The Misty Sea was originally a massive chasm between two lands, cutting off the movement of all living beings in the Mortal World.
No one, not even Li Muyang, could cross this Misty Sea.
Once his true body reached the Tianyuan Continent, it would become impossible to return to the Cultivation World on this side.
—Or at least, that was how it should have been.
Until the eerie power of Demon Sword City emerged, constantly luring Li Muyang to approach it.
This strange and enticing force could even subtly confuse a cultivator’s perception, penetrating the barriers of the Misty Sea to affect Li Muyang.
Previously, Li Muyang had relied on this alluring power to lead Yu Chan across the Misty Sea and successfully return to land.
Now, as long as he descended to the Mortal World and entered the Tianyuan Continent, he could naturally use Demon Sword City’s pull to bypass the Misty Sea and return to the Cultivation World.
From this point on, the strange allure of Demon Sword City became a buff that Li Muyang could exploit.
He could handle his matters in the Tianyuan Continent and then cross the Misty Sea again to return to the Cultivation World—where he would kill the madwoman Chou Yuyan.
Li Muyang had cultivated his network in the Tianyuan Continent for years and had numerous friends and allies there.
The Mysterious Sword Sect’s group of sword cultivators possessed incredible combat strength, and the North Sea Dragon Girl was unparalleled, transcending all others.
When Li Muyang’s true body reached the Tianyuan Continent, even bringing only a handful of powerful allies back to the Cultivation World would be enough to crush it entirely.
After all, the Tianyuan Continent—where cheats were as common as clouds—far surpassed the Cultivation World in terms of high-level combat power.
With this in mind, Li Muyang took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
The timely rescue of the Ghost Moon Fox allowed him to exhale in relief.
Though he had lost one avatar, it didn’t matter—the Resurrection Order could still be used.
Li Muyang activated the Resurrection Order once more, entering its interface.
Under the dark firmament, faint stars were scattered across the land below.
Li Muyang selected the brightest star among them and saw its compatibility data—93%.
It wasn’t as good as the previous two avatars but was still passable.
Li Muyang clicked confirm, and in the next moment, the familiar sensation of traversing space and time surged through him as darkness engulfed him like a tide.
When his consciousness returned, Li Muyang caught a faint whiff of decaying coffin wood and a pronounced smell of damp earth.
It seemed that this host’s family wasn’t wealthy enough for a luxurious tomb like the previous princess’s.
With a thought, Li Muyang summoned the Destruction Wheel, instantly obliterating the broken coffin and the thick soil surrounding it in the darkness.
In the next second, he emerged from the grave and scanned the surroundings.
The view before him was of a gently rolling hill surrounded by serene mountains and streams.
On the gravestone, the inscription read: [The Tomb of Peng Zuze, Dearly Departed Father].
Was the elder buried in this tomb named Peng Zuze?
Li Muyang raised his hand to summon a water mirror and saw his reflection within it.
A gaunt old man clad in tattered burial garments stared back at him. His cheeks were sunken, his eyes menacing, and his overall appearance exuded a creepy and irritable aura.
“An old man this time… Tch…”
Li Muyang sighed and began carefully assessing the condition of his new avatar.
He noticed an evident sluggishness when trying to mobilize his cultivation and mana.
Though 93% compatibility was still high, it lacked the near-zero latency of his previous two bodies, showing a notable disparity.
Li Muyang tested the limits and determined that this body could only display up to 93% of his true combat strength.
“…So this compatibility percentage directly affects combat performance?”
Li Muyang gazed into the distance, roughly sensing his position.
Then he restored the damaged grave to its original state; from the outside, no one could tell that the corpse inside had already escaped.
Immediately after, Li Muyang took to the air, heading towards a nearby town.
Following the faint sensing ability of this body, Li Muyang located a small fenced courtyard on the edge of the town. The homeowner’s surname was Peng, and they had two sons and a daughter. Their household seemed modest yet not impoverished.
Upon observing them in secret, Li Muyang was surprised to discover that not only the Peng family’s three children but even the middle-aged father possessed cultivation talent—and rather promising talent at that.
Initially intending just to leave some silver coins for their care, Li Muyang squinted thoughtfully.
In the end, he left behind a simple introductory cultivation technique, one that could only reach the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm at best—its ceiling was low, but it was enough to change this family’s life.
Additionally, he left behind a gourd filled with spiritual medicine.
The medicines were low-grade leftovers that Li Muyang had collected early on and no longer needed.
Now they served perfectly as compensation for borrowing their relative’s corpse.
After casually leaving these items behind, Li Muyang flew out of the town but did not head toward Jiuyuan City.
Chou Yuyan had already been severely injured and repelled, and the Ghost Moon Fox was safe.
Even if Li Muyang rushed back to Jiuyuan City, it would merely result in him meeting Yu Chan and chatting with the Ghost Moon Fox, which held little value.
As for Yan Xiaoru, he did want to see her, but for now, he had no means of finding her—the talisman had already been handed over to the Third Miss.
For the time being, Li Muyang could only stay in the mountains and quietly wait for the Third Miss to contact him.
This wild boar demon had a way to track his location. If he stayed put, the Third Miss would eventually find him.
In the meantime, Li Muyang decided to play a game.
After days of endless running and fighting, he hadn’t had time to rest, and his game progress was heavily stalled.
Although his available gaming session this time was rather generous, it was still better to clear it early.
Li Muyang took a deep breath and concealed himself in the forested mountains.
He then closed his eyes and entered the game.
Under the sinister veil of the Ancient Resentment Well’s night, he reopened his eyes, standing on the mountain ridge near the palace alongside the Headless Holy Monk.
The challenge was about to begin again.
But Li Muyang was already thoroughly familiar with the steps of the route ahead.
With ease, he crossed the ridge, charged into Black Cloud Fort, and cut down any evil-veined corpses that ambushed him along the way. He destroyed the ancestral temple’s great door atop Black Cloud Fort in one final blow, claiming the magic artifact left there by Little Wild Grass.
[Xuanji Talisman]
The moment Li Muyang obtained the artifact, a beam of Buddhist light rose from the direction of the palace behind him.
The pseudo-Buddha occupying the palace had also arrived, launching its attack on Li Muyang and Miao Fengjun.
This time, however, even with the aid of the [Xuanji Talisman], Li Muyang no longer tried to defeat the pseudo-Buddha.
The repeated failures before had already proven that Jie Zijiu currently lacked the power to overcome the pseudo-Buddha.
Jie Zijiu still had to upgrade!
When the pseudo-Buddha descended, Li Muyang immediately activated the [Xuanji Talisman], summoning a phantom identical to the pseudo-Buddha to stall it.
At the same time, Li Muyang fled with the Headless Holy Monk.
“It’s impossible to confront head-on!” Li Muyang said. “There are still hidden powers in this city. We’re not ready to kill it yet.”
“We’ll leave here first and strategize later!”