Chapter 877
No one shall act alone
He simply took another step and walked towards Li Xuance.
Every step felt like stepping on Li Xuance's heart.
Li Xuance staggered backward, his foot half-falling into the void, with the Blackwater River, a bottomless abyss, right behind him.
He suddenly knelt down.
"Dark Night! Senior Dark Night!" His voice trembled, choked with sobs. "I was blind to your greatness! I... I'm willing to tell you all the information about the Li family! I can even distract my father! Please... please spare my life!"
Zheng Yi stopped in his tracks.
The gaze from under the hood fell on his face as if looking at a corpse.
Seeing that he didn't act immediately, Li Xuance grasped at a straw and spoke rapidly: "I can swear a blood oath! A blood oath to the Heavenly Dao! From this day forward, my life, Li Xuance's life, belongs to you! I can infiltrate the Li family and be your inside man! I'll give you whatever you want! Spirit stones, cultivation techniques, intelligence, women... anything!"
As he spoke, he took off his storage ring and held it above his head with both hands.
"All my possessions are in here! Two thousand six hundred mid-grade spirit stones, a bottle of Nine-Turn Spirit Condensation Pills, and... and the life-saving jade talisman for a half-step Tribulation Transcending Realm cultivator that my father gave me! It's all yours! It's all yours!"
The wind blew through the canyon, ruffling his disheveled hair.
The owl on the cliff cried out again, its mournful cry sounding like a mockery.
Zheng Yi remained silent for a moment.
Then, he slowly squatted down to look Li Xuance in the eye.
"You just said..." His voice was very soft, like a whisper, "that you wanted to dig out my Heavenly Golden Elixir and use it as a football?"
Li Xuance froze.
"No...no...I was just...I was just saying it in anger..."
Zheng Yi nodded, as if confirming something.
The next instant, his left hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Li Xuance's throat.
Tighten your fingers.
Li Xuance's feet left the ground, his face instantly turning purplish-red. He desperately tried to pry the other hand off, but it wouldn't budge, like trying to pry off an iron hoop.
"Senior... spare... spare my life..." he managed to squeeze out a mosquito-like sound from his throat, tears and snot streaming down his face.
Zheng Yi looked into his eyes.
In those eyes, there was fear, regret, resentment, and a very faint...sense of luck.
He suddenly laughed.
Extremely pale, extremely cold.
"late."
He raised his longsword in his right hand.
The tip of the sword was pressed against Li Xuance's brow.
A golden flame flashed across the sword.
Li Xuance's pupils suddenly contracted to their maximum size.
"Do not--!!!"
A flash of sword light.
puff.
A very soft sound.
The sword tip pierced through the center of the forehead and exited through the back of the head.
Blood mixed with brain matter flowed down the sword.
Li Xuance's body stiffened instantly.
His eyes were wide open, and the final expression in them was one of extreme terror and despair.
Zheng Yi let go.
The body fell like a tattered sack, crashing against the cliff edge, rolling a few times, and finally plunging into the Blackwater River.
The river surged and swallowed everything in an instant.
All that remained was the shattered jade shield on the cliff face and the blood-soaked storage ring on the ground.
Zheng Yi bent down to pick up the ring and gently wiped it with his fingertip.
The blood evaporated instantly.
He tucked the ring into his sleeve and turned to walk into the depths of the canyon.
Behind them, the owl called out again.
This time, the cries were heard further and more mournfully.
The moonlight was still cold.
The river is still flowing swiftly.
But in the canyon, one arrogant voice is missing.
There was one more corpse, and a pool of blood being diluted by the river.
Zheng Yi walked very slowly.
With each step, he was going over the details of the previous sword strike again.
How fast is the sword?
How hot is blood?
How unpleasant it is to beg for mercy.
He pulled his hood down even lower.
The wind blew in through my collar, carrying the distinctive fishy chill of the Blackwater River.
He muttered to himself, as if talking to someone, or perhaps just to himself.
"The first one."
In the distance, on the other side of the mountain ridge.
The light of torches flickered.
That was the support team sent by the Li family to meet Li Xuance.
Zheng Yi stopped in his tracks.
A faint smile played at the corners of his mouth beneath the hood.
"Nine hours left."
"Before dawn..."
"I'll give you two more."
His figure flickered and disappeared completely into the darkness.
In the canyon, only the sound of the rushing river remained.
And the owl's drawn-out, mournful cry once more.
The fog was heaviest downstream of the Blackwater River. Just after midnight, the river surface looked like it was covered with a thick layer of white gauze. Occasionally, a fish would leap out of the water, splashing small water droplets, only to be instantly swallowed by the fog. On the narrow path on the south bank of the canyon, three of the torches of the Li family's support team had been extinguished, leaving only the last two swaying in the wind like will-o'-the-wisps about to go out.
Leading the group was Li Xuanze's uncle, Li Xuangang, a late-stage Mahayana cultivator with an old scar running diagonally from his brow bone to the corner of his mouth. He was staring intently into the darkness ahead.
"Why isn't Ce'er out yet?" His voice was very low, but it was filled with obvious anxiety. "We agreed to meet at the cliff at 11:45 a.m., and it's been 15 minutes already."
A middle-aged cultivator behind him whispered, "Uncle, could it be... that Dark Night bastard laid an ambush beforehand?"
Li Xuangang whirled around, his eyes bloodshot: "Shut up! Ce'er has the life-saving jade talisman I gave him; anyone below the peak of the Great Ascension stage can't harm him! Wait a little longer!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a very soft "snap" suddenly came from deep within the fog.
Like someone stepping on a dead branch.
Everyone's hair stood on end at the same time.
Li Xuangang instantly gripped the long sword at his waist with his right hand, the runes on the scabbard glowing with a ghostly blue light: "Who?!"
In the darkness, a dark figure slowly emerged.
He was still wearing that black robe, his hood hanging low, his right hand holding a sword, the tip of which dragged on the ground, leaving a shallow bloodstain—the blood was fresh, bright red.
Li Xuangang's pupils constricted sharply: "Dark Night...you...where's Ce'er?!"
Zheng Yi stopped at the edge of the torchlight, his voice as calm as if he were chatting: "Dead."
The two words, like two knives, stabbed into Li Xuangang's heart at the same time.
He swayed and almost fell over.
The crowd behind him gasped, and some people's legs went weak.
"Impossible!" Li Xuangang roared, "Ce'er has the Jade Talisman! He has the Azure Whip! How could he possibly..."
Zheng Yi raised his hand.
Open your palm.
A jade talisman, broken in two, lay quietly, with a faint spiritual light still lingering at the broken edge. It was a life-saving item personally crafted by Li Tianque.
“Now,” Zheng Yi said softly, “it’s shattered.”
Li Xuangang's eyes turned bloodshot, and he suddenly drew his sword: "Beast! I'll kill you!"
The blade flashed like a bolt of lightning, carrying a violent spiritual force, and slashed straight at Zheng Yi's head.
Zheng Yi neither dodged nor avoided the attack.
He merely turned slightly to the side, the scabbard meeting the blade.
"clang--!"
A loud bang.
The sparks from clashing swords illuminated the lower half of his face—pale, yet without a trace of panic.
Li Xuangang felt a tremendous force surge through the blade, his arm went numb instantly, and the long sword almost slipped from his hand.
Before he could change his move, Zheng Yi had already grabbed his wrist holding the knife with his left hand.
His five fingers were like iron clamps.
"Click".
The sound of bones breaking was so crisp it sent chills down your spine.
Li Xuangang screamed in agony as his long sword fell to the ground.
Zheng Yi then kicked him in the stomach.
Li Xuangang flew backward like a kite with a broken string, crashing into three pine trees as thick as bowls before falling heavily to the ground, blood spurting from his mouth and nose.
The remaining Li family cultivators finally reacted, roaring in unison as they unleashed their swords, sabers, and magical treasures.
A dazzling array of light, swords, spears, halberds, and exploding talismans clashed together, weaving a vast net of death that descended upon Zheng Yi.
Zheng Yi took a deep breath.
The Heavenly Golden Core slowly rotated in his dantian, golden flames seeping from his pores, forming an extremely thin protective light barrier. He took a step forward.
The sword is drawn.
It was neither a sweeping motion nor a straight thrust.
Instead, it was an extremely fast lap.
The sword light transformed into a perfect golden arc.
"Om-!"
Wherever the arc passed, all the flying magical treasures, swords, and talismans were as if grasped by an invisible giant hand, and all stopped in mid-air.
Then, the arc contracts.
"Click-clack-click-clack..."
A series of crisp cracking sounds.
Those magical artifacts were as if cut by invisible sharp blades, instantly turning into fragments that scattered across the sky like a rain of metal.
The Li family cultivators were stunned.
Some people instinctively stepped back, while others opened their mouths wide but couldn't make a sound.
Zheng Yi sheathed his sword.
The sword tip fell to the ground again.
He looked at Li Xuangang, who was still lying on the ground coughing up blood, and said calmly, "Go back and tell Li Tianque."
"He's next."
After saying that, he turned around.
The black robe flickered in the mist and disappeared into the depths of the night.
Behind him, all that remained were the remnants of his defeated army and Li Xuangang's heart-wrenching roars.
"You beast... Dark Night! You will die a horrible death!!!"
The sound echoed in the canyon, lingering for a long time.
The ancestral home of the Li family is the first peak on the upper reaches of the Blackwater River.
The main hall was brightly lit, yet it felt as oppressive as a tomb.
Li Tianque sat on the throne of the family head, his face so gloomy it could drip water. He had been in seclusion healing his injuries, but was abruptly awakened by an urgent report. At this moment, his chest ached faintly, as if his old wounds had reopened.
Li Xuangang was kneeling below.
His left arm was haphazardly wrapped with strips of cloth, his face was as pale as paper, and his lips were trembling.
"Speak," Li Tianque said in a low voice, as if squeezed out from between his teeth, "What exactly happened?"
Li Xuangang pressed his forehead to the ground, his voice trembling: "Patriarch... Ce'er... Ce'er... was killed by An Ye... even his life-saving jade talisman was shattered..."
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Li Tianque's pupils trembled violently, his fingers gripping the armrest tightly until his knuckles turned white.
"The jade talisman... is broken?"
“Yes…” Li Xuangang’s voice was even lower, “I saw it with my own eyes… An Ye threw the broken jade talisman on the ground… He said… the next one is you.”
"Snapped!"
Li Tianque slammed his palm on the armrest.
The entire rosewood throne shattered into pieces instantly.
He suddenly stood up, his chest heaving violently, his face turning from white to green, and then from green to purple.
"You bastard...you bastard!!!"
He suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.
Fresh blood fell onto the bluestone ground, splashing up tiny blood flowers.
Everyone in the hall knelt down.
"Homeowner!"
"Master, please calm your anger!"
Li Tianque acted as if he hadn't heard.
He staggered forward two steps, reached out and grabbed Li Xuangang by the collar, lifting him up.
"You said... what are Dark Night's injuries like now?"
Li Xuangang was out of breath, but dared not hide anything: "He...he looks...almost fully recovered...his attacks are incredibly fast...more than a dozen of us at the Mahayana Realm...couldn't even withstand a single move from him..."
Li Tianque let go.
Li Xuangang fell to the ground, coughing violently.
Li Tianque turned around, his back to everyone, and placed his hands on the table, his knuckles turning white from the exertion.
"Ten days ago... intelligence said he was critically injured and on the verge of death... but now he's single-handedly slaughtering the pride of my Li family and even killing my own brother..."
His voice suddenly became very low, as if he were talking to himself.
"Dark night...dark night..."
Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from outside the hall.
An elder stumbled in, his face deathly pale: "Patriarch! Something terrible has happened! The spirit mine in the back mountain... all the guards of the spirit mine have been killed! The spirit-gathering array at the core of the mine has been destroyed! The spiritual energy of the entire mine is now leaking out at an alarming rate!"
Li Tianque was startled.
He whirled around: "Who did this?!"
The elder's voice trembled: "...He left a note..."
He trembled as he handed over a blood-stained note.
Li Tianque snatched it away.
There was only one line of text on the paper:
"Li Xuance's life, in exchange for one of your spiritual veins. —Dark Night"
The handwriting was sharp and forceful, as if it had been written with blood dipped in the tip of a sword.
Li Tianque stared at the words, his chest heaving violently.
Suddenly, he threw his head back and let out a heart-wrenching howl.
The whistling sound carried the stench of blood.
"puff--!"
He spat out another mouthful of blood.
This time it's even fiercer.
Blood splattered on the table and on the paper, making the words "Dark Night" even redder.
Li Tianque staggered backward and fell to the ground, clutching his chest tightly with both hands.
"Ancestor... Ancestor, he..."
An elder exclaimed in surprise.
The screen behind the main hall was suddenly lifted open by a tremendous force.
An elderly man with white hair and beard slowly walked out.
He wore a gray robe, his face was gaunt, but he had a pair of sharp, eagle-like eyes.
It was none other than Li Wuji, the patriarch of the Li family, a powerful expert in the early stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm. He had been in seclusion for over three hundred years, but was now disturbed and forced to emerge from seclusion.
His gaze swept over everyone in the hall, finally settling on Li Tianque.
"Tianque".
Li Tianque struggled to his feet and knelt on the ground: "Ancestor... Xuan Ce is dead... the spirit mine is destroyed... An Ye... An Ye, he..."
Li Wuji raised his hand.
Li Tianque immediately shut up.
The old ancestor walked to the table and picked up the blood-stained note.
He stared at the words above and remained silent for a long time.
The hall was completely silent.
Finally, Li Wuji spoke.
The voice was aged, yet carried an undeniable authority: "Dark Night... this child has become a great threat."
Li Tianque gritted his teeth: "Ancestor! We'll gather all the clan's experts now and storm Hongyun City! I don't believe he can really turn the world upside down!"
Li Wuji slowly shook his head.
"No."
Li Tianque was taken aback: "Why?"
Li Wuji put down the paper and said in a low voice, "This boy has... a Tribulation Transcending Realm expert backing him. Shen Changyuan has already broken through to the next realm."
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
Everyone gasped.
Li Tianque's face turned deathly pale: "Shen...Shen Changyuan?! Isn't he still in seclusion? Intelligence..."
“The intelligence was from ten days ago,” Li Wuji said coldly. “Now, he has reached the half-step Tribulation Transcending Realm, and may even have truly entered the Tribulation Transcending Realm.”
He paused, his gaze fixed on the dark night sky outside the hall.
"More importantly... this kid from Dark Night is ruthless and vicious. He doesn't confront you head-on; he plays dirty tricks. He killed Xuan Ce, destroyed the spirit mine, left notes... every step he takes is digging into our roots."
Li Tianque trembled all over: "Then...then what do we do? Are we just going to watch him kill them one by one?!"
Li Wuji remained silent for a moment.
Suddenly, he started coughing violently.
The cough was excruciating.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, which splattered onto the bluestone ground.
Li Tianque was shocked: "Ancestor!"
Li Wuji raised his hand to stop him.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his voice grew even colder.
"Pass down the order."
"From this day forward, all disciples of the Li family who are away from home are to be recalled."
"All spirit mines, caravans, and spies... all must be shut down."
"No one may act alone." (End of Chapter)