Chapter 528: Chapter 528: Returning to the Mountain

A small wooden puppet clung to the underside of Yuan Chu’s Flying Ship.

As a great hand of golden light slapped down, the wooden puppet flew out. Facing downward, it raised its hand and swung a wooden sword.

A blindingly white sword light flashed, so bright one could not open their eyes.

The attacking great hand fractured and swiftly retracted, yet it still couldn’t escape being sliced apart. The sword light shot past after cutting through the palm.

Golden light surged over the great hand, forming a needle and thread, attempting to stitch the wound shut.

Just as it was half-stitched, the golden light suddenly froze, and both halves of the hand fell and dissipated.

Bai Mo and the others opened their eyes and could see the scar the sword light had left across the mountains and rivers below.

A disciple beckoned, calling the wooden puppet back to his hand. He inspected it before putting it away.

"Our grandmaster’s sword light has been used. The rest is up to you, Senior Brothers."

The group continued their return journey.

Meanwhile, below, in a large temple nestled in the mountains, a divine statue with half a palm missing lay toppled on the ground.

The temple’s priest and a group of Cultivators scrambled frantically, trying to right the statue, but they couldn’t budge it in the slightest.

Someone, overcome with anxiety, knelt before the statue and kowtowed nonstop. The scene was pure chaos.

As the Flying Ship sped away, Bai Mo retracted his gaze and looked at Youling beside him.

"What are you doing?"

The young man was scribbling and drawing on a map, making several marks. Hearing the question, he held up the map.

"That Divine Being from just now was wounded by our grandmaster’s sword light, so its aura must be at a low ebb."

"I’m recording it, so if someone from the sect comes this way, they can easily take care of it."

Before his words had faded, another disciple cast a fishing net from the Flying Ship. The net expanded in the wind, soon covering an area of over ten mu.

Its mesh was fine, and it descended from above, enveloping a swarm of demonic insects that flew in like a dark cloud.

The black cloud roiled as the demonic insects within devoured one another, finally giving birth to a massive insect with sixteen legs and four pincers, a thousand feathered wings beating on its back.

The giant insect opened its maw and shrieked, sending out sound waves like a tidal wave.

The disciples’ faces paled. They grew dizzy and light-headed, their chests tight, and they felt the urge to vomit.

"It’s a demonic insect raised by a Divine Being! Hurry, let’s go!"

Although the fishing net was thin, it pressed down on the great insect, forcing it toward the ground.

The Flying Ship shot past. A disciple looked back and cried out in alarm:

"Senior Brother, your net!"

The disciple who had cast the net clutched his head, which felt like it was splitting apart. He gritted his teeth and said:

"Let it go! Just consider it in someone else’s safekeeping for a few days!"

The moment he finished speaking, they saw the great insect behind them spread its sixteen menacing legs. Its mandibles tore violently, ripping an opening in the net.

A tide of insects howled out from its mouthparts, buzzing toward the Flying Ship.

GONG!!

A great bell materialized from thin air. A disciple struck its side with his fist, producing a heavy, deafening sound. The bell’s chime, sharp as a blade, swept over a large swath of the demonic insects.

The disciples used all their tricks in tandem, finally shaking off the insect tide and finding a moment of peace.

Yuan Chu seemed to sense something and turned to see Bai Mo closing an earthenware jar, having collected a few of the insects inside. Beside him, Youling looked on nervously.

"Junior Brother, what are you doing?"

Bai Mo tossed the earthenware jar to Ah Er, who hurriedly cradled it, terrified of dropping it.

The jar was normally used to store precious Spirit Medicines, as it helped preserve their properties. It was extremely valuable and couldn’t be bumped or scratched.

"I just wanted to see what’s different about insects raised by a Divine Being."

Bai Mo explained.

This was a strange quirk of Alchemy Cultivators, so Yuan Chu let him be.

After that, the journey was anything but peaceful.

Divine Beings repeatedly took action, trying to overwhelm them with sheer power. With a great hand outstretched, they could seize the initiative with the Divine Kingdom in their palm.

However, all these Divine Beings wore bronze masks, not showing their true faces.

"Brothers! Now is our time to serve the sect!"

A disciple raised his arm and shouted.

They were all from the inner sect, and they unleashed their techniques and treasures in unison. With brilliant displays of Divine Techniques, they finally managed to carve a path forward.

Suddenly, Yuan Chu’s eyes narrowed, fixed on a squad of Cultivators riding dragon-horses and galloping toward them.

Squinting, he looked toward Bai Mo.

"Junior Brother!"

Bai Mo nodded. With a flicker of his Divine Thought, he manifested three Pill Furnaces. Two of them began refining Spirit Medicines, while he tossed the demonic insects into the third.

Before long, the medicinal power and the insect venom were refined together, complementing and enhancing each other to create a peerless medicinal treasure.

With another flicker of Bai Mo’s Divine Thought, the Pill Furnaces dissipated, leaving behind only a cloud of crimson spiritual smoke. The wind caught it and carried it downwind.

The squad of Cultivators on dragon-horses was moving too fast to turn, and they charged head-first into the spreading spiritual smoke.

The moment they entered the smoke, the medicinal power invaded their bodies. This private army, painstakingly cultivated by a Divine Being, felt a sense of euphoria so intense it was as if their very souls were taking flight.

Seeing that the enemy Cultivators’ Divine Souls were unstable and their eyes were vacant, Yuan Chu quickly looked to Bai Mo.

Bai Mo nodded.

"Do as you please."

Yuan Chu’s eyes lit up. He roared, "Flying swords!"

And so, the flying swords left their sheaths, flashing brightly as they reaped a deadly harvest.

The Cultivators ahead saw the sharp weapons coming and were terrified, but their souls couldn’t return to their bodies. They could only watch helplessly as their own heads flew into the air.

Yuan Chu laughed heartily.

"Cultivators raised by Divine Beings have unstable foundations, after all. What’s the use of having such magnificent mounts?"

The Flying Ship shot up, skimming over the spiritual smoke and scattering the terrified dragon-horses.

Youling looked at the magnificent dragon-horses and suddenly said:

"Within the territory of our Xuandao Sect, there are no Divine Beings who raise dragon-horses."

"A private army like this can’t be hidden. If there were one, the sect would definitely have taken notice."

Bai Mo stared straight ahead, his tone casual.

"Mounts like these can travel a thousand li in a day. It’s nothing unusual. They were probably sent by some distant Divine Being. Pay them no mind."

"We’re about to enter the thousand-li range of the sect gate. Does your Divine Dao Mountain have other arrangements in place?"

Youling was taken aback. He glanced toward Yuan Chu up ahead, who wore a faint look of regret.

Stunned for a moment, he shook his head and said:

"There should be, but I don’t know the details."

Once within a thousand li of the sect gate, summoning the sect’s power would be instantaneous. At that point, no Divine Being could stop them.

Only after entering this range did Bai Mo finally relax.

Duke Mo Hai’s face was filled with chagrin. He cursed angrily.

"Son of a bitch, are they looking down on me!?"

"They only sent this bunch of riff-raff?"

Bai Mo glanced at him, then looked away.

’That’s not entirely fair.’

’Considering the resistance we met, it was obvious many Divine Beings had brought out their entire crews. They just didn’t succeed.’

’As for the few truly powerful ones, they probably had other concerns and didn’t dare to act rashly.’

"Duke Mo Hai, I said we’d invite you into the sect to clear your head, and I don’t go back on my word. Let’s go!"

The stone forest surrounding the sect gate was shrouded in mist, as always.

Yuan Chu dragged Duke Mo Hai off the Flying Ship. Two smiling elders came out and, grabbing Duke Mo Hai by the shoulders from either side, quickly walked him out of sight.

Meanwhile, one of the disciples who had returned with them suddenly shivered, and an illusory figure stepped out of his body.

The figure gradually solidified. Its face was indistinct; looking at it, one could only see the shifting visages of ten thousand beasts.

This person turned and headed back the way they had come.

Bai Mo was slightly stunned.

’It’s Kunwu True Monarch.’

Yuan Chu walked over to Bai Mo and said in a low voice:

"We were hoping to bait a bigger fish, but with him taking action, we should still be able to catch a few of the small fry we met on the road."

"It’s not a bad haul."

Bai Mo nodded.

"So the sect never really considered Duke Mo Hai that important from the start?"

Yuan Chu whispered, "That fellow definitely knows a lot."

"But with his standing, he still wouldn’t have been able to meet the ones from on high."

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