Reversing the Milky Way

Bai Cheng was startled.

'What! This is!'

Without a second thought, Bai Cheng swiftly shielded himself with his silver bow. Immediately afterward, he felt as if he'd been hit by a speeding truck and sent flying. After rolling twice on the ground, Bai Cheng quickly got to his feet and saw a dark figure, wielding a long sword, slowly emerge from the thick fog—it was the same black-clad man who had been fighting Liu Xieyang earlier.

Bai Cheng's heart tightened when he saw the long sword in his hand.

'That's Liu Weishi's sword. How did it end up in that man in black? Could it be that Liu Weishi was no match for him? This is troublesome.'

The returning man in black brandished his longsword, then swung it forcefully, sending a pale blue sword aura hurtling towards Bai Cheng. Bai Cheng reacted swiftly, dodging the attack as golden lightning flashed beneath his feet, leaving a deep trench in the ground where he had landed.

"Looks like you're quite capable, kid. I didn't expect you to be so fast at escaping."

Faced with the provocation from the man in black, Bai Cheng quickly came to Cui Yuanfang's side.

"Brother Bai Cheng, can you handle this? If not, with your strength, escaping shouldn't be a problem. You've already helped me enough."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng's expression tightened, for he knew that in his current state, it was impossible for him to defeat this Qi Condensation Realm cultivator. His victory over Han Yu in the cave was entirely due to the power of the mysterious fragment within him, but now even Bai Cheng's own spiritual energy was nearly depleted.

"Patriarch Cui, things haven't reached their worst point yet. I wonder if you have any items among your goods that can quickly replenish spiritual energy, such as Spirit Gathering Pills?"

Cui Yuanfang shook his head helplessly after hearing this.

"I'm sorry, Brother Bai Cheng. My Cui family's business mainly deals in cloth and silk. Seventy percent of our goods are top-quality fabrics, and the other thirty percent are miscellaneous items. I am just a merchant from a small family. There are no cultivators in my family, so my business has nothing to do with pills, and we don't even deal with spiritual herbs."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng's heart sank. He knew that if even Liu Weishi couldn't defeat the man in black before him, then he would be helpless and would have no choice but to abandon the merchant caravan and flee alone in desperation. But now, he could only place his hopes on the silver longbow in his hand.

The man in black, holding a long sword, slowly approached the two men in black who had been there before.

"What happened? Why did you take off your hood?"

"Brother, that kid already knows we're from Xiangyunfang."

The man in black frowned upon hearing this, and turned to look at Bai Cheng and the others.

"Now that you know who we are, I can't let you leave alive."

After speaking, he hovered his longsword in front of him, and as he made a hand seal, a light blue magic circle appeared behind him, from which dozens of blue spirit swords materialized and flew towards Bai Cheng and the others.

"Oh no! Brother Bai Cheng, let's run!"

Knowing he couldn't withstand the attacks, Bai Cheng, urged by Cui Yuanfang, steeled himself and reluctantly dodged quickly.

However, these blue spirit swords, under the control of the man in black, quickly turned around, bypassed Cui Yuanfang and the others, and followed Bai Cheng away.

"Kid, let's see how long you can run!"

The flying sword immediately caught up with Bai Cheng, who was dodging. While dodging, Bai Cheng tried to summon the mysterious fragment within his body. However, the mysterious fragment did not react for a long time. Because he was not able to dodge in time, he was also unable to avoid all the attacks under the siege of dozens of spirit swords. Many parts of his body were already injured.

'Hold!'

Bai Cheng steeled his resolve. While dodging, he swiftly drew a fine iron arrow from his longbow and aimed at the man in black. The man in black merely snorted coldly. Facing the fine iron arrow that could easily pierce a martial artist, he simply raised his right hand and caught the arrow with just two fingers. A shockwave spread out, and he didn't even blink.

Upon witnessing this scene, Bai Cheng's heart was filled with turmoil. He hadn't expected that the man in black could catch the arrow so easily, without even emitting any obvious spiritual energy fluctuations. This meant that he had only used his physical strength to contact the arrow that Bai Cheng had shot. Thinking of this, Bai Cheng felt a chill run down his spine.

'Damn it, isn't the highest physical strength a cultivator can achieve at the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm? Could this man in black be pursuing a body-cultivation path? Has he continued to train his physical strength and power?'

Thinking of this, golden arcs of electricity crackled around Bai Cheng's body. He spotted a spirit sword flying towards him and swiftly swung his silver longbow. The sharp bowstring instantly cleaved the blue spirit sword in two.

Immediately following suit, Bai Cheng used the same method to swiftly cleave apart the spirit swords surrounding him. Seeing this, the man in black focused his gaze on the bow in Bai Cheng's hand.

"So that's how it is. It's actually the tendon of a fourth-grade spirit beast, the Azure Wind Ox. No wonder it's so tough."

Having said that, he bent the fine iron arrow in his hand with one hand and then threw it away.

"Kid, you're pretty good. I'm very satisfied with you. You're much better than the trash under my command. I'm giving you one last chance. If you join us, we'll call it even."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng cautiously looked at the man in black.

"You want me to join you? But you don't even dare to show your true faces?"

The man in black smiled faintly upon hearing this.

"That's true. Allow me to reintroduce myself."

After saying that, he took off the black mask from his head.

"My name is Wu Hang, and I am the fourth leader of Xiangyun Workshop."

Bai Cheng looked at Wu Hang in front of him and began to investigate. Judging from the fluctuations of spiritual energy on his body, he discovered that Wu Hang was actually a cultivator in the middle stage of Qi Condensation Realm, and was very likely a body cultivator.

"How about that? Kid, my patience has its limits."

After speaking, Wu Hang clenched his fist with one hand, and his right arm emitted a spiritual light as he accumulated spiritual power. Then he slowly walked towards Bai Cheng, and an aura of power unconsciously emanated from his body.

Upon seeing this, Bai Cheng didn't hesitate. He quickly took out a silver arrow, gathered his spiritual power into the arrow shaft, and then drew his bow to aim at Wu Hang.

"Oh, kid, you surprise me. Even after realizing the difference in strength, you still have the courage to attack me."

Bai Cheng's expression darkened upon hearing this.

"What? You think you're so great? You think you can intimidate me with this little bit of intimidation? What's wrong with your brain?"

As he finished speaking, Bai Cheng took a deep breath and drew the silver bow to its maximum length, releasing a silver arrow with a whoosh. This was the strongest attack he could currently unleash; if even this silver arrow couldn't harm him, then Bai Cheng would really have to consider running away.

Wu Hang frowned slightly upon seeing the silver arrow Bai Cheng had shot. Although he had already sensed the formidable power of such arrows, he dared not be careless when facing this one. If it were just an ordinary arrow, he wouldn't have taken it seriously at all, but now this arrow was surrounded by a layer of golden lightning, and he knew that it was this golden lightning that had separated the previous attack from the Flaming Blade.

His glowing arm quickly gathered spiritual energy into his palm and began to cast the Savage Beast Technique. Immediately afterwards, Wu Hang brought his palms together, and spiritual energy flowed continuously between them.

As he suddenly grasped the spiritual energy in his palm, he threw a punch. A phantom fist, taller than a person, burst forth and collided with the silver arrow shot by Bai Cheng.

As the sound of collision rang out, a powerful surge of spiritual energy, accompanied by streaks of golden lightning, spread outwards. Seeing this, Wu Hang seemed to sense something, and his expression immediately darkened. Bai Cheng's silver arrow clashed with Wu Hang's attack, but this confrontation lasted for less than two seconds.

As the silver arrow shattered, Wu Hang's attack completely deflected it, scattering the arrowhead and shaft in all directions. Bai Cheng felt a surge of resentment at this sight, but Wu Hang's attack did not stop; the phantom of the fist flew rapidly towards Bai Cheng.

Faced with this attack, Bai Cheng was naturally able to easily dodge it using his speed. However, the next moment, Wu Hang manipulated the fist shadow with two fingers.

"Wild Beast Technique, Spirit Transformation!"

As the sound rang out, the illusory fist flying towards Bai Cheng rapidly began to change. One second it was a flying fist, the next it transformed into a four-legged running wolf, a sight that startled Bai Cheng.

"Holy crap! You can attack like that?!"

As arcs of electricity flashed beneath Bai Cheng's feet, his figure began to sprint rapidly, with the phantom of the demon wolf following closely behind. Under Wu Hang's control, it was like a wild beast eyeing its prey, relentlessly biting Bai Cheng.

Bai Cheng glanced at the phantom of the demonic wolf behind him, and felt a chill run down his spine.

'Is this kind of attack a manifestation of spiritual energy? The spiritual energy I currently possess is insufficient to counter it. It seems the only way to neutralize this attack is to attack the caster.'

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng gripped the silver bow tightly and turned to charge towards Wu Hang. Wu Hang seemed to have seen through Bai Cheng's intention, and a slight smile appeared on his lips.

As the spiritual energy within his body began to circulate, red patterns began to appear on Wu Hang's arm. At this moment, Bai Cheng was already wielding the silver bow and slashing rapidly at Wu Hang. However, the next moment, he saw Wu Hang grip the bowstring tightly with one hand. The bowstring, which could easily cut a human body in two, was difficult to move in Wu Hang's hand. Bai Cheng also noticed the change in Wu Hang's arm and was secretly shocked.

'What is this? Could this be the body-refining inscription I've heard about before?'

Wu Hang quickly adjusted his stance and launched a side kick at Bai Cheng.

Seeing the situation was bad, Bai Cheng quickly raised his arms to block. However, with Wu Hang's side kick, Bai Cheng felt a solid iron hammer strike his arm. The enormous force instantly sent Bai Cheng flying, and Wu Hang also snatched the silver bow from his hand.

With a loud crash, Bai Cheng's entire body slammed into the cargo of the convoy, scattering various goods all over the ground. Even the horses pulling the cargo were startled and fled.

Bai Cheng felt a mouthful of blood flow from the corner of his mouth, and his arms were trembling uncontrollably.

"Such powerful strength! Even with all my strength, I couldn't withstand it. Is this what a body cultivator at the mid-stage of the Qi Condensation Realm is like? My current strength is worlds apart from his."

Bai Cheng slowly stood up, turning his head to look at Cui Yuanfang beside him. His expression was full of resentment. He couldn't go on like this; he might really die here.

Upon witnessing the opponent's strength, the expressions on Cui Yuanfang's and his two servants' faces spoke volumes.

"Bai Cheng, you should leave now. You don't need to worry about us anymore."

After Cui Yuanfang finished speaking, he tossed a small package to Bai Cheng.

"This contains some of my belongings. If you escape, please take it back to the Cui family and give it to my daughter."

After receiving the package, Bai Cheng felt a surge of indescribable emotions.

"Master Cui, take care."

After Bai Cheng finished speaking, he tried to pick up his backpack and leave.

However, the next moment, a sharp pain came from his thigh.

The crescent-shaped dagger had pierced straight through Bai Cheng's thigh, and blood dripped from the tip onto the ground, a sight that shocked Cui Yuanfang and the others.

Bai Cheng was also kneeling on one knee at this moment. The intense pain made it difficult for him to stand up. He looked up at Wu Hang in the distance and discovered that the spiritual power he felt on the knife was not controlled by Wu Hang.

"What's going on? Could there be accomplices?!"

Bai Cheng murmured in a hoarse voice. Wu Hang, on the other hand, examined the silver bow in his hand and plucked at the bowstring.

"I thought you weren't going to make a move."

As he finished speaking, footsteps could be heard coming from the thick fog behind Bai Cheng.

As a figure emerged from the thick fog, the group realized it was Liu Xieyang.

When Cui Yuanfang saw the person who came, he was even more surprised.

"Guard Liu! What do you mean by this?!"

"Patriarch Cui, don't you understand? This Liu Xieyang is in cahoots with them!"

Upon hearing Bai Cheng's words, Cui Yuanfang's expression first showed surprise, followed by anger.

"Liu Xieyang! How could you, a royal guard, collude with bandits?! You are utterly unethical!"

Faced with Cui Yuanfang's furious roar, Liu Xieyang remained indifferent. As he raised his hand, he also retrieved the crescent-shaped dagger that was stuck in Bai Cheng's thigh.

Bai Cheng endured the excruciating pain and quickly swallowed two Rejuvenation Pills from his backpack. However, although the Rejuvenation Pills were healing medicines, they were not effective immediately. Liu Xieyang's attack had not damaged Bai Cheng's leg bone, but had only passed through his muscle, but this was enough to greatly affect Bai Cheng's subsequent movements.

At this moment, Wu Hang slowly walked towards Bai Cheng and the others.

“Master Cui, what are you saying? What do you mean by colluding with bandits? Our Xiangyunfang is an important post station in Xiaguan. This Guard Liu is just a partner of ours. He didn’t kill anyone. How can you blame him, Master Cui?”

Upon hearing this, Cui Yuanfang's face turned bright red with anger.

"You! Liu Xieyang! I can give you five times the reward! As long as you agree to let us and Brother Bai Cheng leave, I'll give you all these goods!"