Chapter 206 - 186: Exchanging for Spirit Water, the Le Family, and Wang Hui’s Magical Artifact
Chapter 206: Chapter 186: Exchanging for Spirit Water, the Le Family, and Wang Hui’s Magical Artifact
And that explained the scene from a moment ago.
As for the Immortal City’s official auction, Lu Zhao no longer held out much hope. He was running low on Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, and the only Tier Two Spiritual Materials he had were Spirit Waters. Even if he wanted to bid on something, he simply didn’t have the means.
And things turned out just as Lu Zhao expected. Amidst the clamor of the auction, he only made a single purchase, spending fifteen Middle-Grade Spirit Stones on a bottle of twelve Tier Two Lower Grade Jade Gathering Green Moss Pills.
Its Medicinal Power surpassed that of the Water Jade Green Radiance Pill, making it perfectly suited for those in Early-stage Foundation Establishment.
He was tempted by other Spiritual Materials and Pills he could use, but with his lack of Middle-Grade Spirit Stones, he had no choice but to let them go. As for the more common Tier Two Spiritual Materials that could be purchased with Lower Grade Spirit Stones, Lu Zhao didn’t find them particularly useful and chose not to bid.
When the Thousand Waters Assembly finally came to a close, Lu Zhao stood beneath the Immortal City’s massive archway. He cast one last look back at the city, a place brimming with desire and opportunity.
The magnificent city walls cast long shadows in the twilight glow. Within, the city buzzed with revelry; without, only the vast, unknown wilderness.
Yet, there wasn’t a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. He turned without a second thought, his figure melting into the bleak, primeval wilderness beyond the city walls.
About fifty li after leaving Xuan Yang Immortal City, Lu Zhao found a secluded spot. With a mere thought, a streak of golden light shot out from his Spirit Beast Bag. It landed and transformed into a majestic bird with feathers like spun gold—his personal transport Spirit Beast, the Golden Feather Bird. Lu Zhao vaulted onto its back and gently patted its neck.
SKREEE!
The Golden Feather Bird let out a long, clear cry. With a powerful beat of its wings, it unfurled its feathers—like appendages forged from pure gold—and soared into the sky, riding the wind.
A golden streamer of light trailed a dazzling wake across the azure sky. The biting, high-altitude winds screamed as they were torn asunder by its tough feathers, yet Lu Zhao remained perfectly still, sitting cross-legged on its back.
Lu Zhao’s eyes were half-closed as his Heart Spirit sank into a state of cultivation. Magical Power flowed through him like a great river, nurturing his recently advanced cultivation.
Meanwhile, a thread of his Divine Thought acted as an invisible rein, precisely guiding the Golden Feather Bird northward in the direction of the Bixia Sect.
The vast landscape below—verdant forests, winding rivers, and rolling hills—blurred into indistinct patches of color as it rushed by.
As Lu Zhao flew toward Chen Country, a desperate flight for life was unfolding a hundred li north of Xuan Yang Immortal City, on a desolate path littered with gravel and dust.
A middle-aged man, his clothes in tatters and his face a mask of caked dirt and blood, was running for his life. He clutched a little girl of about five or six to his chest, stumbling forward with every ounce of his strength.
His cultivation was a mere Qi Cultivation Sixth Layer. He was already soaked in sweat, his breath coming in ragged, desperate gasps like a broken bellows. Each step he took felt like it was squeezing the very last wisp of air from his lungs.
Sheer terror contorted his features. He kept glancing back in horror, as if a flesh-eating demon lurked in the shadows behind them.
The little girl in his arms was unnaturally silent. Her face was ashen, her large, dark eyes brimming with tears of terror, yet she bit her lower lip so hard she didn’t make a sound. Her small hand was clenched tightly around an object: a simple, palm-sized oval wooden token, its surface ancient and carved with simple runes.
"Lin... Uncle Lin..." The little girl’s voice was as thin as a thread, trembling violently. "Are... are they... closer again?" Every word seemed to exhaust all her strength.
"Almost there! Wan’Er, don’t be afraid! We’re almost there!" the middle-aged man, Uncle Lin, roared, his voice hoarse and so cracked it sounded like it might bleed. "See that ridge up ahead? We just have to get over it! Once we’re past it, we’ll reach Xuan Yang Immortal City! We’ll be safe there!" It was as if he was trying to encourage the girl, but even more so, it was as if he was trying to squeeze out the very last of his own Life Force.
He could clearly sense them. Half a li behind, the auras of two groups of Cultivators, brimming with undisguised malice and killing intent, clung to him like maggots to bone, closing the distance far faster than he could run. Despair gripped his heart like an icy hand.
「High above in the sky.」
Seated cross-legged on the Golden Feather Bird’s broad back, Lu Zhao’s Divine Thought stirred. His powerful Foundation Establishment Divine Sense habitually spread downward, sweeping over the mountains, forests, birds, and beasts that flashed by below.
The bedraggled man and little girl fleeing desperately along the desolate path, their auras in disarray, naturally appeared within the scope of his Divine Thought.
Feuds between Cultivators, desperate chases and narrow escapes—such things were commonplace in the dog-eat-dog Cultivation Realm. Lu Zhao had seen more than his fair share, and it was rare for anything to cause a ripple in the calm of his Heart Lake.
He had always lived by the principle of not inviting trouble. Unless it involved him directly or an old acquaintance, he had no desire to be swept into another’s karmic whirlpool.
Lu Zhao had intended to fly right over them, but when his Divine Sense swept across the little girl’s pale, frightened face, he froze. Her features... they reminded him of a junior from his past.
But when Lu Zhao’s gaze fell upon the wooden token clutched in the girl’s hand, his focus sharpened. A specific pattern on it, a familiar design—it was like a bolt of lightning that tore through the night sky, striking the very depths of his Sea of Consciousness!
Lu Zhao’s eyes snapped open! In an instant, his habitual calm and indifference shattered, replaced by an expression of utter, unbelievable shock!
That wooden token! That design! That size!
He was all too familiar with it.
It was the Protective Spiritual Artifact he had personally chosen back at the Zhou Family Marketplace, the one he had gifted to Wang Yun’s daughter—Wang Hui!
’How could the Magical Artifact I’d given Little Hui appear here, tens of thousands of li away from home, outside Xuan Yang Immortal City? How could it be in the hands of a little girl I’ve never met, a girl who was being hunted down?!’
A dizzying mix of shock, joy, and anxiety instantly overwhelmed Lu Zhao.