Chapter 808: Leaving the City

"He's here. I thought you'd have some things to ask him, so I spared his nascent soul," Han Li said as he tossed Hua Jing's nascent soul at Shi Chuankong.

Shi Chuankong faltered slightly upon hearing this, but still caught Hua Jing's nascent soul, and a look of burning fury and resentment appeared in his eyes.

Hua Jing's nascent soul immediately began bowing in apology as it hurriedly said, "Please forgive me, Your Highness, I'm only acting under the instructions of someone else. If you spare me, I'm willing to defect to your camp. On top of that, I know a huge secret pertaining to you..."

However, Shi Chuankong had no intention of listening to it, and bright silver light began to glow from his hand as he closed his fingers.

Hua Jing's nascent soul instantly began to warp, and it struggled in a panic as it screeched, "Wait, you can't kill me! My master is Daoist Master Bone Shine! If you dare to kill me, then he'll definitely avenge me!"

Shi Chuankong completely ignored the nascent soul's pleas he closed his hand into a tight fist, and the nascent soul only had a chance to let loose a despairing cry before it disintegrated into specks of yellow light.

Han Li's brows furrowed slightly upon seeing this, but he didn't say anything.

Given how close Shi Chuankong had been with Elder Qi, he had to have been furious that Elder Qi had been killed under such tragic circumstances.

After taking a moment to compose himself, Shi Chuankong cupped his fist in a grateful salute toward Han Li as he said, "I must thank you again for saving me, Fellow Daoist Li."

"You're welcome, Fellow Daoist Shi. However, I think it would be wise for us not to ignore what Hua Jing said at the end there. I'm assuming this Daoist Master Bone Shine is a Great Encompassment cultivator, right?" Han Li asked.

"That's right. It seems like the current situation is even worse than I anticipated. Grain Mountain City is no longer safe, so we should leave this place as soon as possible," Shi Chuankong replied before taking several pills in succession.

The recently concluded battle had caused quite a commotion, and even though no one had arrived on the scene yet to see what had happened, news of what had happened here was most likely going to spread in no more than half a day.

"What do we do with them?" Han Li asked as he turned his gaze to the dark--skinned elderly man and the woman in the red dress.

The injuries sustained by the two were far more severe than Shi Chuankong's, and even though they had already woken up, they were completely unable to move.

They had overexerted themselves to the point that they were completely spent, and even their cultivation foundations had been severely damaged, so it was difficult to say whether they would be able to make a full recovery.

"I'm the one being targeted here, so as long as I leave Grain Mountain City, there should be no further attacks here, and we can leave them here to recover from their injuries," Shi Chuankong replied.

Han Li nodded in response.

"Please wait here for me for a moment, Fellow Daoist Li," Shi Chuankong said, then swept a sleeve through the air to release a burst of purple light, which picked up the dark-skinned elderly man and the woman in the red dress, then also collected the bodies and belongings of Elder Qi and the others before carrying them away into the distance.

Meanwhile, Han Li sat down on the spot with his legs crossed for some quick recovery.

Shortly thereafter, Shi Chuankong returned, and Han Li rose to his feet.

"Let's go," Shi Chuankong said as he summoned his flying carriage, and before long, the two of them had vanished into the distance.

......

Shi Chuankong's flying carriage had only just made it out of Grain Mountain City when he and Han Li spotted a streak of red light flying toward them.

"Another one so soon?" Han Li mused in a grim voice.

Shi Chuankong's brows also became tightly furrowed as he immediately stopped the flying carriage.

Inside the streak of red light was a crimson flying carriage, atop which stood a red-robed man, and the carriage stopped in its tracks over ten thousand feet away, following which the man declared, "Your Highness, I was instructed by the third prince to come and escort you."

Shi Chuankong exchanged a glance with Han Li upon hearing this, then asked, "Do you have any proof of that?"

The red-robed man swept a sleeve through the air in response, releasing a streak of red light that flew toward Shi Chuankong, who hesitated momentarily before raising a hand to catch the object inside the streak of red light.

Han Li could see that it was a palm-sized crescent-shaped jade pendant, and there didn't seem to be any designs engraved upon it, but the lines on its surface were rather chaotic, giving it a rather indistinct appearance.

Shi Chuankong flipped his other hand over to summon an identical jade pendant, which was also riddled with many lines.

With one jade pendant in each hand, he brought the two together, and a burst of gentle white light arose from both pendants, following which they fused together to form a whole circular jade pendant.

The lines on the jade pendants connected to form a portrait of a woman with a pair of pointy ears. It was a very simple portrait, yet it was somehow able to perfectly convey the gentle emotions on her face.

Han Li could tell that the jade pendant had been crafted from a premium material, but it wasn't a powerful treasure by any means.

However, it seemed to be very important to Shi Chuankong, and a warm and reminiscent look appeared in his eyes as he examined the portrait of the woman on the jade pendant.

"It looks like he's telling the truth," Shi Chuankong said as he turned to Han Li, and only upon seeing this did the red-robed man continue to approach them.

The man was quite youthful in appearance, and his facial features were quite gentle and soft, with the exception of his eyes, which were thin and long, resembling a pair of long sabers that were giving off a sharp gleam.

"I am Cheng Xue, and I was sent by the third prince to escort you back to Night Sun City, Your Highness," the red-robed man declared as he cupped his fist in a salute.

"You're the Blood Drop Marquis? I've heard my brother mention you before, and he's always spoken very highly of you. He says that you've slain countless devilish beasts outside the Elegant Ripple Mountain Range, and that you're one of his most prized subordinates," Shi Chuankong said.

Xue Cheng faltered slightly upon hearing this, following which a look of realization flashed through his eyes, and he smiled as he replied, "You must've misremembered, Your Highness. I've always been active in the southern primordial lands, and I've never even been to the Elegant Ripple Mountain Range. On top of that, with my lowly cultivation base, how could I possibly be considered one of His Highness's most prized subordinates."

Only after hearing this response was Shi Chuankong convinced that Xue Cheng was who he claimed himself to be, and he cupped his fist in another salute as he said, "My apologies for testing you, Fellow Daoist Xue."

"It's fine, it's a good thing that you're being so careful," Xue Cheng replied, and he turned his gaze to Han Li as he spoke, clearly very interested in him.

"This is Fellow Daoist Li Han. He's been accompanying me on my journey and has saved my life on many occasions," Shi Chuankong introduced.

Han Li also cupped his fist in a salute toward Xue Cheng upon hearing this, and the latter returned his salute.

"What are your plans from here onward, Your Highness?" Xue Cheng asked.

"We were originally planning to travel to Chuyu City from Grain Mountain City, but enemy forces had already infiltrated the city, and the teleportation array in Grain Mountain City was destroyed, so I'll have to find another way to reach Chuyu City," Shi Chuankong replied with a wry smile.

"Are you traveling to Chuyu City for the teleportation array there?" Xue Cheng asked.

"That's right. The teleportation array in Chuyu City won't get us directly to Night Sun City, but it can take us to Sedge Prison City, and it's the fastest route back to the capital. Once we reach Sedge Prison City, it won't be difficult for us to fly back to Night Sun City even without using any further teleportation arrays," Shi Chuankong replied with a nod.

"The teleportation array in Chuyu City is indeed able to facilitate super long distance teleportation, but it's not very accessible. Generally speaking, only those who possess the title of duke or above can apply to use the teleportation array, and unless it's used for official purposes, a huge sum of money will have to be issued to cover the teleportation costs," Xue Cheng said in a slightly hesitant manner.

"I don't possess any lofty official title, but I hold an important status in the Vast Origin House, and that will be enough for me to access the teleportation array once. As for the fee that needs to be issued, I can take care of that as well. The hard part is getting to Chuyu City," Shi Chuankong replied with a nod.

"Seeing as the teleportation array in Grain Mountain City has already been destroyed, we'll have to go to another city to teleport to Chuyu City, but even the nearest city to Grain Mountain City has to be around ten years away," Xue Cheng mused.

"Ten years? That's too long," Han Li said with furrowed brows.

"There's no helping it. As long as we keep our guard up along the way, there shouldn't be any major problems," Xue Cheng disagreed.

"Do you know who it was that was wreaking havoc earlier in Grain Mountain City, Fellow Daoist Xue?" Shi Chuankong asked.

"Who was it?" Xue Cheng asked.

"Hua Jing," Shi Chuankong replied.

"Isn't she the fifth princess's subordinate? Even she's coming after you?" Xue Cheng asked with a surprised expression.

"The problem here is that we killed Hua Jing, and prior to his death, he claimed that his master, Daoist Master Bone Shine, would be coming after us for revenge," Shi Chuankong explained with a wry smile.

A grim look instantly appeared on Xue Cheng's face upon hearing this.

"Daoist Master Bone Shine is a Great Encompassment cultivator, and he's extremely protective of his disciples. On top of that, Hua Jing is his most prized disciple. If he comes after us, I'm afraid I won't be able to protect you even if I sacrifice my own life," Xue Cheng sighed.

"That's why Fellow Daoist Li was saying that ten years is too long," Shi Chuankong sighed.

After a long silence, Xue Cheng's eyes suddenly lit up slightly as he said, "Your Highness, I have a potential solution to our current predicament, but it's just a matter of whether you're willing to try out my solution."

"Go ahead," Shi Chuankong prompted.