novelhk Chapter 25 A Quiet Return
Chapter 25 A Quiet Return
Chapter 25 A Quiet Return
Under the moonlight in the woods, Huo Sanniang bowed respectfully to the bushes.
"I will never forget your life-saving grace!"
Her gaze turned complicated as she looked into the shadows. Though she saw no one, she knew that person must have heard her. A moment later, she wiped the blood from her shoulder, turned, and disappeared into the depths of the dense forest.
As the night breeze rustled through the branches, Chen Yi's figure emerged from behind the ancient pine tree like a wisp of mist.
He lightly touched the side of the neck of the Dong family cultivator's corpse with his fingertips, and after confirming that the life force had been cut off, his gaze fell on the storage bag embroidered with cloud patterns.
The seal on the bag had been diluted by the blood and qi of the deceased. Chen Yi used his internal energy as a guide to easily erase the remaining consciousness.
The three-foot-wide space inside was neatly arranged: twenty-three low-grade spirit stones gleamed faintly, two bottles of "Qi-restoring pills" were sealed with yellow talismans, a half-damaged bronze shield had residual fire marrow aura between its cracks, and there were three talismans—two "Fire Serpent Talismans" with dim spiritual light, and only one "Swift Travel Talisman" was intact.
Chen Yi frowned slightly.
Cultivators' items often bear tracking marks, especially this small bronze shield, which is made of a special material and may be detected by the Dong family's secret techniques.
He decided to hide the storage bag in the wild and retrieve it when needed in the future.
Taking out the Swiftness Talisman and hiding it in his sleeve, Chen Yi used his True Qi Lightness Technique, combined with the powerful strength of his first level of Body Refinement.
He moved like a ghost, rapidly retracing his steps.
On the way, he had changed his appearance and transformed into a handsome young man in his early twenties.
A day and a night passed, and Chen Yi stepped over the last mountain ridge, his feet treading on the slippery pebbles.
He had already hidden his storage bag, took out the disguise material, applied it to his face, and combined it with muscle movements and the application of the breath-concealing technique. After a while, he revealed the face of a man in his thirties.
Although no one noticed his youthful appearance along the way, he insisted on reverting to his usual disguise only before entering the town, just to be on the safe side.
Over the past twelve days, the Li family territory has been in chaos. Most of the Li family cultivators who have left the coverage of the Foundation Establishment Ancestor's divine sense have been secretly attacked, resulting in heavy casualties.
Meanwhile, the direct descendants of the Li family, without alerting the hundreds of subordinate Qi Refining cultivators, had already quietly left the clan territory under the moonlight with the Foundation Establishment ancestor.
The hundreds of subordinate low-level Qi Refining cultivators were met with a frenzied plunder by the Dong family cultivators and countless rogue cultivators.
They were forced to either kneel down and submit or flee. All the houses, buildings, and properties remaining near the Li family's spiritual vein were confiscated.
In the distance, the lakeside town was sparsely lit, and several plumes of smoke stood out starkly against the night sky.
This mortal town, though chaotic, lacks cultivation resources, so cultivators look down on it. Those who come to rob and cause trouble are mostly ordinary mortal martial artists.
When Chen Yi returned to the lakeside town, he unexpectedly ran into Hao Youren.
Hao Youren has now advanced to the Innate Realm. He wears a black long gown, the steward's robe of the Dong family's clothing workshop, with a long sword at his waist, and exudes a spirited air.
Two martial artists were escorting a man whose face was covered in blood.
"Old Chen?!" Hao Youren was slightly surprised, and released his grip on the sword hilt. "Aren't you with Li Yudie?"
"Don't even mention it. The Li family used us martial artists as human shields and cannon fodder, sending us on missions that were destined to end. Luckily, I was quick-witted and managed to escape under cover of darkness, which saved my life." Chen Yi waved his hand and sighed.
Hao Youren laughed heartily: "The Li family treats ordinary people like pigs and dogs. You should follow me from now on. I can still say something to the Dong family. With your abilities, Old Chen, I guarantee you'll be more comfortable than in the Li family."
Chen Yi looked up and saw that the new steward of the Dong family had a shrewd glint in his eyes, and there was no trace of the crippled appearance he had once had.
"Here you go!" Hao Youren tossed over a black iron token. "With this token, you can walk freely inside and outside the town."
Chen Yi didn't stand on ceremony. With Hao Youren's endorsement, his subsequent actions would be much easier.
Hao Youren turned around and kicked the bloodied and mangled prisoner, his voice suddenly turning fierce:
"Open your eyes wide and see clearly! This is the consequence of hoarding the Li family's medicinal herbs!"
"Listen up, all former servants of the Li family—anyone who voluntarily surrenders their hidden supplies within three days will be spared. The Dong family has always been generous; as long as you sincerely submit, your treatment will be several times better than it was under the Li family!"
"Two days from now, I will personally lead a search party to search every house. If anyone still dares to hide anything then, they will be a prime example!"
The fate of the ordinary people in the town was relatively good, because the cultivators didn't care much.
Those low-level rogue cultivators who originally depended on the Li family for survival will likely fare worse. They'll likely have little chance of survival unless they hand over all their accumulated spirit stones, magical artifacts, and resources.
As for the spiritual vein caves and houses where those independent cultivators originally lived, they must have been confiscated.
However, none of this concerned Chen Yi. He simply observed it without saying anything.
What he cared about was how to improve his strength, hoping that one day, when he encountered such a big crisis again, he wouldn't have to run away in such a sorry state.
At midnight, a scream suddenly erupted from the east of the town.
Chen Yi quietly stood on the roof. In the distance, in the firelight, several masked men were kicking open the door of the herbal medicine shop.
He turned his head away—this kind of fighting among mortals no longer aroused his interest in anything.
He is currently lacking some resources to advance his internal energy to the Innate Realm, and now is the perfect opportunity for the Li family to leave and the Dong family to cause trouble.
Chen Yi decided to go out and see what was going on. If there was an opportunity, he would make a quick buck; if not, he would obediently return. Now that he had Hao Youren's endorsement, he was safe even if he encountered the Dong family cultivators.
As night deepened, Chen Yi quietly approached the Li family's medicinal herb garden.
In the distance, magical light flickered, and the sounds of fighting could be faintly heard. He held his breath and focused his mind, activating the Concealing Breath Technique to its maximum, his figure disappearing into the shadows like a withered tree.
"At least three late-stage Qi Refining experts are fighting." Sensing the fluctuations in spiritual energy, Chen Yi retreated without hesitation behind an ancient tree a hundred feet away. He lightly tapped three iron nails with his fingertips, ready to flee at any moment.
As dawn broke in the east, the herb garden fell completely silent.
The Dong family cultivators had been gone with their spoils for some time, and even the patrolling disciples had withdrawn, before Chen Yi sneaked into the herb garden like a ghost.
The remnants of medicine scattered on the ground emitted a faint spiritual light. These remnants were useless to others, but they were valuable to Chen Yi.
He placed his palm on the ground, and the system quietly began to operate.
[Absorbing the spiritual essence of plants and trees: 3%-7%]
With each wisp of spiritual energy he absorbed, he warily surveyed his surroundings. Once the last ten percent of his innate true energy was replenished, he immediately withdrew, even erasing his footprints with his protective aura.
"Cultivate steadily, without greed or impatience," Chen Yi thought to himself.
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard the sound of someone stepping on leaves not far away.
Chen Yi looked up.
Under the gray-white light, Old Hu stood frozen in place thirty feet away, his medicine shovel dripping mud from his hand.
The two stared at each other for a moment, then simultaneously released the hidden weapons from their sleeves.
"You're here to pick up bargains too?" Old Hu, his white beard still smudged with soot, stepped forward and exchanged pleasantries with Chen Yi.
They were old acquaintances; they were among the first to flee when the lake was ravaged by monsters last time.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep, so I came out to look around."
"Hehe," Old Hu didn't expose him, but whispered a reminder as he approached Chen Yi:
"There are still three injured Cloud Steeds in the Spirit Beast Garden."
"There seem to be a few Xuan Shui Turtle eggs at the bottom of the Spirit Vein Lake that weren't taken away."
The two exchanged information.
suddenly,
A blinding white light shone from the core of the spiritual vein in the distance, and a shockwave blew off the roof!
A terrifying explosion rang out, and a white light pierced the sky, turning the world into daylight!
Chen Yi used his movement technique to instantly roll into the underground ditch in the herb garden, with Old Hu following behind in a disheveled state.
At this moment, Chen Yi sensed the fluctuations in Old Hu's cultivation level; he had actually entered the Innate Realm.
The explosion was like an earth-shattering blast; although they were dozens of miles away from the epicenter of the explosion, they were still covered by the flying mud and soil.
The two of them clung to the edge of the ditch and looked over there.
Three figures riding swords fell like dragonflies with broken wings, while more than a dozen ordinary cultivators were blasted away like flowers scattered by a celestial maiden.
Old Hu's face showed a look of horror, and it took him a long time to recover:
"The Li family has ruthless methods."
Chen Yi understood that the Li family had left themselves a last resort: they had set up a self-destruct formation in the second-tier spiritual vein cave at the core of the spiritual vein. When the Dong family cultivators who went to take over triggered it, it self-destructed, destroying the core of the spiritual vein and killing many Dong family cultivators in the process.
Before dawn, Chen Yi and Old Hu quietly returned to the lakeside town. Upon entering the town, Old Hu produced an identity token identical to Chen Yi's.
The two went inside easily and then went their separate ways.
Chen Yi watched Old Hu's retreating figure and thought to himself, "Old fox. Sure enough, the mortals who can survive in this place are all quite wise."
After returning to his residence, Chen Yi sensed the vitality of his meridians after absorbing a large amount of spiritual energy from plants and trees.
He began to circulate his spiritual power, slowly transforming the last 30% of his internal energy into true qi.
(End of this chapter)