Chapter Ninety-Nine: A Bit Unusual

“Nonsense! I don’t have athlete’s foot. That stench comes from the rotting corpses buried beneath the yellow sands.”

The Sand Giant suddenly erupted in anger, his massive frame shaking as he flung several decayed remnants of crocodile-headed pythons down before Xu Zhe.

“The scent isn’t right,” Xu Zhe shook his head.

“Damn it, Brother Zhe, we just met after so long, don’t start messing with me straight away,” the Sand Giant’s broad face twisted into an expression of discomfort and frustration.

“What’s the point of you bringing this up?” Xu Zhe asked, expressionless as he gestured toward the Sand Giant.

“Of course there’s a reason. No aura, no consciousness, no trace to follow. It took me a great deal of effort to seize this opportunity,” the Sand Giant said, tilting his head as if suddenly recalling something, glancing curiously at Xu Zhe.

“That’s odd, Brother Zhe, how did you recognize me?” he asked.

“Athlete’s foot.”

“Stop joking, Brother Zhe. I’m serious—this is important. Where exactly did I slip up?”

“I’m serious too.”

“...”

A brief silence fell over the scene, tinged with a hint of awkwardness. Xu Zhe remained quiet; the embarrassment belonged to Li Chungang.

“That can’t be...” The Sand Giant sniffed suspiciously, as if trying to detect something with his nose.

“What about Wang Jianguo?” Xu Zhe asked.

“Brother Zhe, let’s move somewhere farther away to talk. My consciousness can’t hold out much longer. I’ve waited for you here for days. You’ve got guts, wandering alone into the Endless Sand Sea. Luckily, you didn’t wander too far, or I wouldn’t have known where to find you.”

With that, the Sand Giant suddenly dissolved into sand, swept away by the howling wind into the depths of the desert.

Xu Zhe thought for a moment, then leapt after him.

One after another, they raced deep into the sand sea for two days.

Throughout the journey, the Sand Giant remained silent, and Xu Zhe did not speak either.

On the third day, the wind died down, and the drifting sand dust fell to the ground.

Then, a blurred shadow emerged from the earth, gradually solidifying until his features became clear.

A stubbled chin, eyes marked by the wear of time, a large blade slung on his back—he bore the unmistakable aura of a martial hero from a wuxia drama.

It was none other than Li Chungang, the man who had appeared earlier in a television commercial.

“Brother Zhe, long time no see,” Li Chungang smiled and winked at Xu Zhe. “I’m now the top Blade God of the Qingci Continent.”

Xu Zhe crossed his arms, smiling faintly. “Blade God Li, then tell me—why have you remained hidden all this time, and why suddenly appear to see me now?”

“The reason for hiding is rather complicated.”

Li Chungang’s expression grew complex as he glanced at Xu Zhe. “At first, it was to protect you. The day you awakened, many eyes were watching. If we had shown ourselves, someone would have definitely tried to harm you. They would stop at nothing to extinguish you before you could grow stronger.”

“Are they stronger than you?” Xu Zhe asked.

“It’s not about strength. We still don’t even know who they are,” Li Chungang said with a helpless shake of his head.

“What do you mean?” Xu Zhe was stunned; he hadn’t expected such an answer. Not knowing your enemies was absurd.

“Someone is orchestrating a grand scheme, very interested in our bloodline...” Li Chungang stopped himself and shook his head. “Brother Zhe, this is complicated. In other words, the waters are deep. You don’t need to get involved, nor can you.”

Xu Zhe frowned. “Whether I participate or not, you have no right to decide for me. Besides, I...”

“Brother Zhe, it’s not like that. If I told you everything, then you’d already be dragged in. I’m not willing to be the one who pulls you down with us.” Li Chungang cut him off, his expression grave.

“You think my strength isn’t enough to know these things yet?” Xu Zhe looked at him calmly.

“To be frank, yes. Your strength isn’t sufficient, and there’s no need,” Li Chungang nodded.

“You’re just a projection, right? By my estimate, your true self must be at least at the Fusion stage, but at most at the Tribulation stage, not yet reaching the Great Perfection.” Xu Zhe met Li Chungang’s gaze steadily. “What if I said I would definitely reach the Great Perfection within ten years?”

Li Chungang froze, swallowing hard.

Then he said, “Brother Zhe, your performance since awakening has surprised everyone. But even if you truly reach the Great Perfection in ten years, I still don’t want to drag you down. Otherwise, you might lose even the chance to survive those ten years.”

“From the very day you awakened, we knew you were different from what we expected. Everyone assumed you possessed the Azure Dragon bloodline, so we deliberately kept our distance, using covert forces in the Talented Valley to see if we could flush out any traitors. But you awakened with a mortal bloodline and a chaotic spiritual root...”

Li Chungang shrugged. “That threw our plans into disarray—and probably theirs too.”

“And then?” Xu Zhe asked.

“We held an emergency meeting and decided to exclude you from the plan. Whether you live as a mortal in Tianhe City or otherwise, we’d keep our distance and not disturb you. This would be beneficial, not harmful, to you,” Li Chungang replied.

“So you pulled everyone out of the Talented Tower that day?”

“Damn right. Speaking of which, I get angry just thinking about it—the Talented Tower was infiltrated long ago. When I sent people to find them, they were already dead,” Li Chungang said with frustration.

“So my human bloodline actually saved me from a disaster,” Xu Zhe raised an eyebrow.

“Not exactly. If you had the Azure Dragon bloodline, when Zhang Chang and his group made their move, I could have caught them before they harmed you. Brother Zhe, you don’t know how many traps we laid. We had a great chance to win that game of chess, but you pulled off such a big twist,” Li Chungang said unwillingly.

“A game of chess? You treated me like a pawn?” Xu Zhe smiled slightly.

“Brother Zhe, from the moment we were stranded on that deserted island, we all became pawns. So when we learned you had a mortal bloodline, we excluded you from the plan to free you from the pawn role. As long as you lived as a mortal and stayed low, no one would treat you as a pawn.

“But then you pulled off a huge upset—you advanced to the Qi Refinement stage in a single day, trained your body intensively, and stirred up trouble on Soul-Calming Night. Damn, I almost cried that night and sent people back to Talented Valley overnight,” Li Chungang said with great enthusiasm, spittle flying.

“Qi Ming and the Cold Crow Army weren’t your doing, were they?” Xu Zhe asked, surprised.

“No. Although we wanted to keep you in Tianhe City, Qi Ming is a fool who became a lackey for Northern Land Continent. We investigated Northern Land these years, and they have no connection to our enemies,” Li Chungang shook his head and sighed. “But after you crippled Qi Ming, everything fell apart. We knew we couldn’t keep you, but never expected your mysterious disappearance, your reappearance in Dongqian Continent, and then your alliance with Zhu Chongli.”

Mentioning Zhu Chongli, Xu Zhe seemed to recall something and said solemnly, “Aside from the Mo family, were there others behind Old Zhu’s death? Including you?”

Li Chungang was stunned, eyes wide. “Of course not, Brother Zhe. Don’t think of us as that kind of people. Zhu Chongli’s death was unexpected. Initially, we received news that the Mo family wanted to capture Zhu Chongli to threaten you into showing yourself, so we didn’t intervene. But we underestimated the madness of Mo Xiaolian. We also sought out underground assassins, but they were all silenced.”

“The Mo family did it?” Xu Zhe asked.

“Most likely. Otherwise, if the Four Continents Council found solid evidence, the Mo family would be in trouble,” Li Chungang nodded.

“I see,” Xu Zhe said thoughtfully.

“Brother Zhe, it wasn’t easy for me to find this opportunity. I blocked all ears and eyes and sent a projection to meet you here in the Burial Immortal Valley. But I can’t hold out long in this godforsaken place. To be brief, never trust anyone easily—especially former friends,” Li Chungang warned.

He added, “I suspect that the enemy we’ve been searching for all these years may be one of our own.”

Xu Zhe nodded calmly, saying nothing more, then asked, “What happened to Wang Jianguo and the others when they entered Burial Immortal Valley back then?”

“I don’t know that either,” Li Chungang shook his head. “But I heard Gu Jia’er disappeared with them. Since you found her in Burial Immortal Valley, you must have spoken with her?”

“...”

Xu Zhe frowned. “You didn’t know that?”

“I truly didn’t! Damn, Brother Zhe, don’t look at me like that. I’m telling the truth,” Li Chungang’s eyes widened in astonishment. “What did Gu Jia’er say to you?”

Xu Zhe smiled. “She said it was you and Wang Jianguo who arranged for her to enter Burial Immortal Valley.”

“You and Wang Jianguo arranged it?” Li Chungang was stunned. “Impossible. She’s definitely lying. You can ask anyone—back then, Wang Jianguo and I didn’t get along. I even suspected he was possessed; he acted very strangely.”

“Is that so?”

Xu Zhe’s smile remained calm. “But I think you seem a bit strange as well.”

“Damn it, Brother Zhe, I’m telling the truth, you...” Li Chungang grew agitated but before he could finish, a tremendous spiritual pressure swept over from afar.

Boom!

The next moment, Li Chungang’s figure vanished without a trace, leaving no aura or footprint behind.

The overwhelming pressure arrived, focusing on Xu Zhe while scanning the surroundings as if searching for something.

“Who are you?” Xu Zhe asked solemnly.

This spiritual pressure was immense, surely of the Great Perfection level.

Yet, the pressure ignored Xu Zhe, disappeared suddenly after a brief scan.

Silence fell once more.

Xu Zhe frowned deeply. Within that spiritual pressure, he sensed a faint trace of familiarity.

...

Meanwhile, in the Li Corporation on Dongqian Continent.

In a pitch-black room, the walls were etched with countless intricate array patterns that glowed faintly before dimming.

A man sat cross-legged on the floor, suddenly opening his eyes. The large blade beside him trembled slightly.

“Damn it, I almost got discovered. Why did he appear at that moment? Who exactly is he...”

His face was full of frustration, fists clenched tightly. “Brother Zhe, don’t be fooled.”