Li Muzhan replied, "It must be some kind of tracking sorcery."

Bai Mingqiu pondered this. "Aren't you proficient in that too? Can't you break it?"

Li Muzhan smiled faintly. "Let's give it a try."

"Are the arrangements set?" Bai Mingqiu asked, startled.

She hadn't seen Li Muzhan setting up anything. In terms of martial prowess, she stood no chance against both pursuers—Leng Qian was far too formidable, and Zheng Haiya was no easy adversary either. She couldn't defeat either of them. Her junior martial brother might manage Zheng Haiya, but he wouldn't overcome Leng Qian.

Li Muzhan nodded. "A few small arrangements. I don't know if they'll work, but they should disrupt their tracking technique."

"That's not the main issue," Bai Mingqiu sighed.

Li Muzhan knew exactly what she meant and chuckled. "Senior martial sister, I can't infiltrate a sect like Lingjing Sect; forcing it would be pointless... However, Leng Qian isn't invincible."

"Right, you nullified Leng Qian's internal force earlier!" Bai Mingqiu's bright eyes lit up. "So you do have a way to deal with him?"

Li Muzhan explained, "My method is an all-or-nothing technique—exchanging all my cultivation for the opponent's."

He had tested it before. Bai Mingqiu's condition confirmed that the Huaxu Divine Skill was indeed effective, not an exaggeration. It contained profound mysteries, but alas, he lacked the time to study it thoroughly.

"All your cultivation?" Bai Mingqiu hesitated, recalling the previous scene. After recovery, he seemed to have lost all his martial arts. She had initially thought it was an illusion, but it seemed it wasn't.

Li Muzhan smiled reassuringly. "Even if my cultivation is crippled, I have a way to recover it, as you witnessed earlier."

Bai Mingqiu frowned and shook her head. "Junior martial brother, how on earth did you acquire these secret arts?"

Li Muzhan laughed. "That's the wonder of inheritance! Seniors who coalesce the Inheritance Flower often encounter myriad fortuitous encounters. Relying solely on the core mental cultivation from the pavilion is insufficient; these gains from chance encounters are often kept secret, yet they are embedded within the Inheritance Flower."

"...I see," Bai Mingqiu slowly nodded. "Your secret method is truly potent; to restore your martial arts so swiftly after they were ruined!"

Li Muzhan responded, "This Ziyang Great Method carves its own path; it is indeed remarkable, but it has significant drawbacks. It cannot be used often, and its power is only moderate."

"What do you plan to do?" Bai Mingqiu asked.

"Find a way to trap them both, and then deal with them one by one," Li Muzhan stated.

"That won't be easy!" Bai Mingqiu shook her head. "The Talisman Formations won't do much against them."

Li Muzhan smiled. "That remains to be seen. We don't need to trap them permanently, just for a moment or two is enough."

"...Very well then." Bai Mingqiu pondered for a moment before slowly nodding in agreement.

As the two were speaking, a hearty laugh suddenly echoed. Leng Qian and Zheng Haishi appeared outside the valley, drifting gracefully into the woods.

The entrance to the valley was shielded by a dense thicket of trees, acting like a screen. The moment they appeared at the mouth of the valley, they spotted Li Muzhan and Bai Mingqiu, feeling quite triumphant.

When Li Muzhan deployed his formation to conceal their auras, Zheng Haiya couldn't sense them while employing his secret method, causing him to panic. Leng Qian reasoned that Li Muzhan and Bai Mingqiu would likely return to the valley, so the two doubled back, only to run straight into them.

———— Bai Mingqiu's heart sank, and she turned to look at Li Muzhan.

Li Muzhan remained calm and composed, gazing lightly toward the valley entrance.

"Junior martial brother?" Bai Mingqiu whispered.

Li Muzhan instructed, "Senior martial sister, stay with me. I will cripple his martial arts, and then you strike to kill him!"

"Can you really destroy his cultivation?" Bai Mingqiu frowned.

Li Muzhan smiled. "Senior martial sister, hide nearby. If it fails, we flee—I have my own means of escape."

"Alright," Bai Mingqiu agreed.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom..." A continuous dull sound registered. Bai Mingqiu worried they were breaking through the Talisman Formation and urged him, "Let's go quickly."

The talisman arts of this world shared principles with Li Muzhan's formations. Having mastered formations, Li Muzhan had specifically set this formation against Leng Qian, confident he couldn't be forcefully broken out.

Bai Mingqiu followed closely behind Li Muzhan. The two entered the woods, stepped onto the treetops, and spotted Leng Qian and Zheng Haishi from afar.

The two stood about a hundred meters apart. Leng Qian closed his eyes, motionless, standing like a wooden stake. Zheng Haishi furiously brandished his sword, sending dust and stones flying, yet the pine trees were protected by an invisible force, impervious to his strikes.

"Can Leng Qian break it?" Bai Mingqiu asked.

Li Muzhan shook his head. This formation inverted the Five Elements, primarily confusing the five senses, which then became collaborators, leading them astray.

Li Muzhan continued, "Senior martial sister, I will descend first. When you follow, ignore what you see right now; focus only on executing the Qianlong Stride to escape."

"The Qianlong Stride?" Bai Mingqiu questioned.

Li Muzhan nodded. "The Qianlong Stride is the method to break free."

"Junior martial brother, you are skilled in Talisman Formations?" Bai Mingqiu was astonished.

She had assumed Li Muzhan was relying on talisman scripts, but the counter to a talisman script would never be the Qianlong Stride, which was a footwork technique belonging to the Qianlong Style of the Twelve Swords of Tianyuan.

Li Muzhan smiled. "A little bit. I'm going in!"

He floated down into the formation. Leng Qian suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as if physical, then instantly crossed the distance to Li Muzhan, pressing his palm against Li Muzhan's chest.

Li Muzhan shifted, meeting the attack with his own open palm. With a soft pop, the two palms seemed not to collide, but to adhere, sticking together firmly and refusing to move.

Li Muzhan narrowed his eyes slightly. Leng Qian wore a cold smirk as the two stared intently at each other.

"You..." Leng Qian's expression shifted, his brow furrowing. "What wicked art is this?!"

Li Muzhan smiled as if chatting with an old friend, shaking his head. "You relentlessly pressed us; we had no choice but to resort to this. Let's perish together!"

Their palms remained firmly stuck. Leng Qian trembled slightly, trying to wrench his hand free.

But Li Muzhan unleashed the Huaxu Divine Skill completely. An infinite suction generated from his palm, and Leng Qian felt all his strength draining away, leaving him utterly unable to move.

Li Muzhan smiled lightly. "Senior Leng, what do you think?"

"What exactly is this wicked art?!" Leng Qian demanded through gritted teeth.

Li Muzhan shook his head. "It cannot be spoken of, cannot be spoken of."

Leng Qian drew a deep breath, his face suddenly ashen, like withered wood. His body seemed to shrink instantly. Li Muzhan's expression changed; he sensed Leng Qian’s vital energy suddenly surging in reverse, generating a terrifying strength that instantly dissolved the suction.

Bang! The two palms separated. Li Muzhan's face flushed as if drunk, his body swaying. The forced interruption of the Huaxu Divine Skill resulted in a backlash against himself.

Li Muzhan inwardly gave a bitter smile. This Huaxu Divine Skill was indeed strange. A purple energy flickered across his face, and he abruptly activated the Ziyang Great Method, refining essence into energy, causing his surging internal power to suppress the backlash of the Huaxu Divine Skill. A flash of sword light erupted from his waist as he lunged toward Leng Qian, who had already drawn his own sword.

Clang, clang, clang, clang... Their sword lights intersected like lightning. Bai Mingqiu narrowed her eyes, unable to follow their flashes, realizing she couldn't block a single strike.

She hesitated, afraid to descend and become a burden to Li Muzhan. Li Muzhan’s sword light flowed continuously as he felt Leng Qian’s internal force relentlessly rising.

He frowned. Clearly, Leng Qian possessed a secret method of his own—though he had lost most of his initial internal power, he had a way to recover it, likely a technique to stimulate latent potential.

Even if this secret technique carried severe aftereffects, judging by the speed at which his internal power was climbing, Li Muzhan wouldn't be able to wait for it to fade.

Clang, clang, clang, clang... He fought with dual focus, his sword light never faltering, locked in a fierce exchange with Leng Qian.

Li Muzhan’s comprehension of swordsmanship was profound. Although Leng Qian’s swordplay was strong, it couldn't overwhelm him. In terms of pure swordsmanship, they were evenly matched, earning Li Muzhan's deep respect and hardening his killing intent.

No matter what, Leng Qian had to die. Otherwise, he posed too great a threat to Tianyuan Pavilion. There were no truly impenetrable walls in the martial world; the truth would eventually surface, exposing Li Muzhan’s identity, and the Qinghe Sword Sect would surely move against Tianyuan Pavilion.

His only hope was that by the time that happened, he would have grown to a level the Qinghe Sword Sect could only gaze up at, similar to the Shenquan Sect, which dared not make rash moves.

Bai Mingqiu grew anxious, glancing over at Zheng Haiya, who had become still. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, sword resting across his knees, clearly intending to wear them down.

Suddenly, Li Muzhan's sword light vanished, only to reappear moments later. The tip of his blade pierced through Leng Qian’s heart, emerging from his back, smeared with a trace of blood.

Leng Qian frowned, staring at Li Muzhan, and struck out with a palm. Li Muzhan met the blow, and with a thud, Leng Qian was sent flying backward, crashing into a tree.

Bai Mingqiu could no longer hold back, floating down to catch him.

Blood trickled from Li Muzhan's mouth, yet he wore a smile, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm fine."

Leng Qian knelt on the ground, using his finger to seal the pressure points on his chest. By his appearance, he wasn't critically wounded. Bai Mingqiu felt a chill; Leng Qian was a monster—a sword strike to the heart hadn't killed him.

Slowly, Li Muzhan raised his left hand, forcefully pressing his thumb down. With a hiss, a white light shot out. A bloody hole appeared on Leng Qian’s chest with a soft pop.

Leng Qian turned his head to look at Li Muzhan, glaring in unconcealed resentment, before slowly collapsing.

Blood surged from Li Muzhan’s mouth, his condition worsening. Bai Mingqiu cried out in alarm, "Junior martial brother!"

Li Muzhan shook his head and began to laugh, the sound mingling with the flowing blood.

Bai Mingqiu scolded gently, "Hurry up and heal, stop laughing!"

Li Muzhan insisted, "Senior martial sister, strike him with your sword first, then see if he’s truly dead!"

Bai Mingqiu frowned. "He's not dead from that strike?"

"This fellow harbors bizarre arts; we cannot afford to be careless!" Li Muzhan wiped the blood from his lips, shaking his head with a grin.

Bai Mingqiu took out a silk handkerchief to wipe his mouth. "I understand, hurry and heal!"

Li Muzhan nodded, took the handkerchief to wipe his own mouth, and returned it to her before sitting down cross-legged, beginning to form seals and entering a meditative state to heal.

As his spirit strengthened, his Guantian Renshenzhao Sutra grew more potent. The moment he entered the stillness, he plunged into the Guantian Renshenzhao Diagram, where the essence of the sun and moon flowed in, rapidly restoring his body.

Bai Mingqiu cautiously approached Leng Qian. From two zhang away, a flash of sword light erupted, piercing Leng Qian's chest and pinning him to the ground. Seeing no struggle, she finally let out a breath of relief; Leng Qian's cultivation was too strong to ignore lightly.

Watching the lifeless Leng Qian, Bai Mingqiu felt a touch of melancholy. Someone with peerless cultivation like Leng Qian ultimately met an end far from home. Once one entered the martial world, life was inherently precarious—that was truly the case. Even Leng Qian could never have imagined such an outcome. What about her and her junior martial brother?

As she pondered, Li Muzhan slowly awoke. "Senior martial sister, quickly catch some game."

Bai Mingqiu snapped back to attention, realizing her junior martial brother had used that secret technique again and required massive amounts of food for replenishment. She agreed and went to hunt a few muntjacs and wild rabbits.

With Leng Qian eliminated, Li Muzhan showed no mercy to Zheng Haiya either. After ensuring they had eaten their fill, he dealt with Zheng Haiya. Li Muzhan then escorted Bai Mingqiu back to Tianyuan Pavilion, while he himself departed, heading north.

Leng Qian was a key expert of the Qinghe Sword Sect; his death at his hands guaranteed the sect would seek revenge, dispatching even more formidable opponents.

Dealing with Leng Qian alone was a near-death experience. He dared not press his luck further and continued heading north, hoping to find some opportunity to study the martial arts of major sects like Lingjing Sect.