Daily News: You promised yourself to be a fisherman, but you've become a martial arts god?

Fenglingdu.

underwater.

A man suddenly opened his eyes, a water droplet the size of a fist, shimmering with a deep blue light, floating in front of his chest.

The man leaped up, causing the lake surface to churn with turquoise waves. A dark figure burst from the water, carrying a shower of water droplets as it broke through the surface and landed on the blue stone platform at the ferry crossing.

The man was shirtless, his bulging muscles covered with crisscrossing, hideous scars, and his long, black hair, soaked by the lake water, cascaded down his back like a black snake.

His gaze fell upon the dazzling colors in the distant sky, and his fierce, beast-like eyes were filled with intense rage.

"Three useless trash! They need me to deal with a mere Blood Refinement brat!"

"Very well, since the chief specifically asked for those two girls, it'll save us from any accidents and punishment if he does it himself!"

"Now that my cultivation has reached the peak of Bone Refinement, with this treasure in hand, even someone at the peak of Tendon Refinement can put up a fight!"

The thought had barely formed in his mind when Liu Tanqi tucked the bead into his pocket.

With a sudden stomp of his legs, the bluestone beneath his feet shattered, and he shot off like a whirlwind towards the dazzling light...

...

A path through the misty forest.

The dazzling explosion in the sky snapped Zheng Changgong out of his shock at Li Nian's killing of Lu Chong and the others, and he cried out in alarm:

"Your Excellency! This is the Flint Cloud Arrow, the personal weapon of Liu Tanqi, the tenth leader of Shenyuan Village!"

"If Wei Suo has fired this arrow, Liu Tanqi must be nearby."

"We have to run, or it will be too late!"

Liu Tanqi!

Yi Jieyi and Yi Mingxi turned pale, their faces as white as paper.

"Inspector Li, our academy has issued a warrant for the arrest of the bandits from Shenyuan Village. Liu Tanqi is only at the mid-stage of Bone Refinement; you are no match for him!"

"Let's hurry and leave before he comes!"

Yi Jieyi spoke up to remind him.

Yi Mingxi nodded in agreement from the side.

Li Nian remained calm in the face of this.

He had already noticed Wei Suo's little tricks, and if he wanted to stop him, he could easily use the "Prajna Dragon Soaring Technique" in time.

The reason they didn't stop them was that they wanted to lure Liu Tanqi there so they could get rid of him!

He knew from the intelligence that Liu Tanqi was in Fenglingdu, five miles away, and as the main figure in the kidnapping of the two young ladies of the Yi family, this signal must have been sent to Liu Tanqi.

Fenglingdu is close to the water. Although he often works on the water, understands the water conditions, and is good at swimming, he has not learned any water skills. If Liu Tanqi has water skills and can escape by diving into the water, his lightness skills will be useless, and he can only sigh at the vast ocean.

Having finally improved his cultivation and "deduced" the Cold Eagle's Demon-Controlling Claw and the Prajna Dragon Soaring Technique, he decided to practice on Liu Tanqi!

Composing himself, Li Nian looked at the golden marker on the system indicating Liu Tanqi's rapid approach and analyzed:

"Since Liu Tanqi has sent his men to ambush us here, he certainly won't be hiding in a place too far away."

"The Flint Arrow has been fired. If Liu Tanqi is in the mid-stage of Bone Refinement, he will arrive soon. We cannot escape together."

"You can escape first; I'll cover your retreat!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's brows furrowed.

Li Nian's analysis was meticulous and insightful.

It would be too difficult to escape together.

Zheng Changgong frowned and pondered for a moment, then, enduring his injuries, gripped his steel sword tightly and said:

"Second Miss, Fourth Miss, you two drive off first in your carriages. The Inspector and I will stay behind to cover your retreat!"

"Inspector Li and this elder brother are right!"

Upon hearing this, Bi Yichen, who had been sprawled on the ground, perked up and quickly got up, saying to Yi Jieyi and Yi Mingxi:

"Yui, Aki, let's run! We can't handle Liu Tanqi!"

"This is our only chance to survive!"

At the same time, Cao Hongyuan, who hadn't run far, also ran back and immediately got into the carriage.

Running on two legs is no match for a horse-drawn carriage.

"Yui, Aki, get in the car quickly, I'll drive!"

Yi Jieyi frowned slightly, glanced at Cao Hongyuan and Bi Yichen with disdain, and ignored them.

As if he had made up his mind, he stepped forward and solemnly said to Li Nian's back:

"Since Inspector Li insists on staying, I, Yi Jieyi, am by no means a coward who fears death. I will stay with you."

"If something happens to you, with Liu Tanqi's abilities, we won't be able to escape either."

"I happen to have heard about Liu Tanqi from within my family, and I know a thing or two about his methods. Perhaps I can be of some help to you, offering a glimmer of hope!"

After what just happened, she finally saw Cao Hongyuan and Bi Yichen for who they truly were.

With Li Nian and Zheng Changgong not by their side, and having just fought the bandits and exhausted, they were no match for Cao Hongyuan and Bi Yichen.

Even though they escaped Liu Tanqi's grasp, these two might still do things to harm them in order to cover up their weakness.

The methods Li Nian just displayed were extremely exaggerated; perhaps she could try to go toe-to-toe with Liu Tanqi.

Even if he dies in the end, he will die with integrity and not disgrace the Yi family!

Yi Mingxi nodded emphatically:

"If my sister stays, I'll stay too!"

Li Nian gave Yi Jieyi and Yi Mingxi a closer look.

Having lived two lives, he is skilled at reading people and can discern Yi Jieyi's thoughts from her unintentional expressions.

Secret passage:

"Yi Jieyi is a smart and principled woman!"

"Yi Mingxi may seem innocent and cute, but she is also fearless in the face of death!"

"Zheng Changgong is no slouch either!"

Li Nian had high praise for the three of them.

As for Cao and Bi, he didn't even bother with them!

Composing himself, Li Nian looked towards the ferry crossing, his gaze hardening, and said:

"Now you can't leave even if you want to, he's here!"

Everyone looked in the direction Li Nian was looking with surprise and suspicion, but they did not see anything unusual.

Just when they thought Li Nian had made a mistake, a dark figure arrived amidst the sandstorm and stood on a dead tree stump a few meters away.

The person who came was none other than...

It was Liu Tanqi!

By the moonlight, Zheng Changgong could make out the figure and appearance of the newcomer, and exclaimed in surprise:

"The Tenth Leader of Shenyuan Village..."

"Liu Tanqi!"

Liu Tanqi was a notorious bandit wanted in the prefecture, and everyone had seen his portrait.

Despite their thorough preparations, Yi Jieyi and Yi Mingxi were still trembling violently from being intimidated by Liu Tanqi's imposing presence.

Cao Hongyuan and Bi Yichen were so frightened that they collapsed to the ground, too exhausted to even drive the carriage away.

At that moment, Liu Tanqi's gaze swept over the corpses scattered on the ground in front of him, his eyes blazing with fury.

He originally thought that his subordinates only asked him for help because they couldn't take down the Blood Cultivation Kid mentioned in the intelligence.

Never thought.

All of his carefully trained subordinates were killed!

Liu Tanqi roared on the spot:

"Who did the killing?!"

The internal energy of a peak-level Bone Refinement cultivator, infused with boundless blood energy, produced a thunderous sound.

Since Yi Jieyi and the others had not been able to open the Blood Gate, they could not use their internal energy to resist. They could only cover their ears tightly with their hands to avoid their eardrums being ruptured.

"I killed him."

Li Nian stared indifferently at Liu Tanqi.

Liu Tan's seven tiger-like eyes glared at him angrily:

"You killed them!"

Li Nian remained unmoved, as if she had done something insignificant, and said:

"I just cleaned up some trash, no need to thank me."