Time Travel: The Survival of Li Zhi

After Li Zhi left, the room seemed to be shrouded in a curtain of silence, and the air seemed to be frozen.

After a while, Shao Qicai slowly spoke, his voice softly echoing in the quiet space: "Brother Cen, what do you think of this person?"

Cen Mu was slightly startled, a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes, and he asked back: "Are you talking about Brother Li?"

Shao Qi looked solemn and nodded slightly.

Cen Mu frowned slightly and replied seriously, "Brother Li is a man of justice. If he hadn't saved me without any grudges, I'm afraid I would have died in the wilderness..."

As he spoke, Cen Mu suddenly seemed to realize something. He raised his head abruptly, his eyes fixed on Shao Qi, and asked anxiously, "Junior Brother Shao, you are not suspecting that Brother Li is colluding with that medicine slave, are you?"

Shao Qi's strength in Yaowang Valley is indeed outstanding, and he can be regarded as a leader among the younger generation.

However, in terms of status and position, there is still a big gap compared to Cen Mu.

When Shao Qi first entered Yaowang Valley, he became a disciple of an elder who had no real power.

Since then, he has struggled all the way and relied on his unremitting efforts to climb to his current position.

His master not only failed to provide any help on his path of cultivation, but often added many obstacles to Shao Qi's future due to his own reasons.

Due to the lack of reliable support, even though Shao Qi has outstanding abilities, he still cannot get the attention of the top management of Yaowang Valley.

Therefore, he was sent to this remote place to garrison a small market town that seemed important but was actually far away from the core power circle.

In name, he was assigned an important task, but in reality, he was squeezed out of the power core of Yaowang Valley.

In Yaowang Valley, people with a little status were all rude to Shao Qi and looked down on him.

Only Cen Mu, who was simple-minded and without any ulterior motives, treated Shao Qi sincerely as his own junior brother and gave him the respect and care he deserved.

This is also the fundamental reason why Shao Qi and Cen Mu have a particularly good relationship.

Shao Qi, who has been in this market for many years and has experienced the warmth and coldness of human nature, naturally has much richer experience than Cen Mu.

Correspondingly, he was more meticulous than Cen Mu in judging people and things, and was more cautious and suspicious.

Hearing Cen Mu's slightly accusatory tone, Shao Qi smiled bitterly and said with a complicated expression: "Brother, I am not suspicious without reason. I just think it is too coincidental. During your search for Zhong Qing, he showed up once and even fought with you. Later, when you were attacked, he happened to appear in time. It is really hard not to be suspicious..."

Cen Mu's brows furrowed even more as he listened to Shao Qi's analysis. He pressed on, "But if he really was colluding with the drug slaves, why would he save me? That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't it be better to just let my body lie exposed in the wilderness?"

Shao Qi shook his head helplessly and sighed, "This is exactly what I can't figure out... I've been secretly paying attention to his every move these past two days, but I haven't noticed anything unusual..."

"However, I went to the Xingyun Chamber of Commerce with him today, and I saw that he had collected a lot of spiritual herbs and medicinal herbs needed by monster spirits. It was really strange."

Listening to Shao Qi's words, Cen Mu began to explain on Li Zhi's behalf, "I've fought Brother Li before, and he does indeed have some evil spirits in his possession. I imagine he collected these things to cultivate those evil spirits."

Shao Qi nodded, but his brows were furrowed and did not relax.

Cen Mu raised his head, looked directly into Shao Qi's eyes, and said, "Junior brother, could it be that you are thinking too much and being too suspicious?"

Shao Qi smiled helplessly, shrugged, and said, "Maybe..."

Cen Mu was still naive after all, and deep down he really didn't want to doubt Li Zhi, the benefactor who had saved his life.

So, he suppressed his doubts and changed the subject, "By the way, has the matter of the medicine slave been reported to the Immortal Sect?"

Upon hearing this, Shao Qi nodded quickly and replied, "It has been reported. I estimate that the Immortal Sect will reply soon."

When mentioning drug slaves, Cen Mu's mind instantly emerged with that bloody and tragic scene.

Yao Nu not only destroyed one of his arms, but also ruthlessly killed several of his fellow apprentices.

His chest felt faintly hot, the fire of hatred burning fiercely. His eyes flushed slightly, and he gritted his teeth and said to Shao Qi, "Junior Brother Shao, please help me find out if there is anyone who knows how to treat a broken arm or how to graft it. I swear I will not be a human being until I have my revenge!"

Shao Qi looked solemn, nodded vigorously, and replied firmly: "Don't worry, brother, I will do my best to do it!"

 …

Li Zhi strode out of Heyunfang Market with big strides. Behind him, the noise of the market gradually receded like the tide.

The wind blew gently, bringing a slight coolness and ruffling the hem of his clothes. Li Zhi raised his hand, slowly reached into his arms, and pulled out the map he had just picked up at the market.

The map unfolded in his hands. Although it was simply drawn, the lines and marks were clearly visible.

Li Zhi looked at the map carefully, and soon, when he left Heyunfang City, he saw two forks in the road ahead.

One of the roads was winding and twisting like a dormant giant python, pointing directly to the Xiao family's territory.

Li Zhi couldn't help but think of the Xiao family's mysterious spirit beast that could accurately sniff out the breath of people who had cultivated the five internal organs.

Once the Xiao family finds out that he is practicing the Five Organs Meridian, he will surely be hunted down by the Xiao family.

When Li Zhi thought about being caught by the Xiao family and being treated like livestock, becoming a tool for continuously producing the five internal organs' qi, he felt a chill running from the soles of his feet to his heart.

Without hesitation, he decisively ruled this path out of his options.

The other road leads to the territory of the Xingyun Sect.

Li Zhi had previously asked Shao Qi about the Xingyun Sect.

Shao Qi told him that the Xingyun Sect was far more powerful than Yaowang Valley, a regional giant. Since its founding, Heyun Market had remained stable, with no one daring to challenge it, largely due to the Xingyun Sect's deterrent power.

The people of the Xingyun Sect are very warlike. In their sect, from the elders to the disciples, all are included in the corresponding strength rankings.

Those who are powerful are at the top of the rankings and enjoy the best resources in the sect, including magic weapons, elixirs, and secret manuals.

Those who are not strong enough and do not even have the qualifications to be on the list can only struggle to survive in the sect, become vassals of the strong, and live a life almost like slavery.

But, who among those who practice cultivation does not have lofty ambitions and the aspiration to reach the top?

Who is willing to become an ant under the feet of others and be driven around by them?

Therefore, in order to escape from the predicament, the weaker disciples practiced desperately and tried to improve their strength.

People with great abilities dare not slack off at all. They are always worried about being surpassed by those who come after them, and they are also racing against time to hone themselves.

This cycle repeated itself, and gradually a fierce, aggressive and competitive atmosphere formed within the Xingyun Sect.

Just by listening to Shao Qi's description, Li Zhi could feel that the territory of Xingyun Sect was by no means an easy road. Once he set foot in it, he would face many unknown challenges and dangers.

But after weighing the pros and cons, compared to the almost fatal threat from the Xiao family, he gritted his teeth and decided to embark on the road to the Xingyun Sect.

After all, in his opinion, once the matter of practicing the Five Internal Organs Sutra is leaked, then he will have to face not only the Xiao family, but also various forces that covet the Five Internal Organs Qi.

Those forces would certainly regard him as a lamb to be slaughtered. Such a crisis-ridden situation would be far more terrifying than simply facing the challenge of the Nebula Sect.

Li Zhi slowly put the map away and put it back into his arms.

He took a deep breath, then raised his head, looked into the distance with a firm gaze, took steady and powerful steps, and walked resolutely towards the chosen path, his figure gradually moving away in the wilderness.