Watching the light flicker and die once more, Elder Han’s entire body erupted in a frenzy of rampaging spiritual energy. His violent Seventh Realm pressure instantly shattered the ancient trees for hundreds of meters around into a storm of sawdust.
Under their heavy dragnet, a heavily injured mortal martial artist had actually managed to kill their sect's elites back-to-back. This was nothing short of a resounding slap to his face as a Seventh Realm elder.
“Seal the entrance to the deep zone! Even if I have to turn this secret realm upside down, I will kill this thief!”
His furious roar instantly echoed across the entire wilderness.
...
Inside the cave, the light was dim.
Su Yueli had already sealed the cave entrance, and only now did she lean against the stone wall to regulate her breathing.
Martial artists were different from cultivators; they did not have spiritual energy constantly circulating within their bodies. As long as she withdrew her Ji Dao blood qi into her bones, the aura she radiated would become exceptionally faint.
Without any spiritual energy fluctuations, it was extremely difficult for the spiritual senses outside to pinpoint her.
She pulled over the four storage bags at her side, dumped their contents all at once, and began taking inventory.
Aside from a scattering of low-grade spirit stones, there were only a few bottles of Fasting Pills and Qi-Recovery Pills used by low-level cultivators, along with a few ordinary Grade One and Grade Two Fireball Talismans and Immobilization Talismans.
As a martial artist, she could not use a single one of these items.
Su Yueli sighed, shaking her head helplessly.
She decided to keep them anyway. They were worth some money, at least. Once her injuries healed, she could sell them all on the black market to trade for martial resources.
Putting those thoughts aside, she fished out the last remaining mortal Blood Qi Pill from her robes.
Staring at the pill, Su Yueli gently crushed it, breaking off a small piece and holding it before the Xiaohei fist blade on her right hand.
Xiaohei trembled slightly, devouring that wisp of medicinal force. The tiny cracks on the blade's surface stabilized a fraction.
Afterward, Su Yueli tilted her head back to swallow the remaining Blood Qi Pill. Closing her eyes and sitting cross-legged, she began circulating her Delusion Breaker Rank technique to cleanse her meridians.
The strike from a Seventh Realm immortal cultivator had truly left her grievously injured.
Trapped deep within this perilous secret realm, she could not leave, let alone purchase high-grade mortal medicinal herbs.
At this rate of recovery, it would take at least two to three months of steady healing to restore her condition to seventy or eighty percent.
However, she was not particularly worried. After all, the one thing she did not lack was time.
She would grind through it!
...
Time holds no meaning for those on the path of cultivation, and longevity is much the same.
In the blink of an eye, half a year quietly slipped away in the monotony of healing.
Inside the stone cave, Su Yueli abruptly opened her eyes, two flashes of blood-red light fleeting through the darkness.
Letting out a long breath, she slowly stood up and clenched her right fist.
With a crisp crack of her knuckles, a long-lost surge of violent power flooded her entire body once more.
Having spent half a year, the near-collapsed Delusion Breaker Rank blood qi within her had finally fully recovered.
Su Yueli glanced at the pile of broken bones in the corner. Over the past six months, she had only snuck out of the cave every few days to hunt low-grade demon beasts for food. The rest of her time had been spent entirely on grinding through her recovery.
During this period, the outside world had remained quiet, and she had not encountered a single disciple of the Cangyun Sect.
“I wonder if those guys have already withdrawn.”
Su Yueli sneered. Even if they had not, these cultivators had no good way of dealing with her.
The secret realm was vast and formed its own independent space. No matter how powerful that Seventh Realm Elder Han was, it was impossible for him to level the entire secret realm to the ground.
He simply could not do it.
Now that her injuries were fully healed, it was time to get down to business.
Su Yueli sat back down on the stone platform, reaching into her storage bag to retrieve the True Spirit Dharma-Image Jade Fragment she had fought so hard to obtain at the auction.
The jade fragment felt ice-cold in her palm, circulating a faint, true intent that exerted a subtle pressure even on her soul.
Su Yueli stared at the fragment. Since cultivators could rely on this item to comprehend great dharma-image divine abilities, there was no reason why she, an Eleventh Realm Delusion Breaker martial artist, could not pave a similar path.
After all, she had shattered the established martial limits of the world and reached the Eleventh Realm. That alone was reason enough.
Although she did not know if this could truly be called the Eleventh Realm, she could only rely on her instincts when dealing with unknown realms.
Once she felt a breakthrough point, she would designate it as a new realm.
With this in mind, she planned to enter seclusion right here to study it, hoping to see if she could truly rely on her ultimate physical blood qi to forcibly comprehend a Martial Soul—something that had never before appeared in mortal martial arts.
If she succeeded, it would be an unprecedented miracle in the martial path.
...
Meanwhile, far away from this place, outside Black Wind Valley.
A young figure was searching among the piles of jagged rocks along the valley. It was Qi Feng, who had come out of the Blue Moon Sect.
Qi Feng searched several secluded thickets where they used to meet, but there was still no sign of the young girl in the blue-and-white dress.
Standing on the rocky beach, his brow furrowed deeply, his expression somewhat grim.
“Strange. Where on earth did Miss Su go? So many days have passed, yet I haven't seen her at all.”
Qi Feng rubbed his temples in frustration.
When the two had parted ways in Daliu Village, they had clearly agreed that he would take on various bounty missions within his sect and hand them over to Su Yueli. This would help her trade for mortal martial resources.
Yet now, he had brought out several high-paying bounties in a row, but Su Yueli seemed to have vanished into thin air.
“Could she have met with an accident...”
At the thought of this possibility, Qi Feng's heart sank heavily.
Su Yueli's martial strength was indeed incredibly formidable, representing the absolute pinnacle among mortal martial artists, but she was ultimately still made of flesh and blood.
If she had the misfortune of running head-on into a powerful cultivator out there, it would be a certain-death situation.
Qi Feng felt anxious, but there was nothing he could do at the moment.
Mortal martial artists did not possess spiritual sense, a soul, or spiritual energy, making it impossible to create a natal soul plaque like cultivators did.
Once a person went missing out there, in this vast and boundless cultivation world, no one would ever be able to trace her location.
“Sigh.”
Qi Feng gazed at the misty mountains in the distance and let out a long sigh.
“I hope Miss Su is safe and sound...”
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