Chapter 1740: The Path in the Rain

Ming Qi stood still, her eyes flickering as she extended her Divine Sense once more, pushing it as far as she could. The youthful-looking Xu Yihua was also scanning the area, wondering what Li Yan had detected. The man had claimed to feel unease but hadn’t specified what was wrong.

“You three, what are you doing now?” Yang Zun asked, his patience wearing thin.

“I believe we should take the detour. The distance the mountains stretch to either side isn’t that great,” Li Yan said, withdrawing his Divine Sense. His face carried a look of doubt; he still hadn’t found anything concrete.

However, that sense of unease refused to vanish. The man-shaped peaks lay ahead, and to fly over or under them would still bring them within range of whatever lay there. Li Yan wanted to bypass the cluster entirely. They had already scouted the area; the pass was the only direct route, and the detour would be much more convoluted and time-consuming. But to Li Yan, a few hundred extra miles was a small price to pay.

“Hmph. None of us have found a single issue. Fellow Daoist Li, why are you being so alarmist? Delaying like this only invites more trouble!” Yang Zun could no longer hold back his anger. Out of six people, five had found nothing. Yet this man refused to move because of a feeling. Did he think his instincts were superior to their combined senses? It was absurd.

“Fellow Daoist Yang has a point. You go ahead; I will catch up later.” Li Yan didn’t want to argue, nor did he feel like addressing Yang Zun as Senior Brother anymore. As he spoke, he began to turn, intending to take the detour alone.

“Junior Brother Li, choosing to go alone might jeopardize the mission. It is an unwise choice!” Xie Xingzhi called out, his voice tinged with dissatisfaction.

If they didn’t wait for him, could Li Yan actually catch up? Did he think his speed and cultivation were the best in the group? If the mission failed because of this, everyone would end up with the minimum reward. Xie Xingzhi didn’t want that and tried to stop him.

“Regardless, I will not enter the area ahead,” Li Yan replied, unmoved.

“Then… perhaps Fellow Daoist Li could leave your cargo with us for safekeeping? Please rest assured, we will not keep it for ourselves. When you catch up, we will return it to you immediately. With more people together, the cargo is more secure,” Yang Zun said, shooting through the rain to block Li Yan’s path. His tone sounded like a suggestion, but his posture was a challenge.

Li Yan’s brow furrowed. He knew what they wanted: the storage ring containing his portion of the cargo.

“In the time we’ve wasted here, we could have already completed the detour. Why waste more time? I will not hand my cargo over to anyone.” Li Yan didn’t budge. As he spoke, Xie Xingzhi and Jiang Tingye also moved through the rain, flanking him.

“Junior Brother Li, we must be cautious on a mission. But this is a team effort. If you can give us a reason to believe you, who among us would want to take a risk?” Xie Xingzhi’s voice was clear despite the storm. He was trying to be reasonable, but his frustration with Li Yan’s stubbornness was mounting.

“Have I not said it already? You go ahead. Do you intend to force me to follow? We are partners in this mission, not subordinates!” Li Yan didn’t care what they thought. He felt something was wrong, and he would act on his own will. He would never hand over the pills. He didn’t want a fight, which would expose his strength, but no one here could stop him if he chose to leave.

“Junior Brother Li, this is unacceptable. You are delaying everyone because of your own…” The quiet Jiang Tingye suddenly spoke, his voice cold. His magical power flared with a dangerous light. He didn’t care how well they had spoken earlier; if Li Yan obstructed the mission, he had no problem teaching him a lesson.

Before he could finish, a melodious voice interrupted him.

“Seniors, when it comes to sensing danger, who can say who is right? It’s just a short detour. I agree with Senior Brother Li’s suggestion. We should go around. What do you think? We will catch up as quickly as we can; you only need to slow down slightly. Why waste more time arguing?”

Ming Qi had intervened. She had dealt with Li Yan twice before and couldn’t see through him, but every time it mattered, his methods exceeded her expectations. Among the group, she trusted him more than the others. Even if he was wrong, it was just a detour. Any path carried unknown risks, so she chose the person she trusted.

Her sudden stance caught the others off guard.

“Oh? Does Fellow Daoist Ming also sense danger now?” Yang Zun asked mockingly. He was fuming. This wasn’t just about a detour or wasted time; it was a challenge to his judgment. It implied that their cultivation was inferior to Li Yan’s.

“Perhaps!” Ming Qi replied directly.

“Fine. No more wasting time. Junior Brother Xu, what about you? Are you with them?” Xie Xingzhi asked, his voice devoid of emotion.

With Ming Qi joining Li Yan, the group was divided. Even at four against two, Xie Xingzhi knew they couldn’t force them. If they tried, they would be fighting one another before the mission was even finished. It was a small disagreement—one side wanted a detour, the other thought it unnecessary. But with Yang Zun’s pride on the line, there was no compromising now. They would pass through the gap, and when they met Li Yan later, they would see what he had to say.

Xu Yihua scanned the group through the rain. After a moment of hesitation, he spoke.

“Since we all searched and found nothing, I believe we should proceed quickly.” He flickered and flew toward the pass, leaving Li Yan and Ming Qi behind.

The six of them didn’t come to blows. With their positions clear, the group split. Li Yan and Ming Qi headed to the right, while the other four continued toward the pass. They all had the same destination and would reunite later. As they left, Yang Zun and his group shot looks of displeasure and disdain toward the two.

‘I didn’t think Ming Qi would be so brainless as well…’ Yang Zun thought, his eyes cold. He had been patient, but now he decided that once the mission was over, he would teach both Li Yan and Ming Qi a lesson. He sent a transmission to the others. He suddenly found Xu Yihua much more likable; at least the boy knew his place.

‘We’ll see how they manage to get back to the sect once we hand in the mission…’ Xie Xingzhi sent a dark transmission. They might not get the full reward because of those two, and he was livid. He was already planning for an accident to happen to them on the way back.

‘We should have just suppressed them there,’ Jiang Tingye said. With Xu Yihua on their side, they could have easily overpowered the two mid-stage cultivators. He felt he could have handled both alone. He was frustrated that Yang Zun and Xie Xingzhi hadn’t acted.

Xu Yihua listened to the transmissions, relieved he had chosen the correct side. He knew the other three looked down on them, but Yang Zun had been holding back for the sake of the mission. Once they passed through the peaks and proved Li Yan wrong, the dynamic would shift entirely. They just wanted to reach Xianhe Manor as quickly as possible.

Through the rain, Li Yan and Ming Qi flew about ten yards apart, heading for the detour.

‘Senior Brother Li, what exactly did you sense? Could you tell me?’ Ming Qi’s voice reached Li Yan’s mind. She hadn’t sensed anything at first, but when the group argued, she had caught a fleeting, unsettling ripple near the pass entrance. It had vanished instantly, and she couldn’t tell if it was real or a hallucination, so she hadn’t mentioned it to the others, knowing they wouldn’t listen.

‘I didn’t find anything. It’s just a feeling…’ Li Yan replied. He was surprised she had followed him, and he instinctively raised his guard. He didn’t understand why she had suddenly changed her mind.

The other four had already entered the man-shaped pass. Li Yan didn’t track them with his Divine Sense. When he had scanned the pass earlier, he noticed the spiritual energy moving slightly faster than it should, which could be explained by the wind. But as a disciple of the Kui Water Sect, his sensitivity to the laws of water and heaven and earth was far beyond theirs. Something in the pass felt discordant with the laws of the world, and his body instinctively recoiled from it.

As Li Yan was about to reply to Ming Qi again, his expression suddenly changed. He cut off the transmission, and his magical power erupted. He didn’t stop flying, but he threw a heavy punch toward the space in front of him. Even with his heightened senses, he hadn’t detected the threat until it was nearly upon them.

“Watch out!”

At the same moment, Ming Qi’s face paled. Instead of retreating, she lunged forward, her long leg whipping out in a sudden, powerful kick toward the space behind her. She threw all her weight into her heel, her leg moving with the force of a spear.

Woo!

The kick was so fast it created a sonic boom without scattering the rain—the water simply couldn’t keep up. Like a dragon emerging from its cave, her heel slammed into a massive hammer that had appeared out of nowhere in the rain.

Bang!

A explosion of water erupted. A giant, long-handled hammer had materialized less than five feet from her back, carrying enough weight to crush a mountain, but her kick had met it head-on!