Chapter 1128: Who is Whose Prey (Part Two)
Though Cold Yue was incredibly pleased at the time, her joy did not overwhelm her senses, for the girl's strength was formidable, not someone to be dealt with lightly.
It was true that Cold Yue’s strength had reached the peak of the mid-stage Grand Spirit Master realm, but without her Guardian Spirit, her power was greatly diminished. In her estimation, facing the girl alone offered absolutely no chance of victory.
Therefore, to lure the girl out and successfully capture her, Cold Yue spared no expense in hiring some assistants to help her deal with the girl.
Initially, Cold Yue only hired three people, the same three now standing behind her: one mid-stage Grand Spirit Master and two early-stage Grand Spirit Masters. Shang Yuanqi was one of these two early-stage Grand Spirit Masters.
Originally, the Big Sister and Shang Yuanqi, considering their insufficient strength and the low probability of success against Yang Haoran, had not sought revenge on him. Instead, they traveled to the Spirit Land in Jingling Continent.
Upon reaching the Spirit Land, the two followed its arrangements and undertook numerous missions. Though dangerous, the rewards were substantial, and it was through these endeavors that Shang Yuanqi recently successfully broke through to the Grand Spirit Master realm.
According to the Big Sister's plan, once Shang Yuanqi had stabilized his cultivation at the Grand Spirit Master realm, the two of them intended to recruit two more helpers to seek revenge on Yang Haoran and wipe away their past shame.
As for why they needed more people, it was because Yang Haoran's status had undergone a monumental change, transforming from a mere Emissary of Death to a Guardian. Without several people joining forces, the two of them would very likely suffer another defeat at Yang Haoran’s hands.
But what he had never anticipated was the appearance of the girl during this period. Even more coincidentally, the first Grand Spirit Master the girl targeted was the Big Sister herself. In that battle, the Big Sister was utterly defeated, and both she and her Guardian Spirit became nourishment for the girl.
Upon learning of this, Shang Yuanqi was filled with immense rage and secretly vowed to avenge the Big Sister. Shortly after, he encountered Cold Yue seeking help to deal with the girl. Shang Yuanqi agreed without much thought at the time, but his true purpose in agreeing to Cold Yue's request was not to earn the promised reward. Instead, he wanted to find an opportunity to eliminate the girl and avenge the deceased Big Sister, so he joined the operation to hunt the girl.
Under Cold Yue’s series of arrangements, whether it was due to her alluring tactics taking effect, or simply because the girl paid no heed to them, the girl indeed appeared and engaged in a fierce battle with the four of them.
However, none of the four had expected the girl’s strength to be far more formidable than they had estimated. Even their combined efforts were no match for the girl, let alone capable of subduing her. Had Cold Yue not, at the last moment, expended a tremendous price to contact two more experts for support, the four of them would most likely have perished at the girl's hands. They, who had intended to hunt the girl, would have instead become her prey.
The helpers Cold Yue temporarily brought in at such a great cost were none other than the Crippled Elder and the White-Haired Old Woman.
Both the Crippled Elder and the White-Haired Old Woman were late-stage Grand Spirit Masters, significantly stronger than Cold Yue, the strongest among the initial four. It was precisely because of this that, upon their arrival, they immediately turned the tide, allowing Cold Yue's side to gain the upper hand.
The girl, with two fists against many hands, ultimately had no choice but to flee. After her escape, the Crippled Elder and the White-Haired Old Woman took charge of pursuing her, while Cold Yue and the other three found a place to heal their wounds, as their injuries were too severe. If they didn't spend time recovering, they might encounter trouble halfway and all four could fall into the hands of an enemy.
Faced with the fierce pursuit of the White-Haired Old Woman and the Crippled Elder, the girl did not choose to tear space and escape, but rather fled while counterattacking. In this process, the girl seized the opportunity to devour the White-Haired Old Woman's Guardian Spirit, but this action also cost her dearly, as she was severely wounded by the combined efforts of the White-Haired Old Woman and the Crippled Elder.
The reason the girl, when faced with their pursuit, did not choose to tear space and escape, but instead opted to flee while counterattacking, was precisely to target the Guardian Spirits of the two. The White-Haired Old Woman and the Crippled Elder at the time believed that the girl had no chance to tear space and escape under their fierce pursuit, never realizing that this was actually a trap set by the girl, which led to the White-Haired Old Woman losing her Guardian Spirit.
After being severely wounded by the two, the girl knew she could no longer fight them to the death. Moreover, she had successfully devoured a Ghost King-level Guardian Spirit, so the objective of this operation was already achieved. Thus, she used herself as bait, creating an opportunity to tear space, and successfully escaped the scene via spatial teleportation, arriving at the current Death Valley.
What she didn't know was that during her struggle with the White-Haired Old Woman and the Crippled Elder, the Crippled Elder had stealthily cast a tracking secret art, successfully leaving a mark on her. With this mark, within a certain time and range, the Crippled Elder could accurately pinpoint her location. And Death Valley, along with the area of their previous battle, had not exceeded the sensing range of this secret art. Thus, shortly after she arrived in Death Valley, the Crippled Elder and the White-Haired Old Woman tracked her there.
The girl’s choice to temporarily settle in Death Valley for healing was not intentional; it was purely a coincidence. When facing the pursuit of the White-Haired Old Woman and the Crippled Elder, the direction she fled happened to be towards Ancheng. And when she tore space and teleported through the spatial rift, due to her severe injuries, she couldn't travel too far, hence she ultimately landed in Death Valley.
As for Cold Yue and Shang Yuanqi's group of four, after a period of healing, their injuries had not fully recovered, but they had at least made some progress and regained a degree of combat strength. When the Crippled Elder and the White-Haired Old Woman pursued the girl, they were unable to keep up due to their need for healing. However, they all sensed that the three had gone in the direction of Ancheng. So, once the four had finished healing, they immediately headed towards Ancheng.
After the four entered Ancheng territory, not knowing the precise location of the three, nor even if the battle was still ongoing, Cold Yue decided to contact the White-Haired Old Woman and the Crippled Elder via a Communication Talisman. However, before she could even summon the Communication Talisman, they sensed the power fluctuations spread during the White-Haired Old Woman's battle with the girl, as well as the loud explosions from their power collision.
Sensing that these two colliding forces were Spirit Power and ghost power, Cold Yue deduced that the Spirit Power most likely belonged to either the White-Haired Old Woman or the Crippled Elder, and the ghost power should be from the girl.
Although Cold Yue couldn't be one hundred percent certain her guess was correct, she felt it was highly probable. So, she immediately tore space, bringing Shang Yuanqi and the other three to Death Valley, and then witnessed the White-Haired Old Woman clashing with the girl.
The fact that Cold Yue could sense the power fluctuations from the battle between the White-Haired Old Woman and the girl as soon as she arrived in Ancheng territory wasn't because Cold Yue's sensory abilities could cover the entire area of Ancheng. It was because the four of them were already not far from Death Valley, and furthermore, the battle between the White-Haired Old Woman and the girl had no sealing formation or barrier in place. It was perfectly normal to clearly sense these two power fluctuations at close range.
However, they did not sense the power fluctuations of the Crippled Elder at the time, because the Crippled Elder was merely watching from the side and had not made a move, so the four of them naturally could not sense the faint power fluctuations emanating from him.
It was precisely for this reason that Cold Yue easily found the three without even having time to summon a Communication Talisman.
As for why the Crippled Elder felt a headache at Cold Yue's arrival, it was because he and the White-Haired Old Woman had previously promised Cold Yue to help her capture the girl. And the reason they agreed to help Cold Yue was, of course, the high reward Cold Yue had promised them.
But now, because the White-Haired Old Woman's Guardian Spirit had been devoured by the girl, the White-Haired Old Woman, also without a Guardian Spirit, had set her sights on the girl. And he had just agreed to help the White-Haired Old Woman capture the girl. This was the source of his headache.
In truth, the Crippled Elder had not forgotten his promise to Cold Yue when he agreed to the White-Haired Old Woman. However, considering that Cold Yue was not present, and the girl's ultimate fate would not be decided by them alone, they could simply tell Cold Yue that the girl had successfully escaped from them.
According to their agreement with Cold Yue, even if the girl escaped from their hands, Cold Yue would still have to pay them a portion of the reward. So, as long as the White-Haired Old Woman captured the girl and Cold Yue remained unaware, he could not only receive a satisfactory reward from the White-Haired Old Woman but also a portion of the reward from Cold Yue. This was truly killing two birds with one stone and profiting from both sides, and he certainly didn't want to miss such a good opportunity.
But then, Cold Yue arrived at this crucial moment, how could he not have a headache? He even felt a pang of regret in his heart—not regretting agreeing to the White-Haired Old Woman, but regretting why he hadn't set up a sealing formation here earlier to prevent the spread of power fluctuations and booming sounds.
At this moment, the Crippled Elder wasn't the only one with a headache. Yang Haoran, looking at the distant scene, also felt a bit of a headache. And the area Yang Haoran looked towards from afar was precisely Death Valley, where Cold Yue and the others were!
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