Chapter 16: Breaking Through Without Limits

Qu Yi and Wei Yan arrived at the top of a snow-capped mountain.
The two smiled at each other.
“Wei Yan, how long have you been in this Hundred Demons Mountain Region?” Qu Yi asked with interest.
Actually, Qu Yi was even more curious about Wei Yan’s purpose for coming to this region, but he couldn’t reveal Wei Yan’s true identity, as that would immediately ruin their relationship. He had to take things slowly, build a good relationship with Wei Yan, and gradually uncover his plans.
Wei Yan had just seen Qu Yi’s combat strength and now had an idea of Qu Yi’s abilities. Believing he could kill Qu Yi with a single palm strike, he felt somewhat relaxed.
“Boring. I’ve been in this Hundred Demons Mountain Region for two months and have already captured twenty experts at the late Yuan Ying stage. I want to unify the entire region. Will you help me?” Wei Yan said with a smile.
With his despicable appearance, small eyes, and slight smile, Wei Yan gave off an air of scheming.
“Wei Yan, you’re so formidable—capturing twenty experts at the late Yuan Ying stage?” Qu Yi was shocked.
Given Wei Yan’s strength at that stage, how could he have captured so many experts? Moreover, Qu Yi didn’t see any signs of those twenty experts, so he naturally didn’t believe it.
As if knowing Qu Yi’s thoughts, Wei Yan smiled and said, “Boring. The twenty Yuan Ying-stage individuals I captured already have soul shackles implanted in them. They’ve been sent to various parts of the Hundred Demons Mountain Region to search for others at that stage. Once I find one, I’ll know where the others are, and then I’ll ambush them.”
With that, pride appeared in Wei Yan’s expression.
Qu Yi grew even more anxious. Wei Yan’s plans were too ambitious—capturing twenty experts at that stage and still continuing to search for more. What exactly did he want?
“Wei Yan, since you’ve shared such an important secret with me, I assume you must have some request of me?” Qu Yi said intently.
Since he had revealed such a crucial secret, Qu Yi didn’t believe Wei Yan was just being playful; he must have a purpose.
“Boring, you give me a mysterious feeling. The first time I saw you, I had an intuition that you would bring me opportunities. That’s why I want to befriend you. Didn’t I tell you on the Wind-Facing Ship? I want to establish a sect. So, I’d like to invite you to help me manage it. What do you say?” Wei Yan said with a smile.
Hearing this, Qu Yi finally understood. Wei Yan wanted to use him as a figurehead to attract attention while secretly controlling him from behind.

After pretending to think seriously for a long time, Qu Yi finally raised his head and said, “It’s okay, but I can foresee the risks I’ll face in the future. Therefore, I need to have some control; otherwise, I won’t take this risk.” Qu Yi also wanted to tangle with Wei Yan a bit. If, in the end, he completely took control of this sect, he wondered what expression Wei Yan would have then. “No problem. You and I will have equal rights in this sect,” Wei Yan exclaimed happily immediately. Qu Yi smiled and then said, “I’ve already thought of the name for the sect. Let’s call it Sanding Gate, meaning ‘three-legged tripod.’ I hope that in the future, our sect will be able to rival the major forces on the North Immortal Continent and the South Demon Continent.” In fact, what Qu Yi had in mind was himself, Qing Wu Gui, and Wu Yuan—the true meaning behind Sanding Gate. Upon hearing this, Wei Yan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately said, “Great, that’s a wonderful name.” But in his heart, he thought of cultivators, demon cultivators, and beast cultivators, all standing in a tripartite balance. Since both agreed, Sanding Gate in the Hundred Demons Mountain Area was naturally established. “Oh, by the way, Wei Yan, I have a communication token here. From now on, no matter where we are on Tianfeng Star, we’ll be able to stay in touch,” Qu Yi said with a smile, immediately taking out the communication token. The four communication tokens were divided up: one for Qu Yi, one for Qing Wu Gui, one for Bai Man, and one for Wei Yan. Hearing this, Wei Yan was shocked and quickly picked up his token, marking it with his blood, before exclaiming, “How interesting! How did you get such a treasure? You know, in the entire cultivation world, only cultivators at the Divination Stage or above can possess communication tokens, and the only sect capable of crafting them is the most powerful of the ten major cultivation forces—the Taiyuan Gate.” Undoubtedly, Wei Yan grew even more suspicious about Qu Yi’s identity. “Hehe, Wei Yan, don’t worry. I’m neither a cultivator nor a demon cultivator, so you don’t need to be too suspicious,” Qu Yi said with a smile. Seeing that Qu Yi refused to elaborate, Wei Yan stopped asking. He knew there were some ancient, hidden forces in the cultivation world, so he simply classified Qu Yi as one of them. “Ah, no! A friend I just met is now facing a powerful enemy. Wei Yan, let’s go together to help him,” Qu Yi suddenly shouted. It turned out that Qing Wu Gui had sent a message via Qu Yi’s communication token—someone in the late Yuan Ying stage was flying toward him with murderous intent. Wei Yan was stunned. When did Qu Yi meet a new friend? But seeing Qu Yi’s nervousness, he immediately took off and followed him.

……
Without a place to return to, Qing Wu Gui had been flying in the Bai Mo Mountain Range for over a month, never hiding the aura of his true energy. Undoubtedly, many cultivators at the middle or late Yuan Ying stage came looking for him. As a result, Qing Wu Gui used a black sword to kill more than a dozen of them in succession. His understanding of energy became even more refined, and the murderous intent within him gradually took shape. At that moment, dressed in black with the fabric fluttering in the wind, he stood atop a high mountain peak. In the distance, three fierce waves of murderous intent flew toward him, targeting Qing Wu Gui directly. Realizing there was no way to avoid them, Qing Wu Gui immediately sent a message to Qu Yi and then waited quietly for his enemies to arrive. Faced with such overwhelming murderous intent, he was not afraid; instead, he felt delighted. It seemed that the stronger the murderous intent in the world, the more benefits he would gain. Soon, the three cultivators arrived before Qing Wu Gui. The leader was none other than Jia Ping, one of the subordinates of Xuan Gu Shang Ren. The other two wore gray clothes with a white bone pattern on their chests, and both emitted energy fluctuations indicating they were at the late Yuan Ying stage. “Good, I finally found you,” Jia Ping shouted darkly. Qing Wu Gui had known Jia Ping before, from within the Cun Jie Ball, but Jia Ping did not know about him. Seeing Jia Ping approaching, Qing Wu Gui was shocked—when had he offended him? “Fellow cultivator, what brings you here?” Qing Wu Gui asked, staring at Jia Ping. Jia Ping sneered at him and said, “Do you remember that when you left Jiu Gu Peak, three people followed you, one of whom was at the middle Yuan Ying stage?” Hearing this, Qing Wu Gui understood immediately—it was the thug who tried to rob him. It seemed he had significant backing, likely connected to Xuan Gu Shang Ren. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Qing Wu Gui denied outright. Although he knew this battle was inevitable, he still wanted to buy some time, as Qu Yi was on his way. “Heh, fellow cultivator, I don’t need your answer. Anyway, you must come with us now. Otherwise, we’ll have to capture you by force,” Jia Ping said with a cold smile. In the world of cultivators, logic meant nothing—strength ruled everything. That was Jia Ping’s plan: capture Qing Wu Gui first and immediately use soul-searching techniques to confirm the death of Tie Gu. Whether Tie Gu’s death was related to Qing Wu Gui or not, Qing Wu Gui still had to die—that was Jia Ping’s decision.

Qing Wu Gui’s expression turned cold as he shouted, “You three, who are in the later stage of the Yuan Ying realm, are you going to take on just me?”
Jia Ping laughed heartily and stared at Qing Wu Gui, saying, “Kid, you should feel honored that it’s just the three of us against you. Although I could capture you alone, I don’t want to go to the trouble—let’s take you down all at once.”
Qing Wu Gui’s expression grew even colder.
Jia Ping and the two other individuals in the later stage of the Yuan Ying realm stared at him with vicious smiles, each drawing out their magical weapons.
Jia Ping held a bone staff, made from the bones of some unknown beast mixed with precious materials. The staff was over a meter long, entirely red in color, yet infused with black true energy.
The other two each held a weapon: one wielded a black sword forged from the fangs of a sword-toothed tiger, while the other held a claw made from the talons of a sky-eagle, appearing gloomy and sinister.
Qing Wu Gui drew out his black sword, concentrating intensely as his spiritual essence gathered, killing intent slowly coalescing around him.
“This kid is strange. Let’s destroy him together,” Jia Ping said. His senses were keen, and he immediately detected an inexplicable surge in killing intent from Qing Wu Gui, even a hint of fear.
Then, the three of them cast their spells immediately.
From Jia Ping’s bone staff, black true energy formed into rows of circles—nine layers in total—that surrounded Qing Wu Gui, seemingly aiming to trap him all at once.
The other two used their weapons: one swung his black sword, whose black true energy transformed into a giant tiger with two long, sword-like fangs that roared as they lunged at Qing Wu Gui. The other waved his gloomy claw, which turned into a massive black eagle claw aimed straight at him.
Qing Wu Gui seemed oblivious to the spells cast by these three powerful beings in the later stage of the Yuan Ying realm. As the spells approached, his body underwent a strange transformation—some eerie energy from the air rushed into his body, intensifying his killing intent even further.
The three spells struck at Qing Wu Gui!
Suddenly, a flash appeared in his eyes, and he vanished.
“Haha, thank you three. You’ve allowed me to instantly understand the essence of oppressive killing intent. Now I’m at the middle stage of the Yuan Ying realm,” Qing Wu Gui said triumphantly from above them.
Under the pressure of their fierce spells, Qing Wu Gui had finally grasped the true meaning of oppressive killing intent, achieving a breakthrough in his strength.