“They lack even the simplest creativity. Why do they want to copy the square tower as well, and then construct it so crudely?” In Yunxiao’s eyes, such a splendid tower was just a poorly constructed inferior product. He was about to step into the yard when he suddenly sensed something. Hurriedly, he retracted his aura and hid in a corner.
A short moment later, a white figure ran sneakily over, glancing about as he moved, as if he were afraid of being found by others. With a few dashes, he leaped into the yard.
Yunxiao’s eyes gleamed, and he almost burst out laughing: The man was Li Yi. It seemed that they were destined to meet each other. ‘What is he doing here? Is he here to steal something too?’ Yunxiao thought to himself. ‘He is really bold to steal from his own sect! Well, I’ll just let him be my guide then.’
After stepping into the yard, Li Yi just stood there without moving, as if he had turned into a statue. Yunxiao was a little surprised. It had only been a few days, but Li Yi had already advanced to become a one-star Martial Lord. The progress was even faster than his own. He wondered how the other cultivated.
It was only after a moment of waiting that Li Yi began to move. Carefully, he lifted a leg and took a step, then another step. He landed each step in a very strange way and walked with extreme caution.
Obviously, there were strong restrictive spells in this yard, and one wrong step would kill him. Li Yi focused all his attention on his legs, not daring to be careless. It took him almost an hour to walk a distance of only several meters. When he finally reached the other side of the yard, he breathed a deep sigh of relief.
“What monster created this restrictive spell? This is simply torturing!” He complained while sending a few incantation seals with both hands into the square tower’s door, which made the two little copper rings on it glow with a faint yellow light. Soon, the door opened with a deep rumble.
With a joyous look, Li Yi could not help but murmur to himself, “After bowing my head and wagging my tail like a dog in front of that pervert for so long, I’m finally here! Luckily, he broke through and is throwing a celebration banquet, or I wouldn’t have this opportunity. Now, as long as I can find the Outworld Dark Jade and cultivate my extreme cold energy to perfection, I’ll have the ability to protect myself even from a Martial King!”
“The Outworld Dark Jade!” Yunxiao’s pupils constricted, and he cried out involuntarily. That thing was the unique treasure of the Beiming family, and also a must-have item to cultivate the Beiming extreme cold energy. How could it be here?
“Who goes there?”
The sudden cry frightened Li Yi and turned his face pale instantly. If he were caught stealing, he would definitely be killed. At that moment, he saw a figure dash into the yard, repeating the same steps he had taken just now. Yunxiao moved so fast that before Li Yi could see his face, he had already passed the restrictive spell, ran past him, and bolted into the square tower.
“Who are you!” Li Yi rushed in after Yunxiao, shocked and angry, but relieved at the same time. He would be shorter by a head now if the sudden visitor was a person in power of Supreme Palace. But, if the man was not from Supreme Palace, how did he pass the restrictive spell so fast? It was only after watching the Young Palace Master Ma Feibai a dozen times that Li Yi managed to secretly learn the steps, and even Ma Feibai could not move as quickly as the man.
As soon as he was inside, Li Yi was struck dumb. He saw the man just standing in the middle of the square tower with his back toward him, as if he were waiting for him on purpose. When he found with his divine sense that the stranger was only a peak-level Martial Master, he breathed a sigh of relief and said coldly, “Who are you? How dare you intrude a restricted area of Supreme Palace! Do you know you will be killed for this?”
Yunxiao turned around with a smile. “Long time no see, 9527. I hope you are well.”
“It’s you! LI YUNXIAO!” Li Yi was stunned at first, and then he flew into a rage in an instant. He found that whenever he saw this guy, he could no longer control his emotions. His body was trembling slightly as a monstrous killing intent exploded out of him.
“Haha! It feels so great to meet an old friend in a strange place,” Yunxiao said calmly, as if they were a pair of old friends who had not seen each other for a long time.
Li Yi took a few deep breaths and tried his best to calm down. He was already a Martial Lord, and he told himself that he should not be afraid of this guy. In a cold voice, he said, “It depends on what the old friend you meet in a strange place wants from you. If he tries to borrow money from you, it will not be so great anymore.”
“Haha! 9527, since when did you become so funny?” Yunxiao roared with laughter.
The killing intent was plain on Li Yi’s face. “I don’t find it funny at all. How did you learn the steps to bypass the restrictive spell?” He was still puzzled. If it were someone from Supreme Palace entered here, he could still accept, but he was completely baffled when the man was Yunxiao.
“You are the one who taught me,” said Yunxiao with a smile. “I really have to thank you this time. If you hadn’t come in first, I would have been blown to pieces by that restrictive spell.”
Li Yi almost fainted when he heard that. He could not believe he had unintentionally helped Yunxiao, which upset him even more than being cut with a knife. While fuming, he clenched his jaws and said, “Nonsense! I’ve had to watch a dozen times before I learned the steps! Even if you are truly gifted and had learned it by just looking at it once, there is no way you could use it with such proficiency!”
Yunxiao looked at him as if he were an idiot and mocked, “By that look of you alone, I can tell you are an uncivilized man, a material born to be a servant. You know nothing about music and dance. I realized immediately after watching you take the first few steps that it is one of the most popular dance steps in ancient times called the Soul and Sword Dance.”
When he had finished, he began to stamp rhythmically on the ground, moving with the strange steps and dancing with his upper body. “Look, am I doing it right? There’s also music to go with it, which is called…”
Li Yi did not wait for him to finish before he coughed out a mouthful of blood. Looking at Yunxiao’s skillful steps and rhythm, he had no more doubt that he had indeed helped his foe. He was so angry that he felt his head reel, and he bellowed, “Don’t be so proud of yourself, Li Yunxiao! This is where you die today!”
“Why are you so angry? It’s not good for your health. Besides, if you make too much noise, you might attract others.” Yunxiao smiled as he waved at Li Yi and said, “Come here and dance with me. It will help you release some pressure.”
“You!” Li Yi was so angry that he felt his chest was about to explode. But, when he thought about how much effort he had put in to sneak into here, and that all the effort would be in vain if he were discovered, and he would be killed for a certain, he choked back the anger and said, “I’ve had enough of your nonsense! Just tell me what you want!”
“Hehe! What I want is nothing special. I can see a lot of treasures here, and I want them all,” Yunxiao said casually.
“No way!” Li Yi rejected that brusquely. “Don’t go too far, I tell you. There are too many treasures here, and I fear you can’t take them all! Besides, I’m the one who came in first.” He paused as he ground his teeth and went on, “We will share the things. You take forty percent, and I take the rest!”
Yunxiao laughed. He made a surprised look and said, “Are you sure you’re not telling a joke?”
Li Yi’s chest heaved with fury. He did not know why he wished he could rip that face to pieces whenever he saw Yunxiao. When he was in the Li family, he had never looked this good-for-nothing in the eye, and he did not expect that when he did, his eyes were stabbed by a bright light. “Fine! I admit defeat this time! We will share everything equally!”
Yunxiao put away his mocking look and sneered, “You are just a lowly servant of my family. What makes you think you are worthy of sharing everything equally with me?”
Li Yi finally could not stand it anymore. A fierce murderous aura exploded out of his eyes in an instant as he rushed forward. Meanwhile, there was a golden flash in his right hand: it was a sharp sword that appeared out of nowhere, and he thrust it directly toward Yunxiao’s throat. He threw caution to the wind completely, and he swore in his heart that he would kill this little son of a bi*ch today, even if it would cost his own life.
Although he had broken through and become a Martial Lord, Li Yi was not so arrogant as to think that he could kill Yunxiao with one move.
Sure enough, he saw Yunxiao move slightly and flick his sword with a finger, knocking the sharp blade to the side. He immediately felt a great force coming over at him, causing his arm to tremble slightly. Holding back the shock in his heart, he swung the sword rapidly and enveloped Yunxiao with sword light.
“Hmph! I don’t have time to waste on you anymore!” Fearing that the noise they made would alert others, Yunxiao drew his Tigertooth. A faint tiger roar rang out, and for a moment, the whole hall was filled with the might of a tiger king.
“Sword of Tigertooth, the roar that shakes the forest!”
“Impossible!” Li Yi’s pupils constricted as terror filled his heart. Yunxiao’s sword strike destroyed all his sword light as it condensed into a fierce tiger might that leaped at him like a demon tiger king, locking his aura and making it impossible for him to escape. When Li Yi was still a Great Martial Master, he had never been able to defeat Yunxiao, but he did not dream that it would still be the same even when he had become a Martial Lord. It frustrated him so much that he was about to go berserk.
“Don’t underestimate me! Try my Ice Punch!” He roared furiously, throwing out thousands of punches in the blink of an eye. For a moment, the world was filled with his fists, and the temperature inside the tower dropped significantly.
“Oh?” Yunxiao was surprised, and he said with a smile, “You’ve made some progress! Sword of Tigertooth, the Song of Blue Lotus Sword!”
Li Yi felt like coughing blood again when he saw Yunxiao’s casual look, but then he immediately sensed a great danger from the few huge lotus flowers blooming out of Yunxiao’s hands, which blocked all his Ice Punches.
With a soft smile on his face, Yunxiao pointed out his sword. Suddenly, the flowers condensed from sword light bloomed and broke apart into petals, falling down from the air before being rolled up by a gust of wind, which turned into a small tornado and spun toward Li Yi.
In the blink of an eye, Li Yi was surrounded by petals, making him terrified. All the petals in the tornado were made of sword light, which meant there were thousands of sword lights slashing at him at the same time. He sucked in a breath and felt a chill run down his back, but his mind calmed down in that instant.
If he lost his life, what was the point of killing Yunxiao? And what was the point of getting the Outworld Dark Jade?