Chapter 366: Chapter 366: Rainy Night Search
The mass exodus of Ninth-Tier Martial Artists from the Martial Soul Hall’s main nest naturally couldn’t be hidden from the Great Xia Dragon Guard.
However, it was just as Profound Snake had guessed.
Jingtai and the others merely believed it was because those in the Martial Master Realm would be useless in the coming war, so the Martial Soul Hall was dismissing them to cut their losses.
But what Grand Chief Steward Jingtai and the others didn’t know was...
...that each of the more than thirty thousand Ninth-Tier Martial Artists carried a potion that gave them an extremely slim chance to break through the Martial Artist realm and become a First-Tier Martial Spirit!
Not long after the experts of the Great Xia Dragon Guard had departed,
the Fourth-Tier Martial Artist, who had been sent near the County City by a Third-Tier Martial Spirit from the Martial Soul Hall to deliver a message to Chu Qingyun, had also entered the city and met with him.
After hearing what the man had to say, Chu Qingyun sent him away.
With the great war between the Great Xia Dragon Guard and the Martial Soul Hall imminent, it was an extremely dangerous time—especially for Chu Qingyun.
To be frank, he didn’t want to go and rescue the people of Chu Family Village at a time like this.
They claimed there were only eighteen Third-Tier Martial Spirits, but who could guarantee that?
Last time, Chu Qingyun had only trusted the information and gone to rescue Xia He and Xiao Feng because Liu Canghai himself had been involved.
But a Fourth-Tier Martial Artist like that messenger would be completely unable to distinguish between the Small Spirit Realm and the Earth Spirit Realm.
In other words, he was just a mouthpiece, repeating whatever the Martial Soul Hall had told him.
Of course, the most important reason was that he had already brought everyone important to him into the safety of Lianshan County City.
As for the rest, Chu Qingyun didn’t feel they were worth him taking such a risk.
But looking at his parents, Village Chief Chu Hua, and the others in his residence, Chu Qingyun’s heart softened.
It was especially hard when he heard them reminiscing about life in Chu Family Village and the people still there.
’If Chu Family Village is destroyed, it will probably be a huge blow to them...’
’They’ve spent most of their lives in Chu Family Village, after all...’
In the end, Chu Qingyun sighed internally and made his decision. He would go take a look. He would save them if he could. If the situation was truly beyond his power, then at least his conscience would be clear.
After asking Xia He and Xiao Feng to look after his family, Chu Qingyun left the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s garrison.
The Chief Stewards and Military Lords had taken all of the Great Xia Dragon Guard’s Flying Demon Beasts.
Chu Qingyun had no choice but to go out and rent a Flying Demon Beast.
Within the County City, the major families and powers had all evacuated as if fleeing for their lives. On top of that, the Great Xia Dragon Guard had dispatched a huge number of Flying Demon Beasts in a single day. Rumors began to spread that a mysterious organization was about to attack Lianshan County City.
Rumors flew, and panic filled the air.
Even renting a Flying Demon Beast had become difficult and troublesome.
Fortunately, Chu Qingyun was not short on Primordial Spirit Liquid. Unwilling to waste time arguing, he simply tossed over the half-box of Primordial Spirit Liquid left from his last cultivation session and rented a Tier Three Flying Demon Beast on the spot.
He traveled at full speed.
However, heavy rain over a large area near Qingshan City severely hampered the Flying Demon Beast’s speed. It wasn’t until after nightfall on the third day that Chu Qingyun finally landed near Chu Family Village.
He certainly wasn’t going to land directly in the village. ’If there’s an Earth Spirit Realm or even a Celestial Spirit Realm expert waiting in ambush, won’t I be walking to my death?’
Given the Sub-Palace Master’s hatred for him, dispatching an Earth Spirit or Celestial Spirit Realm expert wasn’t out of the question.
"Thousand-Faced Illusion Body!"
"Stealth!"
"Hidden Qi Technique!"
Since he was all alone, Chu Qingyun could use every trick up his sleeve.
This time, he not only activated his Stealth Soul Techniques and Hidden Qi Technique but also used the power of his Thousand-faced Martial Soul to assume the appearance of a Second-Tier Martial Spirit from the Martial Soul Hall he had seen before.
Once everything was in place, Chu Qingyun moved silently through the rainy night, sneaking toward Chu Family Village.
Having grown up there, Chu Qingyun was intimately familiar with the area and slipped into Chu Family Village with ease.
The village was silent. All the houses were dark.
Chu Qingyun stealthily entered a few houses and found the occupants sleeping peacefully. He then circled the entire village but didn’t find a single Martial Spirit from the Martial Soul Hall.
’They aren’t in the village? Are they outside?’
Chu Qingyun frowned. It seemed unbelievable.
’With the rain coming down this hard, they didn’t take shelter in the village? They’re staying outside instead?’
So, Chu Qingyun left the village and expanded his search radius, scouring the rainy night for any trace of the Martial Soul Hall’s forces.
Chu Qingyun was certain that the Fourth-Tier Martial Artist from his village hadn’t just been toying with him, using the entire village’s safety as a cruel joke.
Therefore, there had to be people from the Martial Soul Hall here somewhere.
But until he could confirm whether there were any Earth Spirit or Celestial Spirit Realm experts present, Chu Qingyun would not reveal himself.
If he found an Earth Spirit or Celestial Spirit Realm expert lying in wait, Chu Qingyun would turn and leave without a second thought. He had no intention of throwing his life away.
The Earth Spirit Realm and the Small Spirit Realm both belonged to the greater Martial Spirit Realm.
However, within the Martial Spirit Realm, the gap in strength between each tier was immense.
The jumps from Third-Tier to Fourth-Tier Martial Spirit and from Sixth-Tier to Seventh-Tier Martial Spirit were particularly vast, which was why the sub-realms of Small Spirit, Earth Spirit, and Celestial Spirit even existed.
Back in Flame City, the four Small Spirit Realm ancestors of the Zhao Family had lost all will to fight and scattered in terror merely by sensing the aura of Grand Commander Chu Yu, an Earth Spirit Realm master.
That alone showed just how enormous the gap was!
After expanding his search, Chu Qingyun was in the mountains in front of Chu Family Village when he finally felt his Devouring Martial Soul begin to tremble within his Qi Sea.
Chu Qingyun immediately held his breath, his focus sharpening.
The trembling of his Devouring Martial Soul meant that members of the Martial Soul Hall were nearby.
Chu Qingyun moved with extreme caution, heading in the direction that kept his Devouring Martial Soul trembling, careful not to make a single sound.
Finally, he closed in on two members of the Martial Soul Hall from behind.
They were two Third-Tier Martial Spirits, sitting under a tree to take cover from the rain. They were sighing as they chatted.
"Sigh... So many days have passed. I wonder if that Chu Qingyun will ever show up. How much longer are we supposed to wait?"
"What else can we do? Go back and die? We failed to capture Chu Qingyun’s family and we failed to kill him. Going back now means certain death!"
"The problem is, we have no idea if he’s even coming! And even if he does, can the eighteen of us Third-Tier Martial Spirits actually beat him? He’s definitely got Lord Mu’s sword!"
"There’s nothing for it. We have to give it our all. We’re dead either way, so we might as well take the gamble. Who knows, maybe we’ll actually manage to kill him."
Comments