Chapter 13: Counter-Kill

A figure in gray sackcloth and a douli hat was sprinting swiftly through the forest. Because of their extreme speed, their figure appeared slightly distorted, enveloped in a faint gray light shield.

The web of the Chong Tong San Tou Zhu could only capture this much information.

Based on Li Changshou's observations, this person had strong movement techniques, a long saber at their waist that seemed to be a deadly weapon, and exuded a fierce aura, likely from a life accustomed to living on the edge of a blade.

Taking a light breath, Li Changshou circulated his energy, suddenly increasing his speed.

Soon after, the attacker from the side also sped up, slightly adjusting their pursuit angle, clearly targeting Li Changshou.

The opponent's cultivation was initially judged to be at the Fan Xu sixth or seventh tier, but they might have been concealing some of it, with a second assessment placing them around the Gui Dao Jing sixth tier.

Since the pursuer was using movement techniques rather than the more efficient imperial flight, the chances of them having already ascended to immortality were very low.

Li Changshou frowned, realizing he had indeed been drawn into some strange affair.

How should he handle this situation?

Li Changshou's first instinct was to use an escape technique to flee, but he quickly realized that he had been under surveillance for the past two days, meaning the other side likely had a way to track him.

If he escaped this time and they still pursued him relentlessly, he would be in even greater danger.

Five li ahead in the forest, there was an open area overgrown with poisonous grass but devoid of trees.

Li Changshou snorted softly in his heart, gripping two small paper figures in his right hand as he quietly gathered his energy in his palm.

"Five elements in cycle, virtue of earth brings forth life, turbidity unobstructed, earth resides in the center!"

Slight wrinkles appeared on the gray-white ground ahead. Li Changshou performed the Tu Dun technique again, but as his figure sank into the earth, his right hand began to glow brightly.

The pursuer chasing Li Changshou furrowed their brow and snorted coldly. Sensing the aura rapidly moving underground, they changed direction once more, increasing their speed to chase after him.

A moment later, Li Changshou emerged from a patch of poisonous grass. He shook his body to fling off the toxic soil and a few poisonous insects, then quickly applied several Bi Zhang Fu to himself before preparing to dash off again.

At that very moment, a sword whistle suddenly rang out from the side!

A flash of cold light struck even faster than the whistle, slashing directly toward Li Changshou's neck!

Li Changshou spun around abruptly, but before he could react, the slender magical weapon—a long saber—struck his neck, sending his head flying backward!

A wisp of gray smoke twisted gently as the figure in the douli hat and gray robes materialized behind Li Changshou. The front flap of the hat lifted, revealing a faint cold smile at the corner of their mouth.

"Indeed, it's just Hua Shen Jing, obtained without any effort... You!"

Their words abruptly halted as they suddenly looked down at their feet.

The 'Li Changshou' who had been beheaded actually reached up and grabbed their ankle!

The assassin reacted swiftly, immediately trying to retreat, but their vision blurred, and their strength drained away as if it had been siphoned off. Their magical power and energy became sluggish, completely unresponsive.

At that moment, the assassin saw the small pot on the waistband of the corpse gripping their ankle—it was open.

They had fallen into a trap!

The assassin bit their tongue hard in a desperate attempt to rouse themselves, but they lacked even the force to break the skin. Their vision grew dim and hazy.

Self-made poison: Ruan Xian San.

Right then, a streak of light hovered above the assassin's head—it was a paper umbrella inlaid with various spirit stones, its appearance somewhat peculiar.

The umbrella merely turned gently, and the embedded spirit stones scattered, forming an isolation array with a diameter of fifteen zhang, instantly cutting off the area from the outside world.

Self-made treasure: Huan Tian Bao San.

Li Changshou's figure slowly emerged from the ground. With a wave of his right hand, the three paper figures grew in the wind, transforming with two soft pops into exact likenesses of Li Changshou, lunging forward.

Daoist technique: Jian Zhi Cheng Ren.

Before the paper figures reached the assassin, Li Changshou had already raised his left hand holding a bronze short crossbow, pulling the trigger without hesitation. A wooden arrow shot out, piercing straight into the assassin's forehead!

The douli hat flew upward, revealing the assassin's gaunt and menacing face.

The arrow embedded deeply, causing the light in the assassin's eyes to fade rapidly.

"You..."

The assassin let out a final, feeble roar in their last moments of life, but it was weak and powerless. As soon as their mouth opened, the three paper figure duplicates rushed in—

Paper Figure One struck with three long nails, piercing directly into the assassin's upper, middle, and lower dantian, locking their three souls and fixing their seven spirits!

Paper Figure Two formed seals with their hands in quick succession, spitting out a pale white flame that enveloped the assassin's body. The assassin's flesh melted away like a snowman in endless boiling water.

Not even a scream escaped them.

Paper Figure Three chanted incantations, using a soul-suppressing and ghost-exorcising spell, condensing waves of ripples that instantly dispersed the ethereal shadows emerging from the white flames.

By this point, the assassin was utterly soul-scattered, with only a small remnant of their body being consumed by the white flames.

Li Changshou, still uneasy, threw out a thumb-sized pearl. The pearl spun gently, absorbing the faint traces of greenish light—ensuring not a single fragment of the soul remained.

Gripping the bronze short crossbow, Li Changshou cautiously approached and picked up the pearl. The white flames had now extinguished, leaving only a small pile of charred ashes, half a saber blade, and a small ring on the ground.

The three paper figure duplicates sat down cross-legged in unison, beginning to recite scriptures rapidly.

One recited the Daoist Du Ren Jing, another the widely circulated Western Teachings' Wang Sheng Zhu, and the third the Daoist Xiao Zai Qi Fu Zhu.

Li Changshou casually drew the jade ring into his palm, not rushing to break its restrictions. Instead, he wrapped it in layers of his magical power and stored it in his backup Tian Zi Si Hao storage instrument.

Then, he examined the pearl for a moment, a look of understanding crossing his face. He circled around the three paper figures and began performing the Tu Dun technique.

As the three paper figures finished reciting their scriptures, faint ripples appeared on the ground. Li Changshou flicked his sleeve, scattering the assassin's ashes to the wind.

The three paper figures leaped up, shrinking back into palm-sized sheets in mid-air and flying into Li Changshou's sleeve.

He retrieved the umbrella, and the spirit stones returned to its surface, causing the array to dissipate instantly.

Li Changshou formed his left hand into a sword finger, releasing a burst of Jian Qi that pierced through the poisonous fog above, accurately striking a black beetle and shattering it.

This entire sequence of actions was executed flawlessly, as if rehearsed countless times.

Li Changshou glanced back at the now-normal ground, pointed gently at the headless paper figure, and ignited it, leaving no trace behind.

With one step, Li Changshou's figure sank into the ground and vanished.

Ah, crafting a paper figure does take quite the effort...

But with this fellow's assets as compensation, it's not a total loss overall.

From the residual soul fragments collected in the pearl, Li Changshou glimpsed many memory snippets, learning about this group's motives and their full scheme.

The assassin who attacked him went by the name "Ci Jiu," with a cultivation at Gui Dao Jing second tier. They were a hired hand, paid with spirit stones to handle dirty work.

The reason for targeting him was to steal his transmission talisman, using it to lure away Jiu Jiu Shishu through a diversion tactic.

Once Jiu Jiu Shishu arrived, this group would immediately strike at Liu Yaner and Wang Qi, using them as bait to draw Jiu Jiu Shishu into a trapping array.

Their true target was the sixth princess of that certain kingdom—

Youqin Xuanya.

But this group wasn't aiming to kill Youqin Xuanya; their elaborate scheme seemed to serve some more sordid purpose.

From the information in the assassin's memory fragments, the mastermind behind it all appeared to be his fellow disciple Yuan Qing, or perhaps some mortal force backing Yuan Qing.

Li Changshou curled his lips and thought to himself, "Indeed, you can't judge people just by their looks—most warm-hearted guys are just an act."

But all of this had nothing to do with him.

Since they were going to such lengths to lure Jiu Jiu Shishu into a trapping array, they clearly didn't dare face her directly, so Li Changshou didn't need to worry about the safety of a True Immortal realm expert.

A breeze blew by, and the poisonous barrier returned, restoring peace to the open area. The poisonous grass swayed gently, with only another small pile of it burned to ashes, leaving no other traces.

No one would suspect that a moment ago, a not-so-intense life-and-death battle had erupted here.

A moment later, only the wind whispered softly, as if humming a faint tune...

'Kill you in the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, and scatter your ashes to the wind!'

...

On the shores of the East Sea, on a beach, hundreds of disciples were engaged in a fierce battle against waves of shrimp demons emerging from the sea.

In one corner of the battlefield, several disciples at the Refining Qi realm hid behind a reef, chanting spells and activating their magical tools to support their senior brothers and sisters charging ahead. However, their gazes were all fixed on a graceful figure standing nearby.

Lan Ling E held two porcelain bottles, gently sprinkling powder toward the front before blowing a breath of spiritual energy from her lips. The powder instantly swirled toward over a dozen charging shrimp demons.

These not-very-intelligent shrimp demons turned into helpless weaklings in an instant, collapsing one by one, foaming at the mouth and rolling their eyes.

Lan Ling E lifted a short sword and floated forward, finishing them off one by one with precise strikes that pierced their demon souls, her movements exuding an air of elegance.

Soon, she turned and drifted back to her original spot, waiting for the next wave of sea tide, completely unaware that she had become the focus of many fellow disciples' attention.

"Shixiong's refined poisons are incredibly useful.

I wonder if Shixiong is safe now. Bei Ju Lu Zhou is so dangerous—they say even a single insect could kill an immortal there.

Ah... That foolish Shixiong always tells me to be steady, but he goes off adventuring himself.

And he doesn't even bring along his clever and brave little Shimei!"

The more Lan Ling E thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her.

"Lan Ling E Shimei, watch out!"

"Quick, dodge!"

Suddenly, urgent shouts came from beside her ears. Lan Ling E instinctively looked up to see seven or eight shrimp demons rushing at her, their large claws slashing down overhead!

There were pits in the ground—these shrimp demons had ambushed from underground!

In a flash, Lan Ling E let out a soft cry and grabbed a porcelain bottle from her sleeve, hurling it into the group of shrimp demons. Her Dashixiong's voice echoed in her mind...

"If you encounter an emergency or a tough enemy, just throw this bottle."

Smash!

The bottle shattered amid the shrimp demons, releasing a burst of green smoke that enveloped them in an instant.

The next moment, the shrimp demons hung suspended in mid-air.

As the sea wind blew, their hard-shelled bodies dissolved into colorful bubbles that drifted away with the wind.

Lan Ling E let out a long sigh of relief, but then noticed the atmosphere around her felt a bit odd.

Glancing around, she saw several senior brothers and sisters who had rushed toward her frozen in place, their expressions strangely awkward.

"Hmm?" Lan Ling E blinked gently.

Clang! A male disciple at Hua Shen Jing dropped his long sword at his feet and hurriedly bent down to pick it up.

"Lan Ling E Shimei, you're busy, carry on."

"We're just passing by... just passing by..."