Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre [email protected]
Half-Saint Yuanlong looked far away in the direction of the Grasslands from the corner of his eye. Zhao Shengyu’s threat did not bother him at all.
Without sufficient evidence, the ministry could not do anything with him.
But he needed to find out Zhang Ruochen had snuck in.
Boom!
Outside the city, there was a massive explosion, and the ground shuddered beneath it.
Right before the explosion, Zhao Shengyu aimed a crescent shaped saint weapon thrust towards Zhang Ruochen, but it was parried by the Abyss Ancient Sword. Zhang Ruochen performed Sword Two and casted a shield to defend himself against the incoming object coming from afar.
The clouds above moved away to show a clear blue sky.
“That was incredible.”
Zhang Ruochen was thrown a few miles further. He felt an incredible pain, as if all of his organs were detached from his body.
Fortunately, the attack had been launched from a hundred miles away, Zhang Ruochen could still take the hit. If it was any closer, that one strike would have taken him down.
Zhang Ruochen held back the Abyss Ancient Sword. Rather than fighting Zhao Shengyu, he chose to escape.
With the help of Luan Phoenix Deity Print, he was far ahead of Zhao Shengyu. Rather than ditching him completely, he started circling the Grasslands.
After many attempts, Zhang Ruochen concluded:
One, Zhao Shengyu had a tracking device that could locate him from afar.
Two, that device could locate him up to a distance of a thousand miles.
That said, as long as he could keep a distance of at least a thousand miles away from Zhang Shengyu, he would never be found.
Thereafter, Zhang Ruochen set a new route and left the Grasslands.
After losing Zhang Ruochen, Zhao Shengyu searched high and low for two consecutive days. At last, he figured that Zhang Ruochen had already left the Grasslands.
“Damn you, Zhang Ruochen! How dare you trick me! If you ever fall in my hands again, I will make sure you suffer!” Zhao Shengyu said through gritted teeth.
The lead of the Ultimate Four, Zhao Gongming, found Zhao Shengyu in the Grasslands. He reported, “My Lord, Young Master Wan has arrived at the base.”
“Young Master Wan is here already?” Zhao Shengyu’s face darkened.
Young Master Wan was essentially Wan Zhao Yi.
Although Wan Zhaoyi was close to a hundred years old, he was extraordinarily talented and was blessed with age-defying looks. Therefore, everyone in the Wan family addressed him as ‘Young Master Wan.’
The military camp base of the werewolf forces was built among a ridge of hills, situated at the border of the Grasslands. Row upon row of military tents could be seen, stretching up to 300 miles wide.
In the center of the camp base, there was a luxurious mansion meant for the Werewolf King of the North.
Wan Zhaoyi was casually sitting on a golden throne, wearing Blue Dragon Armor. His appearance was similar to a gentleman in his 20s, but he had such a majestic aura around him.
He was at the top of the Five Heroes List. Even Zhao Shengyu had to keep his head bowed and dared not look straight at him.
After listening to Zhao Shengyu’s explanation, Wan Zhaoyi did not reprimand him. Instead, he smiled and said, “I have met Zhang Ruochen. He was one of the few top talents of Kunlun’s field of this century. Previously, Wan Ji failed to capture him, even with 30,000 elite soldiers of the Leopard clan. It was expected that you would not succeed either.”
Zhao Shengyu heaved a sigh of relief, feeling less nervous now.
Wan Zhaoyi was known to be a tough and dominating military leader, but was never ruthless towards his militants. His charismatic dominance attributed to the numerous voluntary militants he had under his command.
The next moment, he looked stern. Then said, “But since he showed himself at Qingli County, he should not be far away from here. You must take him down, at all costs.”
“I have given an order to turn on all Octagon Mirrors placed across all 36 counties under Yuan Mansion. Once you locate Zhang Ruochen, arrest him at once.”
Zhao Shengyu expressed his concern. “Young Master, the speed of Zhang Ruochen was faster than a level 7 half-saint. I’m afraid he’ll get away again, even with the combined power of the 36 commander-in-chief. Besides, he holds the saint decree of Sword Saint Xuanji. If he activates it, no one will be able to stop him.”
Wan Zhaoyi reassured him, “About this matter, you don’t have to be too worry. This time, I have chosen 10 elites meant to take him down. The moment his location is known, the 10 elites will make their move. No matter how fast he is, he will be in dire straits.”
Zhao Shengyu was relieved to hear that.
The chosen ones must be the cream of the crop. While one or two half-saints might not be able to hold him, three attacking him simultaneously would probably work, despite him having the saint decree.
Zhao Shengyu could tell that Young Master Wan valued Zhang Ruochen very much.
Without further ado, he ordered men to have a portrait of Zhang Ruochen drawn and replicated, sending it to all cities in Qingli County. He even offered a hefty amount of reward money to anyone who could tip him off about Zhang Ruochen’s location.
Meanwhile, the wanted man had been heading west ever since he departed the Grasslands. The fact that he was on the run did not change his original plan, nor was he speeding up or slowing down his pace.
The plan was to visit Pluto Sword Tomb, followed by the Royal Capital. He would also like to stop by the Crypt of Sacred Central if necessary. He wondered how many were still living in the old capital.
As it had been said by Sword Saint Xuanji, Pluto Sword Tomb was located in the Yuan mansion of the Tiantai state. Its specific location was, however, not disclosed by Sword Saint Xuanji, leaving him only the contact details.
Although there were only 9 states in the Central region, each state had a large area. The state of Tiantai was further divided into 36 mansions, which had 36 counties each.
Qingli county might seem borderless, with an immense territory, yet it was only one of the 1,296 counties in the state of Tiantai.
Fortunately, Qingli County was one of the 36 counties under the mansion of Yuan. This saved Zhang Ruochen from the unnecessary travelling. He planned to first visit the capital city of Qingli County, hoping to get in contact with someone from Pluto Sword Tomb.
He spent two nights travelling across 10,000 miles and finally he had arrived at the capital city.
The capital city of Qingli County was well regarded for its educational reputation where all the top scholars gathered. Its size was notably three times larger than Extreme Yin Ancient City.
The Central and Eastern Region were far apart. Needless to say there would be distinct cultural difference.
Along the streets of Qingli County, one could see many young men in scholarly robes. They were the scholars of the capital – well-versed in poetry and literature as well as arts and culture. They would discuss all political matters with the ambition of building a greater future for the empire.
Some of them practiced spiritual power, and cultivated successfully to the level of monk through reading, poetry, paintings and others. Of course, there were also scholars who practiced The Great Spirit – Confucius Guide to Divinity.
Due to the support given by the imperial court , the practice of Taoism was more inclined towards Confucius’s way in the Central region, and the number of practitioners was expected to surpass the practitioners of Taichi’s.
Just then, a few of the scholars were seen gathering under a twinning tree. There seemed to be a heated discussion among them, with fingers pointing and eyes staring at a painting hanging on the tree.
Zhang Ruochen was curious about their discussion and walked over.
He was shocked to see the portrait they had been discussing.
It was a portrait of a man so surreal that it looked like a replica image of Zhang Ruochen, himself. There were ripples of spiritual power floating above the portrait like a veil covering it.
One would have known this portrait must be a masterpiece of a highly skilled spiritual power artist.
Zhang Ruochen had acquired strong spiritual power and had been emitting it as a protective shield to avoid the public recognizing him. Unless he bumped into a spiritual power half-saint.
One of the young scholars said, “Have you guys heard? Wan Zhaoyi came all the way to Qingli County to capture Zhang Ruochen. For this matter, he even visited the werewolves clan military case camp two days ago.”
“At his level, there’s no need for him to deal with this young adversary himself. From what I’ve heard, he’s here for other reasons. Something related to Pluto Sword Tomb and the immortal vampires.
“But he did send ten elites to capture Zhang Ruochen. Five of them are in the capital already. Rumor has it that the Li’s are hosting them. I wonder if this is true.”
“Li Min, you are the spiritual power genius of the Li’s. There must be many insider stories that you have heard. Did the ministry send ten elites to arrest Zhang Ruochen?”
All the scholars turned their heads toward a young lady. Their eyes flashed with curiosity.
Zhang Ruochen did the same.
The lady, whose name was Li Min, looked like a young teenage girl of 16 or 17 years old. She looked studious and frail due to her petite frame wrapped up in a scholarly robe, and she held a book in her arms.
