171: Chapter 130 Huike! Retreat!

The muffled sound of the tunnel collapsing came from deep underground, like a giant drum being smashed. The lingering echoes bounced back and forth between the rock walls, causing the rubble beneath their feet to jump incessantly.

As Chen Xuan took that step, his sword light had already been unleashed.

Nine streaks of Sword Light Differentiation spread out over the narrow cliff platform, like nine cyan wings unfolding simultaneously, each one carrying the thunderous vibration of Sword Dao Thunder Sound. The golden light in Huike's palm bloomed at this moment, transforming into a thin golden screen of light, like a transparent monk's robe draped around him, blocking all nine streaks of sword light.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Huike took a step back, his bare feet landing on the rubble, the skin of his soles creating a faint rustling sound as it rubbed against the rough rock surface. His expression did not change, but the gentleness in his eyes dimmed slightly, like a water surface that had been ruffled by the wind and then returned to stillness.

"Patron Yun's sword is faster than it was three months ago," he said. The golden light in his palm condensed back into a walnut-sized ball of light, rotating slowly between his fingers. "But speed is not everything."

Chen Xuan did not speak. His second sword strike had already been delivered. This strike had no differentiation, no thunder sound; it was simply a straightforward thrust toward Huike's chest. The tip of the sword traced a straight cyan arc through the air, like a taut string snapping back after being released.

Huike sidestepped to avoid it. His movements were extremely light, like a fallen leaf lifted by the wind, his footwork fluid and leaving no trace. But he did not notice that as Chen Xuan's sword tip grazed past his side, it turned slightly, and an extremely faint wisp of Sword Qi silently probed into his cuff.

That was a tracking mark. An extremely faint wisp of Earth-element magic power adhered deep within the folds of his clothing, like a speck of dust on his sleeve, impossible to detect without careful observation.

Huike raised his hand, and his Flower-Plucking Finger probed out once again. The finger wind was like catkins, spreading silently through the air. Chen Xuan had long been prepared; he blocked with his sword held horizontally in front of him. The finger wind struck the blade and deflected, leaving a shallow indentation on the cliff wall. The two stood three zhang apart, rubble still rolling down continuously, and the ground beneath their feet sinking deeper and deeper.

Huike glanced at the gradually closing crack, his brows twitching slightly. He did not turn back but took half a step backward, his bare feet already treading on the empty air at the edge of the cliff platform. "Patron Yun, your life is tough today. But a tough life may not necessarily last until the very end."

As he finished speaking, the golden ball of light between his fingers suddenly shattered. The moment the golden light exploded, an extremely fierce aura surged out from the fragments of the light ball, like a beast that had been imprisoned for a long time finally breaking its chains, carrying Huike's figure as he soared into the sky. The golden light dispersed the rubble and dust overhead, tracing a golden arc in the dark red sky as it flew toward the north.

Chen Xuan looked up and watched the golden light disappear into the horizon, then sheathed his sword. He did not pursue. Huike could not escape. That Earth-element tracking mark had been planted in the folds of his cuff. As long as he did not change his entire monk's robe within three days, the mark would be like a seed buried in the soil, slowly and stubbornly adhering there, capable of being sensed no matter how far he went.

He wiped the dust from his sword, confirmed that the few cracks had not continued to spread, and then lifted his head and walked toward Zhou Yuan's direction. The Loose Cultivators were cleaning up the aftermath, and a few slightly injured Cultivators were crouching beside the pile of stones to bandage their wounds. Zhou Yuan walked up to meet him, his face still bearing the look of someone who had survived a disaster.

"Did Fire Fox just leave like that?"

"She left," Chen Xuan nodded. "She won't be back for the time being."

Zhou Yuan did not ask any further questions. He could tell that Chen Xuan did not want to say much right now. The two quickly counted the people; there were no major mishaps, and everyone had withdrawn. The few who were seriously injured had also managed to stabilize their conditions. Chen Xuan distributed the batch of Medicinal Pills for healing and told Zhou Yuan to take the people and leave first, without waiting for him.

Zhou Yuan did not ask more. He glanced at him, then looked at the direction where the golden arc had disappeared in the north, turned around, and signaled for the Loose Cultivators to set off. The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, scattering across the scorched wilderness like ripples from a stone thrown into water, spreading out layer by layer until they finally sank into the twilight, leaving only him standing alone in place.

On the northern horizon, the golden light had completely vanished. The night rose from the eastern ridgeline like a layer of dark water slowly flooding the land, completely submerging the last thin line of orange-red twilight. All that remained around him was the sound of the wind and the occasional low rumble from the distant volcano.

He found a wind-sheltered crevice in the rock, sat down cross-legged, and took out the heavenly book golden decree from his Storage Pouch.

Golden tadpole characters emerged, like gold sand submerged at the bottom of the water being stirred up and floating again, lighting up line by line.

[Today's Fortune: Medium-Neutral.]

[Today's Heavenly Secret: Greedy Wolf.]

[Today's Destiny: Seeking Truth.]

[Medium-Neutral: Huike has fled toward the White Lotus Sect headquarters. There are relay stations along the way for resupply, but no ambushes have been set; there is no danger for the time being.]

[Small-Lucky: The pact with Fire Fox must be fulfilled within half a month. Half a month later, the Fire Phoenix true spirit will enter a dormant period; at that time, the Heavenly Fire imagery in the fissure on the east side of the magma lake will be clear, and the conditions for fishing will be optimal.]

[Medium-Bad: If delayed for more than half a month, the Fire Phoenix true spirit will awaken. At that time, Immortal Master Kumu will also take action, and you will be attacked from both sides.]

After reading, Chen Xuan put away the heavenly book golden decree.

His gaze fell on the line "Seeking Truth," and he paused for a moment. The wording of the Destiny had changed. In the past, he had seen "Sword Cultivator," "Heavenly Fire," and "Seeking Solutions," but "Seeking Truth" was appearing for the first time. This term did not point to specific imagery collection, nor did it point to a clear combat objective; it felt more like a hint regarding a direction.

He closed his eyes and replayed the sentence Huike had said before leaving in his mind: "A tough life may not necessarily last until the very end."

Huike knew something. His appearance on the periphery of Nanming Volcano today was not a chance passing, but a deliberate interception. It was very likely that Immortal Master Kumu had already calculated that he would appear in the Nanming Volcano area at this time, so he had arranged for Huike to ambush him nearby, waiting for him like a farmer waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree.

Fire Fox was the same. That woman had begun setting up this trap since before the Cloud-Swallowing Eagle had died. It had taken several years, with interlocking links, finally luring him here. What she was plotting was not just the Spiritual Vein node near the Fire Phoenix true spirit, but also the Legacy aura of Ancient Golden Core Cultivator Zhao Wuji. Two forces appeared on the edge of Nanming Volcano almost simultaneously, like a net that had long been woven finally tightening its drawstrings.

When there are too many coincidences, they are no longer coincidences. Fire Fox had calculated the timing to lure him to Nanming Volcano; Huike had calculated the timing to wait outside for an interception; Immortal Master Kumu had calculated that he would appear on this path. Everyone seemed to have obtained his route map in advance, like chess pieces already placed on the board, just waiting for him to walk into the corresponding position.

He opened his eyes. In the darkness, the glow of the distant volcano flickered in the night mist, like a half-open, half-closed eye watching his every move through the veil, its breathing slow and heavy, carrying the unique rhythm of the deep underground.

He looked down at his palm. The City Wall Earth Golden Essence was floating quietly in his Dantian, its edge's light steady and warm, like a loyal companion. The Earth-element tracking mark he had planted in Huike's cuff was still pulsing slowly. Huike's aura was continuously moving along the path to the north, having already passed through the first mountain pass and proceeding further north. He could still sense the faint echo of that mark, like the lingering sound of a distant bell, intermittent yet never ceasing.

Fire Fox spoke of a half-month pact. Half a month later, the Fire Phoenix true spirit would enter a dormant period, and the Heavenly Fire imagery in the fissure on the east side of the magma lake would be at its clearest. That was the best time to obtain the Heavenly Fire Golden Essence. But after Huike escaped back, Immortal Master Kumu would certainly take action. He only had half a month to prepare.

Chen Xuan stood up and brushed the dust off his robe. He walked to the edge of the cliff platform and looked at the horizon in the north that had been swallowed by the night. The firelight flickered behind him, casting his shadow onto the scorched ground, stretched long and faint, like a streak of ink that had not yet dried. The shadow stopped at the edge of a fissure, as if its path had been tripped by something.

He looked down. A strangely shaped stone was half-exposed in the fissure, its surface smooth and rounded, completely different from the other rough volcanic rocks. He crouched down, reached out, and pried the stone out of the fissure. He weighed it in his hand; it felt cold to the touch, and its surface had a very faint dark red luster, like the traces left after being soaked in magma too many times.

It was not ordinary volcanic rock, nor was it a spiritual material. It was more like a fragment left behind after some ancient artifact had shattered. Its surface was carved with extremely shallow patterns, and the direction of the patterns was identical to the runes on the edge of Fire Fox's trap Formation. He flipped the fragment over; there was a line of extremely tiny characters on the bottom.

The handwriting had been mostly blurred, with only a few strokes still barely recognizable, like the corners of some ancient seal script. He identified it for a long time and recognized the shape of one of the characters—it was the upper half of the character "Heaven."

This fissure was the mark left after Fire Fox's trap Formation had collapsed. This fragment was part of the Formation, perhaps a remnant of the outermost base. It should not have appeared here. Fire Fox had built an underground Formation, and all the Formation bases were buried in the rock layer nine zhang deep. Even if the Formation collapsed, the fragments should only have remained at the bottom of the tunnel; it was impossible for them to have been turned up to the surface.

Unless someone, during the time he was confronting Fire Fox, had taken advantage of the chaos of the tunnel collapse to go down to the bottom in advance and take away the core part of the Formation, leaving only this peripheral fragment that they didn't have time to take away.

He gripped the fragment tightly, stood up, and looked in the direction where Huike had fled. The aura of the Earth-element tracking mark was still moving continuously to the north, having already passed through the second mountain pass. The movement speed of the mark was three-tenths slower than normal escape speed, as if it were carrying some burden, or perhaps intentionally slowing down.

Chen Xuan put the fragment into his Storage Pouch and turned to walk toward the direction where his flying boat was docked. Night covered the entire eastern foothills of Nanming Volcano, leaving only that thin line of dark red light from the distant volcano slowly burning on the horizon, like an ember that had been extinguished and then reignited.

Half a month. He must prepare everything within half a month, then return here to fulfill the pact with Fire Fox and obtain the Heavenly Fire Golden Essence. Before that, he had to do one thing: find Huike and figure out what on earth Immortal Master Kumu was planning. That tracking mark was still moving, and he had to catch up as soon as possible. Huike had not gone far; judging from his movement speed, he had probably stopped once on the way, perhaps having met someone, or perhaps having been delayed by something. Whatever it was, it was worth chasing after to take a look.

Chen Xuan boarded the flying boat and stood by the gunwale, not rushing to start it. He first took out the fragment and looked at it again, confirming that he had not missed any details. Beside the upper half of the character "Heaven" at the bottom of the fragment, there was an even fainter scratch, as if left by something scraping across it. That scratch matched the curvature of the blade of the three bright moon sword.

Chen Xuan's finger pressed on the scratch, and he remained silent for a long time. Then he put the fragment away and started the flying boat's Formation. The flying boat rose slowly, passing through the night mist, and pursued toward the direction of the Earth-element tracking mark in the north. The wind poured in from the side, blowing his robe until it snapped loudly. He stood at the bow of the boat without turning back, his gaze fixed on the gradually brightening ridgeline ahead.

The night was still long, and the half-month time frame unfolded slowly under the dark red horizon, like a map that had been crumpled and then smoothed out, every crease pointing to a location he was not yet fully aware of. Chen Xuan stood at the bow of the boat, the wind carrying the scent of sulfur and dust. He did not turn back, just watching the increasingly clear aura trail of the Earth-element tracking mark ahead, like a thread slowly glowing in the darkness, pulling him through the night, extending toward the unknown north.

The flying boat traveled through the night for two hours. Chen Xuan had been standing at the bow the whole time, his hand pressing on the rough, weathered wooden railing at the edge of the gunwale, his Divine Sense maintaining a minimum level of perception of the outside world; he did not close his eyes, nor was he distracted. The Earth-element tracking mark planted in Huike's cuff was still pulsing continuously, like a lantern hanging in the darkness, its rhythm steady, neither accelerating nor pausing.

But the direction had changed. Huike's initial direction of escape was due north, pointing toward the hinterland of the Southern Border where the White Lotus Sect headquarters was located. But just half an hour ago, the trajectory of that mark suddenly veered to the east at a distinct angle, as if he had changed his mind halfway.

Chen Xuan took out a map, spread it out on the gunwale, and remarked it by comparing it with the position of the mark. Thirty li to the east was a place name mentioned in Ancient Golden Core Cultivator Zhao Wuji's diary: Red Sand Ridge.

Red Sand Ridge had no Spiritual Veins, no mineral deposits, and no resources worth staying for. The only thing worth mentioning was an abandoned ancient altar site. Ancient Golden Core Cultivator Zhao Wuji's diary had only mentioned it once, saying that it was once the Daoist field where a certain Golden Core Master of the City Wall Earth lineage had achieved Core Formation. After the Immortal Master fell, the altar was abandoned, and there were no relics worth exploring. The lines between the words carried a casualness of "not worth wasting time on."

Why would Huike go there?

Chen Xuan did not hesitate for too long. He turned the flying boat's direction, aimed the bow toward the east-northeast, and pushed forward at full speed. The night wind poured into the cabin from the side, blowing the curtains so they billowed and then fell. In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the outline of Red Sand Ridge had already appeared in his field of vision.

It was a stretch of low red hills, the ground covered with a layer of fine red gravel, like dried blood spread over the earth. In the center of the hills was a sunken circular depression. At the bottom of the depression, a section of gray-white stone base was exposed, having weathered for the most part, leaving only the few bottom-most layers of stone steps that still maintained their original outline. There was no Spiritual light, no aura fluctuation, and almost no traces of Yao Beast activity could be seen. It was as desolate as a corner completely forgotten by time.

But after Chen Xuan's gaze swept across the area above Red Sand Ridge, it stopped. The distribution of those red gravels was too uniform. Naturally weathered gravel piles should be high and low, uneven, but the ground here was overly flat, as if it had been repeatedly compacted by something. He lowered the height of the flying boat, let the hull skirt along the edge of the hills for a circle, and discovered an extremely concealed Formation trace in a depression on the leeward side.

The trace was very faint, so faint that it would be impossible to discover if not intentionally looking for it. The frequency of the Spiritual Qi fluctuation was exactly the same as the rhythm of the Earth-element tracking mark on Huike's cuff. He had stayed here. That Formation trace was the outer base of a teleportation Formation—Huike had stood here and activated some kind of teleportation secret technique, teleporting himself to another place.

Go.