Chapter 606: The Ultimate Goal |
“It seems she’s still hiding something.”
Lei Shan sighed, then continued, “But we got lucky. Everyone made it out safely.”
“That’s right. Let’s go, prepare to report back!”
Ning Qi nodded and looked ahead.
“Let’s go. We’ll answer to the clan leader when we return, even though we failed.”
“But we did gain something this time; at least we now know her strength.”
Zhao Shilin added.
Their group left and followed the path back.
At the same time, the peak Ning Qi had earlier looked out from offered a view of the city they were heading to.
Among them was Gu Yueying.
She had changed into new attire; a faint glow shone in her eyes as she stared at the nearby mountains.
“You mean their people must be hiding somewhere in those mountains?”
A middle-aged man approached and asked in a deep voice.
“That’s right. Send people to search.”
“If they’re not near the Pocket Dimension, they must have found an exit and gone out.”
“Don’t leave any place unchecked. Dig three feet into the ground if you must, but find them!”
Gu Yueying’s beautiful eyes filled with rage as she continued, “They must be wiped out in one sweep.”
“All right, I’ll arrange it!”
The middle-aged man nodded, a flash of killing intent in his gaze. “Those bastards dared to make trouble in our city.”
“If we don’t teach them a lesson, how will we keep our footing here?”
“They came prepared this time!”
“Then there must be an inside agent in the city. Send people to investigate.”
“Round up everyone who’s come to the city in the past few years!”
“Test them one by one. If anyone carries demonic energy, execute them immediately!”
Gu Yueying glanced behind her and added, “Keep a few alive for severe interrogation!”
“Understood! I will give the orders!”
The middle-aged man agreed again.
“Did people from Myriad Swords Sect arrive as well? Who came?”
Gu Yueying only then remembered and asked.
“It’s their Third Elder.”
The middle-aged man said, “He’s ahead, already leading people to search.”
“Good, I’ll go meet him.”
Gu Yueying nodded and set off immediately.
Under the middle-aged man’s lead, they soon reached the front.
“Third Elder!”
The middle-aged man called first.
Beside that Third Elder stood someone else.
It was Xu Qingqiu.
There were a few others with them as well.
Gao Yunze and Wang Zhengqian were also present.
“Elder Zhao.”
The Third Elder greeted, then moved forward first.
“So the Second Elder is here too!”
Elder Zhao immediately noticed Wang Zhengqian among them.
“How could I not come when such a big incident happened here?”
Wang Zhengqian said as he followed.
“This is Zhao Kaishan of Purple Dawn Sect. I didn’t expect him to show up.”
Gao Yunze said to Xu Qingqiu as he watched Zhao approach.
“Seems the assassination attempt on the Sacred Maiden really is serious.”
Xu Qingqiu agreed earnestly.
“Sacred Maiden, are you all right?”
Wang Zhengqian asked in a low voice after coming up.
“I’m fine. If I hadn’t just brought back a few treasures from the Immortal Realm, this would have been troublesome.”
Gu Yueying shook her head and continued, “Thanks to Myriad Swords Sect for coming to our aid!”
“No need for thanks. We still haven’t found the culprits.”
“When we find them, we’ll celebrate together!”
Wang Zhengqian smiled and looked ahead. “If their people could appear without anyone noticing, they must have a base nearby.”
“We must search thoroughly. We’ll be able to find their hideout.”
“Indeed!”
Gu Yueying nodded, killing intent flashing in her eyes. “Those bastards even pretended to be from the Immortal Realm to deceive me!”
“If I hadn’t noticed the problem early on, I might have been tricked.”
“Oh, looks like we need to investigate internally as well.”
Wang Zhengqian added.
“Elder Wang, let’s split and search.”
“How many disciples did you bring?”
Gu Yueying suddenly asked as she remembered.
“Plenty. Many people came.”
“Our people will search over there!”
“A few days ago, the Demonic Race destroyed one of our branches. We’ll settle that score!”
Wang Zhengqian nodded and pointed in a direction. “At first we didn’t think they’d dare act again.”
“So we didn’t alert everyone. Unexpectedly, they didn’t just cause trouble, they targeted our city!”
“We can’t let this go, otherwise they’ll someday wipe out this city that connects us to the Immortal Realm.”
“Right! Let’s do that then.”
“Our people will search in this direction!”
Gu Yueying nodded and gave Zhao Kaishan a meaningful look.
“Depart!”
Zhao Kaishan understood and waved to lead his people away.
“We’ll be taking our leave too!”
Wang Zhengqian cupped his fist and left with his group.
Xu Qingqiu and Gao Yunze followed closely.
“Master, the Demonic Race is too treacherous this time.”
Gao Yunze fell into step and said, “They have infiltrated our ranks; there must be traitors among us.”
“Indeed, thanks to Qingqiu and you, otherwise we’d have no idea what happened!”
Wang Zhengqian nodded and spoke seriously, “Be careful when you search. The Demonic Race is cunning and treacherous.”
“We understand. We already suffered once.”
“We won’t let them succeed again!”
Gao Yunze nodded, revealing a predatory look.
He had come this time to take revenge.
Xu Qingqiu had been silent beside them the whole time.
“Master, how do you think Young Master Ning is? We can’t casually transmit to him anymore.”
The Nine-Tailed Cat whispered from her shoulder, puzzled.
“I don’t know, but he should be fine.”
“If something happened, he could handle it!”
Xu Qingqiu shook her head and added, “We should just focus on our own tasks.”
“You mean if he went to the Realm Sea battlefield with the Demonic Race, he’d conflict with them?”
The Nine-Tailed Cat asked, thinking.
“No. He went for resources and to improve his strength, not for slaughter.”
“And whatever actions he takes, he’ll contact me.”
Xu Qingqiu shook her head confidently. “When he arrives, he’ll still be our mole.”
“Oh, that’s good. If he were against Young Master Ning, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
The Nine-Tailed Cat nodded and then looked ahead. “We must be careful in this operation, though Young Master Ning won’t harm us.”
“But those Demonic Race people aren’t easy to deal with.”
“Yes, they’re numerous and ruthless!”
“If it weren’t for Ning Qi’s help last time, we’d have been in trouble.”
Xu Qingqiu solemnly agreed. “So we must be cautious in future actions.”
“Qingqiu, you and Yunze should return to the city first.”
Wang Zhengqian suddenly spoke.
“Master, I want to act with you!”
Xu Qingqiu snapped back to attention and immediately stepped forward.
She had hoped that if they acted together, they might encounter something surprising.
Otherwise, like last time, they wouldn’t even have time to bid farewell before being separated again.
“This place is dangerous. I’m telling you to go back.”
Wang Zhengqian looked at her and said in a low voice.
“Master, isn’t this perfect? I’m about to go to the Realm Sea battlefield.”
“Facing them here beforehand will help train me.”
Xu Qingqiu’s eyes flicked as she smiled.
“They killed so many of our senior brothers. We cannot let them go unpunished.”
Gao Yunze added beside her.
He still held a grudge over the last incident.
His humiliation in front of Xu Qingqiu made him unable to meet her gaze and ended his pursuit of her.
He felt utterly ashamed before her.
“Since you insist on going, then go.”
The Third Elder spoke up: “It’ll be good training. But a reminder: if you encounter Demonic Race members, don’t try to show off. Notify us immediately.”
“Understood.”
Gao Yunze nodded in agreement.
“All right, go then!”
With the Third Elder’s backing, Wang Zhengqian did not continue arguing.
“Good!”
Xu Qingqiu and Gao Yunze left with their people.
“What do you think the Demonic Race wants?”
After they left, Wang Zhengqian muttered.
“We don’t know. The assassination attempt was sudden.”
The Third Elder thought for a moment, then shook his head. “In that case, we’ll teach them a lesson, otherwise they’ll think we won’t retaliate.”
“Yes, these people are getting bolder. It’s time to punish them.”
Wang Zhengqian sighed and added, “Let’s split our forces.”
“You take people to our branch and I’ll take people into the mountains to inspect.”
“All right, we’ll part ways here!”
The Third Elder cupped his fist and sped off.
A host of disciples followed him.
Only Wang Zhengqian remained behind.
He fixed his gaze on the direction Gu Yueying and her group had taken.
At this moment, her group had already gone deep into the forest.
“Divine One, our people found footprints ahead!”
A disciple hurried over to report.
“Oh? Lead the way!”
Gu Yueying’s interest was piqued; she called for the men to follow.
They quickly arrived at a valley where their people indeed found signs of passage.
“This is demonic energy!”
After sensing with her spiritual sense, Gu Yueying said firmly, “I didn’t expect they could teleport here. Truly unexpected.”
“My lord, then they must have jumped out of our encirclement directly.”
“They’ve probably already left.”
Zhao Kaishan observed the scene and said, “Damn it, they slipped away.”
“They may not be able to leave that easily!”
Gu Yueying looked ahead and continued, “If they left from this direction, send people to track this way.”
“I don’t believe they can escape from here.”
“All right. I’ll arrange the men now!”
Zhao Kaishan took the order and left.
Only Gu Yueying and a few disciples remained.
Gu Yueying sent out her spiritual sense and once again detected Ning Qi’s aura.
That bastard was here too.
How did he get out of my QianKun Plate?
How did he leave without any trace or my notice?
“My lord, should we continue the pursuit or... return?”
A disciple respectfully asked.
“Return. There’s no result remaining here.”
“Have Elder Zhao continue the search!”
Gu Yueying looked forward one last time and said unwillingly.
“You few take people and continue the pursuit.”
“You others, escort my lord back.”
The disciple responded and ordered people to continue onward.
“Yes!”
...
Everyone agreed and left.
Deep in the mountains, Ning Qi and the others had already reached the entrance to the Demonic Race territory.
“If we go in like this, won’t our auras be detected by them?”
Ning Qi asked as they neared the entrance.
“Don’t worry. We have methods to remove our auras here.”
“They won’t be able to find us.”
Lei Shan smiled and showed a smug expression. “Otherwise they would have found us long ago.”
“That’s good!”
“What method do you use so they can’t detect us?”
Ning Qi nodded, curious.
He still didn’t understand how they accomplished it.
“We have formation restrictions. These formation restrictions activate after someone leaves traces or aura behind.”
“When triggered, the traces disperse.”
“So no traces remain where we pass.”
Lei Shan smiled and told Ning Qi, “Only Demonic Race members can set up such formations.”
“All right, then let’s go in!”
Ning Qi relaxed and followed Lei Shan inside.
Zhao Shilin did not enter this time; he stayed outside.
Ning Qi followed Lei Shan along the passage.
“Ning brother, is this Sacred Maiden really that powerful?”
Lei Shan asked as they walked.
“Yes, her strength should be above Fifth-Rank Celestial Immortal.”
Ning Qi nodded in agreement.
However, he did not tell Lei Shan about her Immortal Race bloodline.
He would not reveal that to anyone.
“Master, why did you hide her identity?”
The Pill Spirit in his dantian asked, puzzled.
“No need, and she will be useful later!”
Ning Qi responded mentally, “If we told them, they would step up attempts on her life.”
“What use could she have?”
The Pill Spirit became curious after hearing him.
“You’ll know in time.”
Ning Qi didn’t tell and instead left it hanging.
“All right!”
The Pill Spirit replied and continued on.
“Ning brother, you showed some talent in this mission.”
Lei Shan smiled. “Now when we return there’ll be no more suspicion.”
“Our goal has essentially been achieved.”