"Who are you?"
Tang Ziqi asked warily. Encountering anyone in a place like this—even an old man—required caution.
Moreover, in the martial world, those who cultivated internal martial arts became more formidable with age.
The disheveled old man stopped, opening one eye to scan Li Qingqiu and the others. His gaze settled on Yan Wujin.
"Great Solar Yang Skill. What relation are you to Zhao Yan?" the old man asked, his voice raspy.
Hearing this question, both Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi's expressions shifted dramatically.
Li Qingqiu felt the name Zhao Yan sounded familiar.
Wait.
The current Emperor's elder brother, the former Crown Prince, was indeed named Zhao Yan—the very person Wu Baoyu had followed.
Tang Ziqi asked coldly, "And who are you? How can you recognize the Great Solar Yang Skill?"
The old man's bark-like face twisted into a fierce smile. "No need to be nervous. Since you've inherited the Great Solar Yang Skill, we're of the same family. I was formerly under the Crown Prince's command, the Chief Instructor of the Imperial Guard. My name no longer matters. You can call me Crazy Old Freak. The past has nothing to do with me. I only wish to spend my remaining years here in madness."
Tang Ziqi couldn't help turning back to look at Yan Wujin.
Yan Wujin stepped forward. "My father's letters mentioned that after his death, the Imperial Guard would certainly be purged. You hid here to escape the current Emperor's pursuit?"
"Indeed, I fled to the Taikun Mountain Range to escape the Third Prince's pursuit. But now, I'm trapped here—can't escape."
As Crazy Old Freak spoke, he plopped down on the ground.
Yan Wujin frowned. "Because of this fog?"
"Exactly. This miasma isn't poisonous, but it can trap people alive. I've been stuck here nearly twenty years, eating raw meat and drinking blood, barely surviving."
Crazy Old Freak's words made Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi's hair stand on end. Trapped for twenty years?
How absurd!
Suddenly, Tang Ziqi thought of something and turned to look at Li Qingqiu. "And you? Why are you here?"
Yan Wujin and Crazy Old Freak both fixed their gazes on Li Qingqiu, noticing that his robes were clean—he didn't look like someone fleeing for his life.
Li Qingqiu revealed a smile. "This is the back mountain of my sect. Why wouldn't I be here? Just taking a stroll."
Yan Wujin frowned deeply, while Tang Ziqi found Li Qingqiu increasingly strange, which made him inexplicably uncomfortable.
Crazy Old Freak looked at Li Qingqiu curiously. "You're a disciple of Azure Firmament Sect? Who is your master?"
"Lin Xunfeng."
"Ah, him. Back then he was just a wet-behind-the-ears kid, and now he's a master himself. Time flies."
Crazy Old Freak sighed emotionally. Then, his eyes suddenly gleamed with ferocity, and his tone turned icy. "Since you're Lin Xunfeng's disciple, then the Azure Firmament True Lord is your grandmaster. If he hadn't refused to tolerate me back then and hunted me, would I have fled here? Good, killing you counts as revenge."
As his words fell, he suddenly hurled the gourd in his hand. A terrifying burst of internal energy shot toward Li Qingqiu, startling Yan Wujin as he hastily pulled Tang Ziqi back.
*Smack!*
Li Qingqiu caught the gourd, dispersing the energy within it. His arm didn't tremble in the slightest; his body stood as firm as a mountain. Witnessing this, Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi's expressions shifted.
This kid is no ordinary!
Seeing this, Crazy Old Freak narrowed his eyes. "To possess such power at your age, you're worth remembering. What's your name? Speak it."
Li Qingqiu crushed the gourd in his hand and smiled. "Old thing, you strike hard!"
His right hand, still suspended in the air, suddenly twisted. Two fingers flicked, launching a silver needle that pierced straight through Crazy Old Freak's forehead.
Crazy Old Freak's eyes went wide as he toppled backward.
Yan Wujin could barely see what Li Qingqiu had shot. When he saw Crazy Old Freak fall, horror seized his heart.
He could sense that this Crazy Old Freak's martial arts were not inferior to his own. And such a being had been instantly killed.
Just how many monsters does Azure Firmament Sect harbor?
Tang Ziqi snapped back to reality, trembling all over, looking at Li Qingqiu in disbelief.
Dawn had not yet broken, and thick fog churned through the forest. Tang Ziqi couldn't make out Li Qingqiu's expression. At this moment, in his eyes, Li Qingqiu was like a vengeful ghost.
Cold sweat dripped down Yan Wujin's back. Based on that one move alone, he knew he couldn't escape. And his injuries hadn't healed.
Tang Ziqi was likewise too terrified to move. For a moment, the forest fell into suffocating silence.
Li Qingqiu shifted his gaze to Yan Wujin. He said nothing, but his stare brought immense pressure upon Yan Wujin.
*Clang—*
Li Qingqiu suddenly drew the Flying Fish Dagger from his waist. Blade light flashed across Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi's faces.
Thump!
Tang Ziqi suddenly dropped to his knees, sobbing, "Please, Senior, spare us! We cannot die! No, he cannot die!"
Hearing this, Yan Wujin lowered his head, his hands clenched into fists within his sleeves, his heart filled with humiliation.
Li Qingqiu asked, "Why can't he die?"
Tang Ziqi crawled forward a few steps, positioning himself before Yan Wujin like a dog groveling on the ground. He pressed his forehead to the dirt and said through gritted teeth, "He is the son of the former Crown Prince Zhao Yan! The late Emperor's decreed imperial grandson—the true Son of Heaven! His father was murdered by treacherous ministers, and he was left abandoned among the people. The current Emperor is benighted, credulous of charlatans, allowing chaos to spread through the realm, causing countless commoners to flee their homes. The demon emperor has even greater villainy in his heart—he seeks immortality. To this end, he secretly abducts young boys and girls, creating untold human tragedies! Only if Yan Wujin overthrows the current imperial power can this world see light again, can the common people welcome an era of peace and prosperity!"
"Enough!"
Yan Wujin's voice was deep, his anger reaching its peak.
Tang Ziqi turned his head to look at him, hysterical. "Big Brother, you cannot die! We cannot die here! Even if we lose all dignity tonight, we must beg him to spare our lives! You carry a responsibility that forbids you from dying!"
Yan Wujin was locked in an inner struggle.
"You want to use 'the world' to pressure me? You were the ones who actively provoked my Azure Firmament Sect. Why make yourselves sound so wronged?" Li Qingqiu's tone remained unchanged.
Tang Ziqi turned back to face him and hastily explained, "We had no choice! We had to rise through the martial world, gather strength, and simultaneously collect evidence of the current Emperor's crimes. We chose Azure Firmament Sect because the Taikun Mountain Range is far from the secular world—the imperial court rarely extends its reach here. We never intended to annihilate you completely, only to absorb your sect. We would only have resorted to killing if you resisted to the death."
Li Qingqiu did not sheathe his blade nor speak, seemingly weighing the pros and cons.
Tang Ziqi continued, "We admit our fault! We'll accept any recompense, any atonement, just spare us! We can die, but not here!"
Despair truly filled his heart, along with unwillingness.
From the moment he met Yan Wujin, he had been shaken by his profound martial arts. Upon learning his story, ambition had ignited within him. He had believed that with Yan Wujin's formidable skills and his own status as a member of an ancient clan, they could build a great undertaking.
Who would have thought that right after founding their sect, they would be crushed? Now, trapped in this desperate place, he had to beg for mercy like a dog.
Tang Ziqi had always been proud. At this moment, he was thoroughly humbled.
"You're his strategist, aren't you? He's spent years practicing martial arts, so it's understandable if his mind isn't sharp. But you, as a strategist—you didn't investigate your opponents before acting? With such incompetence, can you truly help him save the common people of the world?"
Li Qingqiu's words reached Tang Ziqi's ears, filling him with shame. He had no retort.
Yan Wujin's unwillingness burned even fiercer than Tang Ziqi's. He didn't blame Tang Ziqi. If he himself were strong enough, how could things have come to this?
"Go in this direction. Close your eyes. Don't open them until you no longer feel the cold."
Li Qingqiu's words made Yan Wujin and Tang Ziqi look up in surprise. They saw Li Qingqiu raise his blade, pointing diagonally in a direction.
"Thank you, Senior!"
Tang Ziqi quickly bowed in thanks, then stood up and tried to pull Yan Wujin away. But Yan Wujin wouldn't move.
"You trust us so easily?" Yan Wujin couldn't help asking. Hearing this, Tang Ziqi grew frantic. *Why is this guy suddenly losing his mind?*
Li Qingqiu looked at him and replied, "It's not that I trust you. I just want to leave a thread of hope for this world."
Yan Wujin gazed deeply at him, then reached into his bosom, pulled out a manual, and tossed it to him. "Our undertaking may not succeed. Keep this Great Solar Yang Skill at Azure Firmament Sect."
He turned and led Tang Ziqi in the direction Li Qingqiu had indicated, soon vanishing into the thick fog.
Li Qingqiu flipped through a few pages of the Great Solar Yang Skill. After confirming it contained no hidden concealed weapons or poison, he safely tucked it into his robes.
He walked toward the direction his Fortune Opportunity memory guided him, but childhood memories surged uncontrollably into his mind.
Before he was even one year old, his father, seeking to join the Linchuan Li clan, had claimed to be a lost clansman. But when his father brought him and his mother to the Li clan's ancestral hall, there was a charlatan inside who declared him an inauspicious child who must be abandoned and not entered into the clan registry. Only then would his parents be permitted to join.
His parents agreed. They abandoned him outside the city, telling him before parting that they would be father and mother to him in the next life.
In the past, Li Qingqiu hadn't hated the Li clan—after all, his father never truly belonged to them. He hadn't hated his parents either, considering the debt of birth repaid.
Now he finally understood why, when his master took him in, they had been pursued.
Even if his father joined the Li clan, he would only be an ordinary member. The real reason was that the Emperor wanted to seize children for his purposes. If not for his master's rescue, it was hard to imagine what would have become of him.
Perhaps that charlatan had been sent by the Emperor. The Li clan's meteoric rise was likely closely tied to the Emperor.
Recalling this past, Li Qingqiu quickened his pace.
The miasma here wasn't poisonous, but it could befuddle the senses. To avoid losing direction, one had to watch the ground. Yet other beasts lurked within the miasma, making it difficult to keep one's eyes fixed downward.
Looking carefully, though leaves littered the ground, a faint path could be discerned—a trail left by those who had come before.
As he walked, the morning sun began filtering into the forest, though white mist still surrounded him.
After traveling about twenty li, he started seeing human skeletons along the way, still wearing clothes. He didn't stop. He needed to find that colossal tree first, then inventory the corpses along the path.
That this tree had become his Fortune Opportunity meant that for Li Qingqiu at this moment, nothing threatening would appear on this road.