Things just got complicated!
Anyone in the Tongxuan Realm would instantly recognize this "Little Vermilion Hook."
It's the signature mark of the Vermilion Hook Sect of Mount Mingyu. Ranked among the Ten Mountains, the Vermilion Hook Sect is one of the most notorious demonic sects in the world. They're infamous for their mastery of weapon forging, deadly chanisms, and assassinations. Ruthless, reclusive, and incredibly dangerous; dealing with them was never easy.
In terms of raw power, the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect was just as strong. The problem was, no one knew how many people the Vermilion Hook Sect brought with them this ti.
Truth be told, they didn’t need to send many. If just one or two mbers from their elite “Twin Blades, Four Edges, and Three Little Hooks” squad showed up, Li Xun and his companions would be lucky to make it out alive.
Ming Li’s bluish-green face twitched slightly. “The Three Sovereigns Sword Sect isn’t that stupid," he said coldly. "Even if the Vermilion Hook Sect sohow knows about this place, marching in openly wouldn’t be so easy…
“But the real question is.... are they here for the treasure, or are they here for us?”
“They’re probably not here for us,” Li Xun said, frowning in thought. “The formations they set up don’t seem to be targeting anything in particular. Most of it looks more like an alarm system.”
“Damn it! Next ti I see that brat Gu Ting, I swear I’ll skin him alive!” Ming Li spat viciously. Judging by the look on her face, it wasn’t just joking.
Li Xun knew Gu Ting was the disciple who brought word back. Still, he didn’t care who Ming Li wanted to flay. He had already contacted Kitty and told it to scout the mountain more carefully.
Ming Li wasn’t done venting, but she did send out his ghost spirit. And this ti, she was clearly more cautious.
Once the ghost spirit had left, Ming Li sat down cross-legged. His hands moved in a series of intricate seals, layering dozens of talismans together until a ball of green fla ford in front of his chest. The eerie light made his face and beard glow faintly jade-green. Clearly, he had activated the secret technique Jade Fire Flowing Crystal Curse to search the mountain.
It didn’t take long. Kitty and the ghost spirit sent back signals almost at the sa ti; they had found sothing.
This ti, the ghost spirit proved more useful. Since Ming Li was spiritually connected to it, he could see everything it had experienced as if it were his own mory. The mont Ming Li identified the target, he shot to his feet, cursing, “bastards!”
His usually composed face was twisted with anger. With the ghostly aura swirling around him, the look was downright terrifying.
Then he dropped the bomb: “This just got bad. Hundred Endings Blade and Bright Emperor Halberd are both here; and they’ve brought two disciples with them. We can’t take them head-on.”
Hundred Endings Blade and Bright Emperor Halberd were both part of the “Twin Blades, Four Edges.” The infamous assassins of the Vermilion Hook Sect. Many of the unsolved killings in the Tongxuan Realm were believed to be their handiwork.
Their power far surpassed Li Xun’s group. Even among elder-level figures like Madam Yan, they weren’t far behind.
With those two present, their mission to Dragonring Mountain was already halfway to failure.
Then Ming Li added sothing even more worrying. “They seem to be sensing sothing… but I’m not sure.”
Li Xun and You Wusheng both turned pale. This wasn’t a matter of “sure” or “not sure.” In a situation like this, even the faintest sign of danger could be fatal. There was no ti to hesitate. The three exchanged a quick glance and imdiately bolted.
After just a few steps, Li Xun suddenly rembered sothing. While alerting Kitty’er again, he made several quick hand seals. In the limited ti they had, he subtly altered the nearby qi chanisms. This ant any triggers or effects tied to them would now work differently.
The three of them held their breath and tightened every pore in their bodies to avoid detection. They circled around the valley and climbed to a higher vantage point a few li from the formations. From there, they crouched low, scanning the area below.
Barely half a stick of incense passed when Kitty sent a warning. Li Xun tilted his head toward a ridgeline seventeen or eighteen li away. The leaves were rustling....but there wasn’t a single figure in sight.
He nudged You Wusheng, who had sharp spiritual senses and also cultivated Ghostfire Candle Eyes, a technique that let him see any life sign within a wide radius. It was the perfect scouting technique at this mont.
Within monts, You Wusheng nudged him back, confirming that soone was indeed there.
The three of them beca more cautious, even their conversations turned into whispers, and they dared not move a muscle.
“They’re being careful too.”
“They’re probably more worried about the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect than about us. Looks like we might be able to use that.”
“But we probably can’t fool them for long.”
“No... but we were never going to. Everyone’s just afraid of drawing the attention of the Three Sovereigns Sword, so no one wants to make a bold move. That actually gives us an advantage,” Li Xun said, glancing around to match the terrain with the intelligence they had gathered. And he found the answer.
A faint smile appeared on his lips. “The area around the Old Residence is full of restrictive formations, but they don’t seem to be connected to each other. That ans they’ll be doing their thing, and we’ll be doing ours. Whether we get the treasure or not depends on how fast we crack the formations. What’s that got to do with Vermilion Hook Sect?”
Ming Li perked up at that, then let out a dark chuckle. “Yeah, it’s just a race now. Worst case, we play hide and seek for a bit. I an, if we’re all howling at the tiger’s den, what’s the point in arguing who’s louder?”
All three let out a muffled laugh, then lowered their heads and began to regulate their breath.
So ti later, there was a sudden shift in qi chanisms from the restricted area below. A crisp sound rang out, like ice beads striking each other... followed by a muffled grunt.
“Well done, Junior Brother Hundred Ghosts! Beautiful strike. That ‘Soul-Severing Little Vermilion Hook’....bet these people have never tasted anything like it!”
The three of them smiled again. As for whatever happened next, that was no longer their concern.
…..
“Left, 17 chi — Pingmai Three thods, 22nd variation!”
“Front, 15 chi — Tongluo Hand, 47th variation!”
“Alright, stop right there and stay still…” Li Xun let out a long breath, straightening up. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and stepped forward a few paces to stand parallel to You Wushen. Brushing aside the grass and loose soil, he uncovered the carved patterns of the formation he’d expected to find.
Both Ming Li and You Wusheng exhaled deeply on either side of him. Though neither dared move just yet, spotting the carved restrictive markings ant one thing: Li Xun's deductions were correct. After being stalled for a day and a half, they could finally move forward. Exhausted as they were, their spirits were high.
Li Xun kept observing for a while longer before signaling for them to stop quietening the qi chanisms.
It was as if they'd been granted a royal pardon. They simultaneously pulled back. And the 15 critical qi chanisms they had been controlling imdiately lost their positions. On a level far beyond ordinary perception, these qi chanisms began to hum and tremble.
Li Xun’s lips curved into a slight smile. In the air before him, it seed as though an invisible set of strings had appeared. He moved his fingers like he was plucking a pipa, and without exerting much effort, his true breath within him spread out freely. The increasingly refined Yin fire seed to turn into a gentle, mist-like drizzle, softly falling drop by drop, restoring the scattered qi chanisms back into their original positions.
Crisis averted. Li Xun stood up straight and stretched lazily, a rare smile surfacing on his face.
With the movent, every bone and joint in his body gave off a series of quiet pops. Fine threads of his true breath seeped out from every acupoint and rged into the vibrant, ever-shifting “Abyssal Ring” that churned around his Yellow Court like clouds boiling over a crimson sunrise.
This was a sign his NetherYin Qi cultivation had stepped into a new level.
Unlike the Qi refining techniques of the Mingxin Sword Sect, when NetherYin Qi was cultivated to a certain point, it still centered around the Yellow Court to govern the flow of true breath inside the body. However, instead of condensing into a Golden Core, it ford a lively, ever-changing, finely woven “ring” around the acupoints. Like a delicate net.
Within that ring, chaos and void mingled, almost imperceptible. With deeper cultivation, the inward-facing yin-fire would grow even more refined, eventually allowing him to lt space itself, open an inner world, and establish a direct channel to the Nine Nether Worlds—drawing on their qi, endlessly.
Over the past seven days, Li Xun’s cultivation progress had been astonishing.
Of course, much of the credit went to the Nethermyst Shadow Body; his two powerful Nethemyst Puppets had been feeding him back primordial qi day and night, helping temper his body. With such assistance, it was hard not to make progress in his cultivation on the Netherworld Immortal Path. But just as important was the relentless effort he'd poured in these past days, working tirelessly, analyzing and studying the complex restrictive formations.
Mystic Cycle Sect was indeed the undisputed master of restriction techniques. Even though the man behind these defenses was a renegade disciple, his level of skill in crafting formations was undeniably formidable.
Over the past week, aside from playing hide and seek with the Vermilion Hook Sect and the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect, Li Xun had devoted himself entirely to deciphering and disabling this complex web of formations.
All this painstaking effort, which had exhausted him completely, hadn’t just sharpened his understanding of seals and formation techniques; it also directly boosted his cultivation. Thanks to his unique thod of channeling Qi through studying restriction patterns and breaking through by deducing their logic, every bit of insight he'd gained had fed straight back into his own growth without any waste.
It was like spending seven straight days locked in life-or-death fight with a formidable enemy. Exhausting, yes, but the breakthroughs he had gained were priceless.
With pure and refined internal cultivation as the foundation, using the unique art of deducing restriction patterns as the thod, and with the profound primordial qi of the Nethermyst Shadow Body as backing, with all these conditions combined, Li Xun’s rapid progress was only natural.
Just then, Ming Li approached and handed him a vial of elixir.
Li Xun didn’t hesitate. He downed it in one go. The cool liquid slid down his throat, reinvigorating him instantly. Glancing toward the distant ridge, he smiled. “How’s their progress over there?”
Ming Li gave a thumbs-up, though his grin had a hint of nace. “Not even close. We’ve pulled ahead by at least ten li.”
You Wusheng used his Ghostfire Candle Eyes to asure it precisely. He nodded. “They’ve been stuck in place for two days now. But Junior Brother Hundred Ghosts, have you still not pinpointed the location of the Old Residence?”
Li Xun shrugged. “I can confirm it’s beneath the main peak of this mountain, but as for the exact location... I need more ti. At the current pace, I’ll need at least twenty more shichen (40 hours).”
“Twenty shichen?” Ming Li’s expression darkened with a flash of green. He glanced at the sky and frowned. “That won’t leave us much wiggle room. Those bastards from the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect won’t wait around.”
They’d detected the strange activity on Longhuan Mountain six days ago, and Li Xun’s team had been under their watch ever since. Their clashes with the Vermilion Hook Sect hadn’t gone unnoticed either. Now, with the trail exposed, the Vermilion Hook Sect’s movents had also been completely exposed.
But the Three Sovereigns Sword’s attitude had been oddly ambiguous. They kept circling the outskirts of the mountain, constantly maintaining their pressure, but made no move to intervene. It was clear they were waiting to swoop in and reap the rewards.
“There’s not much we can do,” Li Xun said quietly, lowering his head as he resud deducing the restriction’s next phase. “For all we know, they’re already working on the sa thing… The restriction setup worked fine before, but now that we’ve made progress, anyone paying attention is going to notice.”
Ming Li and You Wusheng exchanged uneasy glances. He was right. Why hadn’t they thought of that?
In terms of talent and resources, the Three Sovereigns Sword Sect was no less capable than the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect or Vermilion Hook Sect.
Things were about to get even ssier.
As that unease settled between them, sothing suddenly shifted in Li Xun. His entire body stiffened. All at once, he froze like a statue.
Ming Li and You Wusheng imdiately noticed sothing was wrong and rushed to his side.
“What’s—”
Ming Li barely got the word out before Li Xun cut him off with a sharp, urgent gesture.
Sweat beaded down Li Xun’s forehead. His eyes darted rapidly, clearly under imnse ntal strain. Just watching him made them even more anxious than he was.
Sothing serious must have just happened.
The tension dragged on for over ten heartbeats, until finally, they heard the long, smooth sound of Li Xun exhaling.
He didn’t stop after a breath or two; he kept going. A full incense stick’s worth of ti passed before his breath finally ca to a natural end.
Only then did he lift his head. He looked at the others and spoke:
“I know where the Old Residence is.”
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