Shu Lan struck Qin An with her sword energy, and Qin An quickly retreated, managing to escape through a gap in the encirclement.
With a loud rumble, Qin An was struck and slammed against the rock face of a mountain, causing the entire mountain range to shake violently.
Suddenly, a large amount of gravel and clods of earth fell from the mountain, kicking up a cloud of dust that blurred the vision of all the cultivators.
When Qin An was struck by the rock wall, his protective shield had not yet dissipated, firmly protecting him. The shield only gradually dimmed and eventually disappeared after enduring the sword energy attack and the impact of the mountain.
"Xiao An, run!" Shu Lan's voice came through at this moment.
Qin An dared not delay and immediately took out the Thousand-Mile Escape Talisman that his master brother had once given him. He then activated the talisman, and instantly, a burst of light enveloped him. In an instant, Qin An disappeared from the spot.
After the dust settled, the cultivators from the various immortal sects flew over on their swords, hoping to find Qin An's whereabouts.
They believed that after suffering that attack from Venerable Han Qing, Demon Lord Qin An must have been seriously injured and might be lying in a pile of rocks, barely clinging to life!
Shu Lan did not go over, but stood there with his head down, making it impossible to see his facial expression.
Venerable Lieyang thought that Shulan was overwhelmed with grief. Anyone would be extremely saddened to learn that their disciple, whom they had raised for many years, was a demon cultivator and that they had personally killed him.
After all, the friendship we've built over the years isn't fake. If it weren't for the greater good, my junior brother wouldn't have endured all this.
Thinking of this, Venerable Lieyang felt even more sorry for Shulan. He gently patted Shulan's shoulder: "Since you're so upset, Junior Brother, you shouldn't go!"
Shu was just making up excuses. Lan was caught off guard. He looked up at Venerable Lieyang with some surprise. Then, as if he understood something, he nodded silently.
Seeing Shu Lan's silence, Venerable Lieyang felt even worse. "I'll go check first. Junior Brother, if you want to go back, you can go back now!"
Shu Lan didn't want to face that group of immortal cultivators. He knew that once they failed to find Qin An, they would definitely come looking for him. So, Shu Lan threw out the Yun Yao Sword, stood on its blade, made a hand seal, and flew back to the Star River Sect on his sword.
A streak of light suddenly flashed across the sky.
At this moment, Qin An had already traveled a thousand miles away, and this place was not far from the Demon Realm. After finding the right direction, Qin An headed towards the Demon Realm.
On his way back to the Demon Realm, Qin An recalled the thrilling moment just now, and a big smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.
This time, I put on a show with my master and fooled those people from the immortal sects.
Those immortal cultivators are probably still searching for him! Too bad he's already escaped. Thinking of his master's telepathic message earlier, Qin An felt a sweet warmth in his heart.
In such a critical situation, my master had actually paved an escape route for me, and with such a comprehensive plan at that. One can imagine how much trust and importance my master placed in me.
Faced with so many accusations from the immortal sects, my master actually chose to stand with me. What a great affirmation that is for me!
The sweetness in Qin An's heart was bubbling and about to overflow, but Qin An greedily took it all in, unwilling to part with even a drop.
How could I bear to give up such a wonderful master?
Even after Shu Lan left, the group of immortals continued to search for the Demon Lord Qin An's whereabouts in the mountains.
"Reporting to the elder, we have not found any trace of Demon Lord Qin An!"
"Report: This entire mountain range has been searched, but there is no trace of the Demon Lord!"
"Report, I didn't find it either!"
As messages from the disciples and elders of the various immortal sects arrived one after another, the expressions of the cultivators grew increasingly grim.
"Damn it! The Demon Lord escaped!"
"Demon Lord Qin An must have used an earth-遁 (earth-遁) talisman!"
“That’s right. We set up an array inside the encirclement, making it impossible to use any talismans. Now that the Demon Lord has escaped our encirclement, he must have used a talisman to escape!”
The cultivators of the immortal sects immediately realized their mistake. If they had known better, they would have trapped Demon Lord Qin An in the encirclement and prevented him from taking advantage of the situation.
Venerable Lieyang's face was also ashen, because Qin An had escaped right under their noses, which made all the cultivators of the immortal sects lose face.
"Do you think it's possible that Venerable Hanqing deliberately let Demon Lord Qin An escape?" Just then, a disciple's voice rang out softly.
"Senior brother, watch your words!" A disciple next to him quickly covered the mouth of the other disciple.
However, the disciple's words awakened the cultivators of the immortal sects. In an instant, the cultivators of the immortal sects split into two factions.
"Impossible! Venerable Han Qing was clearly cleaning up his own sect, it's just that Demon Lord Qin An accidentally escaped!"
"How do you know that's impossible? After all, Demon Lord Qin An was once Venerable Han Qing's disciple. It's not impossible that he would show mercy!"
"Didn't you all see how upset Venerable Han Qing was? And yet you're still condemning and doubting him!" (Shu·On the Road·Lan, thank you for defending me! I was just making up excuses then...)
"But didn't Demon Lord Qin An still manage to escape? Doesn't Venerable Han Qing bear any responsibility?!"
"It was just a mistake by Venerable Han Qing, but who knew that Demon Lord Qin An could escape after taking such a heavy attack?"
...
The two factions began a heated debate. One faction firmly believed that Venerable Hanqing was innocent, while the other faction felt that Venerable Hanqing was in cahoots with Demon Lord Qin An.
Meanwhile, the two people at the center of the argument simultaneously pulled out their communication jade tokens, as if by telepathy.
"Xiao An, are you alright?" Qin An had just taken out his communication jade token when he heard his master's anxious voice.
"Brother Shizun, I'm fine, don't worry!"
Hearing Qin An's strong voice, Shu Lan finally felt a huge weight lifted from her heart. "It's good that you're alright, Xiao An. Be careful lately! The people from the Immortal Sect definitely won't let this go easily. If I'm not mistaken, they're very likely to negotiate with you in the near future. At best, they'll want to negotiate with you. Be prepared!"
Hearing the concern and protectiveness in his master's words, Qin An felt a warmth in his heart, and a gentle smile unconsciously appeared on his lips: "Master, I know, I will be careful! Master, you must be careful too!"
"Yes, I will!"
Shu Lan chatted with Qin An for a while longer before reluctantly hanging up the communication jade pendant.
At this time, Shu Lan had already returned to Tinglan Peak of the Star River Sect.
"Junior brother, I have something to discuss with you!" A moment later, Venerable Lieyang's voice rang out outside Tinglan Peak.
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