It feels like they've already been tricked once.

Meanwhile.

Following the search by his subordinates, Luo Yexian also arrived at the location with his men.

Looking into the distance, he saw a crowd gathered like rainclouds, with the rumble of thunder echoing.

Clearly, a great battle was underway.

Amidst the swirling winds and gathering clouds, a colossal crimson giant rose from the earth, standing tall between heaven and earth, holding a hammer in one hand and a sickle in the other.

Luo Yexian recognized it at a glance: it was Li Mo's Inner World.

The closer he got to that wondrous spectacle, the more dormant his own Inner World became, as if about to revert to mundanity.

There were many people besieging Li Mo, but it seemed the more there were, the more radiant the crimson giant became, as if about to burst into flames...

"If we hadn't come, Li Mo would probably have broken free anyway."

Luo Yexian pondered briefly.

Yet he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Which faction did these people besieging Li Mo belong to? Thousands strong at the slightest move, and with this kind of display, they were nothing like the bandits from this region.

Could they also have decipred Heitu Immortal's hint and come to capture Li Mo?

As everyone knew, the "Wife-Fortune Little Tyrant" was one of a kind.

If they let the other side take him, wouldn't their own efforts be in vain?

"We absolutely cannot let Li Mo fall into their hands!"

Luo Yexian declared resolutely.

"Right! This Li Mo ruined our plans in the Imperial Capital. For that reason alone, we can't let him escape!"

"If we get our hands on him, we'll lock him in a dark room, whip him with a leather lash, and starve him, hehehe...."

"This Li Mo is quite the prize. So many people are after him... yes, he's very wealthy."

"Not only can we pass the Heitu Immortal's trial, but we can also make a hefty profit. Our current identities are bandits, after all!"

His men were highly motivated and stayed close to Luo Yexian.

However, not long after, a group of figures appeared ahead.

"Halt!"

A dark-skinned middle-aged man stepped forward. He was that captain who spouted nonsense about 'family' to trick people into going to sea; he also moonlighted as a pirate.

With his fierce, flashing eyes, he looked truly vicious and savage, exuding an aura of a demonic fiend.

"Ever heard of the Summoning Demons Sect? Scram!"

A deputy also blustered, pulling out a dagger and even licking it with his tongue:

"This dagger has harvested plenty of kidneys... if not a thousand, then at least eight hundred!"

Disciples from the Lingxi Sect on the periphery quickly surrounded them.

Seeing the other party dressed as bandits, they couldn't help but sneer.

If not for the complex, intertwined forces in this mountainous area and their reluctance to complicate matters, they would have attacked already.

Of course, if the other side remained obstinate.

Then they'd have no choice but to...

"Hehehe!"

The dark-skinned man was taken aback. He thought all demonic sect members laughed like that and was just about to imitate it.

But before he could even curl his lips, who stole his thunder?

He turned his head and saw his own men looking bewildered.

He looked back and saw Luo Yexian's lips curling slightly. Bestial features emerged on his body, and an aura belonging to the External Scenery realm pressed down like dark clouds.

It was a Flood Dragon Demon, mountain-like in size, with eyes like the sun and moon, and scales as sharp as cast iron!

The followers with Luo Yexian were all elites.

They too released their own Inner Sceneries one by one: blue-faced, fanged Rakshasas... bull demons burning with black flames... centipedes covered in human faces...

Each more sinister than the last.

"??"

The dark-skinned man leaned back slightly.

Why did he suddenly feel...

that the other side seemed more like demonic sect members than they did?

Whoosh—

A gust of wind came. Before the deputy could react, the dagger in his hand was snatched away by a shadow.

Luo Yexian tossed the dagger, his smile menacing: "This dagger of yours has harvested at least eight hundred, if not a thousand, kidneys?"

"I... I used to be a butcher. They were all pig kidneys, pig kidneys..."

The deputy swallowed hard.

Luo Yexian clenched his hand, crushing the dagger into pieces:

"I heard you're vicious, wicked demonic sect members? Then what does that make us?"

"You are, you are the ones..."

"Nonsense! We are bandits. Since you've recognized our identities, it seems we can't let you live."

"Yes, yes, bandits!"

"Hmph! Pretending to be demonic sect members, yet you can't even recognize the real thing. Fools like you deserve to die!"

"??!"

The dark-skinned man and his deputy clung to each other, their faces filled with terror and despair.

So?

No matter what, we're dead anyway, is that it?

They probably wouldn't have the chance to figure out this question, because the Flood Dragon Demon behind them had already opened its maw and swallowed them whole in an instant.

Luo Yexian patted his stomach. It seemed these guys weren't much.

If such riff-raff could trap Li Mo, then he shouldn't have a problem if he made a slight effort.

Just as he was thinking this, a sudden gust of wind came from ahead.

"An ambush?"

Swift as lightning, Luo Yexian lifted his leg and kicked out, his thigh transforming into a dragon's tail mid-air.

Like a sinister thunderclap, it swept horizontally with terrifying force capable of smashing away a mountain peak.

"The Hundred Beasts Dragon Demon Scripture... Who are you?!"

The figure was caught off guard. He was sent flying, vomiting a mouthful of blood, and plowed a deep furrow in the ground.

It was that elder in charge of sect affairs, the one who always talked about 'disciples this, disciples that' but never actually helped when disciples were in trouble.

His forte was the art of spells, and his cultivation realm was inferior to Luo Yexian's. After just one clash, his blood and qi were in turmoil.

"Beat the small ones, and the old one shows up? I actually get to encounter this trope?"

Luo Yexian was growing impatient.

He only wanted to capture Li Mo and couldn't be bothered with unnecessary entanglements.

So he said coldly:

"Kill all the bystanders!"

"Yes!"

Thus, the genuine demonic sect members by his side all turned into black shadows, scattering in all directions.

As for Luo Yexian himself, his External Scenery manifested, enveloping the elder in charge.

Instantly, the scene outside descended into utter chaos.

Meanwhile, over by Li Mo's side, the commotion was gradually dying down.

No one from the Lingxi Sect could face him head-on, but frontal combat wasn't their forte either. They each employed various methods.

One took out a straw doll, bit his finger, and wrote Li Mo's name on it with blood.

Another broke his own finger, using it as an incense stick to pray to some unseen existence.

Their methods were bizarre and varied, all curse-killing arts.

And the effects seemed remarkably... effective?

"Hiss...."

Li Mo suddenly looked astonished.

While being targeted by Zhu You arts and other spell-based curses, he actually felt... his Ninefold Yang Profound Art making progress?

Progress in the Profound Art required undergoing tribulations, but they weren't necessarily heavenly tribulations.

Mortal tribulations were tribulations too.

Increase the intensity, please, by all means, increase the intensity.

So, young Li covered his chest, his face turning deathly pale:

"Hiss... what kind of secret art is this from the Lingxi Sect? It's actually this powerful?"

"Hold on a little longer, everyone. I might be about to collapse!"