Tang Li covered his eyes as a flash of white light obstructed his vision. He held a half-melted Tang Clan crest in his hand, which he found on the ground while searching for Yin Hui.

The light subsided and Tang Li moved towards the source. Up until that point, he was using his spiritual sense to track Yin Hui and the other three cultivators. When he picked up the medallion, he assumed that Yin Hui found a way to kill the cultivators pursuing him. However, he thought it was strange how there were no corpses in sight.

Growl~

When Tang Li got to the source of the light, he saw a giant boar covered in flames sniffing the ground.

"Spirit beast!" Tang Li gasped.

The boar snapped its head towards Tang Li's direction and snarled. It charged after him at full speed, ejecting a blast of hot fire from it's mouth.

Tang Li slapped his bag of holding and took out a small gourd. He removed the cork and pointed it in front of him. Despite the flames fanning out in a wide radius, when they got closer to the gourd they began to narrow. The gourd absorbed all the flames in a clean manner, without a single ember touching Tang Li.

The boar paused in shock when it saw this. With it's intelligence, it knew that shooting more flames would be meaningless. Instead, the flame aura around it surged and it moved to tackle Tang Li.

Channeling spirit energy into his feet, Tang Li drew his sword. As the boar charged forward, Tang Li ran as well and unleashed the Slicing Wind Strike. A large gash appeared on the side of the boar and it let out a loud squeal. However, Tang Li had no time to admire his handiwork as the wound instantly cauterized by the flame aura surrounding the boar.

"Instant regeneration... This boar has the strength of a peak Spirit Waking cultivator, but even a Spirit Manifestation cultivator would have trouble getting through this regeneration."

Tang Li braced himself as the boar came in for another tackle. Just as the beast was about to clash with Tang Li's blade, a giant spectral sword shot out from the forest and skewered it. As the flames began to seal the wound, the giant sword pulled itself out of the boar's body and sliced it into countless pieces. Afterwards, the sword turned into a mist of qi that flew towards a young man a few meters away.

"Tang Bian..."

Tang Bian casually walked towards Tang Li with his trademark smile. The giant sword which turned into a mist of qi surrounded him in a protective manner.

"You're lucky I came in time Tang Li. If I didn't, who knows how long you would be fighting a stalemate with that spirit beast." Tang Bian laughed.

"Why are you here? What happened back at the village?"

"Yu Mingxi is dead. She suffered severe injuries from the soul detonation and I finished her off shortly after."

"What of the villagers?"

"The villagers have been dealt with. The rest of the Spirit Waking cultivators who were incapacitated earlier are escorting them back to the capital. With the village now vacated, we can bring in reinforcements from the clan and create an outpost. Once you tell me where Yin Hui is, it is safe to say we have achieved a complete victory." Tang Bian beamed. Everything had worked out the way he wanted. While he did lose four Spirit Manifestation cultivators, the gains far outweighed their deaths.

Tang Li scoffed. From his perspective, it seemed like Tang Bian never planned for a peaceful resolution in the first place. Judging by how things turned out with Yu Mingxi, the villagers were most likely being returned to the capital as slaves. Considering how the village leader caused the deaths of four Spirit Manifestation cultivators, it was easy to accuse the rest of the village for rebelling as well.

"Now Tang Li. If you would please tell me where Yin Hui is."

Tang Li shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I was following a flash of light which I assumed to be from him, but when I got here all I saw was that spirit beast. It seems that the spirit beast also killed the three cultivators you sent after him, as I found the family crest partially burned on the way here." Tang Li threw the crest at Tang Bian who caught it with his hand.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Tang Bian quickly scanned the area with his spiritual sense. He smile faded when he found no trace of Yin Hui at all.

"I guess he really escaped... Fine, when we return to the capital I'll put out a capture order. Once we have a lead on his whereabouts we will resume the chase. There's no use in wasting time and energy searching for him aimlessly with so little manpower."

Tang Li nodded and they flew into the sky, regrouping with the remains of the envoy.

In a seperate area of the forest unaffected by the fire, the ground rolled as if a giant mole was burrowing underground. The dirt erupted and Yin Hui and Yu Zhuwa popped out of the ground.

"Huff... puff... Good thing we're cultivators. If we were mortals, we would've died without having air for that long." Yu Zhuwa said exhaustively.

Because Yin Hui and Yu Zhuwa had refined lungs, they could hold their breath for much longer then normal people. In fact, once a person broke through to the Spirit Waking realm, they could hold their breath as long as they wanted using their qi. Even though Yu Zhuwa wasn't a Spirit Waking cultivator, he was very close and had already refined his lungs to the point he could hold his breath for an hour.

"That was a pretty good idea though Big Brother Yin Hui. Using the Blinding Light spell as a distraction and then escaping with Living Earth. I didn't even know the spell could be used like that." Yu Zhuwa praised.

"If it wasn't for Lady Yu. I wouldn't even have those two spells. So really we should be thanking her." Yin Hui smiled.

Yu Zhuwa dropped into a depressive state when Yu Mingxi's name was brought up. As much as he wanted to, he knew in his heart that it was unlikely he was going to see her for a long time. He took out the village medallion that Yu Mingxi gave him and passed it over to Yin Hui.

"Grandma Yu's final orders were to give you this medallion. She said it has a portion of her spiritual sense in it and that it would guide us to safety."

When Yin Hui received the medallion, a strand of qi emerged and dove into his forehead. Yin Hui eyes dimmed and he entered a trance-like state.

When he regained his senses, Yin Hui found himself in a black void similar to the one where he met Yin Tou. In front of him was Yu Mingxi, uninjured and completely healthy.

"Lady Yu!" Yin Hui clasped his fists and lowered his head in respect.

Yu Mingxi let out a faint smile, but Yin Hui could see that it contained nothing but sadness.

"Yin Hui, Xiao Yu has probably already told you this, but I am only a strand of spiritual sense. I do not feel a connection to my original body anymore so it is very likely that I have died. Do not bother returning to the village, there is nothing for you there anymore. With my death, the villagers have probably been taken back to the capital and converted into slaves as punishment for my rebellion. By the end of the week, the village would have turned into an outpost occupied by the Tang Clan."

Yin Hui clenched his palms. He hated how no matter what atrocities the Tang Clan committed, they always came out victorious.

"A copy of all my geographical knowledge has been encoded in this medallion, which I will now pass over to you." The spiritual sense in the form of Yu Mingxi extended her finger. A strand of qi entered the space between Yin Hui's eyebrows. Suddenly, Yin Hui knew the layout of the entire Tang Province, from the main capital to the many valley's in the outer regions. It was as if his mind cleared and knowledge which had been kept hidden was instantly revealed.

"Aside from the geography of the entire province, I have also given you my knowledge on the other provinces as well. The Tang Province is too dangerous to remain in for you and Xiao Yu. When Tang Bian returns, he will most likely put out a capture order for you. In order to avoid capture, I want the both of you to journey to the neighboring Storm Province. Seek out the Striking Thunder Sect and look for an old friend of mine called Master Tempest. Show him the medallion and he should protect you."

Yin Hui nodded. He had already planned on moving out of the province to escape the Tang's wrath. Now that he had the geographical knowledge to do so, he and Yu Zhuwa could set out immediately.

"Safe travels Yin Hui, I do not know if I will be able to talk to you again after the connection breaks. Also, please do not tell Xiao Yu about my death until he is ready. After all that's happened, breaking the truth to him now will do more harm then good." With those final words, Yu Mingxi tapped her staff and the whole space disappeared with a flash of white light. Yin Hui was back in the forest, holding Yu Mingxi's medallion in his hand.

"What did Grandma Yu say Big Brother Yin Hui? Is she alright?"

To Yin Hui, it felt like half an hour had passed during his conversation with Yu Mingxi's spiritual sense. To Yu Zhuwa, only a short moment had passed since the strand of spiritual qi entered Yin Hui's forehead. Yin Hui shook his head furiously, even though this was his second time dilation experience he still wasn't used to it.

"She's alright, she just needs time to recover on her own. Inside that strand of spiritual sense was her last instructions to us as well as a map. We're going to travel to the Storm Province and seek out the Striking Thunder Sect. There we will find Master Tempest, one of Lady Yu's old friends. He will protect us." Yin Hui's voice trembled slightly, but Yu Zhuwa didn't notice.

As they walked through the forest trail, they came across an arrow sign that read "Scattered Leaf Village". Yin Hui used the Living Earth spell to fashion a staff that was an exact replica of the one Yu Mingxi used and rested it against the sign.

"Why did you do that for Big Brother Yin Hui?" Yu Zhuwa asked.

"When the time is right you will understand." Yin Hui dodged the question and the two of them began their journey to the Storm Province.