After he spoke, Ding Huan gave Elder Gu and Elder Liu a fist salute:
"Elder Gu, Elder Liu, thank you both for your careful attention along the way, I’ll take my leave now."
Neither Gu Youchang nor Liu Yinzhu ever treated Ding Huan as a real cook, and when Ding Huan bid farewell, both quickly exchanged pleasantries.
Han Weicheng originally wanted to come forward and say goodbye to Ding Huan, but thinking that Ding Huan’s life was nearing its end, he couldn’t be bothered to do so.
Coming up to say goodbye to Ding Huan would also offend Deacon Qiong.
Ding Huan, along with Lao Liu, quickly changed direction and left quickly.
"Brother Ding, I’ll come with you," Yan Mei hurriedly followed.
Yan Mei was a newly recruited disciple of Dual Soul Sect, which now had no other members.
Yan Mei got along well with Ding Huan on the road, and their relationship was very good. Now that he went to find Ding Huan, naturally no one cared.
A group of new disciples boarded Elder Gu’s spaceship, and at that moment Elder Liu also summoned his spaceship.
Dong Qiong did not board Elder Gu’s spaceship but summoned his own instead.
"Master, I saw that Deacon Qiong didn’t board Elder Gu’s spaceship; he might be going after that Ding Huan, could he?"
Mo Huaping couldn’t help but ask on the spaceship.
Liu Yinzhu snorted:
"That Dong Qiong is definitely going to kill Ding Huan, heh, still a steward of Yanyue Sect, short-sighted."
Mo Huaping sighed:
"Alas, although Ding Huan had a bit of a temper, he did have some abilities. He was sensible and understood the gravity of situations. I didn’t expect him to lose his life for a Condensing Star Bamboo.
He had poor talent and could never reach transcendence in his lifetime, nor did he need that Condensing Star Bamboo. Why would he die for a piece of Spiritual Medicine?"
Liu Yinzhu spoke indifferently:
"Do you think Ding Huan will be killed by Dong Qiong?"
Mo Huaping nodded surely:
"Yes, Ding Huan has just entered the early stage of refining essence into gas. His power couldn’t even withstand one breath in front of Dong Qiong."
Liu Yinzhu chuckled:
"If even Dong Qiong can kill Ding Huan, then consider me blind."
"Ah, Master, why? Dong Qiong’s power could easily crush Ding Huan."
Liu Yinzhu shook her head:
"Do you think having power means you can do whatever you want? Do you know how Ji Xinting, the strongest person in the Ascension Realm from Desolate God Sect, died? Didn’t he get killed as well?
I don’t know how Ding Huan will manage to escape, but I am sure that a mere Dong Qiong can’t kill him."
If it weren’t for Ding Huan being too terrifying, she would have gone back to recommend that Ding Huan join Purple Mist Valley. How could such a person be killed by Dong Qiong?
If Dong Qiong could kill Ding Huan, Qu Yueshan would have done it long ago.
…
"Brother Ding, where are we going now? We don’t know anything about the Taoist Realm."
Yan Mei followed behind Ding Huan and couldn’t help but ask.
Ding Huan quickened his pace:
"Let’s get through the Lost Swamp first."
"Ah..."
Yan Mei was shocked and quickly said, "Brother Ding, we just risked our lives to pass through the Lost Swamp. Going back there, isn’t that suicide?"
Ding Huan replied helplessly:
"What can I do when my power is too low? I’m sure that son of a bitch, Deacon Qiong, won’t let me go. He will definitely come back to kill me for the Condensing Star Bamboo."
Yan Mei was stunned, puzzled:
"Brother, since you know Deacon Qiong is coming back to kill you for the Condensing Star Bamboo, why do you still keep it?"
Ding Huan sneered:
"Why should I give my things to a thankless wretch? Is his face any paler than mine?"
After saying this, Ding Huan had already arrived at the edge of the Lost Swamp and without hesitation, stepped into it.
Naturally, Lao Liu didn’t hesitate at all; wherever Ding Huan went, it would follow.
Yan Mei didn’t hesitate either; he was very clear that he had no way out.
From the moment he killed Qu Yueshan, he had no way out.
The Lost Swamp quickly concealed the figures of the three, and this part of the world returned to its previous emptiness and silence.
Almost as soon as Ding Huan’s figure disappeared in the Lost Swamp, a Flying Treasure swiftly flew from afar and then stopped at the spot where everyone had left.
Departing from the Flying Treasure was a man, strikingly the recently departed Deacon Qiong.
Deacon Qiong stowed the Flying Treasure and scrutinized the surroundings carefully. However, after looking for a long time, he couldn’t see anything.
This made Deacon Qiong frown in confusion—this wasn’t possible.
With Ding Huan’s capabilities, it wasn’t possible to have run far in such a short amount of time.
He knew his Flying Treasure had just made a circuit of the perimeter—if Ding Huan was nearby, he would have spotted him.
Although Ding Huan hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment, his Divine Will had been self-studied and even tempered in the vast universe of the starry sky for a year or two.
So in terms of the substance of his Divine Will, it would be stronger than that of Deacon Qiong.
At this moment, through his divine will, he saw Deacon Qiong coming to look for him.
This Deacon Qiong was not only a thankless wretch but also an ungrateful beast.
For the sake of a piece of Condensing Star Bamboo, had this guy’s conscience been eaten by dogs? Someday he would come back and get rid of this thing.
This time, Ding Huan didn’t bring a large troop and didn’t need to intentionally slow down. In just half a day, he had led Yan Mei and Lao Liu out of the Lost Swamp.
"Brother Ding, is our return time this short?" After leaving the Lost Swamp, Yan Mei couldn’t help but exclaim.
Ding Huan could only say, "I have now figured out a pattern. Even if we go back, we will not fall into the swamp’s black holes."
Yan Mei was overjoyed, indicating that if they could avoid Deacon Qiong’s pursuit, there was still a chance to go back.
Ding Huan checked their location, which was between the Great Ravine Canyon and the Lost Swamp.
It was a safe zone, and this middle area was also endless, not knowing where it extended.
The width of this middle area also varied, with the widest part reaching dozens of miles and the narrowest part only a few yards.
"Let’s go. We just need to walk upwards for about ten to fifteen days, then even if Deacon Qiong wants to find us, he won’t be able to."
Ding Huan decided to walk upstream along this middle area.
Ding Huan moved quickly. Lao Liu’s cultivation was nearly on par with Ding Huan, so naturally, his speed wasn’t slow.
In comparison, Yan Mei was much slower.
Although Yan Mei had decent aptitude, he was just a newly recruited disciple who had not yet started his cultivation at the sect. His previous self-taught skills were all pieced together.
A day later, Ding Huan found a spacious area to set up camp before nightfall.
For several days, Yan Mei worried about having to navigate the Lost Swamp. Now, having finally set aside his burden, he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
For the first time, Ding Huan tried to set up a defensive formation outside his own tent.
Setting up a defensive formation and carving prohibitions were different; the former required Array Flags. At least Ding Huan still didn’t know how to set up an array using Array Patterns.
Two hours later, Ding Huan had only set up a nearly first-level defensive formation, which was technically a non-graded defense formation.
The Array Flags were all crafted by Ding Huan himself, using materials he had purchased in Four-direction City.
His crafted Array Flags weren’t up to the standard of magic artifacts. With his skill level, it was normal not to be able to set up a first-level defense formation.
"Lao Liu, come inside." Once the array was set up, Ding Huan immediately called Lao Liu inside.
Lao Liu looked at Ding Huan with some confusion. Previously, Ding Huan had always forbidden it from attempting the Foundation Establishment. Now that they had finally escaped from the large troop, it was planning to try advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
"This is the Taoist Realm, Lao Liu. I feel that my strength might not be able to protect you. And over there is the Great Ravine Canyon, a paradise for Demon Beasts."
As Ding Huan spoke, he pointed at the Great Ravine Canyon:
"If you don’t want to wander with me, I think it is normal. You can go to the Great Ravine Canyon on your own. I believe that with your intelligence, you will eventually succeed in Foundation Establishment.
We’ve known each other for a while. I should release our master-servant contract, but with my limited strength, I can’t undo the contract."
Releasing the master-servant contract was just a polite remark from Ding Huan. He really couldn’t release it. Even if he could, he wouldn’t release Lao Liu’s contract.
This guy was no easy target; it knew about the many Divine Crystal Stones Ding Huan had obtained, not to mention the matters of the Star House that Ding Huan hadn’t told it about.
Who knew what it could do once released?
Upon hearing this, Lao Liu’s eyes darted around.
In terms of loyalty, it basically had none.
It also understood its own situation. Now, other than following Ding Huan, there was no way out.
After all, it also possessed a gene spiritual root and had tried multiple times to achieve Foundation Establishment without success.
Who knew if this time would be successful?
Thinking this, Lao Liu quickly took out some paper and a pen:
"Brother Huan, I am utterly loyal to you. Not just one Great Ravine Canyon—even if there were a thousand, I wouldn’t go."
Ding Huan didn’t believe a word Lao Liu said. Since Lao Liu didn’t want to go, he didn’t bother to say more and took out a Spiritual Blue Fruit and handed it to Lao Liu:
"This is for you."
Lao Liu hadn’t even grabbed the Spiritual Blue Fruit when an extreme desire surged in his heart. He immediately tossed aside the paper and pen, stepping forward to grab the Spirit Awakening Fruit in his hand.
"Brother Huan, what is this spirit fruit?" Lao Liu excitedly picked up the paper and pen again and wrote another sentence.
"Try it, and you’ll know." Ding Huan said.
He also wanted to know if this fruit was as magical as he remembered, able to make a Demon Beast speak.
Lao Liu, who had been waiting for Ding Huan’s statement, swallowed the Spiritual Blue Fruit without hesitation.
A ripping sensation exploded in its throat, and Lao Liu was startled, thinking was this a Poisonous Fruit? Was Brother Huan finding him a burden and trying to kill him?
But then it realized that if Ding Huan wanted to kill it, he wouldn’t need to waste a fruit; just a thought would be enough to do so.
In a short time, Lao Liu felt a great change in itself, as if its entire body had been cleansed.
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"Brother Huan..." Lao Liu called out, then remembered to grab a pen.
Then, it was stunned by its own voice; it had regained the ability to speak.
"Brother Huan, is this a Divine Power Spiritual Fruit that allows Demon Beasts to speak human language?" Lao Liu’s voice trembled with excitement.
Ding Huan chuckled: "What do you think?"
"Thank you, Brother Huan. I, Lao Liu, promise that if you tell me to go left, I definitely won’t go right; if you tell me to go forward, I definitely won’t go back."
Lao Liu couldn’t contain this joy.
Then, it thought to itself how cunning Brother Huan was. If it had really gone to the Great Ravine Canyon, Brother Huan definitely wouldn’t have given it such a fruit.
Human hearts are too malicious; it’s better to just follow Brother Huan and be a good Lao Liu.