Chapter 548: Demon Cave (II)
Within the broken grotto heaven realm, inside Fan Hongwei's cave dwelling, Ling Feng formed hand seals as strands imbued with Dao resonance condensed from his hands and flowed into Fan Hongwei's pagoda-shaped dharma treasure. The primary function of this treasure was to break through restrictions.
Restrictions differed from formations, resembling a simplified form of them that could be converted more easily into combat power. Yet when cultivated to a profound level, they no longer belonged to the category of formations.
In the hidden land Fan Hongwei was exploring, one checkpoint was heavily trapped with restriction-based hazards. Ling Feng, an expert in this area, played a significant role in developing this dharma treasure. This visit was mainly to assist Fan Hongwei in refining and perfecting the pagoda. Suddenly, Ling Feng's hands paused. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he gasped heavily. That series of actions had exhausted him greatly.
"Heh, all done. Hurry and bring the Illusory Sea Spirit Tea. I'm thirsty," Ling Feng shouted. He had stayed in the cave for three full days, working tirelessly to fix the flaws in Fan Hongwei's dharma treasure.
"Here." Fan Hongwei had already prepared the tea, wearing an expression that said he had expected this.
He grabbed the pagoda and held it in his hand. As his spiritual sense entered the dharma treasure, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Ah, refreshing!" Ling Feng gulped down the tea in big swallows, letting out a satisfied sigh.
He shot Fan Hongwei a sidelong glance and chuckled. "Well? Ready to admit you're not as good as me?"
Fan Hongwei ignored him. When it came to restrictions, he truly was inferior to Ling Feng. Ling Feng curled his lips but did not continue boasting, instead focusing on recovering.
Time passed slowly, and the cave fell into silence. Suddenly, Ling Feng opened his eyes and looked at Fan Hongwei, who was still refining the dharma treasure in the distance. "Old man, there's news about that kid."
Fan Hongwei's eyes snapped open as he replied calmly, "Speak."
"He's already left the Martial Realm and used a long-distance teleportation formation to go straight to Demon-Suppressing City. Quite extravagant. Back in my younger days, I would never have spent like that," Ling Feng muttered with a chuckle after taking a sip of spirit tea.
"Wait here for a bit. I'll be right back."
Fan Hongwei abruptly stood up, left those words behind, and vanished.
"Hey, don't rush. Leave more spirit tea behind..." Ling Feng looked toward where Fan Hongwei had disappeared and said speechlessly, "That old bastard, running off so fast. Don't tell me he couldn't even bear to part with a bit of tea?"
***
Lin Zheyu circled around Demon-Suppressing City, hoping to catch sight of Senior Sister Wenzi or Senior Brother Chen Ding. But halfway through, the green-glass bracelet on his wrist suddenly began to glow.
Lin Zheyu's eyes sharpened. "That old bastard!"
In that instant, he understood that Fan Hongwei had planted informants in Yanwu City. Lin Zheyu felt somewhat speechless. The Martial Alliance had become so riddled with holes that anyone could place spies inside. Or perhaps it was not even spies, but people who specialized in selling information.
It was just like in his previous life, where insiders would sell personal information. Although joining the Martial Alliance required passing the Heart Questioning Trial and swearing oaths, there were always ways around them. Revealing someone's whereabouts was not a major offense, yet not trivial either. By framing it as a visit, a malicious act could easily be disguised as something neutral. It was an easy loophole to exploit.
"Forget it, then. I'll head to the demon god barrier immediately." Lin Zheyu shook his head, losing any desire to linger.
About fifty kilometers west of Demon-Suppressing City lay the demonized land. Since ancient times, five unclosable space-time nodes had existed there. Their presence had transformed the entire region into demon-tainted soil, so it came to be known as the demon cave. Beyond those five largest nodes, numerous smaller space-time nodes were scattered throughout the area.
As more and more stable spacetime nodes formed, the entire demon cave risked becoming a transitional zone directly linked to the demonic realm. Fortunately, the Buddhist sect and various other forces had joined hands to suppress it, preventing that outcome. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
A light breeze blew past, carrying a faint stench of rot.
Without hesitation, Lin Zheyu activated the concealment function of the green-glass bracelet on his wrist. It could only last for less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, but for now, it was enough.
Lin Zheyu suspected that Fan Hongwei had only used his secret technique to locate him after arriving in Demon-Suppressing City. With the bracelet's concealment, he could quickly reach the nearest space-time node. Once he passed through it into the demonic realm, the barrier between the two worlds would block further tracking, and he would no longer have to worry about Fan Hongwei.
Lin Zheyu stepped forward and soared into the air, vanishing thousands of meters away in just a few strides. His speed surged to the extreme, reaching an astonishing thirty times the speed of sound in the blink of an eye. As he advanced, the concentration of demonic qi grew denser and denser. This was the demon cave, separated from the outside world by a single massive barrier. Around the space-time nodes, there was no additional demon god barrier.
As soon as he passed through the energy barrier, a surge of dense demonic qi rushed toward him. He had long prepared for this and already knew the location of the nearest space-time node. Upon entering the demon cave, he headed straight toward it at full speed.
Not long after Lin Zheyu departed, a streak of green light shot out from Demon-Suppressing City, chasing in the direction he had gone.
After chasing for several thousand meters, Fan Hongwei frowned, surprise flashing in his eyes. "Hm? I can't sense the mark's aura anymore!"
The barrier around the demon cave was not like the demon god barrier and could not completely block the tracking mark's aura, and in such a short time, that youngster could not have entered the demon cave yet. Clearly, he possessed some kind of special treasure.
"Interesting, interesting! If he thinks he can escape like this, he's far too naive." Fan Hongwei let out a light chuckle and, with a flicker, vanished from the spot.
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