469 Chapter 469
Sheng Fei wasn't very confident in evading Zou Yuan's search, but he still cleared away traces along the way and didn't stay in one place for too long.
He wandered around the capital city, hiding and managing to get through a day without any real danger.
Zhong Lique became less talkative due to her injuries and fainted several times. Sheng Fei, seeing her weak and near-death appearance, did not cause her any more trouble.
Sheng Fei moved in the opposite direction of the palace. Although he couldn't leave the city, he would be closer to those entering. He was waiting for Qingyang's people to arrive.
As the sun set, Sheng Fei was dozing behind the door of an abandoned warehouse when he suddenly heard a knock on the door behind him. He woke up instantly, his body tense with alertness, only to see Zhong Li Que standing behind him, making a gesture as if to knock.
Just as Sheng Fei was about to ask her what was wrong, he heard Zhong Lique weakly say, "Someone is coming."
How come he didn't notice?
Sheng Fei frowned and peered through the crack in the door, when he heard the sound of a giant sword slashing down from above, and the beam that was already covered with cobwebs snapped.
"Sheng Xing!"
The girl's cries were very faint amidst the collapse.
Sheng Fei was knocked to the ground by Zhong Lique who rushed over. In disbelief, he reacted quickly and pulled Zhong Lique to avoid the broken wooden beam.
How could this be!
Sheng Fei immediately summoned the spirit of the word using his qi, but there was no response. The sharp sword came like a tidal wave, swift and fierce. He and Zhong Li Que tumbled out of the storeroom and onto the outside. In this critical moment, he could only use the Eight Trigrams Life Technique.
"Seal the formation!"
A cold shout came from above. Sheng Fei was furious at his persistent presence. He barely dodged the flying sword with his Bagua Life Technique, but ended up rolling into the Divine Army Guard's magic array with Zhong Li Que.
Thirteen Realms of Armored Formation Wind Domain.
Colorless and transparent gusts of wind rose up, blocking the two from all sides, leaving them with nowhere to retreat and forcing them to struggle in place.
Countless wind blades sliced through the five elements energy in front of Sheng Fei, preventing him from even using the Eight Trigrams Life Technique. Every breath he took was accompanied by icy, bone-chilling winds that nearly suffocated them.
Sheng Fei didn't have time to think about what caused him to lose his ability to control his qi and cast spells. The armored formation in front of him was trapping them and they were powerless to break through, which was even more troublesome.
"Third Young Master, this time you won't escape again." Leng Xian led the Divine Army Guards out from the messy corner, walked towards Sheng Fei, and waved, shouting, "Tie them up!"
"Let's do it!"
Three Divine Army Guards rushed toward the two people in the center of the gust of wind, and the iron chains they swung out tightly bound their hands, feet and necks, making them feel like prisoners.
Sheng Fei had never been so humiliated.
He was slammed to the ground by the heavy iron chains binding his body, like a caterpillar, powerless to fight back, and left to be slaughtered.
Zhong Lique raised his hands before the chains hit him: "I'll go with you!"
Leng Xian raised his hand and intercepted the iron chain flying towards the girl, showing no intention of making things difficult for a frail young woman.
Zhong Lique turned to look at Sheng Fei, who was lying on the ground.
For the first time, she looked down at the man lying on the ground and could see the anger and humiliation in his eyes. Zhong Lique even found the scene somewhat ridiculous and funny.
Sheng Fei vowed in his heart that he would kill everyone present.
"Let's go." Leng Xian led his men forward to separate them and escort them back to the palace.
Sheng Fei stood up and looked coldly at the Divine Army Guards: "What kind of low-class techniques are you using?"
His five elements are now sealed, and he can no longer even use the Eight Trigrams Life Technique.
"As you can see, it's a military formation." Leng Xian's expression was solemn. "A student from Taiyi should be able to recognize this formation."
Just then, Zhong Lique looked towards Sheng Fei and met his cold gaze.
The girl's puzzled expression seemed to be a questioning of his strength because of Leng Xian's words, which made Sheng Fei's temples twitch.
Sheng Fei certainly couldn't miss the formation of soldiers and armor, but he didn't know what kind of low-level technique had silently devoured his five elements energy, preventing him from noticing the approach of the Divine Army Guards and from summoning the spirit of words.
Leng Xian watched the two being escorted away, then turned and instructed another Divine Army Guard to contact Zou Yuan.
In the blink of an eye, a golden divination array appeared from the ground.
"Swallow the earth, burrow underground, and regenerate your breath!"
A man's voice rang out within the divination array, and the corresponding runes flashed and materialized.
Suddenly, a large hole appeared beneath Sheng Fei and Zhong Li Que's feet. Overwhelmed by the sensation of falling, they disappeared from the spot without noticing anything.
Leng Xian turned around and stared blankly at the empty space in front of him, then his expression changed drastically.
"It's the Earthly Dry Mountain Moving Trigram Formation!" Shenjun Wei shouted.
"Chase after them!"
The news of the capture had barely been released when the person vanished in the blink of an eye. Leng Xian's breathing rose and fell a few times before he gave an order for the Divine Army Guards to continue the pursuit in different directions.
When Sheng Fei and Zhong Lique opened their eyes again, they had fallen into a pit.
The earthy smell mixed with the scent of grass disgusted Sheng Fei, yet he couldn't stop it from seeping into his breath.
"Young Master, how did you end up tied up like a caterpillar?!"
The man's shocked and mocking voice made Sheng Fei look up and see a white-clad man squatting by the pit, waving and grinning at him.
"Mu Mengbai!" Sheng Fei shouted at him through gritted teeth.
"Ouch!" Mu Mengbai held up the golden, gleaming wooden talisman to shield his face. "I just saved your life, why are you being so mean to me, young master?"
"Stop talking nonsense and let me up," Sheng Fei said impatiently.
Although he appeared impatient and irritable, he felt a sense of relief.
Mu Mengbai chuckled and reached out to Sheng Fei in the pit, helping him to remove the restraints and pulling him out of the pit. Only then did he see Zhong Lique still in the pit.
Mu Mengbai immediately dropped his jovial attitude and hurriedly brought the person up.
Zhong Lique looked at the man's outstretched hand, his fingers long and slender with distinct knuckles. She looked up at his handsome yet kind face.
The person she was looking for finally appeared.
People protected by the sacred tree.
If she hadn't secretly drained Sheng Fei's Five Elements Qi, preventing him from using the Nine Streams Technique and putting him in a predicament, Mu Mengbai wouldn't have shown up.
"What are you doing here?" Sheng Fei asked as soon as he came up. He secretly looked around but didn't see anyone else.
Sheng Fei looked at Mu Mengbai again. He had once invited Mu Mengbai to leave Taiyi and come to Qingyang to join him.
Mu Mengbai refused him, saying that he wanted to travel the world, had left Taiyi, and did not like fighting and killing, or doing things that would make him feel uncomfortable.
At that time, Sheng Fei felt as if he had never really understood this friend, and was even a little annoyed by Mu Mengbai's rejection.
He asked Mu Mengbai, "Don't you envy their power and influence?"
"I'm envious, but I never said I wanted to have it." Mu Mengbai put his arm around his shoulder and laughed. "Young Master, I can joke around with you in Taiyi, but I wouldn't dare to do that outside."
After that, Mu Mengbai disappeared. In the first year, Sheng Fei could still receive news about him, but after that, there was no further contact.
When Sheng Fei encountered Mu Mengbai again, he was both surprised and delighted.
“I received a strange message before, and I only arrived in Nanjing today.” Mu Mengbai said vividly, “When I entered the city, I heard that the Divine Army Guard was looking for people everywhere, so I followed them to see if they could catch you. I didn’t expect that I would actually run into you.”
Sheng Fei assumed that the message Mu Mengbai received contained information about the cancellation of the oath of non-aggression, so he didn't bother to ask again.
"Didn't you come to Nanjing to break your oath? How come you're being chased by the people of Nanjing instead? Oh, right! I heard Gu Gan is going to marry the Holy Maiden of Nanjing. It's scary enough that this kid came back alive, but I didn't expect him to be so lucky!"
Mu Mengbai was in a complete reminiscing mode at the moment, and couldn't help but chat with Sheng Fei about those gossip news, but unfortunately the timing was wrong.
Before Sheng Fei could respond, they had already noticed the Divine Army Guards in pursuit.
"Forget it, let's run!" Mu Mengbai muttered, holding the divine wooden divination sticks and casting a divination array on the spot. "We underestimated them; they caught up so quickly."
A figure stood high in the sky, reflected in Mu Mengbai's pupils. The descending pressure of the Five Elements brought a silent shock, causing him to bite his tongue and fall silent instantly.
Upon noticing the appearance of the Yin-Yang School Saint, Mu Mengbai accelerated the divination formation. With a flash of golden light, the formation was entangled by a giant frost python, trapping the three of them inside.
"Shi Ning".
At Zou Yuan's command, all three were frozen in place by frost and unable to move.
When Leng Xian arrived with the Divine Army Guards, he saw three ice pillars on the ground. The person he had been chasing for two days and two nights was frozen in place like a candied hawthorn.
"Your Excellency." Leng Xian bowed to Zou Yuan, then ordered the captured individuals to be taken away.
Zou Yuan's gaze fell on Zhong Lique, and with a flick of his sleeve, he dispelled the frost that had frozen Zhong Lique.
Leng Xian looked over in surprise and heard Zou Yuan say, "I will take this person away."
"Yes." Leng Xian didn't ask any further questions.
Although Sheng Fei was frozen in place, he could still see and hear. When Zhong Lique was released, Sheng Fei's eyes flickered; the people of Nan Jing indeed knew who had the fragment.
Zhong Lique couldn't help but raise his hand to defend himself due to the pressure from the Five Elements and the wind brought by the Frost Python. In the vortex, his figure was as thin as a piece of paper.
She staggered backward, swept away by the gust of wind, and stepped onto the divination array that had not yet completely disappeared.
Zhong Lique fell to the ground due to the wind. While everyone was paying attention to her, they failed to notice that the incomplete divination array suddenly activated, teleporting the three of them away again.
Leng Xian: "..."
This time, he even forgot to order a pursuit.
"Your Excellency, this..."
Zou Yuan looked in the direction the three had left, and without saying a word, he flashed after them.
Leng Xian had no choice but to keep up, vowing in his heart that there would never be a next time.
Zhong Lique stood up from the ground and heard Mu Mengbai yell, "Where is this?!"
"You didn't know the place you sent it to?" Sheng Fei raised his hand to cover his injured shoulder, immediately checking if Zhong Lique was beside him.
"Could it be that my strength has increased again, allowing me to complete the divination array even under the suppression of a saint?"
Mu Mengbai was shocked by the progress he had made in his cultivation.
“I set up dozens of array points in the city, but I really don’t know where the signal has gone. Let me take a look.”
Mu Mengbai held the divine wooden token to examine the array points.
Sheng Fei then turned to Zhong Lique and said, "Give me the fragments."
Zhong Lique shook her head and refused.
"Do you want to die?" Sheng Fei said, barely containing his temper. "Zou Yuan already knows the item is with you. If you get caught..."
Zhong Lique said, "Even if I give it to you, you can't protect it."
Sheng Fei was so angry that he laughed instead.
He didn't know where Zhong Lique got the confidence to say such a thing, given her frail body that couldn't even withstand a gust of wind.
As soon as Sheng Fei grabbed Zhong Lique's hand, Zhong Lique said, "Do you know where I'm hiding?"
Sheng Fei paused, genuinely unaware of the situation.
He only knew that the fragments were in Zhong Lique's hands. Perhaps before Zhong Lique left Qingyang, the sage of the Fangji family, her master Qin Shan, helped her deal with the fragments of the Floating Pagoda.
"Stop arguing!" Mu Mengbai shouted without turning around. "I know where we are, but do you know where we're supposed to run next?"
"Should we leave the city or stay within it?"
Sheng Fei said, "We will not leave the city."
Zhongli Que said, "Leave the city."
The two disagreed, and Sheng Fei sneered, "Where do you want to go outside the city? So that Nangong Sui can come looking for you?"
Zhongli Que ignored the crazed Sheng Fei and instead asked, "If we don't leave the city now, are we just going to stay here and wait to be captured?"
“Qingyang will send people soon.” Sheng Fei turned to Mu Mengbai and said, “We don’t need to leave the city. We just need to stall for time, and they won’t dare to kill us.”
No matter what Zhongli Que said, Sheng Fei wouldn't listen. So Mu Mengbai didn't leave the city in the end, but instead led them to hide around the city.
Mu Mengbai is not good at fighting alone, but his support-style divination formation is flawless.
He transmitted the array very quickly, and the array points were quite far apart, but Zou Yuan was still able to catch up.
Zou Yuan relentlessly pursued them, and his cooperation with the Divine Army Guards prevented Sheng Fei and his two companions from relaxing. They could only switch between formation points back and forth, trying to buy time and stall for the arrival of the Qingyang people that Sheng Fei had mentioned.
"Can the oath of non-war between the six kingdoms really be lifted?" Mu Mengbai asked after another shift of the array point. "That was a contract made by hundreds of saints, covering the entire Xuan Gu Continent."
"I've heard that if you piece together the fragments of the Floating Pagoda, you can get a map of the entire Xuan Gu Continent."
"Who told you that?" Sheng Fei looked at him, puzzled.
What map of the Xuan Gu Continent? How come he doesn't know about that?
“There are so many people!” Mu Mengbai said. “I came from the Yan Kingdom. There are all sorts of theories about the fragments there. After all, the Yan Kingdom is the most concerned about the oath of no war. They care more about the oath of no war than the prophecy of the strange fire destroying the world.”
Mu Mengbai went to the State of Yan? Sheng Fei was surprised: "What are you doing in the State of Yan?"
Why would someone who only wants to travel to places with warm spring weather go to a place full of war?
"Young Master, you really should go to Yan Kingdom for a visit, especially Yun Valley. Its spring mountains and green waters are the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen!"
Mu Mengbai exclaimed, "Even though there's a war going on over there and things are a bit chaotic, the scenery is absolutely stunning!"
Sheng Fei had never heard of the place Mu Mengbai mentioned: "Since there's a war going on, where exactly is it?"
Sheng Fei thought of several warring states in his mind, but then Mu Mengbai said, "In Chuyun City, one of the six states of Yan!"
The six provinces of Yan?
Sheng Fei looked up in shock, but before he could ask how there could be such beautiful scenery in that poisonous swampy place in the Six States, Mu Mengbai had already teleported to the next location.
The three had just settled into their positions when they looked up and saw Li Jinshuang leading the Xuanhu Army in a search.
The two groups met unexpectedly, and both were completely bewildered.
This was the back room of a clinic, where patients needing acupuncture were housed. When the Flying Eagle Guards searched the premises, the apprentice was vehemently explaining that they absolutely did not harbor any wanted criminals.
No sooner had he finished speaking than three wanted criminals appeared out of nowhere before them. The young apprentice was too shocked to speak, only pointing a trembling finger at Sheng Fei and the other two. After a long pause, he managed to choke out a howl: "General, catch the thieves!"
After his initial shock, Mu Mengbai immediately activated the divination array, but Li Jinshuang's reaction and speed were even faster.
Sword Spirit Four appeared behind them in an instant, shattering the divination array with a single sword strike. The divine wooden talisman in Mu Mengbai's hand was flung away by the sword energy and thrown into the sky.
As Mu Mengbai stared at the divine wooden talisman that had flown into the air from his hand, only two words came to his mind: Oh no!
Sheng Fei heard Zhong Lique's cry of alarm. She was knocked back from the range of the divination array by the sweeping sword energy. He was about to reach out and grab her back when he was blasted away by the oncoming sword energy, injuring his bones.
Zhongli Que's retreat conveniently avoided the sword energy.
Sheng Fei steadied himself by holding onto the door frame, then summoned the spirit of the word. The golden spirit hovered around him like a swallow.
"Take them down!"
The Xuanhu Army shouted and swarmed forward.
Without Li Jinshuang's order, the Xuanhu Army, well-trained, formed a battle formation and surrounded the three people. Two Xuanhu Army soldiers even brought medicine boys to evacuate the patients from the house.
"Hey, we're all old acquaintances! Why are we fighting as soon as we meet? Let's have a proper talk!" Mu Mengbai shouted from the middle of the two groups.
No one paid him any attention. The divine wood scepter was grabbed by the sword spirit Si Yi, who tried to break it, but found that the divine wood scepter was surprisingly tough and could not be bent even slightly.
"Wait! The Divine Wood Token is very expensive!" Mu Mengbai on the ground panicked and used his Wind Control Technique to leap up and snatch the Divine Wood Token.
Before Sheng Fei could finish casting "Hundred Phenomena Removal," he was interrupted by the Xuanhu Army, who had formed an array, and retreated into the house along with several sword energies.
Li Jinshuang pursued with her sword, knocking Zhong Lique, who was blocking her path, back with the hilt of her sword.
"Wait!" Mu Mengbai shouted as he snatched the Divine Wood Token, "That's Zhongli Shan's sister! You can't just attack her too!"
However, no one stopped because of his shouting.
Zhong Lique was quickly captured by two Xuanhu soldiers.
From inside the room came Sheng Fei's angry voice: "Eliminate all the generals!"
All the pursuing sword spirits and blades vanished instantly. Sheng Fei, once again unleashing the Blood Burning Technique, moved with the speed of the wind and took Zhong Li Que away from the Xuan Hu Army.
"Wind Wall".
With a flick of his two fingers, Sheng Fei created a barrier of the five elements in front of Zhong Li Que, blocking the advancing Xuan Hu Army.
Sword Spirit 41 disappeared, and the Divine Wood Token fell from the sky. Mu Mengbai quickly snatched it back and used it in conjunction with the opportunity teleportation array created by Sheng Fei.
Unfortunately, Sheng Fei forgot after leaving Taiyi that if he hadn't stood in front of the enemy, the consequence of letting Mu Mengbai, who had extremely poor physical skills, get entangled with the enemy would have been to watch Mu Mengbai be taken down in one move by Li Jinshuang, who was unarmed.
Mu Mengbai clutched his punched nose and fell to the ground with a cry of pain. The sacred wood talisman he had just snatched back hadn't even been warmed up before it was snatched away again.
"Hey! I...you...ouch!"
Sheng Fei looked at Mu Mengbai rolling on the ground and was speechless for a moment.
Li Jinshuang did not pause for a moment because of Mu Mengbai. Her target was Sheng Fei and Zhong Lique. She picked up her sword sheath and cut through the wind barrier blocking the front of the house.
Sheng Fei, wielding his golden demon-slaying blade in both hands, met the attack, not intending to hand Zhong Li Que over so easily.
His heart was pounding. Using the Blood Burning Technique for two consecutive days had put a great strain on his body. He also felt incredibly heavy when fighting Li Jinshuang, who was using only a scabbard and no sword spirit.
Fortunately, Sheng Fei did not intend to fight Li Jinshuang to the death. Instead, he created an opportunity for Mu Mengbai to buy time and used his skillful Demon-Slaying Blade to knock the Divine Wood Token away from Li Jinshuang's hand.
Li Jinshuang and the Xuanhu Army were held back by Sheng Fei alone, while Mu Mengbai got up from the ground and went to snatch the Divine Wood Token.
The golden wooden talisman was frozen in mid-air by frost, unable to fall.
Mu Mengbai was pinned to the ground by the double swords of the Divine Army Guards led by Leng Xian, unable to move.
Zou Yuan has arrived.
The giant frost python sprang up from the ground, biting half of Sheng Fei's body and flinging him away, creating a deep crater in the ground.
Zhong Lique fell into the pit due to the ground trembling and landed on the rubble.
This sudden event caught everyone off guard. The Frost Serpent raised its head, preparing to attack again. At that moment, Sheng Fei sensed a terrifying killing intent emanating from the Yin-Yang School Saint ahead.
Zou Yuan only cared about Zhong Lique's survival; he didn't care about the lives of others. However, Sheng Fei, who had taken Zhong Lique away several times, was a real nuisance.
He glanced indifferently at Sheng Fei, who had fallen into the deep pit.
Sheng Fei's soul was injured, and his sense of crisis made him subconsciously struggle to get up, but he couldn't stop coughing up blood. When he looked up, he couldn't see the scenery in front of him clearly.
"Buzz"
The giant frost python lunged at Sheng Fei, but was shredded by the trigram array that appeared on the ground just before it got close, turning into countless shards of ice that fell into the pit, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The divination array that rose before everyone's eyes exuded a murderous aura; the crisscrossing lines and dots resembled a picture of a ferocious beast with its fangs bared.
The shapes of tigers and wolves leaped out from the trigram formation, lifelike, and stepped forward to tear at the pursuing Divine Guards and Black Tiger Army.
It actually destroyed the Saint's Star Array with a single blow.
"Sirius Killing Formation! Everyone retreat!"
Leng Xian shouted loudly, his tone urgent. However, the pursuing Divine Guards and the Divination Formation were faster than before. After the two Divine Guards entered the formation, their necks were bitten off by the beasts within, and blood splattered on the spot.
Those were all brothers who had fought alongside Leng Xian through thick and thin for many years. Even Leng Xian, who had always remained calm, couldn't help but feel a little excited at this moment, with veins twitching on his forehead.
Sheng Fei, clutching his injured shoulder, leaned against the rubble as he stood up. He was surprised by the change in the situation. Instead of feeling relieved and relaxed after escaping death, a strange sense of crisis rose in his heart.
With Mu Mengbai arrested and the Divine Wood Tokens lost, there was no chance to realize such a massive and powerful divination array.
The person who had the time and opportunity to do this just now... was it Zhong Lique?
Sheng Fei slowly turned around and looked at the girl behind him.
Zhong Lique stood up unsteadily on the gravel, the smoke and dust under the moonlight taking on a colder and more hazy appearance.
She seemed unaware of what had happened, lifting her face, which was covered in sweat and blood, to look ahead.
Before Sheng Fei could find anything unusual about Zhong Li Que, a flash of red suddenly appeared behind Zhong Li Que in his dark eyes.
The figure in red was like a ghost, remaining mysterious even after appearing in the moonlight. Her fair, jade-like hand held a black wooden talisman, but it was as if she were holding a dangerous and sharp blade, silently held against the neck of the unsuspecting girl.
When the cold, sacred wooden talisman was placed on her throat, Zhong Lique's eyes showed surprise.
In Yu Sui's hands, the divine wooden talisman resembled a scimitar symbolizing death, capable of severing Zhong Li Que's neck in the blink of an eye.
The scene before him caused Sheng Fei's blood to boil. The unfinished Blood Burning Technique exploded within his body, merging his blood, bones, and the five elements, propelling him forward. The spirit of the character transformed into a golden scimitar and slashed at the divine wooden talisman in Yu Sui's hand.
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