Chapter 258 - 256: Yan Kingdom (Part 1)

But the Yan Kingdom is at least a hundred miles away from Ping’an Village, and who knows how many strange and terrifying demons lie along the way.This world across the Longjiang River is much more dangerous than Wangjiang.

Aside from anything else, just the Wasp Demon they encountered earlier was enough to give everyone a hard time.

With Shi Laotou’s injury not yet healed, Lou Yi decisively took on the task.

"Uncle, stay home and recuperate, I’ll take care of everything for the siblings," Lou Yi planned internally.

He decided to first escort Shi Caifeng and Shi Qingde to the True Blood Sect, and then head to the Corpse-Driving Sect on a quest for immortality.

Shi Laotou, upon hearing this, was at ease.

He knew Lou Yi’s capabilities, far stronger than his own, and with him escorting, it was definitely safer than going alone.

Everyone was happy for the encounter that Shi Caifeng and Shi Qingde would have.

Among the crowd, Jia Hong remained quietly in the corner, not saying a word.

She lowered her head with an expressionless face, but there was a deep jealousy and resentment in her eyes.

In the days that followed, the Wangjiang Sect was busy preparing for the departure of the Shi siblings.

Clothing, provisions, gold and silver, maps, swift steeds as means of transport, and some talisman paper that even martial artists could use, were gifted by Immortal Master Xia.

On the morning Lou Yi and the others planned to set out, the urgent voice of Sang Peng rang out at the gate of the Wangjiang Sect.

"Fairy Jia, is Fairy Jia here?"

"What’s happened?" Lou Yi stepped out and found Sang Peng in a panic.

"Sigh, I should never have revealed the location to her..." Sang Peng lamented with regret.

Beside him stood his uncle, Sang Sheng, his face gloomy with a burning anger in his eyes.

"The Immortal Ascension Order passed down in my family is gone!" Sang Sheng shouted angrily.

’The Sang Family also has an Immortal Ascension Order?’ Lou Yi was taken aback upon hearing this.

But he knew the Sang Family’s heritage, reportedly their ancestors were high officials and were the most prominent family in all of Ping’an Village.

"Where’s Jia Hong?" he asked a newly recruited female disciple, who was under Jia Hong’s tutelage.

"Master, she’s not in her room!" The female disciple quickly checked the courtyard and reported back soon.

Thus, Ping’an Village mobilized all its forces to search for Jia Hong.

But Jia Hong seemed to have evaporated into thin air, and no matter how hard they searched, there was no trace.

She had just broken through the Minor Circulation level a few days prior.

A martial artist of the Minor Circulation stage, intentionally concealing their tracks when leaving, is indeed difficult for ordinary people to detect.

The fact was clear, Jia Hong stole the ancestral Immortal Ascension Order from the Sang Family and ran away!

The local forces affiliated with the Sang Family were enraged, almost directly attacking the Wangjiang Sect.

An army of over a hundred martial artists surrounded the Wangjiang Sect’s courtyard, with many archers in place.

Fortunately, the Wangjiang Sect had a strong foundation, boasting four experts equivalent to the Black Skin Level, who stepped forth to intimidate, deterring the Sang Family from acting rashly.

With further mediation from Immortal Master Xia, the conflict was barely suppressed.

But the grudge between both parties was established, and who knows when it might flare up again.

This left Lou Yi, Shi Laotou, Chu Feng, and other Wangjiang Sect leaders quite vexed.

Originally, they had integrated into the local ecosystem quite smoothly, but Jia Hong had carelessly complicated matters.

Truly, it’s like one rotten apple spoiling the whole barrel.

The theft incident involving Jia Hong delayed the originally planned departure date of Shi Caifeng and Shi Qingde by a full five days.

Five days later.

Lou Yi, Shi Caifeng, and Shi Qingde, riding three tall wild horses tamed by the locals, departed Ping’an Village, rushing towards the Yan Kingdom.

Their destination, the immortal sect of the Yan Kingdom, True Blood Sect!

...

The closest major city in the Yan Kingdom, Lin City, is over a hundred miles away from Ping’an Village.

What kind of demons and monsters, dangers and hardships might lie on the path, no one could decipher.

Fortunately, Immortal Master Xia had provided the latest map, with detailed markings of extremely dangerous areas.

Despite Lou Yi and the others following the map’s instructions,

they still encountered an attack by a pack of Wolf Spirits, two attacks by fierce beasts of a monstrous level,

and a giant crocodile over ten zhang long, possibly of demon level, that pursued them for around ten miles.

Midway through their journey, all their horses either perished by accident or were devoured by beasts, leaving them to rely on their legs to continue.

Fortunately, they encountered no further dangers afterward.

When they arrived at Lin City, ten days had passed.

The city wall of Lin City was notably taller than Tai City in Wangjiang County, towering six or seven zhang, built of unknown red and black massive stones.

However, the number of guards on the city wall and at the gate was relatively sparse.

With only about a dozen, standing idly by on both sides, paying no mind to passersby, with no intention of checking anyone.

Lou Yi closely observed and understood the reason.

It turned out that in front of the main road leading to the city gate, there were a dozen or so unique circular patterns outlined with black lines engraved into the ground.

Each time a pedestrian passed by, a white light momentarily flashed on the intricate patterns.

’Is this... an array?’

Having gained much insight after the battle at Tai City, Lou Yi recognized it to be an array carved by cultivators, although its purpose was unknown.

Would it expose them as outsiders, summoning soldiers to capture them?

Shaking his head to clear away this ridiculous notion, Lou Yi led Shi Caifeng and Shi Qingde directly towards the city gate.

Stepping onto the unknown array, the three were somewhat tense, their muscles slightly taut.

Immediately after, they felt a slight warmth in their bodies, and then nothing happened.

Thus, Lou Yi and his companions boldly entered Lin City.

"Black-footed Chicken Spirit, tender meat, when made into soup, it invigorates, keeping you awake for three days and nights! For those wanting to break through a bottleneck, what are you waiting for?"

"Top-grade Blood Fusion Technique, sourced from the confiscated household of Governor Ruan by the court, originally, certainly not a hand-copied or transcribed version!"

"Rare Howling Moon Wolf essence blood, with no side effects, blend it into your body and you might awaken the innate ability to absorb moonlight! Only a hundred gold, just a hundred gold!"

The familiar cacophony greeted them, but unlike Wangjiang, hardly anyone was running small businesses.

Lou Yi and the others felt bewildered by what they heard, sensing an impressive yet incomprehensible greatness, feeling like primitive people.

"You’re not from our Yan Kingdom, are you?"

A grotesque man with a black mole on his chin, also sporting a tuft of hair on it, about thirty years old,

seeing Lou Yi and the others’ reactions, his eyes lit up and he strode over enthusiastically to start his pitch.

"In our Yan Kingdom, thanks to the True Blood Sect, everyone esteems martial prowess."

"Though we can’t have the noble bloodline of the Ancient Human Race like the Immortal Masters,

we can forge different paths, infusing our bodies with the essence blood of powerful demons, refining our bodies to the extent where some may even rival less adept Immortal Masters!"

"I have the essence blood of a third-rank Fire Feather Bird, just one step away from breaking through to a Demon General—truly invaluable. For thirty gold, let’s be friends, how about it? Hey, don’t go, the price is negotiable..."

...