As if it was in their nature as father and son, when Yulai bloomed with the last trace of radiance of his life, the group of people who had escaped from the original city of Yuanshu simultaneously turned their heads to look at the dazzling yellow light amidst the countless lights of the city, and even Yawen, who was unconscious, woke up.
Until the light disappeared, the city of Yuanshu returned to its normal appearance.
An inexplicable surge of tears overflowed in the eyes of the crowd.
A palpable sense of heart palpitations overwhelmed them, as if their loved ones had passed away, and they blurted out, "My son (father)!"
Unstoppable tears and heart palpitations made them almost want to turn back to the city, even though it was such an unwise move.
But they were all seasoned warriors who had experienced countless battles, and even though they knew that Yulai might have little chance of survival, Hanluo gritted his teeth and said, "Let's go!"
In that moment of turning around, Yawen seemed to see the figure of his grandfather aging twenty years in that one turn.
The grieving group of people began their arduous life of exile.
For a whole year, Hanluo and his group of people spent fifty times the amount of time an ordinary person would take to hide and escape from the capital city of the Huana State to the northern border of the kingdom, where it connected with the Qilanlou Alliance, in the mysterious Qihua Forest, which was known as the largest and most mysterious forest in the Qiwu Continent.
The Qihua Forest was shaped irregularly like an ellipse, divided into three parts from outer to inner. The outermost part, within five to ten kilometers, was called the Forest Town, scattered with numerous clearings and natural and man-made roads, where ordinary people would move around in these towns and roads.
The second part, about ten to eighteen kilometers from the center, was called the Trial Ground, filled with countless strange rocks and bizarre forests, as well as numerous magic beasts (wild and ferocious mythical beasts). Only martial artists and magicians in training, people evading enemies, thieves, criminals, etc., would come here.
The third part, with the forest center as the center, within a radius of twenty-six kilometers, was a region only ventured into by adventurers who considered death as nothing, pursuing treasure and excitement, called the Central Magic Domain.
Yawen and his group of people set foot in this Central Magic Domain after one year.
In this year, their experiences could be described as a close brush with death countless times.
During the first month of their escape, Yawen and his group showed mercy towards the soldiers sent to pursue them by the Dai Nian, as these soldiers were unaware of the truth. However, one month later, they learned from passersby that De Ye, the former king, had abdicated in favor of his crown prince, Lian An Aisais, who ascended the throne as the 67th emperor of the kingdom with the title of King Lian An. De Ye, the former king, had retired to become the Retired Emperor Tai Shang - De Ye Aisais, who would assist the new king in governing for one year.
On the day of King Lian An's ascension, he issued three major decrees. The first decree was to announce to the entire continent that the Duke of Staduk and his family were declared perpetual political fugitives of the kingdom, and anyone could kill them without consequences, dead or alive. A reward of ten million kingdom gold coins would be given for capturing or killing one person, and for capturing or killing more than two people, the reward would be bestowed with the titles of Earl, Viscount, or Baron, depending on the number of individuals captured or killed. This was the highest bounty in history, which motivated countless people to pursue them.
The second decree was to announce the establishment of diplomatic relations with the Staduk Empire as sister nations. This sudden change in the situation of the entire continent caused a great upheaval, stirring up countless hidden currents.
The third decree was to make a major reshuffle in the government, led by Huiyi Bidi Daje as the Minister of Military Affairs and Prime Minister. Huiyi was appointed as the Chairman of the Council of Nobles, which was a promotion in name but a demotion in reality. It was known that this was because he refused to disclose the details of the events of the "Night of the Black Sun" in Yuanlei City, only admitting that Yulei was dead and the others had escaped, which had caused King De Ye's dissatisfaction.
Therefore, King De Ye took advantage of the new king's ascension to make personnel adjustments and promotions and demotions.
In addition, there was a personnel order that went unnoticed by most people: "In recognition of Naken Siewain's meritorious service to the kingdom, he is appointed as the Commander of the Ten Thousand Cavaliers and granted the title of Viscount of the kingdom." The order was signed by King Lian An.
Yawen and others, of course, had no idea that this news was of little importance compared to the new king's enthronement and the Staark family becoming forever wanted criminals in the principality, or compared to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the principality and the Staark Empire.
But just hearing the news of Yulei's death from Houyi's own mouth was enough to plunge Yawen and his family into deep sorrow.
Upon hearing this news, on the one hand, the whole family could not believe it, but on the other hand, it also aroused even more hatred towards King Denyao and Houyi, and even towards the principality of Hua Nabang that they had spent most of their lives protecting.
Soon after, a large number of assassins, adventurers, bounty hunters, criminals, and even ordinary civilians, who were intent on the exorbitant reward offered, began to reach out for them, after all, ten million gold coins from the principality were enough to enjoy for three generations and titles could bring fame and fortune, who wouldn't be jealous.
So, in addition to evading the pursuers sent by King Li'an, Yawen's family also had to deal with the influx of bounty hunters.
Ambushes in the open, covert attacks, poisonings, hunting and killing, various means were used to the extreme.
Especially among the many people who coveted the bounty, there were indeed extraordinary talents, every time Yawen's family thought they had escaped the pursuers, they would emerge from unexpected places and use various means against them.
Finally, the whole family became infuriated, showing no mercy to their opponents anymore, whether they were assassins, criminals, adventurers, bounty hunters, or even civilians, anyone with ill intentions - kill! Anyone with malice - kill!
But this seemed insufficient to deter them, so Yawen and others resorted to more drastic measures, killing all enemies without leaving a single soldier or corpse, destroying all traces, and cutting off the opportunity for pursuers to track them.
In this way, the number of pursuers was finally reduced by a considerable amount.
However, the god of misfortune seemed to not let them off so easily, and he gave this displaced family even more severe challenges.
Yaxu deduced that the poison they had been afflicted with was actually the rumored "Soul-Annihilating Fragrance", a royal poison from the Staark Empire, a poison that would gradually corrode the body of the victim when ingested, not causing immediate death but making the person live in the shadow of aging and death, and it would also produce a deadly toxin that caused great harm to mythical beasts. This toxin would be transmitted to the mythical beast when it attached to the owner, weakening the mythical beast until it died, and the owner would never be able to have another mythical beast in their lifetime.
The venom in their bodies was so vicious that Han Luo and the others were almost in despair, as if their death sentences had been pronounced, let alone revenge.
The first to die was Yahua's Fire Lion, Lion Blaze, who died three months after fleeing; next was Han Luo's Light Tiger, who followed in Lion Blaze's footsteps the following month; then came Yaxu's Furious Fox, who met the same fate in the fifth month; finally, the Phantom Beast - Yaruo's Azure Thunder Eagle, also perished in a battle in the seventh month.
After losing the Thunder Eagle, when they encountered another group of hunters looking for easy prey, the whole family was almost in despair.
However, the misfortune destined for the Stadak family was something even the Grim Reaper could not overcome. At the most critical moment, the Greedy Wolf Star, which had been attached to Yawen all along, sensed Yawen's crisis and once again, without waiting for orders, broke free from Yawen's body and fought to the death against three Beast Phantom Armors and one Demon Phantom Armor in its original primal form.
Seeing the Phantom Beast that had been forgotten by everyone when it suddenly emerged from Yawen, standing bravely in front of everyone, the confidence of the group was renewed.
Finally, with everyone working together and in dire straits with almost fatal injuries, they resolved the crisis and eliminated all the hunters.
Everyone dragged their exhausted bodies and minds to a hidden place, and Yawen explained the origin and peculiarities of the Greedy Wolf Star, as well as the strange events that occurred when the Greedy Wolf Star encountered the Bloodbane of Weino that no one had seen that day.
With a glimmer of hope, Han Luo and the others couldn't help but rekindle their hope and began to formulate a new escape plan.
When facing the enemy, Yawen commanded the Greedy Wolf Star to confront them, while everyone else was responsible for protecting themselves, so that Yawen would have no worries.
After all, every member of the Stadak family was a formidable figure in the world. Although they had lost their Phantom Beasts and were afflicted with strange poison, they were still more than capable of defending themselves.
After the plan was discussed and completed, Han Luo looked at the youthful faces of Yawen and the Greedy Wolf Star, and couldn't help but be overwhelmed with sorrow, realizing that the fate of the entire family was now in the hands of his 16-year-old grandson and a Phantom Beast that had just entered its growth period.
"Oh my heavens! What did my family do wrong to deserve such punishment from you, Sadak?" Hanluo looked up to the sky and let out his overwhelming resentment, unwillingness, and hatred.
Along with him, Yahua, Yaxu, and Yaruo, the three tough men, also shed tears for the first time in five months since the death of Yulei.
Yawen, who was standing by, also had tears in the corners of his eyes, but he couldn't let the tears fall like this because it was not the time for him to cry now.
The responsibility of life and death of his grandfather and three elder brothers had fallen on his shoulders. He was no longer a child, but a man who had to shoulder his responsibilities.
The five months of fleeing had already taught him what reality was, and he had learned to see the environment clearly. Now he had to figure out how to keep his family alive in such a harsh environment, and think about how to protect their safety. Therefore, there was no time, and no place allowed him to cry.
"Someday," Yawen silently made a promise in his heart, someday when he could bring his family to a safe place, a place where he could feel at ease, he would definitely throw himself into the arms of his grandfather and brothers and cry his heart out. Now was not the time to shed tears, now he "absolutely could not cry."
When Yawen began to serve as the bodyguard for his family, he did not realize how much benefit these seven months would bring him, although it was so difficult, so challenging, so painful, and so unbearable.
During these seven months, he had spared no effort to improve himself. Except for sleeping and rushing on the road, he spent all his time practicing the Tianxin True Qi. In the later stages, Yawen even learned how to practice the Tianxin True Qi during his daily actions and sleep, although the effect was not as great as when he ran it continuously for thirty-six cycles every time. But he was unwilling to give up any opportunity and time that could improve himself.
Moreover, in order to raise his Tianxin True Qi to a level that could protect his family in the shortest possible time, he even gave up part of his spiritual power training, and only practiced it when he couldn't bear the splitting headache.
With such determination, Yawen's Tianxin True Qi had reached a level after nine months of fleeing, which allowed him to fight against people wearing armor even without his own armor. The speed of his improvement was almost unbelievable to Hanluo and others.
But Yawen was not satisfied with this. He continued to dedicate himself to his utmost and constantly improve himself, looking forward to the Crazy Wolf Star entering its abnormal period and mature period.
However, the current situation disappointed Yawen. Even when they arrived at the Central Demon Domain, the Crazy Wolf Star had not entered its mature period. But during this time, not only Yawen had grown, but the Crazy Wolf Star was also progressing rapidly.
In the latter half of his escape, Greedy Wolf Star had been feeding on the crystallized essence of the mythical beasts that had been defeated by them, inadvertently solving the problem of providing energy for its growth due to Yawen's power enhancement.
In just half a year, Greedy Wolf Star had also grown rapidly, reaching Yawen's waist when standing up. It had long, silvery-gray fur that shimmered with golden and silver hues under the sunlight and moonlight, sharp fangs and claws, and a slender and powerful body. Its fierce and alert posture made it invulnerable to most armor or armor, and it was the only consolation for Yawen in his difficult life.
The only regret was that Greedy Wolf Star had not yet entered maturity, which greatly disappointed Yawen.
Since Greedy Wolf Star had not matured, Yawen had to find other ways to improve his combat abilities.
Almost going mad, Yawen kept learning various techniques, including those of his grandfather and three older brothers, and quickly mastered them. However, Yawen was not happy at all because more than seventy percent of these techniques required the power of mythical beasts to unleash their full power, which did not meet his current needs. So Yawen started thinking about other options.
Every time they annihilated pursuers, Yawen and his companions would search their bodies for supplies such as food, water, and money needed for their escape.
When Yawen learned the skills of his ancestors and brothers, he added another item to his search list.
As bounty hunters, criminals, and adventurers, almost everyone carried their most precious belongings with them at all times. When they died at Yawen's hands, these items naturally fell into his hands, including some precious treasures and even some secret martial arts manuals.
Yawen's goal was these martial arts manuals, of course, some were good, some were bad, some were high-level, and some were low-level. Some of them were useful to Yawen, and some were not.
Yawen never distinguished between good and bad, high and low, or whether something was useful or not. Once he obtained these secret techniques, he would diligently memorize them. His idea was that whether good or bad, high or low, if it could be used, it was the best option. Even if it couldn't be used, it didn't matter, as long as he gained one more point of advantage by understanding the enemy better when he encountered someone of the same type or using the same technique again.
This idea allowed Yawen to gradually accumulate a wealth of knowledge. By the time he and his family arrived at the central magic domain, he knew over a hundred martial arts techniques. This was largely due to the increased opportunities he had in obtaining similar secret techniques in the later stages, after all, he had single-handedly experienced over 800 battles, both visible and invisible, to protect his family and bring them to this point.
Stepping into the central magic domain, as usual, Yawen walked at the front. Ten meters behind him, Yahua, Hanluo, Yaruo, and Yaxu walked together, while the Greedy Wolf Star patrolled around ten meters behind them.
If someone who knew them saw them now, they would never associate this group of people with the flourishing Stark family from a year ago.
After a year of being hunted and living a life of turmoil and displacement, Yahua had become like a wild man, and some of the Ya people might even look more normal than him. Hanluo, who walked behind him, had also aged more than thirty years beyond his actual age due to the hardships of life, appearing like an old man in his hundreds. In addition, his obsession with Si'er had driven him somewhat crazy, sometimes clear-headed and sometimes confused. Yaruo limped as he walked due to old injuries on his legs and various other injuries on his body, making him look like a dying patient. Among the four of them, Yaruo had changed the least, but the hardships of life had made him tough, with a large scar on his face from a battle, making him look more like a ghost than a human.
But the one who had changed the most was undoubtedly Yawen. He wore a simple short-sleeved shirt in white or gray, and black pants. Due to his diligent practice of Tianxin Zhenqi, he had grown over 20 centimeters taller in the past year, becoming tall, thin, and sturdy, with muscles all over his body that seemed to hide boundless strength. The hundreds of battles he had fought in the past year had left him with large and small scars all over his body. Years of mental tension had made his face mature like a middle-aged person who had experienced many hardships, with no trace of his seventeen-year-old youth.
The most surprising thing was his hair. The pressures of a tumultuous life, the enormous stress of life and death, and the endless consumption of mental energy to force himself to learn countless knowledge, combined with his failure to follow his mother's advice to practice controlling his rapidly growing spiritual power, and instead blindly suppressing it, had caused him to suffer from constant and intense headaches like hell.
When Yu Fang and his family arrived at the Central Magic Domain, Yu Fang's long black hair, which had grown down to his shoulders due to lack of trimming, was now completely replaced by individual strands of white hair resembling silver threads.
Yu Fang, who was actually seventeen years old, had a face that looked weathered beyond his years, like that of a thirty-year-old, and hair as white as a ninety-year-old's - this was how he looked now.
The price of a year-long escape was too great for Yu Fang's family, but fortunately, it was almost over. They had reached their destination, the Central Magic Domain of the Qi Hua Forest, an ancient forest area that had been rarely visited by humans for ages.