Chapter 59: A Needle Hits the Mark

Hearing the magnetic voice from outside, Yang Qingxi, whether feigning or genuine, showed a girlish delight in her calm eyes and smiled: "The old geezers left the city last night. Young Master Long, as the successor of the Ten Thousand Households sect, dares to come to Lizhou alone to plan major affairs. How can Qingxi's courage compare to yours?"

Before the Ten Thousand Households sect, even though Yang Qingxi was already the foremost among the Yang clan's younger generation, and despite her cold and arrogant demeanor, she could only fawn and flatter.

The man surnamed Long stood on the deck, a lantern with a lady's painting hanging under the eaves of the ship's superstructure behind him.

The light from the lantern was distorted by an invisible field around him, preventing it from illuminating him, making him appear to be perpetually standing in shadow.

It was a mysterious and powerful aura.

His gaze was fixed on the fierce chase unfolding on the riverbank.

On the other side of the Shui River, near the Mangshan Mountain Range, the trees were dense, and there were no lights, only the towering silhouettes of the mountains reaching towards the clouds.

Shi Jiuzhai and a chubby boy, fifteen or sixteen years old, emerged from the dense forest and gazed at the large warship flying the 'Shui' flag in the middle of the river.

"Yang Qingxi is truly insane. Parking the ship here? She completely disregards the Prefectural Manor and the Nine Li Tribe! The Yang clan and the Shui Sect have really started to act like the masters of Lizhou these past few years, more arrogant than our Earth Wolf Royal Army," Shi Jiuzhai couldn't help but curse.

The chubby boy chuckled, "Brother Jiu, Yang Qingxi has a Pure Immortal physique, and I hear she's stunningly beautiful. If she were willing to spend one night with you, I guarantee you wouldn't curse her again."

"Wouldn't it be more interesting to curse and sleep with her at the same time?" Shi Jiuzhai laughed.

"And fight at the same time?"

"Haha! How old are you? Don't learn bad things from Six-Colors and the others!"

Shi Jiuzhai chuckled, his eyes narrowing. In the distance, he saw a black-canopied boat leaving the city and approaching the warship in the middle of the river. The person rowing was a burly, bearded monk in a red kasaya.

"They're here! Come on, let's go too."

A cloud of grey spiritual energy appeared beneath Shi Jiuzhai's feet. He stepped onto the river's surface, covering several zhang with each stride.

The chubby boy followed closely behind him.

Shi Jiuzhai and the chubby boy soared onto the large warship. They glanced at the noble figure standing on the bow deck, then proceeded directly to the main hall.

Yang Qingxi's smile vanished completely. She coldly snorted, "Shi Jiuzhai, your Earth Wolf Royal Army can't even handle a small matter. Not only did you fail to seize the coffin and kill the target, but you also exposed your identities! This caused our plan to instigate conflict between the Buddhist Robbers and the Nine Li Tribe to fall apart. Do you actually have the nerve to show your face in Lizhou?"

Yang Qingxi was, of course, a participant in the plan.

When she and Yang Yun appeared in Yaoguan initially, they were there specifically to await news and handle the aftermath.

Otherwise, how could they have coincidentally encountered Li Ling?

The exposure of the Snow Wolf King's fangs was indeed a significant offense. Fortunately, Shi Jiuzhai brought back news of the Immortal Astral Stars, which allowed him to atone for his misdeed.

Shi Jiuzhai, of course, wouldn't bring up such an embarrassing matter in front of Yang Qingxi. He scoffed, laughing with an air of indifference, "This lousy plan was problematic from the start. You don't even look at how cowardly the Nine Li Tribe has become. Even if we had slaughtered all those coffin bearers from the Cangli Tribe in Funeral Immortal Town a month ago, they still wouldn't have dared to declare war on Xu Fodu. Unless... we exterminate the entire Cangli Tribe, perhaps then we could ignite their fighting spirit..."

"What's the use of saying all this now? We can't use the same trick again. Your Earth Wolf Royal Army needs to provide an explanation," Yang Qingxi said.

Shi Jiuzhai sat next to Yang Qingxi, from where he could directly see the shimmering river surface and the fierce struggle on the distant bank. He said, "Of course, there's an explanation. Let me introduce a new friend who wants to join the game."

Yang Qingxi sensed something and looked towards the opposite bulkhead. Through the gaps in the window, she could see several figures who had boarded the ship at some point, now advancing along the corridor towards the main entrance.

Her expression turned completely cold and stern. "How could you just bring people here?"

The burly, bearded monk in the red kasaya had already reached the doorway. His deep, resonant voice rang out: "Your method of instigating conflict is merely a low-grade scheme. Do you truly believe everyone in the world is a fool? To seize power, you ultimately have to fight with real swords and spears. For the control of Lizhou, Coffin Mountain also demands its share. Uncle-Master, please come in!"

"No thanks, I'll just stay out here and get some fresh air."

Li Weiyi had fought his way to the bank of the Shui River, his clothes already soaked in blood—some his own, but mostly his enemies'.

His most severe injury was from a long arrow shot by Murong Xiao, which grazed his shoulder blade. His bones felt dislocated, and the pain was unbearable. Had he not been wearing soft corpse-armor underneath, it would likely have been a piercing wound rather than just a graze.

He had just leaped, intending to dive into the Shui River.

"Whoosh!"

A metal whip, nearly ten zhang long, shot out from a dark, unlit fishing boat like a slithering snake, coiling around his left leg. He was then pulled, his body uncontrollably falling towards the fishing boat.

From the fishing boat, two figures wielding harpoons lunged out.

They were certainly not fishermen.

They were gang leaders operating at the Shui River docks, both seven-spring martial cultivators, who had been waiting there to scavenge for spoils.

Li Weiyi struggled with all his might to control his body, severing the metal whip wrapped around his leg with a single sword stroke. Simultaneously, he rolled in mid-air, dodging the two incoming harpoons.

"Swish!"

At this critical moment, he unleashed a downward sword strike from mid-air, as if a true god were cleaving mountains.

His 'Taiyi Splits the Sea' technique, having reached the state of Harmonious Heavenly Dao, severed the metal harpoons in their hands and even cut off one man's arm. This single sword strike utterly terrified the two men on the boat, leaving them frozen in place.

Li Weiyi fell into the shallow water beneath the boat, feeling utterly exhausted.

He had just gotten to his feet when the sound of rushing wind erupted behind him.

Yao Zhengsheng attacked with a thousand-jin iron staff, his body like a giant silverback ape leaping through the air.

"Boom!"

The staff strike shattered the fishing boat's bow, sending splinters flying and water churning.

Li Weiyi had just managed to dodge it.

Lu Can, also one of the top hundred martial artists and ranked higher than Yao Zhengsheng, leaped from the silver-horned elk carriage. Covering several zhang, his palm-fan-sized tiger claw slammed down towards Li Weiyi's head.

He was a tiger-like aberrant.

There were only so many types of ancient immortal beasts, and the categories of aberrants showed a concentrated trend due to shared geography. For instance, in Lizhou, the proportion of tiger-like and ape-like aberrants was very high.

Lu Can's 'Demon-Subduing Tiger Claw' had been cultivated to the state of Harmonious Heavenly Dao; Li Weiyi, even at his peak, could not hope to dodge it.

However unwilling, at this moment, he could only fight head-on.

"Thud!"

Their palms collided forcefully.

Li Weiyi spat out blood and was sent flying backward, crashing through the hull of the wooden boat behind him, his body almost embedded within it.

"Swish!"

Yang Yun, sitting in the silver-horned elk carriage, seized the opportunity. The bright three-inch knife in his hand flew out, piercing past Li Weiyi's neck and astonishingly penetrating the entire seven-to-eight-meter-long wooden boat.

Its sharpness was truly astonishing.

His knife had originally aimed for Li Weiyi's throat, but it was dodged.

Blood continuously flowed from the right side of Li Weiyi's neck, but he had no time to attend to it. His gaze was fixed on Lu Can's three-meter-tall, tiger-like physique charging directly at him, which seemed to fill his entire vision.

"Whoosh!"

He tore off the ghost flag draped over him, whirling it around. Immediately, black ghostly mist surged forth.

Lu Can's vision was obstructed, and he felt the biting chill of the ghostly mist, sensing extreme danger. But having leaped into the air, unable to advance or retreat, he gritted his teeth and continued to press his claw down onto the ghost flag.

Beneath the ghost flag, the Yellow Dragon Sword thrust out like lightning.

No matter how strong his tiger claw's defense was, how could it withstand a Dharma artifact?

His tiger claw was pierced.

Lu Can grunted in pain, bit down on his teeth, and retreated awkwardly.

Li Weiyi endured his numerous injuries, leaped onto a wooden boat, and, sword in hand, rushed towards the deep waters of the Shui River beyond the cluster of boats.

Shi Chuan-yu had already been waiting ahead, his back to the Shui River, long beard fluttering, looking quite leisurely and ready to strike. He chuckled, "Do you think you can survive by jumping into the river? If there's a powerful Nian Master present, they could pinpoint your approximate location even if you're at the riverbed."

Li Weiyi stopped three zhang away opposite Shi Chuan-yu, standing on the canopy of a fishing boat. His gaze quickly scanned around. He soon discovered Master Qi, the insect master, hidden in another fishing boat.

Besides them, several other seven-spring martial cultivators, armed with weapons, were hidden in various cabins.

Li Weiyi's earlier display of fierce and sharp combat power, having consecutively slain seven-spring martial cultivators, had intimidated them. That's why they weren't acting rashly now, waiting for a better opportunity.

Behind him, Yao Zhengsheng and Lu Can approached from left and right.

Murong Xiao descended from the sky, retracted his black wings, and landed on top of a mast, with only one arrow remaining.

"The Five Seas Pill is mine," Yao Zhengsheng declared.

Yao Zhengsheng strode forward, unleashing his mountain-splitting staff technique, which had reached the Harmonious Heavenly Dao state. His thousand-jin iron staff seemed to transform into a divine mountain pillar, pressing down on Li Weiyi without leaving him any room to dodge.

Li Weiyi could only parry it with his sword.

"Clang!"

As sword met staff, immense force surged forth like a tsunami.

Li Weiyi's right hand couldn't hold the Yellow Dragon Sword at all; the long sword was shaken from his grasp and flew away. His body was sent flying several zhang by the spiritual energy contained in the thousand-jin iron staff, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

With a 'boom,' Li Weiyi crashed down heavily, smashing the canopy of a fishing boat to pieces.

He lay on his back, in such agony that it felt as if all his bones were broken.

"Good!"

"Since you won't appear, I'll have to rely on myself..."

Li Weiyi had been waiting for his so-called 'Dao Protector Wife' to appear, but since she wasn't coming, he no longer hesitated.

No matter how dangerous, there was no other option now!

As several of the top hundred martial artists rushed towards him, Li Weiyi's eyes, still lying on the boat, became incredibly sharp. Like lightning, he pulled out the prepared 'Spring-Breaking Needle,' held it between two fingers, and plunged it into his Tanzhong point at the center of his chest.

Immediately, the five springs within his body surged forth together, and spiritual energy flowed into all sixty meridians, all converging towards his chest.

Master Guan's brutal secret technique: 'Merging Springs to Break Walls'.

Li Weiyi would never have dared to use this technique unless absolutely desperate, because the Tanzhong point is a vital gate of the human body, and even normally trying to break through to the sixth spring is extremely dangerous.

Using both the Spring-Breaking Needle and 'Merging Springs to Break Walls' was absolutely no different from committing suicide.

"Whoosh!""Whoosh!""Whoosh!"

Yao Zhengsheng, Lu Can, and Shi Chuan-yu, the three fastest of the top hundred martial artists, surged ahead of everyone else, all rushing towards the fishing boat, eager to claim Li Weiyi's head.

"Boom!"

The next moment, a silver radiance briefly illuminated the night sky.

The three top hundred martial artists who had rushed forward were struck by three palm prints unleashed by Li Weiyi, who was still lying on the boat. They were sent flying back like three scarecrows, falling in three different directions.

One crashed onto a boat, one fell into the water, and one broke a mast.

Yang Yun, who had just picked up the Yellow Dragon Sword, looked over with surprise in his eyes.

He saw.

Li Weiyi, who had been beaten to the point of losing all power to retaliate, now suddenly flipped over and stood up on the fishing boat, which was filled with shattered wood and on the verge of sinking. The two silver-threaded gloves on his hands emitted a brilliant silver glow.

The Spring-Breaking Needle plunged into his Tanzhong point had completely melted, and vast, surging spiritual energy continuously erupted from his chest's sixth spring like a volcanic eruption.

"What are you standing there for? Come on! Let's see whose blood stains the Shui River red first today!" Li Weiyi glared intently at Yang Yun and the other pursuers, his body standing straighter and straighter. All his exhaustion and pain were replaced by a surging battle intent within him.