The Gray Sea Region was located right next to the Imperial Region of humankind. In the cave underneath the remote mountain there, Feng Lintao opened his eyes and cast his senses out in all directions. After confirming that everything in the cave was as expected, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then his eyes narrowed, all the while gleaming with a sinister light.

From the moment he had chosen to start working with the humans to stay safe from Lan Yao and Yue Dong, he had been working toward a specific goal. He wanted to make a big splash while with the humans. The point was to attract the attention of Lan Yao and Yue Dong, and then to ‘die’ a very flashy death. At that point, everyone would think he had perished.

It would be a case of

slipping out of a predicament like a cicada sloughing its skin

. He could get rid of the Devilbird half of his bloodline, and use his Fardark doppelgänger as his new true body. He would truly be able to make a clean escape, and turn his whole situation around completely. To reach this goal, he had made full use of both humankind and the holy lands.

Although there were some unexpected twists and turns, and I ended up being used by the humans to a certain degree, I was able to mostly stick to my plan....

Feng Lintao chuckled coldly.

Abandoning my Devilbird bloodline caused my cultivation base to fall some. I’m only in Nascent Soul at this point.... But that’s fine. It won’t take long for me to catch back up. It’s a price I’m more than willing to pay to earn freedom and my own life! That said, the people I’m dealing with are not fools.... My ultimate success is going to depend largely on how things develop in the world at large.

With such thoughts in mind, Feng Lintao maintained full vigilance as he flew out of the cave and sped along a pre-planned route to his next hiding spot.

Shortly after, two blurry figures appeared overhead. They were none other than Xu Qing and Erniu, who had used Erniu’s special essence-tracing ability to find the spot where Feng Lintao had reappeared in clone form.

No one could possibly see them as they hovered there. In fact, even gods would have a hard time noticing them. The reason was they were relying on the invisibility powers of the Wordless words. That same concealment technique had allowed them to remain unnoticed by the three gods of the Firemoons. Given that, there was no possible way that Feng Lintao would ever notice them.

“You have to give it to Little Fengy. We didn’t need to push him at all. He just went and turned into the best fish bait possible.” Erniu looked so pleased with himself he was licking his lips in anticipation. “Little Ah Qing, it wasn’t long ago that we were Yu Liuchen’s bait when he went fishing. I have to admit, I was a bit jealous of him! Hahaha! Now we can satisfy our own craving for a fishing expedition! Come on, let’s follow him.”

Xu Qing nodded. Together, he and Erniu zipped through the sky as they tailed Feng Lintao.

***

Seven days had passed.

During that time Xu Qing and Erniu didn’t interfere with Feng Lintao in any way. They just followed. They knew how paranoid Feng Lintao was, and didn’t want to do anything that could result in him noticing them.

Things went well for Feng Lintao. He did encounter a few dangers, including wild beasts, grues, and malicious cultivators. Sometimes he fled, sometimes he killed his enemies, and sometimes he hid. Regardless, he made it through all the dangerous situations.

Xu Qing and the Captain were right about Feng Lintao. He was naturally suspicious and paranoid. The fact that everything was going smoothly didn’t cause him to reduce his level of vigilance. Quite the opposite.

On the seventh day, when Feng Lintao was just about to leave the wilderness, he stopped to hide in a crevice in a cliff. Various expressions flashed across his face.

Things are going too smoothly. Something’s off! It’s true that everything is playing out according to plan. And I even considered the possibility of everything going smoothly. After all, I put a lot of thought into this. And the war is still going on. And yet.... I need to think things through very carefully and figure out if there’s something I missed.

After a lot of thought, Feng Lintao identified three concerning possibilities.

First, he wondered if it was possible that the humans had seen through his plan, and were now trying to catch him. Second, he wondered if the humans had let him go on purpose to use him as bait for a fishing expedition. Third, he wondered if Lan Yao and Yue Dong could possibly have figured out what he was up to.

If the humans realized that I came up with the plan to

slip out of a predicament like a cicada sloughing its skin

, then if they catch me, the worst that will happen is that I’ll lose my freedom. They won’t kill me, at least not for a while....

His eyes narrowed.

If they realized early on what I was doing, and let me go on purpose.... then they probably have some other goal besides just a fishing expedition. Could it be that they want to use me as bait to lure out all the spies? If so, then they wouldn’t make a public announcement about me being dead. They would spread rumors that I had fled. That would probably tempt the spies to come out of hiding to track me down....

I guess that means I’ll just have to pay attention to what happens going forward. That’s the only way I’ll be able to figure out if the third possibility is a reality.

Having reached this point in his train of thought, Feng Lintao took a deep breath, left the crevice, and headed into the heart of the Gray Sea Region. For the time being, he wouldn’t be traveling in the wilderness. Instead, he would start looking for cultivator cities in the region. The first order of business was to gather information. ℞𝐚ℕƟВΕŝ

***

Another seven days had passed.

Feng Lintao was in a simple tavern in a bustling cultivator city, listening thoughtfully to the chatter of the crowd. He had learned some things in the past week. In addition to some general updates about the Devilbird war, he also heard some news about himself.

The humans had announced his death!

The fact that the humans have spread news about my death indicates that there’s not much of a chance they’re using me as bait.

He took a drink from his cup of alcohol.

However, it doesn’t completely eliminate that possibility.... There’s one more step I need to take to determine whether or not I’m being used as bait. Furthermore, I need to determine whether or not the humans actually think I’m dead, and whether or not they’ve sent people to track me down. Furthermore... I need to figure out whether or not I’ve fooled Lan Yao and Yue Dong. I need conclusive proof.

Feng Lintao’s eyes narrowed, this manner of thinking might be exhausting to some people, but it had become second nature to him. After drinking the rest of the alcohol, he crushed the cup, erased all traces of his presence, and then left the city.

From that point on, he stuck mostly to the wilderness. At no point did he experience anything that would indicate he was being followed by either the humans or the holy lands. It was really starting to seem like he had made a clean getaway.

However, Feng Lintao’s paranoid nature ensured that he wanted repeated proof. Therefore, he went out of the way to put himself in some extremely dangerous situations. In some cases, it seemed like he was just about to die, before somehow surviving by the skin of his teeth. That was how far he went to try to figure out if he was being followed....

Only after doing that several times, to the point where he was gasping on death’s door, did he finally believe that he was alone.

Finally, he breathed a sigh of relief and started moving a bit faster than before. It was hard to say whether it was bad luck or something else, but three days later, before he had fully recovered from the previous incidents... he ran into a wild beast with a cultivation base equivalent to Spirit Trove.

The beast viciously pursued him, putting him into a desperate situation that forced him to pull out all the tricks he could think of. Yet even then, he couldn’t shake it. In the end, the beast caught him and ripped him apart bite by bite before eating him. Then the beast went on its way....

A few days later, as that beast raced through some mountainous jungle, its eyes glittered.

It seems that I’m really not being followed secretly....

The beast flew on.

High above in the sky, Xu Qing and Erniu looked at the beast that had been parasitized by Feng Lintao. Both were dumbfounded.

“Little Fengy really is paranoid!” Erniu said with a sigh of admiration. “Just what did he go through in the holy lands that made him like this? I’ve already learned a thing or two from him!”

Xu Qing looked thoughtful as he watched the ‘beast’ disappearing over the horizon. “Given how paranoid Feng Lintao is, I have the feeling that what’s happened up to this point isn’t going to be enough to convince him he’s in the clear.”

“Seriously?” Erniu said, looking stunned. “Even after all that, you think he’s still worried about being followed?”

Erniu’s question was answered only five days later.

When the beast Feng Lintao had parasitized was passing by a forbidden ground, a host of tentacles from a godly entity shot out from inside. Blood sprayed everywhere as the tentacles burrowed into him and dragged him back into the forbidden ground. Unexpectedly, he perished!

Outside the forbidden ground, Xu Qing’s eyes glittered, all while Erniu looked on feeling a bit exhausted.

“I’m honestly not sure if the fellow died on purpose this time or not....”

Xu Qing looked at Erniu. “Eldest Brother, go ahead and use your essence-tracing ability again. According to my godly authority of sound, Feng Lintao’s life force fluctuations really were extinguished just now.

“But if he has another clone somewhere, then it’ll prove that he died on purpose just now. Since he can’t prove definitively whether or not he’s being followed, he might have chosen to die again just to play it safe.”

Erniu sighed. “Little Ah Qing, I’m suddenly starting to feel a bit bad for what Yu Liuchen went through back then....”

With that, Erniu yet again unleashed his Grand Five Ox Essence-Tracing Grand Merciless Dao. A moment later, he suddenly looked up and gritted his teeth. “That little punk! He really does have another clone! He just never activated it before, so it was essentially as dead as a corpse. That’s why it evaded my notice. But now I’ve locked onto it. It’s actually quite a distance away from here....”

***

In another part of the Gray Sea Region, a fleshly body was suspended in the depths of a swamp, surrounded by countless venomous insects. The power of life force surged within the fleshly body, all while a red mark appeared on its forehead. Its eyes... snapped open.

Rumbling sounds echoed out as a Void Returning aura rose up within the fleshly body. After that aura locked down the surroundings, the body shot out of the swamp and up into midair.

Now I’m completely and utterly safe! Even if Lan Yao and Yue Dong saw through my plan, and even if the humans figured out what was going on and either sent someone to follow me or use me as bait... it doesn’t matter! Either way, they’re powerless to do anything to me now!

Feng Lintao’s eyes glittered with cold light as he flew off. This time, he tapped into the full limits of his speed.

I’m leaving the east of Revered Ancient and going to the north! In the frigid north, in the 300,000 meter ice plains, I’ll start my cultivation again. And I’ll conform to the legacy requirements of Grand Emperor Fardark! When I come out of seclusion in the end....

Feng Lintao’s eyes narrowed and his expression became very sinister as he shot along at top speed.

***

Outside of the Imperial Region of humankind, in what had once been the Fardark ancestral land, there was another hidden cave. It wasn’t very far from where the golden rat had been holed up.

In that cave, two people sat cross-legged. One of them had a very withered fleshly body that lacked even a scrap of life force. In fact, it looked no different from a corpse. There was also a red Fardark mark on its forehead, which glowed with a faint red light that seemed to be getting darker and darker with each moment that passed. It would soon go out completely.

This was yet another clone that Feng Lintao had secretly prepared for use in his plan. Only he could possibly know how many such clones he had prepared. Of course, there were drawbacks to this method. There was a time limit involved. If the mark of the forehead went out, then the clone couldn’t be used. At the moment, that light was just about to go out.

In front of the corpse was another person, a middle-aged man, who was staring at the corpse with boundless sorrow. “You’re so heartless, Feng Lintao! You actually assimilated Miss Yue Dong’s little sister to fully activate your Devilbird half! Thankfully,

the guilty can never escape justice from heaven!

As the exalted Yue Dong has ordered, all of the Fardark criminals in the holy lands were sacrificed, and their blood led me to this Fardark clone of yours.... And now, the moment you activate this clone, you’ll be trapped with no way of escaping!”

The man gnashed his teeth in hatred of the clone in front of him. However, there was something about his emotions... that seemed off. He was acting similar to the way Lan Yao was acting. His thoughts had been altered, and his emotions tampered with. His karma had been confused. He had been turned into an emotional puppet that was in control of its own faculties!

If Xu Qing were around, he could use his authority of erasure and the power of those shears to see what was going on.... This middle-aged cultivator’s karma threads were in complete chaos. They were clumped together in a strange way that made the outline of a face.

And that face belonged to... Yue Dong! This was Yue Dong’s way of fishing!

Xu Qing and Erniu were using Feng Lintao as bait to try to hook Lan Yao. Meanwhile, Yue Dong was using Feng Lintao’s clone as bait to try to hook Feng Lintao’s true soul!