Not a single light or torch was lit in the vast and s.p.a.cious Great Yan Imperial Palace. The stars twinkled in the night sky, sprinkling down starlight that was cold as ice, brightly lighting the surroundings. Clad in ordinary black robes, Yan Dan and Yan Qijun were standing before the secret vault"s door. The pa.s.sing night breeze fluttered their sleeves and made them look like two wandering spirits that were sending forth an unspeakable bizarreness.
When they saw Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le walk out of the secret vault, Yan Dan said in a deep voice, "Be cautious and careful in your long journey."
Yan Qijun nodded as he said, "This has become a place where one is apt to get into trouble, so taking this opportunity to travel far is actually a good thing for you. In the Myriad Immortals Planet, we can still help you to settle some troubles, but when you are out there, do remember that this universe is full of almighty experts, and there are times you ought to control yourself and suppress your indignation!"
Wu Qi nodded slowly. Then, Yan Qijun turned to look at Princess Zhang Le. "Especially you, Zi Xuan... Follow everything Wu Qi tells you."
Princess Zhang Le nodded her head without saying a word. Her eyes turned slightly red.
After a brief moment of pondering, Wu Qi fished out a jade slip from under his sleeve and pa.s.sed to Yan Dan. "Here are some of my manpower, the connections you can use, as well as some preparations that can save one"s life in times of emergency. Since I"m leaving Myriad Immortals Planet, I won"t be needing them now. Your Majesty, you can use them at your convenience!"
The jade slip contained the locations to all Wu Qi"s secret caves and the ways of entering them, as well as the information of Duke of Longyang, Zhao Kuo, the three Great Zhao"s sinecures, and some people that were friendly to him. It also contained the details of his two disciples from Gu Tai Dynasty. By giving this information to Yan Dan, Wu Qi believed that with his experience and knowledge, Yan Dan would definitely bring out the maximum value from them.
Giving the jade slip a brief glance with his divine will, Yan Dan was instantly taken aback as he glared shockingly at Wu Qi and cried out, "Good kid! Why do you have so many secret caves? A clever rabbit has three burrows, but look how many secret caves you have prepared for yourself?"
Forcing a smile on his lips, Wu Qi held Princess Zhang Le"s hand as he said rather embarra.s.singly, "Well, I"m afraid of death."
Yan Dan shook his head, pointing his finger at Wu Qi and sneered. Then, he gladly memorized all the information in the jade slip before crus.h.i.+ng it with one hand.
Without uttering another word, Wu Qi brought Princess Zhang Le with him and strode towards the exit of the imperial palace. Yan Dan and Yan Qijun followed next to them, clasping their hands behind their back while walking one step at a time. In the meanwhile, Princess Zhang Le curled up her lips and had her head leaned against Wu Qi"s shoulder. Although she still had the same determined look on her face, she felt weak in her legs.
After all, she was still very young, and because of various reasons, she had to leave the birthplace where she grew up, going to an outer realm where everything seemed unpredictable. It would be a bad feeling even when a man was asked to abandon everything he had at home and go on a long journey, let alone a teenage girl like Princess Zhang Le.
When they came to the main entrance of the imperial palace, Yan Dan suddenly said, "You may rest a.s.sured to carry out whatever businesses you need to. Do not worry about Great Yan. During the purge in the palace a few months ago, all the disciples that Great Sun Sect planted in the palace were executed, while the spies that Yu Academy left were completely removed as well. Great Yan will always be the support behind you. No matter what kind of help you need, Great Yan will provide with all we can."
Wu Qi frowned as he asked, "Since all the disciples that Great Sun Sect planted in the palace are executed, how about Lao Ai?"
Shaking his head, Yan Dan answered with a deep voice, "I"m afraid Lao Ai is not that easy to deal with."
Upon hearing that, Wu Qi knew Lao Ai must be hiding somewhere where n.o.body could find him, and Great Yan Dynasty could not manage to do anything to him. While nodding, Wu Qi said with a sigh, "This man is a monster. When there is a time you can strike, do not show him any mercy. Or else, with his eccentric behavior, what he can potentially accomplish will not be something that anyone of us can accept."
Yan Dan and Yan Qijun"s faces turned unsightly. Wu Qi"s words had struck straight to their hearts. It was true that Lao Ai did not possess a formidable cultivation base, and although he was backed by Su Mei"er, with Mo Di and Xun Kuang suppressing her, Su Mei"er would not dare to do anything too rampant. However, as Lao Ai"s divine abilities were so evil, what he could do was simply nasty and absurd. Once he was allowed to stir up troubles in the palace, even if he were killed eventually, it would still bring shame to Yan Dan and Yan Qijun once the news spread.
Laughing bitterly, Yan Qijun gritted his teeth and said, "We will kill Lao Ai with all the efforts of the entire dynasty! We will let the world know what deeds he had done, even if that will bring shame to us! We will make sure that n.o.body under the heaven will take him in! With the incident of Ying Zheng"s mother as a lesson, I wonder who among the six dynasties will still have the courage to recruit him?"
Yan Dan too was laughing bitterly while shaking his head. Then, he patted on Wu Qi"s shoulder and said with a loud voice, "Go on! Go now and do whatever you need to do with a peace of mind. Great Yan is here, and as long as it stands, you will be able to obtain any support you wish from us!"
Wu Qi nodded his head resolutely as he gave Yan Dan a gaze, recalling the Nascent Divinity that was shrouded in a dark mist, trapped by countless bony spurs that were as tiny as cow hairs, poking deep into it. Then, he gave Yan Qijun a look as well, thinking to himself that his Nascent Soul must be experiencing the same nasty and cruel treatment. And finally, he turned to look at Princess Zhang Le, whose face was beautiful yet looked ghastly pale. He felt an extreme heaviness in his heart.
Finding an almighty expert he could trust to break the restrictive spell that bounded Yan Dan and the rest of the people"s souls was one of the reasons which made Wu Qi decide to leave with Immortal Green Staff. Another reason was that he too was bounded by the Lady Dark Gold Water"s Dark Yin Soul Captivation spell. If he failed to find an almighty expert to help him, or he could not obtain a cultivation base of Gold Immortal within one thousand years, he would perish from this world.
Wu Qi had figured out that if he kept staying in Myriad Immortals Planet, the possibility for him to attain a cultivation base of Gold Immortal within one thousand years was less than thirty percent. Only by leaving Myriad Immortals Planet and plunging into a bigger world could he find the slightest chance for himself. Wu Qi was very confident that he would not die because of the Dark Yin Soul Captivation. Nevertheless, he still had to struggle with all his effort, working hard for the slightest chance, so that he could escape from the shadow of death.
Waving his hand and bidding farewell to Yan Dan and Yan Qijun, Wu Qi brought Princess Zhang Le up onto a white cloud and sped away.
When taking off, Wu Qi saw Lu Buwei, whose hands were clasped behind his back, standing on a tall tower inside a courtyard off in a distance. He was staring in his direction with a gloomy expression. Wu Qi gave him a cold gaze, then turned away without giving him any more attention. The current Lu Buwei could no longer make Wu Qi take a second look at him. After slaughtering a few Heaven Immortals on Xue Yuan Planet, Wu Qi"s horizon was much broader than before. So, what made Lu Buwei so important to him now?
"Do not give me any more troubles in the future, or I"ll slaughter all your clan members!" Wu Qi coldly sent a voice transmission over to Lu Buwei.
Keeping a straight face, Lu Buwei stared at Wu Qi. His face did not show any fear or hesitation. Wu Qi grinned coldly and did not say another word.
After arriving at Duke Yan Le"s Mansion, Wu Qi woke Catfish-flood-dragon, who was sleeping soundly with her face covered under sheets, and Lord Xiansheng, who sat cross-legged in meditation. With regards to these two, Wu Qi did not know what to say. Lord Xiansheng had proven himself to be a person very loyal to friends, as when he heard Wu Qi was leaving for Puluo Heavenly Realm, he feared that Wu Qi might suffer in the outside world. So, he decided to follow Wu Qi to the adventure, giving the reason of wanting to gain some experiences.
By abandoning his territory and leaving with Wu Qi for a long journey, Lord Xiansheng was obviously being very loyal to his friend. Of course, he might have been told by Wanying Dragon King to do that. The old dragon king was a treacherous and cunning being, and it was highly possible that he had his eyes on Wu Qi"s potential. Thus, he must have asked his son to follow Wu Qi, as that might brought him a better and greater future development.
As for Catfish-flood-dragon, Wu Qi had no idea why she too decided to follow him. The excuse she gave him was, "I can eat humans when following Wu Qi and Princess Zhang Le!"
What did she mean? Could she be saying that Wu Qi was operating a slaughterhouse, and he would scheme someone in the dark and feed those innocent humans to her? Nevertheless, it was good news actually. Wu Qi was pondering that by having her in the journey, once he killed someone and needed to destroy the evidence, he could simply throw the corpses to her. With her incredible digestive ability that could melt down even hair, it would save him a lot of troubles.
With a gulp, a living human would completely disappear. How convenient was that?
Not alerting Lu Chengfeng, who was sleeping soundly after getting drunk Wu Qi and his companions traveled to Cang Ao Immortal Abode, using the teleportation formation in the imperial palace, then through the teleportation formation constructed by White Cloud Immortal Sect, they arrived at White Cloud Planet.
At that point in time, Patriarch Jiang Yun had already selected a group of elite disciples. Including Wu Qi, Princess Zhang Le, Lord Xiansheng, and Catfish-flood-dragon, they formed a group of ten peak-stage Nascent Divinity cultivators and one hundred peak-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. Leaving behind Qing Xia and Bai Wu to manage the sect affairs, Patriarch Jiang Yun decided to lead the company personally, following Immortal Green Staff back to Yuan Hua Sect.
As the trip would decide whether Patriarch Jiang Yun could be taken in as Yuan Hua Sect"s inner sect disciple, which could bring a huge impact to his future achievement, he dared not to slacken, and naturally, he would want to lead the company personally.
When cultivators were going out for a trip, they did not go through all the complicated processes like ordinary mortals. Leading the company of 110 disciples, Immortal Green Staff and Patriarch Jiang Yun simply walked straight into the Grand Universal Teleportation Formation inside White Cloud Immortal Sect. After that, Immortal Green Staff produced over one hundred upper-grade energy stones and mounted them in the formation, using his divine will to lock down on a destination within the formation.
Their destination was the heart of Minor Heavenly Circle Realm, the Immortal Abode of the Immortal Monarch who ruled this heavenly realm.
As traveling from Minor Heavenly Circle Realm to Puluo Heavenly Realm required them to cross the border of two heavenly realms, it was an extremely far distance. If they used ordinary Grand Universal Teleportation Formations, it would simply take too long a time. However, in the Immortal Abode of every Immortal Monarch was a public teleportation formation that could cross the borders between heavenly realms. It was able to transport them from one heavenly realm to another within a blink of an eye.
The company stood inside the teleportation formation, while Patriarch Jiang Yun looked at both of his wives, Qing Xia and Bai Wu, and said with a deep voice, "Please take care of everything at home, my wives."
"You may rest a.s.sured, everything is going to be fine here," Qing Xia and Bai Wu said together. As a matter of fact, all three Patriarchs were confident that even though Patriarch Jiang Yun was away, with the tens of Heaven Immortals from White Cloud Immortal Sect and Tranquil Vimalā Sect here, any powers trying to take their advantages during this period would be severely beaten.
Immortal Green Staff issued a few loud laughs, then waving his hand, he cast out a spirit light and activated the teleportation formation. A strong light flickered as the company disappeared from within the formation.
Wu Qi felt a tremendous pressure squeezing at him from all directions. He brought Princess Zhang Le into his arms and embraced her tightly.
After the time it took to finish a pot of tea, a bright glow leaped into everyone"s eyes as they felt their bodies become heavier. They had arrived at a strange place.