Running away from home?

Chu Liang turned his head and looked at the main gate of Xuan Yuan Manor, which was less than a hundred feet away. The four large characters on the plaque were particularly clear…

Then he looked at Ji Lingyu and couldn’t help but say, “You must be exhausted from walking so far.”

“Hehe…” Ji Lingyu laughed shyly and said, “You don’t understand. It’s not that I don’t want to go far. It’s just that my family is very strict about us going out. I’ve run away from home many times before, but my elders always used divination to track me down. So this time, I did the opposite and stayed on the outskirts of Xuan Yuan Manor. There’s a formation in Emperor Hong Valley that blocks divination, so they can’t track me down. This way, I can avoid being pursued.”

“Miss Ji is indeed clever,” Chu Liang praised, then asked, “But if you do this, you can’t go far to avoid being pursued, and if you go far, you can’t avoid being pursued. In the end, you still can’t leave home… What’s the point of running away?”

“…” Ji Lingyu paused, then said, “Anyway, as long as I can hide for a few days this time, I won’t explain to you.”

“Alright.” Chu Liang didn’t pry into other people’s private affairs. He stood up and said, “I wish you a smooth journey, Miss Ji.”

Since Ji Lingyu didn’t know where Aunt Thirteen was, there was no point in talking to her any longer. He had to return to Shu Mountain.

As he walked away, he heard Ji Lingyu mutter to herself, “I must beat Eighth Brother this time…”

After bidding farewell to Ji Lingyu, he mounted his golden-haired beast. Its large head and four legs galloped away, leaving Emperor Hong Valley in a flurry.

Speaking of which, flying on the back of the golden-haired beast wasn’t necessarily faster, but it felt very prestigious. He wished he could fly lower so that everyone on the ground could see.

Riding a fifth-level spirit beast as a mount was not a treatment that ordinary cultivators could have! It was a display of status.

Ordinary cultivators couldn’t catch or afford such a beast, let alone feed it if it followed them.

It was said that in places where cultivators gathered, such as the Three Islands of Penglai, Glutton City, or Yu Capital, there were businesses that specifically rented out high-level mounts. Many people were willing to spend some money to experience it.

Some even rented fifth or sixth-level mounts to pretend to be the children of noble families or the second generation of immortal sects, deceiving the feelings of cultivators of the opposite sex, and there were many successful cases.

But not long after he flew out, Chu Liang felt something was wrong.

Sitting on the back of the golden-haired beast, he always had a feeling of being watched… This was a sense of being spied on that only came with a certain level of spiritual cultivation. It seemed that someone was watching him?

This feeling made Chu Liang restless.

But in the vast sky, there was no one in sight. Who could be following him all the time?

After pondering for a moment, he couldn’t bear it any longer. He summoned his Dustless Sword and used the Hundred Swords Technique to surround himself.

With the protection of the sword light, he felt a little more at ease. Then he summoned the Treasure Leaf Lamp, lit the Red Lotus Divine Fire, and illuminated the surroundings.

With the divine fire lit, a faint shadow finally appeared.

It was sitting on the tail of the golden-haired beast, not far behind Chu Liang!

“Who’s there?” Chu Liang shouted, and the hundred sword lights all pointed at the shadow.

“Don’t draw your sword, brother. I’m not a bad person!”

A response finally came, and the shadow slowly solidified into the figure of a young man with a pale face.

The young man was dressed in a bright yellow robe, with narrow eyes and handsome features. His skin was very white, and he looked somewhat similar to Ji Lingyu.

However, his pupils were blue.

Chu Liang guessed that he must also be a member of the Ji family. He didn’t let his guard down, but asked in a deep voice, “What’s your name?”

“I’m the eighth son of the Ji family’s main branch, Ji Lingfeng.” The young man bowed his hand and smiled, “I saw you talking to Little Rain earlier. She’s my younger sister.”

“So you’re the eighth young master of the Ji family.” Chu Liang nodded and continued to ask, “Why did you follow me on this golden-haired beast?”

“Hehe, it’s like this…” Ji Lingfeng was very cooperative with Chu Liang’s caution. He just raised his hands and patiently explained in a spellcasting posture.

“My younger sister and I have a little bet to see who can stay away from the family longer. Although I used my invisibility to sneak out, once I fly, I leave a trace of my aura, and I might still be found by the elders of the family. So I thought I’d hitch a ride on your mount for a while. If you hadn’t noticed, I would have quietly gotten off in a while. I didn’t expect to startle you. I’m really sorry.” Ji Lingfeng apologized again.

“But isn’t there a divination method to track you down? Can you avoid it like this?” Chu Liang was a bit puzzled.

“Heh, I have this.” Ji Lingfeng raised his hand and showed three ancient copper coins, “This can help me shield my fate for three days. Even if I’m caught and taken back after three days, I should be able to beat my younger sister.”

“Doesn’t your invisibility technique also leak aura fluctuations?” Chu Liang asked again.

In fact, he already felt that Ji Lingfeng was not lying, but the other party’s arrival was indeed strange, so he was still cautiously scrutinizing every oddity in the other party’s words.

“This is the unique ability of the Xuan Yuan Eye, not a certain technique.” Ji Lingfeng explained, “Brother, you may not know, but each color of our Ji family’s Xuan Yuan Eye has different abilities, and mine is invisibility.”

“I see…” Chu Liang finally nodded in relief.

He had heard about the different abilities of each color of the Xuan Yuan Eye, but he had never looked into it in detail. It seemed that Ji Lingfeng’s blue Xuan Yuan Eye corresponded to invisibility.

An invisibility technique that doesn’t leak aura fluctuations… It’s quite terrifying to think about.

“Alright, now that I’ve explained everything to you, I’ll be going.” Ji Lingfeng waved his hand, “Brother, we’ll meet again if we’re destined.”

Before his words fell, he leaned back, and his whole body had already floated into the sky. In a blink of an eye, he disappeared into the clouds, and his whereabouts were unknown.

“Eh——”

Chu Liang called out, but it was too late. Ji Lingfeng had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“You don’t have to pay for riding the beast…”

He weakly added a sentence before sitting back down. The feeling of being watched disappeared, and he finally felt at ease.

However, thinking about the siblings from the Ji family he had just met, he couldn’t help but find it amusing.

These two were no longer ordinary children of noble families. They could be considered the top second-generation cultivators in the world, who didn’t play around but competed in running away from home.

What a strange pair.

…

In the gloomy grand hall, on a high platform, more than a hundred black candlesticks were arranged. Some were burning, some were extinguished.

Just now, another one had gone out. The candlesticks placed in the south and southwest directions were almost completely extinguished, with only three flickering flames still persisting.

“My lord, it seems that the guides from the south and southwest have all died in the mountains of the Southern Territory. The Earth Fiend and Soul Capturer under your command have also suffered heavy losses,” a man in black reported calmly from below the platform.

On the throne of the grand hall sat a terrifying figure.

He was a middle-aged man in a high-crowned brocade robe. He should have been tall and straight, but he was curled up in the chair, his face full of pain. Upon closer inspection, one would find that more than half of his chest and abdomen were hollow!

Yes, the entire left half of this man’s body was missing, leaving a semicircular gap, yet he was still alive! The remaining part of his body was constantly trying to grow, but every time a new piece of flesh sprouted, a golden flame-like power would appear and obliterate it!

The whole process made a horrifying “sizzling” sound.

“Ah—” The process was obviously extremely painful. The middle-aged man let out a low moan of pain, gritting his teeth, “They were some of my most loyal subordinates, and now they’re all dead. It seems that when I come out of seclusion, there won’t be many people left for me to use.”

“My lord, don’t worry. Your prestige within the sect is still strong. As long as you return after your injury heals, you will naturally have many followers,” the man in black said with his head bowed.

“It’s difficult,” the middle-aged man sighed deeply, “In the past, I and the Silver King joined forces and barely held our own against the Four Halls. Now that the Silver King is dead, I, the Right Protector, am left alone. How can I restore my former status?”

The man in black remained silent.

After a while, the middle-aged man glanced at the candle flames on the platform and said, “There are still three small ones left. It’s a big life to escape from the Southern Territory Mountain.”

“There are also hidden talents among the Soul Capturers,” the man in black said.

“Weren’t we talking about taking the opportunity to plant some people in the Four Halls? Send these few over as well. Otherwise, these few remaining candles are useless,” the middle-aged man casually said.

“Yes,” the man in black bowed his head in acknowledgment.

“Ah…”

Another round of flesh buds were obliterated, and the middle-aged man let out another painful roar. However, his eyes were calm, as if he had become numb to this extreme pain.

“I have truly experienced the power of the Mirror Heaven Eight Diagrams this time,” he said with a grimace, “Jiuyi! If I, the Purple Gold Marquis, have a day of return, I will make you pay a hundred times for this pain!”

“Ah—”