Leaving the space of the black stone, Li Sheng summoned Tuan Tuan. At this moment, Tuan Tuan had shrunk to half its size, its light dimmed, appearing listless, as if just waking up.
"Chirp?"
Li Sheng gently cradled the little creature and said, "I'm going out for a while. I'll be back in no more than half a day. The safety of the sect is up to you."
"Chirp!"
The little one shook its body in response and nuzzled against him. Li Sheng glanced toward his junior sister's residence, pondering for a moment whether to tell her about his departure but ultimately decided against it.
The golden light orb soared into the sky, transforming into a golden phoenix. Li Sheng swiftly jumped onto its back. The phoenix spread its wings and shot up into the sky, flying in circles around the Qingling Sect. Although the protective formation had been repaired, Tuan Tuan, as the formation spirit, was still recovering, so for safety's sake, Li Sheng decided to clear the surrounding area of monsters again.
After a short while, the golden phoenix landed outside Qing Mountain City. Li Sheng surveyed the area within a thirty-mile radius, eliminating four or five monsters, the strongest of which was merely a five-rank leader.
Looking at the lifeless city, he couldn't help but recall the bustling scenes of the past, feeling a quiet sigh. The golden phoenix soared high again, creating strong winds that bent some ancient trees beneath.
"One thousand eight hundred miles... If I fly at full speed, I can arrive in no more than fifteen minutes, but that would consume too much energy. It's better to take it steady..."
With a thought, the golden phoenix instantly vanished, leaving behind a golden lightning pattern beneath his feet. In the high sky, several bolts of lightning flashed, and within a few breaths, his figure disappeared into the horizon.
...
In a dim forest, over twenty black-clad figures were gathering menacingly together.
"Reporting, my lord, the brothers in the east have not seen those people!"
"The south has also found no one!"
"The north too!"
"They're playing tricks in the dark; fan out in a semicircle and search every inch of ground to find them!"
"Yes, my lord!"
The black-clad figures dispersed with a roar, probing into the dense forest behind them. Along the way, any place that could hide someone—bushes or slightly thicker ancient trees—was mercilessly ravaged.
In the depths of the forest, a tall, thin man referred to as "my lord" leaped to a large tree branch, gazing westward. Over a hundred miles away, two waves of violent spiritual energy caused him to feel a hint of surprise, mixed with envy.
To capture Yue family's legitimate daughter, Yue Qingyi, this time they had dispatched two masters along with dozens of four- and five-rank martial artists. It should have been a foolproof plan, but the intelligence turned out to be erroneous. That woman, Yue Ling, had unexpectedly broken through to the master realm without any warning.
Although he was also at the master level, he was a false master. He could bully four-rank yellow-level and xuan-level practitioners, but if he encountered true earth-level or heaven-level spiritual seed owners, he would immediately wilt, let alone engage in battle with real masters.
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"Fortunately, that Yue Ling has only just entered the master realm; she can defend herself, but to defeat her elder brother is nothing but a pipe dream..."
...
In the forest, in a shallow cave, Qingyi and her group of five were hiding inside, an invisible barrier cloaking the entrance, concealing their presence.
"Miss, that group has sensed something is off and has turned back!"
A middle-aged man strained to listen, speaking in a low tone.
"I never expected that traitor from Lu City would turn against us; it's infuriating!"
Another four-rank martial artist cursed angrily.
"How dare they attack the miss? They are truly insane; even the Da Yan royal family and the Hong Yu Sacred Ground would not dare to offend our Treasure Pavilion in such a manner!"
Shopkeeper Hua looked grim, his right arm hanging limply by his side, clearly injured.
"Ordinary forces wouldn't dare, but what about someone from within the pavilion?"
In the darkness, Qingyi maintained her calm demeanor, her voice steady.
"Someone from within the pavilion"Could it be those two families?"
The others were startled, glancing at Qingyi's exquisite profile.
"The competition for the pavilion master position is imminent; those two families, being weak, might resort to underhanded methods. I just didn't expect them to send two masters and so many followers to capture me, a mere five-rank martial artist. My parents probably never anticipated this either."
Qingyi's steady and composed demeanor garnered admiration from the others. Just then, the searchers approached nearby, the surroundings filled with loud noises.
Qingyi's expression tightened, and with a gentle pat on her storage pouch, a streak of blue light flashed out.
"A spiritual scroll!"
This was a scroll imbued with the power of a master at seventy percent capacity. Seeing the blue scroll, the group felt somewhat reassured; previously, the miss had used this scroll to help them evade pursuit.
As the spiritual scroll unfurled, a misty blue light expanded, enveloping the cave.
Fine beads of sweat appeared on Qingyi's forehead; while she looked calm on the surface, internally, she sighed.
Spiritual scrolls were incredibly rare, requiring vast energy to create. Each one was precious, starting at a minimum of a hundred thousand spirit stones at auction.
She originally had three spiritual scrolls, intending to sell them at the auction during the capital's competition, but the monster disaster erupted unexpectedly. The offensive-type scroll was used during their escape from the capital, and the evasion-type had just been used to bring everyone here, leaving her with almost no resources.
Now, with the last concealed-type scroll used up, all she could do was leave it to fate.
"I hope it holds out until Master Li arrives..." Qingyi murmured softly.
Although her words were light, they were clearly audible in the quiet cave.
Shopkeeper Hua and his daughter exchanged glances but said nothing. However, the other two shared a knowing look and couldn't help but chuckle; with a false master and dozens of four- and five-rank martial artists outside, it was more reliable to hope for a catastrophe-level monster to come and swallow those people whole than to rely on a four-rank martial artist for rescue.
Qingyi paid no mind to their reactions. Some things were limited by perspective; without the necessary understanding, talking was pointless.
She had no doubt about Li Sheng's strength. Her senior sister could easily defeat Liao, but quickly lost to Li Sheng when he was only at the five-rank blood-moving stage. When he later broke through to the four-rank realm, the powerful aura he emitted shocked her deeply.
The Treasure Pavilion's influence spanned three surrounding nations, and their Yue family was comparable to the Da Yan royal family. Growing up amidst such powerful forces, she had encountered many talented individuals. None of the earth-level martial artists she met had the same imposing presence as Li Sheng.
Ever since witnessing the spectacle of Li Sheng's breakthrough, she had developed a faint speculation.
That was"
—Heaven-level martial domain!
At that moment, sounds of spiritual energy waves crashing echoed around them, and the group instantly held their breath, bracing themselves cautiously.
"Boom!"
Two waves of energy surged, and the shallow cave instantly collapsed.
The two black-clad figures exchanged glances, shrugged, and continued searching ahead.
Within the cave, an invisible barrier held back the surrounding earth. The five people inside exchanged glances, feeling a wave of relief wash over them.
Suddenly, several screams echoed from outside, followed by a violent wave of spiritual energy sweeping in, accompanied by the sound of distant thunder-like explosions.