Slaying Guard, Zi He

Upon hearing the words "Demon-Slaying Bureau," the black-robed cultivator's expression changed drastically. He immediately raised his fist and punched toward Yang Lingrui.

Clang!

However, at this moment, Yang Lingrui's body was already protected by a thick layer of gray-white external manifestation, and even the black-robed cultivator's full-strength blow could not shake it in the slightest.

"Damn it!"

He regretted his earlier sadistic behavior-he should have killed this man long ago.

But now there was no time to dwell on it. He had no desire whatsoever to provoke the Wangchao's Demon-Slaying Bureau, so he could only abandon the matter for now.

Whoosh-

The black-robed cultivator hurled a steel needle at Zi He, then turned and fled.

Zi He flicked his finger through the air, and the external manifestation he summoned knocked the steel needle down.

Watching the black-robed cultivator's rapidly fleeing figure, he did not rush to give chase. Instead, he silently took down the dark red longbow from his back.

Crackle...

Aiming in the direction the black-robed cultivator had fled, Zi He slowly drew the bowstring.

Swish, swish, swish.

A semi-transparent arrow formed from external manifestation materialized on the bow.

As he pulled the bowstring tauter and tauter, streams of air began to swirl around the external manifestation arrow.

The black-robed cultivator had already fled an extremely great distance, even beyond the range of Zi He's Divine Sense.

But Zi He seemed unconcerned. His lips moved slightly as he softly chanted a few incantations, and a layer of purple light covered his black pupils.

"Strike!"

Thrum-

After a brief aim, Zi He uttered a single word. The external manifestation arrow shot forth, and the vibrating sound of the bowstring rebounding reached his ears.

What was astonishing was that although this external manifestation arrow appeared extremely fierce, after being loosed, it made not a single sound-not even the slightest noise of cutting through the air could be heard.

After firing the arrow, Zi He paid no further attention to that direction. He turned and walked to Yang Lingrui's side, feeding three pills into his mouth in quick succession.

"You... didn't die..."

There was still undried blood in Yang Lingrui's mouth, and his speech was somewhat slurred.

From the moment he saw the external manifestation technique, he had guessed the general situation. When he heard the man call himself Zi He, it confirmed his suspicions.

Taking the original name and removing the first and last characters-that was his current identity.

"Mm, thanks to the Ancestor's blessing, I managed to cling to life."

"Good... good, cough, cough..."

"I didn't die, but if you keep talking nonsense, you really will die. Quickly refine the medicinal power."

One high-grade Spring-Returning Pill, one high-grade Bone-Regenerating Pill, and one high-grade Yang-Restoring Pill.

Three potent medicines of the Qi Gathering stage were forced down, forcibly pulling Yang Lingrui's body and soul back from the gates of death.

This single mouthful had swallowed over two thousand Spirit Crystals.

Three hours later, Yang Lingrui had recovered his strength and stood up with Zi He's support.

"This time, I truly owe you a life. Thank you," Yang Lingrui said gratefully.

"Don't say that to me."

"How did you end up here?"

"The Demon-Slaying Bureau intercepted intelligence from the Blood Feather Hall, so I received orders to head to the treasure land. I happened to run into you. You really are lucky to be alive," Zi He said.

Yang Lingrui smiled bitterly upon hearing this.

If Zi He hadn't appeared, he would have perished here today.

"Then now, what should I call you?"

"In this world, there is no longer a Second Young Master Li. Only a first-rank Slaying Guard of the Demon-Slaying Bureau, named Zi He."

After Zi He spoke, a flash of reminiscence passed through his eyes.

The two were silent for a moment, then Yang Lingrui looked toward the massive crater blasted by the Moonfall and said, "To deal with a small fry like me, Lone Moon Mountain actually spent so much."

"Tch, don't flatter yourself. This Moonfall wasn't aimed only at you."

Zi He curled his lip and said, "Do you know how many disciples Lone Moon Mountain lost this time?"

Yang Lingrui shook his head to indicate he didn't know, and Zi He held up three fingers.

"Twenty-eight people died in total, including three personal disciples. Do you know what that means? In the past thirty years combined, Lone Moon Mountain hasn't lost as many disciples as in this single trip."

Yang Lingrui hadn't grasped the concept before, but after hearing this, he understood the reason for Lone Moon Mountain's fury.

Losing so many disciples would inevitably have a major impact on the Sect's succession.

"I heard that in the treasure land you entered, a Lone Moon Mountain Elder's personal disciple also died. Do you know what happened?" Zi He turned and asked.

Yang Lingrui looked at him but said nothing.

"What? Don't tell me you're going to say you killed him?"

Zi He rolled his eyes at him and said, "That man knew the art of spirit control and had many Spiritual Treasures and Talismans on him. Even I might not be able to handle him. You..."

At this point, Zi He noticed that Yang Lingrui still remained silent, and his eyes widened.

"No way? You really did it!?"

"By a stroke of luck, the two of us accidentally entered the inheritance ground. He was off guard, and I struck by surprise. Three Mountain-Splitting Talismans all hit vital points."

"Damn! That's fierce! You even got the treasure ground inheritance!"

Zi He couldn't help but blurt out a curse: "Then you really deserved that Moonfall. Do you know how many Spirit Crystals that one shot cost? Eighty thousand!"

Yang Lingrui smiled and was about to say something more when he suddenly recalled Zi He's earlier words-"This Moonfall wasn't aimed only at you"-and a sense of foreboding rose in his chest.

He grabbed Zi He and said, "How was the target of this technique determined?"

"Lone Moon Mountain's master, the Moon-Grasping Sect, bought information from the main branch of the Canglan Heavenly Secrets Pavilion. Your family was definitely on the Wangchao's list."

Seeing Yang Lingrui so tense, Zi He also realized the situation and his expression darkened: "This time, did your elder brother come out as well?"

The thought that Yang Linghu and the other two might also suffer this calamity caused Yang Lingrui's state of mind to waver.

They might have been extremely lucky and avoided the Moonfall's attack.

But there were still the Blood Feather Hall cultivators as a backup plan.

Under an Eighth-Realm cultivator, the three had no chance of survival!

Thinking of this, he had no desire to stay here any longer. He mobilized his spiritual power, intending to head toward the Black Snake Hidden Cache.

"Pfft..."

Yang Lingrui spat out a mouthful of blood.

The wounds that had just healed burst open again due to forcibly circulating his energy.

"What are you doing!? Have you gone mad? This injury needs at least another month of rest to recover!"

"Zi He, take me to the Black Snake Hidden Cache. Now! Immediately!"

"You!"

Zi He looked at his physical condition and wanted to refuse.

But recalling the scene when he himself had learned of his younger sister's fate, he could understand Yang Lingrui's feelings at this moment.

"Fine! I'll take you!"

Zi He grabbed his longbow, hoisted Yang Lingrui onto his back, and rushed toward the location of the Black Snake Hidden Cache.

The two passed the spot where the black-robed cultivator had been struck by the arrow.

Yang Lingrui glanced over and saw that his shoulder was now empty.

"Excellent skill. Truly impressive."

"The Ancestor credited all the merits to Qingwan and me. The longbow and the eye technique were both exchanged at the Wangchao Treasury."

While the two were rushing toward the Black Snake Hidden Cache, Zhao Qi, who was clutching Yang Linghu's right arm, and Liang Yi, who had not yet recovered from his terror, also saw the Blood Feather Hall cultivator acting as the backup.

"First realm? Second realm? They need me to handle this?"

Seeing the cultivation levels of Zhao Qi and Liang Yi, this Qi Gathering Eighth-Realm Blood Feather Hall cultivator shook his head with little interest, clearly disappointed with this mission's targets.

What sense of accomplishment could there be in stepping on two ants?

Liang Yi stared blankly at this man; there wasn't even fear on his face, because at this moment, his mind could no longer process anything.

Zhao Qi's mind, however, remained relatively clear-after all, he had experienced major situations before.

But faced with absolute suppression in cultivation level, he racked his brains and could think of no better solution than to rely on his Talismans.

"I can't see through this man's cultivation level, but he's stronger than Senior Brother Lingrui. Seventh realm? Eighth realm?"

"I can feel his abundant blood and qi energy. He must be a martial cultivator."

"I still have three Talismans in hand. Will it work?"

"Never mind. Even if death is certain, I absolutely cannot sit back and wait for it!"

With this thought, he recalled Senior Brother Lingrui's method. He tightly hugged Yang Linghu's arm and let out sobs, while inside his sleeve, that Mountain-Splitting Talisman was already drawn like a bowstring ready to be loosed.

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