At least their attitude was much better than those chasing him.
He was willing to trust the two young ladies he’d met once before.
“Since you’re willing to help, follow me!”
Saying so, Yanquan swallowed a medicinal pill and shot into the sky, flying toward the distance.
He seemed to have forgotten one thing.
Though Linglong and Hua Jian could help him defeat a Spirit King, they were only Spirit Masters.
In terms of flight speed, they simply couldn’t keep up.
Not to mention Hua Jian sneakily picked up the undamaged Yinblade Spirit Tool from the ground, wasting more time.
By the time Yanquan realized his mistake, the two young ladies were already far behind.
Still, he did not wait for them.
Time was urgent, and he couldn’t slow down for them.
Every moment wasted increased the danger to the young lady.
He had to reach her as quickly as possible.
“He took off without a backward glance.” Hua Jian watched the fiery figure disappear and felt she would soon lose even his Spiritual Power trace.
Originally, she expected him to come with them and explain the situation along the way.
But now he left alone, and they were left to trail behind.
Thinking it over, his choice made sense.
He couldn’t afford to waste precious time waiting for two Spirit Masters to catch up.
In games, even when the tension is high, you can sometimes leave the team to do other things mid-mission.
Real people, however, wouldn’t stand still and wait.
His decision was the most reasonable.
“Unless we abandon the flying sword and use teleportation, we won’t catch him.” Linglong said she couldn’t keep up.
Using teleportation consumes much more Spiritual Power than flying swords.
They might run out halfway and have to stop to rest.
Factoring rest time, it might even be less efficient than continuing with flying swords.
“Then we won’t catch him. We’ll take our time.
It’s not that urgent right now.”
If things were truly urgent, Hua Jian wouldn’t say this.
But in reality, the life of Chai Xianyun had little to do with her.
She was just a bystander coming to watch the drama.
If she arrived late and Xianyun died, it wouldn’t affect her.
Though the Chai family young lady was no longer a nameless NPC, to Hua Jian, she was essentially the same as a side character.
At most, some adjectives tagged to her head — like “gullible” or “new quest giver.”
Someone whose death Hua Jian might pity slightly, but whose survival wouldn’t bring much joy.
“I thought you cared about her.”
“Huh?” Hua Jian pressed Linglong’s head and shook it hard. “Are you out of your mind to say that?”
After the stranger left, Hua Jian immediately reverted to her obnoxious “Haji Hua” self.
Linglong wanted to ask if it was really that hard for her to maintain a decent image in front of her.
If Linglong didn’t know Hua Jian’s personality, she might have thought Hua Jian was deliberately treating her differently.
But she knew Hua Jian wasn’t like that.
Hua Jian just bullied the weak and feared the strong.
…Does that sound worse?
“You’ve been getting along well, right?
I thought you were friends.”
“Given the Spirit Stones involved, I could barely call her a friend.
We’ve spent less than half an hour together.
How much friendship do you expect us to develop in such a short time?”
Hua Jian reminded Linglong to mind the time.
She was no master hypnotist who could form a mutual bond with a stranger in just half an hour.
“If I don’t care about your life or death, why would I care about hers?”
That was a lie.
If Linglong faced a life-or-death crisis, Hua Jian might hesitate whether to stay or run.
But the choice to flee would not be difficult.
For the sake of a few Spirit Stones, there was no need to risk her life.
Their relationship was not close enough for Hua Jian to risk everything to save her.
Linglong took a deep breath.
“You don’t have to say it out loud.”
She knew their relationship wasn’t that good, but hearing it plainly was different.
Hua Jian always managed to use her mouth at odd times to lower others’ goodwill toward her, truly admirable.
“To be honest, such life-and-death friendship isn’t easy to form.
If your goal wasn’t looking for trouble, I’d avoid this mess.”
As everyone knew, Hua Jian loved peace and hated trouble.
She was good at seizing the moment and doing the right thing at the right time.
In the Secret Realm, she did all sorts of mischief because no one died there, maximizing her gains.
When the risk of death outweighed the reward, she quickly switched to treasure hunting mode.
If a Secret Realm appeared with a bridge that could suppress the entire nation, she wouldn’t hesitate to stand on it with her big sniper and take down everyone.
“Actually, I think this matter is quite simple.
Two forces fighting in the wilderness over a treasure.
Don’t assume the Chai family are good people.
Which big family is truly kind?”
Hua Jian reminded Linglong not to set her expectations.
Perhaps after all this, the Chai family might actually be the villains.
“I know.
But the defeated black-clad Spirit King gives me a bad feeling.
I don’t know if the Chai family are good, but they’re definitely not.”
Linglong wasn’t a fool.
She exercised due caution.
Everything she did during this trial was recorded by Venerable Fenghua and reported to her master.
The penalty for mistakes was severe.
She didn’t know about the Chai family yet, but she knew the pursuers were definitely bad.
“That’s enough.
I just don’t know when we can catch up with them…”
……
In a forest in the northern mountains of Central Continent, a group of cultivators busied themselves around abandoned ruins, seemingly preparing some kind of ritual.
A luxurious carriage drawn by two white winged horses descended from the sky.
Among the cultivators, a Spirit King immediately stepped forward respectfully to stand in front of the carriage.
The carriage doors opened.
Supported on either side by two beautiful women, a pale-faced young master stepped out.
His gaze swept over the Spirit King standing before the carriage.
In a voice as lifeless as a corpse, he asked, “How’s the preparation going?”
“Reporting, Young Master. We have entered the final testing phase.
Intelligence from the Chai family’s mole was incorrect.
The Secret Realm entrance isn’t where they think, but here.”
The Spirit King laughed confidently.
“As long as they approach with the treasure map, it will resonate with ours and open the Secret Realm gates!”
“Oh? If you fail, I’ll hold you accountable.”
The young master stared at the Spirit King for a long moment and then signaled someone behind him.
One of the beautiful women who had helped him off the carriage immediately produced an exquisite wooden box from her sleeve and stepped forward to hand it to the Spirit King.
“Thank you, Young Master!”
The Spirit King immediately reached out with both hands to receive the box, beaming with delight.
Though the young master appeared ill-tempered, his payment was substantial.
The Spirit King had worked for him for a year and earned nearly as much as in the past fifteen or sixteen years.
When the pay was right, even a feeble young master like this could earn praise for manly spirit.
Face was nothing in front of enough Spirit Stones.
“Prepare well.
The Chai family will arrive soon.
We must seize the treasure map before they discover the truth and extract the Secret Realm’s riches!”
The young master clenched his pale hand into a fist and shouted toward the sky, “Tell everyone, Spirit Stone rewards will be doubled in the coming days.
But if there’s even the slightest mistake, I won’t show mercy!”
“Understood!”
……
“Xia Lao, something feels off.” Chai Xianyun, much more haggard than before, leaned against a giant tree, dark circles under her eyes.
Several days of sleepless fleeing had severely tested the pampered Spirit Master’s limits.
She stood only through sheer willpower.
“That’s right.
They seem to be driving us toward a place.” Xia Lao nodded.
He had noticed it too but could only comply with their will.
Knowing they were being forced, what could he do?
He couldn’t fight the pursuing Spirit Kings with Chai Xianyun and win.
So they hid in the forest, living in fear.
“This is already a branch of the Northern Mountains.
Hiding here reduces our chance of being found.
Miss, take this time to rest.”
Compared to the vast plains, these dense mountains offered much better cover.
Even a Spirit Emperor might struggle to find a single Spirit King hiding here.
This gave Xia Lao some breathing room to consider their next move.
“They want to force us in that direction.
We can’t let them.”
“Of course they will choose that path.
According to the Chai family’s intel, the Secret Realm entrance is located there.
If Xia Lao’s brain isn’t faulty, he won’t take the treasure map there.”
As Xia Lao pondered the route, the black-clad pursuers also exchanged words.
They barely knew each other, gathered only by mutual interest.
The young master’s payment was high, worth serving him.
Moreover, they had strength in numbers, preying on fewer enemies, easing their pressure.
“But another Chai family Spirit King seems to be chasing us…”
“Don’t worry about that useless one.
Even if he catches up, it won’t matter.”
The strongest black-clad man was the operation commander.
He appeared unconcerned about the Ling King who was recently defeated and counterattacked by Yanquan.
Still, he had cursed that Ling King many times in his heart.
He had repeatedly warned him to be careful.
Yet, what happened to all that caution?
Talked about the situation being good, then he got killed.
Whose fault was it?
Losing or gaining one Ling King didn’t affect their plan much.
As the Chai family entered the Northern Mountains, the forces they could mobilize would rise a tier.
For this mission, the young master dispatched nearly all his forces, Spirit Kings numbering almost in the double digits.
One had to wonder what kind of treasure justified such effort.
……
So what was the situation now?
Chai family’s Xia Lao and Chai Xianyun fled in front.
The black-clad pursuers were the second wave.
Behind them hurried Yanquan, the third wave.
The distances between each group never exceeded half a day’s travel.
Linglong and Hua Jian had by now been left nearly a whole day behind.
Honestly, this outcome surprised Hua Jian.
She had expected to catch up and intervene after a day or two.
Yet, six days of travel later, the destination was still nowhere in sight.
“I feel like they’re not chasing to kill but playing a long-distance race.” Hua Jian complained while swallowing a pill from Linglong that restored Spiritual Power.
After six days, she had mastered the ability to take Linglong’s pills without flinching.
No more discomfort or rejection.
And these pills really tasted better than normal ones — sweet, like candy.
“We’re almost at the Northern Mountains.
It’s the largest mountain range and Spirit Beast habitat in Central Continent.
At the core are even Spirit Beast-level experts.”
Such places were wild and lawless.
Order was nonexistent.
Killing and pillaging were common.
A person’s death here barely caused a ripple.
Who could say whether you were killed by Spirit Beasts or humans?
Unless obvious signs of Demonic Qi were present, the Saint Sect would not intervene.
After all, they couldn’t police everything.
In a big city, if you paid, the guards would care.
But here, no one was obligated to protect your life.
Entering meant accepting the risk of dying here.
“Oh, the Beast Mountain Range, huh…” Hua Jian understood.
Linglong suspected Hua Jian didn’t quite grasp what a “beast” was.
“Sigh, too many elements now.
I’m not even fire-elemental.”
Hua Jian muttered, pulling out the map to review their winding route.
It looked like a little ant hitting wall after wall, desperately seeking a way out.
Clearly, Xia Lao had tried many directions to break through but was ultimately forced back.
“The pursuers aren’t in a hurry to kill.
They’re driving the Chai family toward some place.”
Hua Jian had reached an obvious conclusion.
But that was all.
The rest of the information was too scarce.
She had no idea where the pursuers wanted the Chai family to go.