Moonlight like water poured onto the spirit lake.
Yuyi stopped his steps, standing on a blue stone by the lake's edge, letting the night breeze brush past his cheeks. The spirit lake emitted a gentle glow, reflecting the bright moon in the sky, its surface rippling with light, dreamlike and illusory. Fresh breezes blew in waves, rustling the leaves in the forest, producing a soft rustling sound, as if whispering something.
"I'll take the mountain path—rarely do I have such a mood." Yuyi said to himself, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
His form was light and floating, each step spanning over eight zhang, as if walking on clouds, his expression peaceful and pure. The spiritual energy in the mountains was much denser than in the city, and with every breath, he could feel the spiritual resonance of heaven and earth flowing. Such a night, such a state of mind, was truly rare.
Yuyi walked slowly along the mountain path, moonlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled shadows on the ground. His thoughts also drifted with his footsteps, recalling many past events.
"Perhaps I've been too obsessed with the pursuit of techniques." Yuyi sighed softly, his gaze becoming somewhat gentle.
Over these years, he had devoted almost all his time to cultivation, comprehending techniques, improving his cultivation base, pursuing stronger sword dao realms. Yet in this process, he seemed to have overlooked something.
Shaying's figure surfaced in his mind—that gentle and considerate woman who always silently accompanied his side. Thinking of her, a warm current rose in Yuyi's heart, but also carried a trace of guilt.
"In the future, I should set aside one or two days each month specifically to spend with Shaying." Yuyi secretly made this resolution.
He stopped his steps, standing at the edge of a cliff, looking at Zhongzhou City in the distance. Ten thousand lights flickered in the night, echoing the stars in the sky. Yet here, there was absolute tranquility—only the sound of wind, the sound of trees, and the sound of his own heartbeat.
Yuyi closed his eyes, savoring this rare peace. In such moments, he could finally let go of the obsessions in his heart, let go of his fixation on techniques, simply enjoying the beauty of the night.
After a long while, he opened his eyes, his gaze becoming clear again. He continued forward, climbing onto a small hilltop.
Just then, the scene in the distance made him stop.
Several li away, a mortal village was engulfed in flames, thick smoke billowing. Shadows moved everywhere within the village, clearly being looted. In the firelight, people could be seen scattering in flight, some lying in pools of blood.
Yuyi's brow furrowed slightly, his gaze becoming sharp. Though he was no righteous hero, seeing mortals bullied like this, anger still rose in his heart.
"Blood Fiend Bandit Group." Yuyi said in a low voice.
He had heard of this demonic cultivator organization that specialized in looting mortal villages, committing every kind of evil. He hadn't expected to encounter them here.
Yuyi didn't hesitate. He took out a combat dharma robe from his storage ring and changed into it. The black dharma robe gleamed with a faint luster under the moonlight, both concealed and practical. He took a deep breath, his form flashed, and he rushed toward the village.
As he drew closer, Yuyi gradually saw the scale of the Blood Fiend Bandit Group. There were several hundred people, far exceeding his expectations. These demonic cultivators were skilled and coordinated extremely well, clearly not a motley crew but battle-hardened bandits with rich combat experience.
"This is no ordinary force." Yuyi thought to himself.
He had fought many forces before, but those were all fighting individually, lacking coordination. Yet the Blood Fiend Bandit Group before him displayed a completely different combat style.
Yuyi's courage was extremely high, daring to take risks. He didn't retreat but instead accelerated, determined to understand his true combat capability.
His form like lightning, Yuyi charged into the village, sword light flashing, and he killed a demonic cultivator in the act of committing violence. Blood sprayed, the demonic cultivator's body fell to the ground, his eyes still holding an expression of disbelief.
Yuyi's appearance immediately drew the Blood Fiend Bandit Group's attention.
"Someone has broken in!"
"Surround him!"
The demonic cultivators reacted quickly, nearly a hundred people surging from all directions, surrounding Yuyi completely. Their movements were uniform, clearly having undergone strict training.
Yuyi showed no fear, sword light flashing repeatedly, killing several more demonic cultivators. His sword art was extremely fierce, each strike aimed at vital points, never dragging on.
But the demonic cultivators didn't panic because of their companions' deaths. Instead, they coordinated even more tightly. Some attacked from the front, some ambushed from the sides, some were responsible for blocking retreat routes—the division of labor was clear, the coordination tacit.
Yuyi gradually felt pressure. His space to maneuver was constantly being compressed, and every sword swing had to face attacks from several demonic cultivators. Though he had already killed dozens, the demonic cultivators seemed endless, and he couldn't break through.
"These demonic cultivators' coordination far exceeds ordinary forces." Yuyi was secretly shocked.
He realized this was definitely no ordinary bandit group but a strictly trained demonic cultivator organization. Their tactics were flexible and varied, balanced in offense and defense, not easily dealt with.
Yuyi shouted, channeling all his spiritual power, and his sword blade glowed with dazzling green-white light. He fully released eight streams of sword qi, the qi crisscrossing in the air, drawing eight fierce trajectories.
"Boom!"
Where the sword qi passed, over twenty demonic cultivators were blasted flying, crashing heavily to the ground, never to rise again. Each had a deep sword mark on their chest, blood gushing out.
Yuyi seized the opportunity to charge forward, his left hand's sword sheath blocking a demonic cultivator's attack, his right hand's sword using powerful spiritual power to repel two others. His speed was extremely fast, his form shuttling between demonic cultivators like a ghost, every strike claiming a life.
The demonic cultivators were intimidated by Yuyi's momentum, their attack pausing slightly.
Yuyi seized this opportunity, fully releasing the Quick Sword Art. Sword light like rain, dense sword qi covered a range of dozens of zhang ahead. Each stream of sword qi contained powerful spiritual power, enough to pierce through demonic cultivators' protective spiritual light.
"Puff puff puff—"
Amidst continuous dull sounds, over fifty demonic cultivators fell into pools of blood. The sword qi's range was extremely wide, leaving deep sword marks even on the ground sixty zhang away, shocking to behold.
The smell of blood filled the air, mixing with the smoke of burning, making one nauseous.
Yuyi panted heavily, fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead. The power of the ten-layer Quick Sword Art was indeed terrifying, but the consumption was equally astonishing. His spiritual power had been drained by more than half in an instant, and the spiritual power vortex in his dantian was visibly slowing its rotation.
The demonic cultivators finally felt fear and retreated one after another. But they didn't scatter—instead, they quickly spread out their encirclement, maintaining a safe distance from Yuyi.
"Don't panic! His spiritual power is severely depleted!"
"Keep your distance, attack in rotation!"
The demonic cultivators clearly had rich combat experience and quickly adjusted their tactics. They no longer rushed to attack but coordinated methodically, wave after wave, continuously.
Yuyi swung his sword to deflect an attack, his form dodging another spiritual power bombardment. But the demonic cultivators' attacks were too dense, giving him almost no chance to catch his breath.
The ten-layer Quick Sword Art was terrifying in power but severe in consumption. Continuous use would cause spiritual power to drop to a critical point. And sword qi at three layers or below was worlds apart in effect compared to ten layers.
Yuyi's brow furrowed tighter and tighter, anxiety gradually rising in his heart. He realized he was in a predicament.
Spiritual power was constantly being consumed, while the demonic cultivators' attacks were endless. If this continued, his spiritual power would eventually be exhausted. By then, no matter how strong his sword art, he couldn't display its proper power.
Yuyi took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. His gaze swept around, looking for an opportunity to break through.
The moonlight remained bright, shining on the village ruins, on the bodies scattered everywhere, on Yuyi's increasingly grave face. The night breeze remained cool, but in Yuyi's heart, the peace from before was gone.
The battle continued, the predicament worsened. Yuyi knew he had to find a way to break through, otherwise the consequences would be unthinkable.