“Retreat!” When they saw all the demons in Jadewave City surrounded in flame, Ye Zichen and the Great Sage didn’t hesitate in the slightest. They rushed like mad for the edge of the city.
Ye Zichen had yet to achieve major success in the Dao of Fire. Although even rulers wouldn’t touch his flames lightly, so long as they defended themselves, the fire wouldn’t do much in the way of real damage. The sea of flames would only stall them a little while.
So they had to seize this brief opportunity to open a hole in the Heaven and Earth Net. That was their only way out.
“Great Sage, it’s up to you now!”
The Heaven and Earth Net was ninth on the Auxiliary Divine Artifact Leaderboards. Ye Zichen knew that, as a mere diviner, hoping to break through it on his own was nothing but a pipe dream.
Back in the day, this legendary divine artifact had even trapped the Yao Emperor, the Eastern Monarch Taiyi, for as long as it took to brew a cup of tea!
The Great Sage nodded firmly. Even though he was still a ways away from the Eastern Monarch, with the Dharma of Heaven and Earth supporting him, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to break free of this net.
“Ruyi, Ruyi, heed my will!”
In response to the Great Sage’s call, the Ruyi Jingu Bang shrunk into a sharp little needle.
This was necessary!
If he wanted to break through the Heaven and Earth Net, concentrating all his power on a single point was the most effective way.
“Open for me!” The Great Sage viciously stabbed the net with all his might.
Meanwhile, Ye Zichen wasn’t just sitting around. “Fire, heed my call!”
“Wind, heed my call!”
Roaring heavenly flames descended without leaving any gaps. Winds howled within the blaze, fanning and intensifying the fire.
“The Dao of the Five Elements.” Gu Li stood within the sea of flames, his eyes narrowed. He had to admit it: the Dao of the Five Elements was quite troublesome for him.
It wasn’t just him, though; it was hard on his subordinates too.
Under the Dharma of Heaven and Earth’s support, the Ruyi Jingu Bang had already penetrated the Heaven and Earth Net. The hole was small, but it was enough; the next step would be far easier.
In just a breath of time, the Great Sage tore an opening in the net covering Jadewave City.
However, the Heaven and Earth Net had self-healing capabilities, so the hole didn’t last long before knitting back together.
“Run, Ye-zi!”
Ye Zichen lowered the skyward flames and urged the winds to howl even harder. Then, he rushed through a gap and towards the Great Sage.
“We really let him slip away.” Gu Li couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh. “The people outside are already in place, yeah?”
“The Third and Fifth Guardians brought their people, and they’re stationed one hundred meters outside the city, lying in wait,” said the Right Special Emissary.
“Then hurry up and extinguish these flames. We can’t afford to waste time here. Ye Zichen and that monkey might be at a disadvantage numbers-wise, but they’re really holding nothing back. There’s no guarantee our troops stationed outside can stop them,” said Gu Li.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Great Sage had wrapped Ye Zichen in his divine power so he could keep up. He frowned, then glanced at Ye Zichen’s phone. “What did they say?”
“The signal’s a bit unsteady, and I’m having a hard time sending messages. When we get back, I’ll have to talk to the development team and have them solve our connection issues.”
Even if the messages weren’t going through, Ye Zichen found he could take out the Hermit Emperor’s talisman.
Who knew what would happen on their journey? It was better to have the talisman on hand, just in case.
“I, Ol’ Sun, solemnly swear that I will never flee this pathetically ever again. Once I have the Zi Clan settled in, I’ll come back. I’ll settle this grudge sooner or later.” As the Great Sage spoke, his eyes flashed, and he gnashed his teeth.
Even though there were lots of demons here, the Great Sage wasn’t the least bit afraid. If not for his concern over the Zi Family members, he would have long since asked Ye Zichen to hide in the Yao-Sealing Pagoda and wait for him. Then, he’d personally stay outside and shatter these demons’ skulls.
“Okay, okay. It’s already pretty good that we made it out of the city.”
Just now, it was no exaggeration to say Ye Zichen’s life hung by a thread. The Left Special Emissary had him right by the throat, while the Great Sage was surrounded.
Fortunately, Ye Zichen had the Divine Mausoleum key fragment on his person. Before obtaining it, Gu Li wouldn’t dare kill him.
If not for that… It was hard to sell whether the Great Sage would fall here, but he’d sure be in for a fight, and Ye Zichen would have been in real trouble.
“If we continue on foot like this, it…” Suddenly, the Great Sage stopped in his tracks.
Ye Zichen stretched out his divine awareness and sensed dozens of god race auras in the surrounding area. “Something’s not right.”
Yes, this was the Northern Kingdom. Yes, god race experts were all over the place here.
But for them to appear here in mass, right now, out of the blue… combined with the fact that they seemed like they’d been lying in wait…
Something was clearly wrong!
Ye Zichen knew something was up, but they couldn’t stop now. Who knew when Gu Li and his subordinates would catch up to them? They had no time to ponder what these god race experts were here for.
“Ignore them! If they don’t attack us, we won’t attack them either.”
The Great Sage nodded, then re-wrapped Ye Zichen in divine power. The two of them roasted off, but they didn’t rush ahead quite as recklessly as before. They approached the god race experts relatively slowly.
Shockingly, the god race experts surrounded them. There were at least two imperial-king-level experts in their ranks.
“What’s the meaning of this?” The Great Sage looked at the experts blocking their path and roared, “We’re in a hurry. Quick, before I lose my temper, get the hell out of my way!”
The Great Sage indeed revealed his imperial-level strength. If these people were just thieves, they should have immediately scattered.
However, despite sensing the Great Sage’s strength, they didn’t so much as waver. Despite themselves, Ye Zichen and the Great Sage felt their hearts sink.
“Might I ask if you’re after money, or… please, explain. We’re guests from the God Realm, and we’re currently on our way back to heavenly God City. We’re in a hurry, so if you wouldn’t mind… ” Ye Zichen cupped his fists.
As he spoke, he clenched the talisman the Hermit Emperor had given him.
He got the vague sense that these people weren’t gods.
“There’s no way they’ll let you leave!” A burst of laughter emanated from overhead. Ye Zichen and the Great Sage turned and saw Gu Li, a vicious smile at his lips, rushing right towards them.
“Where do you want to run? These people are all my subordinates. I arranged for them to wait here, just for you. I’m afraid you’ll never make it back to Heavenly God City.”
