Chapter 90

Li Wenjun was already quite close to the waterfall when he entered the river. Before Liu Zhiyun could catch up, he was swept away by the turbulent river and rushed out from the waterfall's mouth.

The force of the river's impact was immense, and Li Wenjun was completely at its mercy, unable to control himself. He desperately used his light body technique, trying to find a place to land. His chances of turning the situation around were slim; if he fell straight into the pool below the waterfall, he would be as good as dead.

Perhaps it was not Li Wenjun's time to die. During his fall, he noticed a rock protruding from the middle of the waterfall, as if piercing through it. However, the rock was not in his trajectory.

In a flash of inspiration, Li Wenjun used his knife to cut open the storage bag on his shoulder and threw it out with all his strength. Using the momentum from the thrown bag, he activated his light body technique and, with a twist in mid-air, lunged toward the rock.

The rock, having been battered by the waterfall for years, had a very smooth surface. When Li Wenjun's right foot landed on it, he slipped immediately, almost falling off. He quickly inserted his Dragon-Headed Goose Feather Knife into the rock behind the waterfall, barely managing to stabilize himself.

Li Wenjun let out a sigh of relief. He hid behind the curtain of water, his body tightly pressed against the rock wall, waiting for any opportunity to turn the tide. He had no idea how likely such an opportunity would be; it might be so slim as to be negligible, or perhaps the sliver of hope he was waiting for was right there.

Just as Li Wenjun had hidden himself, Liu Zhiyun caught up. He saw Li Wenjun being swept away by the river and wanted to check on his condition immediately. However, at that moment, the duration of his wind-riding talisman was about to expire. Liu Zhiyun, having learned from experience, had already switched to a new talisman before flying over the river, which only delayed him for a few breaths.

Liu Zhiyun flew above the waterfall and looked down. He immediately saw the storage bag floating in the pool below the waterfall. But when he searched more carefully, he could not find any sign of Li Wenjun.

Liu Zhiyun was immediately filled with doubt. According to common sense, this should not have happened. A storage bag was a cultivator's most important possession, and no one would easily discard it unless absolutely necessary. Li Wenjun was a wandering cultivator, living a hard life, and such a person would value his belongings even more. Why could he only see the storage bag and not Li Wenjun?

Liu Zhiyun quickly thought that Li Wenjun might be hiding, waiting to strike a fatal blow. However, he soon dismissed this idea. Given the severe injuries Li Wenjun had sustained, if he were in Liu Zhiyun's position, he would only seek a place to hide and recover, not think of counterattacking.

Despite this, Liu Zhiyun reminded himself to be cautious. He first slapped a Copper Head Iron Arm talisman on himself to put his body in a better state, then threw several Ice Spike talismans toward the rock in the middle of the waterfall.

The sharp ice spikes whistled through the curtain of water, but there was no movement behind it. Li Wenjun, hiding there, endured another ice spike, gritting his teeth to bear the excruciating pain.

Liu Zhiyun, confirming there was no danger, rode the gentle breeze and slowly descended from the waterfall's mouth, heading toward the pool below. Most of his attention was on the trees, shrubs, and rocks around the pool. If Li Wenjun were hiding, he would likely be in one of these spots. The thought of killing Li Wenjun and claiming his cultivation techniques or treasures for himself made Liu Zhiyun's eyes light up.

He imagined that once his cultivation realm advanced rapidly, no one in the sect would dare to mock or look down on him.

Just as Liu Zhiyun was lost in his daydreams, he suddenly heard a faint "plop" sound, as if something had hit the water. The sound was very weak, hidden in the thunderous roar of the waterfall, making it difficult to determine its source immediately. He instinctively glanced at the pool.

There was no movement in the pool. Liu Zhiyun realized something was wrong. Just as he was about to turn around to check, Li Wenjun, who had been hiding behind the curtain of water, pounced on him, tightly hugging him from behind.

Li Wenjun had little remaining mana. He channeled all of it into the Dragon-Headed Goose Feather Knife, instantly activating its blade glow, and then thrust the knife, along with the glow, toward Liu Zhiyun's back.

However, Li Wenjun was soon disappointed. The Dragon-Headed Goose Feather Knife could not penetrate Liu Zhiyun's back. Liu Zhiyun's Copper Head Iron Arm talisman was a high-quality one, better than the one Jiang Shan had used, providing superior defense. Moreover, Li Wenjun was already at the end of his strength, with his combat power significantly reduced, making it impossible to pierce through the protection.

Liu Zhiyun, tightly gripped by Li Wenjun, could not use talismans to strike him or even turn around. He used his elbow to push against Li Wenjun, creating a bit of space, and then increased the force, hammering Li Wenjun's chest.

Li Wenjun, already injured, started coughing up blood.

This was not a viable strategy. Li Wenjun, determined, decided to use his hands since the knife was ineffective. He discarded the Dragon-Headed Goose Feather Knife, raised his palm, and gathered the tiny bit of mana left in his body, striking Liu Zhiyun's head.

The force in his palm was purely physical and did not diminish with the loss of mana. When it hit Liu Zhiyun's head, Liu Zhiyun was shaken and felt dizzy.

The head is one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Even with the protection of the Copper Head Iron Arm talisman, it was still susceptible to strong impacts and strikes. This kind of attack was different from being cut, slashed, or stabbed by a weapon; the talisman could only mitigate part of the impact, not eliminate it entirely.

Seeing that it was effective, Li Wenjun was invigorated. He relentlessly struck Liu Zhiyun's head, sometimes even using his own head to ram into Liu Zhiyun's. Whether his own head would be damaged was no longer a concern for the now frenzied Li Wenjun.

If he did not seize this one opportunity to kill Liu Zhiyun, he would face death. Li Wenjun did not want to die, so he had to use every means at his disposal to quickly eliminate this formidable opponent.