Yu Shangrong flew forward over a small mountain range and rivers. When he turned back, he saw the luan crying out.
Its cries resounded thunderously in the air, causing the birds in the forest to take flight. The beasts on the ground were also startled by its cries and scurried away.
Yu Shangrong increased his speed. He rode on the wind and kept flying. When he looked down, he was amazed by what he saw. He saw a large number of beasts stampeding across the ground. The ground rumbled and thundered as the beasts ran.
Yu Shangrong felt his Primal Qi depleting and quickly landed on a towering tree. After flying for such a long time in the dark, he nearly lost his balance when he landed on the branch. Fortunately, he regained his footing in time. After that, he lay down a huge branch and closed his eyes to rest. Naturally, he did not let his guard down. There were dangerous beasts around him, after all.
…
After what seemed like a few hours, Yu Shangrong finally opened his eyes. He felt well-rested and energized after his nap. Although he had tried to stay awake, he had fallen asleep due to exhaustion.
At this moment, the sun was setting, dyeing the sky orange. For some reason, he felt the sun was much higher in the sky in this place.
Dusk was coming. The dimming sunlight shone on the forest, making him feel relaxed.
Yu Shangrong examined his Primal Qi. To his delight, he had almost recovered all his Primal Qi. He picked up his Longevity Sword and looked at it with a smile. “You’ve had it rough, old friend.”
Without the scabbard, he could not help but feel that something was missing. Hence, he removed his outer robe and tore it before he wrapped it around the sword and carried it on his back.
He continued flying.
Soon after, night fell.
Yu Shangrong was perplexed. “Why haven’t I encountered anyone yet?”
Even if this was the territory of the Other Tribes, he should have encountered human settlements by now.
The 100,000-foot-deep abyss was close to Heaven’s Moat. In that case, where did Heaven’s Moat lead to? How was he supposed to return to Great Yan if he could not locate Heaven’s Moat?
Deep into the night…
Yu Shangrong rested on a branch again. At the same time, he adjusted his breathing to replenish his Primal Qi. He was about to shut his eyes when he saw something shocking.
He saw a huge group of cultivators flying toward him. The leader of the group had summoned a 150-foot avatar.
“Master?” Yu Shangrong was surprised. He felt rather emotional. He had been stubborn and had acted willfully. He did not expect his master to come for him. However, he soon realized something was amiss about the group.
The 150-foot avatar was red. Nine red leaves spun around the red life-like lotus under its feet.
Why was it red? He remembered what Old Fourth had said. Was his master trying something new?
‘That can’t be it.’
He looked at the skies ahead. There were many Ten Worlds, Nine Transformations Yin Yang, and a couple of Three and Four-leaf avatars flying toward him. They were all red.
It was possible that his master was trying some new technique. However, for all the others to have red avatars as well? It was impossible!
Still puzzled, Yu Shangrong shrunk back and concealed his presence. He stayed in this position until the 150-foot Nine-leaf red avatar shot past below him to his left.
It illuminated the forest and mountain range like a red-hot sun. It was glaring and dazzling…
Yu Shangrong was shocked. ‘That’s not, master! Is there a new Nine-leaf expert in Great Yan?’
He held his breath as he looked at the Nine-leaf red lotus cultivator’s retreating back. He continued doing so until the red lotus cultivators vanished in the distance.
“Why is the lotus red?” Despite being the great Sword Devil of Great Yan, he could not wrap his mind around this.
In the end, he gave up on thinking about this and decided to focus on returning to Great Yan.
He left his perch on the tree. He flew for only a few meters when a person called out to him from below.
“My friend.”
Yu Shangrong was slightly taken aback. He stopped in the air and looked down. He did not sense anyone else’s presence when he concealed his presence earlier.
Yu Shangrong smiled faintly. “You have business with me, sir?”
“Are you from the Sky Martial Court?”
‘Sky Martial Court?’ Yu Shangrong had heard of many sects after traveling the world for so long, but he had never heard of the Sky Martial Court before. Perhaps, it was a minor sect?
“I’m not,” Yu Shangrong replied.
“If you’re not, then what are you doing here?”
At this moment, Yu Shangrong suddenly discovered this person’s accent was strange. He said, “My apologies. If you suspect me, I’m afraid that I’d have to disappoint you.” He felt awkward being questioned in this manner.
“I’m sorry as well. However, this concerns the Flying Star House so you’ll have to answer me.”
“The Flying Star House?”
Yu Shangrong’s reaction did not escape the person’s notice. “You don’t know what the Flying Star House is? That isn’t funny at all.”
Boom!
He pushed away from the ground and shot into the air before he drew level with Yu Shangrong.
Their eyes met.
Killing intent crackled in the night air.
Yu Shangrong was the Sword Devil of his generation. Naturally, he could acutely sense the other party’s killing intent. He asked with a smile, “You intend to kill me?”
“I’d rather kill 1,000 innocent men than letting my suspect get away. I pray you’d be reincarnated to a better life.” He raised a hand and launched a red palm seal.
Yu Shangrong sidestepped it as he looked at the red palm seal in confusion. It was red as well!
The person launched several palm seals again…
Yu Shangrong unleashed an energy sword from two of his fingers as he pushed forward.
The energy sword shot forth!
Bam!
It destroyed the red palm seal.
A frightened expression appeared on that person’s face immediately. “Golden energy? Who are you?”
“I’m Yu Shangrong,” Yu Shangrong replied indifferently.
“Yu Shangrong? Which sect do you belong to?”
Yu Shangrong was slightly stunned. Those who heard his name would tremble with fear. Why was this man not cowering in fear?
Yu Shangrong looked at the skies. ‘Am I in hell?’
When he saw Yu Shangrong did not reply to him, he joined his palms and said coldly, “Die.”
Whizz!
A Five-leaf Golden Lotus avatar appeared in front of Yu Shangrong. Then, the person attacked swiftly with a thunderous blow. He tried to charge at Yu Shangrong with his avatar.
Yu Shangrong remained motionless in the air. His arms were crossed, and he was lost in his thoughts.
At the final moment, Yu Shangrong’s Longevity Sword broke free of its wrappings and burst forth with radiance! The scarlet sword released several energy swords.
Swoosh!
The Longevity Sword glanced across the person’s avatar! Then, it flew in a circle and returned to Yu Shangrong’s back.
Boom!
The person’s avatar was cleaved into two, injuring him. He fell and crashed to the ground. His expression was one of fright at this moment.
Yu Shangrong landed slowly. He looked at the person. He asked calmly, “Where is this place?”
The person’s eyes were filled with trepidation. He shuddered and said, “The people of Sky Martial Court… aren’t mad. You, you…” Before he could finish his sentence, his head lolled to the side, and he stopped breathing.
Yu Shangrong sighed and shook his head. He looked at the stars, preoccupied with his thoughts. After a moment’s silence, he said tonelessly, “Interesting.”
…
“Ding! Killed a target. Reward: 1,500 merit points.”
“After the system’s authority upgrade, its range has been increased. There’s an additional reward of 1,000 merit points for the domain.”
When Lu Zhou heard the first notification, he did not think too much of it. However, he was slightly surprised by the second notification.
“Additional reward for the domain?” He remembered when he killed Chi Yao at the bottom of the abyss back then, he was rewarded with 5,000 merit points. However, there was no domain reward.
Where did this reward come from?
“Yu Shangrong…”
