The waiter said, "Big Brother Lu, when are you coming back? I'll ask the innkeeper to keep the door open for you."
Lu Ping smiled, "There's no need to. I'll probably leave after I'm done with my business. You've helped me a lot today, so I'll give this to you."
When the waiter was about to thank Lu Ping, Lu Ping was nowhere to be seen. He scratched his head and walked towards the inn alone.
After taking two steps, the waiter's footsteps came to a halt. Then, he immediately quickened his pace and hurriedly walked toward the inn.
"No matter what, I have to apply for a month's leave from the innkeeper. I don't even want this month's salary. I need to break through to the Third Layer first."
The waiter clenched the storage pouch in his hand. This was the first time he owned a storage artifact. Inside the storage pouch were three bottles of Early Blood Refining Realm pills and one bottle of Mid Blood Refining Realm pills. Other than that, there were also a hundred low-grade spirit stones.
These were things that Lu Ping could give away casually, but to the waiter, they were a huge fortune.
After the waiter's explanation, Lu Ping had a good understanding of the streets of Autumn Cloud Island. Lu Ping pretended to be strolling on the streets, but in reality, he was tailing behind two cultivators dressed in black robes and wearing cloaks.
On the way back to the inn, Lu Ping constantly spread out his divine sense to monitor the surroundings, out of the lessons he learned from his life and death experiences. Unexpectedly, this precautionary measure yielded an unexpected discovery.
Lu Ping used his powerful divine sense to avoid the detection of the two cultivators. At the same time, he discovered their identities. These two cultivators left a deep impression on Lu Ping. Both of them were from the Overflowing Seas Gang. One was the red-robed hall master from the Raging Seas Gang that Lu Ping had just met. The other was the Late Blood Condensation Realm expert from the Overflowing Seas Gang that chased after Lu Ping five years ago. That pursuit caused Lu Ping to suffer heavy losses. It took him almost a year to recuperate.
The two of them were also extremely cautious. They turned a few streets in a row, and occasionally split up to look behind each other to prevent being followed. If it weren't for the fact that Lu Ping's divine sense was far superior compared to theirs, he would have been discovered long ago. Even so, this allowed Lu Ping to witness how cultivators who had survived through a sea of blood could ensure their own safety. Due to that, Lu Ping felt that he had benefited greatly from it.
Two hours later, the two of them finally arrived at the back door of a manor. The two of them nodded at the cultivators who were setting up stalls on both sides of the street. The cultivators there shook their heads, indicating that they were not being followed. Next, the two of them flashed into the manor.
However, the four of them did not notice that long before the two from the Overflowing Seas Sect arrived, a young cultivator had already arrived at a stall outside the manor. He was haggling over a mid-grade spiritual material with the cultivator who set up the stall. When he saw the two enter the manor, the young man shook his head regretfully. In the end, he gave up on buying the spiritual material and turned to leave.
To be able to build such a huge manor in the middle of the city square, other than the local tyrant of Autumn Cloud Island, the Qiu Family, who else could it be?
Lu Ping casually tipped a waiter ten spirit stones at a teahouse not far from the manor. He then asked the waiter to find a seat by the window on the neighboring street. Lu Ping brewed a pot of mid-grade spiritual tea and enjoyed the storyteller's "Legend of the North Sea Immortals" in the teahouse. He was in a leisurely mood.
Nearly two hours later, the sky had darkened. The two cultivators who entered the manor finally walked out one after another.
After paying the bill, Lu Ping continued following behind the three nonchalantly, relying on his divine sense to keep an eye on the two of them from afar.
The two of them left Autumn Cloud Island and flew eastward for several hundred kilometers. Then, they landed on a desolate island where not even a single blade of grass grew.
The late Blood Condensation cultivator from the Overflowing Seas Sect who chased after Lu Ping said, "Senior Brother Hong, I'll be sending you off here. Take care."
The leader of the Fury Sea Hall, Senior Martial Brother Hong, looked tired. He cupped his hands and said, "Junior Martial Brother Yuan, I'll leave the Fury Sea Hall to you this time. It's all because of my incompetence that I fell into the Demonic Beast's trap. Our Fury Sea Hall had a hundred good men, but only thirty of them managed to escape. This time, when we return to the palace, we still have to be punished in public.
I really don't have the face to go back and see Master! "Junior Brother Yuan saw Senior Brother Hong's agitated expression and quickly comforted him," Senior Brother Hong, you don't have to be like this. Who would have thought that the demonic beasts would be so cunning? It's already good enough that you managed to protect thirty of your brothers after the battle with the North Sea Cultivators. If it were me, I might have been completely annihilated. "
Senior Brother Hong said, "You don't have to comfort me, Junior Brother. It's not like you didn't see that old bastard Qiu Yuantian's face just now. He clearly pushed all the blame for the defeat to me and reported it to the palace. The palace removed my position as the Fury Sea Hall Hall's Leader. Although it sounded nice on the surface, it was actually to punish me."
Junior Brother Yuan also chimed in, "That old bastard Qiu is really a vile person. Back then, he was the one who strongly approved of Senior Brother setting up an ambush at the pirate's treasure vault and ambushing the North Sea Cultivators. Now that you've been ambushed by the demonic beasts and even his grandson died, he's not admitting it. He even pushed all the blame for his grandson's death onto Senior Brother. His Qiu Family has been in the North Sea for too long and doesn't know that you're from the palace. I think this demonic beast ambush was clearly the Qiu Family colluding with the North Sea Sects to break away from the palace and establish their own sect!"
Senior Brother Hong shook his head and said, "Junior Brother, be careful with your words. These words are just us brothers venting our anger and must not be spread. Not to mention that the Qiu Family can't and won't dare to establish their own sect, the Qiu Family still has that person in the palace. If Junior Brother's words are reported to the palace, then even Martial Uncle Yuan won't be able to protect you."
Junior Brother Yuan knew that he had said the wrong thing and immediately smiled awkwardly. "Senior Brother, don't worry and return to the palace. With Martial Uncle Cen around, even if the palace wants to punish Senior Brother, it won't be too severe. Moreover, Senior Brother has made quite a few contributions in the North Sea these past few years. The elders in the palace will definitely take note of it."
Senior Brother Hong nodded and said, "In that case, I'll leave the Raging Sea Hall to you, Junior Brother. During this period of time, focus on recuperating and restoring your strength. Don't fight over the merits. First, the cultivators from the North Sea Sects have increased their vigilance. Second, we don't want to fall into someone's trap."
Junior Martial Brother Yuan naturally knew who Senior Martial Brother Hong was referring to. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, Senior Martial Brother. My cultivation and ability are not as good as Senior Martial Brother's. I can be a mediocre Hall Leader.
Senior Brother Hong nodded and pressed down on a spot on the island's shore. Suddenly, the center of the island sank soundlessly. Two Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm cultivators leaped out from the sunken ground and shouted in a low voice, "Who is it?"
Junior Brother Yuan stretched out his hand and took out a hexagonal jade token. He said, "The Overflowing Sea Gang's Raging Sea Hall Leader, Yuan Shikong, has been ordered to escort the former Hall Leader, Hong Shikui, back to the palace."
The two men verified the token and found that there were no mistakes. One of them said, "The teleportation array is ready. There will be someone on the other side of the array to receive you. However, in order to fool people, the destination is quite far away from the palace."
Senior Brother Hong signaled that he understood. The two men who appeared later arrived at the center of the island that had already been flattened. There was a large-scale teleportation array that was about 30 meters wide. The two men waved their hands, and a total of 49 mid-grade spirit stones were embedded in different parts of the array.
At that moment, Junior Martial Brother Yuan placed the jade card in his hand in the center of the teleportation array. After Senior Martial Brother Hong stood in the middle of the array, the two cultivators simultaneously activated the array. A faint light flashed and Senior Martial Brother Hong disappeared from the array.
Junior Brother Yuan nodded at the two cultivators, turned around, and went back the way he came. The island shook soundlessly before returning to its original state. The two cultivators also disappeared.
A moment later, a huge sea turtle suddenly rose from the sea about a kilometer away from the island. Lu Ping sat on it, deep in thought.
Such a huge array, 36 mid-grade spirit stones, and only one person could be teleported. This was clearly a long-distance teleportation array. Could it be that the "palace" that Hong Shikui wanted to go to was not in the North Sea? In that case, the Overflowing Seas Gang should be a faction that the mysterious "palace" sent to the North Sea. There was also the Qiu Family, the Core Forging Enlightened Masters, and Fa Xiang Laozu's inaction. All of these seemed to prove something!
Lu Ping continued to pursue the lone Yuan Shikong with many questions in his mind. Lu Ping wanted to kill Yuan Shikong along the way. Even though Yuan Shikong was an Eighth Layer Blood Condensation Realm expert, Lu Ping had fought with him when he was only at the Third Layer. In the end, Lu Ping only managed to escape with heavy injuries.
However, this also allowed Lu Ping to see Yuan Shikong's true strength. Even though Yuan Shikong was an Eighth Layer Blood Condensation Realm expert, Lu Ping believed that Yuan Shikong was far from being a match for the Seventh Layer Blood Condensation Realm Primordial Crocodile that died in his hands.
However, Lu Ping was worried that if Yuan Shikong died, the Overflowing Seas Gang and the Qiu Family would definitely be alerted. There was an 80% to 90% chance that the teleportation array on the island would be destroyed. This teleportation array was the only clue leading to the mysterious "palace" behind the Overflowing Seas Gang. Lu Ping's intuition told him that this teleportation array had a great use.
Lu Ping followed Yuan Shikong back to the Qiu Family's manor. Along the way, Lu Ping resisted the urge to kill Yuan Shikong. Just as Lu Ping was about to leave, he discovered that Yuan Shikong had left the Qiu Family's manor alone. This time, he was heading north.
Lu Ping was overjoyed and slowly followed behind Yuan Shikong. Yuan Shikong was clearly not as vigilant as before. Perhaps it was because he had just completed a mission, Yuan Shikong's speed was extremely slow. Just as the sky was about to brighten, Yuan Shikong finally saw a small island a few li ahead of him. Yuan Shikong picked up his pace.
Right at this moment, a gust of wind blew behind Yuan Shikong's head. Without thinking, he lowered his head, and a hexagonal translucent shield suddenly appeared above his head. A pair of green claws grabbed onto the slippery shield, leaving behind an ear-piercing screech. Following that, a loud screech could be heard. After missing its attack, a huge Azure Phoenix flapped its wings and flew into the sky.
Just as Yuan Shikong lowered his head and raised his shield, two of the waves on the surface of the sea suddenly splashed higher, transforming into a pair of flying swords that slashed towards Yuan Shikong.
Yuan Shikong's mouth curled into a cold smile, "It's just a diversion!"
Yuan Shikong's lowered body shook, and two dart-like mystic instruments shot out, knocking the Soaring Swords off course. Just as Yuan Shikong was about to spread out his divine sense to search for the hidden killer, a sharp killing intent had already rushed towards Yuan Shikong's back. The dense cold Qi made him truly understand what it meant to feel as if there was a dagger on one's back!
"A top-grade mystic instrument!" Yuan Shikong cried out in shock.
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