"How…how did you find me?"
Upon seeing this group of fierce riders, Chu Lingyue wasn't delighted; instead, a mix of wariness and fear filled her eyes.
She stood frozen in place, not choosing to flee.
She knew that, with her ordinary abilities, she had no chance of escaping the grasp of such elite soldiers.
"The world may be vast, but it's not difficult for the Great Chu Dynasty to find one person," the armored leader said in a deep voice.
"Is that so…" Chu Lingyue's lips curled into a bitter smile.
She stared at the general before her and asked softly, "What about my mother?"
"Your Highness, the Empress passed away just a quarter of an hour ago."
At these words, Chu Lingyue's body went rigid.
A layer of tears quickly formed in her bright eyes, and the Ganoderma grass she had been holding tightly fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Panshi City—
Li Xun was seated in a Royal Spirit Boat. In his hand, he held a ring he had obtained from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. The ring had been a gift, containing all the items he had purchased from the pavilion. The contents weren't valuable individually, but there were quite a few of them.
Since his purchase at the pavilion, the effects had quickly become apparent. As soon as he stepped out, five new investable individuals appeared. Unfortunately…
These five didn't provide much in the way of rewards.
The best reward he received was a high-grade Huang technique, which at most could be sold for a few high-grade spirit stones. It wasn't worth much more than his sect mission.
"Panshi City is ultimately just a small town. Though there are quite a few cultivators, their overall strength is still too low. Perhaps the system's investments are tied to strength, fate, and other factors," Li Xun speculated.
To be sure, he would need to test this theory a few more times. After all, the strongest person he had invested in so far was Shen Yuluan, who was only a white-level investment and not a great reference point.
He put the ring away, and just as he was about to start cultivating, another ring on his hand suddenly vibrated.
"Hm?" Li Xun was puzzled. He used his spiritual sense to check the ring carefully.
This ring was none other than the one left behind by Liu Sandao, and it contained only two items: Liu Sandao's corpse and a crimson, blood-like Orb.
At this moment, for some reason, the crimson Orb had begun to glow, filling the interior of the storage ring with a blood-red light, like a sea of blood—an eerie sight.
"That's odd."
Li Xun was perplexed.
He had never seen anything like this before.
He flipped his hand and took out the Blood Spirit Orb.
"What is this thing? Why does it give me such a bad feeling?"
Li Xun studied the Orb for a long time but couldn't figure it out.
Originally, he had planned to bring it back to the sect to trade for spirit stones, but now the ominous feeling in his heart was growing stronger.
His instincts told him this object had some other purpose.
Like…tracking.
In the world of cultivation, there were countless strange treasures, and this Orb was certainly unique.
There was no guarantee that it didn't have some kind of mark on it. If his guess was correct, then hadn't he been under someone's watch the whole time?
With that thought, Li Xun stretched his hand out of the window, about to throw the Orb away. But at the last second, his movement stopped.
Because…
In the space ahead of him, a thin, red-robed old man appeared, hands clasped behind his back, blocking Li Xun's path.
"So the worst outcome has come," Li Xun thought, glancing at the old man before looking at the blood-red Orb in his hand. His heart sank.
With a clench of his fist, boom, the crimson Orb shattered into powder. A wail echoed briefly from within before fading into nothingness.
As soon as Li Xun crushed the Blood Spirit Orb, the old man's expression turned dark. His eyes locked onto the Royal Spirit Boat approaching rapidly.
"Such audacity!"
The old man's raspy voice exploded like thunder, shaking the surrounding space for miles.
His face was twisted with fury, and murderous intent radiated from him like a palpable force.
On his way here, he had casually slaughtered a few towns, delaying him only slightly.
But to his shock, his apprentice had died during that time!
And the one who killed his apprentice had just crushed the Blood Spirit Orb right in front of him, an act of provocation.
After all, he had waited until he arrived to destroy the Orb—what else could that be but a deliberate act?
"To kill my apprentice, has the Profound Sun Sect really gone to such great lengths?" the red-robed old man asked coldly.
He could tell that the Royal Spirit Boat flying toward him was a flying treasure. Though he couldn't be sure of its exact rank, he knew one thing for certain: anyone possessing such a treasure wouldn't be an ordinary person within the Profound Sun Sect.
At the very least, they would have to be a core disciple, or perhaps even an elder.
If it were a core disciple, the old man was confident he could fight them. But if it were an elder, he was already prepared to flee.
"Hiding like a coward, afraid to show yourself?" the old man sneered.
A sharp humming sound pierced the air.
Li Xun didn't bother to respond. Instead, a dazzling silver spear shot forth, its brilliance tearing through the sky, cutting through the void, and radiating murderous intent.
With a deafening roar, the silver spear spanned hundreds of meters, descending like a heavenly pillar from the Royal Spirit Boat, smashing toward the red-robed old man.
<+>
If you want to see more of this story and don't mind paying $5 each month to read the latest post, please go to my
The current chapter in Patreon: