Chapter 365 - 195: Li Changfeng, Wu Hengguang (2)

Hou Shengyun's expression finally changed, a flicker of disbelief in his eyes. He stomped his foot hard, unleashing a massive amount of core power. A cloud of fire billowed up and lifted him into the air. He had actually abandoned his Five Fire Magical Soldiers, instantly fleeing into the sky.

Jin'Er furrowed her brow. Seeing that Li Changfeng was still entangled with the Five Fire Magical Soldiers, she hesitated for only a moment. By then, Hou Shengyun had already vanished without a trace, so she decided against giving chase.

Li Changfeng skirmished with the Five Fire Magical Soldiers for a while. However, without the support of Hou Shengyun's Magical Power, their flames gradually died down. After a few moments, Li Changfeng had completely gained the upper hand.

After destroying the last of the Five Fire Magical Soldiers, the flames scattered and dissipated. Li Changfeng picked up a talisman that had been sliced in two by his Sword Qi. He glanced at it, his brow furrowing at once. "So they really were the Five Fire Magical Soldiers of the Celestial Fire Sect," he muttered.

Seeing Jin'Er fly up to him, Li Changfeng thought for a moment, tucked the talisman into his sleeve, and smiled. "I never expected your Divine Techniques to be so powerful, Jin'Er. Even a cultivator from the Celestial Fire Sect was no match for you."

He had only known the beauty before him was at the Middle Grade Golden Core stage. He never imagined her skills were so formidable. 'I thought the Celestial Fire Sect's techniques were so powerful we would have to fight him together,' he mused. 'But Jin'Er made that Golden Core Cultivator flee in just a few exchanges...'

"My cultivation is in water arts, which just happened to counter his," Jin'Er replied impassively. "Li Lang, do you have any idea why that Celestial Fire Cultivator ambushed us here?"

"And what did he mean about your identity, Li Lang?" she asked, her wide, almond-shaped eyes fixed on Li Changfeng. He coughed lightly and replied, "I have a few ideas."

Seeing Jin'Er's expression, Li Changfeng felt a pang of guilt for some reason. After a moment's thought, he said, "To be honest with you, Jin'Er, I am actually a disciple of the Tai Su Orthodox Sect. My master is Venerable Dao Miao..."

"What?" Jin'Er covered her mouth lightly. "The Venerable Dao Miao you speak of, Li Lang... is he the one from the legends?"

Li Changfeng's expression turned solemn. He cupped his hands in a salute towards the empty air and replied, "The very same."

Receiving Li Changfeng's confirmation, Jin'Er grew even more surprised. She said softly, "No wonder that man said you keep a low profile, Li Lang. To think you have such a background, and I never knew a thing..."

Li Changfeng rubbed his nose awkwardly and explained, "When I travel, I try not to attract too much attention, for one. For another, I don't want to bring shame upon my respected master. This trip back to the Tai Su sect is precisely so I can introduce you to him and ask for his blessing."

Jin'Er seemed lost in thought. 'I never knew Li Lang had such plans,' she mused, a flicker of hesitation in her heart. 'Should I be completely honest with him in return...?'

She didn't respond immediately, and Li Changfeng grew anxious, racking his brains for something more to say. Seeing his expression, Jin'Er couldn't help but chuckle. 'Oh well,' she thought, 'I've already decided he's the one for me anyway.'

Just as she was about to speak, Li Changfeng, who had been deep in thought, suddenly had a change of expression. "Something's not right," he said. "I need to get back to the sect as soon as possible. Jin'Er, we'll have to talk about this later."

Jin'Er rolled her eyes, but she didn't get upset with him. Instead, she said, "If it's that urgent, why don't I carry you using my Flying Escape, Li Lang?"

Li Changfeng had no objection. She formed a hand seal to summon a bank of clouds, and the two of them rode it up among the clouds.

—

While Li Changfeng and Jin'Er were speeding towards Yunmeng Marsh, Hou Shengyun landed on a mountaintop, his face livid. He hatefully flicked his sleeve, sending rocks and stones tumbling down the slope, which helped him vent some of his frustration. But when he thought of his meticulously refined Five Fire Magical Soldiers, he still felt a pang of heartache. What he couldn't figure out was:

"How does Li Changfeng have a woman with a Top-grade Golden Core by his side?" he thought. A wave of jealousy washed over him, causing him a massive headache.

Yang Huai Venerable had said there were three disciples under Xuzhuang, but had only provided their names. Hou Shengyun had gone to great lengths just to track down Li Changfeng, intending to capture him. He never expected that not only would he fail to defeat Li Changfeng, but he'd even let him escape.

Now, it seemed the only way his task could be completed was if Li Changfeng returned to his sect and reported him—Hou Shengyun—for bullying a junior. The very thought made him want to vomit blood from rage.

If he were reported, even if it succeeded in luring out Xuzhuang to settle the grudge with Yang Huai Venerable, he, Hou Shengyun, would definitely not get off lightly.

"Old bastard! I saw you were in pain from losing two sons and offered to serve you out of the kindness of my heart! How dare you trick me like this! AAAAAAAAH!"

The more Hou Shengyun thought about it, the angrier he became. He lashed out with a kick, shattering a large boulder. Instead of venting his anger, the fire in his heart burned even hotter. It was only then that he realized something was wrong. He was about to circulate his sect's core technique to calm his qi when a voice suddenly drifted over from the side:

"Fellow Daoist, you seem quite troubled."

"What?" Hou Shengyun's heart leaped. He looked up and saw a handsome Daoist standing about thirty feet away, who had appeared there at some unknown time. He immediately grew cautious and asked, "Who are you?"

The handsome Daoist didn't seem to mind his defensive posture. He just smiled, shook his head, and made a few divinatory gestures with his fingers. As if struck by a sudden realization, he said, "Ah, so that's how it is."

While Hou Shengyun was still wrapped in confusion, the handsome Daoist suddenly said, "I can, however, show you a way out of this."

Hou Shengyun's interest was piqued. His eyes narrowed as he asked, "Oh? And what might that be? I'm listening."

The handsome Daoist smiled. "Dao Miaozhi's second disciple, Yuan Hao... his fate is beyond my calculations. He must be within the Tai Su Orthodox Sect."

"However, I can tell you where to find his third disciple, Qin Dengxiao."

"What?" Shock filled Hou Shengyun's eyes. Instead of feeling happy, his guard went up to the absolute extreme. "Who in the world are you?" he demanded.

"Hahaha." The handsome Daoist chuckled. "You don't need to concern yourself with that. All you need to know is that this is your only chance to stay alive."

Hou Shengyun was shaken. His thoughts raced, and a new idea took hold. 'That's right! I didn't show too much malice, and I failed to defeat Li Changfeng anyway. He might not even report me. If I can capture Qin Dengxiao and hand him over, I can let Yang Huai Venerable and Xuzhuang sort it out themselves...'

The more he thought, the more resolute he became. Before he could even speak, the handsome Daoist, having already seen through his intentions, smiled faintly. He muttered something, said, "Go on, then," and with a wave of his sleeve, gracefully vanished without a trace.

Seeing that the Daoist truly meant him no harm, Hou Shengyun breathed a sigh of relief. Without lingering, he immediately summoned his fire cloud and flew off.

A moment later, an enchanting woman with skin like white jade appeared on the mountaintop, wearing a bewitching, backless dress. "So this is the source of the Nascent Soul Great Successor corpse you mentioned?" she asked.

The handsome Daoist reappeared from nowhere and said with a grin, "Of course it is. Whether it's Xuzhuang or Yang Huai Venerable, whoever is defeated and killed, we will then be so merciful as to collect their remains for them."

"We obtain the precious bones of a Nascent Soul Great Successor without lifting a finger, and we weaken the strength of the orthodox sects at the same time. Isn't it brilliant?" Reaching this point, he seemed so impressed with his own clever plan that he began to wag his head in satisfaction.

The woman giggled. "Brilliant, truly brilliant. Yang Huai Venerable reached the Nascent Soul Great Successor realm hundreds of years ago, and Xuzhuang is no ordinary figure either. Their corpses will probably be even more suitable for the Bone Demon God Divine Technique than that of a regular Nascent Soul Great Successor Cultivator."

"If we can gift the corpse of either one of them to Senior Brother Han, we'll surely win his favor..."

At this, her tone suddenly shifted. She asked doubtfully, "But are you really confident you can successfully plot against figures of their caliber?"

The handsome Daoist said arrogantly, "Who do you take me for? I am Wu Hengguang! They're not Primordial Spirit True Men, so why couldn't I plot against them?"

"Weren't you taught a harsh lesson when you tried to plot against Senior Brother Han?" the woman asked doubtfully.

Wu Hengguang retorted irritably, "Han Fashou's luck is too powerful, and he has the Congenital White Bone Divine Calculation at his disposal! How can you even count that?"

The woman sneered. "True Man Yan Tian said you would be done in by your own cleverness. I think you'd better be careful."

Wu Hengguang grunted but didn't argue. Instead, he said, "In any case, just remember to bring the Concealing Gauze. If you want to watch the battle between Yang Huai Venerable and Xuzhuang, ordinary concealment techniques won't be enough to hide our tracks."

The woman didn't reply, simply giving a dismissive wave of her hand. Wu Hengguang paid it no mind and went on his way, wagging his head self-satisfactorily.

Only then did a faint blush appear on the woman's face. 'It would be best if Yang Huai Venerable and Xuzhuang could take each other out,' she thought. 'If Senior Brother Han knew I had prepared two sets of precious bones for him, I wonder how happy he would be?'

'Once he refines the Bone Demon God, I'm afraid no Nascent Soul Cultivator in the world will be a match for Senior Brother Han, right?'