The one that knew Jiang Yi the best in this world wasn’t Jiang Xiaonu who grew up with him; neither was it Su Ruoxue who had an ambiguous relationship with him. It was Qian Wanguan.
Qian Wanguan and Jiang Yi were together for a short period of time—which was around one year, but they had experienced so many things together; hence, he knew Jiang Yi’s temperament and character the best.
He already felt that something was odd about Jiang Yi back at the royal capital, but Jiang Yi concealed it well enough and used the excuse of going back to the college to refine the celestial stone. For a moment, Qian Wanguan didn’t think that Jiang Yi was so fearless until he saw this message, which immediately woke him up.
Jiang Yi was raised in Skyplume City. For the rest of his life, he would never return to that place which made him the most heartbroken. Jiang Yunhai’s life-and-death was currently unknown while Jiang Xiaonu was still in the college. It was even more impossible for him to return to Jiang Yi City. There was nowhere else in this world where he could call home. Where else could he go to?
He asked Qian Wanguan to go check on whether the Soul-Subduing Herb could be replaced and immediately went missing once he knew the answer. He even asked for a few pieces of spirit beast talisman. After combining the various circumstances, where else could he go? It almost exposed what he was going to do.
He was going to plunder the Soul-Subduing Herb!
He was going to plunder it from the betrothal gifts from the tens of thousands of royal escorts that were sent out by Xia Wuhui. Once he obtained the Soul-Subduing Herb, he would escape back to the Mt. Spirit Beast College to rescue Jiang Xiaonu.
The Divine Martial Kingdom sent out at least 20,000 royal escorts to escort the bride, and they were all from one of the royal elite units, Divine Martial Camp. There were plenty of Soul Travel Realm experts leading them in this army. Qian Wanguan didn’t know how many Soul Travel Realm experts were there, but he was certain that the general leading this army was definitely a peak-stage Soul Travel Realm.
A single individual was going to rob from an army that numbered in 20,000?
Put aside the chances of Jiang Yi succeeding—even if he did succeed, would the Divine Martial Kingdom tolerate him? Where was Xia Tingwei going to put his pride? Jiang Yi was about to completely break off all relations with Jiang Bieli and the Divine Martial Kingdom!
“Crazy! This is crazy!”
Qian Wanguan’s shameless body was trembling ceaselessly. He didn’t mind if even Jiang Yi was committing treason against the kingdom because Jiang Yi would still be his brother. Would Qian Clan be implicated because of Jiang Yi? He wasn’t worried at all as Qian Clan had deep ties and foundations that wouldn’t be shaken because of a single incident. He wasn’t worried about Jiang Yi’s safety either. Right now, he was just frightened by such a crazy act.
A single individual against the entire kingdom!
Once Jiang Yi made this trip, he would not be tolerated by the Divine Martial Kingdom; neither by the other five vassal states, too. After all, no one had any preferences for a traitor. Not even the Mt. Spirit Beast College would dare to accommodate Jiang Yi under such pressure. The Divine Martial Kingdom was at the prime of their time, and among all the other six kingdoms, they were undoubtedly the no.1 in overall strength.
Qian Wanguan knew clearly about Xia Tingwei’s major undertaking and high aims. He had a grand task that had yet to be accomplished throughout the ages: the intention to unite the entire world. Jiang Bieli also wanted to be the no.1 official throughout the ages and assist Xia Tingwei to unite everything under the heavens. If Jiang Yi was going to intercept and annihilate the bridal escorts of the Divine Martial Kingdom, it would be a humiliation to the Divine Martial Kingdom. Let alone Xia Tingwei—Jiang Bieli would be the first to put him down!
Of course… the prerequisite was for Jiang Yi to intercept and annihilate the bridal escort army. Could he plunder the Soul-Subduing Herb and successfully escape?
The answer in Qian Wanguan’s heart was ‘impossible;’ Jiang Yi was just going to throw his life away!
“What should I do now?”
Qian Wanguan was anxiously circling the room while his mind was revolving quickly. There were a few times he wanted to give the orders for his Qian clansmen to immediately look for Jiang Yi and kidnap him back here. When he thought about Jiang Yi’s temperament, he was certain and dared to say that Jiang Yi would definitely flip out; and they wouldn’t even be able to maintain their brotherhood.
“Sigh… Boss, I can’t help you much for this matter. I can only wish you the best of luck!”
After circling the room for more than one hour, Qian Wanguan gritted his teeth and made a firm resolution. Since Jiang Yi already made his decision on this matter, Qian Wanguan could only respect his decision and assist him in any way possible.
Take… covering up his whereabouts for example. Of course, Qian Wanguan couldn’t interfere any more than that… as Qian Clan was still a part of the Divine Martial Kingdom, and Jiang Yi’s purpose for leaving without bidding farewell was precisely to not make things difficult for him.
Qian Wanguan made the arrangements quickly as he asked his men to surround this room and the entire courtyard. He then personally went to inform Principal Qi that Jiang Yi was secluding himself and comprehending a very important martial skill. Right now, it was the most crucial stage. Hence, it was better for everyone to set off first; and they would be back at the college slightly later.
Jiang Yi had been in seclusion, either within the carriage or within the rooms. He still had the celestial stone to refine; hence, Principal Qi and the others didn’t suspect anything. She merely gave some instructions and led the others back first.
After everyone left, Qian Wanguan immediately shifted over the Qian clansmen and surrounded the entire inn. The interior and exterior of the inn were filled with people from the Qian Clan, making sure that not even a mosquito could make it in.
By doing this, Qian Wanguan used the best method to help Jiang Yi delay some time and cover up his whereabouts. After all, he brought over so many men; and in the eyes of the other clans’ scouts, he was apparently protecting Jiang Yi, preventing any assassinations.
…
Right now, there were many individuals paying attention to Jiang Yi’s whereabouts like Zhangsun Wuji, Xia Tian, Xia Wuhui, and also Jiang Rentu.
When Jiang Yi left in the middle of the night, he was wearing stealth clothing and even covered up his face; hence, no one would have noticed him. The scouts from the various clans assumed that Jiang Yi was still cultivating within the inn. Because of Qian Wanguan’s arrangements, no one dared to enter the inn and scout.
Jiang Rentu was in an unquiet state of mind recently. After Jiang Bieli met with Jiang Yi, he came back with a frightening solemn expression and didn’t say anything; neither did he give any instructions.
When Jiang Yi departed for the Mt. Spirit Beast College, Jiang Rentu wanted to seek advice from Jiang Bieli—if they should send anyone to protect him in the dark. Jiang Bieli had been in the royal residence for this period of time and was always in the royal palace, giving Jiang Rentu no opportunity to even see him.
Jiang Rentu assumed that if Jiang Yi was together with Principal Qi and the others, it should have been very safe; hence, he didn’t assign any secret guards and merely asked the Jiang Clan’s scouts to take note of Jiang Yi’s whereabouts.
Qian Wanguan’s arrangements did a huge favor for Jiang Yi. After sprinting for an entire day and night in the wilderness, Jiang Yi arrived at a nearby huge city, wearing a mask before he entered it.
When he exited again, he was already accompanied by a black and lofty warhorse while his robes turned into black armor, equipped with a long saber on the waist. With the demon’s mask, even Qian Wanguan would have a difficult time to figure out his disguise.
This warhorse was a famous breed of warhorse called the Black-Clouds Snow Steps, which had a jet-black body and snow-like hooves, costing Jiang Yi nearly two million purple gold. This breed of warhorse could travel tens of thousands of kilometers in a single day, and its speed was on par with a peak-grade tier-two demonic beast.
After they exited the city, Jiang Yi dashed straight to the south and traveled without any rest. If he was tired, he would just sleep on the back of the horse.
He traveled on the main roads. With Divine Martial Kingdom’s military might at the prime while Xia Tingwei ruled with blood and iron, there were indeed no bandits within the kingdom. In addition to his unexposed identity, it had been rather safe along the way. Furthermore, he was riding on such a famed warhorse and wearing such expensive battle armor. The first impression he gave was that he was a descendant from a great clan. Would any regular bandits dare to have any intentions to rob him?
On the eighth day!
In just eight days, Jiang Yi arrived at the southern territory of the Divine Martial Kingdom. Previously, Jiang Yi rode on the Silver-Moon Demon Wolf and took a huge detour, routing to the Great Xia Kingdom and the Saint Spirit Kingdom, spending more than a month to reach the royal capital. This time, he might have been traveling on a straight path; but it showed how desperate Jiang Yi was to arrive within such a short period of time.
If he headed further south, it would be Mt. Thirty Thousand; and after going around Mt. Thirty Thousand, he would enter the Great Xia Kingdom’s territory. He would only need another three days to reach the royal capital of the Great Xia Kingdom which was located in the north, the Summer Rain City.
“The bridal escort army should need another three to four days before they catch up, right?”
Riding on the Black-Clouds White Steps warhorse, Jiang Yi was standing atop a small hill and looked at the mountain ranges ahead—while he mumbled to himself. Raising the horsewhip, he didn’t turn towards the Soul Break Valley—which was in the southwest—before entering the Great Xia Kingdom. Instead, he headed straight into Mt. Thirty Thousand.
