He Lingchuan recalled that when Mitian revealed the black thread on Shao Jian's shoulder, she had used an alms-bowl-shaped artifact; yet when he saw the golden thread on Zhu Daniang, he had not used any tools at all.
Was it because Baizhantian's divine abilities differed, or because He Lingchuan himself was unique?
He had never possessed such an ability in the past.
His heart stirred, and he suddenly drew the Fusheng saber.
A cold glint flashed in his hand. Zhu Daniang's eight legs tightened at once, and she asked warily, "What are you doing?"
"Don't move. Let me try something." He Lingchuan channeled a bit of force, and a sheen of red light swept across Fusheng's blade.
The origin power of the Gale Army—this was the very first time he was testing it in the mortal realm.
He slowly and gently brought the blade close to the golden thread, careful not to cause Zhu Daniang any misunderstanding.
When Fusheng made contact with the golden thread, it remarkably felt like a tangible, physical object, wobbling slightly under the blade's touch. He Lingchuan's mind settled. *It works!*
However, cutting the golden thread was not as clean and effortless as he had imagined. Instead, it was like sawing through steel wire with a small knife—tough yet unyielding.
Even with Fusheng's extreme sharpness, it took over a dozen saw-like strokes to slice completely through it!
Once severed, the golden thread became no different from ordinary thread and soon dissolved away in the bright sunlight.
The karmic thread stealthily planted by the celestial god was thoroughly eradicated!
He Lingchuan could not help laughing heartily, feeling immensely relieved. "All done!"
So Fusheng's "Void Breaker" effect could actually be used like this?
Neither Dong Rui nor Zhu Daniang could see the golden thread, so both were astonished. "You can cut it with a blade?"
"Looks like it." He Lingchuan patted Zhu Daniang—ouch, that was prickly. "It's settled. I believe the celestial god's tracking divine art has been rendered useless."
In the past, the Fusheng saber might not have possessed the ability to sever threads of fate. But do not forget, he had just reclaimed the lid of the Dafang Pot from Mount Xu!
With the pot and its lid reunited, this divine artifact was bound to unlock some wondrous new functions, wasn't it?
He truly wished he could see the expressions on the faces of the celestial god and the Demon Emperor when they realized the thread of fate had been severed.
Having the rug pulled out from under them yet again, they surely hated his guts.
Oh, that was right—they probably didn't even know who he was.
He Lingchuan smiled with even greater relish.
Next, the two of them mounted their beasts and switched to traveling by land.
Dong Rui's ruined face was hidden behind a human-skin mask, so onlookers would not notice anything amiss, but Zhu Daniang's massive size could not be disguised. Knowing that the arrest warrant issued for her by Lingxu City would soon circulate throughout Beijia, He Lingchuan deliberately avoided the main highways and traveled exclusively through steep, rugged mountain ranges to avoid exposing their trail.
The rock sheep strolled with leisurely grace along the treacherous mountain paths, and the bo beast He Lingchuan had spent a fortune purchasing for Dong Rui was not slow either. Now that he had a new face, Dong Rui was eager to show it off outside. Occasionally, he would take a spin around relay stations and nearby villages to restock food and water while gleaning news along the way.
Upon returning, he reported that because they had stirred up a hornet's nest, imperial soldiers were swarming the highways like angry wasps. Checkpoints were conducting draconian inspections, and avian demons circled constantly overhead, searching for suspicious figures like them.
The upheaval at Mount Xu and Lingxu City was like a bomb detonated at the heart of the empire; the shockwaves of the explosion and the fury of Beijia were only just beginning to ripple outward.
The imperial capital had enjoyed six centuries of peace and tranquility; it was high time it tasted the bitterness of turmoil.
Mount Xu was the holy mountain in the hearts of Lingxu City's residents and the citizens of Beijia alike. To suffer such a sudden catastrophe was bound to spawn endless suspicion and doubt.
With public outrage boiling, how much effort would the Heavenly Palace and the royal court have to expend just to suppress it?
Everyone proclaimed that the celestial gods were omnipotent, so why had the celestial gods' own earthly dwelling been razed by fire?
This catastrophe was far deeper, broader, and more thought-provoking in its fallout than either the elixir of immortality case or National Preceptor Qingyang's downfall.
Of course, for a habitual fugitive like Dong Rui, pulling the wool over the soldiers' eyes was child's play.
With a single sentence, Zhu Daniang punctured his smugness: "Has my bounty notice been posted? What rank am I now?"
Dong Rui's smile vanished instantly, and he grumbled begrudgingly, "It's up. You're currently ranked second on the Heaven Ranking of wanted criminals."
A spider demon sabotaging the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation and triggering the volcanic eruption of Tianshu Peak was an unforgivable, heinous atrocity! Thus, she had leaped directly from the Earth Ranking into the Heaven Ranking.
Dong Rui, on the other hand, had merely handled logistics in this operation and never showed his true face. Thanks to Nian Zanli taking the fall for him, he was no longer even a wanted man.
Damn it all—Zhu Daniang had completely stolen the spotlight.
"The third rank on the Heaven Ranking was also updated," Dong Rui added. "Named 'Dufeng.' Probably that immortal avian that unleashed the tornadoes."
He Lingchuan thought the name sounded somewhat familiar. Did these avian demons all love using "feng" in their names?
"Right, that's him," Zhu Daniang said, waving a pointed claw.
"And what about the first rank on the Heaven Ranking?"
"Don't know." Dong Rui pondered for a moment. "None was posted."
He Lingchuan smiled and raised a hand. "The top rank is right here."
Dong Rui scoffed in disbelief. "What cheek! How do you know the seat of prime culprit belongs to you?"
"They don't know who I am, nor do they know my appearance, so how could they issue an arrest warrant?" Did they expect to put a question mark on the portrait? "The fact that they couldn't issue an arrest warrant proves it's me."
Dong Rui clicked his tongue.
"Not convinced?" He Lingchuan ticked off his fingers. "Who procured the intelligence on the formation core?"
The data and details regarding the construction of the formation core were locked in the mind of the retired official Zaifu Kua. If conventional interrogation methods had been used, even silencing him afterward would very likely have alerted the authorities. Once the Heavenly Palace raised its guard, the difficulty of He Lingchuan's mission would have at least doubled.
Yet by employing the nightmare to coax out the intelligence, He Lingchuan had operated without anyone being the wiser; even Zaifu Kua himself retained no memory of it.
"Second, who obtained the hide of the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth and crafted the lightning-ward plaques?"
Dong Rui curled his lip.
Lightning-ward magic artifacts were inherently scarce, and ordinary items could never endure the "Lightning Pool" at the Spirit Gathering Grand Formation's core. Fang Canran had hosted the Dun Garden auctions for years and seen countless rare treasures, yet he had only managed to find a single barely adequate lightning-ward artifact—and was not even certain whether it could be used to infiltrate Mount Xu.
Had the Fu Realm not happened to open, and had the Thunder-Wielding Behemoth not happened to engage in a life-and-death struggle with the Wu beast leader, where on earth could He Lingchuan have scavenged the hide of a Thunder-Wielding Behemoth to make lightning-ward plaques?
This fellow's luck was simply outrageous.
"Third—" He Lingchuan raised a third finger. "Who was it that deduced the position of the Tianluo Star?"
Dong Rui was struck dumb.
This point was undeniably extraordinary; even now, he could not fathom how He Lingchuan had accomplished it.
The Dafang Pot was He Lingchuan's deepest secret. He would never tell anyone that he had enlisted outside help.
"And there are countless other intricacies and details that I won't even bother mentioning." He Lingchuan folded his fingers into a fist, leaving only his thumb pointed at his own chest. "In truth, putting all those coincidences aside, the key factor was the person. If anyone else had tried, every single one of them would have died. But when I took charge, it was guaranteed to succeed."
Zhu Daniang suddenly chimed in, "Fang Canran is quite capable as well, but without you, he couldn't have pulled this off even if he waited another hundred years."
He Lingchuan gave her a thumbs-up. "Auntie, your discernment is impeccable!" And remarkably honest!
Dong Rui wanted to roll his eyes, but unable to find any ground to refute him, he could only glare in silence as He Lingchuan basked in smug triumph.
Chapter 711