27: Chapter 27 Battle Against the Old Man withered Bones

"You want to use me to concoct medicine?" Li Changsheng gritted his teeth and said hatefully.

"Then come and take me."

As his words fell, he took the initiative to attack!

He did not attack the Withered Bone Elder, but rather—Zhao Yuanlong!

Since he had to fight, he would cut down the traitor first!

Zhao Yuanlong did not expect Li Changsheng to be so decisive, and hastily raised his palm to meet the attack.

He was also at the Minor Achievement of the Xiantian Realm and considered himself no weakling.

But the moment their palms met, his expression changed drastically!

Li Changsheng's True Qi actually carried a kind of endless, persistent longevity, and... a trace of high-level pressure he could not comprehend!

"Pfft—" Zhao Yuanlong spat blood and flew backward, smashing through a hall pillar!

"Impossible!" The Withered Bone Elder's pupils shrank.

"Your True Qi..."

"It's not just martial True Qi!"

"Have you come into contact with Spiritual Power cultivation?!"

Li Changsheng did not answer and turned to face the Withered Bone Elder directly.

He secretly activated the blood-colored crystal ball.

This blood-colored crystal ball was obtained earlier from the black-robed Scholar; it could contaminate weapons or Cultivators, reducing their attack damage.

This item could be used for a sneak attack during intense combat, which was when it would exert its maximum value.

"Kill!"

The Withered Bone Elder no longer held back, his withered, bony palms turning into a sky full of blood shadows, each one carrying a deadly poison that corrupted True Qi!

The ultimate technique of the Blood Fiend Sect, the Thousand-Poison Blood Shadow Hand!

Li Changsheng's sword light was like a waterfall, and he pushed the Spirit Ape Iron Casting Power to its limit.

However, the gap in Realm was too great; within ten moves, he was already struggling to defend, and three bloodstains appeared on his body.

"Changsheng!"

Li Zhenshan wanted to rescue him, but was entangled by Zhao Qian and several other black-robed men.

A chaotic battle erupted in the hall.

Although the Li family members resisted with their lives, the arrivals from the Blood Fiend Sect were all elites, and they soon fell into a disadvantage.

Li Changsheng gritted his teeth and persisted.

He deliberately led the battle to an open area in the hall to avoid contaminating other clan members once the crystal ball was activated.

At the same time, he was observing, looking for flaws in the Withered Bone Elder's combat that could be exploited for a sneak attack.

On the twentieth move, the Withered Bone Elder clawed at Li Changsheng's heart.

This claw gathered blood light until it was substantial, and the sound of ghosts wailing rang out in the air!

Li Changsheng blocked horizontally with his sword. With a "clang," the longsword was actually corrupted and snapped by the blood light!

This was it!

He abandoned his sword and threw both fists out!

The final stance of the Spirit Ape Iron Casting Power—Ape King Cleaves the Mountain!

Fist and claw collided!

"Boom~"

A shockwave exploded, shattering the tables and chairs in the hall!

Li Changsheng flew backward, blood spraying from his mouth.

But at the very moment he was flying backward, he forced himself to act in mid-air, throwing the blood-colored crystal ball from his bosom toward the Withered Bone Elder!

"Hmph, petty tricks."

Seeing Li Changsheng throw something, the Withered Bone Elder punched out.

The crystal ball shattered in the air in front of the Withered Bone Elder, turning into a screen of blood-colored light that enveloped him!

"This is... Soul-Corroding Turbid Blood?!"

The Withered Bone Elder was shocked and angry.

"You actually dared to plot against this old man!"

Within the light screen, the weapons and Magic Treasure on the old man's body instantly dimmed, and even his own cultivation seemed to be weakened significantly.

"No..."

The Withered Bone Elder wanted to block the light screen from touching him, but it was too late.

The light screen quickly burst, turning into countless specks of light, most of which landed on him.

A small portion dispersed into the air and vanished.

Li Changsheng landed and knelt on one knee, his aura withered.

But in his eyes, a glimmer of light flashed; it succeeded.

[Combat Improvement: Gained the upper hand against a higher-level enemy. Reward: 5 points of Mental Energy, 5 points of Mental Energy remaining.]

"Little beast!"

"This old man will make you wish you were dead!"

The Withered Bone Elder was furious, his whole body's blood light surging.

He unleashed the full pressure of the Xiantian Realm Perfection, intending to risk damaging his cultivation to cast a forbidden technique!

But just at this moment, a long whistle came from outside the hall!

The whistle was clear and resonant, like a crane crying out to the Nine Heavens!

A figure in white stepped through the moonlight, and before the person arrived, the sword light had already reached!

That sword light was like autumn water, like cold frost; wherever it passed, the black-robed men of the Blood Fiend Sect fell like harvested wheat!

The Withered Bone Elder's expression changed drastically.

"autumn water sword intent?!"

"You are... a person from the Qinglan Sword Sect?!"

The person in white landed in the hall; he was a youth of about twenty, with sword-like eyebrows and starry eyes, carrying an ancient sword on his back.

He scanned the entire scene, and when his gaze landed on Li Changsheng, he paused slightly.

"The Blood Fiend Sect has crossed the line."

The youth's voice was cold.

"Qinghe Town is under the jurisdiction of Yunzhou Prefecture; Demonic Path Cultivators who trespass should be executed."

"You are merely an Outer Sect Disciple of the Qinglan Sword Sect, yet you dare to meddle in the affairs of my Blood Fiend Sect?"

The Withered Bone Elder said, his bluster masking his fear.

"To kill you, that is enough."

The youth drew his sword.

The sword was drawn, like autumn water flooding the courtyard.

The Withered Bone Elder roared wildly, unleashing the Thousand-Poison Blood Shadow Hand with all his might, but when the blood light met the sword light, it was like ice and snow meeting the sun, rapidly melting away!

One sword strike.

The sword light broke the blood shadows.

The sword radiance severed his right arm.

The Sword Qi pierced through his heart.

The Withered Bone Elder fell to the ground, his eyes full of unwillingness.

Seeing their leader dead, the remaining black-robed men scattered and fled.

Zhao Yuanlong also wanted to escape, but was struck dead by a palm from Li Zhenshan.

The white-clad youth sheathed his sword and looked at Li Changsheng.

"What is your name?"

"Junior is Li Changsheng. Many thanks to Senior for the rescue."

Li Changsheng cupped his hands and answered respectfully.

"No need to thank me."

The youth said indifferently.

"I am patrolling Yunzhou Prefecture under orders and happened to encounter this matter."

"However..."

"Why is there Spiritual Power fluctuation on your body?"

Li Changsheng's heart tightened.

"Junior does not understand what Senior is saying."

Just at this moment, a flash of light flickered and vanished on the token at the youth's waist.

The youth stared at him for a few moments, then suddenly threw out a Jade Slip.

"Next May will be the Qinglan Sword Sect's once-every-five-years disciple recruitment assembly. If you are interested, activate this slip, and someone will come to guide you."

Having said that, his figure flickered, and he had already disappeared into the night.

The hall was in a mess.

Li Zhenshan looked at the devastation and sighed deeply.

But when his gaze fell on the Jade Slip in Li Changsheng's hand, hope ignited again.

"Qinglan Sword Sect... Immortal Gate..."

He murmured.

Li Changsheng gripped the Jade Slip tightly; the clues to Spiritual Power cultivation, the invitation from the Immortal Gate, and the incomplete Blood Fiend Spiritual Power method in his mind...

His path would not be limited to this Qinghe Town; he would walk toward a wider world.

Outside the window, the waning moon was like a hook.

The noise of the celebration banquet had long since dispersed.

Deep within the Li Mansion, the doors and windows of the Family Head's study were tightly closed, and a sound-insulation Formation was quietly operating, isolating the inside from the outside into two worlds.

Li Zhenshan sat in the grand armchair, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the rosewood tabletop, making a dull "thud-thud" sound.

The candlelight flickered, casting deep shadows into the furrows between his brows.

The Grand Elder Li Qingsong sat opposite him, holding tea that had long since gone cold, yet he hadn't taken a single sip.

"Have you read the things Changsheng sent?"

Li Zhenshan broke the silence, his voice somewhat hoarse.

Li Qingsong put down the teacup and took out a stack of papers from his sleeve.

These were some of the letters and transcripts of records found on the Blood Fang Squad and the black-robed men of the Blood Fiend Sect.

On several of the pages, he had made marks with a cinnabar pen.

"I have."

Li Qingsong's voice was even deeper than Li Zhenshan's.

"The Wang family's bounty commission, the Blood Fiend Sect's mission records, the time, the location, the internal movements of my Li family... Some details are too precise."

He pointed to an "intelligence assessment" from before the Blood Fang Squad accepted the mission.

"It mentions here that Li Changhu was too eager for success in his cultivation, with his daily medication time fixed after noon, and his Meridians' tolerance at its weakest within two hours after taking the medicine."

"Such details, if not observed over a long period by someone extremely close, could never be known."

Li Zhenshan's gaze hardened.

"Before Li Changhu was injured, the one responsible for his medicinal meals and cultivation guidance was... the second one."

"It is indeed the Second Elder, Li Zhenchuan."

Li Qingsong slowly said this name, and the air in the study seemed to grow a few degrees colder.