The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

In an inn on the continent of Fantasy Sky.

"The Five Divine Artifacts are mentioned in the ancient legends of the Floating Life Continent. They represent the power of the Five Elements," Han Yue said after the old man left the inn.

"You mean the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, right? Actually, there are also legends of five divine artifacts on the Xuan Tian Continent. Metal is yellow, and yellow gems represent power; wood is green, and green gems represent wisdom; earth's power is purple, and purple represents courage; fire's power is red, and red represents love; and water's power is blue, and blue represents life," Shen Lixi said to the group.

“That old man just now, he seemed familiar to me, like I’ve seen him somewhere before, but I can’t quite place him. Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone from the Illusionary Star Continent before.” Luo Yifei didn’t continue Shen Lixi’s topic.

"You know what, I also feel like I'm looking at him a bit familiar. He looks a lot like Wen Bin, who suddenly appeared in front of the Demon Queen that day pretending to be a charlatan," Shi Hao replied.

"Stop guessing, it's Wen Bin. More than four years ago, when I first arrived in the Xuan Tian Continent, he was the village chief of the newbie village who showed me the way. He has his own purpose, which I don't know what it is. The only thing I'm sure of is that he doesn't want to harm us, but don't expect him to show up if we encounter danger," Shen Lixi said to the three of them.

"So, according to you, we shouldn't have acted as peacemakers when those two villages were about to fight each other yesterday, or we might have gotten ourselves involved?" Shi Hao asked.

Assassinating Shi Hao was an expert, but when it came to a real, bloody battle, Shi Hao still felt a chill of fear.

Just then, the inn's waiter came over. "Gentlemen, would you like to order anything else?"

"No need for now, we've finished eating." Shen Lixi waved her hand.

He then stood up and gestured for the three of them to walk out of the inn.

"Aren't you staying here tonight?" Luo Yifei asked.

"No, let's keep going," Shen Lixi replied loudly.

After walking for a while, Shen Lixi whispered, "Don't turn around, we're being watched."

Upon hearing this, Luo Yifei and his two companions tensed up, but outwardly pretended to be nonchalant and continued walking forward. They discreetly scanned their surroundings out of the corner of their eyes, trying to find the person who was tailing them.

After walking for a while, Shen Lixi suddenly stopped and turned to look at a grove of trees behind her. Luo Yifei and the others also stopped and cautiously observed the grove.

A figure emerged from the woods and slowly approached them. As the person drew closer, they realized it was a man dressed in black with a cold and stern face.

"You're the same group of peacemakers who were in the village yesterday, aren't you?" the man in black said coldly.

“We were indeed in the village yesterday, but we meant no harm,” Shen Lixi replied.

"Whether there was malice or not is not for you to decide." The man in black said, suddenly pulling out a dagger from his waist and rushing towards Luo Yifei and the others.

Upon seeing this, Luo Yifei and the others immediately drew their weapons and engaged in a fierce battle with the man in black. Although they were quite skilled, the man in black was clearly no pushover either, and the two sides fought to a standstill.

In the end, Shen Lixi still won against the man in black thanks to her magic.

"Hahaha." The man in black kneeling on the ground suddenly burst into laughter, then shouted, "Why aren't you coming out? I told you, there are cultivators among them. You didn't believe me."

As the man in black laughed, several more figures emerged from the woods. One was burly and wielded a massive battle axe, while the other was agile and carried a longsword at his waist. Their eyes were fixed on Shen Lixi and the others, their faces showing hostility.

"It seems you planned this all along," Shen Lixi said coldly.

“That’s right, we noticed you a long time ago. We thought you were just ordinary passersby, but we didn’t expect you to dare to interfere in our affairs,” said the man holding the battle axe.

"Your business? Did you instigate the conflict between those two villages yesterday?" Luo Yifei asked.

"That's right, so what? Now that you know, you can't be allowed to live." The man wielding the long sword said, and charged towards Shen Lixi and the others.

Another fierce battle ensued. Although Shen Lixi and her group were quite strong, their opponents outnumbered them and were all well-trained assassins, so they gradually found themselves in a tough fight.

Just then, a golden light descended from the sky, striking the man wielding the longsword directly. He screamed and collapsed to the ground. The other assassins, seeing this, all showed expressions of horror.

"Who dares to ruin our plans!" the man wielding the battle axe shouted.

But all he received in response was silence.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Shen Lixi and the others launched a counterattack, quickly defeating all the remaining assassins. Panting heavily, they looked at the assassins lying on the ground, a wave of fear washing over them.

"Who intervened to help with that golden light just now?" Luo Yifei asked.

"I don't know, but they're definitely not enemies," Shen Lixi replied.

"Let's leave here as soon as possible; it's no longer safe here," Shi Hao said.

So the four of them left the woods and continued on their way to their destination. But they all knew in their hearts that this encounter was just a small episode in their journey. The real challenge still awaited them ahead.

That evening, Luo Yifei and his companions finally came to a village. From afar, they could see a house in the village with the words "Hotel" hanging in large letters on its door.

All four were exhausted. After Shen Lixi confirmed the hotel was safe, they paid for two rooms and entered different rooms from two different directions.

The next day, when the morning sun shone into the room.

Luo Yifei opened her eyes and drew back the curtains that were letting in light. She stared in disbelief at the view before her.

Nearby is the hotel's grassy courtyard, beyond which flows a wide but shallow, clear river. The river is only about an inch deep. On the other side of the river are large meadows, and further on, at the foot of the mountains, there is a forest. The mountains beside the forest are relatively low, with green peaks, and further still, there are high mountains with white snow on their summits.

"Awake?" Shen Lixi also got up from the bed next to her.

"Shen Lixi, take a look. Is it possible that we're inside Luo Ji's manor?" Luo Yifei asked.

Shen Lixi looked at the house with some confusion. The roof was wooden, a typical wooden building with blue bricks and gray tiles, but the windows were particularly large and made of glass. The roof was very high, but the door to the room was very low; she had to bend over to enter last night.

"No, right?" Shen Lixi replied.

"Come look out the window," Luo Yifei said to Shen Lixi with a smile as he turned his head.

Shen Lixi walked to the window.