Chapter 60: Fire and Blood Tempering Blade, Mission Maniac
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The news that Ye Li had accepted the mission to the Black Wind Mountains was like throwing a huge rock into an already turbulent lake, once again attracting widespread attention within the sect.
"She really dared to go? She knew that Senior Brother Gao Sheng had also accepted the mission!"
"Isn't this just walking into a trap? The Black Wind Mountains aren't within the sect. The laws there are lax, and any 'accident' could happen."
"I heard that she has been in seclusion recently, practicing her secondary position. Does she think that she can deal with the elites of Zhan Kuangfeng by refining pills and making talismans?"
"Perhaps she is confident? After all, her strength is there."
Amidst the discussions, there was worry, confusion, but more people were looking forward to gloating, waiting to see a good show of dragons fighting tigers.
Ye Li ignored all this. In the days leading up to the mission, she made thorough preparations. She refined her newly forged Mysterious Ice Sword to perfection, crafted a sufficient supply of improved Explosion Talismans, Divine Movement Talismans, and crucially, three Ice Soul Sealing Talismans. As for elixirs, top-grade Vein-Condensing Pills and Rejuvenating Pills were essential. She also obtained, through Lin Feng, detailed information gathered by Sun Xiaohou on the Black Wind Mountains' evil cultivators, the "Black Evil Sect," including their approximate range of activity, the strength of several known leaders (mostly mid-to-late Vein-Condensing, with a suspected Spiritual Residence Realm leader), and their often sinister tactics.
On the day of their departure, several teams preparing to head to the Black Wind Mountains gathered in the square in front of the Xuanyun Sect's mission hall. The most eye-catching was the Zhan Kuangfeng team led by Gao Sheng. The five disciples, including Shi Feng (who had lost an arm but had regained 70% to 80% of his strength by wielding a left-handed sword), exuded a fierce aura and cast unfriendly glances at Ye Li, who had arrived alone.
Elsewhere, the team from the Bishui Pavilion also arrived. Qin Yixuan, dressed in white as white as snow, looked as cool and ethereal as an immortal. Behind her were four female disciples from the Bishui Pavilion, forming a neat formation. When she saw Ye Li, her gaze lingered for a moment before she looked away indifferently, with no intention of communicating.
According to the mission requirements, this kind of B-class collaborative mission required each team to work together to clear out the enemy in a designated area, but each team would be responsible for the specific actions. This meant that while Ye Li was nominally collaborating with the other teams, in reality, she would likely have to face the evil cultivators of the Black Demon Sect alone, as well as... the potential for harm from her "companions."
"Hmph, you are overestimating your own abilities." Goldman Sachs snorted coldly and led his team to board the sect's flying magic weapon - a faster "Green Jade Boat".
Ye Li, expressionless, paid her contribution points and rented a "Wind-Walking Crane," a spiritual bird tamed by the sect. Alone, she soared into the sky, heading towards the Black Wind Mountains. Her solitary figure formed a stark contrast to the group led by Gao Sheng, Qin Yixuan, and others, making her seem even more outnumbered.
Qin Yixuan looked at Ye Li's receding back, a barely perceptible ripple flashed in his cold eyes, and then he led the team onto another flying boat.
…
The Black Wind Mountains stretch for thousands of miles. The mountains are steep and filled with miasma. It is a paradise for all kinds of monsters and evil monks.
Ye Li didn't head directly to the area marked as active for evil cultivators, but instead landed in a remote valley on the outskirts of the mountains. She sheathed her Wind Crane and unleashed her "Universe Traceless Step," blending into the forest like a ghost. She chose not to reunite with the rest of the group, but to act alone.
Rather than trusting your back to unreliable "companions," it's better to take control of the situation on your own. This was a lesson she learned with her blood in her previous life.
According to intelligence, the Black Demon Sect's evil cultivators are cunning and adept at concealment and traps. Ye Li spread her spiritual awareness, leveraging the enhanced perception granted by the shards of the Samsara Mirror, and cautiously explored forward. Like the most experienced hunter, she left no trace unnoticed.
On the first day, she did not actively look for evil cultivators, but familiarized herself with the environment, marked out several dangerous places that might be suitable for evil cultivators to hide, and killed a few ignorant first and second level monsters as a warm-up.
The next evening, when she passed through a swamp filled with a faint stench of decay, her spiritual sense keenly captured the faint fluctuations of spiritual power and suppressed gasps coming from the front.
She approached silently, hiding behind a dead tree. She saw three monks in black attire with skulls embroidered on their chests (the symbol of the Black Demon Sect) surrounding a severely injured young man dressed like a disciple of a minor sect. The young man had clearly been training there, but had unfortunately encountered an evil cultivator, leaving him at the end of his strength.
"Hey, kid, hand over your storage bag and the 'Rotten Bone Flower' and I'll give you a quick death!" The evil cultivator in the middle stage of Condensation Veins grinned fiercely, with blood dripping from the blade.
Ye Li's eyes were icy. The strong preyed on the weak, a common practice in the world of immortal cultivation, but such brutal slaughter of the weak filled her with disgust. More importantly, this was an opportunity.
She didn't attack immediately, but waited patiently until the evil leader relaxed his guard and bent down to search the young man's body for valuables.
"The Untraceable Steps Across the Universe" - Star Flash!
Ye Li's figure appeared behind the evil cultivator leader as if teleporting, and the Mystic Ice Sword stabbed out silently, pointing directly at his back! Before the sword even reached him, the extremely cold sword energy had already made the evil cultivator's hair stand on end!
"Who?!" The evil cultivator leader was horrified and hastily drew his sword to block.
But Ye Li's sword was fast, accurate, and ruthless! The Xuanbing Sword bypassed the blade at a strange angle and pierced his heart with precision! The extremely cold sword energy instantly erupted, freezing his heart!
Flash sale!
The other two evil cultivators in the early stages of Condensing Veins hadn't reacted yet when they saw another flash of cold light! Ye Li's figure split apart, appearing at their sides simultaneously, the Mysterious Ice Sword slashing out two icy arcs!
Puff! Puff!
Two heads shot up into the sky, expressions of astonishment still lingering on their faces.
From the moment the attack began to the moment it ended, it took only the blink of an eye. All three evil cultivators were annihilated!
The seriously injured young man was stunned, looking at the cold and aloof woman who suddenly appeared in front of him, like a killing god, and forgot his pain for a moment.
Ye Li didn't even glance at the young man. He quickly cleaned up the battlefield, collected the storage bags of the three evil cultivators, and flicked out a gust of wind, turning the three corpses into ice chips, destroying them completely. The whole process was calm and efficient, without any delay.
After doing all this, she walked up to the young man, threw a bottle of ordinary Qi-recovering pills to him, and said coldly, "Leave as soon as you can."
The young man finally came to his senses and quickly took the pill, tears of gratitude streaming down his face. "Thank you so much, senior, for saving my life! This junior..."
"No need to say more, let's go." Ye Li interrupted him, her tone leaving no room for doubt.
The young man didn't dare say anything more. He swallowed the pill, struggled to get up, and staggered away into the dense forest.
Ye Li quickly left the scene, looking for her next hunting spot. She didn't care much about the wealth of these low-level evil cultivators. What was more important was to accumulate practical experience, sharpen her killing heart, and collect more detailed information about the Black Demon Sect.
In the days that followed, Ye Li completely transformed into a "quest maniac." No longer confined to the sect's designated areas, she ventured deep into the Black Wind Mountains. With her powerful spiritual awareness and uncanny agility, she was like the Grim Reaper in the dark night, constantly hunting down lone or small groups of evil Black Evil Sect cultivators.
Her combat style is remarkably ruthless and efficient. Often, she strikes a fatal blow before her enemies even notice. The combination of the Mysterious Ice Sword and the Ice Soul Sealing Heaven Finger allows her to crush any cultivator below the late Condensation Vein stage. Even when encountering smaller groups, she utilizes terrain and talismans, employing sneak attacks, fragmenting them, and defeating them piecemeal, never resorting to direct confrontation.
In just two weeks, she had killed over twenty Black Demon Sect cultivators, including two leaders in the late Condensation Vein stage. Not only had she earned a large number of Contribution Points (scores were awarded based on the number of evil cultivators killed and identity tokens completed in sect missions), she had also amassed a considerable amount of loot. While generally of low quality, the accumulated spoils amounted to a considerable fortune.
Her name even began to spread among a small circle of evil cultivators, and she was called "Ice Charm", which made people terrified.
During this period, she also sensed traces of activities from the Goldman Sachs team and Qin Yixiuan's team from afar, but she deliberately avoided them to avoid unnecessary contact.
One day, Ye Li found a place that was suspected to be the secret base of the Black Demon Sect based on the map in the storage bag of an evil cultivator leader - a hidden cave on a cliff.
She concealed her presence and approached quietly. There was a simple illusion array and warning talisman at the entrance of the cave. These were useless to Ye Li, who easily deciphered them and slipped into the cave.
The cave was quite spacious, and there were actually over ten evil cultivators gathered there, seemingly distributing some supplies. The leader was a one-eyed old man whose aura had reached the early stages of the Spiritual Residence Realm. He was none other than the Black Demon Sect's leader in this area!
"Opportunity!" A cold light flashed in Ye Li's eyes. If he could capture this Spiritual Realm Hall Master, the mission evaluation would be greatly improved!
But she didn't act rashly. The enemy was numerous, and some were at the Spiritual Residence Realm, so a forceful attack was definitely not a wise move.
She lurked patiently, like the most patient venomous snake, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Finally, when most of the evil cultivators had collected their supplies and dispersed, leaving only the one-eyed old man and his two confidants conversing deep in the cave—
Ye Li made her move! First, she quietly placed several improved Explosion Talismans and an Ice Soul Sealing Talisman at the cave entrance as a backup. Then, she set her sights on the two henchmen in the late Condensation Vein stage!
Flashing stars! Charge forward! The Mysterious Ice Sword, like a poisonous dragon emerging from a cave, went straight for one man's throat! Simultaneously, his left hand, fingers together like a sword, shot icy finger force towards another man's dantian!
Fast! As fast as possible!
"Enemy attack!" The one-eyed old man reacted extremely quickly, and the pressure of the Lingfu realm burst out, and he slapped Ye Li with one palm!
But Ye Li was prepared. He dodged the palm wind with a flick of his body, but kept the direction of his sword unchanged!
Puff! Puff!
The two confidants had no time to react. One had his throat pierced and the other had his dantian pierced by finger force, and they died instantly!
"You're looking for death, little brat!" The one-eyed old man was shocked and angry, with a murderous light flashing in his one eye. A poisoned black short spear appeared in his hand, and he pounced towards Ye Li with a fishy wind!
The full force of the Spiritual Mansion Realm's attack was incredibly powerful! Ye Li didn't dare to take it head-on, so he used the "Universe Traceless Step" to its fullest extent, maneuvering with the old man in the narrow cave while constantly throwing talismans to interfere.
Boom! Boom! Explosive talismans exploded, and ice cone talismans flew everywhere! The cave was in chaos!
The old man was incredibly powerful, wielding his short spear and blocking most of the attacks. However, Ye Li's movements were incredibly uncanny, and she was always able to narrowly avoid fatal attacks. As the battle dragged on, the old man grew increasingly impatient, and his attacks intensified.
Now! Ye Li's eyes flashed, and he showed a flaw, as if his spiritual power was insufficient, and his body froze.
The old man was overjoyed and stabbed Ye Li's heart with his short spear!
However, just when the short spear was about to hit the body, Ye Li's figure suddenly blurred and slid sideways at an incredible angle. At the same time, the last Ice Soul Sealing Talisman that he had been holding in his hand was instantly activated!
Buzz!
A powerful icy force erupted from Ye Li's center! The one-eyed old man was caught off guard, feeling a chill throughout his body, and his spiritual energy suddenly slowed down!
Although this sealing power can only affect him for a short moment, it is enough for a killer of Ye Li's level!
《Ice Soul Sealing Heaven Finger》——Ice Mark!A full-strength attack!
Most of her body's extremely cold spiritual power was condensed on her fingertips. She struck first and pointed it with incredible precision at the old man's mouth, which was slightly opened in astonishment!
The extremely cold finger force was like an ice cone, instantly penetrating into the brain!
The old man's one eye suddenly bulged out, his face filled with incredible horror, his body stiffened in place, and his vitality quickly dissipated.
Ye Li panted heavily, her face pale. Even with thorough preparation and every possible means, attacking a Spiritual Realm cultivator across levels would still be a tremendous drain on her. She quickly cleaned up the battlefield, collecting the storage bags of the old man and his two confidants, especially the old man's token representing his status as a hall master.
Then, she detonated the talisman placed at the entrance of the cave, causing the entire cave to collapse and destroying all traces. Only then did she quickly evacuate with her tired but excited body.
A month later, when Ye Li returned to the sect's mission hall alone with a bag full of evil cultivator heads and identity tokens (including the Spirit Mansion Realm Hall Master token) to hand over the tokens, the entire mission hall was in an uproar!
Completed a B-level superior collaborative mission alone! Killed dozens of evil cultivators, including a Spiritual Mansion Realm Hall Master! The contribution points earned were astronomical!
The name "Mission Maniac Ye Li" spread like wildfire! This time, it wasn't just because of her inheritance and talent, but also because she had proven her ruthlessness, wisdom, and strength through her actual combat achievements!
Although Gao Sheng and his team also completed the mission, their performance pales in comparison to Ye Li's. You can imagine how grim their faces looked.
And Ye Li, under the awe-filled gazes of everyone, calmly exchanged contribution points, purchased the resources needed for the next stage of cultivation, and returned to the courtyard of Yundan Peak to begin a new round of seclusion.
For her, the Black Wind Mountains mission was merely a necessary test. Her sights were already set on something more distant. Constant fighting, accumulation, and advancement, all for the ultimate goal of reaching the pinnacle and settling all things right!
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