Chapter 16: Wind Spirit Moon Shadow

Yin Wuji’s face completely darkened.

He had cultivated for over a hundred years, from Qi Refining to Golden Core, and had been decisive and ruthless the entire way.

He had never been treated with such contempt before.

“You’re looking for death!”

With a wave of his hand, the two Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators behind him stepped forward in unison.

Two surges of Spiritual Pressure erupted simultaneously, and a fierce gale swept through the bamboo grove.

Both were clearly Body Cultivators, their Baleful Qi bursting forth.

“Cripple him,” Yin Wuji ordered calmly.

“Leave him breathing. This Seat will interrogate him personally.”

“Yes!”

The two responded and moved.

The burliest one on the left struck first, his Mountain-Splitting Axe blazing with sharp Spiritual Light as it swung toward Gu Li’an.

The other two flanked left and right, cutting off all escape routes.

They moved with seamless coordination, clearly not the first time they had fought together.

Su Wan’er’s face changed drastically.

Instinctively, she reached for her sword to step forward, but Gu Li’an pressed a hand on her shoulder.

“Stand back.”

Su Wan’er froze for a moment, then obediently stepped aside.

She looked at Gu Li’an’s back, and a sudden calm settled in her heart.

Gu Li’an watched the Mountain-Splitting Axe as it drew closer.

His heart rate had already hit two hundred beats per minute.

He frantically calculated the distance in his mind—three yards, two yards, one yard.

‘The strength is sufficient. I won’t hold back with this move.’

The instant the axe fell, Gu Li’an moved.

His entire body slid along the blade’s edge, then he threw a punch.

Bam!

The burly cultivator felt as though his chest had been rammed by an ancient beast.

His Protective Spiritual Light shattered into fragments on contact, and the sound of cracking ribs was unmistakable.

He flew backward, snapping seven or eight bamboo stalks before crashing heavily to the ground, blood gushing from his mouth.

One blow had gravely wounded a Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator.

The remaining two’s faces twisted in shock, their steps faltering.

But Gu Li’an gave them no time to react.

He spun and closed in, moving with astonishing speed.

The second cultivator hastily raised his Bronze Small Shield to block.

Gu Li’an’s fist slammed into the shield’s surface.

Boom!

After the first punch landed, the second followed instantly.

It shattered the shield and, with undiminished force, struck the cultivator solidly on the shoulder.

Spiderweb cracks spread across the bronze shield.

The cultivator’s eyes bulged wide, his mouth open but voiceless.

He let out a muffled grunt, collapsed to his knees, and blood streamed from his seven orifices.

He fell unconscious on the spot.

The third cultivator finally reacted.

He let out a shrill shriek and thrust his Long Sword, turning it into a streak of sword light aimed straight at Gu Li’an’s back.

Gu Li’an didn’t turn around.

The sword stabbed into his back.

The cultivator’s face lit up with ecstasy.

“Wh—what?!”

The sword tip struck Gu Li’an’s back but could not penetrate an inch.

Gu Li’an slowly turned around, staring at him.

His eyes were as calm as a stagnant pool.

The cultivator’s hands began to tremble.

He could no longer hold the sword, and it clattered to the ground.

“Sp—spare me…”

Gu Li’an said nothing.

He simply raised a hand and struck the cultivator’s chest.

The cultivator’s eyes rolled back, and he collapsed limply, unconscious on the spot.

Three Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators—from the moment they attacked to the moment they fell—barely two breaths had passed.

The bamboo grove was deathly silent.

The overwhelming sense of effortless crushing was more shocking than any verbal description.

Zhao Qian lay on the ground, completely dumbfounded.

He had thought he was done for.

No matter how strong the man in black robe was, at best he was Foundation Establishment Peak.

Against a Golden Core True Person and three Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators, there was no chance of victory.

But now, he had watched those three Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators get flipped over like paper.

That casualness…

A thought flashed through Zhao Qian’s mind, making his body tremble uncontrollably.

‘This man is definitely not just Foundation Establishment Peak.’

Yin Wuji’s expression had finally changed completely.

He stood there, staring at Gu Li’an, his pupils contracting violently.

Three Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators were no match for him, but they weren’t mere nobodies either.

To crush them all without a scratch in two breaths—that level of strength…

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Sense frantically swept over Gu Li’an’s body.

His cultivation base was still Foundation Establishment Peak, but that only made him more uneasy.

He had seen people pretending to be weaker than they were, but never someone this thorough.

How could a Foundation Establishment Peak cultivator have such a powerful physical body?

Body Cultivators had extremely high physical strength, and they generally practiced both body and dharma.

There was no such thing as purely focusing on body refinement.

Unless the other party was hiding their true cultivation.

Cold sweat broke out on Yin Wuji’s back.

But he was a Golden Core True Person after all, with a mental fortitude far beyond Foundation Establishment.

He took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, and stared hard at Gu Li’an.

“Not bad skills.”

Yin Wuji sneered.

“But do you think beating a few Foundation Establishment cultivators is enough to throw your weight around in front of This Seat?”

Gu Li’an turned around to face Yin Wuji.

His black robe had been torn in several places during the fight, revealing skin underneath—not a single blood mark.

He stood there silently, robes fluttering, composed and at ease.

Yin Wuji said nothing.

Spiritual Power had already begun gathering in his hand.

Watching his movements, Gu Li’an’s internal alarm blared.

‘I can’t reveal my trump card in front of Su Wan’er and Zhao Qian.’

‘If I can’t withstand it, everything is lost.’

‘A strike from an Early Golden Core cultivator—even with an Indestructible Body, I’m not sure I can take it head-on.’

‘I need a more thorough bluff.’

Gu Li’an’s mind raced.

‘System items…’

His gaze landed on one item in the System Warehouse.

Sect Token.

Gu Li’an reached into his chest and pulled out a token.

The token was pitch black, neither metal nor jade.

Its surface had no markings, only a few ancient characters engraved on the front:

“Wind Spirit Moon Shadow.”

It was a blank token given by the System.

He had just engraved the characters with his will.

Gu Li’an casually tossed the token into the air.

The token did not fall.

It hovered lightly.

But Yin Wuji was startled.

His eyes fell on the token, and his pupils shrank to the extreme.

Though he didn’t know what sect “Wind Spirit Moon Shadow” was, the material of the token was unmistakably the legendary Primordial Mystic Gold.

This object required a ten-thousand-year tempering in the Chaos Void to form.

It had been extinct in the cultivation world for ages.

Only a few reclusive Ancient Dao Sects might possess it.

A thunderous explosion went off in Yin Wuji’s mind.

Although he had never personally seen the tokens of those legendary sects, the sect’s ancient texts recorded them clearly.

Primordial Mystic Gold could not be forged by mortal hands.

Every piece contained the Dao Resonance of the primordial chaos.

The token before his eyes matched the description in the texts perfectly.

If this person truly had such a background…

No, impossible!

Those Ancient Dao Sects had not appeared for a thousand years.

How could they show up in such a remote place?

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Pressure hung unresolved.

His face alternated between pale and blue, his inner turmoil fierce.

But Gu Li’an merely stood there, hands behind his back, tilting his head slightly and looking at him with a hint of a smile in his eyes.

‘He took the bait.’

He slowly reached out, retrieved the token, and lightly weighed it in his hand.

“Are you thinking this token is fake?”

Yin Wuji said nothing, but his expression betrayed him.

Gu Li’an shook his head and let out a soft sigh.

“Venerable Self descended the mountain this time and had no intention of creating unnecessary slaughter.

This Seat couldn’t be bothered with your Lian Sect’s pursuit of that girl.

But you made the one mistake you shouldn’t have: you blocked Venerable Self’s path.”

Yin Wuji’s expression wavered.

He wanted to retort, but the chill rising from the depths of his heart made him unable to even circulate his Spiritual Power steadily.

‘This man is definitely hiding his cultivation.’

Yin Wuji gritted his teeth and decided on one final test.

He abruptly released his full Spiritual Pressure.

The Aura of Pressure from a Golden Core cultivator crashed down.

A violent gale swept through the bamboo grove, and the ground cracked.

Su Wan’er and Zhao Qian were nearly suffocated by the pressure.

But Gu Li’an remained completely unmoved.

He even closed his eyes slightly, as if savoring it.

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Sense locked onto Gu Li’an, desperately trying to catch any trace of Spiritual Power fluctuation.

If the opponent used Spiritual Power to resist, he could determine the true cultivation level from the trajectory of its circulation.

But nothing happened.

Gu Li’an’s body was like a piece of ordinary iron—no Spiritual Power leaked out at all.

Yet there he stood, perfectly straight, right at the epicenter of that terrifying Aura of Pressure.

This defied all logic.

Unless the opponent’s cultivation far surpassed his own, having reached the realm of Return to Simplicity and Truth, where Spiritual Sense could not probe.

Finally, the first crack appeared in Yin Wuji’s mental defenses.

He watched as Gu Li’an slowly opened his eyes.

There was no anger, no mockery in those eyes—only a faint trace of disappointment.

“Is that all?”

Gu Li’an said softly.

Yin Wuji’s Spiritual Pressure began to waver.

He stared hard at Gu Li’an, trying to find a flaw in those eyes.

But all his efforts were futile.

Every sign pointed to an answer he dared not face.

‘If the other party is really a Nascent Soul or higher-level grand cultivator…’

‘Why not just slap me dead?’

A possibility suddenly occurred to Yin Wuji.

‘The opponent doesn’t want to reveal his identity.’

Those Ancient Dao Sects had strict rules.

Disciples entering the mortal world had many taboos.

That was why the opponent only knocked out the subordinates instead of killing them.

And that token…

It was probably deliberately shown to him.

Yin Wuji took a deep breath and slowly withdrew his Spiritual Pressure.

The ferocity on his face faded bit by bit, replaced by deep reverence.

“Senior.”

He cupped his hands and bowed his head.

“This junior was blind and offended you. I failed to recognize Mount Tai.”

Gu Li’an said nothing, merely watching him quietly.

Yin Wuji’s scalp tingled under that gaze.

He hurriedly continued:

“Those worthless scoundrels offended Senior—they deserved it.

This junior will return and discipline them strictly, never to offend Senior again.”

He paused, glanced at Su Wan’er, and lowered his voice:

“As for the Lian Sect, from this day forward, we shall never pursue the matter again.

Senior may rest assured.”

Silence stretched through the bamboo grove.

Every second felt like an eternity.

Cold sweat dripped down Yin Wuji’s cheek and onto the ground.

Finally, Gu Li’an spoke.

“Scram.”

Yin Wuji, as if granted a pardon, hurriedly cupped his hands again.

“Thank you, Senior! Thank you, Senior!”

He didn’t even dare to fly away.

Instead, he retreated bent over until he exited the bamboo grove.

As for the unconscious Foundation Establishment Peak cultivators lying on the ground, he didn’t dare glance at them again.

Su Wan’er stood there, looking at Gu Li’an’s back, still trembling slightly.

‘That token…’

‘Who exactly is Senior?’

Zhao Qian lay on the ground, not even daring to breathe.

He had originally wanted to thank him, but now he just wanted to play dead.

Gu Li’an turned around and glanced at Zhao Qian on the ground.

“Can you still walk?”

Zhao Qian nodded quickly.

Gu Li’an said no more and walked out of the bamboo grove.

Su Wan’er hurried to follow.

Zhao Qian hesitated, then limped along behind them.

The moment he stepped out of the bamboo grove, Gu Li’an took a deep breath and cursed furiously in his mind.

‘Holy sht!’