Chapter 82: Yaoyin's Surprise Attack

Leaving the blood-mud space, Li Weiyi's mind kept replaying his spirit-master's words: "If my mental power breaks through again, what kind of changes will occur on Shaoyang Star?"

For the next three days, Li Weiyi avoided strenuous activity. Besides eating medicinal meals, he focused on recovering from his injuries, or entered the Bloodwood Forest to cultivate his mental power, absorbing light to nourish fire.

The trial participants returned one after another.

Li Weiyi didn't know how many people had been killed or injured in this first trial, but the Medicinal Meal Hall had become much quieter than before.

Seeing Yao Yin emerge from the stone gate, Li Weiyi immediately stood up, preparing to leave.

"You... wait a moment!"

Yao Yin pretended to be calm and unconcerned, walking into the Bloodwood Forest with her hands clasped behind her back, maintaining a distance of about ten feet. "In the spider cave, why didn't you kill me?"

It was the first time he had seen her in three days. Li Weiyi replied, "When we entered the cave, didn't we agree to outlast the other competitors first? So, I was just fulfilling my promise."

With these words, Li Weiyi quickly departed.

He headed to the Medicinal Meal Hall. Yao Yin clearly didn't believe his answer and quickly followed, but maintained at least a ten-foot distance. "Alright, it's settled then! I'll definitely repay the favor I owe you."

"Repay a favor?" Li Weiyi asked.

Yao Yin exuded the arrogance typical of a Pure Immortal Body martial practitioner. "That Cistanche treasure medicine, you fed it to me, didn't you? I benefited from that misfortune; in these three days, I've already broken through to the Eight Springs realm. Among all the competitors, only that Nine Springs Perfected Being is a bit troublesome. How about this: I'll eliminate all the other competitors and leave you for last."

"Kill me last?" Li Weiyi asked.

Yao Yin's expression turned serious. "There's no other way. I'll give you a fair duel when the time comes."

Li Weiyi nodded, secretly deciding to give her a fair duel as well.

"Oh, right! What exactly happened in the spider cave? Why did ice cracks appear all over your body?" Li Weiyi asked casually.

Unexpectedly, when Yao Yin heard these words, only the phrase "all over your body" echoed in her mind, and she immediately recalled some unpleasant images. Her pleasant expression instantly vanished, and her gaze turned cold.

"Shameless. It seems Hidden Twenty-Four was absolutely right."

Yao Yin snorted, mustered her magical power, and quickly strode ahead, unwilling to walk with him any longer.

Li Weiyi stood frozen, utterly bewildered, completely unaware of what he had said wrong. He muttered to himself, "It's her problem, definitely not mine. Hmm... what on earth did Hidden Twenty-Four blabber about? How can a hidden person be so talkative?"

Upon reaching the Medicinal Meal Hall, Li Weiyi and Yao Yin sat as far apart as possible.

The surviving trial participants arrived one after another; only eighteen of them were present.

The reason they arrived so punctually was that today's medicinal meal was abundant, serving as a reward for all who had passed the trial.

"In the first trial, eight people died. It seems even without mutual slaughter, surviving until the last month will be anything but easy," said a mortal martial practitioner of the Eight Springs realm in a cautionary tone.

Of the four Eight Springs martial practitioners, one had died, leaving three.

The tiger-like mutant of the Eight Springs realm licked his lips and laughed, "If we eliminate all competitors beforehand, we won't need to go through the trial; we can just win directly."

The Eight Springs mortal martial practitioner's face fell, knowing he was no match for him.

Once defeated, it meant death.

After finishing the medicinal meal, Yao Yin suddenly darted out like lightning with extreme speed, her artifact dagger thrusting directly at Li Qing.

There was no warning. Even Li Weiyi was startled; he never would have imagined that the tiger-like mutant of the Eight Springs realm, who had been making threats, wouldn't be the one to act. Instead, the seemingly delicate Yao Yin became the first to publicly attack a competitor.

It was clearly unexpected by Li Qing as well, who could only react in haste.

"Swoosh!"

The dagger narrowly grazed Li Qing's neck, leaving a bloodstain on his chin.

Li Qing was almost eliminated with that one strike.

"Alright! Since you're actively seeking death, I'll eliminate you, Pure Immortal Body, ahead of time." Li Qing touched his chin, his hand covered in blood. After the shock, murderous intent filled his eyes, and he drew his sword, slashing it out.

Yao Yin had originally intended to use her advantage in movement technique and the fact that her opponent didn't know she had broken through a realm, to unexpectedly eliminate Li Qing, her strongest opponent. She had observed a month ago during Li Qing's fight with Hidden Nine that Li Qing's movement speed was a weakness.

But unexpectedly, in just one month, Li Qing had compensated for his weakness. His movement technique when evading her assassination just now had clearly reached the level of Heavenly Dao Law Integration.

"Swish! Swish..." Both of their movement techniques were exquisite and superb. They rushed out of the Medicinal Meal Hall and appeared on the square below the Mental Power Stone Wall. In an instant, countless figures moved, and artifacts repeatedly clashed.

It was common knowledge throughout the world that a Pure Immortal Body possessed abnormal combat power, capable of fighting across a realm.

The tiger-like mutant of the Eight Springs realm gazed at the battlefield: "What a pity! She was just a hair's breadth away from a successful assassination."

Although he said "what a pity," a relieved smile appeared on his face.

Li Weiyi said, "Go assist her. You might be able to eliminate that Nine Springs Perfected Being."

"And then what? I'd be the first one she kills next." The tiger-like mutant of the Eight Springs realm was not foolish; he clearly knew who the greatest enemy was at this stage.

"Pffft!" Li Qing unleashed a sword technique at the Heavenly Dao Law Integration level; a piercing sword hum echoed, and with a single strike, he broke through Yao Yin's Heavenly Wind Palm technique.

The sword's blade pierced through her palm, emerging from the back of her hand.

Yao Yin bit her lip, enduring the bitter pain, immediately pulled out her bleeding hand, and, using her movement technique, vanished into the Purple Bamboo Forest in an instant.

"Breaking through to Eight Springs just now, and you dare to ambush me? Isn't that a bit too hasty?"

Li Qing roared in anger, but did not pursue. Instead, he held his blood-stained longsword and menacingly looked at the crowd behind him. In particular, his gaze was fixed on Li Weiyi.

Because just as he was about to press his advantage and kill Yao Yin, he felt Li Weiyi's magical energy fluctuate behind him.

He knew Li Weiyi was no ordinary person, specifically hired by the Earth Wolf King's army to monitor him. But in the current situation, it was clear only one of them could survive.

Li Weiyi must have been trying to emulate Yao Yin, planning a stealthy assassination against him.

After Yao Yin, the Pure Immortal Body, was injured, she would surely be hunted by all Eight Springs martial practitioners. But before that, Li Qing was very worried that all the Eight Springs martial practitioners would unite to eliminate him first.

So, after much thought, Li Qing did not immediately pursue the "cornered foe" who couldn't escape, but instead prepared to first deter the "marauding crowd" who were itching to act.

"Hidden Twenty-Four, Hidden Twenty-Five, that Pure Immortal Body overestimated herself and has already attacked me. Can I now kill her at any time?"

Hidden Twenty-Five replied, "Once a lower-realm practitioner makes the first move, they lose their right to protection. If you want to kill her, we certainly won't stop you."

Li Qing's gaze swept over all the Eight Springs martial practitioners, including Li Weiyi. "Did you hear that clearly? You only have one life. Before you act, it's best to properly gauge your own strength."

Li Weiyi had indeed wanted to make a move just now, but he restrained himself, remembering that he still had some doubts that needed to be privately confirmed with Li Qing.

"If I challenge the mental power mural, can they launch a sneak attack?" Li Qing intended to add another layer of deterrence, so he asked this question.

Hidden Twenty-Four replied, "Of course not."

"That's good!" Li Qing strode towards the Mental Power Stone Wall and pressed his hand against it.

"Whoosh!"

Hidden Nine's semi-corporeal light-shadow emerged from the stone wall, wielding a great axe, and attacked the challenger, Li Qing.

With a roar, the great axe collided with the longsword in Li Qing's hand.

Li Qing's body slid back forty feet, his face instantly turned pale, and his sword-wielding hand trembled uncontrollably. Facing Hidden Nine's second axe strike, he immediately employed his Heavenly Dao Law Integration movement technique to dodge.

"Boom!" "Rumble!"

Li Weiyi watched the battlefield of one person and one shadow, nodding slightly.

Li Qing had made tremendous progress this past month!

A month ago, a single clash with Hidden Nine had sent his longsword flying, leaving him utterly defenseless.

Li Qing withstood seven moves until his longsword finally fell, and he immediately conceded defeat.

Hidden Twenty-Five was shocked: "How could he have made such great progress? Even I can only withstand four moves against Hidden Nine."

Hidden Twenty-Four's eyes also showed astonishment. "Someone who can become a Nine Springs Perfected Being outside is naturally not simple."

Hidden Twenty-Three arrived, his massive figure appearing beside them, and said, "He gained an opportunity during the Nine Springs trial. His internal mark veins are probably close to being entirely silver. In another month at most, once he reaches fully silver veins, he'll truly be invincible among this group."

"But he still can't be a match for Hidden Nine! Hidden Nine is the pinnacle of mortals, possessing a hundred silver mark veins," said Hidden Twenty-Five.

With the newcomer being so strong, Hidden Twenty-Four felt pressure. He unconsciously glanced at Li Weiyi.

Li Qing picked up his longsword from the ground, his gaze sweeping over the startled Eight Springs martial practitioners. Then, he pursued Yao Yin's lingering aura, disappearing into the Purple Bamboo Forest.

Someone, dejected, said bitterly, "Does it even make sense for our group to continue the trial? I feel like the spot for Hidden Twenty-Six can no longer be anyone else's!"

The tiger-like mutant of the Eight Springs realm said, "How about all of us team up to eliminate him first?"

"Team up, just us? If that Pure Immortal Body hadn't lost the use of one hand, we'd have a chance by teaming up with her. But now, with one hand, her combat power is probably not much stronger than yours."

Li Weiyi walked across the square, glancing at the distant red Mental Power Stone Wall. Not wanting to further demoralize those pitiful guys, he decided to go find Li Qing first.

Li Qing employed his movement technique, following the Blood River downstream.

"Trying to escape? Where can you go? Beyond this river valley, ferocious insects lurk everywhere."

Li Qing pursued for over twenty li, then suddenly slowed his pace as three branching underground river channels appeared before him.

He fixed his gaze on the narrow underground river entrance on the far right. The corners of his mouth curved slightly upward. "The scent on you has been constantly revealing your whereabouts. How can you escape? You wouldn't dare go deep inside; you must be hiding just at the entrance. Inside, fierce insects infest the area, and your flesh will be gnawed away piece by piece. The pain will be like death by a thousand cuts, worse than death itself."

"Come out. Dying by my sword will be much quicker than dying by the insects' hands."

Yao Yin, hidden in the shadows of the cave entrance, tore off a strip of her clothing, bit her teeth, and tremblingly bandaged her constantly bleeding palm. Sweat beaded on her face from the pain.

When Li Qing's artifact longsword pierced her palm, the blade contained magical energy, preventing the wound from healing quickly.

"Yao Yin, don't be afraid... you're going to die eventually anyway... don't be afraid. You lost, yes, you lost, but hadn't you already prepared for defeat before coming to the Hidden Gate? You won't be scared... you won't. Fight!"

She sat on the ground with her back against the stone wall, her chest heaving. She struggled to overcome her fear of Li Qing and to quickly regain her fighting spirit and condition. Just as she gathered her courage and was about to rush out, a familiar voice suddenly echoed from outside.

"Li Qing, it's time we had a proper talk, isn't it?"