Li Xuanfeng, who was now quite some distance away from the group of cultivators, took out his hand that he had been hiding behind his back. His wide palm was now covered by tiny cuts that were slowly opening and closing like a baby's mouth. Blood was flowing freely from his fingers.
"I was fighting pretty recklessly..." he muttered to himself.
With a swift motion, Li Xuanfeng put away the severed head. The five arrows in his quiver were still vibrating slightly, seemingly thirsty for more action. The golden light from them intertwined with each other beautifully, like twinkling lights following an invisible rhythmic dance.
Li Xuanfeng had five Profound Arrows, all crafted from refined gold. After being shot, the arrows would fly back to him obediently. After their flight earlier, the five dharma artifacts seemed particularly excited, constantly buzzing energetically in their quiver.
Raising his gaze, Li Xuanfeng glanced around him before raising his longbow again. This time, he did not use the golden arrows. Instead, he drew the bow, causing the mana on the bowstring to converge, forming an Astral Arrow.
Swoosh.
The arrow whistled through the air, flying a hundred li, passing through the dense forest on an island in the sea, and striking the sinister head affixed to a massive banyan tree.
BOOM!
The head on the tree exploded with a loud bang, now reduced to dust along with the swaying banyan tree, leaving only blood stains on the ground.
Earlier, Ewu had kept this Situ Family's member alive, deliberately grafting him onto a banyan tree to avoid raising suspicion with Mutuo. Now, with the situation settled, Li Xuanfeng ended it with a single arrow, sparing the man from his endless struggle on the tree.
Li Xuanfeng gently wiped his palm, ensuring that the surface of his hand showed no sign of injury. Thankfully, the wounds were not serious—just a month or two of healing would suffice.
Ewu, after all, was an old Master Monk. Despite his declining Dao lineage, he was not to be underestimated, unlike the weak Mutuo who was obliterated with just two arrows. Hence, Li Xuanfeng had no choice but to attack mercilessly before this thing had the chance to escape.
"Too bad. If he had hesitated just a moment longer, he could have been shot right here."
Though the Master Monk had chosen suicide to escape, Li Xuanfeng still had to make things unpleasant for him. Astral Qi was not easy to neutralize and would continue to worsen his injuries. Without external help, Ewu would eventually die, slowly and painfully.
Before Ewu could purge the Astral Qi from his body, Li Xuanfeng's Golden Age would have sensed his presence if he came even within a hundred li, and with a single arrow, Li Xuanfeng could have made him flee again.
Li Xuanfeng had spent decades on the southern border, disheartened before growing more proud and confident. The news he had heard from the Ning Family left him seething in resentment for the longest time. And now, after obliterating and gravely injuring the two Buddhist cultivators, the hatred in his heart had finally eased slightly.
He murmured, "Just you wait... this is only the interest, not the price..."
After killing his way through the battle earlier, most of his mana reserve had been drained. As he flew through the dark, swirling clouds, Li Xuanfeng squinted, carefully considering his next steps.
Situ Mo is cautious. Since he's already revealed his strength, I don't think I can hide things much longer given his family's influence. I might as well use this opportunity to deter him or make him too fearful to leave the island. That way, he won't be able to harass my family's descendants.
Situ Mo's caution was unexpected, and Li Xuanfeng decided not to make things more difficult for the island's guest cultivators. He was in no condition to continue fighting, so he might as well stay to intimidate Situ Mo.
Thunder rumbled more frequently overhead, and the sky grew darker with ink-like clouds. Looking up at the misty expanse, the rain showed no sign of stopping. Li Yuanjiao always handled matters with caution, and since he was unable to gather information on where the Li Family had settled down in the Eastern Sea, Li Xuanfeng could only return to Splitreed Island.
It was dark on the sea, and Li Xuanfeng continued flying in the rain for a long time before he saw Splitreed Island in the distance. Diving into the sea, he was greeted by Ning Heyuan, who approached him with a smile.
"Brother-in-law, how did it go?"
"Not bad," Li Xuanfeng replied vaguely with a nod.
Ning Heyuan did not press further, merely laughing in response.
"Fellow Daoist Qinghong has arrived at the marketplace and is waiting for you!" he informed.
"Qinghong is here?!" Li Xuanfeng responded as he finally smiled, hurrying a few steps forward before flying toward the marketplace.
————
Eastern Sea, Qunyi Strait.
The islands in Qunyi Strait were densely packed, scattered across every corner of the strait with sizable populations living on them. Since these islands were near Shiqi Island, many Sons of Diyang were cultivating there.
On a remote, narrow island, the highest mountain was covered with barren, exposed boulders. At the top of the mountain stood a small temple, where five or six locals were silently praying.
The statue before them was carved from a massive boulder but was strangely white. At that moment, it began to shake, causing fine stone fragments and dust to rain down on the worshippers.
Speechless and fearful, the locals continued kneeling and bowing in reverence. Suddenly, the statue exploded, and a tiny baby jumped out from the rubble.
He was covered in blood, but disturbingly had only a head and a pair of shoulders. Everything chest down was missing.
The baby fell onto the ground with a thud, and a voice that sounded like a middle-aged man's came out of his mouth.
"Ah! Ah! Damn it! Damn it! Which immortal sect's disciple is he from...?!"
This baby, of course, was Ewu. Tears of blood were streaming from his eyes. While the local worshippers were still stunned, Ewu went up to one of them and stuffed his hand into his small mouth.
In a swift motion, the baby swallowed an entire arm whole. As soon as he did so, he grew considerably, and it did not take long for him to soon reach the size of a seventeen or eighteen-year-old young adult.
Yet, his body was still horrifying to look at—it was only a head sitting on top of his shoulders. Ewu's expression changed as the moment when Mutuo was obliterated before his eyes suddenly flashed before his eyes.
"Damn... there's something strange about this person."
He beckoned the last remaining local worshipper over, then raised his hand with nails that were as sharp as knives. Without warning, he severed the man's head and shoulders with a quick, clean slash.
With his hands on the ground, Ewu launched himself into the air and landed on the bloody stump of the corpse's chest, seamlessly merging himself with the body.
"Ah... so much better!"
Ewu took two steps forward. A small smile briefly appeared on his face before it quickly faded and froze into a grim expression.
PFFFT!
An inexplicable fluctuation erupted through his upper shoulders, causing the mortal body below to disintegrate into pieces. Ewu landed heavily on the ground again with a thud, feeling as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.
"What a brilliant immortal art!"
No matter how powerful a Buddhist cultivator's life-preserving abilities were, they could not sustain him in this form for long. While the scriptures declared that the physical body was just a vessel for the soul—one that could be replaced at will—a soul without this vessel would eventually drown in the secular world.
In that moment, Ewu realized the grim truth—unless he found a treasured panacea that was suitable for blood nourishment, he would perish within two or three years. He simply could not afford to hide away and cultivate slowly; time was of the essence. With no other choice, he steeled himself, summoned the wind, and flew toward the nearest island.
Ewu's heart was originally filled with hatred, but now... only fear remained.
Good thing the eldest senior brother is dead and the Qinling Dao lineage is now in my hands. If I can survive this calamity... I'll leave for the southern sea and never return to this cursed place!
The body, now nothing more than two shoulders and a head, floated through the air, drifting westward.
Ewu was consumed with despair, silently praying, "Oh, Revered One, please bless me! There must be an island with mortals somewhere here that isn't guarded by Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators... Whether or not I can restore the Qinling Dao lineage depends on this!"