Chapter 144: Ink Star City

Inside the City Lord's Mansion,

"Greetings, Supreme Elder. We have tracked down the whereabouts of those two." Not daring to delay in the slightest, the two elders quickly brought Leng Ya to the City Lord's Mansion of Moxing City.

After all, should punishment befall them, they could not possibly bear the consequences.

Moxing City was one of the premier major cities in the entire Northern Domain, and Sovereign Yuding, the Supreme Elder of the Alchemist Sect, enjoyed a close friendship with the City Lord of Moxing City.

Furthermore, Sovereign Yuding and the City Lord of Moxing City had not seen each other for many years, so he seized this opportunity to visit Moxing City.

The City Lord of Moxing City was named Moxing, and the city itself was named after him. He possessed the cultivation base of the Tribulation Crossing Stage.

"Is what you say true? Quickly, tell me where they are!" Sovereign Yuding said with excitement. He truly had not expected to locate Lin Yanghao and Gu Shi in such a short amount of time.

"Reporting to the Supreme Elder, this matter is absolutely certain. It was this young man who brought us the news," one of the elders said, pointing at Leng Ya.

"Oh?" Only then did Sovereign Yuding turn his gaze toward Leng Ya, a cultivator in the Nascent Soul Stage. Just moments before, he had paid little attention to Leng Ya, assuming he was merely an ordinary disciple of the Alchemist Sect.

"Senior, this matter is beyond a doubt. This junior would not dare to deceive you in the slightest," Leng Ya said, not even daring to draw a full breath in front of Sovereign Yuding, speaking with utmost caution.

"I can see that your vitality has been severely depleted to the point of ruin; your days are likely numbered. How, then, were you able to discover them?" The condition of Leng Ya's body could naturally not escape the discerning eyes of Sovereign Yuding, especially since Leng Ya's head was already completely covered in white hair.

Given his current state, would Lin Yanghao and Gu Shi not have simply struck him down with a single palm?

"I will not conceal it from Senior; I have been reduced to this state entirely because of them." Leng Ya's heart was already filled with cold despair. Knowing he had no hope of breaking through to the Deity Transformation Stage, his sole remaining desire was to exact vengeance and kill Lin Yanghao.

"How so?" Sovereign Yuding asked, puzzled. Could it be that all of this was done by Lin Yanghao and Gu Shi? If so, how on earth had he managed to survive?

Leaving Gu Shi aside, Lin Yanghao alone was someone he could never hope to defeat.

"It happened like this..." Following that, Leng Ya recounted the entire sequence of events to Sovereign Yuding.

"So that's how it was." Sovereign Yuding nodded after listening. It turned out he had escaped by employing the Blood Escape Technique, which consequently left him in his present condition.

"Fortunately, it wasn't Gu Shi who struck him. If it had been Gu Shi, how could he have ever gotten the chance to execute the Blood Escape Technique?" Sovereign Yuding thought to himself with a sense of lingering fear.

"You have done very well. If you can lead us to the two of them, we naturally will not treat you unfairly." After saying this, Sovereign Yuding lowered his head in thought for a moment before continuing, "There are two choices: First, after the matter is concluded, we will grant you fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones as per the bounty; second, our Alchemist Sect will provide you with a Rejuvenation Pill. The choice is yours to make."

"Many thanks, Senior. This junior chooses the Rejuvenation Pill," Leng Ya said excitedly, a spark of hope instantly reigniting in his deadened heart.

Originally, he had resigned himself to certain death, but with the aid of a Rejuvenation Pill, he could recover the lifespan he had lost.

Although fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones held immense temptation for Leng Ya, no amount of wealth could surpass the importance of life itself.

Moreover, the actual value of a single Rejuvenation Pill was by no means lower than fifty thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

Therefore, without any hesitation, Leng Ya chose the Rejuvenation Pill.

"Brother Moxing, since things have come to this, I must take my leave." This matter could certainly not be delayed any further; if dragged out, would the targets not simply escape? Thus, he prepared to set off.

"Brother Yuding is in trouble, how can I, Moxing, stand by with folded arms? Count me in."

"Haha, with Brother Moxing's assistance, capturing them will be as easy as reaching out and taking something." Sovereign Yuding smiled even more brightly. An extra force meant an extra measure of certainty.

"You two, quickly go and notify the others. We will rendezvous at the Thousand Saints Swamp!" Sovereign Yuding turned and instructed the two elders once more.

"Understood. There is no time to lose, let's go." With that, Moxing and Sovereign Yuding, accompanied by Leng Ya, flashed away.

Indeed, their destination was the Thousand Saints Swamp. They already knew that Lin Yanghao and Gu Shi had passed through here, and since this was the only viable route through the Thousand Saints Swamp, the direction in which Lin Yanghao and Gu Shi were heading was glaringly obvious.

......

"We wandered in a circle, yet we've ended up right back here," Gu Shi said with a bitter smile, though he was secretly quite pleased. Creating chaos within the Alchemist Sect had been immensely satisfying.

As for the remaining two major sects, they would let them off for now; a day would come when all of this debts would be collected one by one.

He believed that the incident at the Alchemist Sect would serve as a sufficient deterrent to them.

As long as the Alchemist Sect did not provoke him further, fine; but if they continued to persistently hound him, they could blame him no longer.

"Next, it is time for closed-door cultivation." As long as he could evolve into a roaring beast, what in the Spirit Realm could possibly pose a threat to him then?

While Gu Shi was still lost in these thoughts, they had already—

"What the hell!" Immediately afterward, he heard Lin Yanghao's startled cry.

"What is it?" Gu Shi snapped out of his reverie and looked at Lin Yanghao in confusion.

"Look down there," Lin Yanghao said in shock.

As it turned out, the ground below was already surrounded by numerous spirit beasts, clearly converging directly upon Lin Yanghao and Gu Shi.

While others might not understand the reason, Lin Yanghao was crystal clear on the matter: had he not pilfered the purple vines, these spirit beasts would never have acted this way.

"Ling'er, didn't you say your former master also took the purple vines back then? Why were the spirit beasts completely fine at that time?" Lin Yanghao asked Ling'er, unable to fathom why these creatures were exclusively targeting him.

"Back then, my master only took a very small number of the purple vines. Did you think everyone is greedy like you, taking every single one of them?" Ling'er said speechlessly.

"Uh, I was just afraid it wouldn't be enough..." Lin Yanghao was instantly struck with embarrassment.

After all, the talismans he refined were not just one or two; in the future, it would be tens of thousands of them.

If the purple vines were scarce, how could they possibly be enough?

Even after taking every last one of them right now, he still felt it might not suffice.

"Do you think you're eating a meal?"

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"A single purple vine is already more than enough for you to refine several thousand talismans." Just as Ling'er finished speaking, Lin Yanghao was left completely dumbfounded. Who would have thought that such a tiny purple vine could possess the efficacy to refine thousands of talismans?

Put that way, the purple vines currently resting within his storage ring were enough to refine at least tens of thousands of talismans...

"What is going on here?" Gu Shi was also gazing in astonishment at the cluster of spirit beasts gathered below.

When had so many spirit beasts ever appeared in the Thousand Saints Swamp?

In thousands of years, he had never heard of such a thing...

Normally, catching even a fleeting shadow of a spirit beast here was exceedingly difficult.