The fog arose mysteriously, without any prior warning, suddenly enveloping everything. The fog was dense yet its range was extremely limited, shrouding only a few acres of forest, lingering without dispersing. The last distant cry of terror was already alarmingly close. Within the fog-enshrouded forest, the figures gathering from all sides became blurred, shadowy and chaotic.
At first, Huang Tai was puzzled, but a thought flashed across his mind that sent a chill down his spine, as if he had been plunged into icy water.
He had witnessed Yu Ci's ability to strike and then disappear without a trace. In such an environment, with unclear vision and disorderly figures, wasn't this the perfect setting for Yu Ci's skills? No, perhaps this fog was Yu Ci's doing, and he was hiding within it, waiting for the right moment to strike!
With this realization, Huang Tai dared not neglect his situation. His Yin Spirit vibrated slightly, as if casting out a large net woven from divine consciousness, encompassing everything within a radius of nearly thirty feet.
This kind of Yin Spirit Sensing, with a wide range and clear perception, could not be deceived by any movement within thirty feet, even the faintest changes could be detected up to a mile away. It was extremely powerful. However, it consumed a great deal of Divine Soul power and was particularly vulnerable to direct attacks on the Divine Soul, such as Curse techniques. Therefore, he had always been very cautious, but at this moment, he couldn't help himself.
Under the cover of the divine consciousness net, the Divine Soul fluctuations of all living creatures within the range were clearly reflected. Each Divine Soul was different, and under the control of someone with Huang Tai's level of cultivation, any slight difference was a glaring marker.
He ordered his subordinates to guard him while he focused all his energy on sensing his surroundings. In an instant, the positions of all the guards moving intensely nearby were gathered. But, the most crucial one... where was Yu Ci?
Huang Tai was somewhat dazed, but in the blink of an eye, he decided to risk it all!
He gritted his teeth and his Yin Spirit, which had always been dwelling within his flesh body, suddenly left its physical host. Without the constraints of the flesh body, the sensitivity of his Yin Spirit Sensing increased more than tenfold in an instant. At that moment, he "saw" a cold, icy breath blending into the dense fog in a certain part of the forest, silently drifting away with the wind.
That breath was almost one with the fog, merging so closely. If it weren't for his Yin Spirit forcefully leaving his body, causing the divine consciousness net to vibrate intensely and interfere with the Divine Souls of nearby creatures, he would have been deceived again!
That location was... to the west?
His Yin Spirit instantly returned to the crown of his head, and Huang Tai shivered. Although he had achieved Yin Spirit, he was still some distance from the spiritual journey of Yin Spirit out of the body. Exposing his Yin Spirit to the world before it was fully mature, even on a night without moonlight, could cause slight damage.
Suppressing his physical discomfort, he cursed loudly, "Behind us, that bastard is behind us!"
Driven by Huang Tai, the surrounding guards rushed over like a swarm of bees. Huang Tai also took a few steps, but he soon despaired to find that the target must have been blessed with a first-rate Talisman, and his speed was astonishing. Apart from him, no one here could catch up.
In the vast expanse of the forest, what were the odds that he, alone, could catch up and detain that fox-like rascal, if a large entourage could not encircle him?
Reflecting on the opponent's almost mystical ability to blend seamlessly with the fog, Huang Tai unconsciously halted in his tracks. He finally understood why the other party could move freely in Sky Rift Valley, playing them like puppets on a string— with such skills, wasn't he like a fish in water in the valley?
Ahead, Yu Ci's figure had completely melted into the night, but without the cover of fog, the unique fluctuations of his Divine Soul, flickering like candlelight, indicated the direction, but could also escape the sensing range at any moment.
Huang Tai gave a bitter smile, finally pulling out the Jade Talisman he had prepared long ago.
A few Rune Patterns were etched on the Jade Talisman, exuding an eerie aura and radiating spiritual light. It wasn't his work, rather it was a contingency plan given to him by Tu Du.
Huang Tai wished he would never have to use it. He remembered clearly, when he received this talisman, Tu Du's words, said with a beaming smile:
"White Sun Mansion has been established for over a hundred years, it's rare to have such an opportunity, I really want to try and see, how does it feel to catch a junior?"
Huang Tai understood that if the old man really tried, his future in White Sun Mansion would certainly be bleak, even miserable. But if he let Yu Ci escape, his future... he would have no future!
Without any hesitation, he infused his spiritual intent into the Yin Spirit and crushed the talisman in his hand.
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A soft hiss sounded, and a smoke arrow, barely visible, shot out. It didn't fly half a mile before it was hit by the wind pressure, its form drastically changed, strands of smoke turned into white feathers, after a few twists and turns, it transformed into a palm-sized Immortal Crane, leisurely but not slow, disappearing without a trace in a blink of an eye.
Watching the Smoke Crane take form, Huang Tai slumped, not from exhaustion, but from the realization that he had squandered the last chance Tu Du had given him.
His teeth gritted with a creaking sound: "Bastard, once I catch you, I'll make you regret being born!"
Huang Tai never doubted Yu Ci's fate. In his view, with the Chief Elder of White Sun Mansion and the famous Golden Elixir cultivator Tu Du personally taking action, the tragic end of that kid was already written in stone!
***************
The fleeing Yu Ci was temporarily oblivious to Huang Tai's complicated thoughts. Just now, he had used the "Mist Flow Concealing Talisman" as a diversion and drove his flesh body with the Foggy Sword Divine, employing a technique nearly akin to invisibility. He had pushed his recent understanding of Ye Bin's Sword Intent to its limits. After running for several miles, he was already somewhat fatigued.
This feeling of physical weakness, he was already quite familiar with it. The sword aura gifted by Ye Bin was indeed a divine technique, yet, for him, it also represented a heavy burden. After becoming accustomed to it over time, he understood that if he were to strike with the Foggy Sword Divine, he could manage at most five strikes before his body would be completely drained, surpassing its limit of endurance.
Fortunately, he possessed the robust recovery ability conferred by the "Primordial Qi". With a few breaths, his fatigue would be swept away, and his body would once again be filled with strength.
Then, he opened the Divine Map.
The winter night forest hung suspended in a faint blue mist, maintaining its inverted bowl shape. Its color was slightly darker, faithfully reflecting the changing light around the Sky Rift Valley. With a slight shift of thought, Yu Ci quickly spotted the tiny Smoke Crane in the void.
"Indeed, it's the Flying Crane Soul Symbol. That Huang fellow really lacks any creativity!"
He also knew this talisman, which fell within the scope of the Monster and Ghost Scripts. Once created, it could capture specific ghostly energies and divine soul fluctuations within a range of several tens of miles, making it perfect for tracking and locating. The reason he said "indeed" was because a few days ago, when the old Demon Tu Du handed this talisman to Huang Tai, he had observed the entire process through the enhanced Divine Map granted by the "Three Calls in One Breath" technique, missing not a single detail.
Then, the old Demon Tu Du should be catching up soon, right?
Yu Ci slowly gathered his strength, naturally slowing his pace. He began to draw talismans again, sealing them within the Green Spirit Guide of the Divine Bronze Mirror. Due to the need to consider the sealing time limit, he had to handle this timing with precision.
After finishing the three talisman scripts, he withdrew from his state of empty clarity. His personal emotions surfaced, and to be honest, he was feeling genuinely nervous. Because of his nervousness, his mind began to entertain more thoughts:
He was precocious from birth. At the age of seven or eight, he already had some clear personal rules. However, during his five years in the Twin Immortal Sect, he had hardly done anything willingly. Therefore, after turning thirteen and gaining his freedom, he strived to make every action he took satisfying and justifiable.
This was not an easy task, but he enjoyed it.
He was indeed pursuing immortality. However, the immortality he sought, or rather longed for, was not the brutal and ruthless kind like the Purple Thunder and Red Yin Twin Immortals, nor the petty and lowly kind like the White Sun Mansion and Thousands Spirits Sect. Rather, it was a kind of... a kind of...
How should he put it? Yu Ci couldn't find the exact words for the moment, but he knew that it should be a kind of immortality that brought him immense satisfaction and happiness.
The demands seemed exceedingly high, but for Yu Ci, it was nothing more than just. For him, Immortality was the sum of all meanings. This "meaning" was what mattered to him, what he sought and yearned for, all of which could and should be included in this category.
If it doesn't meet this standard - is that kind of Immortality still Immortality?
So, often, he would do things that seemed inexplicable to others: unrelated to morality, unrelated to gains and losses, unrelated to right and wrong, good and evil, there was only one sufficient reason:
He was satisfied, he was happy, he enjoyed!
Yu Ci cracked a silent smile.
Within the Divine Map, Smoke Crane was closing in from behind. However, up until now, there was nothing obstructive within a fifty-mile radius. He still had plenty of time... Wait!
What was that?
The Divine Map was filled with a verdant glow, but within it was a very obtrusive line of mist, extending from the edge, spanning mountains and rivers, piercing through half of the Divine Map, rapidly approaching, charging towards him.
In the maximized Divine Map, this line of mist was as thin as a spider's thread. But if you switched perspectives and looked closely, you would realize that this so-called "line" was actually a circle of twisted light and shadow, as thick as a hug, and its diameter was constantly expanding. It was the trace left by some astonishing power crossing the void.
To conserve energy for the potentially difficult situation that might follow, Yu Ci didn't use the "Three Calls in One Breath" technique. Now the clarity of the Divine Map was limited, and the so-called "Golden Elixir Haze" appeared in the scene again.
However, this didn't look like a Golden Elixir cultivator!
Speaking of which, Yu Ci knew Huang Tai's plan like the back of his hand, but he was still guessing about Tu Du's intentions. With Tu Du's status and ability, there was no need to inform his subordinates of his plans in detail. He alone was a power that surpassed Huang Tai and others by several times.
Yu Ci knew he was taking a risk, but he had a consistent reason for taking risks.
Taking a deep breath to steady his mind, he quickly measured the speed of the line's extension. The answer was: a thousand feet in a flash! This was not a speed that a Golden Elixir cultivator could achieve. In just over ten breaths, a distance of fifty miles was erased!
Lifting his head sharply, at this moment, there was no need to use the Divine Map anymore. Yu Ci, with his naked eyes, saw a bright star breaking through the sky from behind the mountains. The star shone with a red light, as big as a bucket, spanning the horizon like a comet streaking across the sky. But its trajectory was clearly downward!
*****************
Suddenly, he thought, if Brother Fishbone was a criminal, he must be a happy offender... Amitabha Buddha! Take advantage of Sunday, vigorously seek clicks, vigorously seek collections ah ah ah!
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I have also posted the following more chapters [All free] on: https://www.readgates.com/article/74a39e