Chapter 167: Qi Master

"What a terrifying aura. Did he sense me just now?"

After Chen Wenwu left the area, Li Weiyi, not daring to underestimate his perception abilities, remained hidden more than ten meters below the surface, letting his body naturally sink instead of surfacing. An entity of his caliber would surely detect any unusual underwater movement. He couldn't afford to make a rash move! Chen Wenwu knew Huo Qiankun too well, and his cultivation was top-tier. Li Weiyi had no confidence at all that a disguise technique would fool him.

Before long, Chen Wenwu did indeed return.

Boom!

He raised his arm, his skin glowing with a dazzling light, and slammed a palm onto the sea. His spiritual energy condensed into a massive palm print, several meters long, pressing the sea surface into a bowl-like depression. The seawater surged outwards in a rapidly expanding ring, while waves of impact energy from the palm strike rushed towards the seabed.

Li Weiyi didn't dare release any spiritual energy, only able to withstand the force with his physical body. Fortunately, he had already sunk more than twenty meters below the surface by then, so the impact was not significant.

Chen Xun and Sheng Qingyan navigated their boat to catch up. With a grave expression, Chen Wenwu flew onto the boat.

Sheng Qingyan gazed at the still turbulent sea, marveling at Chen Wenwu's formidable cultivation. "Is that person hiding in this sea?" she asked.

Chen Wenwu gently shook his head. "It's hard to say! This person is incredibly cunning. While I had a faint sensation earlier, I can't be sure if he was deliberately creating a diversion to tie me down here."

Chen Xun said, "All five of the top masters from Tianyi Sect and Night City died on the ship. Huo Qiankun and Yuwen Chao are missing, likely having met a grim fate."

"What an arrogant individual, to actually dare provoke us," Sheng Qingyan sneered.

Chen Wenwu replied, "Arrogant? On the contrary, I believe this person possesses an extraordinary mind and acted with deliberate intent. This is an interesting opponent."

"What do we do now?" Chen Xun asked. "If we waste time here, and it turns out to be a diversion and he's already gone, we'll look foolish."

"He's merely a cunning rat from the Fifth Sea Realm, Fifth Stage," Chen Wenwu dismissed. "He left clues when he killed the Five Sea Realm cultivators from Tianyi Sect and Night City. The next time we encounter him, we'll know who he is. Our priority now is Jiang Ning. Let's head there; if we can help, it will naturally compensate for this setback."

The ship departed, heading towards a specific direction out at sea.

An hour later, Li Weiyi surfaced several kilometers away. He retrieved his small boat from the Evil Camel Bell and set off in the direction Chen Wenwu and the others had taken.

"Chen Wenwu must be cultivating in the Seventh Sea already," Li Weiyi mused. "His spiritual energy is so profound. A Fifth Sea Realm, Fifth Stage cultivator like Yuwen Chao is simply a firefly compared to his full moon." As this thought crossed his mind, Li Weiyi took out a bottle of Golden Spring and took a sip. As he traveled, he continued to refine the bones within his body.

The sun began to set, casting a fiery red glow across the sea and sky. Soon, the star-studded night descended. The small boat seemed to float amidst the stars, creating gentle ripples around it.

"Such powerful spiritual energy fluctuations," he muttered. Li Weiyi stood up and gazed towards the front-left. On the horizon, beams of spiritual energy intertwined, and strong winds spread outwards. It was clearly a battle between top Fifth Sea Realm masters. In another direction, a flash of sword light rose from the sea, cleaving through the clouds and soaring into the sky. Even the calm sea was churning with massive waves.

Li Weiyi caught a whiff of blood and saw a corpse drifting towards him in the distance with the waves. He shot a wisp of spiritual energy from his fingertip, forming a misty rope that wrapped around the body and pulled it onto his boat. It was a young woman wearing red soft armor. The armor, a mid-tier spiritual artifact, was undamaged, but her body inside was a mangled mess. Her internal organs were pulverized, and more than ten bones were broken. Li Weiyi extended his palm and made a few gestures over her chest, concluding that she had died from a single palm strike to her chest and abdomen.

"A Fourth Stage Fifth Sea Realm cultivator, killed by a single palm strike, even with armor. This is... a Zuoqiu Gate token..." he murmured.

Li Weiyi tore off the token, clutching it tightly in his hand, and once again looked towards the spiritual energy fluctuations on the distant horizon. "Is Zuoqiu Ting truly that decisive? To declare war and actually follow through?"

Shortly after, another corpse drifted by, which Li Weiyi also pulled onto the boat. This body was clad in a monk's robe, its head shattered, and prayer beads adorned its wrist. It was clearly a Fifth Sea Realm master from Coffin Mountain.

Li Weiyi dared not proceed further, fearing he would stumble into the top masters' battleground and meet the same fate as these two, killed by a single strike. He steered his small boat away. The spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the sea behind him gradually grew fainter. The sea surface eventually calmed.

Having put distance between himself and the battlefield, Li Weiyi had just let out a long breath when he felt his small boat dip slightly, then rise again. His heart sank. He didn't even need to turn around; he knew someone had boarded his vessel. What was truly alarming was that he hadn't detected any spiritual energy or air disturbances, nor heard any sound, before the person boarded. This alone indicated that the other person's cultivation vastly surpassed his own.

Li Weiyi composed himself, turned around, and saw a sight that filled him with extreme dread. Zhuang Yue was half-reclining at the bow, dressed in a long blue gown. Her slender hand supported her cheek, and her back rested against the side of the boat as she closed her eyes, seemingly at rest. Her feet were almost touching Li Weiyi's shoes.

Li Weiyi knew exactly who she was. A chill shot straight to the top of his head. He gripped his silver spear tightly, desperately racking his brain, wondering if Huo Qiankun had ever met Qi Jin. If Huo Qiankun had met her, what would his reaction be? If not, what would it be?

"You're very nervous!" Zhuang Yue didn't open her eyes as she murmured.

Li Weiyi forced himself to calm down, then chuckled, "Any man would be nervous if a stunning beauty, like a celestial fairy, suddenly appeared on his boat. Huo Qiankun of Tianyi Sect greets Lord Qi!"

"You've seen me?" Zhuang Yue asked.

"I've seen Jiang Ning and Zhuang Yue..." Li Weiyi quickly added, "...at Burial Immortal Town."

"Hmph, Tianyi Sect, yes, I have some impression," Zhuang Yue chuckled, still with her eyes closed. "You follow Chen Wenwu, don't you?"

Li Weiyi's tone became serious. "I am the top master of Tianyi Sect's younger generation, and I follow no one. My relationship with San Chen Palace is purely cooperative. If I were to follow anyone... I would only serve powerful beings like the Young Sovereign and Lord Qi. Only the Extreme West Ash Region is worthy of Tianyi Sect's allegiance."

Zhuang Yue sneered but said nothing. After a moment, she remarked, "I've been searching for Jiang Ning for two days; I'm exhausted. I'll borrow your boat to rest for a bit." Her breathing was exceptionally long and steady, continuously drawing in the spiritual energy from the surrounding world.

A cold glint flashed in the depths of Li Weiyi's eyes. He secretly pondered the feasibility of drawing Qi Jin into the blood-mud space. Alternatively, he could summon Zen Sea View Mist, but activating the Buddha's relics with the spiritual flame would undoubtedly alert her. They were so close that given her cultivation, an attack would be instantaneous. It would be either his death or Qi Jin's. The chances of victory or defeat, life or death, were almost fifty-fifty. Ultimately, Li Weiyi abandoned the risky idea. His own life, he decided, was far more precious than hers!

Time passed. By midnight, the air had grown increasingly crisp and cold. Snowflakes, shaped like funerary paper money, began to fall from the sky, dusting the sea surface and settling on his small boat. Li Weiyi reached out and caught a snowflake, feeling a profound shock in his heart. He knew another formidable figure had arrived.

Zhuang Yue, who had been resting, her eyelashes fluttered. She opened her eyes and smiled. "They're finally here!"

Amidst the sky full of funerary paper snow, a rolling mass of black netherworld energy, dozens of meters in diameter, advanced across the sea. Within the netherworld energy, a colossal figure was enshrouded: it had two wings on its back, a pair of horns on its head, and fiery red hair. He approached the small boat as if walking on solid ground, his body rapidly shrinking until he stood as a two-meter-tall human. His upper body was bare, and his skin appeared no different from cast brass, indicating a special pure immortal body.

Zhuang Yue said, "You're too slow; I've been waiting for almost two days."

"So many of you besieged a Phoenix Terrace Angel, yet you let her escape and couldn't find her for two days," Ming Niansheng said impolitely. "Is she truly that powerful, or are you all simply incompetent?"

Zhuang Yue stood up, shedding all traces of her previous languor. She was like a sharpened sword drawn from its sheath. "Quickly release the Yin Soul Water Ghosts to capture Jiang Ning," she commanded. "The skin is mine; the flesh and blood are yours."

"I advise you to offer her to the Young Sovereign first," Ming Niansheng countered.

Ming Niansheng produced a large black realm bag. As he infused it with spiritual energy, the bag immediately swelled. The mouth of the bag opened, and with a gust of chilling wind, countless spirit tablets flew out. Moments later, the entire surface of the sea was covered with floating spirit tablets. From each tablet, a phantom of a departed spirit emerged, with disheveled long hair and pallid faces. Thousands of them, a dense mass, stood with drooping arms and wide-open eyes on the sea surface, an utterly chilling sight.

Ming Niansheng then chanted an incantation. Thousands of Yin Soul Water Ghosts immediately plunged towards the seabed.

Zhuang Yue asked, "We've already pinpointed her hiding within dozens of kilometers of this area, and the sea is over forty zhang deep. How long will it take to complete the search?"

"One hour should be enough to force her out," Ming Niansheng replied. He glanced at her. "You underestimate the perception and wisdom of a Phoenix Terrace Angel. She hasn't shown herself to you after all this time, which means she's already seen through you. What do you still want this skin for?"

"It's beautiful!" Zhuang Yue replied, displaying herself with flair. She twirled around on the small boat and looked at Li Weiyi. "Am I beautiful?"

"Lord Qi is as beautiful as a celestial fairy," Li Weiyi said. "Her inner beauty surpasses her outer beauty."

Zhuang Yue smiled brightly. "Heh heh, Jiang Ning's skin is even more beautiful. Just thinking about Fairy Yu's exquisite beauty makes my heart flutter."

Ming Niansheng, his eyes gleaming and paper-money-shaped snowflakes still falling around his head, cast a glance at Li Weiyi. "Where did you find such a flatterer?" he asked.

Li Weiyi, with a theatrical flourish, cupped his hands and declared, "Huo Qiankun of Tianyi Sect! I assure you, I never flatter; every word comes from my heart!"

Boom!

The water surface suddenly exploded. A spiritual artifact jade boat burst from beneath the waves, enveloped in a radiant mist of spiritual energy and ancient hundred-character scriptures. It emitted a dazzling glow as it swiftly shot towards the horizon.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

Both Zhuang Yue and Ming Niansheng erupted with formidable spiritual energy, giving chase to the jade boat. Zhuang Yue glided across the water's surface, her figure a blur of afterimages. She could cover a li in an instant. Ming Niansheng spread the wings on his back, his body expanding several times in size. A pair of horns sprouted from his head, and his red hair grew a full meter long as he flew in pursuit behind the jade boat.

Li Weiyi steered his boat at full speed, following behind, while simultaneously communicating with Zen Sea View Mist in the blood-mud space.

"I can help you," Zen Sea View Mist's voice echoed, "but hidden within Li Ling's body, the combat power I can exert is limited; her physical body cannot withstand excessive force. Furthermore, Li Ling's exceptional strength will inevitably attract scrutiny from those with ulterior motives, leading to unpredictable consequences. You must first consider whether saving Jiang Ning and Yin Shisan is worth such a great cost. I've always believed that one should only reveal secrets concerning one's own life and death when facing an immediate threat to their existence."

Li Weiyi pursued for a quarter of an hour, but Zhuang Yue and Ming Niansheng completely vanished from sight, leaving only faint traces of their aura on the sea.

"No... this isn't the direction of Juze City," he realized. "It's towards the sea where those Fifth Sea Realm masters were fighting." Li Weiyi immediately turned his boat back towards that previous sea area. If Jiang Ning and Yin Shisan were trying to escape, they would surely split up, not charge headlong into a battleground like that. After a moment's thought, Li Weiyi changed course once more. He reasoned that if someone had been hidden beneath that sea area, they would certainly be gone by now, likely heading for Juze City. Hiding in the depths of the sea was not as safe as hiding among a crowd of people.