Lu Li remained unmoved by Lei Xiaoman's plea for help, instead grinning at Zhang Yu: "I... am very interested in your cultivation technique."
"Cultivation technique?" Zhang Yu was momentarily stunned. He secretly tried to sense Lu Li's cultivation level and found his Divine Sense sinking like a clay ox entering the sea. His eyes shifted slightly, "So you want the cultivation technique! You should have said so earlier!"
Upon hearing this, Lei Xiaoman's face instantly turned ashen.
"Give me the cultivation technique, and I'll turn around and leave." Lu Li still wore a smile on his face.
Zhang Yu's face twitched slightly, appearing to smile, "Easy, easy." As he spoke, he reached into his robe.
At that very moment!
Lu Li suddenly transformed into a blur and vanished from his spot, while Zhang Yu actually pulled out a Talisman, throwing it at Lu Li while simultaneously tossing Lei Xiaoman aside and frantically retreating.
Boom!
The Talisman exploded. Lu Li swayed slightly, spitting out a mouthful of black smoke with a pfft.
This Zhang Yu reacted quite quickly, and his attack was decisive, without any hesitation or delay.
Fortunately, his body was strong enough, and the Explosion Talisman didn't cause much damage, only making his blood and Qi surge a bit.
Lei Xiaoman lay on the ground, gasping for air.
"Heh heh, I have to say, I admire you!" Lu Li let out a sinister laugh, looking at Zhang Yu standing five zhang away with an expression of disbelief, speaking sincerely.
He had originally intended to use the cultivation technique as a pretext to lull Zhang Yu into complacency, then seize the opportunity to attack. He never expected this guy would completely fall for it. Fortunately, the other party had released Lei Xiaoman, which could be considered achieving his goal indirectly.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist just wants my cultivation technique, right? Everything can be discussed, discussed." Zhang Yu stared at Lu Li from afar, speaking while slowly retreating.
"Earlier we could discuss, but now there's nothing to discuss!"
Lu Li's expression darkened. He stomped hard on the ground, instantly shooting toward Zhang Yu like a meteor. The distance of several zhang was covered in the blink of an eye. Zhang Yu's hairs stood on end, seeing there was no way to avoid it. In the rushed moment, a burst of cold, sinister black smoke suddenly emerged from his body.
Bang!
Lu Li smashed a fierce punch onto Zhang Yu's body. Zhang Yu felt as if he had been violently struck by a wild ox, sent flying backward with a crash, landing with a splash in the pond behind him.
Water splashed upward, and the black aura on Zhang Yu's body also vanished completely.
His head tilted to the side as he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of black blood.
Lu Li frowned. He had now reached five thousand jin of basic strength. Even without using Mountain Shaker, shouldn't this be more than Zhang Yu, at the Qi Refining fourth layer, could withstand? Yet aside from spitting out black blood, the other party didn't even have the slightest indentation on his chest.
What cultivation technique had this person practiced?
Though he thought this, Lu Li's movements weren't slow. The moment the other party fell into the water, he had already closed in. Grabbing the other party's collar, he raised his fist and delivered several banging punches to the other's face.
As the punches landed one after another.
Zhang Yu's consciousness blurred, and his nose bridge was smashed flat, yet his head showed no signs of cracking.
"I don't believe this!" Lu Li suddenly adopted a strange stance, shouting, "Mountain Shaker!"
Hum!
Space distorted. The punch hadn't arrived yet, but the wind arose first. The compressed force from the fist blew Zhang Yu's face skin until it rippled.
"You dare!"
Suddenly, Zhang Yu abruptly opened his eyes. An aged and furious voice sounded from Zhang Yu's mouth.
Immediately after, Zhang Yu, who had been nearly lifeless, found strength from who knows where, actually breaking free from Lu Li's grip, causing Lu Li's punch to land on empty air.
The black aura on Zhang Yu's body suddenly increased greatly. Then, with a leap, he landed on the courtyard wall dozens of zhang away. Turning back to look at Lu Li, he said in an aged and sinister tone, "Brat, you dare ruin this old man's good deed... You wait for me, I'll personally come deal with you!"
After speaking, he leaped again and vanished from Lu Li's sight.
"Stay here!" Lu Li would never willingly let the other party leave like this. He immediately used Gale Steps to chase after him.
Unfortunately, Zhang Yu had already disappeared without a trace, not even detectable by Divine Sense. It seemed he had used some secret technique, which made Lu Li somewhat uneasy.
The tone in which the other party spoke later had completely changed. Clearly, Zhang Yu was no longer himself. Who knew who the person behind him was, actually possessing such abilities?
At this moment, Lei Xiaoman was still in a dazed state.
Lu Li walked forward and asked, "How are you? Can you still move?"
Lei Xiaoman snapped back to reality, staring warily at Lu Li, "You... who are you?"
Lu Li took out the signal flare Lei Ming had given him from his robe, "This... I wonder if you recognize it?"
Lei Xiaoman's face lit up with joy, "This... this is the signal flare of our Earth Tiger Stronghold!"
"It's good that you recognize it." Lu Li nodded, "Your father asked me to come save you. Come with me?"
"Father?" Lei Xiaoman trembled, "Really? He... doesn't blame me..."
"Little girl, your father has exhausted all his efforts for you." Lu Li sighed with emotion. To get him to save his daughter, Lei Ming not only took out his lifelong savings but also incurred a pile of debt.
Speaking of this, he couldn't help but think of his own father, that pedantic scholar who constantly preached benevolence and morality, forcing him to stay up late studying hard to strive for success in the imperial examinations.
Unfortunately, now even if he wanted his own father to pressure him, there was no opportunity.
Having experienced this ordeal, Lei Xiaoman seemed to have grown more sensible. Tears welled in her eyes as she said, "I... I'm sorry to him."
Lu Li nodded approvingly, "You can apologize to him face-to-face. Right now, we need to leave this place quickly. If that Zhang Dawu returns, we won't be able to leave even if we want to."
"Mm, I'll listen to you." Lei Xiaoman nodded.
Afterward, the two directly climbed over the wall to leave the courtyard, then leaped over the Roaming Dragon Stronghold's wall before arriving on the main street.
Lu Li didn't dare linger, taking Lei Xiaoman toward the west gate of the small town. Fortunately, the black horse was still there. Leading out the black horse, Lu Li had Lei Xiaoman sit on it first, then leaped up himself, sitting behind Lei Xiaoman, holding the reins with both hands: "Hyah-!"
With a loud shout, the black horse immediately galloped wildly. Waves of fresh fragrance continuously wafted into Lu Li's nose and mouth, making his heart sway slightly.
After running for a while, Lei Xiaoman sitting in front was already flushed and breathing heavily.
She tilted her head toward Lu Li and said timidly, "I... can I... sit in the back?"
Lu Li was stunned, quickly pulling the reins, "Of course you can."
Because he also felt somewhat uncomfortable and sensed his palms were getting warm.
The two switched positions.
Lu Li sat in front, Lei Xiaoman sat behind. As Lu Li gave another light shout, the black horse neighed and began galloping madly again. Lei Xiaoman, caught off guard, leaned backward, nearly falling off. She quickly wrapped her arms around Lu Li from behind.
At first, it was fine, but as time passed, the intermittent sensation of pressure between them made both even more uncomfortable.
Fortunately, both were cultivators, so they could force themselves to endure it.
When they reached the evening of the second day, Lu Li suddenly stopped on a small forest path.
"Wh-what's wrong?" Lei Xiaoman asked timidly from behind.
Lu Li looked ahead, frowning slightly, "There's movement ahead. It seems like a large group of people is charging toward our direction."
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