Chapter 154: Tenth Princess, Xia Qingmo
“This is impossible!”
Han Mo exclaimed.
His face was full of shock and disbelief.
From the beginning to the end, he had never worried that Ye Ping would escape from this place. To be honest, as a late-stage Golden Core realm cultivator, he could have completely killed Ye Ping in a flash if it wasn’t for his own disciple.
However, he didn’t expect Ye Ping to throw a handful of Spirit Stones to activate the Teleportation Array.
It completely defied the basic logic of array formations.
As an array formation enthusiast, Han Mo knew a little bit about array formations, even though he wasn’t a master.
In order to set up an array formation, one would need an array artifact and some array materials. Ordinary array formation masters would have to follow the procedure, step by step. There could not be any errors. Otherwise, the array formations would be dysfunctional.
However, even a master of array formations could only set up an array formation in a short period of time despite being skillful.
Apart from peerless array formation masters, no one could instantly set up an array formation. Even the best array formation master in Jin Nation could only instantly set up a few array formations that they were familiar with.
How did Ye Ping set up the array formation?
Ye Ping tossed out dozens of Spirit Stones and the array formation appeared.
It was simply outrageous.
‘Where’s the array artifact?’
‘Where are the materials?’
‘Can you at least set up an array diagram? You just threw a bunch of Spirit Stones into the array?’
Han Mo was dumbfounded.
He had never seen such means before. It was simply miraculous.
However, at this moment, the surrounding s.p.a.ce was suddenly distorted.
In an instant, the entire barren mountain was filled with people.
Everyone was dressed in black and wearing masks. Their faces could not be seen clearly and they were all emitting a cold and sinister aura.
There were three people standing in front of the crowd.
Their gender could not be seen clearly, but their masks were colorful, with colors like red, purple, and green.
When Han Mo saw them, he immediately slowly released w.a.n.g Minghao and said with a grave expression,
“Greetings, Lords.”
Han Mo took the initiative to bow with utmost sincerity.
“Where is the Tenth Princess?”
A low, hoa.r.s.e voice sounded and the man in the red mask spoke with apprehension while looking at Han Mo.
“Lord, the Tenth Princess has been rescued.”
Han Mo lowered his head and bit the bullet to explain.
“What did you say?”
The man in the red mask attacked and strangled Han Mo, his eyes full of murderous intent.
He was extremely ferocious and he didn’t show Han Mo any mercy at all.
“Lord… Ahem, that person came too suddenly. He attacked my disciple and escaped using the Teleportation Array. Please forgive me, Lord. I’ll go look for him now.”
Strangled by the neck, Han Mo’s face turned red.
He was a Golden Core realm cultivator so being strangled was no big deal, but he was terrified and scared.
“Han Mo, do you know how serious this matter is? The Tenth Princess is our biggest bargaining chip, I never thought you would lose her. You really deserve to die.”
The man in the red mask hollered furiously while demonic aura encircled him, his eyes full of killing intent.
“My lord, I don’t wish for that either.”
Han Mo was really a bit upset. Who would have thought that Ye Ping would appear out of nowhere? Most importantly, Ye Ping was so strong that he had defeated w.a.n.g Minghao with one punch.
“Okay, since it has already happened, let’s not delay any further. Han Mo, you said that he escaped with the help of a Teleportation Array? Where’s the array diagram?”
The person in the green mask was a woman and she told everyone not to panic but to focus on solving the issue at hand instead of berating Han Mo.
“The array diagram… array diagram.”
Han Mo was even more upset to hear about the array diagram.
He knew what the other party meant. Since Ye Ping escaped with the Teleportation Array, there must be an array diagram, and if they knew how to set up array formations, they could do so according to the array diagram.
Although they could not be 100% certain about the direction and position, they could at least know a rough estimate.
However, the problem was that there was no array diagram to Ye Ping’s Teleportation Array.
“Han Mo, what exactly are you hiding? Are you really not afraid of death?”
Seeing that Han Mo had been stammering about something, the woman in the green mask walked over with a sinister gaze.
“Lords, you may not believe me when I say it.”
“Ye Ping didn’t even set up the array diagram, he simply tossed dozens of Spirit Stones in the air and set up the array before disappearing with the Tenth Princess.”
Han Mo knelt on the ground, he really didn’t know how to explain.
He didn’t believe it either.
Indeed, after he said that, the man in the red mask kicked Han Mo hard to break his sternum.
“Han Mo, do you really take us for fools? Direct teleportation without an array diagram? I’ll give you a few hundred superior-grade Spirit Stones now, why don’t you try setting it up?”
“Han Mo, do you really think we don’t dare to kill you? The Tenth Princess is of great significance to the Fiendcelestial Cult. If we fail in this mission, we will die along with you. Do you get it?”
They flew into a rage.
It was not that they didn’t believe Han Mo. It was just that his words were unbelievable.
Setting up an array formation by tossing a few dozen Spirit Stones?
Even the ones who were clueless about array formations would know that it was outrageous.
In the Dao of array formations, array artifacts, array diagrams, and array techniques were all necessary.
Even the best array formation master would have to use an array diagram. Yet, Ye Ping could do it just by tossing Spirit Stones?
‘Who are you fooling?’
“Lord, I really did not lie. If I were to lie, how could I say such a thing? I’m not stupid.”
Han Mo was really aggrieved. His disciple had been crippled and the Tenth Princess ran away too. Yet, he still got blamed and accused. How could he not feel like crying?
After he said that, everyone indeed fell silent.
Indeed, Han Mo’s words sounded absurd and it did seem like a lie.
However, the problem was that they would rather believe that Han Mo was lying than believe that what he said was true.
“Junior Sister, you’re proficient in array formations, is this possible?”
The man in the red mask asked his junior sister.
The woman in the green mask took a few steps forward and talked while doing so.
“When setting up array formations, array artifacts, materials, and array diagrams are necessary, but a truly powerful array formation master has the array diagrams engraved within his body. He won’t have to use the array artifacts and materials to set up the array formation.”
“However, array formation masters who have reached this level can set up a supreme killing array that can kill Golden Core realm and Nascent Soul realm opponents easily. Hence, when such array formation masters really appear, we won’t have time to be predicting here.”
“The only possibility is that the person’s body is inscribed by a supreme array formation master and he just needs a large amount of spiritual energy to activate the array diagram in his body.”
“By the way, Han Mo, who did you say that person was? Ye Ping?”
The woman asked. She was a powerhouse and an expert in array formations.
“Yes, it’s Ye Ping.”
Han Mo nodded and hurriedly replied.
“Ye Ping? Why is this name so familiar?”
She muttered to herself, finding his name familiar, but she couldn’t remember where she had heard it.
“Lord, if I remember correctly, Ye Ping should be the cultivator who slaughtered our sect’s disciples at the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet, but later on, rumor had it that the person who did it was Sikong Jiantian and not Ye Ping.”
“Besides, Ye Ping is ranked 44th place in the list of must-kill Qi Refinement cultivators.”
Someone spoke up and informed the other party of Ye Ping’s origin.
“So that’s why. No wonder I found his name familiar.”
“It seems this Ye Ping is the reason our raid on the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet failed. Put him in number one place on the must-kill list.”
“Since he can save the Tenth Princess from Han Mo, he is definitely not an ordinary person.”
She gave an order to increase Ye Ping’s ranking.
Immediately afterwards, the woman in the green mask waved her hand, and in an instant, a green compa.s.s appeared in her hand.
The compa.s.s was palm-sized, but it was flickering and all sorts of ancient words appeared, covering an area of hundreds of meters around her. She was deducing.
After a while, the woman in the green mask spoke again.
“There are indeed traces of a Teleportation Array, Han Mo did not lie to us.”
“Seems like this Ye Ping has come from quite a long way, there is an array diagram that was inscribed by an array formation expert in his body. Impressive move.”
“Unfortunately, he met me.”
She muttered to herself and moved her hands on the disc. In the end, the compa.s.s turned and a few ancient words appeared.
“West”
“1,500”
1,500 kilometers to the west.
The woman in the green mask murmured to herself, but people started hollering.
“It really is the Fiendcelestial Cult, hurry up and hand over the Tenth Princess.”
“It really is the Fiendcelestial Cult, aren’t you people afraid of dying?”
“Hand over the Tenth Princess and I can let you off.”
An angry hollering sounded in the distance. It was from the Jin Nation powerhouses, among whom there were elders of the Jin Nation Academy.
They had been searching in the territory of Qingzhou and found the traces of the Fiendcelestial Cult, which they followed all the way to this place, only to find that the Tenth Princess was not there. Hence, they had no choice but to reveal themselves in such a manner.
“Dam it, we got discovered.”
“It’s normal to be discovered, it’s just a pity that the Tenth Princess has also fled.”
The man in the red mask and the one in the purple mask frowned, but they were not worried, just extremely annoyed.
“Yes.”
However, the woman with the green mask’s gaze was extremely calm, and it seemed that she was the leader as she gave out commands and orders.
“I will use the Teleportation Array to send you guys away. After that, search the surrounding 2,500 kilometers. If you find Ye Ping, kill him. However, you cannot hurt the Tenth Princess, you have to nab her alive. If she gets injured, you guys will die.”
The woman with the green mask ordered in a cold voice.
After she said that, the compa.s.s in her hand floated up, instantly becoming larger. It became about hundreds of meters wide and soon, with a boom, rays of green light darted over from the mountain. On the mountain, traces of a huge array diagram began to appear.
“You’re so inexperienced!”
The woman immediately tossed out 108 array formation seals, and the ma.s.sive compa.s.s shot out a beam of green light that shrouded the entire mountain.
The tens of thousands of cultivators disappeared in place as they were teleported to 1,500 kilometers away.
However, several flying swords were shot over too and the entire mountain shattered right on the spot. Some of the Fiendcelestial Cult disciples were too late to teleport and were instantly shattered into pieces.
“Let them search while we settle this problem. Otherwise, when they find the Tenth Princess, we’ll be in trouble.”
The woman with the green mask didn’t leave and instead stayed there to fight with the powerhouses of Jin Nation.
The other two also didn’t waste any time. They sacrificed their treasures and joined her in the fight too.
As for Han Mo, he also disappeared with the array formation. He was not afraid of the Jin Nation powerhouses, but his ident.i.ty could not be exposed. Once it was, he would die.
Fighting the Fiendcelestial Cult was worse than joining the Fiendcelestial Cult.
At the same time, 1,750 kilometers away in the West.
Under a waterfall, Ye Ping sat cross-legged while healing his wounds.
He was surrounded by golden light and surging spiritual energy that converged onto his wound.
Han Mo’s flying sword contained his Dharmic powers. Once it seeped into one’s body, the body would be destroyed if they could not resist it.
Ye Ping did not want to leave any internal injuries. Hence, after leaving the Teleportation Array, he ran for 250 kilometers with the Tenth Princess. He then found a place to heal.
Not far away, the Tenth Princess, Xia Qingmo, could not help but look at Ye Ping with her beautiful eyes.
Even after two hours, she was still sh.e.l.l-shocked.
Ye Ping managed to set up the Teleportation Array by tossing dozens of Spirit Stones into the air. Only a master of array formations in the Great Xia Dynasty would be able to do that.
However, she didn’t expect Ye Ping to be able to do it at such a young age.
She looked at Ye Ping quietly, filled with curiosity.
Ye Ping, who was far away, was fully unclothed and his skin was fine and smooth. However, there were more than ten bloodied wounds on his back.
However, wisps of golden light spread around the sword wounds to heal them.
As the tenth princess of the Great Xia Dynasty, Xia Qingmo might have average apt.i.tude in cultivation, but she often read books in her free time. Five years ago, she had already finished reading all the sutras in the Kṣitigarbha Pavilion.
Hence, Xia Qingmo could tell at a glance that Ye Ping was very strong and could be considered a supreme genius.
At a young age, he was already proficient in array formations and had an invincible physical body too. In his twenties, he managed to condense the Blood and Qi Furnace. Such a genius was overbearing and incredible in the Great Xia Dynasty.
However, if Xia Qingmo knew that Ye Ping had been cultivating for less than half a year, she would probably be even more shocked.
Five minutes later, as Ye Ping exhaled turbid gas, the wound on his back healed and his skin became extremely smooth.
Han Mo’s Sword Qi was forced out of him, and Ye Ping also stabilized the vibrations in his body. His energy was perfected.
After opening his eyes, Ye Ping put on his clothes as soon as he raised his hand.
In the next moment, Ye Ping couldn’t help but look at Xia Qingmo, the Tenth Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty.
The latter also sensed Ye Ping’s gaze.
The two exchanged glances.
Although it was just for a moment, Xia Qingmo began to feel embarra.s.sed as she opened her eyes a little.
Ye Ping could not help but size her up.
He had to admit that she was indeed worthy of being a princess of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Li Yue, the princess of Jin Nation, was beautiful and had a great figure. She was elegant too. However, compared to Xia Qingmo, she was worlds apart.
Xia Qingmo, who was in the distance, was emitting a subtle scholarly aura. She was reserved, elegant, and extremely beautiful. Her looks were on par with Xiao Muxue and Chen Lingrou.
The difference was that Xiao Muxue was a combination of iceberg and volcano while Chen Lingrou was purely beautiful. Xia Qingmo was an elegant beauty.
He had just taken a glance at her.
He felt like he was in love and his heart skipped a beat.
Coupled with that bashful shyness and the trace of fear in her eyes, he felt his heart turn soft and she was definitely a hunk killer.
“Are you really the Tenth Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty?”
However, Ye Ping was just appreciating her beauty. He did not have any other thoughts about romance. However, at first glance, he developed some good feelings for Xia Qingmo.
He got up to look at Xia Qingmo and asked with some curiosity.
“Yes, thank you for saving me. I will certainly remember the kindness that you’ve shown me. After I return to the palace, I will do my best to repay you.”
Xia Qingmo’s voice was pleasant, and although she wasn’t smiling, she seemed warm and gentle.
“Save it. I was just standing up because I saw injustice.”
Ye Ping shook his head, he did not feel anything about this kind of repayment. After all, he didn’t lack anything.
Moreover, Ye Ping did not want to get involved with the Great Xia Dynasty. If the Qingyun Dao Sect was really the victim of the luck-extermination battle, it would be troublesome.
Hence, Ye Ping planned to go far away with Xia Qingmo. He hoped that nothing would go wrong.
“Your words are too serious, the Great Xia Dynasty rewards and punishes wherever it’s due. You saved me and I’m indebted to you. I will never forget your kindness.”
Xia Qingmo continued.
“Alright, if you really want to repay me, just send me a little more Spirit Stones when you return to the Great Xia Dynasty.”
Ye Ping did not refute modestly. After the battle today, he had indeed realized what his flaws were.
Although he was just a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator while the other party was a late-stage Golden Core realm cultivator, no one would feel shameless about bullying someone weaker.
In particular, those in the demonic Dao would never bother about morals and ethics.
It was a wake-up call.
He had to quickly become stronger.
He also had to improve his physical body, Sword Dao, array formations, and so on.
So what if he had no enemies in the same realm? He would die when faced with Golden Core realm cultivators.
Besides, after that, he would also have to face Nascent Soul realm cultivators. If he had met a Nascent Soul realm cultivator instead, he would have died for sure.
Hence, Ye Ping decided to quickly improve his strength and at least hurry up to reach the Golden Core realm so that after going to a stronger place, he would at least have the opportunity to escape.
If he wanted to do that, he would need Spirit Stones.
Merit did not come easy and Spirit Stones were universal. Since the princess of the Great Xia Dynasty wanted to repay him, he would accept even a few million superior-grade Spirit Stones.
“Spirit Stones? Sure, but benefactor, can you send me to Lizhou? There’s someone waiting for me there. Once I reach, I will be safe.”
“When I return to the palace, I will give all my savings to you.”
Xia Qingmo agreed to Ye Ping’s request very directly, but she hoped that Ye Ping would escort her to Lizhou and also promised him some benefits
‘All your savings?’
Ye Ping was tempted when he heard that.
How much savings did the Tenth Princess of the Great Xia Dynasty have? It should be a staggering amount.
However, Ye Ping didn’t have time to think longer.
All of a sudden, figures appeared.
Ye Ping’s physical body was extremely strong, so he naturally sensed it. There was a large number of people charging over from all directions.
“Run.”
In the next moment, Ye Ping grabbed Xia Qingmo’s hand and fled.