Chapter 62: Only Chance for Survival

The massive battleship flying the "Sui" banner was only a hundred paces from the shore. Shi Jiuzhai, seated directly opposite a window, could clearly see Li Weiyi's face due to his high cultivation. A feeling of familiarity prompted him to recall, and he remembered the "little wolf cub" he had met in Burial Immortal Town.

He had certainly misjudged him that day.

Who exactly was he?

"This is far too interesting!"

Shi Jiuzhai uttered this thought, then mused for a moment, "I believe Senior An makes a valid point. A perfectly good battle among the top hundred martial artists of the Wellspring Realm is quite spoiled by the intrusion of two Five Seas Realm cultivators. Why don't we open a wager to see if he can break through and escape?"

A wager?

Yang Qingxi sneered inwardly; it was obvious that the White-Robed Recluse and Shi Jiuzhai wanted to protect the young man and were deliberately creating an escape route for him.

Perhaps they admired his talent, or coveted his magical artifacts, or even perceived something she had not. But one thing was beyond doubt: once the young man escaped, Coffin Mountain and the Earth Wolf King's Army would surely hunt him down.

If she insisted on sending Xu Changlin and Tang Yan, she would be disrespecting the White-Robed Recluse and Shi Jiuzhai. If those two continued to insist, or even intervened themselves...

That would be utterly humiliating!

Originally, even if Li Weiyi displayed such extraordinary combat power, Yang Qingxi considered him insignificant; any Five Seas Realm cultivator could easily eliminate him.

But now, not only did the Cangli tribe value him.

Even the White-Robed Recluse and Shi Jiuzhai had hidden agendas concerning him, so it was natural for Yang Qingxi to give him her utmost attention.

"Since you two wish to watch the show, Qingxi wouldn't want to spoil the fun," she said. "He is merely a Wellspring Realm cultivator. In Lizhou, the Sui Sect doesn't even need to send a Five Seas Realm cultivator to make him vanish into thin air."

Yang Qingxi waved her hand, motioning Xu Changlin and Tang Yan to withdraw. Then she called out, "Xue Zheng!"

Standing guard at the main hall's entrance, Xue Zheng, whose entire body had a silvery metallic texture, stood with his hand on his saber. His eyes, full of eagerness, were fixed on Li Qing, the Nine Springs Paragon.

Hearing the summons from inside, Xue Zheng withdrew his gaze, took two steps forward, and knelt on one knee towards the main hall. "Young Mistress, rest assured," he said. "Your subordinate will go and take that man's head immediately and ensure he doesn't harm Young Master Yun."

Xue Zheng stood up and looked towards the shore. He circulated his spiritual power, which emanated from his body as a misty, iridescent aura. Then, like a cannonball, he shot off the battleship's deck, landing on the water dozens of feet away.

"Boom!"

The spiritual aura beneath his feet was so dense that despite the impact, he did not sink.

He walked on the river surface, holding his saber, moving as swiftly as the wind.

Li Weiyi rushed towards the river embankment where the silver-horned deer carriage had overturned. He channeled his spiritual power into his silver-threaded gloves, determined to end the fight quickly and give no chance for the pursuers to surround him.

"Whoosh!"

Yang Yun, hidden in the shadows behind the carriage, seized the opportunity and leaped up.

He thrust his sword forward!

Li Weiyi, already a zhang above the ground, moved his arm so swiftly it became a blur, clashing head-on with Yang Yun.

"Clang! Clang! Clang..."

After several consecutive clashes, their figures shifted and moved.

In an instant, Li Weiyi landed on the overturned carriage, having already used "Spiritual Treasure Snatch" to retrieve his Yellow Dragon Sword. A joy, as if a beloved possession lost and found, welled up in his heart.

In contrast, Yang Yun fell clumsily into the shallow water near the embankment, his body crashing through the roof of a fishing boat, causing it to collapse.

With a clatter, the boat lamp fell, and the fishing boat immediately burst into raging flames.

Suddenly.

Amidst the flames, Li Weiyi felt something and looked towards the massive battleship that had been sitting motionless in the middle of the river. A silver light shot out from its deck, streaking directly towards the shore where he stood.

Even from a great distance, he could feel the sharp saber intent and killing aura emanating from the opponent, and he also sensed that the opponent's gaze had locked onto him.

"Xue Zheng, the fourth member of Lizhou's Seven Springs Hall, the Silver Demigod Body, the Unrivaled Bladesman."

Although being locked onto by Xue Zheng's gaze made Li Weiyi very uncomfortable, the true source of his sense of crisis was actually the massive battleship.

A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind. Li Weiyi channeled spiritual power into his Yellow Dragon Sword, leaped up, and thrust his sword directly at Yang Yun.

Perhaps only by capturing Yang Yun as a hostage before Xue Zheng arrived would he have a sliver of hope for survival tonight.

Yang Yun naturally noticed Xue Zheng's arrival. Moreover, Ishikawa Yu, Murong Xiao, and others closer to them would arrive in an instant. He only needed to hold out against Li Weiyi for one or two breaths, and the situation would completely reverse.

"Excellent timing!"

Yang Yun stood in the water, with the firelight blazing red behind him. He let out a loud laugh. "Within the eighth spring, the Wind Mansion, there is a small Qi Sea," he declared. "Thus, those who have opened the eight springs are also known as Little Five Seas. Today, I shall let you witness the true power of one who has opened the eight springs."

Yang Yun knew his most foolish action earlier had been trying to forcibly use the magical war sword even though he couldn't activate it.

He would never make that mistake again.

All the spiritual power from his eight springs converged in his arm as he unleashed the Sky-Shattering Fist, a technique he had cultivated for many years.

The spiritual power on his fist glowed as brightly as a star.

"Boom!"

With a single punch.

The spiritual energy in the Wind Mansion's small Qi Sea was instantly depleted, rushing to his arm and forming a tangible shockwave of fist energy that caused the air to explode with a deafening roar.

This was the trump card of an Eight Springs martial artist!

Draining all the spiritual energy from the Wind Mansion, he unleashed a single, most powerful attack, almost on par with a Five Seas Realm cultivator.

Only one move, but it was enough to reign supreme in the Wellspring Realm.

Although Li Weiyi was mentally prepared, he was still sent flying backward by the fist energy. His body felt as if it had been punched from a distance, and his internal organs ached. Fortunately, he had channeled his spiritual power into the corpse-armor he wore underneath, which significantly dissipated the impact of the fist energy.

After opening the six springs, his spiritual power level was higher, and when he activated the corpse-armor again, he could distinctly feel a cool sensation emanating from it.

The soft armor released wisps of airflow that rapidly flowed around his body.

Of course, in the current situation, Li Weiyi had no time to take off his outer clothes and examine it.

Yang Yun's smile quickly froze because he realized that Li Weiyi, who had been sent flying by his punch, had not fallen to the ground but was treading on thin air and was now returning.

This...

What kind of movement technique was this?

Li Weiyi swung his sword as swiftly as cutting vegetables. With three consecutive strikes, the first severed Yang Yun's topknot, the second pierced his collarbone, and the third slashed across his thigh.

Finally.

He clamped his five fingers around Yang Yun's nape, completely subduing him.

With just a little more force, he could twist his head clean off.

"You can't kill me!" Yang Yun gasped, "My sister is on that ship, you won't get away..."

Yang Yun's face was towards the water, like a cat caught by the scruff of its neck. His face deathly pale, he dared not move an inch, with not a trace of his usual arrogant and perverse demeanor left.

"Li Weiyi, release Young Master Yun, and I will let you leave!" shouted Ishikawa Yu, who had caught up.

Li Weiyi did not pay him any mind. His gaze swept towards the swift, silver-like figure that was stepping over the river and entering the fishing boat area.

"Do I need you to let me leave?" Li Weiyi retorted. "Do you have the right to say such a thing?"

Li Weiyi crushed the last blood bag on his scripture belt. With Yang Yun in one hand and his sword in the other, he charged towards Ishikawa Yu, Murong Xiao, and the other figures.

A few breaths later.

Li Weiyi broke through the encirclement and reached the embankment. He had several new wounds on his body, and blood flowed from his cheeks and arms.

Meanwhile, two more corpses of Seven Springs martial artists lay on the embankment.

A silver mist of spiritual power erupted from beneath his feet. He became a blur under the night sky, rushing downstream along the riverbank, with Yang Yun in his hand seeming to weigh nothing at all.

Since Yang Qingxi was on the ship, jumping into the Sui River again would be walking straight into a trap.

"To have such speed while carrying someone," Xue Zheng commented, "He must have quite a few magical artifacts on him."

Xue Zheng, holding his saber, reached the embankment. Li Weiyi was already ten zhang away. One could imagine that if he weren't carrying Yang Yun, his speed would definitely not be inferior to those Nine Springs Paragons and might even rival some Five Seas Realm cultivators.

"So fast," he mused. "He truly deserves to be among the top five Wellspring Realm cultivators in all of Lizhou. Anyone who reaches that rank must possess extraordinary and mysterious abilities."

Li Weiyi was currently racking his brain on how to shake off Xue Zheng, who was pursuing him. Suddenly, he saw Yao Zhengsheng's four-meter-tall giant ape-like figure standing like a wall directly ahead in the middle of the road. Holding a thousand-pound iron staff, he possessed the might of one man holding off ten thousand.

Li Weiyi was covered in wounds, physically and mentally exhausted. Facing Yao Zhengsheng, a man with natural divine strength who had cultivated his staff techniques to the realm of Dao Integration, he truly felt a sense of doom, as if heaven itself was against him.

What's more, even if Yao Zhengsheng could only hold him for one or two rounds, Xue Zheng, who was pursuing him, would arrive in an instant.

How could he escape then?

Yao Zhengsheng's Mountain-Opening Staff Technique, integrated with the Heavenly Dao, was utterly unavoidable once unleashed. At this moment, it was like being trapped in a death trap.

But if he didn't pass this obstacle, how could there be any hope of survival?

Li Weiyi took a deep breath, maintaining his speed, charging directly towards Yao Zhengsheng, who stood in the middle of the road. The light from his Yellow Dragon Sword glowed with extreme brilliance, and his gaze grew increasingly firm.

Every difficult pass must be crossed.

If there's a mountain, cleave it.

If heaven blocks me, open it.

Eight zhang, seven zhang, six zhang...

As the distance grew shorter, Li Weiyi's blood boiled, his pores opened across his entire body, and his fighting spirit surged to its peak.

Four zhang, three zhang.

At the last two zhang, Li Weiyi let out a long howl that echoed across both banks of the Sui River. His feet pushed off the ground, leaping up, his gaze sharp as a blade, intently watching every subtle movement of Yao Zhengsheng—his breathing, pores, muscles...

Yao Zhengsheng, fresh and rested but keenly aware of the young man's formidable power, was equally focused.

Spiritual energy overflowed from his body. He swung his thousand-pound iron staff, instantly entering the state of Dao Integration with the Heavenly Dao.

The iron staff swung out like a toppling mountain.

Winds came from all directions, creating a mighty momentum.

"Whoosh!"

Li Weiyi, suspended in mid-air, no longer saw Yao Zhengsheng before him, only a boundless ocean, having entered the Dao Integration state where he was supreme. He swung his sword straight down, the sword light tearing open the ocean and extending towards the horizon.

"Thwack!"

Behind them, Xue Zheng, only four zhang from the battle, clearly saw the desperate clash between two Dao Integration Realm experts. In the end, Li Weiyi was a fraction faster, but that single fraction determined victory or defeat, life or death. With one sword strike, he cleaved off more than half of Yao Zhengsheng's head.

Li Weiyi, still holding Yang Yun, leaped over the corpse, accompanied by the geyser of blood erupting from Yao Zhengsheng's head.

Xue Zheng stood four zhang away. The spiritual energy from his Wind Mansion surged entirely into his arms. His entire body, muscles and skin, burst forth with a brilliant silver light. Rings of energy overflowed, blowing away the dust on the ground and shattering the stone slabs beneath his feet.

He raised his saber above his head and struck, a blow through the air.

A dazzling and domineering saber light tore through the black cloth-like night sky.

"Wham! Crackle!"

Where the saber light passed, a deep groove appeared on the stone slabs on the ground, extending directly towards Li Weiyi, who was four zhang away.

After Li Weiyi landed, he seemed completely unaffected and swiftly disappeared into the night.

Xue Zheng's eyes showed confusion. He found it hard to believe that a Wellspring Realm cultivator could withstand his strongest saber strike head-on and still escape without losing speed, even if the strike's power had significantly weakened after traveling four zhang.

"You're bleeding all the time!" Yang Yun gasped. "Put me down quickly; maybe then you can still escape." Yang Yun felt his hair getting sticky from the blood continuously flowing from Li Weiyi's mouth.

"You're getting slower and slower," Yang Yun continued. "They'll catch up soon. Not just Xue Zheng, but also the Five Seas Realm cultivators..."

Li Weiyi slapped the noisy Yang Yun unconscious.

After running for more than ten li, the houses in the suburban area gradually became sparse, and in the darkness lay vast expanses of farmland. On the other side was the sound of rapidly flowing water.

The massive battleship on the Sui River was already out of sight.

Li Weiyi's vision blurred slightly. He had taken Xue Zheng's saber strike head-on with the defense of his corpse-armor, suffering severe internal injuries. Coupled with numerous external wounds and the extreme exhaustion of stamina from successive battles, it could be said that only his will to survive and unyielding fighting spirit kept him from collapsing until now.

Without further hesitation, he took out the Evil Camel Bell and activated it with his spiritual power, making it ring.

"Clang! Clang!"

"Whoosh!"

A giant, semi-transparent camel, three to four meters tall, appeared in the eerie wind.

Li Weiyi mounted it, feeling as if he were riding on a cloud of cotton. He placed the unconscious Yang Yun horizontally across the camel's back. Then, concealed by the ghost banner's misty shroud, they galloped away rapidly.

Xue Zheng, who caught up, only heard a faint, intermittent ringing of bells fading into the darkness.