Chapter 1684
Chapter 1684
Because of his poor condition, Li Zhirui could only pretend not to know that someone was tracking him, and his speed gradually decreased as he flew towards the barren mountain next to him.
The cultivator following him in the distance saw this scene and a glint of light flashed in his eyes. He had already stopped, and now was the perfect time to make his move.
Without the slightest hesitation, his inner power erupted, and a ray of spiritual light, as bright as the sun, pierced through the air and appeared behind Li Zhirui, heading straight for his vital points.
But he was prepared for this and immediately fled to the left. A flash of green light passed by, and he seemed to merge into the mountains and forests, his aura disappearing into thin air.
With a deafening roar, the attack struck the desolate mountain, shattering the surrounding rocks and igniting a massive fire that quickly spread throughout the entire mountain.
From a distance, it looks like a raging inferno, with rolling heat waves that make it impossible to get close, and the creatures living in it have no chance of survival.
"What about people?"
But Li Zhirui simply vanished!
Upon discovering his disappearance, the cultivator immediately became extremely vigilant, carefully guarding his surroundings and preparing for defense, assuming that the other party had used some kind of secret technique to evade his detection and was ready to attack him at any moment.
At the same time, he unleashed all his divine sense to search for the other party's whereabouts in the vicinity, but to no avail.
He remained in this state of high alert for a long time, but apart from the crackling sound of the flames burning, there was no other movement.
"Could it be that they've already escaped?"
Suddenly, he realized that the other party had reacted instantly the moment he made his move, as if they had foreseen the future. His face turned extremely ugly. He had actually been tricked by the other party!
And twice!
The other party had already used methods he didn't know to escape safely.
Damn it!
Despite his extreme anger, he could find no outlet for his frustration and could only leave in a huff.
……
Li Zhirui, who had taken refuge in the space, was finally able to relax his tense body once he entered this absolutely safe environment.
He didn't think about where his cultivator came from or what methods he used to do it; he only knew that his current condition was very poor and he needed to recover quickly.
He took out the Rejuvenation Pill, sat cross-legged, and immediately swallowed and refined it.
Soon, a warm current appeared in his meridians, and through the circulation of the cultivation technique, it was refined into magical power and integrated into his dantian.
With the help of elixirs, it wasn't long before Li Zhirui's previously empty dantian successfully recovered seventy to eighty percent of its magical power.
"There shouldn't be any other living beings outside, right?"
He quickly used a secret technique, forming hand seals, to investigate the surroundings. Only after confirming that there were no other living beings outside did he feel relieved enough to emerge from the space.
However, the surrounding environment has undergone tremendous changes. The once lush and green mountains have now become a bare iron mountain with a metallic luster!
"This is……"
He quickly realized that the spiritual light he had dodged earlier must have been caused by that attack.
"Fortunately, I managed to escape unscathed. If that attack had hit me, I would probably have been seriously injured," Li Zhirui said with a sense of relief.
If he hadn't discovered the cultivator's presence beforehand, he might not only be exhausted of his magical power, but also seriously injured.
He did not linger there; after a few words of reflection, he left as quickly as possible.
Li Zhirui wanted to know what happened in Tianshi Immortal City after he left, and most importantly, whether his identity had been discovered by that Golden Immortal cultivator, or even whether a bounty had been placed on his head.
But if that happens, he will have no choice but to change his appearance and leave the Pure Land Buddhist territory.
His purpose in coming to the Myriad Profound Realms was to improve his own cultivation level. Although the difficulty of comprehending the Heavenly Dao is still very high, he has accumulated a lot of merit over this period of time, which has decreased compared to the beginning.
Therefore, his main need now is to stay in a peaceful and quiet place so that he can concentrate on his cultivation.
"How is this going?"
Not long after, Li Zhirui arrived at a nearby immortal city. From afar, he noticed that the city was heavily guarded, with several armored cultivators standing at the city gate, as if they were searching for something.
This immediately put him on alert, causing him to slow down and hesitate about whether to continue approaching. Was the other person looking for him?
But he was overthinking it!
Those armored cultivators weren't there to guard him, but rather to prevent monsters from attacking the immortal cities and markets around the world again.
After all, two extremely serious monster attacks have already occurred on the territory of the Pure Land Sect. If another one were to happen, the already precarious reputation and prestige of the Pure Land Sect would probably be almost completely destroyed.
Compared to this matter, a mere extraterrestrial being is not worth them making a big fuss about.
After thinking it over, Li Zhirui still didn't dare to take the risk, but he needed to figure out what was going on so that he could act in the Myriad Profound Realm in the future.
Therefore, after standing there for a moment to consider, he decisively turned around and left, flying towards a nearby small market town.
The market town is even weaker, and the cultivators stationed there are most likely only Earth Immortals or Heaven Immortals. Even if they are really looking for him, he is confident that he can break through the encirclement.
In less than half an hour, he arrived at his destination, a small market town.
Even when they were still a long distance away, Li Zhirui changed his appearance, concealed his aura, and dressed in plain clothes. To outsiders, he was just an ordinary rogue cultivator.
The security at Xiaofang Market was indeed not that tight!
Not only were there no armored cultivators in sight, but there were also no cultivators checking identities at the entrance, making it not much different from the old market town.
Furthermore, since there was no warning from his spiritual senses, he felt that this place should be relatively safe. After thinking about it, he flew forward and entered the market without any problems.
But when he entered the market, he discovered a problem: there were too few cultivators in the market!
Moreover, even the existing cultivators all looked worried, as if they were afraid that some danger might suddenly appear.
'Could it be that what happened in Tianshi Immortal City has reached the ears of cultivators in other markets and immortal cities, causing them to worry that they have suffered the same misfortune?' Li Zhirui couldn't help but wonder.
He could easily grab any Earth Immortal cultivator without using any special methods and quickly learn the relevant information from them.
It really is related to Tian Shi Immortal City!
This has led many cultivators to worry that they will encounter such a terrifying calamity, and they are either leaving Lichou Prefecture directly or heading to a powerful and well-defended immortal city.
That's why Li Zhirui noticed that there were far fewer cultivators in the market.
After learning about the situation, he decided to stay in the market for a while and then decide what to do next.
The reason he went against the grain of most cultivators was mainly because his ideas were different from theirs.
Most cultivators feel that the Immortal City is safer because it has a significant advantage in terms of both the size of its cultivator population and its defenses.
But Li Zhirui thought the opposite. He believed that markets were safer, especially the smaller ones, because powerful monsters wouldn't specifically target small markets, since the profits would be minimal.
Therefore, he rented a cave dwelling in the market, intending to spend the next period of time there in seclusion for cultivation. While things were peaceful and serene there, terrifying disasters erupted elsewhere!
He knew nothing about it.
After an unknown amount of time, Li Zhirui's heart skipped a beat, as if some major accident had occurred, and he suddenly felt uneasy.
He couldn't figure out the source of this unease. After thinking about it, he ended his cultivation early and went outside to find out what had happened that had caused his reaction.
When the results came out, he looked around and couldn't see many cultivators at all; it was as if he had entered an empty ghost town.
The market was already very desolate before, but compared to today, it can be said to be very lively.
"what happened?"
Li Zhirui felt uneasy. He scanned the market, where no one could be seen, with his powerful divine sense, but in the end he only found a few dozen cultivators.
This market town, which originally had several thousand people and at its peak may have had tens of thousands, now only has this many people left.
"What exactly happened?" Li Zhirui pondered for a moment, and could rule out the possibility that an attack was coming, causing the cultivators to scatter and flee.
Because there were no signs of a major fight nearby, but rather a sense of order, he felt as if he could see the scene when those cultivators left.
The next instant, he appeared directly in front of these cultivators and asked, "What happened? Why is there no one left in the market?"
At this point, he no longer cared about whether his identity was exposed; he had to find out what had happened.
"senior……"
The cultivators were suddenly grabbed by a large hand, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. They felt that their time was likely coming to an end, but they did not feel any pain for a long time.
"Tell me in detail the reasons why the market has become so desolate!" As he said this, Li Zhirui secretly cast a spell.
This will lower their guard, making them more discreet and private in what they say.
To his utter surprise, this was not a huge secret at all, but rather common knowledge.
"Senior, some time ago, a large number of black-robed monsters suddenly appeared on the land of Lichou Prefecture. They swept through many markets and immortal cities, which is why only these cultivators are left in the markets."
"Among them, the nine Golden Immortal monsters are the leaders. Their strength is extremely powerful. It is said that even though the Qingjing Sect had made preparations in advance and had Golden Immortals guarding the Immortal City, they still managed to win by a small margin. After taking the lives of some cultivators, they escaped safely themselves."
……
Through these cultivators, Li Zhirui finally figured out what had happened.
“Those monsters are so strange, it’s like they’re specifically targeting the Pure Land sect.”
Thinking of this, a glint of light flashed in his eyes.
However, he did not ask these cultivators, because their cultivation level was too low and they could not possibly know such information.
"I wonder if those monsters will ever come again..."
Li Zhirui hesitated, wondering whether he should leave the territory of the Qingjing Sect and go to a more peaceful and safe place to cultivate in seclusion.
However, he considered the territories of other forces in the vicinity, and found that their strength was significantly inferior, their spiritual energy was also lacking, and their conditions for secluded cultivation to comprehend the laws were not as favorable.
So in the end, he did not choose to leave. He did not leave Lichou Prefecture, nor did he leave this market town that could be described as deserted.
The abandoned market town only had a dozen or so cultivators; those 'monsters' would never dare to lay a hand on this remote and impoverished place.
Because the rewards may not even match the effort put in.
The cultivators who had been captured by Li Zhirui breathed a sigh of relief after seeing him leave.
Fortunately, this person didn't kill him to cover it up.
……
Two flowers bloom, one branch each.
The main gate of the Qingjing Sect, inside the sect's main hall.
"Have you found out anything about the identities of those sneaky guys?" the sect leader asked in a low voice.
If the so-called Golden Immortal Realm monster had only appeared once, they would have thought it was some kind of accident.
But not long ago, several immortal cities and large markets were attacked by monsters, which made them suspicious.
Therefore, the Pure Land school began to try to deduce the true identities, origins, and backgrounds of the monsters, so that they could take good care of them.
But we had been getting nothing before, as if they had appeared out of thin air and then disappeared into thin air.
Fortunately, through their persistent efforts, they finally discovered some clues.
“We have discovered that the supernatural power used by one of the monsters bears traces of the techniques of the Azure Cloud Palace,” an elder replied.
"What a disgrace to the Azure Cloud Palace! They dare to plot against my Pure Land Sect in secret!"
One of the hot-tempered elders immediately stood up and said, "Sect Leader, I want to lead my disciples to raze Biyun Palace to the ground! We will use their lives to pay tribute to our fallen disciples."
Count me in!
Immediately afterwards, several more elders stood up.
It's no wonder they were so agitated and angry, because these attacks not only had an extremely negative impact on the Pure Land School, but also caused considerable losses.
All of these people wanted to start a war and destroy Biyun Palace to save face and reduce losses.
"Biyun Palace?"
However, the sect leader was not affected by them and remained deep in thought with his brows furrowed. After a long while, he finally spoke and said, "If I remember correctly, Biyun Palace only has six Golden Immortals. How did they manage to have Golden Immortals in several places at the same time?"
These words immediately made everyone realize that the matter was far more complicated than they had imagined.
"So, it's not just Biyun Palace that's impersonating monsters and attacking immortal cities and markets across the land; there are other forces involved?"
The elder asked, puzzled, "But what good will doing this do them?"
“There are some things that, even if they don’t require any benefits, will still attract a large number of cultivators.”
And clearly, this is the situation they are facing now. (End of Chapter)