25: Chapter 25 Departure

Although Su Chengyuan's heart sank, he wasn't particularly panicked. Those Cultivators had no evidence; they likely just saw him leaving early and suspected something was fishy, so they followed to investigate.

He immediately changed direction, not heading toward his small courtyard but instead walking toward a more prosperous area of the city.

It was a night market specifically for Cultivators, brightly lit and bustling with people.

The cries of vendors and the sounds of Cultivators haggling rose and fell, forming a natural barrier of noise.

He wandered through the night market like a headless fly, looking here and asking there, specifically picking out some low-tier Materials and Talismans, spending a few Spirit Stones to buy a pile of useless things.

The several strands of Divine Sense in the shadows remained steadfast, never leaving him.

Su Chengyuan sneered inwardly, patiently continuing his performance.

He even walked into a tavern, ordered a pot of the cheapest spiritual tea, and sat by himself for two hours, listening to the Cultivators at the neighboring tables bragging and chatting.

Those two strands of Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense were extremely patient, like vultures circling in the sky, never descending.

They were likely wary of each other as well, neither willing to be the first to stick their neck out.

Two hours later, Su Chengyuan rose and left the tavern, twisting and turning through the city before finally returning to the small courtyard he rented.

He did not immediately attempt to leave the city.

Over the next few days, Su Chengyuan became completely well-behaved.

Every morning, like an ordinary Loose Cultivator, he would take a stroll to the place in the city where bounty missions were posted. He would sigh at the hunting missions that required Late Qi Refining Stage Cultivators to complete, and finally only accept some simple tasks for gathering herbs.

During the day, he carried a medicine basket and roamed the outskirts of the mountain range not far from the city, gathering some low-grade Spiritual Plants and putting on an act of selling them at the market for a meager income of five or six Spirit Stones.

At night, he returned to his small courtyard and stayed behind closed doors.

His behavior perfectly matched the image of a Loose Cultivator trying to take root in the Prefecture City.

The Divine Senses spying from the shadows came and went, and came again.

Three days later, one of the Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Senses disappeared completely.

Five days later, the other Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense also became intermittent; it had clearly lost patience.

If a Qi Refining Ninth Layer Cultivator facing the scrutiny of two Foundation Establishment Cultivators were truly the person who sold the top-grade qi gathering pills, it would be impossible for him to wander the city so calmly.

In their view, this person was likely just there by chance, and the real seller had long since made a clean getaway.

On the seventh day, when the last trace of spying Divine Sense vanished without a trace, Su Chengyuan finally slowly opened his eyes.

He did not act immediately.

He waited for two full days, and only after confirming that everything was calm did he leave the small courtyard again.

He first went to the black market and used the last few dozen Spirit Stones he had to buy two first-grade High Grade "divine movement talismans" at a high price.

Once activated, this kind of Talisman could double a Cultivator's speed.

As the sun rose high, the city gates opened wide.

Su Chengyuan no longer deliberately hid himself. When the city gates opened, he followed the merchants and Cultivators entering and leaving, departing the Prefecture City openly.

Just after leaving the city gate, he took out a divine movement talisman and slapped it onto his leg. Surrounded by a gust of clear wind, his figure suddenly accelerated, his speed doubling.

He turned into a blurred shadow and sprinted away in the direction opposite to Qingyang Town.

In one day, he covered hundreds of miles.

By dawn the next day, he stopped in a dense forest, put on a brand-new face and changed his attire. Only then did he turn around and head toward Qingyang Town at a leisurely pace.

Only now could he be considered to have truly escaped the muddy waters of the Prefecture City.

He looked toward home, his heart eager to return.

Tiangang Sect, Outer Sect.

Since her father's departure, Su Yunling had locked herself in her Immortal Cave for several days.

She repeatedly counted those one hundred top-grade qi gathering pills. Every time she saw that misty treasure light, she could feel the heavy expectations of her younger brother.

Her brother was right; in the Sect, strength was everything.

But how to reasonably convert these Medicinal Pills into her own strength without drawing suspicion was an art.

The last "chance encounter with an Opportunity" had already made some people envious.

If it happened again, it likely wouldn't just be jealousy, but investigation.

She carefully studied the Sect's mission Jade Slip and finally locked her gaze onto a long-term mission.

"Requires hunting Demon Wolves on the outskirts of the Black Wind Mountain Range and bringing back thirty pairs of intact Demon Wolf eyes. Time limit: four months."

The Black Wind Mountain Range was a full thousand miles away from the Tiangang Sect, with vast territory and rampant Yao Beasts.

The difficulty of this mission wasn't high, but it was time-consuming and tedious. Most importantly, the rewards were low, so not many Outer Sect Disciples were willing to take it.

However, this perfectly met her needs.

Without making a sound, she went alone to the Mission Hall to collect the jade token and then quietly descended the mountain.

But as soon as she left, the news reached Lin Feier's ears.

"Black Wind Mountain Range? Hmph, out for training again." Lin Feier was pruning a pot of precious spiritual flowers in her Immortal Cave when she heard the news and couldn't help but sneer.

She crushed a flower petal, her eyes full of calculation.

"Last time she got lucky, but this time I want to see with my own eyes what her 'Opportunity' really is!"

"Junior Sister Feier, what has made you so angry?"

Outside the Immortal Cave, a tall and handsome young Disciple walked in. His name was Sun Hao, an Inner Sect Disciple whose cultivation had reached the Qi Refining Seventh Layer Middle Stage. He had been pursuing Lin Feier.

"Senior Brother Sun, you've come at just the right time." Seeing him, Lin Feier immediately put on a pitiful appearance. "It's that Su Yunling again; she's taken a mission and left the Sect."

"Oh? Isn't that the Disciple Elder Sun recently took in? I heard she has a High-Grade Spiritual Root and extraordinary potential." A flash of interest appeared in Sun Hao's eyes.

"Hmph, so what if she has a High-Grade Spiritual Root? Everyone says she got lucky last time and stumbled upon an Opportunity, but how can there be such coincidences in this world?" Lin Feier curled her lip in disdain. "I want to see if her luck is really that good every time. Senior Brother Sun, her leaving the Sect this time is the perfect chance to investigate."

Sun Hao's heart stirred.

This Lin Feier had a rather arrogant and jealous personality. He humored her because of her status as the granddaughter of a deacon.

Because he paid a lot of attention to Lin Feier, he also knew a little about the conflict between the two.

He had some impression of Su Yunling; she had a good personality and talent, almost never offending anyone. Moreover, he heard she had gained some Opportunity a while ago and her cultivation had improved rapidly.

However, for a Disciple with no background to break through from the Qi Refining Fourth Layer to the sixth layer within a year, it was indeed a bit hard to believe if it were entirely based on a single "chance encounter with an Opportunity."

Since Lin Feier had brought it up, he could also take this chance to get closer to her.

"Junior Sister Feier means..."

"Accompany me on a trip. We'll follow her secretly and see what she's up to. If there really is some treasure, the two of us will split it equally, how about it?" Lin Feier dangled the bait.

"Alright! I'll do whatever Junior Sister says!" Sun Hao agreed immediately.

Being able to investigate and please a beauty at the same time—why not?

The two of them made preparations right away and also quietly left the Sect, trailing far behind Su Yunling.

Although Su Yunling didn't know someone was following her, she kept her brother's warnings in mind at all times.

After leaving the Sect, she didn't rush toward the Black Wind Mountain Range. Instead, she stopped and started in the Mortal towns along the way, acting no different from a young girl traveling far from home for the first time.

It took her more than half a month to slowly arrive at the edge of the Black Wind Mountain Range.