The sky was dark, not a single ray of sunlight pierced through. The pitch-black cracks in the void around them resembled the gaping mouths of terrifying monsters, silently waiting for prey to arrive. These cracks divided the area into countless different paths, making it impossible to advance freely. Occasionally, distant lightning flared, layering through the darkness, casting a pitiful amount of brightness.
This was exactly the kind of place where Meng Qi and his companions were walking. The paths twisted and turned endlessly, seemingly never-ending. Only the howling wind echoed in their ears, further highlighting the eerie silence.
Occasionally, violent gusts blew in, slicing through like steel knives scraping against bone, causing unbearable pain. The deeper they went, the worse it became. Meng Qi even suspected that deep inside, the wind might intensify to the level of the Samadhi Divine Wind. Without protective qi or the Golden Bell Shield, it could strip flesh from bones entirely.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust blew from behind, nearly lifting them off their feet. Batuerba was no exception, but Luo Shengyi, Qi Zhengyan, and Meng Qi—stronger men—managed to hold their ground. However, Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu, both seriously injured and missing an arm, were like fallen petals, swaying helplessly in the wind, evoking pity.
Suddenly, Ruan Yushu, holding her zither in her left hand, lost her balance. The gust sent her staggering forward before she collapsed onto the ground.
Seeing this, Meng Qi quickly turned back, attempting to help her up.
Ruan Yushu first set down her zither, then extended her left hand to grasp Meng Qi’s free hand, using it to pull herself up.
Meng Qi suddenly froze. He felt a smooth, round object placed into his left palm. Without showing any reaction, he tightened his grip, picked up the zither for Ruan Yushu, and handed it back to her.
“Tch, still a gentleman with a soft spot for beauties,” Batuerba remarked. Having lived among humans and guarded a Buddhist pagoda before, his speech was more coherent than that of other monsters.
Meng Qi blushed slightly, while Ruan Yushu remained as composed and aloof as ever, as if this was perfectly natural.
Batuerba showed no displeasure. After all, if the boy valued the girl, it only made her more useful as leverage.
“Hurry, hurry, let’s get moving,” Batuerba urged impatiently, eager to find treasures.
Meng Qi turned back, sword in hand, taking the lead. Qi Zhengyan and Luo Shengyi, both somewhat recovered, flanked him.
Taking advantage of a turn in the path, Meng Qi opened his palm and saw—a Dahuandan pill!
“This must be the one Senior Brother Zhang had…” Meng Qi immediately understood, his heart swelling with joy and excitement. With this pill, any member of his team could recover from injuries within an hour!
Of course, it couldn’t regenerate severed limbs.
“Batuerba’s injuries have improved somewhat, but his demon core is shattered, and his cultivation has dropped to the Half-Step Beyond Scenery realm. At his current pace, it might take a century to return to his former level…” Meng Qi suppressed his emotions, striving to analyze the situation rationally.
“There’s only one Dahuandan pill, enough to restore one person’s strength. In this environment, escaping might be easy, but killing Batuerba would still be difficult…” Meng Qi knew that even at full strength, without the Zi Sha blade, defeating a Half-Step Beyond Scenery opponent was nearly impossible. The others could offer limited help.
“Should I find a chance to retrieve Zi Sha and strike suddenly?”
“No, the plan is too complicated. Just retrieving Zi Sha might alert Batuerba…”
If Meng Qi had another six months, with his Seven Orifices stabilized and his sword and knife techniques improved, he might stand a chance against the still-healing Batuerba. But time was not on his side now.
Of course, after taking the Dahuandan, Meng Qi could easily escape in this environment. But he would never abandon his companions.
“Yushu excels in zither techniques. Without her right hand, her power has likely dropped to less than a tenth of its former strength. If she were whole, her ‘Twelve Langhuan Divine Sounds’ combined with my strength might turn the tide…” Having shared life and death together, Meng Qi had already started calling her by her given name.
Thanks to the Eight-Nine Mystical Art and the Golden Bell Shield, Meng Qi had a tough body and incredible recovery abilities. Combined with the steady supply of healing pills from Batuerba, his injuries had mostly healed. The main issue remained the aftereffects of the Sacrificial Technique, which only the Dahuandan could cure.
However, after shedding his mortal shell, the backlash from the Sacrificial Technique had lessened significantly. Previously, Meng Qi would have suffered a severe illness, alternating between chills and fever, leaving him weak and regressing his power to the early Opening窍 level. Now, he was merely mentally exhausted and physically drained. Except for the shattered Golden Bell Shield, he still retained half his power and wasn’t completely helpless without the Dahuandan.
Although the mental fatigue made it difficult to employ the Mind Seal Mind technique—especially the Ananda Saber Method, which demanded intense spiritual concentration—he could still rely on the Purple Lightning Blade Technique!
It had been the seventh day. While evading and hiding, Meng Qi had been accumulating Purple Lightning Qi. He still had enough for two uses. Given his current condition, with a bit more recovery, he could muster his remaining strength to unleash the “Thunder Shock of Nine Heavens.” With the “Twelve Langhuan Divine Sounds” assisting, their chances were decent.
“Senior Brother Qi lacks offensive power. Even if he recovers, his ‘Blue Ice Snow’ freezing ability pales in comparison to the restraint offered by the ‘Twelve Langhuan Divine Sounds.’ Even together, we still wouldn’t stand much of a chance…”
“If Lao Luo recovers, his two Beyond Scenery killing techniques combined with my ‘Thunder Shock of Nine Heavens’ might offer a one-in-ten chance…”
— Luo Shengyi’s fist techniques couldn’t match Meng Qi’s Purple Lightning Blade. Without being restrained first, Batuerba would suffer minimal damage. Even two consecutive strikes would only amount to an attack near the Half-Step Beyond Scenery level, insufficient to defeat the genuine Half-Step Beyond Scenery opponent, especially considering the sheer power behind Batuerba’s every move.
Unless Meng Qi could first disrupt Batuerba with the Ananda’s Saber Technique and break through its protective waves.
“Among us, only Zhiwei can fight a Half-Step Beyond Scenery opponent one-on-one. If she were whole, given the environment here where flight is restricted, she could take down Batuerba alone. But now, missing her right hand and not having trained her left, how much of her sword techniques’ power remains?”
“Whew, ‘Sword Without Self’ and ‘Strike the Sea’ are both techniques that transcend the Opening窍 stage. They primarily rely on internal cultivation to adjust the sword intent within the inner world, resonating with the outer world, thereby granting the sword techniques immense power. The forms of these sword techniques amplify this effect and make it harder for opponents to evade, but they are not the core… As long as Zhiwei can wield the sword with her left hand while maintaining speed, strength, and momentum, she can execute the ‘Yanluo Tie’ technique powered by the ‘Sword Without Self’ mindset, which should retain about half of its original power…”
Meng Qi himself was well-versed in the Beyond Scenery techniques and understood that the ‘Yanluo Iron’ was an exceptionally refined technique, relying on momentum and speed to overpower the opponent. As long as Jiang Zhiwei could steady the sword with her left hand, her sword intent alone would enable her to wield it effectively, without needing to painstakingly rehearse as Meng Qi had once done.
“Working together, one half crippled and the other half injured, we might have about a thirty percent chance…” Meng Qi clenched his teeth, making his decision. Thirty percent was enough. Hesitation was not an option. When the moment came, he would have to risk everything!
Once resolved, Meng Qi’s mind steadied. Outwardly relaxed but inwardly alert, he casually drew a circle with his left hand, mimicking Zhang Yuanshan’s Tai Chi defensive stance—whispering secrets was not an option, as Batuerba had warned that any abnormal air current changes would result in him devouring someone immediately.
Ruan Yushu understood Meng Qi’s gesture perfectly, knowing exactly what it meant. She kept her gaze forward, showing no reaction, as if nothing had happened.
Jiang Zhiwei’s eyes narrowed, recognizing the gesture as something Zhang Yuanshan might do.
“Why would the little monk imitate Senior Brother Zhang?”
Her thoughts raced, quickly connecting the dots to the Dahuandan pill and recalling Ruan Yushu’s earlier fall and Meng Qi’s assistance.
“Is he planning to give the Dahuandan to me?” Jiang Zhiwei quickly grasped Meng Qi’s intention—not because they shared an unspoken understanding, but because she had been thinking along the same lines!
She never gave up. Even after Batuerba had severed her arm, she had been searching for any chance to turn the tide. Naturally, her first thought had been about the Dahuandan in Ruan Yushu’s possession, and she had considered finding an opportunity to remind Ruan Yushu.
Another gust of wind blew through. Jiang Zhiwei stumbled forward, falling heavily. To avoid arousing Batuerba’s suspicion, her wounds reopened, blood once again flowing uncontrollably.
This was the moment Meng Qi had been waiting for. Holding the Dahuandan in his left hand, he rushed to Jiang Zhiwei’s side with a look of feigned concern, grasping her left hand with his left and supporting her shoulder with his right to help her up.
Batuerba snorted, “So sentimental? If you don’t focus on leading the way, I’ll eat one of them!”
Meng Qi quickly turned back, continuing to lead the group forward. Jiang Zhiwei first applied pressure to stop the bleeding, then coughed into her hand. Her yellow dress was now half-stained with blood.
The small incident passed smoothly. As they ventured deeper, the winds grew stronger, yet they seemed to be wandering through a maze, still finding no remains or ruined Buddhist shrines.
Meng Qi didn’t look back, but his spiritual senses remained fixed on Jiang Zhiwei. He noticed her slowly adjusting her left arm, using the excuse of stabilizing her posture to practice wielding her sword with her left hand.
“Another half hour…” Meng Qi silently counted down.
Suddenly, a dense demonic aura surged from ahead—far more powerful than Batuerba’s. If it belonged to a human, it would likely rival a supreme master.
Instinctively, Meng Qi and the others came to a halt. At the fork ahead stood a black-faced giant, its demonic aura so thick it resembled black mist. It might have been a demon general or commander who had followed some great demon king into this place long ago.
Batuerba was startled, about to step forward, when he noticed the black-faced giant’s body was riddled with rot. Its eyes were hollow, the eyeballs long decayed, and black hairs sprouted from its skin. It was a corpse, reanimated as a zombie-like monster!
Batuerba took a long sniff, carefully examining the creature. Seeing it had no weapon and its clothes were long decayed, he lost the will to fight. Pointing at Qi Zhengyan, he said, “You, go lure it away!”
In his current state, defeating this mindless zombie would be extremely difficult.
The atmosphere grew tense. This demonic zombie was incredibly powerful. Even without intelligence, it would still require someone at the Half-Step Beyond Scenery level to handle it. Sending Qi Zhengyan to distract it was risking his life.
Should they strike now… Meng Qi began considering the possibility of making a move immediately.
Qi Zhengyan took a deep breath and stepped forward before Meng Qi could speak.
“Alright.”
At this point, he had no more hesitation. He whispered secretly to Meng Qi, “Endure. Wait for the chance.”
He had guessed about the Dahuandan from Jiang Zhiwei’s earlier actions. Knowing Jiang Zhiwei’s character, she wouldn’t have fallen so weakly unless something was planned. Only Batuerba, unfamiliar with Jiang Zhiwei’s personality, had failed to notice.
“Senior Brother Qi…” Meng Qi said, both moved and worried.
Qi Zhengyan whispered again, comforting Meng Qi, “It’s dangerous, but it’s also an opportunity. Once the monster is lured away, as long as I’m not chased down, I can escape.”
Batuerba didn’t expect him to return. After all, the monster might kill him, and the dead don’t come back. This was the danger of being the scout.
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