Li Muzhan kept his eyes fixed on the two tiger phantoms, trying to discern their substance, yet they operated with such ease from thirty feet away, revealing the mastery of their internal cultivation methods.

"Boom!" He finally met one punch head-on, his fist colliding squarely with the spectral tiger.

He stepped back, and after a brief wobble, the tiger phantom solidified once more, immediately lunging toward Li Muzhan alongside the other spectral beast.

Having gauged their reality, Li Muzhan stopped dodging. His fist struck the second phantom, which was slightly smaller and less substantial than the first; he intended to shatter it.

Strike the void, attack the weak, avoid the strong—he had an instinct that these two fighting in concert would be troublesome; it was best to break one first.

"Bang!" The phantom flickered, on the verge of collapse, when the first phantom lunged forward. The two shadows merged into a single tiger, half the previous size, solid as [True] reality, vividly lifelike. This palm-sized spectral tiger exuded a surging might, displaying the full majesty of the king of beasts.

Li Muzhan drew his sword, settling into an opening stance, drawing down the starlight from the void, and thrust forward. "Crash!" Sword met phantom. A gust of wind billowed out, causing the calm surface of the deep pool to ripple and shake violently.

Li Muzhan frowned. This phantom was truly peculiar; the starlight couldn't shatter it, only thin its essence slightly before it swiftly reformed, as if it had absorbed the energy of the void itself.

The two middle-aged men in purple robes gripped their fists tightly, their faces flushed, staring fixedly at the phantom as if they meant to devour it. The spectral tiger lunged again.

Sword light flashed, a deluge of shimmering strikes falling upon the phantom like a sudden squall. Bit by bit, the phantom faded until it vanished with a soft pop like a bubble.

Li Muzhan let out a breath of relief. The sword light swept toward the two purple-robed men. They punched out again, sending more than a dozen graceful crane shadows flitting past the sword light toward him.

Instead of retreating, Li Muzhan advanced, crossing the distance to stand before them in a single stride. They had no time to evade and could only meet the incoming attack with brute force, their fists clashing against the long sword.

"Clang..." The blade vibrated lightly, emitting a clear chime.

Sensing the force of their punches, Li Muzhan inwardly praised them. Their cultivation was profound and exquisite, their internal energy robust and pure. Placed in the wider martial world, they were top-tier experts, though it seemed their rank within the Purple Star Hall was not high.

"Clang clang clang clang..." The sword light danced and shifted, enveloping the two men. The sword moved too fast; they lacked the opportunity to deploy intricate techniques to dismantle the assault, forced instead to meet it with bare fists, resulting in a sound like metal striking metal.

The two figures flew out from the deep pool, asking in surprise, "Senior Brother Ning, Senior Brother Zhou, what's going on?"

Seeing Li Muzhan pressing an advantage against two of their comrades, they eyed him with astonishment and did not immediately move to assist.

"Junior Brother Leng, Junior Brother Hua, stop yammering and lend a hand!" Senior Brother Ning barked irritably, wildly throwing punches, barely warding off Li Muzhan's blade.

"Just who is this fellow?" the shorter middle-aged man asked with a wry smile.

"Li Wuji of the Bright Mirror Sect!" Senior Brother Ning grunted.

The other middle-aged man frowned and said gravely, "A disciple of the Bright Mirror Sect?"

"And you still haven't moved to help!" Senior Brother Ning urged impatiently.

The second man smiled. "Junior Brother Hua, let's stop being polite. Let's fight!"

The short man tilted his head, examining Li Muzhan: "How did the Bright Mirror Sect track us down here?"

"This brat is too shrewd; he must be killed!" Senior Brother Ning hissed. "Otherwise, if our location is exposed, we won't have an easy time going forward!"

The short man quickly nodded. "Indeed, indeed, he must die! Senior Brother Leng, let's go!"

"Fine!"

The two drew the long swords at their waists and lunged, their sword momentum light and swift, aiming to force Li Muzhan to retract his blade to defend himself, thus preventing him from continuing to press the other two middle-aged men.

Li Muzhan kept his long sword circling the original two opponents, but with his left hand, he flicked his fingers twice. "Ding! Ding!" Two clear chimes sounded as the attackers' long swords were deflected.

Li Muzhan’s finger force was firm and solid, no different from a blade. The two men stared at him in shock, never having expected that the force of their full-power strike could be blocked by mere finger strength.

As the pair stood stunned, Li Muzhan's sword light intensified abruptly. The first two middle-aged men retreated swiftly, but the sword light caught up to them.

"Thump, thump!" The two fell into the deep pool and vanished from sight.

The remaining two men’s faces darkened upon seeing this. They had initially adopted a cat-and-mouse mentality, believing that no matter how strong Li Wuji was, he couldn't withstand all four of them.

Yet, Li Muzhan had defeated their two companions so easily; even Senior Brother Ning and Senior Brother Zhou, who were superior to them, had been bested.

Li Muzhan glanced at the remaining two before turning to leave.

"Brat, don't you run!" The two were alarmed and chased after him in haste.

Li Muzhan transformed into a fleeting shadow, streaking across the wide river. He first skimmed over the snow, then stepped onto the treetops, finally disappearing into a dense forest.

The two pursued closely. Their lightness skill was supreme, and they couldn't lose sight of him immediately. But once they entered the woods, Li Muzhan was gone.

Their expressions grew grim. They split up, circling around, while overhead, a sharp sound like spring thunder echoed—a signal flare.

Li Muzhan narrowed his eyes from atop a tree, seemingly merged into the bark. He could have simply left, but he wished to see more, to gauge the reality of the Purple Star Hall. He felt that the Hall was too enigmatic; plunging into conflict rashly would lead to a great loss.

The Eye of the Void observed the short middle-aged man retrieve a jade talisman from his robes and crush it, which was immediately followed by the spring thunder in the sky.

Li Muzhan felt an invisible force emanating from the short man as its center, spreading out like ripples on water, pervasive and omnipresent.

Li Muzhan shrank his form, melding entirely with the pine tree, thus avoiding the sweeping power.

Moments later, twelve middle-aged men appeared floating down, including the two who had been struck by the sword. They all had white cloth wrapped around their chests, their faces pale yet their eyes blazing like four burning flames.

Li Muzhan inhaled sharply. The cultivation of these twelve middle-aged men was profound. If they ganged up on him, Li Muzhan estimated he had no certainty of victory.

He vanished in a flicker. They possessed formidable talisman arrays and could harness the power of the void; he dared not act recklessly, and moreover, he suddenly felt a lack of confidence.

He reappeared moments later in his small courtyard at the Bright Mirror Sect.

After sitting quietly in the pavilion for a while, he went to Chen Daotang’s small courtyard. Chen Daotang was practicing his sword forms and did not stop when he saw Li Muzhan approaching.

Li Muzhan shot out a punch, and a faint dragon shadow shot forth. Chen Daotang thrust his sword, but the dragon shadow skillfully dodged, then curved its trajectory and struck again.

This time, the dragon shadow became slightly more substantial, again evading Chen Daotang’s sword, growing steadily firmer and faster.

Chen Daotang frowned, then suddenly lowered his sword and looked at him.

Li Muzhan beckoned, and the fist shadow, resembling a small dragon, slowly floated back, leaping and dancing in his palm, seemingly reluctant to leave his grasp.

"Is this a supreme technique from the Purple Star Hall?" Chen Daotang examined the small dragon, shaking his head. "How did you learn it?"

Li Muzhan smiled. "Senior Brother, I found a location belonging to the Purple Star Hall."

"Hmm—?" Chen Daotang's eyes flashed with sharp light.

Li Muzhan continued, "I don't know if it's their main base, but with fourteen top-tier experts, it certainly isn't an ordinary place."

"Where?" Chen Daotang asked.

Li Muzhan gave him the location. Chen Daotang frowned in deep thought. "How could it be there?" He was genuinely surprised.

Li Muzhan remained silent. Chen Daotang questioned the process again in detail. Li Muzhan explained that he had stayed in the forest below the mountain for half a month, staking out the area until he finally waited them out and discovered their secret: they traveled along the river, entering a deep pool, which made them almost impossible to detect.

"Wuji, this is a great service!" Chen Daotang praised. "I never would have thought they were hiding there; I searched everywhere!"

He then said, "Let’s go see the Sect Master. You can ask for a reward."

He walked away quickly, and Li Muzhan followed, contemplating just what kind of reward he should request. (To be continued.)