Bang!
Amidst the blast, the cave entrance, previously concealed by rubble, instantly exploded open.
A scorching sword light flashed past, and Ouyang Lengshui still appeared inside the cave.
"He ran!?"
Seeing the empty cave, Ouyang Lengshui's expression froze, and the figure of Wu Xing Sword Shi Hui also appeared behind him.
Seeing that the target was not in the cave, Shi Hui sneered.
"I was wondering why there hadn't been any news of this kid? Turns out he was hiding in the Congyun Mountains. He's got some cunning."
Speaking of which, he paused, his gaze falling on Ouyang Lengshui.
"Since we've determined his general whereabouts, there's no need for worries, Master Nephew Ouyang. He absolutely cannot escape from our grasp, especially since that fool still dares to hold onto that lingxu ivory."
After speaking, he had already taken out a jade stone the size of an egg from his pocket.
Claimed to be a jade stone, upon closer inspection, it was clearly an eyeball.
The entire eyeball was translucent like jade, currently emitting a faint fluorescence.
"With this lingxu elephant eye, although its effect is not as good as the paired lingxu ivory, it is certainly enough to search for his whereabouts."
As the Bone Strength within his body surged into the eyeball, the fluorescence it emitted immediately intensified.
The eyeball vibrated continuously, and Shi Hui had already sensed several auras. Soon, he confirmed one of them was rapidly moving away.
His eyes lit up.
"Found him! Master Nephew Ouyang, let's go. Don't let anyone else get there first."
Before his words fell, two sword beams had already shot out of the cave.
...
Three days later.
On a low mountain at the edge of the Blood Maple Forest Sea.
The hard mountain rock actually squeezed to the sides, and in the blink of an eye, a tall figure had leaped out from the ground.
The figure was none other than Lin Sheng.
In these three days, he spent almost half of his time moving through the ground. Although he had the Earth Travel talent, he didn't feel any burden while underground, but it was undoubtedly slower than moving on the surface.
After all, the underground world was pitch black. Besides soil and rocks, there was nothing else to see. It really wasn't a good place.
Despite this, in three days, he had already reached the edge of the Blood Maple Forest Sea.
But at this moment, there was no trace of relaxation on his face. Instead, he looked towards the forest sea behind him, and his brows couldn't help but furrow.
His Danger Perception talent was pushed to the extreme. In the unseen, he could still feel a sense, or rather, several senses of threat constantly approaching.
Especially after he appeared on the ground, he could clearly feel that the sense of threat was rapidly intensifying.
In the past three days, each time he appeared on the surface, the sense of danger would become more intense. Only when he submerged into the ground would it decrease slightly.
"People from the Tianluo Sect?"
Regarding the source of the danger, he currently had no conclusion.
This sense of threat began only after he killed those Tianluo Sect members. He had considered that it might be people from the Tianluo Sect, but this was Northern Yan after all.
As one of the top forces in the Southern Qi Country, the Tianluo Sect, especially now that war between the two countries had begun, shouldn't logically be able to brazenly trespass here.
So besides the Tianluo Sect, who else could it be?
Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed slightly, and he already had some guesses in his mind.
However, the time it takes for one stick of incense passed.
Two figures had already appeared on the low mountain.
"Wei Bo, Liu Tianci."
Seeing the arrivals, Lin Sheng's eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly spoke the two names.
"Indeed, you're here. What, are you planning to give up? Not running anymore!?"
Seeing Lin Sheng sitting cross-legged on the large rock, Wei Bo revealed a smile on his face and spoke lightly.
Lin Sheng didn't speak, his gaze paused slightly on the pure white ivory held in Wei Bo's hand, and he immediately understood.
"I heard you're from Lin'an County. Speaking of which, we're fellow townsmen. It's quite a surprise to find someone like you hidden in Linjiang Prefecture. For the sake of our shared hometown, I can give you a chance. Joining the Prefecture Yamen can save your life."
The one who spoke was Liu Tianci. He stood with his arms crossed, sizing up Lin Sheng, a hint of interest on his face.
"Of course, before that, I need to gauge just how much weight you carry."
"Joining the Prefecture Yamen is indeed good, but I don't like being controlled by others. Relatively speaking, I prefer to hold my fate in my own hands."
Lin Sheng reached out and grabbed a fallen leaf, gently crushing it. His gaze fell on Liu Tianci as he spoke softly.
"Naive. Lowborn, without background. Worldly affairs are like a surging tide, a rolling flood. Relying solely on a bit of talent won't let you stand firm..."
Liu Tianci's eyes narrowed slightly, but his voice turned cold.
Relying on the Imperial Court and enjoying vast resources is indeed something many people dream of, but it also comes at a price: being loyal to the Imperial Court for life. Everything one possesses doesn't truly belong to oneself.
But he also knew very well in his heart that for someone without a foundation like himself, only within the Imperial Court could he reach the pinnacle.
Seeing that the other party didn't know what was good for him, a hint of killing intent already appeared in Liu Tianci's heart.
"Since you don't know what's good for you, let's end this."
As his words fell, Liu Tianci's figure had already disappeared from where he stood.
Rumble—
At the same time, bursts of explosions came from the low mountain.
The mountain walls shattered, countless rocks rolled down, the ground collapsed, and it was as if a small earthquake had occurred on the low mountain.
"Trying to run!"
Seeing this scene, Liu Tianci's expression turned cold, and he directly shattered the rocks falling towards him.
Wei Bo, who was nearby, had also attacked at this moment. In the blink of an eye, he had reached where Lin Sheng was, but unfortunately, the figure had already disappeared.
"Nine-Fold Heavy Blade!"
The gold-threaded ring saber, carrying dense force, heavily struck the ground.
It shattered countless pieces of rubble into dust, leaving a huge crack on the low mountain, almost splitting the Peak apart. The might of a single strike was this terrifying.
"How is it?"
Liu Tianci asked in a deep voice.
"He ran." Wei Bo shook his head slightly.
"This kid is skilled in the art of earth travel, which should be related to his innate Bloodline. Capturing him will require some effort."
"But it's alright, it's just a matter of spending more time."
...
Time flew like a white steed passing a crevice; five days passed in the blink of an eye.
Hundreds of feet underground, in an underground karst cave, Lin Sheng sat cross-legged.
A biting cold air emanated from the karst cave, freezing the dark spring on one side of the cave.
Not long after, the cold air dissipated, and the temperature in the karst cave gradually returned to normal.
Lin Sheng's tightly closed eyes also slowly opened, and he exhaled a turbid breath.
His gaze fell on the lingxu ivory in his hand, which emitted a warm luster.
Since he had confirmed that the other party was tracking him using this lingxu ivory, he already had a countermeasure.
After several experiments in the past few days, he was certain that being hundreds of feet underground could completely isolate the other party's tracking using the lingxu ivory.
Although the underground environment wasn't great, he was originally a person who practiced hard, so he didn't care much about these things.
He flipped his wrist, and that stalk of youming soul grass had already appeared in his hand. At this moment, only seven petals remained on the nine-petaled corolla at the top of the youming soul grass.
"Consuming at most four more petals should be enough to increase my spiritual attribute a bit more."
Based on the effects after consuming it these past few days, he had already estimated the approximate amount needed.
He had Spirit Beasts with various underground talents within his body, so he was like a fish in water underground. Even Peak Bones Transformation masters like Wu Xing Sword Shi Hui and Wei Bo had no way to deal with him.
Therefore, even though the news of him hiding in the Congyun Mountains had been exposed, he wasn't flustered at all.
In the past 5 days, apart from the experiments in the first two days, he spent the remaining three days underground.
"Now it's time to go out and see what the outside world is like."
Thinking this, his figure had already disappeared into the karst cave.
An hour later.
"Everyone, hurry up! Keep your eyes peeled! Remember everyone on the portraits clearly. If you see anyone similar, send me a signal immediately!"
In the Congyun Mountains, a team of over a dozen people was rapidly moving through.
These people were not weak in strength. Among the 15 people, there were actually 5 Bones Transformation masters, and the remaining ten were Blood Transportation Warriors.
The bald, one-eyed big man leading them had the formidable strength of Bones Transformation Fifth Layer.
"Understood, Leader. But, Leader, that kid named Lin Sheng is said to have caused the Tianxiang Sword Sect Jianzi to suffer a great loss. Aren't we taking a bit of a risk?"
A scrawny man with a sallow face beside the bald big man said somewhat hesitantly. This person looked frail, but his strength and Realm were a genuine Bones Transformation Third Layer.
"What are you afraid of, Second Brother? That kid named Lin Sheng, no matter how strong, is just one person. If we can't beat him, can't we still run?"
The bald big man sneered.
"If we really run into this kid, our brothers will have hit the jackpot. We don't even need to act ourselves; just confirming his whereabouts will bring immense benefits.
As for that Seven Forms Sect, they're just some remnants. They don't have any decent masters at all. We might even be able to capture these remnants directly."
Hearing this, the sallow-faced man seemed to find it quite reasonable and quickly nodded.
"Brother is absolutely right. Brothers, move faster! Hurry up! As long as we can find those remnants, our Flying Dragon Stockade will be able to eat official food in the future. Maybe we can even find a position as a constable in the Prefecture Yamen..."
Hearing this, the group of Flying Dragon Stockade elites seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. Their movements became even faster, and some even brought out exotic beasts skilled in tracking human traces to assist.
Seeing this scene, a smile appeared on the bald big man's face.
Thinking of the generous rewards after finding those people, even his heart couldn't help but feel excited.
Thinking this, he took out a stack of portraits from his pocket again and confirmed them once more.
"What are you looking at?"
Just then, a voice suddenly came from beside him.
"What else could it be? Of course, it's the portraits of those remnants."
The bald big man said with a frown, without turning his head.
But as soon as the words left his mouth, he felt something was wrong. He was quite familiar with each of his brothers, but the voice just now was extremely strange.
He turned his head abruptly, only to see a strong young man emerging from underground.
The young man had firm features, sharp contours, and a mess of black hair scattered over his shoulders. His entire being exuded an indescribable sense of danger.
For some reason, the bald big man only felt that the young man's appearance was somewhat familiar, but he was certain that this was the first time he had seen the other party.
While he was wondering, his body trembled, and he suddenly thought of something. He slowly lowered his head, only to see the same handsome and resolute face on the first portrait in his hand.
"You..."
He turned his head stiffly, but the figure had already arrived close by.
"Is this me? It's drawn very well."
A light voice sounded from beside his ear.
"Kill..."
The bald big man's Bone Strength immediately erupted around his body. However, before he could act, a finger flashing with a green halo had already pressed against his temple.
Bang—
A red fireworks bloomed, and the half-severed, broken corpse fell to the ground.
"Le... Leader..."
It was only then that the surrounding group of people reacted. What happened just now was too sudden. Although it seemed like a while had passed, it was actually only one or two breaths.
It wasn't until they personally saw the tragic state of their Leader's death that everyone woke up as if from a dream.
"Lin... Lin Sheng!!"
Everyone's gaze fell on Lin Sheng, and immediately someone recognized his identity and spoke with a slight tremble.
Bang bang bang...
The next instant, streaks of green halos sliced through the air, followed by a series of red fireworks blooming.
When everything calmed down, only the sallow-faced man remained among the group, trembling and standing rooted to the spot.
Lin Sheng flipped through the portraits in his hand.
There were over twenty portraits.
Besides him, Xie Qingyun, and Yuan Zhongfei, even inner Disciples like Wei Yun, Bai Qing, and even Gou Donglai were prominently listed.
Almost seventy percent of the people in the temporary outpost were printed on them.
Lin Sheng's face was as calm as water. With a burst of force, the portraits in his hand turned into dust. His gaze fell on the sallow-faced man, and he spoke in a deep voice.
"Who are you people? And where did these portraits come from?"
"Senior Lin... Senior Lin, I am from Flying Dragon Stockade. These portraits were distributed by the government. No, not just the government, but also the Tianxiang Sword Sect and the Yuanyang Beast Sect have issued these portraits."
The sallow-faced man's heart was already filled with fear at this moment. He trembled and revealed everything he knew.
"How many of these portraits are there?"
"I, I'm not sure, but I only know that in the County Towns around the Congyun Mountains, a huge bounty has been posted. Anyone who can find the whereabouts of the people in the portraits within the Congyun Mountains can join the Prefecture Yamen. The Tianxiang Sword Sect and Yuanyang Beast Sect have also spread the word that those who can provide information on their whereabouts can directly enter the Sects as inner Disciples, and there are also high bounties."
As the sallow-faced man spoke, he glanced at Lin Sheng, whose face was as calm as water, swallowed, and said softly.
Whoosh...
Lin Sheng's brows furrowed tightly, almost forming the character 'river'.
He pointed a finger, and the sallow-faced man's head shattered in response.
"What a grand gesture."
Lin Sheng looked up at the setting sun in the west and muttered.
In the past few days, he had only been thinking about shielding the aura of the lingxu ivory, but he had forgotten about Xie Qingyun and the others.
He really hadn't expected that these people would cause such a big commotion because of him.
With the generous conditions offered by the Prefecture Yamen, Tianxiang Sword Sect, and Yuanyang Beast Sect, these three top forces, it's likely that the entire Congyun Mountains, whether they are herb gatherers, hunters, or the surrounding large and small Sects, have all been alerted and are on the move.
He was very strong, and had the Earth Travel talent, which was enough to protect himself.
But the Seven Forms Sect Disciples in the temporary outpost didn't have these means.
Let alone Blood Transportation Realm Disciples like Bai Qing and Gou Donglai, even Bones Transformation Martial Artists like Xie Qingyun and Yuan Zhongfei would likely find it difficult to protect themselves.