Su Meiniang's heart tightened. Years of navigating between men had honed her intuition—the situation was slipping out of control!  

Yet as a Refining Qi Stage Three cultivator, though startled, her reflexes remained sharp.  

Instead of retreating, she advanced, her mesmerizing fox-like eyes instantly misting over as her entire body transformed into a swirling pink mist. Her voice dripped with honeyed sweetness:  

"My dear brother, why so fierce? This humble girl is so frightened..."  

Before the words fully left her lips, nearly imperceptible pink threads silently unfurled from her sleeves—her signature technique, "Thousand Illusion Love Threads Entanglement!"  

This charm art didn't attack the physical body but invaded the mind directly.  

Wherever the threads reached, the faint floral fragrance in the air intensified tenfold, forming an invisible net meant to drag everyone into a seductive, decadent fantasy.  

The night breeze stilled, even the insects in the grass ceased their chirping, as if already ensnared in dreams.  

"Petty tricks!"  

Li Pingfu sneered coldly. Had he still been in the Postnatal Realm, he might have been affected. But as an innate master, such weak mental interference was meaningless.  

In that instant, his newly transformed innate true qi erupted without reservation, transforming into a surge of overwhelmingly yang blood qi that crashed forth like tidal waves!  

This was the external release of innate martial force!  

"Pfft!"  

The invisible fragrant net tore apart like tissue paper under this domineering assault.  

Su Meiniang's charm arts were most vulnerable against martial experts with vigorous blood qi and unshakable willpower.  

She felt as if her soul had been hammered violently, a metallic taste rising in her throat as blood nearly sprayed from her mouth. All color drained from her face.  

"Damn you, Su Meiniang! Damn you, innate martial artist!"  

Her flowery demeanor shattered as terror gripped her heart. She'd never imagined her disguise would be seen through, nor that her opponent's strength would be so formidable.  

As a Refining Qi Stage Three cultivator, eighty percent of her abilities lay in charm and illusion arts—her direct combat skills were mediocre at best. Now cornered by an innate martial artist, icy dread crept through her limbs as the shadow of death loomed.  

"No! I can't die here!"  

Desperate survival instincts unleashed her final reserves. Biting her tongue, she spat a mouthful of vital blood while her hands formed rapid seals.  

"Blood Butterfly Dance!"  

The blood transformed into crimson butterflies midair, their fluttering wings scattering specks of red light—each containing demonic thoughts capable of stirring primal desires. This was her life-saving trump card, immensely powerful but with severe aftereffects.  

Yet she faced Li Pingfu.  

The young man merely closed then reopened his eyes, now crystal clear with an immortal crane's phantom spreading its wings behind him.  

"Five Spirit Play—Crane Dance!"  

His movements became ethereally graceful as he wove through the blood butterflies untouched. The mind-corrupting red lights dissipated harmlessly against his innate true qi.  

Su Meiniang despaired completely.  

Every technique she possessed had become a joke before this youth!  

In her moment of mental collapse, Li Pingfu's figure ghosted forward, his palm striking her scapula with perfect precision—enough to disable without killing.  

With a "thud," Su Meiniang collapsed, her magic power scattered, rendered completely immobile.  

Lying in the dirt, her gorgeous robes soiled, she lifted a tear-streaked face in pitiful supplication:  

"Spare me, hero! This lowly one... this lowly one was forced into this! If you spare me, I'll serve you faithfully as your maidservant for life!"  

Even as she spoke, she secretly gathered her last dregs of magic power while stealing glances toward the forest depths.  

'Qin An! You old bastard, why aren't you making your move? This is the perfect opportunity!'  

She pinned all hopes on her supposed ally. If Qin An ambushed Li Pingfu now, she could still turn this around!  

Yet the woods remained deathly silent save for rustling leaves.  

No response came.  

No figures emerged.  

All color drained from Su Meiniang's face as if doused in ice water, leaving only ashen despair.  

She'd been abandoned.  

......  

Meanwhile, along a hidden mountain path leading outward, a figure fled desperately under moonlight at breakneck speed—as if demons pursued him.  

Qin An.  

His entire body ran cold as if soaked in icy water.  

An... innate master!  

When he'd sensed that flawless innate true qi harmonizing with heaven and earth energy radiating from Li Pingfu, all his schemes and confidence shattered instantly.  

He'd assumed Li Pingfu was merely a talented Postnatal Realm peak expert—someone he could potentially ambush with his experience.  

But the gap between Postnatal and Innate was like heaven and earth!  

'This world's gone mad!'  

He'd thought the Li family mere country bumpkins who'd gotten lucky, Li Pingfu a simple-minded brute with some talent.  

Reality had delivered the harshest slap! A twenty-something innate master?  

This wasn't some backwater martial artist—this was the hallmark of an ancient, deeply entrenched noble family!  

He couldn't comprehend it, nor had time to ponder. All he knew was he'd kicked an iron plate—no, a superheated block of ten-thousand-year mystical iron!  

He dared not imagine the consequences if he'd revealed himself. Now he just needed to flee—far away from Yunshui County's troubles!  

All greed had evaporated from Qin An's heart, replaced by boundless terror.  

As for Su Meiniang's fate? What did that matter to him?  

Even the most glorious official position meant nothing without a life to enjoy it!  

Without hesitation, he hunched low, suppressing his aura completely as he bolted along his pre-planned escape route.  

Su Meiniang's agonized screams in the distance didn't evoke guilt—they only made him run faster.  

'Stupid woman, expecting me to die with you?'  

Qin An cursed inwardly, his pace quickening as he scuttled away like a terrified rat vanishing into the night.  

After exhausting himself sprinting nonstop, he finally burst from the forest.  

Before him stretched a familiar official road, bathed in serene moonlight.  

Stopping to clutch his knees, he gasped for air, relief flooding through him.  

Yet this respite lasted barely a breath before freezing solid.  

Qin An's head jerked up, pupils contracting to pinpoints.  

There, standing calmly at the road's center as if having waited patiently, was a blue-robed figure.  

Not the murderous Li Pingfu, nor the scholarly Li Ping'an.  

But the third Li son he'd completely disregarded—Li Pingcan.  

Qin An's mind blanked with a "buzz."  

A chill far more terrifying than facing an innate master engulfed him.  

He'd fled using his most secret route, yet this youth... this youth had somehow anticipated his destination as casually as strolling through his own backyard.  

"How... how did he...?"  

Countless questions exploded before condensing into one soul-shivering realization:  

His every move had been anticipated!  

"Elder Qin," Li Pingcan smiled, his soft voice striking like a hammer blow, "in such a hurry to be reborn?"  

Qin An's fear transformed into rage. "You little bastard! You dare block me?"  

Overwhelming danger left no room for thought. With a roar, he channeled his full power into his signature "Mantis Captures Cicada" stance, arms like blades slicing through air as he lunged!  

Yet Li Pingcan didn't evade. He simply withdrew a fist-sized black sphere wrapped in oiled paper from his robe and flicked it forward.  

Qin An hesitated—what kind of hidden weapon was this?  

Instinctively, he crossed his arms defensively.  

At that moment, Li Pingcan's lips curled as he willed:  

Fire Control Art!  

A spark ignited midair on the black sphere—  

"BOOM!!!"  

Deafening thunder erupted as flames geysered upward!  

The concussive blast hurled Qin An backward like a ragdoll, tumbling multiple times before crashing down in a bruised, soot-covered heap. His robes hung in tatters, face and hands lacerated, hair and eyebrows half-singed away—a pitiful sight.  

"What... what demonic art is this?!" Qin An's mind reeled. Could this be immortal magic?!  

Meanwhile, Li Pingcan clicked his tongue mentally: 'Second Brother's black market explosives still need work—the blast radius is too dispersed. Next time try an iron casing with added nails.'  

Unaware he'd become an experiment, Qin An howled like a beast and charged again, fists aiming for vital points with increasing desperation.  

"Death throes."  

Li Pingcan shook his head, this time not bothering with explosives.  

He met Qin An's assault head-on, his own punch appearing ordinary yet carrying mountainous, immovable weight.  

Five Spirit Play—Bear Form!  

"CRACK!"  

Fist met fist—Qin An's vaunted Mantis Fist force, capable of shattering stone, crumpled like paper against this unstoppable might.  

His right arm bent at a grotesque angle with audible bone fractures.  

Qin An screamed, staring in horror. This youth's physical power surpassed even Li Pingfu's!  

This wasn't martial arts—this was a primordial beast in human skin!  

Li Pingcan allowed no reprieve. His steps shifted fluidly as he circled behind like a graceful crane, one finger striking a critical point on Qin An's spine.  

"CRUNCH!"  

Every bone in Qin An's body seemed to shatter simultaneously, eliciting an ear-splitting shriek!  

......  

Moonlight bathed the forest clearing where Li Pingcan stood over the broken, dog-like Qin An, his expression unchanged.  

Though every bone was shattered, Qin An's venomous glare remained fixed on this seemingly harmless youth.  

He couldn't comprehend it—each Li brother was more monstrous than the last!  

The eldest, Li Pingfu, an innate master at twenty; the second, Li Ping'an, a Literary Star incarnate rising through officialdom; and now this unremarkable youngest...  

Qin An lacked words to describe him. Those bizarre techniques, that unfathomable physical power—they overturned decades of martial understanding.  

"Who... what are you?" Qin An croaked hoarsely, voice thick with despair.  

Li Pingcan regarded him dispassionately. "Explain why you attacked my brother." Though he likely knew, formalities mattered.  

Qin An's eyes flashed viciously. Facing certain death, his brutality surfaced. "Li family bastards! Your victory won't last! The Zhou clan won't let this go—crossing me means crossing a noble house!"  

His tirade cut short when Li Pingcan produced... a mushroom.  

A strikingly beautiful mushroom—red cap, white stem, with hypnotic rainbow-hued rings pulsing across its surface.  

Before Qin An could process this, an iron grip forced his jaws open as the mushroom was shoved inside. It dissolved instantly into strangely sweet liquid down his throat.  

"Wha... what did you—"  

Consciousness fled as the blue-robed figure twisted into swirling darkness.  

Li Pingcan watched the drooling, babbling Qin An with satisfaction.  

His [Hallucinogenic Mushroom], after reaching maximum level, had developed a terrifying new trait—[Illusion Realm].  

No longer just a truth serum, it could now construct hyper-realistic fantasies where victims' mental defenses crumbled completely, laying bare their deepest secrets.  

"Little Brother, deal with this woman too."  

Noticing Qin An's vacant expression, Li Pingfu dragged the unconscious Su Meiniang over for identical treatment.  

Rather than interrogate immediately, they hauled both captives to a prepared mountain cave.  

Li Pingcan focused first on Qin An, weaving his dreamscape...  

......  

Within the illusion:  

Qin An jolted awake kneeling in a ghastly grand hall.  

Upon a shadow-shrouded throne sat an imposing silhouette.  

"Qin An," the figure's voice echoed from the abyss, "report your progress."  

"Honored Sacred Master!"  

Overwhelming reverence and fanaticism surged as Qin An kowtowed.  

"This unworthy one failed to eliminate Li Pingfu. Though he somehow reached Innate Realm, he lacks foundation! I've already devised new plans..."  

Eager to compensate for failure, Qin An spilled everything—his Yunshui County networks, contacts, signals—even how the Blood Yin Seed implanted twenty years ago transformed him from ordinary martial artist into the Zhou family's embedded agent.  

The cave's real Li Pingfu listened in shock and relief.  

A mere County Captain dispute had uncovered cultist infiltration!  

Qin An wasn't truly Zhou family—he belonged to the Endless Life Sect!  

"Second Brother's 'Childless Cult' has longer reach than imagined," Li Pingcan mused while memorizing every detail.  

Then he turned to Su Meiniang.  

She required different handling...  

In her illusion:  

Su Meiniang had miraculously escaped Li Pingfu and been accepted by a wandering Foundation Establishment female cultivator.  

"Meiniang," the master said coldly, "your charm bones are muddied by inferior techniques. Recount all you know—I'll refine you into true greatness."  

Overjoyed, Su Meiniang poured out her entire history—from mortal beginnings to surviving the brutal rogue cultivator world. She revealed colleagues' secrets, hidden stashes, black market channels, even the location of her prized dual cultivation manual, "Allure Sect's Heavenly Desire Scripture."  

Li Pingcan listened fascinated. Her life was a tragicomic epic of low-level cultivator struggle.  

"Today's intelligence haul is tremendous!" he marveled, mentally cataloguing every scrap.