozhen recognized the iron book and the night cloak, knowing that the person fighting Ape Sheng must be "Sima Tan." He was inwardly shocked: "Has he broken into the Five Seas Realm? To be able to suppress Ape Sheng in speed and strength so soon after breaking through, this kid is truly an anomaly in martial arts."

"He is Sima Tan!"

Wang Daozhen shouted a warning, then rode the wind and Qi, striding towards the battlefield.

"He's Sima Tan?"

Ape Sheng, dazed by Li Weiyi's strange palm seals, was startled by Wang Daozhen's warning. Just as he was wondering, an iron page finally pierced his demonic energy defense and sliced across his chest.

His chest muscles were cut open, blood flowed freely, and the pain was unbearable.

Seeing Wang Daozhen appear, Li Weiyi abandoned his practice and testing mindset. He attacked with full force, aiming for a swift victory.

After killing the lynx demon, Li Ling arrived nearby, her deep, profound eyes observing the palm seal Li Weiyi had just used.

Wang Daozhen appeared on the hill opposite her, a wary look in his eyes. He knew this sixteen-year-old genius girl had already reached the Heavenly Fire Realm of the Square Foot. To save Ape Sheng, he would have to get past her.

A long, clear whistle echoed, growing closer from afar.

Chen Ying, the Five Seas Realm expert from Three Chen Palace stationed there, arrived from a distance, enveloping five young Jiuli clan cultivators in clouds of Qi. She formed a triangular standoff with Wang Daozhen and Li Ling.

She appeared to be in her fifties, with sharp eyes and dressed in low-tier artifact level iron cloth battle armor.

Upon arrival, Chen Ying directly grabbed the arm of a thirteen or fourteen-year-old Spring Realm youth and threw him like a stone towards Li Weiyi and Ape Sheng, who were engaged in battle several dozen meters away.

Simultaneously, Wang Daozhen swiftly charged down the hill, drawing his Array-Splitting Whip, and lunged towards Li Weiyi.

Li Ling glanced at the battlefield, seeing Ape Sheng bleeding profusely, and decided not to intervene. She looked at Chen Ying and asked, "Are you the only three guarding this place?"

"Three aren't enough?"

Chen Ying remained calm and composed. "I know you're strong, but I have four more hostages here. Which do you think is faster, saving people or killing people?"

Below the hill, a scream echoed.

Ape Sheng's face was struck by a palm, his skull cracked, and his body heavily collapsed.

Li Weiyi looked at the Jiuli clan youth falling from above and Wang Daozhen approaching with his whip, secretly admiring the Four Great Sects' understanding and exploitation of human weaknesses.

Had Ape Sheng lasted even one more breath, Li Weiyi would have been forced to save the boy, thereby falling into a pincer attack from two Second Realm Five Seas experts.

"Swish!"

Li Weiyi took out the Ghost Banner and gracefully floated up from the ground.

He enveloped the Jiuli clan youth in the nether mist surging from the Ghost Banner.

Wang Daozhen looked at Li Weiyi, still mid-air, a cold, triumphant smile in his eyes. Having calculated his descent speed and position, he flew forward and swung his Array-Splitting Whip through the air.

Without the suppression of that mysterious natural energy, he could finally go all out, and his combat power greatly increased.

The long whip's flames were dazzling, causing the space around it to explode.

"Howl!"

A dragon's roar echoed through the mountains.

What he saw was Li Weiyi, who should have been falling back to the ground, with a phantom yellow dragon over ten meters long appearing around him. He stepped on empty air, ascending to the heavens step by step.

Li Weiyi himself was startled by the dragon's roar.

He had only executed "Yellow Dragon Ascending to Heaven," so why did a dragon phantom appear?

He walked through the void, as if stepping on the back of a rapidly flying yellow dragon, each step covering several meters.

By the time he landed, he had traversed from the foot of the hill to the hilltop, appearing beside Li Ling. Only a shocked and bewildered Wang Daozhen remained, still holding his whip by the stream.

Li Ling's large eyes flickered with surprise. "What kind of technique is that?"

"Perhaps... this is the true Heaven's Dao Harmonization!"

Li Weiyi hadn't fully figured it out himself, so he could only explain it this way, releasing the Jiuli clan youth from the Ghost Banner's embrace.

Heaven's Dao Harmonization refers to cultivating techniques to a point where they align with certain wondrous laws of the heavens and earth. The more alignment, the more mysterious and powerful they evidently become.

Others' Heaven's Dao Harmonization merely touched upon a few traces of these laws. Li Weiyi felt that his diligent practice of the Twelve Scattered Hands of the Chan Gate, day in and day out for ten years, might have absorbed more, leading to greater power and the spontaneous manifestation of Dao essence.

"I feel like this is your combat intent taking form?" Li Ling said.

A cultivator's combat intent is almost always derived from techniques of Heaven's Dao Harmonization, then further integrated with their own essence, qi, and spirit.

"Not quite, I haven't felt any combat intent yet."

Li Weiyi's gaze fell upon the ruthless middle-aged woman on the opposite hill. A strong chill filled his heart as he asked in a calm tone, "Aren't you going to save them?"

Li Ling replied, "It's hard to save them! She can kill much faster than we can save."

"Should we be threatened by her, or just let them die?" Li Weiyi didn't want either option. He transmitted his thoughts telepathically: "You're a great mind master. Use long-range mind power attacks to restrain her and buy me time."

"It's a bit risky, but we can try. There's no other way, anyway."

Li Ling formed a hand seal, and a pillar of light connecting to the sky's clouds shot up from her head. Mist-like spiritual flames exploded outward, instantly reaching the opposite hill.

The Earth Fire Realm was like the flames of the earth, capable of illuminating dozens of meters around.

The Heavenly Fire Realm, however, was like a cloud of fire in the sky, its spiritual light able to reach several miles away.

"Howl!"

The dragon's roar sounded again.

Li Weiyi seized the opportunity to unleash Yellow Dragon Ascending to Heaven and charged forward. The Qi and immortal mists surging from his body seemed to align with a certain law between heaven and earth, automatically condensing into a yellow dragon that appeared and disappeared, heading directly towards the top of the opposite hill, dozens of meters away.

Wang Daozhen stood by the stream at the foot of the hill, watching Li Weiyi tread on a dragon across the sky. His resolve wavered, unsure if this was truly "Sima Tan."

How could a cultivator in the First Realm of the Five Seas defy the heavens to such an extent?

Chen Ying, experienced in battle, immediately activated her combat intent to resist the moment Li Ling launched her mind power attack.

"Boom!"

Her combat intent, along with her Qi, burst from her body, forming a cloud that was almost humanoid.

This was a manifestation of combat intent nearing physical form!

It was evident that Chen Ying's martial cultivation was far deeper than Ape Sheng's or Wang Daozhen's, already approaching the Third Realm of the Five Seas.

Chen Ying knew she was no match for Li Ling; a crushing defeat was inevitable, and she prepared to retreat. But before retreating, she resolved to kill all four Jiuli clan cultivators behind her, ensuring the enemy paid a price.

Glancing at Li Weiyi, who was stepping through the air on a dragon, Chen Ying spread her arms wide. Innumerable Qi-infused flying needles condensed between her hands and shot out like rain.

"She can still use martial arts techniques while enduring a Heavenly Fire Realm Grand Mind Master's mind power attack?"

Li Weiyi realized his opponent was extraordinary and dared not be careless. He swiftly channeled all his Qi and immortal mists into his night cloak, while simultaneously unleashing the Heaven-Overturning Palm Seal mid-air.

Chen Ying turned, about to kill and escape.

But she discovered that the four young Jiuli clan cultivators behind her had vanished without a sound.

This...

Even with Chen Ying's calm demeanor, her face turned deathly pale from fright. The surroundings became eerily silent; only her own heartbeat could be heard.

"Whoosh!"

A white folding fan flew from seemingly nowhere.

The fan spun in a circle, and a line of blood immediately appeared around Chen Ying's neck. Her eyes bulged, and she fell straight down.

A martial expert nearing the Third Realm of the Five Seas had died instantly.

Even at her death, she didn't know who had killed her.

Li Weiyi blocked the rain of Qi-infused flying needles, but found it difficult to maintain his Yellow Dragon Ascending to Heaven movement technique. He plummeted straight down the mountain, horrified. He quickly activated the blood mist and blood-red scriptures of his Corpse Robe soft armor.

His fall was cushioned, and his body hit the ground without serious injury.

But his shock was hard to settle.

This Yellow Dragon Ascending to Heaven movement technique, if disturbed by an enemy's attack, would cause his internal Qi flow to become uneven, interrupting the ascent.

"I still need to practice more! Or break through to the Five Seas Realm; with thicker Qi, it should be much better."

Li Weiyi stood up and looked towards the top of the hill where Chen Ying was. His expression grew solemn. Moments before, while in mid-air, he had clearly seen a figure appear out of thin air behind Chen Ying, incredibly bizarre and moving too fast for the eye to discern.

From the mountainside, he walked to the summit.

Li Weiyi saw from a distance a handsome man in a green robe, holding a folding fan, standing gracefully beside Chen Ying's corpse.

He wasn't very tall, only a little over 1.7 meters, but he possessed a pure immortal body with flawless skin. His face was extraordinarily beautiful, with sword-like eyebrows, star-like eyes, and lips and nostrils seemingly carved by divine craftsmanship. He wore a scholar's turban on his head and a brocade belt around his waist, his body spotless.

The four young Jiuli clan cultivators all stood behind him.

Li Ling hurried over, appearing opposite the handsome man in the scholar's turban. She bowed gracefully, a red-lipped, white-toothed smile on her face. "Thank you, Young Master Zuoqiu, for your righteous intervention once again. Otherwise, these four young Jiuli clan members would likely have died at that old woman's hands."

"It's nothing, merely a small effort."

He originally exuded an extraordinary noble aura, but as soon as he spoke, it transformed into polite scholarly elegance and humility.

Li Weiyi always felt a peculiar sense of incongruity about Young Master Zuoqiu, so he had no intention of befriending him. He looked at Wang Daozhen, who was fleeing rapidly, and said, "I'll go after him first!"

"Brother Sima, why bother with him? Let him escape a hundred li first; it won't be too late to pursue then."

A breeze swept by, and the handsome man in the scholar's turban appeared before Li Weiyi. He cupped his fist and smiled, "I am Zuoqiu Ting, from Qiuzhou."

"Zuoqiu Clan?"

Li Weiyi was forced to return the greeting, or it would appear too impolite.

Li Ling walked through the foot-tall grass, her demeanor shifting back to that of a playful and adorable girl. She introduced, "Young Master Zuoqiu is this generation's inheritor of the Zuoqiu Clan. A while ago, my brother was ambushed by the Dragon Gate inheritor and the Heartless Golden Ape, and it was he who stepped in to help."

Li Weiyi's heart trembled, and he looked at him again.

He knew the other party's cultivation was high, but he hadn't expected him to be an inheritor-level figure.

This was undoubtedly one of the top few individuals among the younger generation in the Southern Region!

Zuoqiu Ting closed his fan, waved his hand, and laughed heartily, "A small matter, nothing worth mentioning. The Zuoqiu Clan and the Jiuli clan have been friends for generations. How could I stand idly by when the Jiuli clan is in trouble?"

Li Weiyi asked, "This area is the barrier where Spring Realm cultivators enter the Immortal Realm. Young Master Zuoqiu, with your exceptional cultivation, what brings someone of your caliber here?"

Li Ling heard the suspicion in Li Weiyi's voice and, fearing he might offend the man, was about to speak.

Zuoqiu Ting spoke first: "I came specifically to find you."

Li Weiyi was surprised and chuckled, "What do you mean by that?"

"The news of Sima Tan cleaving the Fiery Ape of the Dao with one strike and slaying the sixth descendant of the Demon King with three strikes has spread throughout the Five Seas Realm, astonishing everyone. Do you know of the Thirty-Three Li Mountain? Only Spring Realm cultivators can enter it. I originally intended to come and ask for your assistance to enter the mountain and help dig for some immortal soil. But who would have thought you've already broken into the Five Seas Realm? Haha, I'm too late!"

Zuoqiu Ting spread his hands and gave a wry smile.

Li Ling clearly trusted Zuoqiu Ting immensely and asked, "Has Yaoyin broken through to Nine Springs?"

"Young Master Zuoqiu, please wait a moment."

Li Weiyi pulled Li Ling's sleeve, leading her aside. After releasing Qi to envelop them both, he asked, "Has this inheritor of the Zuoqiu Clan truly helped you?"

Li Ling said, "Young Master Zuoqiu is a chivalrous hero with a righteous heart. He has helped us three times. If not for him, I probably wouldn't have been able to break through and get here."

"Why would he help you?" Li Weiyi asked.

Li Ling replied, "The Jiuli clan and the Zuoqiu Clan have been friends for generations, supporting each other for thousands of years."

"The Yang clan of the Sui Sect has intermarried with your Cangli tribe for generations, yet aren't they just as ambitious and treacherous?" Li Weiyi looked at Zuoqiu Ting in the distance, who responded with a smiling nod.

Li Weiyi whispered cautiously, "This person clearly has a cold and arrogant face, yet his demeanor is refined and gentle. He wears a plain green robe, but his belt is luxurious and ornate. He's short and slender, with feminine features. There's an incongruity about him everywhere; he definitely has issues."

Li Ling smiled, "When did you become so harsh with your words? Where is he short or slender, or incongruous? Are you perhaps jealous that he's more handsome and dashing than you?"

Li Weiyi was speechless. He stated with certainty, "I won't let Yaoyin take risks."

Li Ling's smile vanished. "Are you falling for her?"

"I can't say another word to you."

Li Weiyi trusted his intuition and remained highly wary of Zuoqiu Ting. He strode down the mountain. By the stream, he searched Ape Sheng's body for a moment and found the snow-pear-sized metal artifact treasure bottle.

He activated his mind power and spiritual light, entering the bottle.

Inside the bottle, there was indeed a small space, but the golden spring water was only a thin layer.

This golden spring water was very similar to the golden spring of the Jiuli Hidden Sect, but of higher quality, like liquid gold.

"I wonder if it can help forge golden trace veins?"

Li Weiyi frowned slightly. Lacking understanding of this golden spring, he dared not consume it lightly.

After Zuoqiu Ting and Li Ling sent the five young cultivators into the barrier boundary, they walked down the mountain side-by-side. One was handsome and refined, the other lively and brilliant, like legendary golden boy and jade girl, walking with laughter and conversation, discussing who knew what.

Zuoqiu Ting's gaze fell on Li Weiyi, his eyes full of wisdom. After a brief pause, he called out from a distance, "Brother Sima, if you're interested in this golden spring, then you must make a trip to the Thirty-Three Li Mountain. This is a treasure for body tempering and bone forging."

Li Ling followed up, "That's right! It's said that with good luck, you might find the golden spring at the foot of the mountain, without even needing to enter it."

Zuoqiu Ting said, "Li Ling just told me about your concerns. It's fine; the Thirty-Three Li Mountain does have some dangers, and immortal soil isn't absolutely necessary. It's understandable that you'd worry about your beloved venturing into danger. We can't go in to dig ourselves, but we can snatch it! There are always some Spring Realm cultivators from other forces who manage to dig some out; we can just take theirs."

Li Weiyi glared at Li Ling: "Don't talk nonsense, what 'beloved'?"

Li Ling said, "Just tell me if you're going to the Thirty-Three Li Mountain or not? If you're not, we'll be leaving!"

"No," Li Weiyi said.

Zuoqiu Ting took the insect pouch from his waist, opened it, and a palm-sized green dragonfly flapped its wings and flew out.

"Zuoqiu Qingteng, enlarge!" he commanded.

The dragonfly's abdomen burst with bright light, and its body rapidly grew enormous, becoming over six meters long. Its vibrating wings stirred up a hurricane, and the sound was deafening.

Zuoqiu Ting and Li Ling successively leaped onto the dragonfly's back.

"He's also an insect master! This dragonfly is probably a rare insect."

Li Weiyi saw the giant dragonfly about to fly away. He thought of something and asked, "What's the current situation with the conflict between the Jiuli clan and the Five Seas Realm cultivators of the Four Great Sects?"

"It's alright!"

"You can rest assured. This young master will help Sister Li Ling and the others deal with the people from the Four Great Sects."

Two voices, one after another, came from the distance.

The gigantic dragonfly flew extremely fast, disappearing from sight in moments.

"Strange, why does Li Ling trust him so much?"

In Li Weiyi's mind, Li Ling had always been extremely astute; she should have been able to see the issues with Zuoqiu Ting.