CHAPTER 194: CHAPTER 163: ESCAPE (4K)_2

Would it further erode and parasitize the host’s body?

Li Ang had seen the Shixing Monk’s appearance after his death—his body was pallid, and he could move freely even without half of his head.

Numerous records in the Academic Palace’s books proved that almost all cultivators of the Evil Path who abused Mutated Objects eventually turned into something neither human nor ghost, varying only in degree.

It should be me controlling Mo Si, not the other way around.

Li Ang withdrew his Ink Armor Avatar and secretly made up his mind. I must hasten my Cultivation progress to reach the Rain Listening Realm sooner to ensure I can control it. At the same time, I need to gather more information about the Sword Immortal himself and seek clues about Mo Si.

At the border between Yu Country and Nanzhou lay the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains.

The orange-red afterglow of the sunset illuminated the barbaric forest, dyeing the mist floating above the treetops red.

WHOOSH—

The cool evening breeze gently blew, dispersing the misty haze as if an invisible giant hand were softly teasing smooth silk.

That was not mist but a great web woven by countless, minuscule venomous insects, covering the treetops.

Almost no foreign birds could traverse the Ten Thousand Desolate Mountains. Only indigenous species could survive here.

A spider the size of a washbowl plunged from a tree branch. Its dagger-like chelicerae stabbed into a flying squirrel, injecting venom in a flash and killing its prey, before the spider hoisted itself back onto the branch with silk.

A gigantic carnivorous flower unfolded its purple-red petals where it stood, emitting an intoxicating fragrance to lure prey.

Ants the size of fingertips rallied in the millions, transporting countless pieces of Python Meat back to their nest.

Scorpion creatures, as large as chariots, ambled through the woods. They munched on the half-eaten carcass of a hound, swaying their venomous stingers to and fro.

Even seemingly harmless plants had myriad ways to gain extra nutrition. The abundant white bones beneath the trees were a testament to this.

Hunting, killing, eating, and survival seemed to be the eternal themes of this land.

Until the arrival of uninvited guests.

CRACK. CRACK.

The sound of dense branches breaking filled the air. Animated tree branches with sharp leaves and the lingering venomous insect fog were forcefully pushed aside by an invisible power.

The Mind Study Master of the Academic Palace, Xi Yangyu.

The Sword Study Master of the Academic Palace, Cui Yixian.

The two streaked through the sky, chasing the elusive Spiritual Energy fluctuations belonging to Jun Qianzi.

"Found it," Xi Yangyu whispered darkly, grasping at the air as if capturing an invisible thread.

Without further words, Cui Yixian, who was beside him, transformed into a sword light too fast to be seen and sped in the direction of the thread.

HUM!

The shockwave caused by a Candle Cloud Realm Cultivator releasing Spiritual Power crushed all the surrounding insect fog, clearing the air.

Countless flower petals and branches shattered into pieces, fluttering in the sky. This cleared a straight, circular tunnel, nearly a thousand feet long, through the treetops.

BOOM!

Cui Yixian, transformed into a sword light, blasted a giant boulder blocking the path to pieces. He pierced straight into the mountain wall, arriving at a spacious tunnel.

Jun Qianzi’s aura... it’s here.

Cui Yixian expressionlessly extended his palm. His longsword flew from its sheath at his waist, dividing into a hundred sword lights that enveloped every corner of the tunnel.

Xi Yangyu also arrived, standing shoulder to shoulder with Cui Yixian. The mustache above Xi Yangyu’s lip quivered slightly as his gaze locked firmly on the shadowy figure at the end of the tunnel.

"Jun Qianzi, long time no see." The words fell from Xi Yangyu’s lips, cold as ice, while his left arm, hidden beneath his wide sleeves, throbbed uncontrollably with pain.

"Long time no see." The man at the end of the tunnel slowly turned around. His face, illuminated by the encompassing sword lights, revealed the genteel and mild countenance of a middle-aged man.

"Will you come with us willingly, or must we take you by force?" Cui Yixian asked expressionlessly. He took out several Academic Palace Mutated Objects from within his robes, his tone carrying an irresistible pressure.

"I’d rather walk out on my own." The man known as Jun Qianzi smiled faintly. "We are old classmates, after all. Shouldn’t we catch up first?"

"Let’s catch up in the Ghost Prison beneath Dongjun Tower instead." Xi Yangyu suppressed the unbearable stinging pain in his left arm with sheer willpower. His face, which he usually tried to maintain in the semblance of an immortal and unworldly sage, twisted with intense hatred and pain.

"Brother Xi Yangyu, you’re still the same as before, living in the world of your own perception, only thinking what others want you to think," Jun Qianzi said, shaking his head and sighing. "Do you still remember what we learned in our Natural Science classes? Nothing is beyond question; no truth is immutable. You regard me as a traitor to the Academic Palace and Yu Country, but you’ve never considered the deeper reasons—like why I defected, how I evaded the Mountain Master’s pursuit, or why I am standing here now."

"Like Huai Rui from Victory Square, whom you bewitched?" Cui Yixian asked coldly.

"Heh." Jun Qianzi smiled faintly. "That was just an experiment. What I truly want is this."

He casually lifted his arm and snapped his fingers.

WHOOSH—

Fire erupted at his fingertips, rapidly spreading up Jun Qianzi’s sleeve. It revealed the empty shell of a body hidden underneath, constructed from countless talisman papers.

"To burn this filthy, decadent old world to ashes."

The flames devoured Jun Qianzi’s talisman paper puppet, leaving only calm echoes reverberating in the tunnel.

Cui Yixian’s pupils contracted sharply. In the next instant, the entire mountain began to tremble.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

At that exact moment, hundreds, even thousands, of violent explosions occurred within the rock strata, causing the entire mountain to irreparably collapse.

Stones burst outward, and fierce winds carrying dust scattered in all directions. The cataclysmic upheaval was so sudden that even the tenacious creatures in the Desolate Mountains instinctively scattered, fleeing for their lives.

BOOM—

A crack split the mountain peak from bottom to top.

The two Academic Palace Directors flew out from the fissure in the final moments of the mountain’s collapse.

Xi Yangyu looked down at the slowly disintegrating mountain peak, his expression grim.

Cui Yixian took a deep breath, brushed nonexistent dust from his clothes, and squinted into the distance.

"Good luck."

At a street food stall in Quzhou City, in Yu Country’s Jian Nan Dao, a refined and gentle middle-aged man raised his cup toward the southwest. He toasted his two former classmates, then drained his drink in one gulp, placed five Copper Coins on the table, stood up, and left.

He walked through the streets of Quzhou City, observing the familiar scenes of Yu Country.

A woman on a second floor was spanking her stubborn, mischievous child, who was laid across her knee.

The storyteller under a street pavilion took a large sip of tea. Slowly and unhurriedly, he narrated the legendary exploits of a former Academic Palace Inspector, speaking with a Jian Nan Dao accent.

The silk-dressed bank manager clacked his abacus, sighing that business this year was not as good as in previous years, as the common people were less keen to save money.

A beggar lay outside in the sun, scratching at the fleas hopping over his body.

They lived their unremarkable lives, never imagining that at this very moment, a Candle Cloud Realm Cultivator—a top fugitive on the garrison’s wanted list—was passing right by them.

The gap between ordinary people and top-tier Cultivators was so vast it was almost like two different worlds. Indeed, they had no need to worry, any more than the man of Qi should have worried about the sky falling.

Jun Qianzi walked through the workshop district with a smile on his lips, arriving before a secluded residence.

The locked wooden gate of the residence swung open on its own, revealing a group of astonished strongmen in the courtyard.

They were underlings of the Kou Family from the Chang’an Ghost Market. In the center of the crowd were Kou Huai’an, the Kou Family’s second-in-command, and Kou Wukui, who sat in a wheelchair that Kou Huai’an was pushing.

Jun Qianzi’s gaze swept over the crowd, pausing momentarily on Kou Wukui’s face.

This man had once been a powerful Telekinesis Master of the Candle Cloud Realm, from the same era as the current Mountain Master Lian Xuanxiao. Now, tormented by a hereditary family illness, he was reduced to an unconscious puppet in a wheelchair, used as a weapon by his unworthy descendants.

Pitiful and lamentable.ŸŸŸ

"Cultivators may live for a hundred years, but in the end, they all turn to a handful of yellow soil," Jun Qianzi sighed. He waved his hand gently, releasing a surge of Spiritual Power that formed a Nihility Talisman, immobilizing everyone in the courtyard and rendering them unable to move.

This included Kou Huai’an, the Kou Family’s Er Lang and a Cloud Patrol Realm Cultivator. His face was twisted, his hand still plunged into his chest, reaching for some life-saving Mutated Object.

"You’re here because you were pursued by the garrison after the Shixing Monk’s aberrant transformation and subsequent disappearance, ultimately fleeing to this place, aren’t you?" Jun Qianzi said casually, his expression amiable. "Considering the filthy deeds you’ve committed in the Ghost Market, I have a better destination in mind for you than fleeing to Nanzhou. How about joining me to dig up a mountain?"