I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense

Chapter 663: Chapter 664: Descend the Mountain
“But aren’t we essentially Imperial Court officials? What should we do if our actions are exposed?”

A rookie government officer asked, his face displaying signs of worry. He had never done such a thing before and felt somewhat guilty.

“Heh, you simply don’t know. On normal days it indeed wouldn’t be right to act rashly, but these are not normal days. What are we here for? We are here to capture the demon head! If something happens in this village, just pin it on that demon head. After all, the common folk are all ignorant; they’ll believe whatever they are told, so there’s nothing to worry about!”

“Furthermore, you don’t know just how precious the chicks here are, they’re not like those women in the brothels…”

In response to the newcomer’s questions, the old hands laughed heartily. With Li Xiaobai as their shield, no matter what they did, they could make him take the fall for it.

If they really feared trouble, they could simply kill those women afterward, play their part for a few days, then leave without a backward glance, leaving all the blame on the demon head.

“This doesn’t seem right…”

“What’s not right about it? The higher-ups all do the same; otherwise, where would we get the courage…”

Hearing the crowd’s banter, Li Xiaobai approached them with an expressionless face.

He was so furious he could almost explode. People often say that good and evil cannot coexist, but right now, it was these supposedly righteous government officers dressed as officials who were committing disgraceful deeds, while he, the demon head shunned by all, was the truly innocent one.

And now he understood why so many charges suddenly appeared against him out of nowhere. It turned out they were not baseless but were black pots thrown at him by those so-called Imperial Court officials.

This world had indeed lost its sense of right and wrong!

As he got closer, he finally caught the attention of the government officers.

“You are…”

“The demon head, you are that demon head!”

“You actually came out on your own!”

“How audacious, grab your weapons!”

Instantly, a group of people at the tea stall drew their swords and surrounded Li Xiaobai, tension filling the air in a flash.

“Who would have thought that you would walk right into the trap? It seems even the heavens are helping us!”

“Li Xiaobai, you demon head who has caused chaos and harmed countless beings in this world, today we will capture you and bring you to justice!”

At the command of the middle-aged leader, internal cultivation techniques churned within their bodies, powerful inner strength exploded forth, and a dozen swords attacked Li Xiaobai simultaneously.

Without a doubt, this group was much stronger than any he had encountered before—all being at the Spirit Refining Realm with internal strength that Essence Refining martial artists could not compare to.

“Right and wrong inverted, unable to discern the truth, you are nothing but beasts wearing human skins.”

“All of you go back to being mere chives!”

Li Xiaobai’s eyes widened, and his hands shot out like dragon claws, his overwhelming inner strength sweeping in all directions. More than ten massive hands that could be seen with the naked eye appeared out of thin air, manifestations of his inner strength, which instantly halted the fierce attacks of the crowd and then grabbed every government officer all at once.

His Spirit Realm Technique circulated, and a tremendous suction tore the inner strength from the bodies of the government officers and channeled it into his Dantian.

“How… How is this possible?”

“We are masters at the Spirit Refining Realm, how could we be defeated in one move, and how can you possibly absorb our inner strength!”

“And how do you possess such vigorous inner strength? You are not just an ordinary martial artist practicing Essence Refining; you’ve been playing possum! Even the Imperial Court has been fooled by you!”

Several middle-aged men’s faces changed dramatically, their eyes full of fear as they looked at Li Xiaobai.

Without mentioning anything else, just those huge hands that covered the sky from the void were beyond their capability to conjure. This required vast inner strength to manipulate, and they had only heard of experts within the Imperial Guard capable of achieving this feat.

But every expert in the Imperial Guard was a powerhouse of the Refinement Void Realm. Li Xiaobai had almost died on the execution platform just a few days ago; how could he possibly be an expert of that level?

There must be some mistake!

“Hehe, you all are nourishment sent to me by the Imperial Court. Come to think of it, I should thank the government. If it weren’t for the brilliant decisions of those at the top, I wouldn’t have obtained so much fine material so easily.”

“Don’t you want to know why the inner strength in my body is so vast? You will know the answer very soon!”

After a moment of refreshing clarity, Li Xiaobai’s face broke into a satisfied smile.

Taking out a large bundle of hemp rope, he tied up a row of people securely and herded them like cattle into a cave deep in the forest.

“I’ve brought some new friends for you all. As per usual, you’re responsible for teaching the newcomers the laws of survival here!”

“Xiao Qi, these people are under your management from now on.”

Li Xiaobai threw the group of government officers into the cave then turned and left.

“At your command, I guarantee to complete the task!”

Xiao Qi seemed very excited; the number of people under his command was growing. Even the head government officer at the Yamen didn’t manage so many people. He felt a little thrilled at the thought!

“Listen up, everyone, the first rule of survival: never stop cultivating….”

…

Several months passed, and the cave produced several dozen high-level practitioners of the Spirit Refining Realm. The situation was very promising.

With the daily absorption of inner strength from over a hundred people, Li Xiaobai had far exceeded the Spirit Refining level. However, his meridians were not yet fully opened, so he had not stepped into the Spirit Refining Realm.

Ordinary martial artists only needed to use their inner strength to open their meridians to advance to the next realm, but Li Xiaobai’s cultivation technique was special. He needed to make sure that his inner strength could circulate endlessly within his body like the Circulation of the Heavens before officially entering this realm.

There are three Dantians within the human body located at the forehead, the third eye Upper Dantian, at the chest, the heart Middle Dantian, and three inches below the navel, the Lower Dantian. The Lower Dantian gathers energy while the Upper Dantian refines the spirit.

Once one steps into the Refinement Void Realm, they can begin to hone the Primordial Spirit in their Upper Dantian.

But Li Xiaobai was not in a hurry. He knew that once he stepped into that realm, he would be the reigning King, and nothing the rabble in the Imperial Court could do would affect him.

Months went by, and with the Imperial Court’s fruitless waiting and discovering that not one of their deployed experts could be traced, the last bit of patience among the officials was exhausted.

One day, the news was proclaimed throughout the main city.

In three days, at the third quarter of the noon hour, Long Xue would be executed, eliminated in front of everyone as a public act of excising evil!

After hearing this news, Li Xiaobai wrote another letter and had it sent to the Yamen residence within the main city.

The other party intended to use the execution of Long Xue as an opportunity to lure him out, but he also wanted to take this chance to absorb as many “leeks” as possible.

The content of the letter was simple: at noon the next day, the two parties would exchange cultivation techniques and hostages five miles outside the city. He would bring the Spirit Realm Technique in exchange for Long Xue.

He believed that upon seeing such a message, those in the Imperial Court would not be able to contain their eagerness and would send people over to snatch the opportunity. With his situation, absorbing the inner strength of a few more experts would allow him to completely advance to the Spirit Refining stage.