Book 8: Chapter 16 – Begining to Move

Spring Sun City was located in the western region of the mainland continent in Bright Sands Province.

The city was built atop an oasis, surrounded by a vast and boundless desert… In fact, the entire Bright Sands Province was a desert region. It had a much larger area than many other provinces, though it was sparsely populated. In this region spanning over 500 kilometers in radius, it was normal for one to not come across any human.

Si la~

In the sky above Spring Sun City, a pitch black tear in space appeared, which a young male and female came flying out of.

Xue Ying used his True Meaning of Star to scan the area below him. Everything in a radius of 50 kilometers around him was part of his Absolute Perception Zone! The Spring Sun City was relatively small, similar to the Water Rites Town. Thus, the entire city was within his Absolute Perception Zone.

“Over there.” Xue Ying brought Jing Qiu along with him. Shua. With a teleportation, they appeared within the city.

Next to a street in the city…

There was a huge pit, hundreds of meters in radius. The space around it had already been sealed shut to prevent mortals from approaching.

“Xue Ying.” There were two figures standing by the side of that pit. One of them was the current strongest man under the heavens, Mountain Lord He, and the other was a Demigod from the Black White Deity Mountain, ‘Ghost Deity Knight’ Feng Dong. The latter’s entire body was covered in a cold and dark aura. This was a person who could be considered an ordinary Demigod. He was best known for his loss to Chi Qiu Bai back when Chi Qiu Bai was a Saint!

“Mountain Lord He, Vice Mountain Lord Feng.” Xue Ying and Jing Qiu greeted them.

“You and that brat Pu Yang were good brothers in the Red Cloud Mountain World, right?” Mountain Lord He sighed. “I truly didn’t expect that after celebrating the extermination of those demon bases last year, just a month later… this Pu Yang brat would be killed in action. He was skilled in teleportation. Could there be another formidable rank five demon hiding in the dark that killed Pu Yang in a single move?”

“His methods are truly too vile!” Xue Ying commented coldly. “Killing him instantly without leaving any of Pu Yang Bo’s treasures behind.”

Xue Ying and Jing Qiu stood in front of that deep pit.

Looking at this circular pit with a radius of 100 meters…

“Pu Yang.” Xue Ying’s eyes were filled with a faint killing intent. He murmured, “Those damned demons!”

How many had it been…

All his good friends were leaving him one by one. With some he might have just drank a few times, while with others he had deeper relationships. At the Red Cloud Mountain, they had lived together day and night…for more than 20 years already! They had lived together for such a long period of time. Even among his own family members, how many of them stayed together with him every single day for more than 20 years? Xue Ying had long treated Yu Feng, Pu Yang Bo and Zhang Peng as his good brothers. He also viewed Yuan Qing, the youngest with whom he had a close relationship, as family.

“Pu Yang, I’ll definitely avenge you! Tomorrow, I’ll begin my mission to find those Demon Generals!” Xue Ying tried his utmost to calm his emotions.

He had experienced too many of his good Transcendent friends dying these past few years.

And even so, he felt his heart ache every single time.

……

Other than Xue Ying and the few who came over to grieve the death of Pu Yang Bo, Si Kong Yang, Gong Yu, and Chi Qiu Bai had also rushed over. They were, after all, the teachers within the Red Cloud Mountain World! As Pu Yang Bo’s former teacher, Si Kong Yang hated the fact that Pu Yang Bo ‘could not become steel from iron,’ yet right now, he could only sigh and suppress all the anger in his heart. He had personally taught this group of young Transcendents, and although me might have held a trace of dissatisfaction, it was only aimed at aspects related to their cultivation.

Having interacted with them for a period of time, these young Transcendents were akin to being his nephews.

In his heart, Si Kong Yang also felt Pu Yang Bo’s death to be unbearable.

But they could only bury this fury deep in their hearts!

They understood…

In their war against the demons, the eradication of the demon bases had only given the Transcendents of the Xia Clan better days to live, but it did not entirely eliminate the possibility of deaths occurring! Furthermore, the most terrifying five Demon Generals were still alive, and all of them were in hiding. Without solving the issue of the Demon Generals, this war would never end!

******

The next day.

Xue Ying left Snowrock Castle by himself. Despite the urge to immediately seek the Demon Generals, he had one thing to find out before that…and that was just how formidable his True Meaning of Mirage was! Wouldn’t he just end up being found otherwise?

Si la~

First, he tore through space and headed to the northern Great Snowy Plains.

Only then did he enter the Mirage. Flying for more than 500 kilometers, he got close to the Water Daoist Faction.

Within the Mirage.

A black-robed Xue Ying was carefully observing his surroundings. The Mirage reflected reality, so there was a Water Daoist Faction within the Mirage as well! It looked exactly the same as the one in the reality, even down to the weapons, treasures, and figures within the Water Daoist Faction. Xue Ying went in gradually, allowing the area reflected upon the Mirage to become greater. For the first attempt, he would envelop Vice Faction Head Chao!

“Vice Faction Head Chao!” Xue Ying immediately spotted him with a single glance.

He was currently still fishing.

Sitting by himself and without any footwear, he was fishing by the side of the lake. Although the entirety of the snowy plains was cold during all four seasons, the temperature within the Water Daoist Faction could be controlled, and in some places birds were singing and flowers were blooming.

“No disturbances.” Xue Ying observed him thoroughly. Vice Faction Head Chao was currently fishing with his eyes closed. He was truly carefree and lacked movement in his muscles, face, and eyes. Most likely, he had yet to discover Xue Ying.

“Let’s go and find Faction Head Si Kong Yang. He should have a Qi Avatar placed here!”

Xue Ying continued deeper inside, searching the area within 500 kilometers around himself.

As he got closer, the region of Water Daoist Faction being enveloped became greater and greater.

Finally—

Si Kong Yang was currently sitting cross legged atop a mountain peak. He was as bright as the sun.

According to the records pertaining to Demigod rankers, a total of four Demigods had condensed a True Deity Heart in the entire Xia Clan World, two of which were humans. One of them was the Water Daoist Faction Head, Si Kong Yang, while the other was Mountain Lord He of the Black White Deity Mountain. Thus, Si Kong Yang and Mountain Lord He were the two most important subjects for Xue Ying’s experiments.

Since both had condensed True Deity Hearts, the strongest, most terrifying Demon General should have a comprehension similar to theirs!

“Mn?” Xue Ying was observing Si Kong Yang’s actions—his muscles, his expressions, the movements of his surrounding aura.

“No changes!”

Xue Ying was startled and happy at the same time.

Faction Head Si Kong Yang is located a few hundred kilometers away from me and should not be able to sense me in the Mirage, Xue Ying understood after pondering it for a moment.

Separated by a few hundred kilometers…

In order to sense Xue Ying, one could only depend on the comprehension of the Laws of Profound Mysteries! And Xue Ying was within the Mirage without engaging in any intense battles. It was truly difficult for someone to depend on his own understanding of the Laws of Profound Mysteries to sense someone within the Mirage.

Were it so simple to uncover his presence in the Mirage, then the experts who had grasped hold of the True Meaning of Mirage would not have their reputation as the most frightening assassins!

Unless the opponent’s comprehension of the realms was truly too great or directly opposed to the Mirage, the assassins hidden within the Mirage would not be so easily discovered before they took action!

Indeed, it’s a grade two True Meaning with an offensive ability ranked one from the bottom. Xue Ying inwardly sighed. Its offensive power might have been weak, unable to even compare to those of grade three True Meanings, yet in its other aspects, it was heaven-shattering! The Deity World had a saying of how one would rather meet an expert using any other True Meaning than the True Meaning of Mirage. This showed the sinister underlying aspects of an expert hidden in the Mirage—the most appropriate assassin.

Faction Head Si Kong Yang’s comprehension of the realms is already very high. Most of the five Demon Generals should not have reached his degree of comprehension, Xue Ying speculated. However, I’ll have to try it out on Mountain Lord He first as ultimately, he is currently the strongest expert.

Xiu!

Walking in the Mirage, he flew at top speed and disappeared soundlessly.

Within the Water Daoist Faction, both Chao Qing and Si Kong Yang had been completely unable to sense him.