Seeing their martial uncle leave, Guang Haoyou and the junior disciples exchanged glances. Ultimately, they still followed him. It's always the same routine—this martial uncle needed to be watched. At worst, they'd keep their distance and not disturb him.

Leaving him unchecked, there was a real chance that this martial uncle might slip away without a trace.

The wind was too strong. They wanted to leap across the abyss but couldn't, so they resorted to jumping into the abyss to make their way forward.

As for how their martial uncle crossed, they couldn't figure it out. It didn't resemble their method. He seemed to vanish into the wind, almost as if the wind carried him away.

They were pursuing their martial uncle. Meanwhile, their martial uncle was chasing Shi Chun.

Because Shi Chun's group had already fled.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one realized the Boundless Banner was rendered useless by lightning, they hurriedly escaped.

At least Shi Chun's group thought so—they assumed the others hadn't yet discovered the Boundless Banner had been struck and ruined by lightning.

Though they fled first, they weren't running fast enough. The wind was simply too overwhelming—strangely unnerving even. They couldn't use the Wind Scale, and whenever they tried to leap, the wind just blew them away. Ultimately, they could only tear forward across the ground, running against the gale with all their might.

After crossing a ridge, the three, scanning their surroundings attentively, had just snuck down the slope halfway when they suddenly froze in place. Under a flicker of lightning above, they saw the silhouette of someone's robe billowing like a celestial figure, hovering faintly in the air ahead.

They thought they were hallucinating. With wind this ferocious, how could anyone appear suspended midair?

But there was no way all three of them were imagining the same thing. Fixing their gaze, they realized it wasn't just anyone.

"Li Hongjiu…" The three spoke almost simultaneously, all recognizing him.

Their expressions betrayed a mix of disbelief and shock. Li Hongjiu, floating in the air, seemed completely unaffected by the intense gale. While everyone else's clothes were whipped about, his robes drifted naturally, seemingly untouched.

He had clearly intercepted them, deliberately preventing their escape, yet wore a playful smile as he gazed at them.

Just from this feeling alone, it was clear this man wasn't ordinary.

Shi Chun muttered internally—looks like the warning on Young Master Nan's list to beware of this person wasn't baseless after all.

Suddenly, the three turned simultaneously to look behind them, only to see a group charging downhill from the opposite slope, overlooking them—members of the Yanbao Sect.

"Take off your mask," Li Hongjiu suddenly spoke, his voice carrying a trace of mystical force.

Shi Chun, already aware he was the intended target, spoke back, "I have no quarrel with you lot, so why press me so hard?"

Li Hongjiu's expression was full of mischief as he teased, "You infiltrated our ranks, treated us like fools, played games, and now claim you have no quarrel? That… doesn't really add up."

Well-versed in making excuses, Shi Chun immediately understood this wasn't someone who'd be easy to deal with. He cut straight to the point, "What exactly do you want?"

Li Hongjiu kept to the same line, "Take off your mask first, then we can talk."

Since they hadn't heard Shi Chun speak before, they couldn't identify the masked figure by voice alone. As the saying goes, catching a thief requires evidence, and seeing is believing.

The disciples hovering on the ridge sneered with mirth, convinced that their martial uncle had this masked figure completely within his grasp. They simply watched the unfolding drama with amusement.

Shi Chun countered, "What if I refuse to remove it?"

Subtly moving his hand, he quietly grasped the Immortal Strangling Silk hidden within his sleeve.

Although other magical treasures were either unusable or their use remained unexplored, he still had at least one weapon on hand.

Wu Shanshan had prepared an iron frame earlier to block this treasure, but there's no way Li Hongjiu was carrying around such a high-strength iron frame. If that kind of strange occurrence indeed happened, Shi Chun would admit defeat.

"Then I'll help you take it off."

With a faint smile, Li Hongjiu's words had barely dropped when the spinning wind columns surged wildly, accelerating so immensely they reached a level that defied logic.

The group even felt they couldn't remain standing unless they actively cast spells to stabilize their footing.

Were it not for their disbelief, Shi Chun's trio might have suspected the wind was reacting to Li Hongjiu's commands.

Meanwhile, Li Hongjiu remained unaffected, his robes drifting languidly in the air.

Suspended midair against such forceful gusts, this suggested unparalleled cultivation. Unlike having solid footing on the ground, dealing with such strong winds while floating in a void where there's no leverage would make even those at the Human Immortal Realm struggle. This man's demeanor had an almost divine presence.

Truthfully, this scene sent shivers down their spines, though they couldn't believe anyone with cultivation beyond the Human Immortal Realm could enter this place.

Even more alarming was Li Hongjiu's sudden movement. His figure flashed abruptly, causing Shi Chun's trio to tense up and prepare their weapons in an instant.

They had assumed he'd charge at them directly, but to their astonishment, he instead shifted sideways and disappeared, speeding away like a phantom carried on the wind.

What was he up to? At first, the three were stunned, but their hairs stood on end as they realized this shadow darting so fast through the night had looped halfway around to charge at them.

Only then did they grasp that Li Hongjiu wasn't flying away; he was using the wind to come toward them. With his own spell augmenting the wind's insane speed, the velocity at which he closed the distance was unimaginable.

A movement covering that half-circle—nearly instant.

Riding the wind, Li Hongjiu moved with the ease of an immortal, then flicked his finger toward his sword. His weapon shot from his waist with frightening acceleration, aimed straight at Shi Chun—an attack that was no doubt terrifyingly swift.

Shi Chun immediately ducked low and slid down the slope to evade.

The two men beside him were startled—having witnessed his prowess before, they'd wanted to see how he'd counterattack. But unexpectedly, he fled without notice, which was so unlike his prior audacity that challenged even the heavens.

The two men reacted swiftly—one slashed downward with his sword, the other swung upward to intercept the flash of cold steel as it streaked toward them.

Clang! Clang!

Two resounding clashes echoed. Both swords flew from their hands—one remained intact, while the other snapped cleanly into two pieces.

Both men's grips were torn apart at their tiger joints, blood spurting instantly. Their arms trembled uncontrollably from the shock, and they were sent sprawling backward by the powerful force of Li Hongjiu's attack.

The horrifying speed of this strike lent power far surpassing the cultivator's base strength. For Li Hongjiu, it was a perfectly calculated attack utilizing borrowed momentum.

Yu Mu and Xu Anzhang, knocked down by the impact, were utterly terrified—they had no chance of defending against such force. How were they supposed to stand their ground?

Seizing the opportunity, the two promptly rolled down the slope, fleeing past Shi Chun and running even faster and farther than him.

They didn't care about reclaiming their swords—those weapons had already been carried away by the wind.

Amid the swirling wind columns, Li Hongjiu glided effortlessly like he was strolling through a courtyard, casually raising his hand to pluck his sword mid-air as it spun back toward him.

His real target was never Yu Mu or Xu Anzhang. Seeing the previously tenacious masked figure flee so unabashedly, he found it a bit surprising. Someone worth pursuing personally—was this really the best they could do?

No matter. He simply rode the wind for another loop, chasing down Shi Chun, who raced across the ground in desperation, and hurled his sword once more.

Shi Chun flipped aside to dodge as the ground exploded beneath him, soil and rock bursting forth. The sword bounced up from its impact below.

Carried by the wind, Li Hongjiu flicked his wrist and effortlessly grabbed the spinning weapon mid-air. His movements were graceful beyond compare, but his attacks remained ruthless as he flung the sword again without hesitation.

Boom—Shi Chun evaded once more, earth erupting behind him. Forced to both dodge and flee, he maneuvered frantically to avoid Li Hongjiu's pursuit.

Li Hongjiu, circling in the wind like a predator, couldn't help but chuckle. He decided to see how long this masked figure could keep dodging.

Shi Chun, however, wasn't resigned to his fate. Watching Li Hongjiu's looping trajectory, he suddenly lashed out the Immortal Strangling Silk.

The power of a fifth-grade magical treasure surpassed the deterrent effect of ordinary wind. The silk tore through the gusts, aiming directly at Li Hongjiu.

Yet as the silk broke through the air, Li Hongjiu seemed aware of it instantly, gliding effortlessly to evade the attack. It was as though the wind itself carried him to safety, and he even shot a taunting smile back at Shi Chun.

He wasn't naïve—having witnessed the silk's potency against Wu Shanshan earlier, Li Hongjiu had been keenly observant. Knowing Shi Chun possessed this treasure, he'd come prepared. Without confidence in his ability to counter it, he'd never have pursued Shi Chun so boldly.

Thus unfolded a curious scene that puzzled the Yanbao Sect disciples. Li Hongjiu repeatedly launched attacks from mid-air, while Shi Chun kept retracting and casting the Immortal Strangling Silk in retaliation. Neither seemed able to overwhelm the other outright.

The disciples were confused: Why was their martial uncle exerting so much effort? Why not use lightning to strike him down?

Yu Mu and Xu Anzhang had by then escaped the immediate vortex of wind, watching nervously from behind a distant ridge. They quickly understood Li Hongjiu's primary focus was on Shi Chun. As long as they didn't provoke him, Li Hongjiu clearly had no interest in them.

The two were deeply conflicted, torn between fleeing further and staying put. If they ran too far, the Yanbao Sect, who had witnessed everything, wouldn't let it slide. Without the ability to eliminate all witnesses, escaping unharmed was impossible. Any attempts to cover it up would inevitably fail, and even dying painlessly might be a mercy.

Soon, Shi Chun also came to the same realization. A man who knew about his magical treasure and still dared to toy with him—what did that mean? Was he stupid? No, it meant Li Hongjiu wasn't afraid of this treasure at all.

Simultaneously, he felt the sadistic amusement emanating from Li Hongjiu. The exploding debris kept expanding with each strike, growing more entangled in the whirlwind. Initially, Shi Chun managed to dodge the debris reasonably well, but after being hit multiple times, he realized this wouldn't end well—stone debris might seem harmless, but with endless amounts cycling through a storm, it was utterly devastating.

The real issue, though, was the wind. He couldn't outrun it; the twisted vortex seemed almost alive, chasing him relentlessly. Shi Chun now strongly suspected Li Hongjiu could use Wind Control Skill—how else could he remain so unperturbed amid such chaos?

Moreover, why was only one person being singled out for torment? Where had Yu Mu and Xu Anzhang escaped to? At times like this, wasn't camaraderie supposed to matter? If he managed to escape, he swore to refer those two traitors to the Demon Path for execution.

That thought quickly struck him as unnecessary; their fates were already sealed. If Shi Chun managed to slip away, it wouldn't be long before those above took action against those two—no need to involve the Demon Path.

Originally, Shi Chun thought he could use the terrain for cover and escape more easily. Clearly, he'd been overly optimistic. Rather than a humiliating death, he resolved to fight with everything he had.

He activated the Cloud Stepping Boots, kicking off twice in the air to evade the chaotic debris below while allowing the wind to carry him upward.

Naturally, his floating visage lacked the effortless elegance of Li Hongjiu. He seemed more like a rag doll rising and falling amid powerful waves, entirely at the mercy of the wind.

In truth, the Cloud Stepping Boots capable of allowing him to walk smoothly in mid-air were deliberately held back. Shi Chun was feigning weakness, strategically masking his true abilities as he awaited the opportune moment to strike.

Meanwhile, he covertly prepared immobilization material in his other hand.

The sight of Shi Chun rising, choosing not to flee, genuinely pleased Li Hongjiu. Without hesitation, he flicked his wrist and unleashed another sword strike.

The reason he often threw his sword during attacks lay in practical limitations. His cultivation, though advanced, had its bounds. While strikes leveraging external forces were devastating, the backlash from high-speed impacts posed a risk even to him. Attempting to grip the sword tightly during such attacks was not only impractical but might result in significant self-injury.

This method contrasted entirely with the celestial nature of his Thunder Strike Technique, which drew immense power directly from the heavens.

Unless the opponent was utterly powerless, Li Hongjiu wouldn't opt for brute force alone. Facing someone like Shi Chun—who could casually kill several High Martial cultivators in swift succession—direct confrontation wasn't just reckless but unnecessary.

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