Chapter 14 (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“a.s.sa.s.sin Turtledove’s aura is gone. That Immortal Du Sect disciple in the Ninth Stage of Soul Formation has disappeared as well. This is very strange.”

Deep in the dense forest, in a mysterious valley, several black figures were hidden in the shrubbery. They seemed to be discussing something via voice transmission.

One of them scolded, “There’s an 80% chance that he took the money, killed the person, and then ran away! Hmph! People like that cannot be trusted. We have to nurture our own subordinates. They will be more reliable!”

“Is the Dragon-Trapping Array ready?”

“It has been set up. We can trap the Immortal Du Sect’s Perfected Immortal.”

“Very good. Although there have been unexpected changes in the situation, it should not be too big of a problem,” the man in charge said in a low voice. “Send a message to Fourth Young Master later. Arrange for a wave of people to attack him on purpose. That will lure the Immortal Du Sect’s Perfected Immortal over.”

“We will personally capture those two disciples and bring them to the trapping array. Then, we will trap the Perfected Immortal. This matter concerns the restoration of our country, and the Sixth Princess is our best bet. We have to control her. At the same time, Fourth Young Master will get what he desires.”

The black figures chuckled. The man in charge clenched his fist, and then everyone left one by one, very quickly.

Half a day later, a few men in black clothes suddenly attacked Yuan Qing and Youqin Xuanya. Yuan Qing immediately crushed his communication talisman.

Jiu Jiu, who was sitting cross-legged above w.a.n.g Ji and Liu Yan’er, immediately jumped. She turned around and charged towards the south-east. Yuwen Ling gave all that he could in order to keep up with Jiu Jiu.

The moment Jiu Jiu flew away, more than ten types of aurae appeared below. There were two cultivators in the Dao Requital Realm among them, who knocked w.a.n.g Ji and Liu Yan’er unconscious and took them away at once.

An hour later, Jiu Jiu flew back quickly, leaving Yuwen Ling hovering over Yuan Qing and Youqin Xuanya to keep watch.

At that moment, Jiu Jiu smelled something out of the ordinary. However, she was traveling too fast. By the time she found Liu Yan’er and w.a.n.g Ji, she already found herself deep in a certain array. There were white clouds all around her, and even as far as her immortal awareness could reach, she could only see a patch of white.

She took w.a.n.g Ji and Liu Yan’er in her arms and then flew around the trapping array. Jiu Jiu was no expert in array formations, to begin with, and soon, she found herself right where she started.

‘At least, I left the hunky general to watch over Yuan Qing and Xuanya.’

Jiu Jiu heaved a sigh of relief. She wanted to quieten her heart down to look for a way to break out of the array formation. However, once again, she recalled the warning Li Changshou had given her before entering the Chaos Treasure Forest.

“Aunt-Master Jiu, this person has come for unknown reasons and is slightly suspicious. Don’t trust him easily.”

‘Could this Yuwen Ling be—’

At that moment, beads of cold sweat appeared on Jiu Jiu’s forehead.

It was all linked in a chain—it looked like she had fallen into their trap right from the beginning!

‘What has happened to Li Changshou? His cultivation level is low. Could he have been killed? There’s an 80% chance that these people are after Xuanya and Yuan Qing. I should have realized this sooner!’

Jiu Jiu could not help but shout curses. “You lousy baddies! If you have what it takes, come and fight 300 rounds with me! How can you still call yourselves cultivators after using these wretched tricks?!”

Yet, there were nothing but poisonous insects and a few similarly-lost poisonous beasts in the array. There was no response.

“Aiya!”

Jiu Jiu tossed the two unconscious people onto the ground, and then paced back and forth. The threads in her already tattered short-sleeve top tightened. It threatened to snap at any time under the immense pressure.

“These array formations and whatnot frustrate me to death!”

…

‘Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb, this is really hard to find.”

On the twelfth day in the North Continent, Li Changshou emerged from the Chaos Treasure Forest. Then, he headed 800 kilometers towards the north-west. Finally, he arrived at the marked-out region on his map ‘on time’.

This region measured about 150 kilometers in radius. The terrain was extremely complicated as there were hills, swamps, mountain ranges, and the like. As Li Changshou traveled deeper into the North Continent, the poisonous beasts and insects became even more ferocious.

Li Changshou remained extremely cautious throughout. Very carefully, he searched for the ‘poisonous herb’ that he wanted. After searching for six days consecutively, he found all sorts of poisonous herbs and spirit herbs. Yet, he found no trace of the one he had taken the risk of coming to the North Continent for in the first place.

At noon, it started raining, and each raindrop falling from the sky was extremely poisonous.

Li Changshou did not dare to stay out and wander around. Thus, he found a precipice and dug a hole in it, hiding inside. He released his spiritual awareness to inspect his surroundings. Li Changshou was going to wait for the rain to stop before he continued his search for the herb.

In these six days, he had searched almost every area in the region. Unfortunately, he had found no trace of the Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb.

‘Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb, Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb, why are you playing hide-and-seek with me? Why not come out and meet me?’

Li Changshou yawned and sat cross-legged in his cave. Then, he began to adjust his body back to his peak state.

He had learned from an ancient text that this region was where the Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb grew.

Coming here would be the lowest price he had to pay for finding this herb. If he did not succeed, Li Changshou decided that he would go back to the town on his way back to try his luck.

So what if he had to spend the spirit stones and treasures that he had spent years cheating… ahem, working and saving up? It would all be worth it if he could obtain an Immortal-Emanc.i.p.ating Herb.

Well, if even that didn’t work, Li Changshou would have no other way. He could only start planning again when he returned to the mountain.

The rain started all of a sudden, and it showed no signs of stopping any time soon.