Yin Wuji’s face darkened completely.

He had cultivated for over two hundred years, from Qi Condensation to Golden Core, acting decisively and ruthlessly the whole way. He had never been slighted like this before.

“In that case,” Yin Wuji’s voice was as cold as ice shards, “this seat would like to see exactly how much weight you carry.”

He waved his hand, and the three Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators behind him took a step forward in unison.

Three bursts of spiritual pressure erupted simultaneously, whipping up a fierce wind in the bamboo forest. These three were clearly no ordinary cultivators, their murderous aura surging outward fiercely.

“Take him down first,” Yin Wuji instructed coolly. “Leave him with one breath; this seat wants to interrogate him personally.”

“Yes!”

The three moved on command. The burly man on the far left struck first, the Mountain-Splitting Axe in his hand wrapped in a sharp spiritual light as it chopped toward Lai Li’an.

The other two flanked from the left and right, sealing off all avenues of retreat. Their tacit coordination showed this clearly wasn’t their first time teaming up.

Su Wan’er’s face changed drastically. She instinctively tried to draw her sword and step forward, but Lai Li’an pressed a hand on her shoulder.

“Step back.”

Su Wan’er froze for a moment, then obediently retreated to the side. Looking at Lai Li’an’s back, her heart suddenly settled down.

Lai Li’an watched the Mountain-Splitting Axe drawing closer and closer, his heart rate already soaring to 220.

He was frantically calculating the distance in his mind, three zhang, two zhang, one zhang.1

Enough. His body sank slightly, and his right fist clenched tightly. Although he had no spells to utilize his internal Spiritual Power, the physical strength brought by the Indestructible Vajra Physique was enough. For this punch, he did not intend to hold back.

The moment the Mountain-Splitting Axe fell, Lai Li’an moved. His entire body brushed right past the side of the axe blade, and then he threw a punch.

Bang—!

The burly man felt as if his chest had been rammed by an ancient ferocious beast. His Spiritual Protection Aura shattered into fragments at the moment of contact, and the sound of breaking ribs was clearly audible.

He flew backward, smashing through seventy-eight bamboo stalks, and finally crashed heavily into the ground, wildly spurting blood from his mouth.

Severely injuring a Peak Foundation Establishment opponent with a single strike made the remaining two cultivators’ expressions change drastically, their footsteps pausing simultaneously.

But Lai Li’an did not give them time to react. He turned and pressed his advance. His speed was incredibly fast, and the second cultivator hastily raised the small bronze shield in his hand to block.

Lai Li’an’s fist smashed onto the surface of the shield.

Clang!

Spiderweb-like cracks instantly appeared on the small bronze shield. That cultivator’s eyes went wide and round, his mouth agape, but he couldn’t make a single sound.

Lai Li’an’s second punch closely followed. After shattering the shield, the punch’s momentum remained undiminished as it solidly blasted into that cultivator’s shoulder.

The cultivator let out a muffled groan. His entire body was smashed down to his knees, bleeding from his seven orifices, and he fell completely unconscious.

The third cultivator finally reacted. With a sharp shriek, the longsword in his hand transformed into a flash of sword light, piercing straight toward the center of Lai Li’an’s back.

Lai Li’an did not turn his head. The longsword struck his back fiercely, and an expression of wild ecstasy appeared on the cultivator’s face.

However, after piercing the gray robe, the sword tip could not advance a single inch further.

“Wh… what?”

Lai Li’an slowly turned around and stared at him, his eyes as calm as a pool of still water.

The cultivator’s hands began to tremble. Unable to even hold his sword, it fell to the ground with a clang.

“Spare… spare my life…”

Lai Li’an did not speak. He raised his hand and struck the cultivator’s forehead with his palm. The cultivator’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed limply to the ground, falling unconscious.

Three Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators had been dealt with from attack to defeat in no more than three breaths of time.

The bamboo forest was terrifyingly quiet.

Su Wan’er covered her mouth. She knew Senior was very strong, but seeing with her own eyes how Senior used pure physical strength to beat three Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators into utter helplessness with just a few punches and kicks, that visual impact was a hundred times more shocking than any verbal description.

Senior… exactly what realm was he at?

Zhao Qian lay sprawled on the ground, completely dumbfounded.

He had originally thought he was dead for sure. No matter how strong that gray-robed person was, he figured the man was at most at Peak Foundation Establishment. Facing an Early Golden Core and three Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, there should have been absolutely no chance of victory.

But now, he watched with his own eyes as those three Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators were swatted down like paper dolls.

Such casualness…

A thought flashed through Zhao Qian’s mind, causing his body to tremble uncontrollably: this person was definitely far beyond Peak Foundation Establishment.

Yin Wuji’s expression finally changed completely. He stood frozen, looking at Lai Li’an with violently shrinking pupils.

Three Peak Foundation Establishment cultivators, while no match for him, were not just random nobodies either. To be able to defeat them all completely unharmed within three breaths, this level of strength…

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Sense frantically swept over Lai Li’an’s body. His Cultivation Base remained at Peak Foundation Establishment, but the more this seemed true, the more uneasy Yin Wuji felt.

He had seen people play the pig to eat the tiger, but he had never seen anyone play the part so thoroughly. How could a Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator possess such an incredibly strong physical body?

A Body-Refining Cultivator possessed immense physical strength, but they generally practiced it concurrently with standard cultivation; there was no such thing as solely refining the body. And if the other party was hiding his true Cultivation Base…

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Yin Wuji’s back. However, he was a Golden Core Master after all; his mental fortitude was far beyond anything a Foundation Establishment cultivator could compare to.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the raging storm in his heart, and stared fixedly at Lai Li’an.

“You do have some skill,” Yin Wuji said with a hint of probing. “However, do you think defeating a few Foundation Establishment cultivators gives you the right to throw your weight around in front of me?”

Lai Li’an turned around to face Yin Wuji.

His gray robe had been torn in several places during the battle just now, revealing the skin underneath, which didn’t have a single bloody mark on it.

He just stood there, his clothes fluttering, calm and composed.

“Throw my weight around?” Lai Li’an repeated the phrase, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly. “Heh, you really are blind.”

Yin Wuji didn’t speak. Spiritual Power had already begun to condense in his hands. Watching his movements, alarm bells rang wildly in Lai Li’an’s heart.

He couldn’t let him strike. Even with the Indestructible Vajra Physique, he wasn’t sure if he could withstand a blow from an Early Golden Core cultivator.

Moreover, he didn’t want to expose his trump card in front of Su Wan’er and Zhao Qian. If, by any chance, he couldn’t withstand it, everything would be completely ruined.

He needed a more absolute way to break the deadlock. Lai Li’an’s mind raced.

System items… System items…

Lai Li’an’s gaze fell upon a certain item in the System Inventory.

Sect Token.

Lai Li’an reached into his robes and pulled out a token.

The token was completely pitch-black, neither gold nor jade, and lacked any patterns on its surface. Only the front bore a few archaic characters—

“Fengling Yueying.2“

This was a blank token provided by the system, which he had just engraved with a mere thought. Lai Li’an casually tossed the token into the air.

The token did not fall to the ground, but rather floated gently in the air. Yin Wuji, however, was severely startled. His gaze landed on that token, and his pupils contracted to the extreme.

Although he didn’t know what sect Fengling Yueying was, but… but the material of that token was the legendary “Primordial Profound Gold.” This item required ten thousand years of tempering within the Primal Void to take shape and had long since vanished from the Cultivation World. Only those reclusive Ancient Dao Sects could possibly possess it.

Yin Wuji’s mind exploded with a boom.

Though he had never personally seen the tokens of those legendary Dao sects, the sect records stated it clearly: Primordial Profound Gold was beyond human capacity to refine, and every single piece contained a wisp of Dao rhyme from the birth of primordial chaos.

The token before his eyes perfectly matched the descriptions in the ancient texts.

If this person truly has such a background…

No, it’s impossible. Those Ancient Dao Sects haven’t appeared in the world for a millennium. How could they show up in such a remote backwater!

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Pressure hung suspended, ready but unreleased. His face turned green and white by turns as an intense struggle waged within his mind.

Meanwhile, Lai Li’an stood right where he was, his hands clasped behind his back. He even tilted his head slightly, looking at him with a faint, half-amused smile.

He took the bait.

He took two steps forward, reached out to retrieve the token, and weighed it lightly in his hand.

“Are you wondering if this token is fake?”

Although Yin Wuji didn’t speak, his expression had already betrayed him. Lai Li’an shook his head and let out a soft sigh.

“Coming down the mountain this time, this Venerable originally did not wish to commit further slaughter. I couldn’t be bothered to care about your Blood Lotus Sect hunting down this girl, but of all the mistakes you could have made, you absolutely should not have blocked this Venerable’s path.”

Yin Wuji’s face shifted between green and pale once again. He wanted to erupt in anger, but the chill surging up from the depths of his heart made even his Spiritual Power circulate sluggishly.

This person had absolutely hidden his Cultivation Base. Yin Wuji gritted his teeth and decided to test him one last time.

He suddenly released all his Spiritual Pressure. The coercion of the Early Golden Core poured down fiercely, a violent wind blew up in the bamboo forest, the ground cracked open, and Su Wan’er and Zhao Qian were suppressed to the point where they could barely breathe.

But Lai Li’an remained completely motionless. He even closed his eyes slightly, as if he were enjoying it.

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Sense locked tightly onto Lai Li’an, trying to capture any trace of Spiritual Power Fluctuation. As long as the opponent used Spiritual Power to resist, he could determine his true Cultivation Base from the trajectory of the Spiritual Power’s circulation.

However, he captured absolutely nothing. Lai Li’an’s body was like a piece of mortal iron without any Spiritual Power leaking out, yet right in the center of that pressure, he stood perfectly straight.

This completely defied logic, unless the opponent’s Cultivation Base was far above his own, having already reached the realm of returning to simplicity and truth, making it impossible for his Spiritual Sense to pry.

The first crack finally appeared in Yin Wuji’s mental defenses.

He watched helplessly as Lai Li’an opened his eyes. In that gaze, there was no anger, no mockery, only a faint sense of disappointment.

“Is that it?” Lai Li’an said softly.

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Pressure began to waver. He stared fixedly into Lai Li’an’s eyes, trying to find a single flaw in them.

But it was all a dying struggle; everything pointed to an answer he didn’t dare to face.

But if the other party really was a great expert at the Nascent Soul Realm or above… why waste time with him here? He could have just slapped him to death.

Yin Wuji suddenly thought of a possibility: the other party didn’t want to expose his identity.

Those Ancient Dao Sects had strict rules, and their disciples often faced many taboos when entering the mundane world. That was why the other party had only knocked his subordinates unconscious just now instead of going for the kill.

And that token… was likely shown to him on purpose.

He took a deep breath and slowly withdrew his Spiritual Pressure. The ferocity on his face faded bit by bit, replaced by the relief of surviving a disaster.

“Senior,” he cupped his hands. “I apologize for the offense just now. This junior had eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai.”

Lai Li’an did not speak, only looking at him quietly.

Yin Wuji felt his hair stand on end under his gaze and hurriedly continued, “Those three reckless fools offended Senior, so even death would not wipe out their crimes. When this junior returns, I will definitely discipline my subordinates properly and never bother Senior again.”

He paused, glanced at Su Wan’er again, and added, “As for that girl… the Blood Lotus Sect will no longer pursue her. Please rest assured, Senior.”

Silence spread through the bamboo forest. Every second felt as long as a century. Cold sweat slid down Yin Wuji’s cheeks and dripped onto the ground.

Finally, Lai Li’an spoke.

“Get lost.”

Yin Wuji felt as if he had been granted a royal pardon. He repeatedly cupped his hands, “Thank you, Senior! Thank you, Senior!” He didn’t even dare to fly away; instead, he hunched over and trotted all the way out of the bamboo forest.

As for the three unconscious Peak Foundation Establishment experts on the ground, he didn’t even spare them a single glance.

Su Wan’er stood in place, looking at Lai Li’an’s back, her whole body still trembling slightly.

That token… just who exactly was this Senior?

Zhao Qian lay flat on the ground, not even daring to breathe heavily. He had originally wanted to say thank you, but now he only wanted to play dead.

Lai Li’an turned around and glanced at Zhao Qian on the ground.

“Can you still walk?”

Zhao Qian gave a violent start and struggled to his feet, enduring the pain. “I can… I can walk! Thank you for saving my life, Senior!”

Lai Li’an nodded without saying much. He stepped forward to leave the bamboo forest, and Su Wan’er followed right after him.

Zhao Qian hesitated for a moment before limping after them as well.

The moment he walked out of the bamboo forest, Lai Li’an took a deep breath and cursed wildly in his heart.

Damn it, I almost peed myself.