A thread of true energy gathered, moving upwards, striking the blocked orifices. Meng Qi, weak and ill, forcibly propped up his spirit, remaining calm, following the Collapsing Hole Technique, condensing his energy into a needle, fiercely stabbing at that lump of foreign internal energy coiled around his own orifice.

  Puff, an invisible sound echoed in Meng Qi's heart, and the group that had already loosened up a lot of external and internal forces collapsed at the touch of a needle, and the acupoint was opened!

  Meng Qi took a deep breath, his true energy surged, and he rushed to break through the remaining few acupoints, quickly opening them all.

  The true energy circulation is no longer obscure, although the recovery of strength is less than one-tenth, and even the automatic operation of the Golden Bell Shield cannot be achieved. However, Meng Qi has at least recovered his freedom of movement and has a certain degree of combat capability.

  With a gentle yet firm grasp of both hands, the rope silently snapped open. Meng Qi carefully removed the last obstruction and looked towards An Guo Xie.

  He still sat cross-legged, his eyes tightly closed, regulating his breathing and nursing his wounds. His mind was undisturbed, but the wound on the lower part of his neck was still exposed, like a ferocious centipede slowly crawling and recovering.

  Meng Qi narrowed his eyes, thinking whether he should use the Wind God Leg to escape or take this opportunity to get rid of An Guo Xie once and for all!

  He knew that An Guo was seriously injured and had been recovering for more than half a day, and the wound-healing medicine he took was not small. At this time, his injury should have stabilized, and he could exert five or six tenths of his strength, which was vastly different from his situation after using the Sacrificial Seal.

  After measuring his current strength and the current situation of the broken sword, Meng Qi thought that even if he used all his might to hit Luo Han's fist, he estimated that he couldn't kill An Guo Xie. At most, he could only make him more injured, relapse into a severe injury, after all, after his injuries stabilized, his protective aura would naturally circulate again.

  Either wait a bit longer until your strength recovers to 30% or 40%, or leave now and go into exile.

  But Meng Qi himself dared to fight desperately and was not a reckless and brainless young man, after thinking clearly he decided to choose the latter, after all this place is not suitable for long stay.

  If it were raining at this time, it would be perfect. Meng Qi looked at An Gu Xie, who was in a "too good" posture and couldn't help but feel a little tempted, and thought regretfully. He then slowly got up, stepped on the divine movement of the hundred changes, and quietly moved backwards without making a sound. Once he had opened up some distance, he freely displayed his Wind God Legs and sprinted forward, no longer afraid of startling An Gu Xie.

  Suddenly, he felt a dizziness in front of his eyes, his body numb, and was shocked to see An Guo Xie appearing beside him.

  "I thought you'd take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack on me. Last time you assassinated me, weren't you so fearless and determined?" An Guo said with a seemingly smiling yet not quite smiling expression.

  Meng Qi was shocked and speechless: "You've known all along?"

  "To be honest, I don't care how much I torture you, but do you know why I only sealed your acupoints and didn't use other methods?" An Guo's evil smile emerged, looking particularly ferocious under the cold moonlight. "It's because I enjoy seeing others' hope turn into despair in my hands. So, I'll give you hope, give you a chance to escape, and then personally destroy it when you're full of hope. Your current expression is very satisfying, making it worth my while to pretend to be injured and wait for so long."

  What a psycho! Meng Qi couldn't help but curse under his breath. The last person he cursed like that was Gu Xiao Sang.

  An Guo Xie smiled complacently and shook his head: "No, despair is not enough, little bald donkey, running away privately will be punished."

  He said as he stretched out his right hand and pressed it on Meng Qidan's abdomen, exerting force!

  Excruciating pain shot through his brain, Meng Qi's muscles and skin, which had been transformed by the Golden Bell Cover and Iron Cloth, all bulged out to resist the external force. However, under the huge disparity in strength, they quickly caved in, and his Dantian felt as if it had been scraped by a steel knife, shattering inch by inch.

  "Alright, losing your martial arts skills is your punishment." An Guo's evil god-like expression was filled with a morbid sense of pleasure and satisfaction. "Little bald donkey, don't lose hope, keep trying, hahaha!"

  "Now tell me that skill, and there won't be such torture. I'll abandon you here and let you fend for yourself. How about it, are you tempted?"

  Severe pain in his abdomen, his whole body losing strength, Meng Qi did not feel as desperate as An Guoxie had imagined. After all, he had been through life and death before, and at this moment, he still maintained a rare calmness, knowing that even if he could hand over the Fantian Dafa, An Guoxie would absolutely not let him off. He turned his head disdainfully, ignoring An Guoxie's demand without a response.

  An Guo let out a soft "hmm" and said no more, re-sealing the Mysterious Qihole and sitting down to regulate his breath.

  "Dantian is destroyed, his vigilance towards me will drop to the extreme point, and there's still a chance to escape!" Meng Qi didn't dwell too much on the fact that his martial arts were crippled. After An Guo Xie finished treating his injuries, he fell asleep immediately, trying to recover his spirit and physical strength. Even an "ordinary person without martial arts" has a way to escape.

  In the following days, Anguo led Meng Qi to detour along the edge of the vast ocean. For a master with nine orifices open like him, the demonic beasts and monsters in the depths of the Gobi Desert were also quite dangerous. Under normal circumstances, he might have been able to make his way through, but currently, with severe injuries, it was safer to detour.

  Meng Qi maintained a very cooperative attitude, patiently searching for and waiting for opportunities.

  On this day, An Guo Xie brought Meng Qi to an oasis in the middle of the vast desert. This place was once bustling with activity, but as the wind and sand invaded, the oasis grew smaller and the environment became increasingly harsh, forcing most people to leave their homes and seek out other oases.

  So, at a glance, the greenery here is always shrouded in a layer of gray defeat. The buildings hidden among the trees are mostly old and dilapidated, only the central inn and nearby houses are relatively well-maintained and clean. On the other side of the shallow lake, there are abandoned temples and palaces.

  As many merchant teams will pass through here, the business in the inn is still pretty good. More than a dozen tables are almost all seated, some are dressed as merchants and travelers, while others look like Jianghu knights.

  At one table, four young people who looked like heroic young men and women sat, their spirits soaring, full of ambition, as if the entire martial arts world was waiting for them to conquer, exceptionally eye-catching.

  As Meng Qi stepped into the inn, the first thing he saw was them. It wasn't because they were dressed in flashy attire, but rather because one of the men had an ice crystal snowflake embedded on the back of his hand, and a long sword at his waist that was seven inches shorter than normal, looking narrow and strange.

  All this can only mean one thing: he is a disciple of Xue Shan who has obtained the qualification for going down the mountain to travel!

  Only the Snow Mountain Sect uses this style of long sword, and only they will inlay ice crystals and snowflakes on the back of the hands of their disciples who travel down the mountain as a symbol of their sect.

  As one of the six schools with swords, as a martial arts sect competing with the Golden Temple in the Western Regions, the disciples of the Snow Mountain Sect who went down the mountain to travel at least opened two holes.

  This is an opportunity, Meng Qi silently said to himself.

  An Guoxie's unusual appearance attracted attention as soon as he entered the inn, and the Snow Mountain Sect disciple was no exception. However, he immediately furrowed his brow, seemingly recognizing An Guoxie's identity, then he exchanged words with his companion as if nothing had happened.

  Unlike Shaolin, the Xueshan Sect is in the Western Regions. An Guo wouldn't dare to provoke them, so he naturally wouldn't provoke them. He pulled Meng Qi to a corner and ordered food to rest.

  Meng Qi took a closer look at the table of Snow Mountain Sect disciples and found that, apart from himself, there were two men and one woman. The woman was petite and delicate, with elegant features, not particularly beautiful but somehow endearing. One man wore black clothes and had an ordinary face, but his smile was warm as he chatted with the Snow Mountain Sect disciple. Another man looked like a weak scholar in terms of dress and appearance, but the bulging temples on his forehead suggested that his strength was not low. Meng Qi suspected that they had all already opened their apertures.

  The Snow Mountain Sect disciple wore white clothes, had an ordinary appearance, a high nose bridge, and an air of elegance with a hint of coldness.

  Xue Shan Sect didn't have a bad reputation, but Meng Qi wondered if they would lend a helping hand... He thought to himself, but he didn't rashly seek help. After all, not every major sect disciple was like Jiang Zhiwei and himself, who could understand the true meaning and had powerful life-saving techniques. Even if that Xue Shan Sect disciple had opened four apertures, others might only have opened one or two, and even if they joined forces, they might not be a match for An Guo Xie, who was injured - the legacy of Crying Old Man was also extraordinary, not much different from the ordinary direct lineage of major sects. An Guo Xie was a high-ranking expert with nine apertures open, and his realm was much higher.

  He quietly ate his food, taking advantage of An Guoje's inattention, secretly biting his index finger and writing "help" on the table leg on his side.

  As they finished dinner, An Guozi turned around and walked towards the upper floor of the inn. Meng Qi seized the opportunity to glance at those young heroes, opening his mouth to form a "save me" expression, and gestured with his hand towards the square table where he had been sitting.

  He turned his head three times in a row and followed Anguo up.

  He didn't expect the other party to understand his lip language, but just to attract their attention and discover the two words "Save Me" written on the table leg. Then, under the circumstances of recognizing An Guo Xie's identity, he invited enough helpers to come and rescue him.

  After walking a few steps, An Guo suddenly stopped and smiled at Meng Qi: "Alas, I'm still used to living in a broken temple."

  After finishing speaking, he pulled Meng Qi out of the inn, through the forest, around the lake, and into a dilapidated temple.

  Watching Anguo Xie leave, the Snow Mountain Sect disciples and others furrowed their brows as expected, and went to check the square table where Meng Qi had sat.

  "He is seeking our guidance." The weak scholar said in a low voice, wiping away the blood characters with his hand, "Brother Fu, do you want to lend a hand?"

  The disciple of the Snow Mountain Sect, known as Fu Xiong, frowned and said: "That's 'Bai Tou Tu Ying', we are not their match, and that monk's identity is unknown, it can't be ruled out that they are evil demons or external sects killing each other."

  He is not very willing to take risks.

  The white-headed vulture heard, the girl and the black-clad strong man both shook their heads at the weak scholar Wen: "Gu Gongzi, don't be reckless. Although being a chivalrous hero is our goal, we can't do things that are clearly doomed to fail. Let's contact a few seniors at the next oasis and come back to rescue him, okay?"

  "I'll be cautious, I won't be rash, but we need to figure out the identity of that monk before inviting Senior to take action." Gu Gongzi pondered for a moment and said, "I'll go investigate tonight and try to gain something."

  "Alright, you'd better be careful." A Snow Mountain Sect disciple said with a stern face.

  …………

  Inside the ruined temple, Meng Qi had just sat down when An Guo Xie walked over, chuckling and saying: "Do you think they'll come to rescue you?"

  Found out again? Meng Qi was slightly surprised, but immediately composed himself and remained silent.

  "It's this expression." An Guo said with a pleased smile, then squatted down, picked up Meng Qi's right hand and examined it carefully, "It was this hand that wrote the blood letter just now, wasn't it?"

  "What are you going to do?" Meng Qi found a hint of madness in his expression.

  "What do I want to do? As long as you hand over the formula, I won't do anything and will even let you go. If not, I'll pinch your right hand inch by inch until it's broken." Anguo Xie had an expression that said "you'd better not agree".

  Meng Qi gritted his teeth and coldly said: "Please go ahead."

  An Guo burst out laughing, his hands exerting force, inch by inch crushing Meng Qi's right hand bones.

  This pain pierced his heart, Meng Qi almost fainted, and afterwards it was even more torturous, as if he had suffered the ten great cruel punishments.

  "Next is the left hand, then the left leg, right leg, and descendants' root..." An Guo Yan withdrew his hand with satisfaction, carefully sealed off the Meng Qi acupoint once again, and went to meditate on his own.

  Meng Qi lay in front of the fragrant table, his right hand numb and senseless, only a wave of pain keeping him half awake.

  There's still a chance, he told himself with all his might.

  In a daze, Meng Qi's vision suddenly went black, and then he heard an astonished female voice:

  "Little monk, how did you end up looking like this?"

  "Apply for treatment, good deeds will be deducted from me, I'll exchange the elixir on my body for good deeds."

  Meng Qi's mouth corners squeezed out a faint smile, the opportunity has come!