Riding atop her Crimson Tortoise Dragon, Meng Lin soared through the skies, her gaze sweeping over the vast expanse of ocean and the undisclosed island, a dot below her.
The dragon’s fiery aura trailed behind like a comet, and Meng Lin stretched her spiritual consciousness, covering a radius of over twenty miles.
The world came alive in her mind for the next several minutes as she crossed the skies, the journey taking her over multiple smaller islands.
The first few islands she passed were barren wastelands, with pockets of mist clinging to these desolate landscapes, giving them an eerie, abandoned feel.
Some of these islands still held low-level monsters from the Nether Cloud Domain, marked by sparse vegetation and no signs of habitation.
A few minutes later, she saw small groups of loose cultivators on some islands, occasionally in groups of three or four, either fighting with spiritual beasts or setting up makeshift camps built near shallow caves or atop rocky plateaus.
One island in particular caught her attention: it had a ruined pagoda perched on a cliff, its broken spire pointing accusingly at the heavens.
Around it, a handful of cultivators sat in meditation, their shabby robes indicating their status as wanderers with no sect or allegiance.
They glanced up briefly as Meng Lin’s dragon passed overhead, their faces pale as they felt immense spiritual pressure sweep across them like a tidal wave.
She paid them no mind, her focus set on the distant island within her spiritual consciousness, she was already near. As she continued to the island with the teleportation array, a subtle scene appeared within her spiritual consciousness, causing her to raise her eyebrows.
On the island, a group of cultivators moved in formation through a dense forest. Five of them, all at the Gold Core Realm, an uncommon sight.
“Bandits,” she muttered under her breath, a faint smirk curling her lips. Without needing to see their insignia, she could already tell—Golden Fang Bandits. “Scouts… too.”
Meng Lin directed the Crimson Tortoise Dragon down, the beast moving in anticipation. With a powerful burst of its elemental qi, they appeared over the island, descending toward the forest at lightning speed.
***
In the forest, the bandits were huddled in a tight group, their eyes focused on a jade tablet that began to change color. One of them glanced nervously around the area.
“Boss Li said the tablet will change color if it detects a trace of Second Boss's aura, right?” muttered one of the bandits.
The grizzled leader nodded, his sharp eyes scanning the dense foliage. “Stay alert. We'll move forward. If the Second Boss passed through here, we’ll know.”
Suddenly, the air seemed to crackle with heat. They all froze, eyes snapping upward. A vast shadow covered them, followed by an intense wave of fiery heat.
The bandits looked up, their faces contorting from confusion to sheer terror as they saw the twenty meter long massive form of Meng Lin’s Crimson Tortoise Dragon descending from the sky.
With effortless grace, Meng Lin stepped down from her mount, landing gracefully without a sound. She didn’t need to speak for them to feel it—the sheer weight of her aura made the air feel thick and oppressive. The bandits instinctively took a step back, eyes wide in fear.
“Golden Fang Bandits,” Meng Lin said, her tone cutting through the silence. “What are you doing here?”
The grizzled leader took a step forward, gripping a jade slip tightly in his hand. His voice shook, but he tried to sound relaxed. “You... are you affiliated with the nine sects of the Yuan Kingdom? If so, don't interfere with us."
Meng Lin’s gaze flicked to the jade slip in the man’s hand. Her spiritual consciousness flickered as she instantly realized what it was. She chuckled slightly.
“Foolish,” she whispered under her breath. Her hand shot forward, summoning a blade wreathed in gray flames. The Elemental Qi of Erosion and Fire hummed with power as she swung it in a wide arc, releasing a wave of destructive energy.
The bandits barely had time to react. The earth trembled as the attack ripped through their formation, leaving scorched earth and shattered debris. Three of the men were obliterated instantly, their screams cut short in an instant.
The two remaining bandits scrambled to their feet, their faces pale with terror. The leader, clutching the jade slip, crushed it in panic. A burst of red light shot into the sky, sending a signal.
Meng Lin’s eyes narrowed and before the two surviving bandits could make a move, she raised her hand again, and a spear of fire materialized above her. With a flick of her wrist, it shot forward, piercing through both men, reducing them to ash.
Her gaze drifted to the horizon, feeling two powerful auras locking onto the island. “Two Soul Wandering Realm cultivators….” Climbing back onto her dragon, she gave an unconcerned smile. “Let's go.”
***
On another island, a few miles away, Li and Riu both turned to the sudden burst of red light in the distance, their eyes darkening as the signal flare slowly faded.
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“Someone’s killed the scouts,” Riu said, his voice cold.
Li grinned, a malicious smile twisting his features. "Let's go. Let’s see who’s stupid enough to pick a fight with us.”
Riu extended his spiritual consciousness outward, his brows furrowing as he sensed the lingering aura on the island. His eyes narrowed. “A powerful cultivator… Soul Wandering Realm and a woman."
“All the better,” Li replied, hoisting a massive sword onto his shoulder.
The two men quickly took flight, their forms blurring as they shot into the sky, heading straight for Meng Lin’s location.
By the time they arrived, Meng Lin was already standing near the glowing teleportation array on the island, her eyes focused as the runes of the formation pulsed rhythmically. Her attention, however, was on the two figures descending rapidly from the sky.
Boom!!
Li hit the ground first with a thunderous crash, his giant sword digging into the earth beside him. “You’ve got guts killing our men,” he growled, his deep voice filled with menace.
Riu landed lightly beside him, his sharp eyes narrowing as he took out a jade slip from his robe.
"So it's you," Riu said coldly, his sharp gaze fixed on Meng Lin. He clenched the jade slip in his hand, the color of which was red. “You killed the second boss and took the jade boxes, didn't you?”
At Riu’s cold accusation, Meng Lin’s eyebrows raised. She glanced at the crimson jade slip in his hand, her eyes briefly gleaming with interest. “Killed him, you say?” she replied, her tone light. “What makes you so sure?”
Li stepped forward, his voice rumbling like thunder. “Don’t play games. This jade slip is imbued with his essence. It lights up whenever his aura is felt. It’s faint. But this means you've crossed paths with him.”
Meng Lin tilted her head slightly, her gaze sharp. So, he’s dead, is he? she mused silently, a smile forming on her face. “And what if I did?” she finally said, her voice carrying an air of arrogance.
Riu’s eyes narrowed, flickering with light as his spiritual energy surged. “Then you’ll die here and now, and we’ll take back what’s ours.”
Li let out a low chuckle, the sound unpleasant as he gazed down her body. “Don't worry, we’ll let you live… for a little while longer.”
Meng Lin's eyebrows twitched, her gaze flicked between the two bandits, both Peak Stage Soul Wandering Realm cultivators, and her anger flared, the smile slipping from her features as her eyes flashed dangerously. “You think you can intimidate me?” she said, her voice low. “You’re nothing but dogs barking at the wrong person.”
The air thickened with her rising fury, her spiritual energy flaring to life like a storm.
Li growled, his massive sword glowing with spiritual energy. “You’re cocky for someone weaker than us. A newly late-stage cultivator? Do you think that’s enough to take us on?”
Meng Lin rebuked, “Do you always talk this much before dying?”
Before they could respond, Meng Lin made the first move. She extended her hand, summoning a giant axe from her inventory and slashing out in a swift motion.
The air hissed as her spiritual energy surged, sending a wave of elemental qi and a crescent slash across the battlefield.
Li reacted immediately, raising his massive sword to block the incoming crescent slash. When the two forces collided, the impact detonated like a thunderclap, sending shockwaves rippling through the air.
The ground beneath Li cracked and sank several inches, debris flying as the force pushed him back. His boots carved deep trenches into the earth as he struggled to steady himself.
“What…?” Li muttered, his voice edged with disbelief as he stared at Meng Lin. The late-stage cultivator had unleashed an attack that carried the weight of a peak-stage powerhouse.
Riu narrowed his eyes, his spiritual energy surging as he assessed the damage. “She’s more than she appears,” he muttered. His grip on the crimson jade slip loosening as he threw it away, bringing out a small thin blade from his storage bag.
Meng Lin looked at her attack with a smile; there had been a reason why she wanted to return to the sect even though she knew that Senior Sister Liu might be waiting for her there.
It was confidence. She was confident in her strength to confront those at the peak stage, and if she were to utilize her brute Qi, then her strength would be even greater than that, so she didn't feel threatened by these two late-stage Soul Wandering Realm cultivators at all.
Meng Lin’s gaze shifted briefly to the thin blade in Riu's hand, her lips curling into a smirk. “Still underestimating me, are you?”
Li growled, shaking off his shock. He charged forward, his massive sword glowing with spiritual energy. With a feral roar, he brought the weapon down in a devastating arc.
Meng Lin met his strike head-on, her giant axe gleaming as it crashed against his blade. The resulting impact unleashed a blast of energy that tore through the trees around them, uprooting them and sending splinters flying like arrows.
Li grunted as the ground beneath his feet crumbled from the force, forming a shallow crater around him. To his surprise, cracks began to form on his giant sword.
Li stared in disbelief as cracks snaked along the surface of his massive sword, spreading like a spider’s web under the force of Meng Lin’s High-Grade Armor Shattering Axe.
Peng!
The resounding clash of weapons reverberated across the battlefield, sending shockwaves that flattened the surrounding trees and sent chunks of earth flying into the air.
“No way…!” Li growled, retreating a step as the weapon in his hands, a medium-grade giant sword, shattered with an ear-splitting crack, fragments of the blade exploding outward like shards of glass.
“You’ll pay for that!” Li roared, discarding the broken hilt of his weapon and stepping forward. The ground trembled beneath his feet as his fists began to glow, spiritual energy coalescing around them like molten steel. The nickname "Li the Iron Fist" was not just for show—his body emanated an aura of raw, overwhelming physical strength.
Meanwhile, Riu moved with precision. As Meng Lin’s attention briefly shifted to Li, he vanished from sight, blending into the air. His thin blade gleamed faintly, its edge nearly invisible as he cut through the air with deadly silence.
Meng Lin’s eyes narrowed, her spiritual consciousness flaring. She could feel Riu’s presence somewhere in the air, but she couldn't see him, surprising her slightly, but she didn’t let her focus waver. “So, you cultivate fist arts and elemental qi too,” she said, her voice calm yet laced with mockery. “Let’s see how long those fists last then.”
Li charged, his fists leaving trails of golden light in their wake as he unleashed a flurry of strikes. Each blow was like a cannonball, ripping through the air and shattering boulders in their path.
Meng Lin, however, moved like water, her axe meeting his strikes with calculated precision. Every clash between her axe and his fists sent shockwaves rippling outward, turning the ground into a field of craters.
In the midst of the chaos, Riu reappeared like a shadow, his blade flashing toward Meng Lin’s side in a lethal arc. She reacted instantly, spinning her axe in a wide sweep that met Riu's blade, the sheer force of her strike carving a trench in the ground as Riu was sent flying.
Riu and Li regrouped, their faces grim as they took in the destruction around them. The once-pristine forest had been reduced to a battlefield of shattered trees, scorched earth, and craters.
“She’s no ordinary late-stage cultivator,” Riu muttered, his eyes narrowing as he tightened his grip on his blade.
“No kidding,” Li growled, his fists glowing brighter as his spiritual energy surged. “But it’s not over yet.”
Meng Lin stood at the center of the devastation, her axe resting on her shoulder and her expression calm but a bit playful. “Come then,” she said, her voice echoing across the battlefield. “Show me what else you’ve got before I bury you both here.”