In the wilderness.
Xu Qing’s body was agile as he sped forward.
He had been running for two days now. Because of his recovery ability, the fatigue caused by non-stop travelling didn’t appear in Xu Qing.
He even had a feeling that his body was completely active.
During this time, he had also noticed the Diamond Sect cultivators who were dressed similarly to the camp leader from afar. However, with his careful dodging and speed, he managed to dodge them all.
At that moment, he was only a day’s journey away from his destination, Antler City. Hence, Xu Qing’s path also reached a fork in the road.
On the left was the city he had lived in for six years. That place had now become a forbidden zone. From afar, it was pitch-black in the dusk.
The other direction was Antler City.
Standing there, Xu Qing turned his head and glanced in the direction of the forbidden zone. After a few breaths of silence, his body swayed and he was about to rush toward Antler City. However, at that moment, his expression changed. He instantly crouched down and hid in the bushes.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and lifted his head to look at the distant sky.
Over there, a golden rainbow was whistling past.
Because the distance was too far, Xu Qing could only see the piercing golden light and couldn’t see the figure inside clearly. However, the other party’s spirit energy fluctuations were the same as the camp leader’s but even more intense. This caused his mind to tremble.
“This pressure surpasses that of the camp leader…”
Xu Qing only took a deep breath after the rainbow had left. A hint of hesitation appeared in his eyes.
In these two days, he encountered three waves of Diamond Sect cultivators but he carefully avoided them all. However, it was obvious that this time around, he felt the most danger.
“If I continue forward, I’ll be able to reach Antler City in a day…” Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and fell into deep thought. He knew that his current advantage was that no one knew that he had the Seven Blood Eyes’ token on him.
As such, it was very difficult to guess his destination.
However, he still had an advantage. He didn’t mind the dense anomalous substances in the forbidden zone. If he was careful, he could stay there for a long time.
The other path’s advantage was that if he acted quickly and caught the Diamond Sect off guard, there was a high chance that he could teleport away from Antler City.
However, there were also drawbacks. Once he was discovered on his way to Antler City, this advantage would immediately be destroyed. It would be very easy for others to guess his destination and at the same time, his safety would be threatened.
Going into the forbidden zone would allow him to stall for time.
He would drag it out until the Diamond Sect was exhausted and relaxed. It would be convenient for him to do this and head to Antler City safely. Also, if he encountered any danger during this period of time, he would have some leeway to deal with them in the forbidden zone.
“Two methods, two choices…” Xu Qing muttered.
While he was analyzing the pros and cons in his heart, the golden light that had flown far away earlier suddenly appeared again. This time, its speed was even faster.
This abnormal scene caused Xu Qing to frown immediately. He hid himself and didn’t move as he observed carefully. This lasted until the golden light flew past from afar. Its speed had clearly slowed down by a lot.
This allowed Xu Qing to see the figure in the golden light clearly. It was a middle-aged cultivator.
There was a rune on this person’s right leg and it emitted spirit energy fluctuations as though it was supporting his body to fly.
There was also a talisman in front of him and it was the source of the golden light.
At that moment, the talisman light kept flickering and there was a blurry figure inside. Upon closer inspection, that figure was none other than the guard from the camp’s leader’s residence whom Xu Qing had killed.
It was like a possessed body, sensing its surroundings like a hunting dog in the golden light.
The middle-aged cultivator’s speed became slower and slower, as though he was observing his surroundings. After a while, he changed his direction and continued searching until he was further away.
This scene caused Xu Qing’s heart to skip a beat.
“Treasure talisman!”
He recognized the two talismans. Although he didn’t know the specifics, he could roughly guess their function.
“Using the person I killed to sense my existence? The range isn’t very large and the sensing is also blurry…” Xu Qing drew in a deep breath as he deeply realized the magic and profundity of the spell. At this moment, the analysis of the pros and cons in his heart instantly had a tendency.
“I can’t continue heading to Antler City. The probability of being discovered in an entire day is extremely high. Once I’m discovered, not only will I be in a dangerous place, but my destination will also be exposed.” Xu Qing made a decision. While the other party was far away, he dashed in the direction of the forbidden zone.
He was prepared to hide there for a while before making a decision.
While Xu Qing was speeding, not long later, when he was only an incense stick’s worth of time away from the forbidden zone, the golden light in the sky behind him appeared once again.
Xu Qing immediately hid. When he turned his head, his eyes suddenly narrowed.
At this moment, the golden light seemed to have locked onto him and its speed suddenly increased, heading straight for him. There was also a sword light that whistled over at an even faster speed.
This scene caused Xu Qing’s expression to change slightly. He no longer dodged and his body suddenly swayed.
The instant he left, a boom rang out. The sword light abruptly landed at the place he had dodged earlier, causing the soil to splatter everywhere and creating a violent impact.
At the same time, the golden light in the sky instantly arrived, and a cold snort echoed out.
“Little brat, I’ve finally found you. So you wanted to come here!”
As the voice rang out, the golden light approached and the middle-aged man’s figure was clearly revealed.
This person had a square face and wore a golden robe. His height was ordinary and his appearance was ordinary. Only his brows were extremely heavy, making him look very conspicuous.
At this moment, under his thick brows, his eyes were filled with coldness and killing intent as he looked in the direction of Xu Qing.
Almost at the instant he lowered his head to take a look, Xu Qing stomped the ground with his right foot and leaped up with a boom, charging toward the middle-aged man in the air.
The middle-aged cultivator sneered. The first time he passed by this place, there was an abnormality with the tracking talisman. Hence, he searched carefully and finally locked onto Xu Qing’s location. When he saw Xu Qing approaching, his body instantly rose.
After reaching a height that Xu Qing couldn’t reach, the moment Xu Qing’s momentum dissipated and his body fell, the middle-aged cultivator lifted his right hand.
As a storm appeared in the surroundings, he suddenly pointed.
At that instant, the storm descended and directly drowned Xu Qing’s figure.
Amidst the rumbling, Xu Qing landed on the ground in a very sorry state. His body then swayed as he headed straight for the forbidden zone.
The middle-aged cultivator wanted to give chase but at the next instant, a cold light flashed from Xu Qing, transforming into a dagger that flew toward the middle-aged cultivator at an astonishing speed.
The middle-aged cultivator narrowed his eyes and soared into the air to dodge.
“Petty tricks!”
On the ground, Xu Qing cast a deep glance at the middle-aged cultivator but didn’t speak. He then unleashed his full speed and sped up.
He had already realized that he was no match for this person.
If the other party couldn’t fly, he could still return the favor and drag the other party to death.
However, against an opponent who could fly, Xu Qing didn’t have much of a choice.
One was in the sky while the other was on the ground. In such a fight, he didn’t have any advantage.
At that moment, Xu Qing’s speed erupted as he ran with all his might. Behind him, in the sky, the golden-robed middle-aged man sneered and directly took out a jade slip to transmit his voice to the ancestor. After that, he increased his speed and chased after Xu Qing. With a series of hand seals, rays of spell light blasted toward the ground.
As a Great Elder at the ninth level of Qi Condensation, his spirit energy was very abundant and he had mastered many spells.
From afar, one could see numerous wind blades and fireballs continuously bombarding him, causing Xu Qing, who was running on the ground, to be exhausted from dealing with them. Even if he dodged, he would still be affected by the shockwaves and blood slowly seeped out from the corner of his mouth.
“The old ancestor is too cautious. I don’t need him to come. I can already kill you.” The middle-aged cultivator in the air sneered.
Although he said this, he didn’t land on the ground. Even though Xu Qing was in a sorry state many times, he still maintained a certain height. His hands formed a seal and a storm rose once again, blasting toward the ground.
Killing intent flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. Such a passive beating made the killing intent in his heart even stronger.
However, he was very clear that although the other party seemed to be alone, he definitely had a way to contact the sect. If he didn’t end the battle quickly and enter the forbidden zone, his situation would become even more dangerous as time passed. This was especially so when the other party mentioned the old ancestor, causing Xu Qing’s heart to tremble.
However, the other party didn’t lower his altitude at all. This caused Xu Qing to be unable to retaliate. He had displayed weakness several times previously but he was still unable to lure the other party down.
“This person is too cautious. We can’t wait any longer.”
At the thought of this, purple light flashed in Xu Qing’s eyes. The instant the other party’s storm descended and drowned him, a purple saber shadow suddenly appeared in the storm.
In the storm, Xu Qing spat out fresh blood. He withstood the damage from the other party’s spell and swung his right hand down.
At that instant, the heavenly saber appeared once again and slashed down.
An extremely intense life-and-death crisis directly erupted in the heart of the middle-aged cultivator in the air. His expression changed drastically as he rapidly retreated and used the flying talisman to fly into the air with all his might.
The moment he rose into the air, the void beneath him rumbled with astonishing might. When the saber shadow arrived, it was as though it could cut through everything. It whistled past under his body with extreme danger.
If he had been slightly slower in dodging, or if he had lowered his height earlier, he would probably have been slashed down by this saber with the momentum of thunder.
At that moment, although he had dodged death, his left foot was still touched. It directly collapsed and his flesh was badly mangled.
Enduring the intense pain, the middle-aged cultivator’s breathing became hurried. The killing intent in his eyes was intense but the vigilance and lingering fear in his heart were even more intense. He was very clear that if he didn’t have the flying talisman, he would definitely be heavily injured if he was slashed by that astonishing saber strike.
“The ancestor is right. This kid is strange!”
On the ground, Xu Qing wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and coldly glanced at the middle-aged cultivator whose left foot was badly mangled. He suppressed the regret in his heart and turned to continue speeding toward the forbidden zone.
At that moment, the middle-aged cultivator in the sky was in unbearable pain. After sealing his wound, he lowered his head and looked at Xu Qing. Although the killing intent in his heart was strong, he still hesitated for a moment and didn’t dare to continue approaching. Instead, he increased his altitude and used a spell to interfere.
He wasn’t prepared to act alone. Compared to completing the sect’s mission, his life was more important. Hence, he planned to drag it out. Even if the other party wanted to enter the forbidden zone, he would still allow it to happen.
“When the ancestor comes, this kid will die!”
Hence, under the situation where he didn’t dare to get close, although the spell also injured Xu Qing, Xu Qing’s recovery speed was astonishing. Hence, the impact wasn’t great and his speed became faster and faster.
This lasted until Xu Qing saw the edge of the forbidden zone. His body then swayed and he quickly stepped in.
Outside the forbidden zone, the middle-aged cultivator’s figure paused in mid-air. Just as he was hesitating on whether he should chase after them, lightning suddenly appeared in the sky behind him. As it rumbled, two figures whistled over.
The former wore a red robe and his white hair fluttered in the wind. He exuded a dignified aura.
The shadow of Diamond on his back transformed into a storm that shook the surroundings. It was the Diamond Sect’s ancestor.
The latter was another elder of the Sect. The two of them approached rapidly one after another.