Chapter 142: Breaking Through the Siege

Li Weiyi secretly recalled his past entanglements with Li Ling, feeling bewildered and uncertain. For the first time, he doubted Zen Sea Fog-Gazer's true intentions. "It seems that's the case! Then, may I ask, what is Senior Zen Sea's true purpose?"

"You're quite perceptive; it's enough that you know I don't intend to kill you. As for my intentions..."

Li Ling's gaze swept disdainfully over Cang Li and Zhao Zhizhu. Qi Shanshan had already fainted under her aura. Her eyes were exceptionally cold and arrogant, yet her tone suddenly softened: "To marry you!"

Li Weiyi had already prepared himself for the worst: being refined into a human medicine by her. He never expected this ancient Emperor, who was cold and arrogant to the extreme, to suddenly utter such a remark. Given her personality and status, it didn't seem like she would joke like that.

Zhao Zhizhu and Cang Li were also stunned, highly suspecting that the words didn't come from Zen Sea Fog-Gazer but rather from Li Ling, who had regained control of her body.

"Clatter."

On the cliff face to the right of the valley, loose rocks tumbled down.

Everyone's eyes turned towards it.

Yin Jiu, clad in high-grade magical artifact night clothes, materialized from invisibility. An awkward expression appeared on his young, thin, and stern face. "I'm here to pick someone up! I accidentally overheard such an unbelievable piece of news; I almost fell off this cliff. Don't worry, I didn't hear anything at all."

Li Ling seemed to have known he was hiding there, showing no change in expression. "It's fine! If news of Zen Sea Fog-Gazer's return to the Nine Li Tribe spreads, the Nine Li Tribe will be the first to be annihilated by external forces. I don't mind."

Suddenly.

She sensed something, and her expression instantly turned serious. "An army is slowly approaching; we need to leave quickly... This isn't good, we've been surrounded!"

"Follow me!"

A wisp of her long hair, floating in mid-air, coiled around Li Weiyi and pulled him onto the back of the Zouwu beast.

"Rumble!"

The Zouwu beast, its hooves treading on energy clouds, galloped at top speed along the valley stream.

It wasn't heading towards Yao Pass City but, instead, deeper into the Mong Mountain Range, in the opposite direction.

This was because she sensed that although the mysterious army was closing in, its main force was concentrated in the valley leading to Yao Pass City, blocking their return path.

Breaking through from that direction would be too difficult.

The pressure on Cang Li eased, allowing him to finally breathe. He looked towards the Zouwu beast, which had already fled to the end of the valley. It was too late to pursue, so he roared, "Zen Sea... Li Weiyi, make sure Li Ling is protected!"

Cang Li, Yin Jiu, and Zhao Zhizhu all sensed the danger and released their energy.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh..."

From all directions in the night sky, countless bright runes ascended, filling the view like stars.

The runes descended, blurred, and transformed into a light mist covering an area of three li. The entire valley then grew silent.

Yin Jiu and Zhao Zhizhu, one high and one low, pushed their movement techniques to the limit, pursuing Li Weiyi, who had been taken by Zen Sea Fog-Gazer, along the valley. What happened today was too bizarre; no one would believe it if told.

Cang Li immediately placed the unconscious Qi Shanshan into his insect bag.

The next instant.

"Whoosh!"

A furious gale, like blades and swords, swept through the valley.

Within the gale was a dark figure: Chen Qianchi, a Dao Seed Realm master from the Three Chen Palace. His iron fist descended, aiming to swiftly kill the Nine Li Tribe's top prodigy.

"Roar!"

The light emitted from Cang Li's body turned night into day. A tiger's roar, loud enough to crack the rock walls, resounded as his White Tiger Combat Technique manifested, extending a massive claw to clash with the attacking Chen Qianchi.

With a roar, Cang Li was sent flying back six or seven zhang. Countless scriptures burst from his silver armor, fully neutralizing Chen Qianchi's punch.

"So, a Dao Seed Realm martial cultivator is nothing more than this."

Cang Li shouted, feigning nonchalance, while quickly suppressing the surging blood qi within him.

"As expected of the Hundred Meridians Silver Immortal Physique, your combat power is truly formidable. But you don't need to shout so loudly; this entire three-li area is covered by runes, so the activity here won't be perceived by Yao Pass City."

Chen Qianchi, moving like lightning, attacked again.

Cang Li did not engage him in a head-on clash; instead, he fought and retreated, pursuing Zen Sea Fog-Gazer and the others.

Above the valley, the light mist dispersed, and two military formations appeared out of thin air.

The formations were neatly arranged, with every soldier clad in iron-cloth battle armor.

They collectively mobilized their internal energy, injecting it into the formation, activating a hammer-shaped magical artifact.

The warhammer, as large as a water vat, rose into the air, erupting with purple light. Under the control of several elders in the formation, it attacked the Zouwu beast, which was galloping at the front of the valley.

The runes hadn't fully stabilized; they couldn't be allowed to get close to the edge.

The warhammer, like a bright purple star, plummeted from the sky.

"Boom!"

The Zouwu beast leaped diagonally, dodging the warhammer. The nearby mountain rock face was extensively shattered by the impact, causing the ground to shake.

Li Weiyi looked back but saw no sign of Yin Jiu or Zhao Zhizhu, only hearing the continuous roar of battle. At the same time, soldiers' bodies constantly fell from the cliff faces above the valley, their screams mournful.

"The enemy doesn't know our strength, and their preparations are insufficient; they must have been hastily deployed. We should fight back; with our combined efforts, we can break their formation and severely wound them," Li Weiyi said, holding the Yellow Dragon Sword in one hand and the Black Iron Seal in the other.

He didn't want to leave Cang Li, Zhao Zhizhu, and the others behind.

"The best way to defeat them is to break out of their rune mist domain. Then, by creating intense battle fluctuations, we can attract the Nine Li Tribe army from Yao Pass City and annihilate this Three Chen Palace Iron-Clad Army here."

"Give me the seal!"

Li Ling's eyes were dark and deep, her starry gaze fixed intently ahead, where she saw runes at the edge of the mist domain that were invisible to ordinary people.

Taking the Black Iron Seal from Li Weiyi, she gracefully ascended, rising dozens of feet from the ground. She found the weakest point in the runes, channeled her immense magical power into the seal, and swung it out.

After leaving her hand, the Black Iron Seal rapidly expanded, releasing dozens of thick purple lightning bolts that intertwined in the valley.

"Boom!"

Deafening thunder reverberated repeatedly within the canyon.

The Black Iron Seal grew to several zhang in size, causing the runes covering the sky and earth to become visible. Then, the thin layer of mist tore apart like paper, forming a massive hole in mid-air.

"So that's how it's used; what immense power!"

The Zouwu beast leaped up, carrying Li Weiyi, and burst out through the rune hole.

Li Weiyi released his energy and retrieved the Black Iron Seal.

A fragrant breeze arrived in an instant, and Li Ling landed on the Zouwu beast's back. The powerful aura she previously possessed vanished, and her legs were unsteady. Fortunately, Li Weiyi caught her, preventing her from falling off the beast's back.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

After breaking out of the rune mist domain, the Zouwu beast let out a roaring cry.

The sound could travel dozens of li away.

It was highly spiritual and intelligent. Some members of the Cang Li tribe could use its cries to determine if Cang Li was in danger. With the abilities of top masters, they would soon arrive.

An elder of the Chen family within the battle formation turned pale with shock. "Oh no, how did so many masters gather here? They even broke through the runes and escaped! Is that woman from the Thunder Heaven Sect?"

"A serious miscalculation; we shouldn't have caused such complications. The hunt has failed, retreat quickly."

"The Nine Li Tribe has gathered a large number of masters in Yao Pass City; they will arrive here soon."

"If you don't want to be annihilated, break up into small groups and flee into the depths of the Mong Mountain Range, or towards the Underworld of the Deceased."

"Who will accompany this old man to pursue the two on the Zouwu beast's back?"

The tables turned too quickly; Chen Qianchi had no idea that these few individuals here possessed extraordinary combat power and remarkable battle intelligence.

Someone was actually able to immediately identify the weakest point in the encirclement and, with astonishing decisiveness, shatter the runes before they had fully stabilized.

The entire process took only a dozen breaths of time.

Let alone him, even if the Chief of the Three Chen Palace had personally come to hunt them, the mission would certainly have ended in failure.

"Who exactly is she?"

An older figure like Chen Qianchi wouldn't recognize all the younger generation of the Nine Li Tribe. After heavily wounding and repelling Cang Li with a single punch, he stepped onto energy clouds and leaped onto the dozens of zhang-high valley cliff face, pursuing the Zouwu beast as it vanished into the dense forest.

"Commander Chen, where are you going? What happened to your earlier ferocity?"

Yin Jiu's clear voice echoed from the dense forest, making the night mist tremble.

"Swoosh!"

A battle axe, the size of a door panel, spun out from the direction of the voice, accompanied by countless scriptures, and slammed into Chen Qianchi, who had just leaped off the ground.

The war axe weighed a thousand jun and possessed fierce power, shattering Chen Qianchi's protective energy.

Chen Qianchi pierced through the scriptures carried by the war axe and had just extended his iron hand, clad in a gauntlet, to grasp the axe blade.

Behind him, a pillar of silver light rose.

Cang Li's nimble figure pursued, thrusting his spear in a spin, creating a storm vortex dozens of zhang in diameter, its momentum unstoppable.

"Zen Sea Fog-Gazer!"

"Zen Sea Fog-Gazer..."

Li Weiyi noticed that Li Ling, in his arms, had her eyes tightly closed and lacked any of her previous powerful aura. He couldn't determine what had happened to her.

Slowly, Li Ling opened her eyes. Her gaze was clear as she slipped from Li Weiyi's grasp. "She's merely a remnant soul. She expended a great deal of energy just now to intimidate my brother and to activate the seal to break through the rune mist domain. She's currently fully recovering her strength. If you were to attack now, I might not be your match."

"Whoosh! Whoosh..."

Countless sharp whooshing sounds, cutting through the air, pursued them from various directions.

"Who exactly is she... Never mind, let's get through this first!" Li Weiyi said.

Now was not the time to resolve his doubts.

"Then, from now on, we can only rely on ourselves. This Three Chen Palace Iron-Clad Army is all retreating in this direction, so it seems we can only continue to flee deeper into the Mong Mountain Range. I just hope my mother can arrive as quickly as possible."

Li Ling took out an ancient bronze lamp, activating the spiritual light flame from her glabella's spiritual realm, causing it to bloom and emanate. Instantly, the ancient lamp emitted wisps of eerie blue light, enveloping the Zouwu beast.

"They're catching up!"

Li Weiyi had Li Ling control the Zouwu beast, while he moved to the beast's rear, using his energy to stabilize his feet.

In his pupils, several arrows shot by Five Sea Realm elders pierced the night sky and approached. When the arrows struck the blue light emanating from the ancient lamp, they seemed to pause for a moment, their speed significantly slowing.

"Swish! Swish!"

He swung his sword repeatedly, the sword light flowing like a dragon or snake, deflecting all the arrows.

In mid-air, a long howl resounded, and an elder of the distorted human race, exuding a heavy aura, swooped down. He had no legs, only a pair of golden claws, a foot long, sharp and dazzling, radiating bright flames.