Chapter 22: Countering with the Same Strategy

“Rui Si Wood!”
Village chief Xu Qiang and Baihu Tian Duo also knew some basic knowledge about the Divine Realm. Naturally, they were aware of this special type of tree from the Divine Realm. So when Qu Yi took out Rui Si Wood, their expressions turned panicked.
Had Qu Yi found Rui Si Wood in the Beast Mountain Range?
This thought flashed through their minds for a moment before they realized Qu Yi wanted to kill them. Still, they considered following him to the Beast Mountain Range to search for Rui Si Wood, cursing themselves for their unstable minds.
“Qu Yi, are you crazy? You actually want to kill us both?” Xu Qiang calmed down, stared straight at Qu Yi, and sneered.
Although Qu Yi had the divine artifact Rui Si Wood, Xu Qiang was still confident he could escape. After all, he was quite confident in the nearly hundred thousand Wood Element Spirits within him and believed he could suppress Qu Yi.
Tian Duo had just over eighty thousand Earth Element Spirits. He had once thought he could fight Qu Yi, but now, seeing the divine artifact in Qu Yi’s hands, he became completely panicked—Tian Duo didn’t have any divine artifacts.
The difference between having a divine artifact and not having one meant a huge gap in combat power.
“I know about your collusion with Qingfeng Camp. It’s inconvenient for me to kill you in Bai Shou Village, but by following me to this mountainous area, you’re just asking to die,” Qu Yi sneered.
Hearing this, Xu Qiang and Tian Duo both showed surprise. They thought their plan was flawless, yet Qu Yi still knew—this was truly astonishing.
How had Qu Yi eavesdropped on their mental communications?
Although Xu Qiang and Tian Duo had heard that powerful figures in the Divine Realm could intercept others’ mental communications, Qu Yi was only at the Divine Being stage. How could he have intercepted theirs? They were utterly puzzled.
The more puzzled they became, the more fearful they felt.
Xu Qiang now had no confidence in suppressing Qu Yi—the mystery surrounding him was too terrifying.
If Xu Qiang and Tian Duo knew there was a powerful Artifact God backing Qu Yi, they would never dare to confront him.
“Tian Duo, hold on a bit longer. The people from Qingfeng Camp will be here soon,” Xu Qiang said calmly and quickly.
Since Qu Yi already knew about his connection with Qingfeng Camp, Xu Qiang saw no need to hide it and immediately called out.

Tian Duo understood Xu Qiang’s meaning. Even if the two of them couldn’t defeat Qu Yi, holding on a little longer shouldn’t be a problem. As long as the people from Qingfeng Fort came, Qu Yi would still die. The chief of Qingfeng Fort was a being at the Divine Weapon stage. Even though Qu Yi possessed the divine artifact Ruisi Wood, his cultivation was only at the Divine Being stage—how could he possibly compete with the chief of Qingfeng Fort, who was at the Divine Weapon stage?

“Good, let’s hold Qu Yi back,” Tian Duo sneered. The two of them showed cruel smiles. Qu Yi shook his head and said lightly, “When I strike, you’ll be dead.” Hearing this, Xu Qiang and Tian Duo felt a shiver run through them. Those words were so familiar—weren’t they the same words Qu Yi had used when he killed Meng Hu back then?

“Qu Yi, don’t be arrogant! Thinking that just because you have a divine artifact, you can defeat us? Hmph! You only have 80,000 Wood Spirit Entities, while I have 100,000 in my body. You can’t kill me!” Xu Qiang shouted angrily. Tian Duo, meanwhile, remained vigilant against Qu Yi.

Qu Yi smiled lightly, suddenly moved, and leaped into the air, appearing above Xu Qiang and Tian Duo. “A thousand threads like rain!” he shouted. The Ruisi Wood emitted a thousand strands of green threads, shooting down to target Xu Qiang and Tian Duo.

“This Qu Yi can actually fly!” Xu Qiang and Tian Duo thought, but they didn’t have time to ponder how someone at the Divine Being stage could fly. They could only rush to defend themselves.

“Spirit Entity Shield!” Xu Qiang and Tian Duo both shouted, pulling out magical artifacts and thrusting them forward. A Spirit Entity Shield appeared—one made of Wood Spirit Entities, the other of Earth Spirit Entities. When the two shields appeared, Xu Qiang and Tian Duo thought they could easily block Qu Yi’s attack. But before they could relax, fear flashed in their eyes.

Five hundred of the thousand green threads struck each of their shields at the same time. Suddenly, the strength of those threads, which had previously been equivalent to 10,000 Wood Spirit Entities, surged to 100,000. Xu Qiang and Tian Duo never expected Qu Yi to be so fierce and to hide such formidable strength. 100,000 Wood Spirit Entities—this was already the limit for the number of Spirit Entities in a Divine Being stage cultivator’s body.

Before they could react, their Spirit Entity Shields were torn apart, and the green threads pierced into their heads. Once inside their bodies, Qu Yi immediately channeled chaotic energy into them, preventing them from activating their divine cores and rendering them powerless.

“Qu Yi, what kind of energy is this? How is it possible to stop the operation of the divine elements in my body?” Xu Qiang cried in terror as he saw Qu Yi already on the ground.
Chaos energy—something never heard of or seen before. How could Xu Qiang possibly know?
Tian Duo had already collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
Qu Yi smiled coldly, staring intently at Xu Qiang and saying, “I said it would take just one strike to take your lives. I’m still keeping you alive so that you can confirm for yourselves whether my strength is indeed enough to kill you in one hit.”
Xu Qiang and Tian Duo immediately began to tremble, looking at Qu Yi in fear.
One million spiritual entities!
When killing Meng Hu, Qu Yi had even hidden his true strength. Could this really be someone who had just ascended to the divine realm? Even a cultivator who had practiced for hundreds of millions of years wouldn’t reach such a terrifying level.
If they had known that Qu Yi possessed one million Wood-type spiritual entities, they would likely have collapsed from shock and died on the spot. And if they had also known that he had one million each of Gold-type and Earth-type spiritual entities as well, they would probably have committed suicide the moment they were reborn.
“Don’t kill me! I’m willing to submit to you!”
“No! I don’t want to die! From now on, I’ll be willing to serve you as your servant!”
Xu Qiang and Tian Duo cried out in panic, begging with tears in their eyes.
Qu Yi shook his head and smiled faintly, “There’s no need.”
As soon as he spoke, Xu Qiang and Tian Duo’s bodies exploded instantly.
Qu Yi took the space rings left behind by the two after their deaths, then summoned the Black Tide Divine Fire to completely destroy their bodies, ensuring no traces remained that the people of Qingfeng Camp could detect.
“The people of Qingfeng Camp want to kill me? They’re just seeking their own deaths. Very well, I’ll play around in these mountains with you guys now.” Qu Yi chuckled softly, already having a plan in mind.
Immediately afterward, Qu Yi imitated Tian Duo’s footprints, leaving one footprint on the ground before rushing toward the Beast Mountain Range.
Running alone, his speed was half that of when three people were running. Meanwhile, Qu Yi left a footprint on the ground at regular intervals.
※※※
The thirteen members of Qingfeng Camp entered the mountains and kept chasing after the footprints left by Tian Duo.
But after a month of running through the mountains, they still hadn’t caught up to Qu Yi, which made them suspicious.
“Stop,” shouted Liu Xingui, the leader of the camp, from the front.

The Dragon Emperor and the eleven members of Qingfeng Camp immediately stopped running and watched Liu Xingui quietly.
“There’s something wrong here; we seem to have overlooked something,” Liu Xingui said calmly, staring at the twelve of them.
The Dragon Emperor thought for a moment, then suddenly grew serious and said, “I get it. Throughout this pursuit, we’ve only found footprints but no signs that Qu Yi, Xu Qiang, and Tian Duo rested. All three are at the Divine Being stage—there’s no way they could keep walking in this mountainous area without resting.”
Hearing this, the others immediately understood.
Although cultivators at the Divine Being stage could walk continuously without rest, Xu Qiang and Tian Duo had deliberately tried to delay Qu Yi, so it was only natural for them to find reasons to stop. If Qu Yi, Xu Qiang, and Tian Duo had stopped to rest, Xu Qiang and Tian Duo would have left some traces. But since the people of Qingfeng Camp hadn’t found any signs of rest during their pursuit, it was very strange.
“That’s right. It seems we can’t continue pursuing like this. How about this: you continue following these footprints, while I fly after Qu Yi alone,” Liu Xingui said directly.
At the Divine Weapon stage, one could fly in the air.
Hearing this, the Dragon Emperor showed hesitation on his face but was actually overjoyed inside. He had originally wanted Liu Xingui to fight Qu Yi to the point of exhaustion before he stepped in to kill both of them and seize the divine weapon. Now that Liu Xingui had proposed it himself, it was exactly what the Dragon Emperor wanted—without even needing to make up an excuse to send Liu Xingui after Qu Yi alone.
“Elder brother, be careful. I’ll bring the eleven brothers to catch up—don’t worry,” the Dragon Emperor said after a pause, his voice calm.
Liu Xingui nodded, took off immediately, and flew ahead to pursue Qu Yi.
“Alright, everyone, follow me and keep pursuing Qu Yi,” the Dragon Emperor shouted loudly, his expression serious.
“Yes, Third Camp Leader,” the eleven members of Qingfeng Camp replied promptly.
Thus, the members of Qingfeng Camp split into two groups and pursued Qu Yi simultaneously.
※※※
After killing Xu Qiang and Tian Duo, Qu Yi had reached the depths of the mountains, nearly approaching the Savage Beast Mountains.
At that moment, as Qu Yi continued running ahead, the consciousness of the Divine Weapon God transmitted a message to him.

“Qu Yi, the people of Qingfeng Fort have separated. That chief with the Divine Weapon realm cultivation is pursuing you alone, while the Dragon Emperor is chasing after with eleven members in the Divine Being realm,” the Voice of the Divine Tool said with a hint of laughter.
This was exactly the moment they had been waiting for.
Upon hearing the Voice of the Divine Tool, Qu Yi immediately smiled, stopped in his tracks, and his eyes showed a sly grin.
“Well then, I can deal with the Dragon Emperor now. As for that chief, I’ll wait until the end to kill him,” Qu Yi said with a smile.
Immediately afterward, he took out the Boundless Star Compass from his hand.
As he ran along the way, in addition to leaving footprints, he also left behind Soul Compasses, so that he could go to various places and launch surprise attacks on the people of Qingfeng Fort once they were separated.
Now that Liu Xingui, the chief of Qingfeng Fort with Divine Weapon realm cultivation, had left the group, it was the perfect time for Qu Yi to launch his attack. Without the restraint of someone at the Divine Weapon realm, Qu Yi was confident enough to take on the Dragon Emperor and the other eleven members in the Divine Being realm.
Suddenly, Qu Yi’s figure disappeared as he arrived at the place where the Dragon Emperor and the others were about to reach.