Chapter 657: Chapter 658: They Are All My Chives!
Watching the two people in the cave who shared his fate, Xiao Qi couldn’t help but sigh.

“Brothers, how may I address you?”

“Wang Da, Wang Er. Brother, were you also kidnapped by that demon head? Do you want to join us and escape together?”

The two martial artists spoke slowly as they looked around the dark and gloomy cave dwelling.

“Just cultivate earnestly, with that demon head around, we won’t be able to escape.”

Xiao Qi’s eyes were complex as he looked at the two men before him. He seemed to see his former self, such a naive idea to think about escaping from the clutches of Li Lao Mo, it was simply a fool’s dream.

“You… you’re the government officer that guy carried away?”

Seeing the government uniform on Xiao Qi, both surprise and amazement shone in the eyes of Wang Da and Wang Er. They had heard that a government officer had fallen into Li Xiaobai’s evil clutches, but they never expected that this person would also be imprisoned here.

“Yeah, we’re all people with hard fates. Just call me Brother Qi. Follow me from now on, work honestly, and you might keep your life.”

Xiao Qi cast a glance at the restlessly moving pair, closed his eyes to rest, and seized every moment to cultivate and restore the inner strength in his body.

“Heh, our lead brother has already gone to the Yamen to report this demon head. Soon, government officers will come to suppress him. In no time, we will be able to break free and escape to the heavens.”

Wang Da and Wang Er were inwardly disdainful of Xiao Qi’s words, not believing him at all. From their observation, Li Xiaobai was currently only at the Essence Refining Realm, similar to them, and had succeeded only by launching a surprise attack. Now, with three martial artists on their side, they might have a fighting chance.

“Heh, the greater the hope, the bigger the disappointment. You two will soon understand,” said Xiao Qi with a look of pity, shaking his head and no longer paying attention to the two. Without having tasted the bitter reality of their situation, naturally, they were not convinced. When they realized that perilous days were already upon them, the only path left for them would be to cultivate diligently and become Li Xiaobai’s harvest.

That night, Li Xiaobai came again, and this time he brought back three roast chickens, throwing one to each of them.

“Demon head, prepare to die!”

“You brought this upon yourself. Killing you, I’ll take your head to the government and claim the reward!”

Before the other could react, Wang Da and Wang Er suddenly lashed out, their vigorous inner strength whirling about as they broke free from the ropes. They attacked Li Xiaobai from both sides, two powerful heatwaves rolling out that made Li Xiaobai’s skin sting. Unfortunately, it was all in vain.

After having absorbed inner strength several times, Li Xiaobai’s current power had greatly increased, and he had no fear of attacks from someone at the Essence Refining Realm. With a flick of his wrists, he firmly grasped both men’s palms. The Spirit Realm Technique within his body ran wildly, and in a single breath, he had sucked Xiong Da and Xiong Er’s inner strength clean away.

“Heh, I didn’t expect you two to break free from the ropes and be so lively. Quite admirable, this is quality nourishment.”

Li Xiaobai chuckled, casually tossing the weakened pair into the corner and tying them up again.

Then, as if carrying out a routine task, he emptied the inner strength from Xiao Qi’s body as well. With the inner strength of three martial artists absorbed at once, the energy sphere within his Dantian grew rapidly at a visibly observable rate, already about ten times the size of an ordinary martial artist’s. At this rate, it would only be a matter of time until he completely filled his Dantian.

“These two are now your responsibility; from now on, you’ll take charge of their cultivation. Let’s not have a repeat of today’s incident.”

“Understood, my lord. Rest assured, I will make sure they are thoroughly subdued.”

Xiao Qi’s eyes shimmered with an unusual light. Although they were all on the exploited side, the opportunity to be the boss still felt good. After all, they couldn’t leave, so taking the chance to show off was excellent.

Outside the cave, Li Xiaobai continued to hone the Demon-Sealing Sword Technique. As for inner strength, there was no need for self-cultivation as long as he could absorb it from others.

Day after day, of practicing the Basic Sword Techniques, Li Xiaobai had become exceptionally skilled at thrusting, lifting, slashing, and cutting motions. With the boost of his robust inner strength, even the most basic sword moves could be incredibly powerful.

He constantly sought out fierce birds and wild beasts in the woods for combat, and his experience in actual battles kept growing.

For several days in a row, Li Xiaobai absorbed inner strength from the three individuals every two hours. He devoted the rest of his time to sword practice. In just a few days, he had absorbed inner strength nearly a hundred times, which was far more efficient than roaming the world, upholding justice as a chivalrous wanderer.

The inner strength in his dantian grew more and more vast, filling up a third of it. Now when facing enemies, he could simply blast them with his inner strength and completely avoid considering consumption issues.

However, the situation inside the cave was becoming a bit ominous. Even though Li Xiaobai often brought roast chicken to nourish the three, it couldn’t compensate for the inner strength drained twelve times a day. Several days of relentless, sleepless cultivation took a severe toll on their bodies, leaving them in an extreme state of physical and mental exhaustion.

But as long as he could capture more ‘chives’ to take turns harvesting, this problem should be solved.

On the surface, everything seemed to be going splendidly, but Li Xiaobai gradually noticed something wrong lately.

As days passed, he lived more and more like someone from the Illusionary Realm. The daily arduous cultivation of sword techniques wasn’t something he would typically do.

Logically, with the cheat code that is the Spirit Realm Technique, he should spend all his time capturing chivalrous wanderers and harvesting ‘chives’ to swiftly become a great power of the Demon Path, breaking through this Illusionary Realm World. But his actions were becoming more and more conventional.

“It’s probably because of the Illusionary Formation. That old codger is a Half-step Human Immortal, and the formation must contain the power of Immortal Spirit Qi. Without obtaining Immortal Spirit Qi, I can’t resist; it seems I will soon completely turn into this world’s Li Xiaobai.”

Li Xiaobai muttered to himself, sensing that his memories were rapidly fading. It seemed that in a few days, he would completely merge with the Illusionary Realm World.

“Damn, that Old Bangzi is truly despicable, setting up a formation that emits Immortal Spirit Qi. But with my wits, even if I fuse with this world, I can still reach the Transformative Realm.”

With that thought, Li Xiaobai lightly flicked his longsword, swiftly carving words on the cliff’s rock face. Stone chips flew, and sword Qi filled the air as astonishing lines of text were engraved.

After a while, he sheathed his sword. Li Xiaobai took a deep breath; this should solve the problem.

What he didn’t know was that, at that very moment, the Old Bangzi he was cursing was trembling with rage, even his lips were quivering.

In the Imperial Palace within the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea.

The Old Dragon King’s face was livid. Li Xiaobai had actually cursed him as an ‘Old Bangzi’ in front of all the civil and military officials, but he couldn’t retort at all, seeing as how Li Xiaobai was inside the Illusionary Formation—he was just eavesdropping on a private conversation, after all.