Chapter 307: Chapter 72 Escape_1

Zhongyuan City.

In a newly built palace.

The originally deserted palace was now crowded with people.

Among them, several were true Golden Core cultivators.

They were all gathered around Sect Hierarch Ning Daohuan of the Tianmen Cult.

He was using magic to heal the severely injured Lu Yuansheng.

The Tianmen cultivators who saw this could not help but look at Lu Yuansheng with envy.

This was the Hierarch of the Cult.

The primary pillar that allowed the Tianmen Cult to flourish across several countries.

Despite his poor condition, he poured so much effort into Lu Yuansheng, which reflected his great favoritism.

Even some Golden Core cultivators were jealous.

However, no one dared to say anything aloud. After all, everyone knew that Lu Yuansheng was the chosen successor of the Hierarch. Thus, him being favored was simply a result of the Hierarch indulging his disciple.

Shortly after.

Lu Yuansheng slowly opened his eyes.

He struggled to get down from the bed and quickly saluted Ning Daohuan.

“Thank you for saving me, Hierarch!”

“That’s enough, you’ve just recovered from severe injuries, don’t move around too much.”

Ning Daohuan’s tone was kind, expressing concern.

Compared to his previous demeanor during the battle with the four sects of Chen, he seemed like a completely different person, making the cultivators around even more envious.

Lu Yuansheng managed a weak smile, and under Ning Daohuan’s insistence, he obediently sat down.

Upon seeing this, Ning Daohuan nodded slightly and then looked around.

Suddenly, his expression turned cold.

“Who fought alongside Yuansheng that day?”

Hearing Ning Daohuan’s question, the crowd fell silent.

Soon, a frail old woman and an extremely ugly short and thin cultivator stepped out from the crowd.

“Elder Hu… Elder Yin…”

Ning Daohuan’s expression darkened.

The old woman said in a low voice, “That day, I went to battle with Disciple Lu, Disciple Yin, and three others. However, I didn’t expect Disciple Lu to exhaust all his mana…”

“Enough!”

Ning Daohuan interrupted her bluntly.

“Yuansheng has only been at the Golden Core stage for two years, and his mana is naturally weak. You, as the highest cultivation base here, cannot escape responsibility!”

“But…”

The old woman named Hu looked aggrieved.

But Ning Daohuan had already made arrangements:

“Elder Hu, continue to guard this place. Once the four sects of Chen retreat, return to the main altar and cultivate in seclusion!”

Hearing these words, Elder Hu glanced at Lu Yuansheng irritably, then nodded, and left.

“Disciple Yin…”

Ning Daohuan then passed on his instructions to another person.

Neither dared to argue; they could only blame and resent Lu Yuansheng.

The other Golden Core cultivators who knew Hu and Yin well began to regard Lu Yuansheng with colder eyes.

However, Lu Yuansheng maintained his composure, seemingly oblivious to everyone’s opinions of him.

Meanwhile.

In the south, far beyond Chen State.

A market.

A handsome cultivator dressed in a light blue robe was leisurely walking among the crowd.

His posture dignified, temperament casual, and seemingly indifferent to everything in the world.

Sometimes he would stop at a stall and chat with the owner.

At other times, he would spend spirit stones to buy some interesting trinkets from the stalls.

Just as he was haggling with a stall owner selling spirit crickets, he suddenly paused and apologized to the owner in front of him with a smile.

He then turned around and left.

Once out of the market, he took out a spherical magic tool from his storage bag.

He held it to his ear and listened carefully.

Soon, a look of surprise and disgust appeared on his face:

“A newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivator in Chen State was killed?”

“Done by the little demon…”

After listening for a while, he shook his head helplessly.

“Chen State… Why was Master Yao stationed there for so long without any troubles, yet as soon as I took over, something like this happens—such a hassle!”

“I don’t know where this little demon came from, they really have no regard for rules.”

“Well, it seems like I’ll have to make the trip myself.”

Thinking of this, he flicked his finger, and a flame screen appeared in front of him.

In the flame screen was an elderly man dressed in brocade.

Seeing the blue-robed cultivator, the elderly man immediately made a helpless expression:

“Ancestral Uncle, have you set your sights on another ‘promising youth’? You can intentionally aid them, but can you stop pushing them towards me? Especially when you just sent another female cultivator, what is Xian Sister to think of me?”

“Ahem, nonsense!”

The blue robed cultivator looked a bit embarrassed, “I am here on serious business, serious business!”

“I have to make a trip to Chen State…”

The elderly man in brocade looked at the blue-robed cultivator suspiciously: “Ancestral Uncle, you’re not thinking of running off, are you?”

“I’m telling you, the other Ancestral Uncles and Ancestral Aunts have entrusted their territories to you temporarily, you mustn’t drop the ball!”

“How could that be!”

The blue-robed cultivator immediately defended himself, “Do you think I, Tang Ji, am like that? Ah, this really is serious business!”

Seeing his vehement denial, the elderly man could only remain skeptical.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “Do you need me to go with you?”

“No need, just keep an eye on your ghost market.”

Blue-robed cultivator Tang Ji waved his hand.

The elderly man immediately looked confused, “If you don’t need me to go, then why did you contact me?”

“Just giving you a heads-up, reign in your nasty temper. Save yourself from big trouble when I’m not around,”

Tang Ji said with a chuckle.

The silk-robed elder sneered at these words, lazily raising his hand in an insincere gesture of respect:

“Thank you for the reminder, great uncle.”

“You must be busy, great uncle!”

With these words, the flame curtain quickly dissipated into nothingness.

Looking at the empty air, Tang Ji couldn’t help but scratch his head, pondering seriously:

“Have I been too lenient with this kid?”

“Ah, forget it, I’ll tell my nephew about it. His disciple has been bullying people…”

“Chen State… Hmm, looks like I’ll be spending another half a year on the road.”

…

Half a year later.

On the outskirts of Jiantao Station.

The territory.

Wang Ba opened his eyes from inside the small wooden house, but there was a hint of disappointment in his gaze.

The appointed year with Lu Yuansheng was rapidly approaching, by now Bu Chan was perfectly capable of hiding her soul, and Shen Fu had successfully trained his second dantian to the foundation establishment realm.

But his progress was the slowest. Although he was close to the Foundation Establishment stage, he just lacked that final push.

“I guess the Meteor Flame Iron must not be suitable for me,” Wang Ba sighed in frustration.

Originally, he thought he would establish the foundation in his second dantian before Shen Fu, especially since he resorted to practicing a quick success demonic technique, which ought to speed up the process.

Yet, to his surprise, he fell behind Shen Fu instead.

He had no idea how Shen Fu trained.

Despite this, he planned to continue according to schedule, sending Bu Chan and Shen Fu away.

As long as the two of them leave now, as long they don’t intentionally show up within the sphere of influence of the Tianmen Cult, they should mostly be safe.

With that thought in mind, he immediately walked out the door.

He saw Bu Chan attentively feeding the spirit beasts.

But there was no sign of Shen Fu.

Even after establishing his second dantian, Shen Fu didn’t slack off in his daily cultivation. His dedication to cultivation made even Wang Ba admire him.

Compared to Shen Fu, Bu Chan seemed to be more relaxed, but thankfully her cultivation of the second dantian didn’t affect her much, so her progress in cultivating her main dantian hadn’t fallen behind. Now, she was approaching the bottleneck of Stage VIII of Qi Refining.

Of course, Bu Chan’s talent was naturally higher than Wang Ba’s. In addition, she had been eating the same things as Wang Ba except for some elixirs she had taken in the early stage, which made the bottleneck relatively easier to break through.

When she saw Wang Ba come out, a frown on his face, Bu Chan hurried over to him, reached into her storage ring and handed him a jar of spirit fruit wine.

“Senior Brother.”

The fruit wine couldn’t make Wang Ba drunk, but it could slightly ease the pressure in his heart.

That had been his habit for the past year.

After drinking a bit of the fruit wine, Wang Ba cleared his mind, rested his head on Bu Chan’s lap, and finally said:

“Tomorrow, you and Shen Fu will leave Jiantao Station together.”

Upon hearing this, Bu Chan was taken aback. But instead of asking why Wang Ba wasn’t leaving with them – a foolish question – she thought for a moment and earnestly asked:

“Then, Senior Brother, when will you join us?”

“Barring any accidents, I’ll be offering a Class III Spirit Chicken to Lu Yuansheng in seven days. After the offering, I’ll leave immediately.”

“At that time, I’ll contact you.”

After a moment’s thought, Wang Ba answered.

“Class III Spirit Chicken?”

Looking puzzled, Bu Chan glanced around.

She didn’t remember her senior brother raising a Class III Spirit Chicken.

“Heh, don’t worry, there will be one,”

Wang Ba calmly declared with a smile.

He then handed a storage ring and a spirit beast bag to Bu Chan.

The next morning,

Bu Chan and Shen Fu left early.

Heading to a predetermined destination.

Wang Ba didn’t see them off.

Sitting cross-legged in the small wooden house, he started his final attempt at Foundation Establishment once again.

However, not long after, he had no choice but to open his eyes in frustration.

“No good, I’m just a bit short.”

If he could establish foundation before the deadline agreed with Lu Yuansheng, he wouldn’t need to offer the so-called Class III Spirit Chicken and could simply escape.

However, he was still a hair’s breadth away from establishing a foundation in his second dantian. To avoid being on the receiving end of Lu Yuansheng’s wrath, he had no choice but to decide to make the offering.

After that, he would escape.

Of course, to avoid falling into Lu Yuansheng’s hands, he planned to flee immediately after the offering.

“Seems like it’s the only way.”

He took out a Class II top-grade spirit chicken from the spirit beast bag, and then carefully implanted something inside the chicken’s body.

Soon, the aura of the spirit chicken underwent a violent change…

Although it hadn’t gone through the Thunder Tribulation, its body secretly went through a metamorphosis.

Looking at the spirit chicken in front of him, which had undergone a significant change, Wang Ba carefully felt its life span using the Withered Soul Technique, and finally determined the lifespan of the spirit chicken.

“At most two months… That should be enough.”

Two months should be enough for him to reach Foundation Establishment.

Actually, according to Wang Ba’s own estimate, he should be able to breakthrough in at most a month.

He went over his plan many times in his mind, ensuring there were no oversights, before finally feeling a bit relieved.

Actually, he had rehearsed many times over the past year. However, when it came to the actual event, he couldn’t help going over the plan carefully in his mind again, examining every detail.

This time, it was just too important for him.

Soon, the day of the appointment with Lu Yuansheng finally arrived.

Wang Ba packed up everything he could take away from here, looked back at the small wooden house and the wooden fence one last time…

Taking a deep breath, he turned around and walked out without any hesitation.

Meanwhile,

A figure clad in a blue robe suddenly appeared in the sky above East Saint Station, unknowingly overlooking the area below with a somewhat strange expression.

“Tianmen Cult? Why does it share the same name with the demonic cultivator sect from Yan State… It can’t be a coincidence, can it?”