Chapter 315 - 123: Finally Leaving (Part 2)

Chapter 315: Chapter 123: Finally Leaving (Part 2)

"SCREECH!"

It cried out, striding over with elegant steps. It stuck its rear out, trying to nudge one of the Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs aside, but its weight and strength were far inferior. The recoil sent it plopping onto the ground.

Seeing this, the whole group burst out laughing.

"Brother Ah Rui, these two divine birds are so amazing! It must not have been easy to capture them, right?" Nannan edged closer, asking with concern.

"It was nothing."

Fang Rui waved his hand nonchalantly. "When I get involved personally, what can’t I catch with ease?"

Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and the Third Lady smiled from the side without exposing his little fib. They knew a bit about what really happened.

Indeed, Fang Rui’s capture of the two Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs was far from as smooth as he made it sound.

The first time, he hadn’t yet broken through to Martial Arts First Grade, nor was he a Middle Grade Spirit Master. He had chased them on a white crane, but the two Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs were simply too fast to catch.

They even retaliated, chasing him and circling overhead to poop on him for a good mile or two.

—And don’t ask where all that poop came from. When a top-tier Exotic Beast truly wants to gross someone out, it can digest and excrete food almost instantly. Their digestive systems are incredibly powerful.

In short, Fang Rui returned empty-handed and fuming, immediately heading for a bath.

This time, however, Fang Rui had broken through to Martial Arts First Grade and was empowered by the Light Body Technique. From over seventy feet away, a single Great Capture technique was all it took to snatch them up.

After a... *friendly exchange*, they came to a profound understanding of their previous error and willingly offered to serve as his mounts for the rest of their lives as compensation.

"Brother, can I ride one?"

"Brother Ah Rui, me too!"

"Go ahead."

With Fang Rui’s permission, the two young girls took flight on the Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs. They didn’t go far, just circled above the courtyard like a pair of drifting red clouds.

"It’s so fast, but I’m not dizzy at all!"

"Uh-huh, it’s really comfortable! What amazing divine birds!"

Fang Ling and Nannan knelt on the backs of the Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs, holding down their skirts as their long, waterfall-straight hair fluttered in the wind. Their joyous voices, as crisp as an oriole’s song, made them seem like girls straight out of a comic book.

Down below, all the maids watched with envious expressions.

Even Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family and the Third Lady looked a little tempted.

"Mother, Third Sister, don’t worry. We’ll be traveling on the Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs tomorrow, so you’ll have plenty of time to experience it. Just try not to complain if the flight gets too long."

Indeed, Fang Rui planned to leave Wuzhou by riding the Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs. By powering them with the Chaos Dragon Pearl Origin, they would become like giant airplanes, capable of carrying everyone away in a single trip.

’Leaving Wuzhou with a merchant caravan would be incredibly slow, but riding the Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs will be extremely fast.’

’Capturing them might have delayed us for a day or two, but it’s a case of time spent sharpening the axe not being wasted.’

’The only problem is that a long-distance journey like this is grueling work for them.’

Fang Rui looked at the pair of Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs, his gaze flickering. ’No matter. Let the common folk suffer... Bah, I mean, let the mounts suffer. I’ll bear the infamy.’

This was definitely not him recalling a certain... experience and seeking petty revenge. How could he be that small-minded? Impossible!

...

As it turned out, exploiting your employ... ahem, your mounts, was not a sustainable practice.

Fang Rui had ordered the pair of Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs to fly long-distance, and they made it out of Wuzhou within ten days. But afterward, due to excessive overwork, they temporarily lost all worldly desires.

Even when plied with aphrodisiacs, they remained listless and half-dead, showing not a shred of passion.

’Ahem. This motivational technique was clearly still effective a couple of days ago. Did they develop a tolerance? I can probably improve the formula for next time, if needed.’

Fang Rui mused to himself and stopped tormenting the pair of Flowing Cloud Cyan Simurghs, switching to traveling by horse-drawn carriage with a merchant caravan.

From now on, unless absolutely necessary, he wouldn’t exploit them again. He wasn’t some kind of monster, after all.

CREAK... CREAK...

The caravan of carriages snaked along the road.

When they first went to Huaiyin Prefecture, there had been five of them: Fang Rui, Mrs. Xue of the Fang Family, the Third Lady, Fang Ling, and Nannan. Now, their party had grown to include the Qing Yan Little Child, as well as maids like Qing Yun and Bai Shao.

Other than that, it seemed as if nothing had changed at all.

「Inside the carriage.」

Fang Rui lay with his hands behind his head, lost in thought. ’Everything I did in Huaiyin Prefecture... I handled it cleanly, but I might have left some trace behind. Nothing has been exposed yet, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future.’

’Unlike with the Zhen Family, if I attract the attention of the Great Yu Court, the power of their Divination will be on a completely different level.’

’Zhen Daoji was right about one thing: the best place to hide is in a crowd. A place teeming with hidden masters can indeed interfere with Divination to a great extent.’

’Go to the Capital City? No, it’s too far and too dangerous. I’d be better off going... to the secondary capital, Shangluo!’

’Daoist Ge’s old friend, the former Director of the Divine Capture Bureau, Zhou Changfa, is there. And so is Li Xuantong, the ’Marquis Anle’—that Rebel King from Changshan County, and one of the main culprits behind my father’s death.’

Besides, only in a major city like that could I possibly find enough information to build upon the Nourishing Body Skill and forge a new path beyond Martial Arts First Grade.

That’s right. Even with the Primordial Scripture, a path that led directly to the Demi-Immortal realm, Fang Rui had no intention of abandoning his Martial Arts.

’Based on my estimates, breaking past Martial Arts First Grade will require 50,000 Tribulation Points. Meanwhile, on the Spirit Master path, just reaching the peak of the Upper Grade Spirit Master realm costs 40,000. I don’t know how much it will take to break through to the Source Realm beyond that, but it’s definitely more than 50,000.’

’From that perspective, my Martial Arts path is closer to a breakthrough beyond the First Grade.’

After his long-distance clash with Zhen Taiyuan, Fang Rui felt a profound sense of his own inadequacy. He needed to break through to the Super Grade in at least one of his paths, be it Martial Arts or Spirit Master, before he could feel truly secure.

’Perfect. Once I’m in the secondary capital of Shangluo, I’ll have a better vantage point from which to observe the Great Yu. The ancient cataclysm, the concept of Qi Fortune, the Half-Immortal Families... perhaps all these secrets will finally open up to me.’