txolops Chapter 29 Exposure
Chapter 29 Exposure
The four piloted their flying magical artifacts, cautiously approaching the demonic territory. Before long, they entered the demonic front line.
A moment later, they slowly landed in a forest, put away their flying artifacts, and concealed their presence.
Duan Ze looked around and said in a low voice, "Now we will split into two groups. Fellow Daoist Zhou and I will be in one group, and Fellow Daoist Li and Fellow Daoist Mu will be in the other. We will explore within a hundred-mile radius in the left and right front directions respectively. If we encounter any demonic cultivators along the way, remember not to disturb them. We will meet here in four hours."
The four quickly reached an agreement, then split into two groups and quietly left in different directions.
Mu Chunfeng and Li Weidong moved through the woods together, their steps light and their expressions vigilant. They walked and stopped frequently, occasionally releasing their divine sense to probe the surroundings. Only after confirming that there was no danger did they continue forward.
Along the way, they encountered two groups of demonic cultivators, but both were at the Qi Refining stage.
Each team consists of ten people, patrolling near the defensive line with wary expressions.
Using concealment talismans and their superb stealth skills, the two quietly bypassed the area and were not discovered.
After walking for a while longer, Li Weidong finally couldn't suppress his doubts and leaned close to Mu Chunfeng, asking in a low voice, "Fellow Daoist Mu, who exactly is this Dong Xuan'er? How could she make us take such a great risk to infiltrate the front lines of the demonic territory to investigate her?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Chunfeng was slightly taken aback and asked in return, "You don't know her identity?"
Li Weidong shook his head and said, "At the time, I only received her portrait and name from my master. I knew nothing else. Moreover, after my master told me about the mission, he told me to come directly to meet him. I didn't have a chance to ask anyone else."
Mu Chunfeng immediately understood the reason—it seemed that her senior sister Hong Fu was afraid of the news being leaked, so she deliberately concealed Dong Xuan'er's identity and only told her the core information.
A thought struck him, and he quickly pressed Li Weidong for an answer: "Were the other two fellow Daoists also personally appointed by their respective sect's Core Formation elders?"
Li Weidong pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's true. I overheard my master casually mention that those who came to carry out this mission were all elite disciples of the Core Formation elders from various sects, and their cultivation levels were all in the late Foundation Establishment stage."
Upon learning of this, Mu Chunfeng immediately became alert—since these were disciples personally appointed by the Core Formation elders of various sects, the elders of Spirit Beast Mountain had most likely already leaked information about this mission to the Demonic Path.
In this way, the four of them must be in a very dangerous situation, and they may have already fallen into the ambush of the demonic path.
Mu Chunfeng immediately stopped in his tracks, his expression solemn.
Seeing this, Li Weidong looked puzzled and was about to ask why they had stopped when Mu Chunfeng suddenly shouted, "Run! There's an ambush!"
Before he finished speaking, regardless of whether Li Weidong believed him or not, he turned and ran, quickly heading towards the outer perimeter.
Although Li Weidong was full of doubts and didn't know why Mu Chunfeng suddenly said there was an ambush, he saw that Mu Chunfeng's expression was urgent and he didn't seem to be faking it, so he didn't dare to ask any more questions and quickly followed Mu Chunfeng's figure.
As he ran, he whispered as he chased after him, "Fellow Daoist Mu, what exactly happened? Where was the ambush? I didn't sense a thing!"
Without turning her head, Mu Chunfeng said coldly, "If you believe me, run for your life and don't ask any more questions!"
He couldn't be completely sure if there was an ambush at this moment, but the matter was of great importance, and he dared not gamble—if he lost, he would face utter ruin.
Seeing that he couldn't get the reason, Li Weidong had no choice but to give up and could only try his best to follow Mu Chunfeng in the retreat.
He pondered in his heart that even if there was no ambush, if he retreated with Mu Chunfeng, he would have a reason to shirk responsibility even if Duan Ze and the other man blamed him; but if there really was an ambush, staying behind alone would surely lead to his death.
Just then, a streak of crimson flame suddenly pierced the sky, exploding with a deafening roar high in the air, transforming into a blinding red light that lingered for a long time.
Upon seeing this, Li Weidong's expression changed drastically, and he couldn't help but exclaim in shock, "This is the demonic path's rallying order! Oh no, we've been discovered after all!"
Mu Chunfeng's heart sank, and he became 100% certain of his guess—Zhou Hua, or rather the elders of Spirit Beast Mountain, must have sold their whereabouts to the demonic path!
Suddenly, countless demonic cultivators appeared in the air, each riding a flying artifact, exuding a fierce aura, and rapidly searching the direction Mu Chunfeng and his companion had just traveled. Behind them, on the path they had come from, another group of demonic cultivators was also rapidly approaching, forming an encirclement.
Mu Chunfeng immediately stopped Li Weidong and said urgently, "We can't keep running in a straight line like this, or they'll catch up with us sooner or later. Come with me!"
After saying that, he led Li Weidong to the foot of a mountain, took out a magic weapon, and used all his spiritual power to quickly carve out a shallow hole that the two of them could crawl into.
After the two crawled into the shallow cave, Mu Chunfeng quickly blocked the entrance with pebbles. Then, he took out two concealment talismans from his storage bag, handed one to Li Weidong, and said in a deep voice, "Quickly stick this on your body and conceal all your aura. Do not release your divine sense to probe us. Once we are discovered, we will have no way to escape!"
Li Weidong quickly took the concealing talisman, carefully affixed it to his body, and obediently concealed his aura.
Mu Chunfeng secretly released his divine sense—his divine sense was now comparable to that of a mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, and unless a Core Formation cultivator came in person, no one could detect it.
He manipulated his divine sense, carefully observing the movements of the demonic cultivators around him. He saw more and more demonic cultivators gathering within a radius of twenty miles, searching and investigating carefully.
In the air, demonic disciples also patrolled back and forth in flying magical artifacts.
Time passed slowly, and half an hour later, Mu Chunfeng's divine sense suddenly detected that three disciples of the Yuling Sect dressed in green were rushing towards them from a distance, and beside them was Zhou Hua, who had just carried out the mission with them!
When the four of them arrived at a place about ten miles away from where Mu Chunfeng was hiding, Zhou Hua stopped and patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist with one hand. He took out a small mouse that was small in size and looked like a squirrel.
Then, Zhou Hua whispered an order to the mouse. The mouse sniffed Zhou Hua's scent, then scurried to the ground, sniffed around for a moment, and after determining the direction, it rushed straight towards the shallow hole where Mu Chunfeng was hiding.
"Oh no!" Mu Chunfeng thought to himself, "This is bad!" He usually only cared about hiding his own aura, but he neglected the aspect of scent. He didn't expect Zhou Hua to have brought a spirit beast that could track scents!
Now that things have come to this, there is no turning back. Mu Chunfeng hardened her heart, knowing that she could no longer hesitate.
He quickly explained the situation to Li Weidong beside him, and the two immediately decided to split up and escape. It was better for one of them to escape than for both of them to be captured.
The two quickly cleared away the rubble at the cave entrance and rushed out of the shallow cave. Mu Chunfeng took out the Cloud Piercing Shuttle without hesitation, stepped on it, and fully activated the spiritual power in his body. The Cloud Piercing Shuttle transformed into a stream of light and sped towards the direction of the Seven Sects' base. Li Weidong, on the other hand, changed direction and flew to the other side.
At this moment, some of the demonic cultivators who were scouting nearby discovered the two's whereabouts. They immediately turned around and surrounded the two, while sending out bursts of fire signals.
Mu Chunfeng casually tossed out more than a dozen intermediate-level talismans, and a series of loud bangs were accompanied by flames that engulfed all the cultivators.
He dared not linger for a moment, and focused all his efforts on controlling the Cloud Shuttle as it sped away.
At this moment, he sensed with his divine sense that a group of demonic cultivators were patrolling not far ahead.
Among them were three Foundation Establishment cultivators and seven Qi Refining cultivators.
Although they were quite far away, they still noticed the commotion and were flying towards Mu Chunfeng's direction.
Mu Chunfeng gritted his teeth and once again took out five intermediate-level talismans from his storage bag without hesitation, holding them tightly in his hand.
As they drew closer and came into view, Mu Chunfeng flicked his fingertips, activating the five talismans in his hand simultaneously and shooting them toward the ten demonic cultivators.
"Boom—"
A tremendous explosion rang out, flames shot into the sky, and shockwaves swept in all directions, instantly engulfing the ten demonic cultivators.
Although Mu Chunfeng's actions would create a huge commotion and attract the attention of all the demonic cultivators around him, he had no choice but to do so in order to save time.
He knew that the pursuers behind him would be endless, and only by escaping the demonic territory as soon as possible could he save his life.