Chapter 484 - The Terrifying Li Yuan, Crushing the Immortal Envoy - Part 3

The next morning.

Li Yuan stood by the stream, holding a wooden basin filled with yesterday’s dirty laundry.

A little ways off, their makeshift earthen stove was burning with firewood, and the scent of simmering pork ribs wafted through the air.

He rolled up his sleeves, crouched by the water, and started scrubbing the clothes, his and Xie Yu’s.

They’d been on the road for days. The noble young lady had grown weary, and with the drowsiness of spring settling in, she was still fast asleep.

Li Yuan rinsed each piece of clothing in the clear mountain stream, occasionally rubbing them with soapberry soap he'd

bought

from town.

Halfway through, realizing he didn’t have a second basin to hold the clean clothes, he summoned his ghost hand again and reached into Bloomtown for a new wooden tub.

A few coppers clinked onto a stall’s table, spinning as they landed.

The vendor stared in wide-eyed horror as a wooden tub disappeared into thin air.

Pupils shrinking, throat bobbing, he wiped his cold sweat, turned on his heel, and dashed off like his life depended on it, clearly headed to report this to someone.

Meanwhile, Li Yuan gave the new basin a rinse and neatly placed the washed trousers, silken undershirts, and dresses into it.

After finishing the laundry, he casually ran a hand through his messy hair, squinted up at the sky to gauge the time, then stacked the new basin atop the old one and walked back toward their small home.

Between two old trees in the yard, he strung up a clothesline and began hanging everything out to dry.

With that done, he checked the pot. The ribs were nearly ready. He added some firewood to keep it boiling.

Maybe he felt pork alone would be too greasy, or maybe there wasn’t time to head into the hills to forage. Either way, he summoned his ghost hand once more.

From the Bloomtown marketplace, he

purchased

a handful of fresh vegetables and a block of tender tofu.

Back in town, another vendor watched, slack-jawed, as a few large copper coins floated in midair, spinning eerily.

Only when they dropped to the ground with a metallic

clink!

did he come back to his senses and promptly took off running, clearly going to report what had just happened.

Back in the grove, the ribs were done.

Li Yuan moved on to stir-frying the vegetables.

Then, finally, it was time for the tofu.

He grabbed the kitchen knife, let a ripple of power flow through his hand, and brought it down.

In the past, he could slice tofu into sheets thin as a cicada’s wing, delicate, flawless, and paper-thin.

Now—

BOOM!

The tofu exploded.

He couldn’t suppress the burst of Yang energy anymore, nor could he contain the vibrational force of his ancestral seal any longer.

Even in something as simple as cutting tofu... his control had slipped.

Li Yuan stood frozen, still gripping the knife in his hand, staring at the mess of exploded tofu with a dazed expression.

Just then, the door to the makeshift hut creaked open with a soft

squeak

.

Still in her sleepwear, Xie Yu leaned lazily against the doorframe, her body relaxed and her expression serene. The scent of freshly hewn wood clung to the frame around her, and in the soft morning light, she looked like she had just stepped out of a dream. Her beautiful eyes quietly took in the sight of the man holding the knife.

Li Yuan’s stunned expression gave way to something more forlorn, then he quickly set down the knife and replaced it with an awkward, evasive smile.

“You’re up?” He spoke with a forced cheer.

Xie Yu glanced toward the clothesline fluttering in the distance, then the table where pork ribs sat steaming, and finally to the tofu...or what was left of it.

Li Yuan rubbed his hands together sheepishly. “No need to change clothes. There’s nobody around in the mountains. Just freshen up and come eat.”

Xie Yu’s gaze lingered on his hands, those hands that once skillfully wielded the blade. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but held back. Instead, she nodded with a gentle smile.

As she turned to leave, her peripheral vision caught her husband quietly cleaning up the exploded tofu.

She didn’t know why, but there was something deeply sad about the scenes. His movements were careful and wordless, as if sweeping up pieces of something much heavier than bean curd. But she said nothing. Because she refused to sprinkle salt on a wound that hadn’t healed.

Later, she sat at the little table inside the cabin, slowly eating the meal her husband had prepared for her, bite by bite.

Outside, peach blossoms floated gently through the air.

Xie Yu’s long black hair lifted with the breeze.

Even without makeup, she had that same mischievous, fairy-like charm that never seemed to fade.

Li Yuan, however, kept his head down, quietly eating.

Xie Yu’s eyes flicked about, and an idea formed.

After dinner, she picked up her blade and began to practice.

She stole glances at Li Yuan as she trained, flicking her blade this way and that, pretending to focus but really just trying to catch his attention.

Suddenly—

“Ah!” she cried out, letting the blade clatter from her hand.

Li Yuan looked up in concern. “What happened?”

Xie Yu stomped her foot in frustration. “All this training is useless! No matter how much I practice, I still can’t get it right!”

Li Yuan was silent.

She turned to him. “Husband...can you teach me? I’m so clumsy...”

Li Yuan hesitated for a moment. “Alright.”

Xie Yu made every effort to seem as

clumsy

as possible. If it could distract him, even a little, from the pain of losing his skill with the blade, it was worth it.

She just wanted him to stop hurting.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Several days passed.

At midnight, Li Yuan spotted Peng Mi in the distance, motioning to him from within his home.

He slipped outside, made his way to the cave, and with a flick of his ghost hand, reached through a door and dragged Peng Mi straight in.

Peng Mi had grown used to this bizarre method of travel. He bowed respectfully.

“Senior,” he said, “Wei Huosheng took the bait. He’ll appear on the main street of Bloomtown tomorrow. He’s going to confront someone he believes is eyeing the town.”

Li Yuan nodded.

Peng Mi hesitated, then asked nervously, “Senior... will the fight happen in Bloomtown?”

Li Yuan’s voice was cool and steady. “Not in the town.”

Peng Mi bowed again, deeply relieved. “Thank you, Senior!”

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The next morning.

Li Yuan gently stroked Xie Yu’s hair as she lay sleeping, still curled up in the warmth of the blankets.

She stirred, then opened her eyes and gave him a soft, sleepy smile.

“I’m meeting someone for a sparring match today,” he said quietly. “I’ll be out for a bit.”

“Hm? Who?” she asked, curious.

Li Yuan replied casually, “Some swordsman. Surname Wei. Not very well known.”

“A swordsman? No fame?” Xie Yu blinked. “Tell me more.”

Li Yuan met her gaze and said plainly, “Wei Huosheng. Ever heard of him?”

She thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. She’d heard of many top-tier experts from the Five Elements Alliance, and even from the great Daoist and Buddhist Sects. But this name? It didn’t ring any bells.

Li Yuan’s eyes lit up with a quiet anticipation.

“I’ve forgotten how to use a blade,” he said. “So I thought I’d observe someone else. Maybe it’ll help me find that feeling again.”

At the mention of sparring, little Yu’er’s eyes curved into crescent moons. She grinned and gave him a gentle push. “Then go on already!”

But despite her push, Li Yuan didn’t budge.

He caught her hands, his voice turning serious. “Once I’m done with this match... I’ll head to the Jade Capital. I made a promise to you. I have to keep it.”

“Husband...” Xie Yu’s heart welled with emotion as she threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. After holding him close for a beat, she stepped back, raised a tiny clenched fist, and said with conviction, “Go get ’em!”

Of course she worried about him. Of course she knew how dangerous the imperial capital was. But...

She couldn’t abandon the Xie Clan, the ones who raised her, the ones she owed everything to. Her sister, her father, her brother, she couldn’t turn her back on them.

And yet, if Li Yuan died, she would never survive it either.

As she watched his figure fade into the distance, Xie Yu slowly closed her eyes and whispered a prayer in her heart:

You’ll be safe. You have to be safe.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Before long, Li Yuan appeared at the far end of a mountain range, beyond the bounds of Bloomtown.

He had already scouted this area in previous days,

unlocked the map

, so to speak.

Now he carried a few crude, rusted iron doors on his back. He set them up in a circle around himself, then stepped into a nearby cave.

With a roll of his shoulders and a crack of his neck, he summoned his terrifying thousand-foot golden body, towering and radiant, glowing with celestial brilliance.

Back in the little hut, Xie Yu was still praying.

He’ll succeed. He’s working so hard. Effort always pays off.

Inside the cave, Li Yuan sat calmly, the golden avatar looming before him. His hands, now ghostly pale, drooped at his sides.

One pressed to the ground.

And his eyes, peaceful, focused, and unwavering, locked onto the series of doors he had conjured.

Finally, he saw the one he had been waiting for, the man in crimson armor.

In his vision, the red-armored man’s combat power flickered into view, 23k~544k.

Strong.

Li Yuan’s brows twitched.

But then, a slow smile spread across his face.

Good. The stronger, the better.

He wanted to beat this kind of enemy

head-on

, fair and square, so he could find the true rhythm, the real skill, of combat at this level.

Time ticked by, second after second.

Li Yuan waited with infinite patience.

Meanwhile, the red-armored man approached a ceremonial archway, a traditional gate leading into Bloomtown.

He stepped through the gate.

But he didn’t emerge on the other side.

Instead, he found himself standing in the middle of a desolate, barren wilderness.

He took one step forward and froze.

Everything stilled, as though time itself had halted.

A golden colossus, a thousand feet tall, loomed before him, its body slightly hunched, head bowed, eyes narrowed. Those eyes, cold, hungry, and filled with malicious glee, stared straight at the

doorway

he had just entered from.

The massive hands were spread wide, positioned in a classic

Shhh...quiet...I’m about to slap a fly

pose.

And behind that golden body blurred by divine light stood a ghostly figure, face obscured, gender indistinct, hands hanging limply at its sides. An eerie presence with no identity, no name, only dread.

No words were exchanged.

No declarations of battle.

Just a thunderous clap as the golden palms came crashing down, surging with blinding heat and furious energy.

It was the most despicable of ambushes, an

open-the-door insta-kill

.

And he? He was the fly.

Even someone as swift and skilled as the red-armored man couldn’t react in time. In a duel between experts of the same level, the one caught off guard always suffered. He had no choice but to quickly conjure a blazing red sphere of energy around himself, pure firelight erupting in self-defense.

BOOM!

The titanic slap shattered the flame barrier on contact.

Before the red-armored man could recover, the giant palms pulled back, then came slamming down again.

And again.

And again.

And again...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The thousand-foot golden body clapped and clapped like an ancient god of pest control.

The red-armored man had no time to fight back. All he could do was defend desperately and miserably.

At last, a thin line of blood trickled from the red-armored man’s mouth.

But the thousand-foot golden body didn’t stop, not even for a breath. The colossal hands continued their brutal rhythm, clapping down with relentless speed and violence.

Li Yuan wasn’t relying on some underhanded trick. He wanted to win with this one, open and honest move, this absurdly over-the-top

giant slap

.

The red-armored man’s faceplate had already shattered. Beneath it was a face carved with cold arrogance, the kind that only long-standing power could etch into a man’s bones.

Unfortunately, that face was now a mask of blood.

He wanted to escape desperately. But the moment he paused to try, he’d be flattened by the next thunderous slap.

As long as he stayed defensive, he had no space, no breath, to reposition, to flee, or to fight back.

Finally, he made his decision.

Pain or not, he had to draw his sword.

BOOM!

The golden palms slammed down again.

Blood sprayed from his mouth as he raised his hand toward the long sword beside him.

But his fingers closed on air. His sword was gone. That shock hit him harder than the slap. And the reason was simple.

Dozens of doors surrounded the battlefield, quietly arranged in advance.

During all those thunderous slaps, Li Yuan had been using his ghost hand to silently reach through one of those doors, swipe the black chimney-like sword, and chuck it through another door, far away beyond the county’s borders.

That sword was no longer in play.

And in that split-second of stunned realization—

BOOM!

The golden palms came crashing down again.

The red-armored man roared, a sound torn from his gut.

Suddenly, his crimson armor began to

melt

.

The scorching red began to mix with a strange, chilling black, and the resulting swirl surged directly into his body.

A trump card, clearly.

Li Yuan, watching from his divine view, saw it clearly, massive streams of Yin and Yang energy poured into the red-armored man’s body.

He knew instantly that armor must have been forged from Heavenly Fire Spirit Stones, paired with a corresponding high ranking

Yin stone

.

The function? A one-time emergency recharge.

Of course, Heavenly Fire Spirit Stones and their Yin counterparts were still the ultimate currencies of the cultivation world, meaning the man in red armor didn’t have much.

BOOM!

Li Yuan slammed his palms together again.

But this time it felt different, like clapping down on solid iron.

He hadn’t sealed his target.

That iron sphere shot out from between the palms with a

whoosh

, then—

It turned tail and ran.

Li Yuan commanded his golden avatar to give chase. But in that moment, he finally understood one of the key weaknesses of the Heaven Soul Realm.

It was too slow. He couldn’t catch up.

So, he pulled back his avatar, pressed his ghost hand to the ground, and quickly scanned for nearby doors.

He spotted the red-armored man barreling straight through a mountain, no finesse, no subtlety, just brute desperation.

Not even circling around the mountain,

Li Yuan noted.

He’s just punching through it.

He smiled faintly and tapped one of the mountain’s hollowed-out caverns.

A moment later—

WHOOSH!

The red-armored man exploded out from the cave mouth, only to find himself right back in front of Li Yuan.

And there it was again.

That thousand-foot-tall golden body, hunched over, leaned in close, hands spread wide, mouth twisted into a savage grin, ready for one more massive slap.

Far away, in the quiet peach grove, Xie Yu was still praying softly,

You’ll be safe. You must be safe...