Butterfly Island.
Whoosh...
The turbulent waterfall cascaded down from the sky, like a thousand-foot white ribbon, striking the rocks with muffled thuds.
Beside the waterfall, Lingyu Princess, with bare feet, gently stirred the cool spring water, her beautiful eyes fixed on the forest ahead.
"Why isn't he back yet?"
A hint of doubt was on her face.
"Could something have happened?"
As this thought flashed through her mind, she immediately couldn't sit still and decided to go into the forest to check.
At this moment, a figure suddenly appeared in the forest and reached the waterfall in a few blinks of an eye.
"I originally just wanted to catch a few wild beasts, but I didn't expect to find a Spirit Beast. Although its strength wasn't much, its ability to escape was quite excellent, so it took a bit more time."
The newcomer was tall and straight; who else could it be but Lin Sheng?
At this time, he held a strange beast resembling a pangolin in his hand, a hint of apology on his face.
"It's fine, it wasn't long. I didn't expect you to catch a Earth Dragon Beast. I've always heard that Earth Dragon Beast meat is delicious. It seems Lingyu is lucky enough to taste it today."
Lingyu Princess said with a smile, a look of anticipation on her face.
Lin Sheng immediately prepared to gut and skin the Earth Dragon Beast.
However, just then, the jade pendant hanging from Lingyu Princess's waist shimmered with a bright glow.
Seeing this, Lingyu Princess was startled at first, but quickly reacted, her expression changing.
"Oh no, something's happened!"
Such a situation appearing on the jade pendant indicated that Shi Po was warning her.
Clearly, there might be some dangerous change on Butterfly Island.
Lin Sheng, who was beside her, saw this scene, his eyes slightly moving. He tossed the Spirit Beast aside and said seriously,
"In that case, let's leave here first."
"Okay."
Lingyu nodded solemnly.
For Shi Po to issue a warning meant there was indeed a danger they couldn't handle.
Naturally, they couldn't continue to stay on Butterfly Island.
The two did not hesitate and immediately sped back the way they came, but they had only gone a short distance.
Shi Po's hunched figure had already appeared before them.
At this moment, Shi Po's aura was quite chaotic, and her clothes were torn in many places, clearly having experienced a fierce battle.
"Shi Po, what happened to you!?"
Seeing Shi Po suddenly appear before her, Lingyu was startled and quickly asked.
"This old one is fine. It's good that you, Princess, are fine."
After seeing Lingyu Princess and Lin Sheng, Shi Po visibly relaxed a lot, letting out a long sigh of relief.
"What exactly happened, Shi Po? Why are you in such a state!?"
Lingyu couldn't help but press for answers.
Shi Po then quickly recounted the events to the two of them.
"A Grandmaster expert wanted to harm us!?"
Lingyu was shocked, her face full of surprise as she spoke.
"That's right. If this old one is not mistaken, their target should be you, Princess."
Shi Po said in a deep voice, then frowned halfway through, asking with some doubt,
"But Princess, are you sure you didn't see anyone?"
"We were in the forest the whole time and didn't notice anyone."
Lingyu Princess said seriously.
"Strange, this is not the place to talk. Let's leave here as soon as possible."
Shi Po felt even more confused, but she didn't press further, leading the two back to the ship.
At the same time, outside Butterfly Island.
A black-clothed figure removed the mask from his face, his expression uncertain as he looked at the sea serpent jade pendant in his hand, which showed no reaction.
"What's going on? There's no reaction at all. What exactly happened!?"
This person was precisely the masked Grandmaster who had tangled with Shi Po earlier.
Sea King Sect Elder Meng Changquan.
According to the plan, after delaying Shi Po for a quarter of an hour, he found an opportunity to withdraw.
However, at this moment on the sea, not only did he not see Moyunzi and the others, but even the communication jade pendant was unresponsive.
He furrowed his brows, his gaze fixed on the military warship moving away from the island. Soon, he seemed to realize something, his expression changing. Without any hesitation, he immediately plunged into the sea and disappeared.
On the deck of the warship, Lin Sheng retracted his gaze, a hint of regret on his face.
"Did he run away!? He's quite alert. What a pity..."
With his perception, especially at sea, his senses were even stronger than on land.
Just now, he had felt a faint sense of being spied upon, but it quickly disappeared.
Lin Sheng narrowed his eyes, as if considering something, then quickly shook his head slightly.
"Forget it. Even if I wanted to chase a Grandmaster's methods, I might not be able to catch him."
From Shi Po's words, he already knew that the Sea King Sect had another Grandmaster present this time, so the owner of the gaze just now should have been him.
It was just a pity that there was no opportunity to keep him.
He did not reveal to Shi Po that these people were from the Sea King Sect.
Firstly, the death of a Grandmaster and a Sect Young Lord would definitely be a huge blow to the Sea King Sect.
As the culprit, if the news leaked out, he knew without a doubt that he would suffer retaliation from the Sea King Sect.
Although with his current strength, ordinary Grandmasters could no longer do anything to him, the Sea King Sect, after all, had a Three Realms Grandmaster. He naturally wouldn't do something that would bring trouble upon himself.
Moreover, using Bones Transformation to kill a Grandmaster was still somewhat shocking. It was better not to expose it if possible.
What's more, even if he told everyone about this, without evidence, he might not truly be able to do anything to the Sea King Sect, especially since the front-line war was raging.
Of course, he wouldn't do nothing. After returning to Wanghai City, he would write a letter and send it to Jushi City, informing Hu Yan Zhuo or that Military God about this matter.
How to handle it would be up to the military.
Inside the cabin.
"Shi Po, even Grandmaster experts were dispatched. What exactly were these people after?"
Both Lingyu Princess and Shi Po were somewhat puzzled, feeling a bit confused about the attack they had encountered.
"Shi Po, did you discern anything from your confrontation with that Grandmaster expert?"
Shi Po shook her head slightly.
"That person was very well hidden, and their combat power was probably even above mine. Moreover, they seemed to have taken a Medicinal Pill that concealed their aura, or used a secret technique, making it difficult to discern anything in a short time."
"But no matter what, since this has already happened, Dongzhou is no longer safe. After returning to Wanghai City, it would be best for you, Princess, to return directly to the imperial city with this old one."
"Okay."
Lingyu Princess nodded.
She thought of Lin Sheng, who had suddenly suggested going hunting at the waterfall on the island. A thought inexplicably popped into her mind: were the people originally ambushing on the island, preparing to attack, dealt with by Lin Sheng? But Lingyu Princess quickly shook her head, dismissing this idea.
After all, Lin Sheng hadn't been gone for long, at most a quarter of an hour at the Gong Residence. What could he truly do in such a short time?
Moreover, even Grandmaster-level Martial Artists were dispatched. If there truly was an ambush, they would definitely not be weak, and it would be impossible for there to be no movement at all.
This thought merely flashed through her mind and was then cast aside.
The warship's speed was extremely fast, much faster than when they came, and in just over an hour, they had already reached the dock.
At this moment, several military generals were already waiting at the dock, apparently having received the news in advance and waiting there to provide escort.
Thus, under the protection of several military guards, Lin Sheng followed Lingyu Princess back to Wanghai City.
*
*
Northern Yan, East Sea Prefecture, in a dense mountain forest.
A tall, strong figure was meditating with his eyes closed.
The powerful force belonging to a Grandmaster-level expert subtly emerged beside him, forming phantom images of a tiger and an elephant, lifelike, as if two powerful Spirit Beasts were circling him.
Not long after, the strong figure's eyes suddenly opened, and the tiger and elephant circling him became even more ferocious and vicious. He didn't even lift his head, saying faintly,
"Since you're here, how long do you plan to wait?"
As his voice fell, a light laugh echoed from the forest.
In an instant, two figures had appeared on either side of him, subtly surrounding him.
Of the two figures, one was dressed in a moon-white monk's robe, with a delicate and fair face, a young monk with red lips and white teeth.
The other was entirely concealed beneath black clothes, exuding a strange, snake-like aura.
"Donor Luo Yin, you Dark Star rats have hidden for so long, have you finally couldn't help but jump out? The last time you escaped, I wonder if you'll have that chance again?"
The young monk clasped his hands together in a Buddhist salute and said with a faint smile.
"Xiang Kong, is it meaningful to say such nonsense? If it weren't for that venomous snake next to you, would you dare to fight Luo with me to the death?"
Luo Yin's square-shaped eyelids lifted slightly, and he spoke indifferently.
Hearing this, Xiang Kong's eyes narrowed slightly, the smile on his face vanished, and his voice became colder.
After learning that Luo Yin had already entered the Second Realm Grandmaster, he had fought him several times.
Although he was sixty years older than the other party, he had to admit that his strength was already above his.
"Hmph, Donor Luo Yin's murderous intent is too strong. It seems he will have to descend to the eighteen layers of Hell in the future."
Xiang Kong's voice also turned cold at this moment, and he slowly spoke.
"Enough nonsense. Since you're here, then Luo will send you to meet your Buddha first!"
Luo Yin clearly had no more patience.
The next moment, the strong figure shot out like a cannonball. Facing two Grandmasters of the same level, he not only did not retreat but actively launched an attack.
"How dare you!"
Seeing this, Xiang Kong snorted coldly.
He and the black-robed figure beside him transformed into two streaks of light, one black and one white, and met the attack.
Soon, earth-shattering explosions continuously rang out from within the mountain forest.
At the same time, at the border of East Sea Prefecture.
More than a dozen carriages were already speeding towards beyond the border.
"Hurry! Master has attracted the attention of the imperial army. Take this opportunity to cross the border. Once we're past the border and into the desert, we'll basically be safe!"
In the foremost carriage, a strong figure dressed in a straw rain cape spoke solemnly to those behind him.
It was Luo Lie, Luo Yin's eldest Disciple.
Behind him were Yuan Fang and Gong Wei, and besides them, there were also Yi Ye Qing and several other Blazing Star Envoys from the Fulong City stronghold.
"The East Sea Prefecture is guarded by two imperial Grandmasters. Can Master handle them alone? What's more, the injuries from the last major battle haven't fully recovered."
Yuan Fang's brows furrowed slightly, a hint of worry on his face.
Although he had great confidence in Luo Yin, facing two Second Realm Grandmasters simultaneously, especially with unhealed injuries, he couldn't help but worry for his Master.
"Don't worry. Master's Realm is not as simple as it looks. He's much stronger than you and I imagine. What's more, Junior Brother Yuan, you should be clearest about Master's Dao of Medicinal Pill attainment. He has already fully recovered, and the organization has arranged for people to meet us. Nothing will happen."
Luo Lie, however, shook his head slightly and said seriously.
"Is that so? It's good that arrangements have been made."
Hearing this, Yuan Fang finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Gong Wei, who was beside him, also felt much more relieved.
"Alright, we're almost at the border pass. Although most of the experts have gone to encircle Master, there are still many experts among the remaining soldiers. When we engage, we need to be quick. We must get away from the border pass before those military experts return."
Luo Lie looked at the pass city that had appeared in his sight and earnestly instructed with a grave expression.
During this period, led by Long Mo Xiahou Qi, 18 Grandmaster experts within Northern Yan were gathered to encircle Dark Star.
Large and small battles erupted more than a dozen times, and Dark Star suffered significant losses, with many strongholds destroyed.
Many high-ranking officials at the Blazing Star Envoy level were killed by the imperial court. Of course, in response, Dark Star also assassinated several high-ranking imperial officials.
This only further enraged the Northern Yan imperial court, leading to an even more frantic encirclement.
Originally, at such a critical juncture, they should not risk encirclement to transport red crystal stones.
However, due to the tense front-line war, Southern Qi's continuous urging had reached a point where they had no choice but to act.
So they could only take the risk and choose this time to transport the red crystal stones.
"Okay."
All the Dark Star experts responded in unison.
The carriages' speed increased by a few points.
A quarter of an hour later, they had already reached the pass city.
This pass city was named Yan Pass.
Although not as important as Yu Hai Pass, the number of soldiers stationed there was not small.
Noticing the approaching convoy at this moment, the city guards immediately ordered them to stop for inspection.
However, the convoy showed no intention of slowing down; instead, it sped up. Seeing this, the city guards immediately prepared to blow the horn to alert, and at the same time, quickly lowered the city gate.
But before the horn could be blown, streaks of strong wind had already shot out.
Killing more than a dozen city guards.
"Move!"
In front of the convoy, several figures rapidly approached.
It was Luo Lie and the others, quickly slaughtering all the city gate guards.
The convoy entered the city without any obstruction.
Soon, explosions and roars continuously echoed from within the city.
A quarter of an hour later.
With a muffled elephant trumpeting sound, the heavy city gate on the other side collapsed with a crash.
More than a dozen carriages galloped out.
Behind the carriages, Luo Lie, Yi Ye Qing, and others were covered in blood. After killing all the obstructing soldiers, they left without looking back.
Inside the pass city.
On top of the highest pavilion.
A figure dressed in red, with a delicate face, neither male nor female, lightly twirled a strand of hair, watching the group quickly depart after killing a large number of soldiers, a playful smile curling at the corner of their mouth.
"Xiang Kong that bald donkey was right, these rats really couldn't sit still."
The red-clothed figure muttered softly to themselves, then took a step, like a light, shimmering firefly, stepping through the Void Realm.
Their steps seemed slow, but each step covered hundreds of meters, and they soon disappeared into the pass city.