“The Kun position moves four steps forward, the Li position retreats six steps, and the venomous creature has begun moving to the left.”
Hidden within the warm, comfortable trunk of an ancient cypress tree, Li Changshou continued transmitting his voice. Yu Qin Xianya was now less than three hundred zhang away from the cypress tree.
The cliff jutted out horizontally, and the Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake had already slithered out from its hiding place in the rock crevice. It was now moving along the cliff face beneath the overhang, with its head poking out near the cypress trunk.
Though startled by Yu Qin Xianya and the six pursuers, it had not yet been detected by Yu Wen Ling in the sky above.
This saved Li Changshou considerable strategic effort.
Li Changshou divided his attention between multiple tasks: suppressing his internal energy circulation with all his might, continuously providing guidance to Yu Qin Xianya, and constantly monitoring the movements of this demonic creature. He couldn’t disregard the survival of “Poisonous” Xianya…
After all, one shouldn’t turn a donkey into donkey meat before finishing grinding the millstone.
Here she comes.
Yu Qin Xianya was now just a hundred zhang from the great cypress!
The Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake’s attention was completely drawn to the cultivators battling above. It slithered slowly along the rock face, subtly blocking the path to the Immortal Solution Grass without moving away from it.
As an experienced predator well-versed in ambush tactics, it showed remarkable patience. It had already marked Yu Qin Xianya and her pursuers as its prey, mere appetizers.
Li Changshou could already imagine how terrifyingly dramatic it would be when this three-zhang-long venomous snake suddenly struck without warning.
Such was the horror of this world.
Next…
Circulating his wood transformation technique, Li Changshou moved freely up and down within the tree trunk, slowly descending to the roots.
Li Changshou’s voice transmission continued unabated, constantly reaching Yu Qin Xianya’s ears:
“Kan position advances three steps, Zhen position retreats nine steps.
The venomous creature has now fixed its attention on you. Soon, focus entirely on my guidance. When I say the words ‘jump up,’ launch yourself skyward with all your might. Don’t hesitate for even a moment.”
Yu Qin Xianya mentally acknowledged with another “mm,” her sword fingers constantly moving as her flying swords wreathed in flames and darted back and forth.
Soaring on her sword, her long dress fluttering, she was like an immortal maiden dancing amidst flames—enchanting yet brilliant.
In the sky, Yu Wen Ling held Elder Yuan’s shoulder, helping him resist the surrounding miasma.
Elder Yuan gazed down at Yu Qin Xianya, his eyes revealing intense infatuation.
“General Yu Wen! We absolutely cannot let Xianya escape this time!”
“Rest assured, Fourth Young Master,” Yu Wen Ling replied in a deep voice. “Last time we failed to anticipate she had a teleportation talisman. Her spiritual power is nearly depleted now. When she retreats to the cliff’s edge, I will force her hand, and that’s when Young Master should appear before her.
If she only feels disgust toward the Fourth Young Master, the love curse’s effectiveness might be halved. We need her to develop some positive feelings toward you.”
Elder Yuan’s expression turned somewhat unsightly as he nodded: “Thank you for your consideration, General Yu Wen.”
Yu Wen Ling continued in his deep voice: “I am also somewhat puzzled, Fourth Young Master, as to how you failed to win the Sixth Princess’s heart over sixty years.
If today’s operation fails, or if the love curse proves ineffective, we must kill the Sixth Princess here. Please prepare yourself mentally, Fourth Young Master.”
Elder Yuan clenched his fist tightly, his eyes showing traces of anger, but he said nothing more.
Below, Yu Qin Xianya had retreated near the cliff, about to enter the area shadowed by the cypress crown.
Li Changshou, who had already descended to the tree roots, suddenly had his eyes flash with keen light. The word “jump” was transmitted through his spell into Yu Qin Xianya’s ear!
Yu Qin Xianya’s flying sword erupted with flames beneath her feet, her graceful figure shooting skyward, causing several streaks of light to miss their target!
Meanwhile, the six pursuers, unaware of the danger ahead, charged straight into the area covered by the cypress crown!
They had no intention of stopping, thinking only of rushing forward a few steps before jumping to continue the chase. Little did they know that the edge of the tree’s crown marked a line between life and death!
Whoosh—
A violent rushing sound erupted as the Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake, which had been waiting at the cliff’s edge, suddenly struck without warning!
Yu Wen Ling shouted “Retreat quickly!” from above, but the leftmost masked man had already been caught in the creature’s gaping maw!
The fangs closed, the snake’s head jerked, and half the man’s body was instantly torn away…
Hidden in the old cypress roots, Li Changshou secretly mused that he would have had difficulty winning in a direct confrontation with this venomous beast.
The remaining five people immediately tried to retreat, but how could this Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake let such delicious morsels escape?
Its tail whipped out creating multiple afterimages, directly smashing one person to the ground while blocking the others’ escape route. All its fine scales stood on end, spraying jets of highly toxic mist that quickly enveloped the remaining pursuers.
“Wretched beast, how dare you!”
An angry roar came from above as that burly figure broke through the clouds, first throwing down his battle-ax before his form plunged directly toward the Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake.
The snake, with its fleshy horns sprouting from its head, immediately sensed the threat and reared up to meet the falling battle-ax with its head.
The oddly-shaped fleshy bump on its head was its hardest point!
A metallic clash exploded as the giant ax was deflected. The snake’s head smashed into the ground, and a crack appeared in that fleshy bump, with golden blood trickling out.
The venomous creature became furious, its tail propelling it into a leap.
In the air, Yu Wen Ling recalled his battle ax and was already swinging it down to meet the snake head-on!
At the tree roots, Li Changshou’s right hand gripped three paper dolls, hesitated briefly, then took out a fourth… shortly after, he took out a fifth and sixth…
His left hand held his most potent sleeping drug—the supreme-grade Soft Immortal Powder.
Li Changshou waited for the right moment to scatter the powder. He would wait until the Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake was weakened before making his move.
—The Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake was immune to poison, but Yu Wen Ling was not.
Meanwhile, Li Changshou didn’t forget to fully extend his spiritual sense, scanning the surrounding ten li for any hidden dangers.
On the other side, Yu Qin Xianya had followed Li Changshou’s guidance and retreated to the back of the cliff.
Without Yu Wen Ling’s protection, Elder Yuan dared not remain in the clouds. He finally took action himself, swooping down from mid-air toward Yu Qin Xianya, wielding a three-foot green sword to block her escape.
However, Yu Qin Xianya had no intention of retreating at this point. She turned to control her flying swords, instantly putting Elder Yuan on the defensive.
Although Elder Yuan’s cultivation level was slightly higher than Yu Qin Xianya’s, he could only defend desperately…
But Yu Qin Xianya was dividing much of her attention, using her spiritual sense to observe the battle on the cliff.
She could feel that Li Changshou, who had been continuously transmitting guidance to her, was there, but at this moment she couldn’t pinpoint his exact location, and anxiety gradually grew in her heart.
However, the entire situation remained firmly under Li Changshou’s control.
The Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake considered Yu Wen Ling, an early-stage Yuan Immortal, as its greatest threat and refused to yield an inch, guarding the Immortal Solution Grass.
Yu Wen Ling now gripped his giant ax, continuously chopping while protecting his three subordinates who had lost consciousness from the snake venom…
In this situation, Yu Wen Ling could hardly hold back, and both sides fought with full force.
Li Changshou patiently lurked, standing motionless among the old tree roots, waiting for the right moment to strike while staying ready to escape at any time.
Since this incident occurred suddenly and was purely reactive, Li Changshou had slightly lowered his usual standards.
This time, he would act with ninety-eight percent certainty rather than his usual hundred percent—it wasn’t very realistic to always demand absolute certainty…
After a period of intense fighting, half of the somewhat bare crown of the old cypress had been cut away, and the cliff face was scarred with numerous grooves and partially collapsed from the waves of energy from the giant ax.
The Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake, not yet immortal, quickly found itself overwhelmed even against an early-stage Yuan Immortal with no powerful magical treasures. Its body was covered in cuts with poisonous blood flowing freely, and it was about to be slain.
‘Well done, big fellow.’
Li Changshou mentally remarked, his left hand making a slight movement. The colorless vapors of the supreme-grade Soft Immortal Powder were wrapped in his spiritual power and sent first to the cypress trunk, then quickly seeping through to scatter toward Yu Wen Ling.
Soon, Yu Wen Ling’s movements showed slight sluggishness, and he began to feel dizzy.
‘This python’s venom is potent!’
Yu Wen Ling cursed internally, his eyes bulging and bloodshot. Despite feeling drowsy and light-headed, he still managed to let out an imposing roar.
No longer daring to prolong the battle, he unleashed an overwhelmingly powerful strike, leaping into the air and using immortal power to hold the great snake in place as his battle ax swung directly at its neck!
The Three-Eyed Azure Wave Snake now had thoughts of retreat and turned to flee, but it hesitated slightly as it glanced at the three stalks of Immortal Solution Grass by the cliff…
This moment of hesitation cost it any chance of escape.
The battle-ax, gripped by two powerful hands, chopped down directly on its neck from behind. The snake’s head flew off, poison blood spraying everywhere!
Yu Wen Ling landed but stumbled unsteadily, having to lean on his battle ax to avoid falling ingloriously.
He took out a bottle of antidote pills and poured them directly into his mouth, but his movements became increasingly sluggish…
‘What kind of poison is this? How can it be so potent!’
“General… we…”
Weak calls came from behind, and just as Yu Wen Ling tried to turn to help, his feet wavered and he nearly fell again.
The antidote pills had no effect whatsoever, and his vision was spinning.
At this moment, a whistling sound suddenly came from the side!
A wooden arrow shot out from the side, piercing directly into Yu Wen Ling’s neck. The burly man’s body trembled as he turned angrily to glare in the direction of the cypress trunk.
There, ‘Li Changshou’s’ form slowly squeezed out from the cypress, throwing out the Heaven-Changing Umbrella while gripping a bronze crossbow, and incidentally scattering three paper dolls.
Poof, poof poof!
The paper dolls transformed into duplicates that rushed to attack Yu Wen Ling!
‘Li Changshou’ circled to the side, quickly reloading the bronze crossbow with wooden arrows and pulling the trigger again.
Treasure light surged from the crossbow as it shot another remarkably powerful wooden arrow.
By now Yu Wen Ling was deeply poisoned and completely unable to defend himself. Another arrow pierced his neck, immortal blood spraying everywhere.
The three paper dolls rushed to surround Yu Wen Ling in a triangle formation, simultaneously spraying green mist from porcelain bottles in their hands.
The green mist wrapped around Yu Wen Ling like a living thing, and a hissing sound arose from all over his body. His last bit of strength went into throwing back his head and roaring, his voice full of agony…
Unfortunately, the Heaven-Changing Umbrella had already established its formation, completely isolating this area and preventing any sound from escaping.
Yu Wen Ling’s immortal body was rapidly corroded by the green mist, with white bone showing in several areas and transparent bubbles appearing around him.
He struggled to counterattack, sweeping his battle-ax heavily but slowly, as the three paper dolls nimbly jumped backward.
Whoosh!
A third wooden arrow penetrated Yu Wen Ling’s corroded chest, piercing through his immortal heart meridian!
The three paper dolls began making hand seals in unison, spitting out three streams of white flame that completely engulfed Yu Wen Ling!
At this point, Yu Wen Ling finally recognized Li Changshou and weakly called out:
“So… it was… you…”
A Yuan Immortal, though recently ascended, now had more than half his body stepping into the gates of hell.
However, an immortal was still an immortal—how could they willingly accept such an end?
Within the white flames, Yu Wen Ling suddenly closed his eyes, and several streams of immortal light surged from his already horrific remains, condensing into a faint image above his head!
His primordial spirit had emerged!
“Die!”
Yu Wen Ling’s primordial spirit roared, fighting through the effects of the Soft Immortal Powder to strike at Li Changshou with a palm!
This palm strike was like a mountain pressing down, like a flash flood surging forth!
Li Changshou immediately moved to dodge, but his ankle was suddenly gripped tightly by a hand. Looking down, he saw it was one of the masked men who had been affected by both snake venom and the Soft Immortal Powder, somehow managing to act at this moment.
The man’s body was trembling uncontrollably, having somehow resisted the intense poison by seemingly burning his three hun and seven po souls, all to extinguish Li Changshou’s last hope of survival…
Tsk, an oversight.
Li Changshou shook his head slightly as the palm strike descended from above, smashing his upper body to pieces.
Yu Wen Ling’s primordial spirit revealed a cold smile.
‘Though this youth’s magic and schemes are formidable, he is ultimately not yet immortal…’
Whoosh—
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
More whistling sounds came from beneath the cypress as seven long nails flew at extreme speed, simultaneously striking various points of Yu Wen Ling’s primordial spirit!
Each nail was carved with complex restrictions and emanated pale white ghost fire!
Yu Wen Ling’s primordial spirit looked down in bewilderment, only to discover that the three paper doll duplicates around him had never stopped spitting fire. While his primordial spirit was emerging, his physical body had been burned down to just a skeleton…
Now, that masked man who had burned his soul stared blankly upward, watching half a paper doll flutter in the wind before being ignited by a flame…
He had burned away all hope of reincarnation, only to destroy half a paper doll.
Beneath the cypress, the newly appeared ‘Li Changshou’ opened his left hand, palm facing Yu Wen Ling’s primordial spirit. With a gentle closing of his five fingers, the seven soul-destroying nails that had been so difficult to craft exploded simultaneously!
At the cypress roots, Li Changshou used his spiritual sense to observe the immortal skeleton that still wouldn’t burn completely. His brows furrowed slightly as he controlled paper doll Five to throw out the Soul-Capturing Precious Zhenzhu while having One, Two, and Three increase the intensity of their flame-spitting.
This cold ghostly fire’s damage was somewhat insufficient against immortals—he would need to find a way to get his hands on the sect’s Three-True Flames.
After waiting a while longer, the skeleton finally collapsed completely, turning to ashes on the ground. The three paper dolls began reciting scriptures according to the procedure, and Li Changshou finally moved.
The ceremonial step of scattering the ashes was something he preferred to do personally to be at ease.