Chapter 30: The Martial Spirit Breaks Through the Earth
Lu Yan frowned and said, "Young Master, if I hand the jade over to you, I'll fall into the illusion."
"Don't worry. Once Wu Chaokong and I break through those three shadows, we'll definitely bring you out with us. As a direct descendant of the Liu family, am I not trustworthy?" Liu Xingren replied, moving closer to Lu Yan, clearly intent on taking the jade by force if it wasn't willingly offered.
"As if I could trust him," Lu Yan thought to himself.
He was certain that if Liu Xingren managed to break out, he'd be concerned only with his own escape, and wouldn't bother taking Lu Yan along. Still, Lu Yan was prepared to hand over the jade.
He had no other choice—if he wanted to leave this place, he needed external help. Besides, even without the jade, he wouldn't truly succumb to the illusion. Once Liu Xingren and Wu Chaokong joined forces to break through the three shadows, he could seize the chaos to make his own escape.
The longer he stayed, the greater the danger; who knew what tricks the Martial Spirit might still have, or if its true form burst forth, they all might perish here.
"Young Master, here you are," Lu Yan said, tossing the jade to Liu Xingren.
Roars echoed from beneath the altar; the Martial Spirit seemed to sense something, its voice violent and savage. The ground began to tremble slightly.
"Not good, the Martial Spirit is trying to break through underground," Liu Xingren's face changed.
Suddenly, Liu Xingren strode toward Lu Yan, his fingers bent into claws, reaching for Lu Yan's throat.
"Go hold the Martial Spirit off," Liu Xingren said coldly, striking with lightning speed.
Lu Yan's expression darkened. Facing this attack, he had to counter with full force—if not, he'd be seized and thrown toward the Martial Spirit.
He activated the Gale Hand, his palm slicing out like a blade, striking Liu Xingren's palm.
With a resounding crack, Liu Xingren's attack was deflected, and Lu Yan took the opportunity to retreat, trying to put distance between them.
"Lu Yan, so you were hiding your true strength! Staying in the Crimson Guards with ulterior motives—today, you die!" Liu Xingren's killing intent surged, his blood raging. Red scales appeared on his arms and hands.
Top-tier martial art: Scarlet Scale Palm.
He charged at Lu Yan, both palms striking in rapid succession.
He'd long suspected Lu Yan. Seeing the others' deranged attacks while entranced, he knew he must have acted similarly when caught in the illusion. Given his own strength, it wasn't easy for someone to approach and place the jade in his hands unless they were extremely powerful—something Lu Yan had never revealed.
Lu Yan unleashed all his strength in resistance.
Still, the gap between them was significant. He barely held out for three moves before intense pain shot through his hand bones—he sensed fractures forming.
The sharp pain slowed him, giving Liu Xingren an opening. A palm strike landed on his chest.
Lu Yan was sent flying over ten meters, crashing heavily to the ground. He coughed up blood, convulsed a few times, and lay motionless.
Liu Xingren felt a hint of doubt—the sensation of that last palm strike was odd. He intended to approach and deliver another blow to be sure.
But at that moment, the Martial Spirit's roars grew even more violent. Not far from the altar, the ground bulged—Martial Spirit was about to break through.
It hadn't torn through the altar directly, likely to avoid disrupting the "Demonization Ritual."
Time was running out.
Liu Xingren's face changed; he couldn't afford to check on Lu Yan. He rushed toward Wu Chaokong, exchanged a blow, and managed to place a jade in Wu Chaokong's arms.
Wu Chaokong immediately regained clarity.
"We've fallen into an illusion. The Martial Spirit's true form is emerging—let's join forces and break out," Liu Xingren said swiftly.
Wu Chaokong, though puzzled, was decisive. He and Liu Xingren charged toward the fortress gate.
The three shadows instantly pounced on them.
From the altar, with a thunderous crash, stones flew as the Martial Spirit burst from the earth, roaring and speeding toward Liu Xingren and Wu Chaokong.
In mere moments, Martial Spirit closed in, launching a fierce assault.
The three shadows merged into Martial Spirit's body, enhancing its power.
Liu Xingren and Wu Chaokong fought with all their might, engaged in battle with Martial Spirit.
Meanwhile, Lu Yan quietly crawled up.
"It really hurts," he muttered, rubbing his chest.
He had been feigning injury earlier.
Now, letting Martial Spirit and the other two battle was the best strategy—he could slip away in the chaos.
Of course, he wasn't truly capable of enduring Liu Xingren's palm strike unharmed.
Before setting out to purge the bandits, he'd prepared in advance, buying a half-body armor of pure iron to protect his chest and abdomen. For extra safety, he layered two sheets of wild ox hide over the armor.
He opened his shirt and saw the ox hide had been pierced, the armor bearing a deep palm print, almost breaking his ribs.
Without the armor, that strike would have shattered his heart.
He had dared to attempt this only after testing Liu Xingren's strength in their earlier exchanges.
Naturally, the plan wasn't foolproof—if Martial Spirit had emerged later and Liu Xingren had come to "finish him off," Lu Yan would have had to fight desperately.
The sleeve darts he carried, along with two packets of chili powder in his chest, would hopefully serve him well.
Lu Yan stood, glanced toward the ongoing battle.
His pupils contracted sharply.
It was the Martial Spirit.
He recognized it at once—it was the same Martial Spirit he'd encountered in Kaoshan Village.
Its appearance had changed, though.
The head protruding from its chest was more monstrous now, with two extra arms compared to before.
These new arms weren't human—covered in black scales, with long, blade-like claws.
The original arms had shriveled, resembling dried infant limbs.
Its whole body radiated dark power, stronger than before, pushing Liu Xingren and Wu Chaokong back in defeat.
Lu Yan dared not linger. He slipped quietly into the depths of the fortress.
The mountain fortress was built in a valley, surrounded by cliffs. The gate was at the mouth of the valley; the depths were also bordered by cliffs.
With the gate embroiled in battle, Lu Yan decided to escape via the cliffs at the fortress's rear.
Given his current strength, climbing cliffs was easy—as long as Martial Spirit was engaged.
Otherwise, if attacked mid-climb by the shadows Martial Spirit could summon, he'd die for sure.
Soon, Lu Yan reached the fortress's depths, stopping before a stone house.
Most buildings here were wood or bamboo; only this one was made of stone.
"Could it belong to the bandit leader?" Lu Yan wondered, stepping inside.
He quickly found several large chests under the bed.
Opening them revealed a dazzling pile of silver.
Two of the chests were filled with ingots—over five thousand taels, by his estimate.
The Crimson Sleeve Army had amassed quite a fortune through robbery.
The third chest was smaller, full of silver notes and a book.
Lu Yan picked up the book and smiled.
It was a martial arts manual—second-tier, Vajra Body.
Rumor had it the bandit chief was a master who'd broken his limits five times, naturally training in a second-tier art—likely this very one.
Lu Yan tucked it into his chest, then stuffed all the silver notes into his shirt.
After a moment's thought, he returned a small portion of the notes to the chest.
He couldn't carry the ingots, but could take all the notes.
Still, with Martial Spirit's appearance, regardless of whether Liu Xingren and Wu Chaokong escaped, the two great clans would soon dispatch Bone Realm martial lords.
The silver would inevitably be discovered.
If only ingots remained and the notes were gone, it might arouse suspicion and lead to a thorough investigation—potential trouble.
Leaving some notes behind would avoid this.
No one else knew how many notes had been here; so long as some remained, it would suffice.
He closed the chests and pushed them back under the bed, then exited and headed for the cliff.
Choosing the easiest spot to climb, Lu Yan gathered his energy and scaled swiftly, agile as a monkey.
Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he had reached the top and raced toward the mountain's edge.
After running for over ten miles, he finally stopped, found a hidden spot, and used his energy to heal.
His hand bones still ached from the earlier exchange with Liu Xingren—likely fractured.
If not treated promptly, it might leave a hidden ailment, affecting his martial path.
Fortunately, he'd opened many minor veins in his hands, allowing his energy to penetrate deeply.
Under the tempering influence of his energy, the cracks in his bones slowly healed, and after a few hours, the pain was gone.
PS—
I was so excited in the early hours that I posted a chapter; now here’s another. And heartfelt thanks to "It's Little Mao" for the Silver Alliance reward—such generosity! Old Mu is deeply grateful. It's the first time I've received a Silver Alliance, and I was so thrilled I barely slept all night.