Chapter 76: Li Xun Attacked Again

Chapter 76: Chapter 76: Li Xun Attacked Again

Li Xingchao’s letter was swiftly delivered to the Eldest Prince in the Central State.

The two had jointly commanded the Yu Kingdom for many years, constantly forming factions and vying for power and profit. The Yun Family was the first to discover the emergence of the Tilan Mountain ruins. Later, Seventh Prince Li Xingchao’s people received a secret report and also learned of its existence.

By the time the Eldest Prince’s faction received the news, Li Xingchao and Yun Jin had already entered.

Now that Li Xingchao had suddenly sent a letter proposing to fully open the ruins, the Eldest Prince was naturally more than happy to agree.

With both in agreement, the news of an Ancient Martial Dao expert’s ruins appearing within Tilan Mountain quickly spread throughout the Seven States of the Yu Kingdom.

Legend had it that during the Ancient Era, the Martial Dao was extremely prosperous across this land. At that time, Martial Artists at the Martial Venerable realm were comparable to today’s Martial Disciples, only fit for running errands and doing odd jobs.

Experts above the Martial Venerable realm were countless, and there were many almighty figures akin to Immortal Gods, capable of shattering mountains and rivers with a mere gesture.

Although these legends contained elements of exaggeration, the emergence of various ruins over the years had genuinely verified one fact: the Martial Dao had indeed once been glorious.

The Tilan Mountain ruins involved an expert of the Ancient Martial Dao, so it undoubtedly contained many rare treasures, Cultivation Techniques, and perhaps even that expert’s legacy.

If one were fortunate enough to obtain some benefits from the ruins, it would be equivalent to altering destiny for an ordinary Martial Artist.

In an instant, major factions across the Seven States, along with numerous Loose Cultivator Martial Artists and Rangers from the streets, set off and hurried toward Fenglin Town.

At the same time, Li Xingchao compiled a guide based on his personal exploration of the ruins. He ordered tens of thousands of copies to be printed and sold them to the various factions.

His actions left Yun Jin puzzled.

Their group had risked their lives to uncover this information bit by bit. Wasn’t it a bit unrewarding to sell it off so easily?

Li Xingchao, however, smiled and said, "The Golden Scale Guards and I have already risked our lives to scout the path at the front of the ruins. There’s no need to let Martial Artists from other factions waste their lives on it.

"We need them to keep their lives to explore the path ahead."

Yun Jin immediately understood. The original intention of opening the ruins was to let Martial Artists from other factions scout the way for them. Providing the early maps would reduce their casualties, allowing more people to reach the deeper sections. Furthermore, since they had already collected most of the good items along the previously explored paths, selling the maps and guides wouldn’t negatively impact them at all.

Outside Fenglin Town, on the official road leading to Qinghe County, Li Xun led the remaining fifty-odd Golden Scale Guards as they slowly made their way toward the Central State.

Over the past few days, he had privately pleaded with his father multiple times to let him stay in Fenglin Town to continue his experiential learning, vowing to reclaim his lost face. However, Li Xingchao had disagreed, insisting that he return to the Central State first.

As a prodigy of the royal family and the sole disciple of Human Slaughter Zhao Wuji, the twenty-year-old had set out for experiential learning with the strength of a peak Martial Master, never expecting to hit a wall repeatedly in Fenglin Town.

Inside the carriage, Li Xun’s expression was incredibly gloomy.

Suffering from dwarfism, he had endured no shortage of mockery and ridicule since childhood. Later, when his Martial Dao talent was revealed, he became a genius of the royal family, but those mocking voices never completely faded away. Li Xun wanted to prove himself, which was why he had followed his father, Li Xingchao, to Fenglin Town for experiential learning after reaching the peak of the Martial Master realm. Now that he was returning, he feared those people would mock him once again. Feeling somewhat irritable, he lifted the carriage curtain and looked out the window, his mind racing with these thoughts.

SWISH!

But at that very moment, a dark green object shot rapidly toward Li Xun, who had just lifted the curtain! As it drew near, it revealed itself to be a tiny, entirely dark green snake! The little snake opened its jaws right in front of his face, its sharp fangs gleaming with a cold light as it lunged straight for his eyes!

SLASH!

Li Xun’s body shifted slightly. With a wave of his hand, a dark gleam struck the green snake directly, slicing it neatly in two! His other hand instantly snatched the severed head that was still flying toward him.

Despite being chopped in half, the snake did not die immediately. The severed half gripped in Li Xun’s hand struggled violently. As its crimson tongue flicked in and out, it abruptly spat a needle-like stream of venom straight at his eyes!

Horrified, Li Xun hastily jerked his head aside to dodge, but because they were too close, the venom grazed his cheek! Blood seeped out, instantly turning from red to a purplish-black.

SLASH!

Feeling the overbearing toxin seeping into his body, Li Xun viciously swung his sword and sliced the flesh clean off his injured cheek! The chunk of meat fell into the carriage, turning purplish-black in the blink of an eye and emitting waves of a foul stench. Profuse amounts of blood streamed down the wound on his face, making him look exceptionally miserable.

"Enemy attack!"

Everything happened too fast. From the moment Li Xun was attacked to his narrow escape, merely two breaths of time had passed. The accompanying Golden Scale Guards reacted fairly quickly; following a loud shout, they instantly drew their weapons and surrounded the carriage.

WHOOSH!

WHOOSH!

At this moment, streaks of dark green snakes shot out of the dense forest beside the road once more! The little snakes were like loose arrows, blindingly fast. The moment they neared their targets, they rapidly twisted their bodies to adjust their trajectory, biting at areas completely devoid of armor!

A few Golden Scale Guards failed to dodge in time. The moment the snakes closed in and bit them, their entire bodies would turn purplish-black at a visible rate as they died from the poison! Fortunately, the Golden Scale Guards were all elites. After a brief panic and the loss of several men, they managed to block this wave of attacks.

ROAR!

ROAR!

Following the venomous snake ambush, waves of beastial roars suddenly erupted from the thickets on both sides. Immediately after, massive ferocious beasts charged out of the woods, their targets aimed straight at the carriage Li Xun was riding in! The carriage horses were terrified, neighing incessantly. No matter how hard the Golden Scale Guard driving the carriage pulled on the reins, it was of no use!

CRASH!

Inside, Li Xun’s figure smashed right through the roof. With a swing of his sword, he slaughtered the two horses pulling the carriage, then slowly took a seat on the roof, his gaze sweeping coldly over the ferocious beasts closing in from all directions.

Witches! He knew clearly that his attackers were definitely Witches! After learning that he was Zhao Wuji’s disciple, these Witches were dead set on eliminating him in order to exact revenge on his master.

"Do not panic. Kill these beasts!" Li Xun ordered coldly. He then leaped up and charged toward the roadside thickets!

Aside from their bizarre methods, Witches did not possess strong personal combat strength. They would only hide in the shadows, manipulating these ferocious beasts to wear them down. As the saying goes, strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter. Li Xun intended to rely on his own strength to find the Witch manipulating the ferocious beasts in the forest! As long as he slew the culprit, these beasts would no longer be a concern.

Deep in the forest.

"Tongtong, let’s go. I sense a powerful expert approaching," the South Witch, dressed in linen clothes and a voluminous cloak, said as he looked at Tongtong, who was riding a giant silver wolf beside him.

"Lord South Witch, we were just a little bit away..."

"Let’s go. There is no rush; we will take our time," the South Witch interrupted her calmly.

Tongtong looked somewhat unwillingly at Li Xun in the distance. She gently patted the giant wolf beneath her and let out a tender, beast-like roar.

Hearing this roar, the ferocious beasts in the distance, which were currently slaughtering the Golden Scale Guards, immediately abandoned their opponents and fled in all directions.

Seeing the beasts retreat, Li Xun stopped in his tracks and silently scanned the forest ahead. Only then did he return to the carriage in indignation. Looking at the corpses of the Golden Scale Guards strewn haphazardly across the ground, his expression turned even uglier!

Back in Fenglin Town, Fang Xu was currently cultivating when the virtual panel directly popped up in front of him.