"As for that intruder, Celestial God Baizhan also attempted to cast a karmic thread upon him, but without success. We deduce this may be related to the Dafang Pot."
The moment the three words "Dafang Pot" were uttered, silence instantly enveloped the hall.
Chief Duyun Emissary felt a stifling weight in his chest. Only after coughing hard twice could he continue, "Furthermore, while Qingyang and Heavenly Venerable Baizhan were pursuing the intruder, they also discovered that he used origin power."
Everyone was stunned. "What?"
"Though it was only for a fleeting instant, National Preceptor Qingyang sensed the presence of origin power, and it was quite dense," Chief Duyun Emissary added. "Heavenly Venerable Baizhan confirmed this as well."
National Preceptor Qingyang had dealt with origin power her entire life; her verification was virtually infallible.
"Are you saying the intruder is hiding within the royal court and the military—perhaps even shielded by an official post?" The Demon Emperor's fury flared. "Indeed, it is not impossible. Not impossible at all!"
Thinking about it now, the information regarding the formation core and the Dafang Pot was top secret. How could it have been stolen so easily by an outsider?
The existence of an insider was the most logical explanation.
Bai Ziqi chimed in, "Dense clouds have blanketed the sky these past few days, yet the intruder could still accurately calculate the location of the formation core!"
"Being able to calculate the position of the formation core means he understands the connection between the Tianluo Star and the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation, and knows how to calculate the angles of the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation. Originally, not even our own officials checked it daily—it relied entirely on the star chart on the spider molt to operate autonomously!" the Demon Emperor said in a deep voice. "In all of Lingxu City, how many people know this secret and possess such ability?"
Immediately, several trusted ministers reeled off four or five names, and Nie Xiaolou, the head of Tongshan Academy, was among those named.
The Demon Emperor closed his eyes, a suffocating tightness in his chest.
Even at a time like this, they still could not let go of their petty self-interest... Weren't they just itching to investigate someone recommended by National Preceptor Qingyang?
Yet the Demon Emperor had no energy to rebuke them, saying only, "Investigate. Investigate them all!"
He pointed at the Map of Mountains and Rivers. "Since the karmic thread has locked in place, send Yuan Shou to pursue!"
Capture them first; if they cannot be caught... conduct a thorough investigation!
Minister of Justice Huo Ji'an cleared his throat softly. "General Yuan was heavily wounded three shichen ago while doing his utmost to stop the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth."
"Then send Fan Long and Jinjiao! The two of them are still alive and well, aren't they?"
"Commander Fan was ambushed by the immortal. His physical body was destroyed, leaving only his divine soul lingering."
Right, that had already been reported earlier. The Demon Emperor fell silent for a moment before saying, "Do everything possible to preserve him. Have Jinjiao and Shuangye pursue the intruder."
"Yes!"
"Though the spider demon took the immortal molt, it cannot necessarily unleash its full power, let alone maintain control over it for long. Calling it half-immortal strength is giving it far too much credit. Celestial God Baizhan and National Preceptor Qingyang have already witnessed this firsthand," the Demon Emperor said coldly. "Bring it back! Bring back whoever devastated Mount Xu and stole the divine artifact! I will reduce his flesh and blood to ash, piece by piece!"
Blood-red characters also surfaced upon the Celestial Book:
"Capture them immediately. No failure will be tolerated!"
With both celestial god and emperor enraged, the assembly sank to their knees across the hall floor.
Standing to the side, Bai Ziqi lowered his head as well, sighing inwardly.
He understood the weight pressing upon the Emperor and the Heavenly Palace. Mount Xu and Lingxu City had nearly been turned upside down, and countless eyes inside and outside the city were staring fixedly at the royal court and the Heavenly Palace, waiting to see when the intruders would be brought to justice.
For the intruders to run amok in the Heavenly Palace and get away scot-free—such a slap in the face was an insult neither the celestial gods nor the Demon Emperor could abide!
Not for a single instant.
The intruders had to be dragged back to the Heavenly Palace right away, at once. The humiliation suffered by the gods and the surging fury of the Emperor could only be washed clean in the intruders' blood!
Bai Ziqi could easily imagine what an uproar must be raging among the gods on the other side in the Divine Realm.
Yet regarding this hunt, he had a premonition that it would not end well.
The intruder was simply too bizarre. Be it appearance, identity, background, or the way the party escaped from Mount Xu, the Heavenly Palace knew nothing at all.
Up to this point, they knew absolutely nothing about their enemy.
This truly was not a good omen.
Yet he could not, dared not, speak it aloud.
Just where had things gone wrong? Why had the peace maintained in the imperial capital for six hundred years been shattered in a single day?
Why could a lone individual, acting on his own, throw the Heavenly Palace into such complete turmoil?
Just then, royal court officials hurried in to report the damages across Lingxu City to the Demon Emperor.
And this was merely a preliminary assessment.
The divine attendants of the Heavenly Palace could not help taking several steps back, anticipating that the Emperor would soon erupt in fury once more.
In the end, his wrath would inevitably translate into a storm of blood across Lingxu City.
Yet the Emperor was so incensed he laughed instead, chuckling coldly twice. "Lingshan! Good, very good! After lying dormant for so long, has it finally grown impatient?"
During the turmoil in Lingxu City, the colossal landscape painting that had appeared in midair had been an arrogant signal sent by their adversary:
That's right, we did this!
The spider demon suddenly woke the two men. "Get up, quickly! Someone's coming!"
She had placed numerous watchers within ten li of the mountain cave, and had just received word that outsiders were approaching.
He Lingchuan snapped awake with a start, while Dong Rui was already leaping to his feet. "Let's go!"
This place was out in the middle of nowhere, miles from any village or inn, without a soul in sight. How had people suddenly arrived while they were sleeping?
Nine chances out of ten, it was pursuers.
The two men and one spider did not even entertain the thought of scouting things out. They jumped into the Mud Palace, steered the snail-toad, and fled Mount Pei without looking back.
Only then did Zhu Daniang speak: "My lookouts saw two contingents climbing the mountain from the east and south sides of Mount Pei, totaling two to three thousand troops. The great demons leading them were very sharp—my scouts only looked at them twice before they sensed something. In addition, birds were circling overhead without pause, likely dispatched by them as well." Fortunately, the campfire had been put out the night before.
"I also saw them deploying a large-scale tactical formation around Mount Pei, probably to bar escape arts and keep us from fleeing."
Fortunately, they had bolted before the formation could take shape.
Dong Rui could not help asking, "Fang Canran doesn't know where we went, does he?"
He Lingchuan shook his head. "You chose this spot. How could Fang Canran know?"
"Uh..." All three felt their hearts sink.
The overnight shelter chosen by the snail-toad had been completely random, yet Lingxu City had still tracked them down.
What did that mean?
Their opponents possessed the means to track them. If there was no range limit, they would not be safe even if they fled to the ends of the earth.
After all, how could one constantly stay on guard day in and day out?
Dong Rui cleared his throat and stole glances at his two companions. "Who are they tracking?"
It could not possibly be him, could it? He had never even set foot inside Mount Xu!
If Lingxu City was after these two fellows, he had better part ways with them.
He Lingchuan saw right through his petty calculations. Just as he was about to speak, the snail-toad surfaced aboveground.
Displeased, Zhu Daniang took two steps toward Dong Rui. "What are you doing?"
Was this scoundrel planning to ditch them and run off on his own?
"What do you mean, 'what am I doing'?" Dong Rui retorted in annoyance. "The rain belt ends just ahead! The soil is dry, and the snail-toad can't move through it!"
The premise that allowed the snail-toad to travel hundreds of li freely was that the earth had to be exceedingly moist. In bone-dry soil, it could manage a few li at most.
Zhu Daniang looked up. Sure enough, they had temporarily outrun the rain belt. Not a single drop of rain fell on the ground, and the sky was completely cloudless.
The warm winter sun shone down on them, dispelling the darkness of the underground.
But for them, this was hardly good news.
With pursuers on their heels, when they should have been fleeing thousands of li away, the snail-toad had ground to a halt.
Their enemies could spread drag nets and set up roadblocks. Relying purely on their own two legs, could they possibly outrun Lingxu City's pursuit?
Moreover, after the battle at Mount Xu, Zhu Daniang was utterly exhausted, and the immortal molt was already a heavy burden to her. Could she still drive the immortal molt to sprint thousands of li?
He Lingchuan frowned, but the next second, as he turned his gaze toward Zhu Daniang, his eyes suddenly froze.
Zhu Daniang had not paid it any mind at first, but the lad was staring at her for an awfully long time—long enough to pique her curiosity.
"What are you looking at?"
Even veiled in morning mist and sunlight, a burrow spider was still a burrow spider; she would not suddenly turn into a ravishing maiden.
Why was he looking at her with such scrutinizing, astonished eyes?
"There's a thread behind your head. A golden thread." He Lingchuan reached out to brush it, but his fingertips passed right through the golden thread without any sensation of substance.
Was this thread illusory? "Can't you see it yourself?"
Zhu Daniang had an eye on the back of her head, giving her an angle of vision of nearly two hundred and seventy degrees with virtually no blind spots.
Yet she said, "I don't see anything."
"Uh..." He Lingchuan pointed beneath a tree. "Come over here."
Beneath the shade of the tree, there was no sunlight.
Zhu Daniang walked over, and the golden thread behind her head vanished.
"It seems this golden thread can only be seen in sunlight."
Zhu Daniang stepped back into the sunlight. He Lingchuan carefully examined the golden thread and saw it extending infinitely backward, as if having no end.
Judging by its direction, it seemed to come from Mount Xu, or perhaps from the sky.
"Do you feel any discomfort?" He Lingchuan rubbed his chin. "You are well-traveled and experienced. Do you know what this is?"
Zhu Daniang was also lost in thought. Only after a while did she reply, "Perhaps it is a tracking spell Baizhantian secretly planted on me? Celestial gods still possess some divine abilities that aren't easily purged."
Dong Rui walked over to see what was going on, squinting for quite a while. "I don't see anything at all. You're saying a celestial god placed a divine ability on Zhu Daniang that exposes our whereabouts? Can it be removed?"
If it could not be removed, he would have to call it quits and split from Zhu Daniang.
It was merely light, intangible and without substance. In plain terms, a celestial god had placed a marker on Zhu Daniang. How could one remove it? Just as He Lingchuan was about to shake his head, he suddenly remembered something.
When Shao Jian first arrived at Panlong City, General Red—or rather, Mitian—had also made him stand in the sun and used divine arts to reveal a black thread upon his shoulder.
Though that one was a black thread and the one on Zhu Daniang was a golden thread, their essence had to be much the same, right?
What had Mitian said back then?
Was it called a thread of fate, or a karmic thread?
She had effortlessly severed that black thread and said that Shao Jian had been targeted by some wild god. That single pinch had severed the passive connection between Shao Jian and the wild god, leaving it unable to track him any longer.
Was Zhu Daniang in the exact same predicament now?
As expected of a celestial god—what insidious methods. They had tried everything to escape Mount Xu, yet had not escaped the gaze of the celestial gods. As long as the thread of fate remained unbroken, even if they fled to the ends of the earth, the Heavenly Palace could dispatch forces to track them down.
Were they really supposed to part ways with Zhu Daniang, leaving the burden for her to carry alone?
Their side had no celestial god capable of severing the thread.
Were they truly out of options?
To fall short when so close to the finish line—he refused to let their efforts go to waste at the very last step.
Chapter 710