Light and shadow shifted, the world spun around, and in the blink of an eye, Jiang Li found himself in a place both familiar and strange.

The familiarity stemmed from the fact that he was still within the Divine Farmer Hall. After all, he had spent half a day there, and given Jiang Li's habits, he had already acquainted himself with all the surrounding details.

The strangeness came from this not being the true Divine Farmer Hall; he was no longer inside the Two Saints Temple.

Outside the hall, night still enveloped everything, but gone was the prior gloom, replaced with a moon hanging high in the sky, its pure light casting a frosty hue upon the dry ground.

Even if someone could dispel the wind and rain, it would be absolutely impossible for the ground and the surrounding air to be completely devoid of moisture, even to the point where...

"The Five Vile Qi has disappeared."

Jiang Li's Divine Sense reached out to his surroundings and didn't pick up the slightest trace of the Five Vile Qi, but there was also no hint of the Primordial Qi Spirit Machine.

The world before his eyes, while similar to a Cave Heaven Blessed Land, was actually vastly different; it was as clean as a storage magic tool.

But a storage magic tool wouldn't contain oxygen, nor could it support life.

"Xiao Tian."

Jiang Li called out softly, instructing Xiao Tian to act as his protector while he himself took out the Wind Queen Compass and began his divination.

When in doubt, consult the divination. Even without a result, he might at least gauge the strength of his adversary.

That is, provided he could withstand a counterattack from a powerful adversary...

However, if there really was an adversary who could use divination to come and kill Jiang Li, then no matter what Jiang Li did, he would not escape defeat, and being injured wouldn't make much difference from not being injured.

The Wind Queen Compass slowly turned as Jiang Li used his fingers for calculation, grasping the elusive Qi Veins.

"I haven't suffered a backlash, so does that mean there are no fourth-rank or higher experts involved, or is it that I can't calculate them..." Jiang Li watched the compass while a flurry of thoughts raced through his mind.

"Wang!"

Just as the compass was about to reveal an outcome, Xiao Tian suddenly barked loudly and, in a small, red blur, rushed to intercept a Sword Light that had come shooting in from outside the hall.

That Sword Light was dull and lacked sharpness but carried an ice-cold purity of determination, bearing a murderous intent that seemed to bring total obliteration.

This was the purest sword of assassination, a skill that existed solely for killing.

The Sky Dog's speed was swift as a shooting star. The red figure met the Sword Light mid-air, abruptly bending and causing a shrill friction sound as Xiao Tian bit down on the sword's blade with sharp teeth.

The Sword Light came to a sudden halt, and a dark shadow appeared behind it, the assassin intercepted by Xiao Tian. However, at the same time, another blade-like shadow pierced towards Jiang Li from behind, its point aimed straight at his skull.

"Clang!"

In the flash of an eye, the backrest of the wheelchair disassembled and reformed, a sword blade materializing just in time to intercept the edge.

The chilling, concentrated sword power collided with the sword blade formed by the Mo Wu Battle Box, causing the blade to tremble. A vague figure began to take shape behind Jiang Li, while in front, the assassin intercepted by Xiao Tian shifted from solid to ethereal.

"The Art of Shadow Control... no, it's the Dao Fruit Ability of shadow control, and then there's this extremely concentrated sword power. Could it be the assassin's Dao Fruit?"

Jiang Li practiced "Qi Tomb," and once any Qi Mechanism in this world erupted, he would surely perceive it. However, his adversary's shadow had shown not the slightest Qi Mechanism, indicating it was not merely a use of cultivation techniques, but an ability manifested by the Dao Fruit.

As his thoughts raced, the sword blade behind him emitted thunder and lightning, with a buzzing sound it struck towards the back.

A scorched mark was left in the air by the sword as the blade-like shadow in front of the High-frequency Sword split apart, the piercing wail of the sword cutting through the figure shifting from ethereal to solid.

"Bang!"

The Sharp Sword burst apart. Cold Qi Force swept across, transforming into waves of energy that pushed the assassin back into the darkness. The humming blade severed the energy waves with unrivaled sharpness, slicing towards the assassin's face—

It missed!

The assassin's figure shifted from solid to ethereal; all the sword hit was an afterimage.

"One strike missed, escape a thousand miles. It's the assassin's Dao Fruit Ability, but to have such a Dao Fruit…"

Jiang Li's first thought was of the Mo Sect.

The Mo Sect was currently the only force in the Nine Provinces openly possessing a large number of assassins with Dao Fruit Abilities. Mo Sect's people assassinate corrupt officials or malevolent cultivators. It was not only an execution of the Mo Xia creed but also a demonstration of Dao Fruit.

The Mo Sect Master was among the elite, one of the world's top assassins.

But Jiang Li had no feud with the Mo Sect.

In fact, he had even helped them secure victory at the Sword Discussion Conference.

When the assassin's strike missed, an immediate retreat followed, the figure dissipating into the darkness. No trace was left to be seen, leaving only a Sharp Sword in Xiao Tian's mouth.

Abrupt rises and falls, sudden onslaughts, and rapid disappearances—only a Sharp Sword remained.

Nonetheless, the attack did not cease there. As the assassin vanished and the blade cut through empty air, a roaring Golden Wind, like countless sharp edges, surged in from the front.

"Wang!"

Xiao Tian saw this and immediately opened its mouth, but before its bark could fall, its nostrils flared, and it abruptly halted.

The Golden Wind howled past, circumventing Xiao Tian, myriad blades of golden energy raining down on Jiang Li.

"Three Points Return to Primordial Qi."

Jiang Li looked up slightly, his eyes reflecting the Golden Wind clearly. Innate Qi flowed like water, forming a semicircular Qi Shield that blocked the Golden Wind. The sharp edges were refined away like clay oxen entering the sea, Primordial Qi circulated without allowing any harm to those behind.

"Crack—"

At this moment, the Wind Queen Compass also stopped. Jiang Li looked down upon it and spoke lightly, "Kun is Earth. It symbolizes the spread of Earth Qi and possesses pure Yin nature. Coupled with the Golden Wind, it belongs to Xin Metal. It turns out the adversary is a Fairy from the Kunxu Immortal Palace."

While speaking, Jiang Li waved his hand lightly, dispersing the Innate Qi, and with it, the remnants of the Golden Wind were also swept away.

Xiao Tian landed on the ground, limbs sprawled as if to pounce or to display submission.

It was raised by the Kunxu Immortal Palace, specifically to contend with Tianxuan, yet later it was snatched away by the master-disciple duo of Tianxuan and Jiang Li. Now facing its old master, its struggle was inevitable.

"Young Master Jiang has a good temperament, falling into such a situation yet remaining calm as ever. Unmoved with Mount Tai collapsing before him, unblinking with deer rising to his left—it seems just so."

A gentle, melodious voice came from outside the hall, and a graceful figure dressed in pure white sauntered in under the moonlight.

"It's just that I wonder if Young Master Jiang can maintain his calm upon realizing the kind of predicament he's in."

With her words, one Qi Mechanism after another became apparent in the surroundings—some ferocious, some furious, some icy cold. Even through the stone walls of the Divine Farmer Hall, one could still sense the strength of those Qi Mechanisms.

Simultaneously, a shadowy figure moved stealthily within the hall. The assassin had returned, like a venomous snake waiting for a chance to strike.

The assassin, the woman, and those Qi Mechanisms—it seemed this operation wasn't just instigated by the Kunxu Immortal Palace. With such a situation, it looked like the option to surrender to the Immortal Palace and live off its resources was off the table.

"It seems that the Immortal Palace isn't coveting my body this time," said Jiang Li, sensing those Qi Mechanisms and asking curiously, "The question is, other than my body, what else is there that is worth the Immortal Palace going to such great lengths for?"

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