Chapter 1603: Wild Grass in a Fierce Wind

Fifty breaths later, only three figures remained on the hillside. Mu Guyue and Ren Yanyu stood side by side, with a single Golden Core disciple remaining with them.

Once the disciples had utilized the Casting the Demon technique, Mu Guyue’s strength had significantly diminished. It had taken over thirty breaths for the two women to kill the feminine middle-aged man. By that time, the Broken Army Sect disciples, including Yu Banjiang, were nearly all gone.

Mu Guyue had done her best to pin down the feminine man to prevent him from escaping, but Ren Yanyu was severely wounded and her combat power had plummeted. On the other side, if she hadn’t let the Broken Army Sect disciples join the fray, the remaining enemy cultivators would have swarmed them. With the enemy Nascent Soul experts and the feminine man’s full power, the two women might not have survived in their current state.

Mu Guyue had ultimately decided to let all the disciples join the battle, and they had indeed managed to tie down the majority of the enemies. In the end, only eight Golden Core disciples from the Mingyan Sect had managed to assist the feminine man.

Yu Banjiang and the Nascent Soul elder had held off four enemy Nascent Souls for thirty breaths, a feat only possible because their demonic qi had boosted their combat power. At the moment Yu Banjiang was killed, the feminine man let out a roar of indignation before being struck by both Mu Guyue and Ren Yanyu, dissolving into light. The remaining Mingyan Sect disciples were no match for the two women. As the saying goes, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

The four enemy Nascent Soul cultivators held out for a bit longer, but they were soon slain. The late-stage Nascent Soul elder from the Broken Army Sect had already lost half his body and was leaking magical power. Seeing the enemy Nascent Souls fall, he gave a hearty laugh before his own body dissipated.

Ren Yanyu looked at the sole remaining Golden Core disciple, who had lost both arms in a desperate attempt to kill his enemies in close combat. She and Mu Guyue themselves were barely clinging to their remaining strength.

“The Mingyan Sect has only one person left. Junior Brother Li’s light is still active; the two of them are still fighting!” Ren Yanyu said.

As soon as the battle ended, they checked their tokens. To their delight, while only four red lights remained on their side, only one green light was left. This meant that every single person from the Mingyan Sect, except for Han Zhumei, had died here. This was exactly why they had been willing to let Ren Yanyu take such damage—to ensure no one escaped. Otherwise, if the enemies had scattered into the fog, the advantage would have been lost.

“Do not send a voice transmission talisman to Li Yan yet,” Mu Guyue said wearily. Ren Yanyu nodded. Even if they wanted to help him, they lacked the strength. Furthermore, they didn’t know his location. Mu Guyue was right—sending a talisman might alert Han Zhumei to his position.

Inside the Mountain River Diagram, within a dense forest shrouded in fog, Han Zhumei stood transparent and still inside a thicket. She had closed her eyes to sense the wind, which served as her eyes and ears, often more sensitive than divine sense. She had been standing there for a long time but had yet to find a trace of that man.

Wild beasts had begun to wander back into the area, some even brushing against her dress. Precisely because she knew how strong Li Yan was, she had not checked her token. She didn’t want to be distracted and miss a fleeting opportunity. If she knew the current state of her sect, she might have become agitated.

‘It is truly surprising. If we hadn’t happened upon each other, who would have thought a Body Cultivator’s concealment would be this high? It would definitely catch any enemy off guard, likely resulting in their sudden death…’ Han Zhumei thought.

She was a wind-attribute expert, and that was no secret. Anyone who knew her knew she excelled at ambushes and assassinations. Therefore, they would always be on guard. But Li Yan was different. He used techniques that were completely opposite—a man of fierce power who also possessed such delicate, patient skill for stealthy hunting.

Han Zhumei was glad she was the one who had encountered him. If any other Mingyan Sect cultivator had met him, even Wei Fuzi might have been successfully ambushed.

At that moment, Han Zhumei felt something. ‘Is that him?’ She had sensed a slight abnormality, something divine sense could not detect. Forty miles away, at the edge of the forest, there were undulating hills covered in waist-high wild grass. Since they had first clashed, she was certain Li Yan was within a two-hundred-mile radius. In this fog, even without fierce beasts, no cultivator wanted to drift out of their own divine sense range.

She suddenly noticed that some of the wild grass in that area was swaying slightly out of sync with the wind. The deviation was so minor that only she could have noticed it. She quickly connected the points where the grass was swaying abnormally and realized the path was leading toward the outskirts of the area.

‘Hmm? Is he trying to flee the battlefield?’ Li Yan had likely run out of patience. Since he couldn’t kill her and his traps hadn’t lured her out, he had decided to leave. Han Zhumei was determined to find him; she knew she could track him with the wind, whereas Li Yan had no such ability and relied on traps.

In the wild grass, Li Yan was carefully creeping toward the outskirts. His divine sense was fully extended, and he was moving as slowly as a dying snail. He suddenly stopped and started to turn his head. But as he turned, he suddenly exploded with speed like a hunting leopard, lunging to the side.

“Whiz!”

A White Feather Arrow whistled through the air, pinning itself deep into the grass where he had just been. The arrow whistle was piercing, and the shaft vibrated with a sharp rattle.

‘I’ve been discovered!’ The thought flashed through Li Yan’s mind as he immediately dodged again.