Chapter 472: One Year Later

A flicker of surprise showed on Lie Rufeng’s face when he heard this.

But it vanished in an instant, and Lu Sangjiu didn’t notice.

Lie Rufeng didn’t say anything more, and the small incident passed.

Lu Sangjiu didn’t open the three Cultivators’ storage rings right away. Instead, she casually picked two and tossed them to Lie Rufeng. "Here’s your share. Split it amongst yourselves."

Lu Sangjiu kept one-third for herself, leaving the remaining two-thirds for Lie Rufeng and his two companions.

But none of them expressed any dissatisfaction. After all, everyone had seen that Lu Sangjiu had done most of the work.

After skillfully dividing the spoils, Lu Sangjiu glanced at the still-unconscious Duan Yiyi, then back at Lie Rufeng.

She said nothing, but Lie Rufeng understood her meaning.

After a moment’s thought, Lie Rufeng spoke up. "I can’t let you kill her, but I also can’t guarantee she won’t run her mouth about you after she wakes up."

"However, I will personally keep your secret. I’ll act as if I never met you today. Whatever grudge you have with that Cold Jade Immortal King has nothing to do with me."

Lie Rufeng and his group weren’t particularly interested in the wanted poster issued by Ji Li, but they had seen it.

So, while he hadn’t recognized Lu Sangjiu at first because he hadn’t looked closely, the conversation between those three men had tipped him off. He had guessed that she was the one wanted by the Cold Jade Immortal King.

It didn’t matter that Ji Li was from Beidie Palace; even if he were from his own Qiyue Sect, Lie Rufeng would not betray Lu Sangjiu after they had fought side-by-side.

Of course, he wouldn’t help her either. Keeping the fact that he’d seen her today a secret was enough to repay the favor.

Hearing Lie Rufeng’s words, Ruxin immediately added, "Don’t worry, I won’t say anything either."

Tang Ming also nodded. "Let’s just pretend we never met today!"

Lu Sangjiu was satisfied with the attitude of these three. The only variable was Duan Yiyi... Tsk. ’It would have been better if she’d just died earlier. What a headache.’

Seeing Lu Sangjiu’s gaze shift back to Duan Yiyi, Lie Rufeng fell silent for a moment before tossing the storage rings she had just given him back to her.

"We can’t let you kill her, and we can’t stop her from causing you trouble, so... take this as compensation."

"Mr. Lu, I imagine you don’t want to fight us either. Let’s just leave it at that."

Lu Sangjiu looked at the storage rings in her hand. ’Hmm... how did he know I was poor? A material bribe is more effective on me than anything else right now.’

’Worst case, I’ll just change my appearance and move to a new place. I still come out ahead!’

So, clutching the storage rings, Lu Sangjiu readily agreed. "Alright. Well then, everyone, the mountains don’t move and the green waters flow on. May we meet again if fate allows!"

It was just a chance meeting, and with Lu Sangjiu already in trouble herself, no one had any intention of exchanging contact information.

And with that, Lu Sangjiu left without a backward glance.

The area was no longer safe. Without hesitation, Lu Sangjiu left and immediately headed for the nearest Teleportation Array to travel to another city.

She didn’t stop there, but continued to teleport relentlessly.

After using Teleportation Arrays a total of four times, she finally arrived in a place called Lishui City. Only then did she relax slightly, change her appearance into that of a young man, and settle down.

After checking into an inn, the first thing Lu Sangjiu did was to organize her spoils of war.

They don’t say robbery is the fastest way to get rich for nothing. After killing six Cultivators and a few demon beasts, Lu Sangjiu was suddenly wealthy.

After sorting through the Spirit Stones, she found she had over ten thousand top-grade spiritual stones and thirty-two Immortal Stones.

The wealth had mostly come from those Cultivators from the Poison Dragon Sect; after all, their cultivation levels were quite high.

Among the other items, Lu Sangjiu found a few things she could use.

One was a movement technique manual called the Hundred Flowers Step.

Its quality was a bit better than Lu Sangjiu’s current movement technique, which was something she desperately needed.

There were also several High-level Formations, both offensive and defensive, which were much stronger than the ones Lu Sangjiu had previously mastered. She could study those as well.

As for Techniques and Skills, there were fewer that suited her. After picking through them, she found one Cultivation Technique called Heart Sealing Poison to be rather interesting.

It seemed she could combine it with her Thousand Silk Entanglement to increase its power.

While the Cultivation Techniques she had mastered before were still usable, they would soon be outpaced as she grew stronger.

Therefore, she either had to learn new ones or improve and upgrade her existing techniques.

She was a sentimental person, so she leaned toward the latter.

With so many things to study and master, Lu Sangjiu decided to simply rent a cultivator’s cave in Lishui City and enter a period of seclusion.

Once she entered seclusion, she remained there for a full year.

During this time, she was completely immersed in her own world, totally unaware of what was happening outside.

First, let’s talk about Duan Yiyi. She truly lived up to expectations.

After she woke up, even though Lie Rufeng told her that Lu Sangjiu had helped save her, she still resented Lu Sangjiu for heavily injuring her with a single palm strike.

Of course, she also blamed Lu Sangjiu for her earlier departure from the team.

In short, she hated her to the bone. As soon as her injuries had healed a bit, she activated a wanted poster and contacted Ji Li.

In the Immortal Spirit Realm, each wanted poster was equivalent to a one-time-use Communication Talisman. Activating it allowed one to directly contact the person who issued it.

Thus, Duan Yiyi contacted Ji Li directly and told him about her encounter with Lu Sangjiu.

She gave a very detailed account, so even though she hadn’t managed to capture Lu Sangjiu, Ji Li still gave her a large reward.

After the communication ended, Ji Li narrowed his eyes, an inexplicable sense of unease rising in his heart.

He had originally thought Lu Sangjiu was as good as dead and hadn’t paid her much mind, focusing all his attention on Xie Ningyuan in the Lower Realm.

But now, he suddenly recalled how Lu Sangjiu had systematically destroyed all his plans, step by step.

’She’s clearly nothing more than an ant in my eyes, yet she always seems to find a way to survive in perilous situations and turn defeat into victory.’

’Now, according to Duan Yiyi, not only has she not died from the backlash of the Immortal Qi and Demonic Qi in her body, but she seems to have found a way to merge them, making her combat strength far greater than others at her level!’

This made him genuinely start to worry... ’If I let her continue to grow, will she soon possess the strength to defeat me head-on?’

’No, absolutely not!’

In that instant, a vicious glint flashed in Ji Li’s eyes. Before killing Xie Ningyuan, he had to eliminate Lu Sangjiu first!

But she possessed the Thousand Faces of Life, making finding her like searching for a needle in a haystack. Unless... he could make her reveal herself.

Aside from Ji Li, who was now taking Lu Sangjiu seriously and beginning to take action, Lie Rufeng also mentioned her to his master after returning to the Qiyue Sect.

Of course, he had promised not to betray Lu Sangjiu, so he didn’t mention that she was the person wanted by Ji Li.

He just mentioned one thing out of curiosity: "Master, during my trip, I saw someone with Spirit-killing Water..."

"I remember you said that’s something unique to your world. So I was thinking, could she have Ascended from the same place as you?"