Demoness, Stop! - Chapter 4 - Chapter 4 – First Strike

Baiyun Mountain Range.

A young man, bare-chested and wearing nothing but a grass skirt, was flying at low altitude.

After stepping into the Qi Refining stage, spiritual energy could be stored in the meridians, allowing for short-distance flight. The ability to fly was the dividing line between the Qi Gathering and Qi Refining stages.

Li Yu had already been flying for quite a while.

Every time his spiritual energy was depleted, he would land to recover it. Once replenished, he would take to the skies again, relishing the thrill of flight—an experience so novel that he couldn’t get enough of it.

While Li Yu was having a great time, in a certain valley, another figure was fuming with rage.

Jiang Li was gripping a century-old lingzhi tightly in his hand, glaring at the figures across from him as he gritted his teeth and said, “Chen Ming, I found this first!”

Standing opposite him were three men and one woman. The man in the lead sneered and said, “What do you mean you found it first? I discovered this lingzhi long ago—I was just waiting for it to mature. Look, there’s even a mark I made on that tree next to it.”

Jiang Li glanced at the mark on the tree and grew even more furious. “I saw it with my own eyes! You made that mark just now!”

The man laughed mockingly, then turned and asked his companions, “Did you guys see anything?”

The two men behind him responded without hesitation:

“No!”

“No. That mark was already there when we arrived…”

The young woman, however, looked at Jiang Li’s handsome face and hesitated slightly. She turned toward the man beside her and said quietly, “Senior Brother Chen, maybe let it go? It’s just a lingzhi—it’s not even that old, it won’t fetch many spirit coins…”

Seeing her speak up for Jiang Li made the man, Chen Ming, inwardly furious. She was only siding with him because he was good-looking! In the cultivation world, strength was everything—what use was a pretty face? Shallow woman…

Chen Ming’s face darkened. “Junior Sister Zhou, don’t interfere. This isn’t about spirit coins…”

Hearing that, the young woman didn’t speak further. She knew Chen Ming had past grudges with both Jiang Li and Li Yu—they’d clashed more than once. Though she found Jiang Li and Li Yu rather attractive and couldn’t bear to see them bullied, Chen Ming had already reached the Qi Refining stage six months ago. He was stronger than her, and she often had to cooperate with him on dangerous missions assigned by the temple. She couldn’t afford to offend him.

But when she looked at Jiang Li’s pitifully handsome face, she couldn’t help but feel protective.

Clenching her fists in secret, she vowed: once she was stronger, she would never let Chen Ming bully them again.

Chen Ming looked at Jiang Li’s reddening face. The better-looking this guy was, the more he hated him—not just because the Chen and Jiang Dynasties were enemies, but also because Junior Sister Zhou always showed favoritism toward Jiang Li and Li Yu. Of course, the biggest reason was still that incident two years ago, when he had first arrived at Baiyun Temple—Li Yu and Jiang Li had given him a vicious beating together…

Since reaching the Qi Refining stage, he had made a point to go after those two bastards at every opportunity.

This century-old lingzhi might not be worth many spirit coins, but it was enough to let him vent a bit.

“Hand it over!”

Chen Ming reached out to snatch the lingzhi—but his hand grabbed only air. A figure had appeared in front of Jiang Li, shielding him.

Chen Ming froze for a moment when he saw who it was.

That hateful face—how could he possibly forget?

If there was anyone he despised most in Baiyun Temple, Li Yu ranked second, and absolutely no one could be first. After all, during that brutal beating two years ago, it was Li Yu who’d kicked him the hardest—so hard that he was bedridden for half a month…

But at this moment, Li Yu’s appearance completely baffled Chen Ming.

His hair was loose and messy, his entire body was bare—even his feet were unshod. The only thing covering him was an ultra-short grass skirt tied around his waist. Anyone who didn’t know better might think he was some kind of wild man who had wandered out of the forest.

This getup left the two other men dumbfounded, while the young woman’s gaze wandered repeatedly over Li Yu’s faintly defined abs and chest. A faint blush bloomed across her lovely face.

After a moment of stunned silence, Chen Ming finally came to his senses and asked, “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m here to beat your ass!”

What answered him was a fist from Li Yu—thrown without a shred of hesitation.

Since successfully condensing his Qi, Li Yu had fully absorbed the memories in his mind. He was no stranger to the man in front of him. This was a prince from the Chen Dynasty. The Chen and Jiang Dynasties were neighboring nations with a long history of friction. On the very first day they’d all entered Baiyun Temple, Chen Ming had learned Jiang Li’s identity and deliberately started a fight with him.

Back then, Li Yu had just arrived at the temple. His clothes were tattered, he looked like a pauper, and no one was willing to associate with him—except Jiang Li.

Seeing the only person who had treated him kindly being bullied, how could he just stand by? He and Jiang Li had teamed up and given Chen Ming a savage beating. Because they violated the rules on their very first day, the two of them had been confined in a dark room by Elder Sun for three days. But it was those three days that forged their deep friendship.

Since then, the two were practically inseparable in the temple, giving Chen Ming no chance to exact revenge.

That is, until half a year ago—when Chen Ming broke through to the Qi Refining stage ahead of them. Everything changed after that. Though there was only a one-character difference between the Qi Gathering and Qi Refining, it marked a gulf as wide as that between mortals and cultivators. From that point on, Li Yu and Jiang Li had no choice but to avoid him.

Even so, they still got robbed of spiritual herbs and missions a few times. The past half year had been utterly stifling for the two of them.

And now, Li Yu—having merged those memories—felt that stifling bitterness, too. Seeing Chen Ming again, he couldn’t hold back.

If he was still weak, he’d naturally have to swallow his pride.

But now? Could he still endure this?

He had just broken through to the Qi Refining stage…

His punch whistled through the air, startling Chen Ming. But as a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining, he reacted swiftly. Almost as soon as Li Yu’s punch came flying, he swung his own fist in response.

“Overestimating yourself!”

Chen Ming let out a cold snort. Though his counterattack was a bit rushed, the massive gap in strength between them should have made up for that. In front of so many witnesses—and with Li Yu being the one who struck first—even if he crippled the guy’s arm, Elder Sun couldn’t possibly blame him.

Boom!

The fists collided with a muffled thud. The two were about evenly matched, but one threw his punch with full force, the other blocked hastily. Li Yu merely trembled slightly, while Chen Ming was sent flying backward.

Boom!

Another dull crash rang out as Chen Ming slammed into the ground. He stared at Li Yu in disbelief, unable to understand how the guy had such strength.

Li Yu clenched his fist. That punch had vented a bit of his bottled-up frustration—but not all of it. Almost the instant Chen Ming hit the ground, Li Yu was already charging toward him.

Chen Ming immediately channeled his energy, his body rising into the air and hovering several meters above the ground. Looking down from above, he stared coldly at Li Yu.

The biggest difference between the Qi Refining and Qi gathering was that one could fly—and the other could only rely on their legs. So long as he stayed up high, he held the absolute advantage.

But the next moment, Li Yu’s figure flickered and he actually flew into the air as well. Chen Ming’s eyes widened in shock as he exclaimed, “You… you’ve successfully condensed your Qi…”

Being able to fly meant he had definitely entered the Qi Refining stage.

Realizing this, Chen Ming’s chest tightened with bitterness and endless fury as he muttered, “You really deserve to die…”

As the person he hated most, seeing Li Yu reach the Qi Refining stage was even more painful for Chen Ming than dropping back down to the Qi gathering stage himself. His mind in chaos, he could only frantically defend against Li Yu’s pursuit. After taking several punches to his face and body, he could only throw out, “Just you wait…” before fleeing in panic.

Li Yu did not continue the chase; his spiritual energy was nearly depleted, and pressing further risked a counterattack.

He slowly descended to the ground from the air and noticed the strange expressions on everyone’s faces.

The two male disciples from Baiyun Temple stood dumbfounded, shame faintly visible on their faces. The young woman’s face was flushed, her cheeks glowing like red clouds, her bright eyes sparkling with emotion…

Li Yu looked down and finally realized that, in his frenzy, he had forgotten he was still in a half-naked state.

Just now, he’d been soaring above their heads like that.

Fortunately, he was mentally strong and neither blushed nor faltered. He glared at Chen Ming’s two followers and snapped, “What’re you staring at? Beat it…”

The two turned and ran away at once. The young woman shyly glanced at Li Yu before turning to fly away as well. Li Yu then looked over at Jiang Li, noticing his face was also a bit flushed.

Just as he was about to speak, he suddenly felt a chill on his backside. His earlier exaggerated movements had been too much for the makeshift grass skirt tied around his waist — the string had broken and it fell to the ground.

Li Yu bent down, picked up the grass skirt, and tied it back on. Jiang Li kept his eyes tightly shut.

Li Yu glanced at him and said coolly, “What are you playing at? It’s not like you’ve never seen this before…”

Jiang Li snorted coldly, “I don’t want to dirty my eyes.”

After Li Yu finished tying the skirt, Jiang Li moved his hand away, took off his outer robe, and handed it to Li Yu. He himself wore only an undershirt.

On their way back to Baiyun Temple, Jiang Li adjusted his mood, his expression complicated as he said, “You… you successfully condensed your Qi…”

Li Yu nodded and replied, “Just now.”

Jiang Li’s expression grew even more complicated. As his best friend, he was happy for Li Yu, but a lingering sadness filled his heart.

In three months, they would have been at Baiyun Temple for a full two years. Li Yu had succeeded in condensing Qi; even if he wasn’t chosen this time as an official disciple of the Kunlun Sect, he would have future chances. But Jiang Li—he would have to leave and return home to inherit the throne…

Li Yu seemed unaware of Jiang Li’s feelings. While buttoning his outer robe, he casually said, “Didn’t you say there’s been demonic cultivators roaming around recently? And you still want to leave the temple? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Jiang Li clutched the Lingzhi herb in his hand and murmured, “Your birthday is coming up. I want to gather more spirit herbs. If I’m lucky enough to find one with enough age, I can trade it for a Qi Gathering Pill…”

He sighed and said, “But it seems like that won’t be necessary anymore…”

Li Yu stopped in his tracks.

Back when he was an undercover agent in his past life, even though he had many brothers around him, everyone only smiled on the surface while secretly plotting how to kill each other to take their place and seize their resources. No one had ever treated him like this before…

Li Yu was silent for a moment, then opened the milky-white jade bottle he had been holding in his left hand and said, “Open your mouth…”