Two days of constant travel is what it took for us to finally reach the sea. The distance that we crossed was by no means small, but compared to the enormity of the country of Zhen Yi, the distance we crossed was not even worth mentioning.
The size of a single country in this world is so big that it's an eye-opener, no wonder the population numbers the millions within small cities and even billions within some great cities. Because the size of the planet is so huge that it can easily support the livelihood of so many people.
Soon as we arrived at the seaside, I warned everyone, "The pursuers will soon take action, let's not give them time and head deep within the sea as soon as we can." I replied and the four of us flew right above the sea without stopping.
It will not take much time for us to arrive at the Deeps. At least half a day's worth of travel, but for the pursuers, once we get into the Deeps it will be harder for them to catch us for whatever reason they followed us for in the first place.
After a couple of hours, the Nascent Soul Cultivators decided to drop their veils and show themselves as they followed after us.
"Junior brothers and sisters, how about you stop, we just want to talk!" one of the Nascent Soul cultivators said as he followed closely behind us..
Without turning my head, "There are four of you there, talk to each other if you just want to talk, I don't have time to waste."
The words I spoke caused Wu Di to chuckle even under what Huang Liu and Hua Yue thought was a dire situation.
Feeling as if his face was slapped, the one that led the Nascent Soul Cultivators howled, "You dare!" and sent a palm print shockwave towards me.
I had no way to block that, not with my cultivation level and especially if I was focused on escape more than battle, so I just pivoted my sword and easily dodged the attack.
"That was rude," I replied. I immediately pulled my pipe, lit it, and with a strong drag, I blew a powerful gaseous substance that spread like a massive cone of poisonous smoke at the cultivators behind us.
The cultivators covered their bodies with Qi to prevent the poison from touching them, but my poison was full of Breath Sealing Poison, which worked wonders in disrupting Qi.
The moment it touched their barriers, the Nascent Soul cultivators slowed down considerably as they couldn't harness worldly Qi anymore. The Breath Sealing Poison is especially potent against Qi barriers as it will constantly grind them, and at the same time stop the user from harnessing any Qi to repair the barriers.
Though it's not enough to kill anyone, it's more than enough to stop their pursuit.
"Poison? You're a poison cultivator?" Hua Yue said in wide eyes.
'Ah, here it comes.'
The two, Huang Liu and Hua Yue immediately took some distance from me.
"Your new friends are a little too skittish," I said to Wu Di.
"Don't worry about it, they are from Plume Blossom Sect, an orthodox sect, and the use of poison is really frowned upon by them." Wu Di explained.
"Poison is what's saving them. Poison Doesn't kill people; People kill people. Maybe, I think I used the idiom wrong, but it doesn't matter," I added, "Because as long as you're allies, my poison will not harm you," I reassured and at the same time proved a point that if they ever tried anything funny, they'll end up in a worse state than Wu Di.
"I heard a few rumors about a poison Cultivator that joined the Demon Realm…he also did some extraordinary feats there, namely he fought against a heavenly tribulation within the Demon Realm…is he the same person?" Huang Liu said.
"Since you have doubts, let me confirm them, yes that was me," I replied. Since he figured it out, and I had no choice but to use poison against the pursuers, there was no need for me to hide my identity anymore.
"Shen Bao was the name," Hua Yue said, "But I heard that he was an old ugly looking man with a disease-riddled body…you don't seem old, ugly or plagued with diseases, so I have my doubts."
"Some people like to keep secrets, it is your choice to believe or not, also, my Breath Sealing Poison isn't permanent, especially against Nascent Soul Cultivators, they'll come after us, faster and stronger and readier than before, so watch out," I said then increased my Poison Qi expenditure to speed up even more.
Not even half an hour later, the Nascent Soul Cultivators were once again behind us.
I threw the rest of the group a pouch full of pills, "Wu Di, take those pills, split them with the rest," I said and slowed down.
"Shen Bao! What are you doing!" Wu Di said.
"I have to stall them; don't worry I won't die. But I can't guarantee your safety if you stay with me. Just head out first."
I saw the hesitation on Wu Di's face, then trust and resolution.
"Let's go, Hua Yue, Huang! Move!" Wu Di called and blazed through the skies on top of his flying sword.
"Good, right now, let's see what these guys are made of, X, it's time for you to shine," I said and immediately X came out from my poison god's book.
He didn't hesitate before lunging forward at the first Nascent Soul cultivator.
"You think a mere puppet can…"
Not before he could even finish his words, X had already bore through the Nascent Soul's stomach with a powerful fist, pulled his spine out then crushed it with his palm.
Yet there was one little problem I didn't account for. I forgot to add a flight mechanism to X, and he immediately fell into the sea since he didn't have a footing.
"Ah shit," I cursed.
The other three cultivators noticed X's fall and immediately decided to capitalize on it, they would have won if I didn't have another plan already waiting.
The moment the three Nascent Soul cultivators were in front of me.
One of them spoke, "Don't kill him, break his legs and hands and keep him alive we need to bring him back to lord Xix Yongfei."
"Oh, so it's that brat who sent you, good to know," I replied, "Y, come out," I said and from within my chest, Y's massive form shot forward.
Lo and behold how the three cultivators looked at the twenty-plus-foot-sized puppet in front of them, and this one could easily fly.
Y pulled each of his two swords at the same time and slashed down, immediately ending the life of two of the cultivators.
The last one pulled a massive shield spat blood on the shield and had it enlarge enough to block the incoming dual sword swing from Y, only to have the shield split like it was butter against a searing hot blade.
The cultivator's life ended before he could even realize what happened, and thankfully Y killed him fast enough because in his hand was a jade that he was about to send out.
I took the jade and broke it. If he had managed to send the jade with the information that he just saw, my secrets would have been exposed, I'm also lucky that these cultivators didn't have that same mugshot thing on them, that took a picture of their killer.
"Y, can you pull X up from the sea?" I asked. And the puppet obliged as he dove down and carried X from the depth of the sea.
Thankfully, we were still not above the Deeps, otherwise, X would have been lost as the sea area in the Deeps is too heavy for someone to swim in, and anything lost it is forever lost.
Y pulled X by the shoulder and flew up towards me while on his other hand were the pouches of the three Nascent Soul Cultivators which was a good added bonus. Once the two puppets were next to me, I called them back into the poison god's book then headed back toward the Deeps.
It took me half an incense stick to reach Wu Di, and the moment I arrived the two others had a look of shock on their faces.
"What? You look like you've seen a ghost," I said.
"How did you escape their pursue?" Hua Yue said.
"Escape? They're dead, also trade secret," I said as I winked at her.
"Brother Shen Bao, you're as amazing as always. It's not every day that a Core Cultivator escapes the hunt of a Nascent Soul cultivator, but you didn't only escape you killed four of them…"
"Monster…" Huang said, though his word was rude, his tone sounded more like amazement than contempt.
"let's keep going, I also know who sent them, and I'm going to give them a reckoning once I'm done," I said.
"Let me guess, Xix Yongfei?" Huang Liu said.
"Good guess, how did you know?" I asked.
"He's the only one stupid enough to challenge the elder of the Black Tower Pavilion and is spoiled enough to think he is entitled to everything in the world. I had doubts at first, but now I'm certain of it, he probably figured out where we were going and sent Nascent Soul cultivators to obtain the map, also I bet he sent them especially to capture you."
"Spot on," I said, "But it doesn't matter now, he shouldn't have any means to track us now. And even if he did, he'll be digging his own grave." I said as we kept moving.
Soon, we reached an area where the seawater was darker than usual and immediately the group stopped.
"Brother Shen Bao. We arrived at the Deeps, from here on, we can no longer use our Flying Treasures. So how about that method of yours you said you had so we can get to the Palace of the Deep?" Wu Di asked.
"Oh, it's simple, we'll use my flying sword," I said.
The three looked at me bewildered as I hadn't understood what I just said.
Then Wu Di immediately had a flash of insight! "Ah! The same as you did in the Demon Lands, you were the only one capable of using a flying treasure!"
"Impressive memory,"
"But there is one issue, Hua Yue said, your sword is a bit small, it's not enough."
"Oh, my sword is not small it's a grower, not a shower."
Almost immediately, the two men began laughing while Hua Yue's face turned as red as a tomato.
Laughing at the dirty joke I had my poison god's sword increase in size from pouring more poison Qi in it.
"Hop on," I said and the three got on my Flying Treasure.
"Palace of the Deep, here we come!" I said and propelled us forward and into the space of the Deeps.