"Be more composed, you don't have the demeanor of a young lady," Ye Qingyi said, shaking her head helplessly at Ye Qingcheng.
"It's fine as long as you have a young lady to dote on," Ye Qingcheng replied to Ye Qingyi. "You handle the beauty, I'll handle the fighting. Isn't that perfect?"
Ye Bufan walked to the side of the shikigami. Although it had already been killed by Ye Qingcheng with a single sword strike, each shikigami should have a master, an Onmyoji. If shikigami appeared, how could the Onmyoji not?
"What's wrong?" Ye Qingcheng asked.
"Shikigami always follow their Onmyoji. But now, the shikigami have appeared, yet no Onmyoji is in sight. It's very strange." Ye Bufan shared his thoughts with the other two.
"Could that Onmyoji be secretly watching us?" Ye Qingcheng immediately became alert, scanning her surroundings.
Ye Bufan shook his head. "After we discovered the shikigami, I swept the surroundings with my spiritual power and found no one else. In this case, it's highly probable they split into two groups. It seems the people from Sakura Island are up to something nefarious again."
"Let's rest for a while, then set off," Ye Qingyi agreed with Ye Bufan's assessment. At the same time, she had a nagging feeling that something was about to happen.
After a brief rest, they set off again, the three of them heading north.
According to Ye Bufan's estimation, they should reach the sinkhole before nightfall.
Not long after the three of them left, five people suddenly appeared in the place where they had rested.
"It looks like someone was here just now, and a great battle took place."
Among the five people, a young man who appeared to be in his early twenties was the leader. The person speaking was a burly man standing beside this younger man.
"Hmm?" The leader's gaze fell upon the corpse of the shikigami on the ground, and he couldn't help but be moved.
"I didn't expect the people from Sakura Island to send out even a Foundation Establishment level shikigami. It seems they are determined to let the Eight-Headed Serpent break free from its seal," the leader said, analyzing the corpse of the shikigami on the ground.
"Young Sect Master, this means we are in for a tough fight ahead," the burly man beside him said with a frown.
"Not so," the person the burly man called Young Sect Master replied. "We have five people here. The strongest among us are at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and the other three are at the early stage. I am at the middle stage. Our Cloud Arrival Sect's strength is probably the strongest for dealing with the Eight-Headed Serpent. When the time comes, we will simply observe from the shadows and strike when they are exhausted."
"First, it will establish the image of our Cloud Arrival Sect and solidify our position in their minds. Second, those other sects will owe us a favor. When the time comes for them to break through bottlenecks, their plans will surely be disrupted, and a temporary alliance will form. Won't our Cloud Arrival Sect naturally become the leader of the alliance?"
"Young Sect Master is brilliant!" The burly man began to flatter the other person after listening to his analysis.
"Let's go, we'll continue our advance. Who knows, we might even encounter an ambush from the Sakura Island people, and we can save the people from the other sects along the way."
With that said, the five people confidently set off towards the north.
Meanwhile, after bidding farewell to Ye Qingcheng, Lin Zhi and his men were rapidly approaching the north.
As they got closer to the sinkhole, the roars of the Eight-Headed Serpent became clearer.
Just then, a series of zither music reached his ears. Lin Zhi couldn't help but frown. This zither music was filled with killing intent.
"Dong—" The zither music drifted over, and killing intent rushed towards him. Before Lin Zhi could react, several wounds appeared on his body.
"What's going on?" The three of them were thrown into chaos and became flustered for a moment.
"It's sonic wave sorcery!" Lin Zhi, being knowledgeable, quickly guessed what was happening.
However, after he figured it out, the zither music became continuous and melodious, sometimes urgent, sometimes slow, and the attacks came wave after wave, leaving Lin Zhi and the two cultivators he brought completely unprepared.
In an instant, the two Qi Refining stage cultivators were severely wounded and collapsed on the ground, their consciousness long gone.
"Bastards!" Lin Zhi roared. He stomped his foot on the ground and leaped up, trying to find the source of the zither music. But a surge of energy descended from the sky, suppressing the restriction and pressing him downwards. Lin Zhi fell to the ground, kneeling, and could only brace himself with his weapon.
"I've long heard that the people of Sakura Island are insidious and cunning. It seems to be true today," Lin Zhi said. "To actually launch a sneak attack."
No matter how Lin Zhi struggled, the other party remained unresponsive. At the same time, the energy from above grew stronger, and eventually, Lin Zhi's knees sank into the ground.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The cultivators of the Nine Provinces are nothing more than this. After so many years, I have regarded the cultivators of your Nine Provinces as my lifelong rivals in cultivation. To see them today is truly disappointing," a voice with a Sakura Island accent rang out.
"If you have the guts, let's have a fair fight," Lin Zhi said. "As long as it's not a sneak attack, who knows who will win and who will lose!"
"On the battlefield, there is no such thing as a fair fight. Victory is victory, and defeat is defeat," the voice sounded again. The zither music began to play, and the force above Lin Zhi's head instantly increased significantly. Lin Zhi then spat out a mouthful of blood, half his body sinking into the mud.
"Sakura Island! You lost to us before, and you won't win now!" Lin Zhi roared, struggling to break free from the ground.
The zither music instantly became rapid, and Lin Zhi was suppressed again.
"Two Arms of the Green Snake!"
At this moment, two streaks of green sword energy, like two green snakes, descended. With a "boom—" sound, all the strings of the zither snapped.
"Who's there?"
Somewhere in the forest, a thin, short middle-aged man in a long robe vigilantly looked around.
But after waiting for a long time, there was no reply.
"Are the cultivators of the Nine Provinces merely individuals who engage in underhanded tactics?" The person hissed, his voice low, his other hand resting on his waist, ready to draw his weapon at any moment.
"On the battlefield, there is no such thing as a fair fight. Victory is victory, and defeat is defeat." Ye Bufan's voice echoed through the forest. Ye Qingyi and Ye Qingcheng, hearing Ye Bufan's reply, couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up.
This was the same line the person had used when sneak-attacking Lin Zhi. Now, Ye Bufan was using it against him.
"Baka!" The other party heard Ye Bufan's words and his entire face turned red with anger. He slammed a palm onto the table in front of him.