“You're a disciple of the Zhaixing Sect too! Aren't you afraid I'll tell the Second Elder when we get out if you attack me?!”
“Don't—don't kill me! I'll give you my token!”
Wen Li continued northwest. Any cultivators from the three sects she encountered along the way barely had time to say a few words before she beat them senseless and knocked them out. She had Hold On transform into a giant sword to carry the four unconscious disciples behind her.
Her journey was smooth and unimpeded.
However, Wen Li noticed that she hadn't encountered any of the rogue cultivators recruited by the three sects. Something fishy was going on.
Suddenly, she felt a chilly aura behind her.
Swish!
Wen Li side-stepped to the right as a spear thrust sharply past her left ear, grazing the tips of her hair.
The razor-sharp tip sliced through a single strand of hair.
Her eyes turned cold. Gathering spiritual energy into her right fist, she whipped around and threw a powerful punch toward her rear left.
The attacker was Ye Mojin, an Early-Stage Golden Core cultivator brought in by the Ziyang Sect. Tapping his foot against the air, he used the momentum of his golden spear to leap into a horizontal 360-degree flip, dodging the gale of her fist.
Wen Li called out softly, “Hold On.”
Hearing the command just as he hit the ground and stabilized his footing, Ye Mojin looked up in momentary distraction.
In that split second, a swift beam of pale-blue cold light shot toward him from behind.
Pfft!
Sensing the danger, Ye Mojin tried to spring away, but it was too late. The longsword plunged without warning into his shoulder, running clean through it!
“You're courting death!” He glared at Wen Li with eyes full of hatred.
The gushing blood was instantly absorbed completely by Hold On.
At the same time, Wen Li formed hand seals. A transparent golden talisman flew from her palm, expanding to two meters wide while exuding a terrifying pressure.
“Go!”
Completing her seals, Wen Li flicked her right hand forward. A translucent blue dragon crackling with surging lightning burst out from the golden talisman.
“Roar!!”
Ye Mojin's pupils shrank. What is that?!
Ignoring the wound on his shoulder, he raised his hands and shot into the sky to evade the blue dragon, constructing a barrier out of thin air around his body.
The next instant, standing atop the blue lightning dragon's head, Wen Li raised her hand and swept it upward. Whoosh! A red light soared tens of thousands of zhang behind her, sending shockwaves of air tearing through the surrounding forest as if the entire sky were ablaze.
Feeling the terrifying aura, Ye Mojin's eyes bulged with fierce disbelief.
“You aren't Foundation Establishment Great Perfection!”
This was not a move any Foundation Establishment cultivator could execute. It made him—an Early-Stage Golden Core cultivator—feel genuine danger! Yet the spiritual energy fluctuations coming from Wen Li were clearly only at the Foundation Establishment realm!
Wen Li didn't bother wasting words with him. Standing high in the air, she pointed her right hand downward.
Bang! The wall of red fire behind her broke apart and reformed into dozens of lotus-petal-shaped fireballs, raining down upon Ye Mojin.
Panicking, Ye Mojin bellowed, “You want to kill me? Then let's die together!”
His eyes gleamed with a harsh golden light. Throwing his spear into the air, it instantly multiplied—from one to ten, ten to a hundred—creating thousands of ghostly spear phantoms.
Behind Ye Mojin, a massive ethereal phantom of himself appeared.
The hundred-zhang giant clenched its fist in midair, gathering the thousands of phantom spears into a single massive spear dozens of meters long. It thrust forward to meet the incoming lotus fireballs.
Boom!
The moment the two attacks clashed, a halo of intertwined red and blue spiritual energy sliced outward like a blade, instantly cleaving the forest below in two!
The cliff below was split clean down the middle.
The giant's massive spear locked against the lotus fireballs for several seconds, deadlocked in an intense struggle.
Wen Li formed hand seals again. This time, the blue lightning dragon beneath her feet surged forward, its sharp claws smashing through the lotus fireballs to strike the giant head-on.
Bang—!
Roar—!
A dragon's roar merged with an earth-shattering explosion, kicking up a colossal wave of spiritual energy tens of thousands of zhang high.
The giant and spear manifested by Ye Mojin were shattered instantly by the combined force, exploding into flying debris. The blue lightning dragon charged directly in front of him, leaving him wide-eyed with horror.
Before he could dodge, Bang!
The blue lightning dragon sent him flying skyward. Blue and black electrical arcs ran through his body, burning his hair to a crisp in an instant.
“Ahhh!!!”
Thud!
He crashed heavily onto the ground like a pile of trash.
Wen Li glided down and walked over to Ye Mojin. Looking at his charred, balding head, she still felt unsatisfied.
“Sever the tendons in his hands and feet.”
The order was naturally directed at Hold On.
Hold On flew over immediately and moved toward Ye Mojin.
“Wait—wait!”
Lying on the ground, Ye Mojin was still conscious. He looked at Wen Li with terrified eyes. “We have no grudge, and I didn't hurt you! If you spare me this time, I swear I won't seek revenge after we leave! I can... I can even give you my Soul Blood!”
Saying that, he hurriedly pulled out his storage bag and presented it. “There are many treasures inside that I've gathered over my years of cultivation. I'll give them all to you!”
Wen Li stood impassively, glancing at the floating storage bag.
She cast a glance at Hold On, which hovered in midair awaiting orders.
“Tell me,” she said. “Why did you enter the Trial Realm, and what did the Ziyang Sect offer you?”
Feeling a bit tired, her knees bent slightly, and Hold On intelligently flew behind her and flattened out horizontally, locking into position so she could sit down.
It even proactively released a strand of sword aura to knock a peach off a distant peach tree and carry it to her.
Just as Wen Li lightly knitted her brows, Hold On generated another blade of sword aura and neatly peeled the fuzzy skin off the peach.
Satisfied, Wen Li rested one foot on the flat side of the sword, rested her right arm on her knee, and began munching on the peach.
“...” What kind of weapon is this? It has its own consciousness?!
Even in this life-or-death crisis, Ye Mojin broke character for a moment. He glanced at his own shattered spear scattered on the ground nearby and felt a surge of subtle envy.
Seeing him dazed, Wen Li flicked her finger, sending an invisible slap across his face.
Slap!
“You!” Blood trickled from the corner of Ye Mojin's mouth, and his face naturally darkened.
Then, remembering his dire situation, he snapped back to reality and hurriedly answered her question.
“I entered the Trial Realm because the Ziyang Sect hired me! They promised that if I took first place, they would give me a slot to enter the Xuandu Sect, plus a High Grade Rank 1 pill as compensation.”
“You're a rogue cultivator?” Wen Li took another bite of the peach. It was quite sweet.
“...Yes.”
“How many rogue cultivators did the Ziyang Sect recruit?”
“Isn't it just me?” Ye Mojin frowned in confusion.
Wen Li lowered her eyelids lazily. Seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, she curled her lips into a faint smile. “Then have you heard of the Soul-Severing White Mi Fruit?”
Ye Mojin asked with an unchanged expression, “What's that?”
Although his reaction seemed completely normal, Wen Li still caught the subtle tension deep in his eyes.
“Since you don't know, you're useless to me.” Wen Li smiled faintly and slowly raised her hand.
Ye Mojin knew all too well what that implied and blurted out immediately.
“Wait!”
“I know about the Soul-Severing White Mi Fruit!”
Wen Li stopped her hand.
“The Ziyang Sect gave me a secret scroll—it's right inside my storage bag! I couldn't understand the contents, so feel free to take it!” Ye Mojin spoke at breakneck speed. After the fight just now, he knew all too well that Wen Li was a woman of no nonsense.
Wen Li looked toward the storage bag. With a shift of her gaze, the bag flew into her reach. Ye Mojin proactively erased the seal on the storage bag, disabling any defensive counter-attacks.
There was indeed a secret scroll inside. Wen Li reached out to grab it.
Boom!
In an instant, an eerie black mist erupted from the scroll, spreading countless snake-like tendrils that rushed toward her fingertips and rapidly climbed her arm. Upon closer inspection, they were tiny insects no larger than mosquitoes.
They instantly engulfed her, swallowing her whole in black mist.
“Hahaha! You dare touch my stuff? With these Spirit-Devouring Insects, you're dead for sure!” Clutching his chest, Ye Mojin struggled to his feet from the ground and laughed maniacally at the sight.
That was his ultimate trump card, prepared specifically for a moment of crisis.
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