“It seems I have misjudged you,” Ling Xiyue said.
Her voice was soft, but a hint of apology could be heard.
Luo Qingchen couldn’t care less about that right now.
The pressure of a peak Core Formation expert bore down from behind, making every hair on her back stand on end.
Coupled with the wind whipping against her face at high-speed flight, it felt like a knife slicing through flesh.
It was like sticking one’s head out of a racing car window while hurtling along a roller coaster track.
If she hadn’t already reached the Foundation Establishment stage, she would have fainted at this speed.
Luo Qingchen struggled to open her eyes and look down.
Beyond the clouds, a continuous mountain range stretched out below.
The peaks were oddly shaped, the canyons crisscrossed, and the vegetation was so dense that the ground was invisible.
“Sister! Stop flying in a straight line!” Luo Qingchen yelled at the top of her lungs.
“Those old geezers behind us have higher cultivations than you. We’ll definitely lose if we try to outrun them in a straight line!”
She struggled to raise her hand, pointing at the vast mountains and valleys below.
“Fly down! Find some complex terrain to dive into!”
Ling Xiyue glanced down.
She didn’t hesitate.
The tip of the Azure Scale Sword turned, and she dove straight toward the mountain range below.
A powerful sense of weightlessness hit them.
Luo Qingchen’s stomach churned, and she nearly vomited the wild berries she had eaten earlier.
“Your braking and turning are a bit too aggressive… Can’t you do a smoother descent?” she grumbled through gritted teeth.
“Shut up,” Ling Xiyue replied, focusing entirely on controlling the flying sword.
The two drew closer and closer to the ground.
Luo Qingchen’s mind raced.
‘Their pursuer is at the peak Core Formation stage, meaning their Divine Sense coverage is massive. They can track us, and they likely have scouting methods. Relying on terrain alone isn’t a long-term solution.’
“Do you have a magical treasure to mask our aura?” Luo Qingchen asked urgently.
“They definitely have tracking methods. If we don’t cut off our scent, they’ll dig us out even if we crawl into a crack in the ground!”
Ling Xiyue freed her left hand and formed a hand seal.
An ancient bronze mirror flew out from her robes.
The Square Mirror.
The ancient mirror hovered above their heads, spinning rapidly.
A semi-transparent green barrier descended, tightly wrapping the two of them inside.
The sound of the wind in her ears vanished instantly.
External detection was completely blocked.
Ling Xiyue controlled the flying sword, skimming the treetops before diving into a narrow, dark canyon.
—
High above the clouds, the Black-robed Elder stopped his light of flight.
He looked down at the compass in his hand.
The needle, which had been spinning wildly, now sat dead still at the origin.
The connection was broken.
The elder’s expression was so gloomy it could drip water.
“Trying to lose me with terrain and treasures?” He gave a cold laugh.
He slapped the Spirit Beast Bag at his waist.
A ball of white fluff fell out, rolled twice on the clouds, and stood steadily.
It was a pure white Samoyed.
It wasn’t large, with snow-white fur and a tail that wagged rapidly.
Most ridiculous of all, the dog was clutching half a juicy Chinese cabbage in its mouth.
The elder pointed at the continuous mountain range below.
“Go, find them for me.”
The Samoyed spat the cabbage aside.
Its small mouth twisted, curling into a very human-like smirk.
“Got it, woof!”
It let out a bark, kicked off into the air, and turned into a streak of white light, charging directly into the dense forest below.
The elder waved his hand.
Several subordinates in black immediately followed, trailing closely behind the white light.
—
Deep within the canyon, the light was dim.
On both sides were steep cliff walls covered in moss.
Ling Xiyue flew close to the ground, her speed undiminished.
She glanced at Luo Qingchen, whom she was carrying.
This little cultivator was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.
Despite being dragged along in a wild dash and looking deathly pale, she hadn’t uttered a single complaint.
Ling Xiyue felt a bit guilty.
She carefully recalled her experiences since descending the mountain.
Aside from teaching a few blind thieves a lesson, she hadn’t offended any prominent figures.
Where on earth did this peak Core Formation expert come from? Could it be an assassin hired by her rivals in the sect?
“I’m sorry,” Ling Xiyue said suddenly.
Luo Qingchen blinked.
“I’ve dragged you into this,” Ling Xiyue added.
Luo Qingchen’s lips twitched.
‘This naive Big Sister actually thinks she’s the one who brought the trouble. For a peak Core Formation expert to track them to this remote valley, it’s obvious they’re after me — the remnant of the Heavens-Stealing Sect! I’m the one who dragged her into this.’
But Luo Qingchen wouldn’t dare say that even if her life depended on it.
‘If I tell her the truth, this icy Big Sister will probably throw me off the flying sword right here and leave me to die.’
Right then, the Deception Jade Slip inside Luo Qingchen’s Dantian suddenly lit up.
A line of text appeared directly before her eyes.
**[Mission Goal: Lead Ling Xiyue to escape the pursuit of the peak Core Formation cultivator.]**
**[Mission Reward: One Heaven-tier High-grade Healing Pill.]**
Immediately after, a golden arrow appeared below the jade slip.
The arrow pointed directly toward a fork on the right side of the canyon.
Luo Qingchen’s spirits rose.
This jade slip was usually a pain, but the routes it provided were generally reliable; it was the arrow that had led her to the town before.
A Heaven-tier High-grade Healing Pill! If she got her hands on that reward, it would be like having an extra life.
“Follow my directions!” Luo Qingchen shouted, taking charge.
“Take a right at the fork ahead!”
Ling Xiyue frowned.
She swept her Divine Sense over the area.
The fork on the right was extremely narrow, and the spiritual energy there was thin.
It didn’t look like a good place to go at all.
“Are you sure?”
“Trust me! I just performed a divination, and the life gate is that way!” Luo Qingchen lied through her teeth.
Ling Xiyue recalled how Luo Qingchen had sensed the pursuers in advance earlier.
Although this little thief spoke a lot of nonsense, she seemed to have some skill when it mattered most.
She bit her lip and steered the flying sword into a sharp right turn, diving into the narrow fork.
Following the arrow’s guidance, they twisted and turned through the maze-like canyon.
They flew for a full 30 minutes.
The path ahead grew narrower and narrower.
Finally, the flying sword came to a halt.
There was no way forward.
A bare black stone wall blocked their path, towering high into the clouds.
It was a dead end.
Ling Xiyue turned to look at Luo Qingchen, her expression turning cold.
“This is the life gate you spoke of? It’s too late to gain altitude now. What a ‘wonderful’ job you did leading us!”
Luo Qingchen was also dumbfounded.
She stared intently at the stone wall before her, then looked at the golden arrow that only she could see.
The arrow was pointing straight at the wall.
**[Arrived at target location. Mission complete.]**
The chime of the jade slip sounded.
A golden pill emitting a rich medicinal fragrance dropped into the storage space of her jade slip.
‘The mission is complete? But where’s the gate? We haven’t escaped yet!’
Before Luo Qingchen could explain, an extremely sharp sound of something piercing the air came from behind them.
“Run! Why have you stopped running?”
The Black-robed Elder’s voice echoed through the narrow canyon, making their eardrums ache.
The elder hovered in mid-air, followed by the Samoyed with the crooked smirk.
He raised his right hand, a ball of pitch-black astral qi condensing in his palm.
The astral qi compressed violently, emitting waves of destructive power.
“Die!”
The elder struck with his palm.
The black astral qi transformed into a massive palm print, crashing down toward the two of them with overwhelming force.
This was the full-strength blow of a peak Core Formation expert!
The air was instantly sucked dry.
Because Luo Qingchen’s cultivation was too low, the pressure made breathing exceptionally difficult.
She could only watch helplessly as the palm print descended.
At the critical moment, Ling Xiyue yanked Luo Qingchen behind her, causing the pressure on Luo Qingchen to vanish.
She gripped the Azure Scale Sword with both hands, her spiritual power erupting without reservation.
The intricate cloud patterns on the blade lit up instantly.
“Break!” Ling Xiyue shouted, swinging her sword to meet the black palm print.
*Boom!*
A deafening explosion rang out.
The green sword beam and the black palm print collided violently.
A frantic shockwave swept out in all directions.
Ling Xiyue let out a muffled groan, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
She was thrown back three steps, her back slamming heavily against the stone wall.
The difference in cultivation was too vast.
For a mid-level Core Formation cultivator to survive a blow from a peak Core Formation expert was already a testament to her extraordinary talent.