85: Chapter 85 Obstacles on the Return Journey and the Weight of Star Iron

Three days later, in the early morning, the east gate of Tianji City had not yet fully opened, leaving only a narrow gap for people to enter and exit.

A faint morning mist shrouded the bluestone road, and the air was filled with the damp scent of soil.

Three figures blended in with the early morning porters and small vendors leaving the city, passing through the gate in a low-profile manner without attracting anyone's attention.

They were none other than Lin Chen, Qin Ruowei, and Liu Yuan.

After leaving the city, the three did not step onto the flat and wide official road leading to Qingxuan City; instead, they turned at a fork in the road and headed toward a path that was clearly more remote and led to the rolling mountains.

Qin Ruowei's footsteps paused slightly. She glanced at the increasing number of pedestrians and carriages on the distant official road, then looked at the path before her, which was almost submerged in weeds, a hint of doubt appearing in her cool, clear eyes.

"Lin Chen, this road... it leads to Black Wind Hollow. It is nearly a hundred miles shorter than the official road, but it is also much more treacherous." Her voice was very low, tinged with a questioning tone. "Since we are carrying a precious treasure like the star meteor iron essence, would it be safer to take the official road?"

Lin Chen did not stop walking, only turning his head slightly, his voice coming across steadily: "The official road appears safe, but the view is too wide open, completely flat. If someone is truly watching in the shadows, or wants to track us from afar, our every move will be completely exposed, making it difficult to detect them and even harder to counter."

He reached out to push aside a cluster of waist-high shrubs, yielding his position to signal for Qin Ruowei to follow.

"Black Wind Hollow is different." He continued to explain, his gaze sweeping over the rugged mountain road ahead and the deep, dark woods on both sides. "The terrain here is complex, with jagged rocks everywhere, and it is full of places to hide and set ambushes. This is a threat to pursuers, but for a small team with few people and high mobility like ours, it is also a natural barrier. If we really encounter trouble, we can advance to attack or retreat to defend. Moreover, Liu Yuan has already scouted ahead, and there have been no reports of large-scale banditry in this vicinity for the past half year."

His tone carried an indisputable confidence, which soothed the unease in Qin Ruowei's heart.

She nodded and said no more, following closely behind Lin Chen.

Liu Yuan walked silently at the back. His hand hung seemingly casually at his side, but in reality, his fingertips were constantly brushing against an inconspicuous cloth bag at his waist, which contained the Formation Plate he could activate at any moment.

Lin Chen raised his hand and gently patted his chest.

The specially made storage box used specifically for containing the star meteor iron essence was tucked away right against his body there. The cold sensation transmitted through his clothing kept him alert at all times.

He did not like to keep a precious treasure that determined the safety of his Family in a storage ring that could potentially be snatched away in a single blow.

After entering the territory of Black Wind Hollow, the surrounding light suddenly dimmed.

On both sides were steep cliffs, as if split by a giant axe, leaving only a narrow, winding mountain path in the middle.

Tall, unknown ancient trees extended their gnarled branches from the cliffs, and their intertwined crowns blocked most of the daylight, making the entire valley appear gloomy and damp.

A unique scent, a mixture of rotting leaves and rocks, drifted in the air.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Qin Ruowei's light footsteps suddenly slowed.

She stopped, tilted her head slightly, and her fair ears twitched, seemingly catching a faint sound in the air.

"It is too quiet." She whispered, her cool, clear voice sounding exceptionally distinct in the silent valley. "Even the chirping of insects and birds is sparse; it is abnormally quiet."

Lin Chen and Liu Yuan stopped immediately. The three of them formed a triangular Formation, vigilantly looking around.

Liu Yuan did not speak. He crouched down directly, stretched out his calloused fingers, and gently brushed over a thin layer of loose soil on the ground.

His movements were very light, as if he were caressing a precious treasure.

Immediately afterward, he picked up a few leaves that had just fallen from the side of the road, brought them to his eyes, and carefully observed the subtle marks on the broken edges of the leaves.

"Someone has passed by." Liu Yuan's voice was kept very low, but every word was filled with gravity. "The traces are very fresh, and they have been deliberately concealed. But looking at the sap on the broken edges of these fallen leaves, it has not yet completely oxidized and dried; the time... cannot be more than two hours."

Almost at the moment Liu Yuan finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!

"Whoosh—!"

A sharp, piercing sound of air being torn apart rang out, and six swift black shadows, like poisonous snakes that had been lying in wait for a long time, suddenly burst forth from behind a huge rock wall ten zhang away in front and from the dense tree crowns on both sides!

They were dressed in uniform grey-black tight-fitting outfits, with masks covering their faces, revealing only their eyes. Their movements were fierce and swift. The moment they appeared, they formed a perfect fan shape, surrounding Lin Chen and the others from three directions.

Their goal was chillingly clear. Everyone's gaze was locked firmly onto Lin Chen, who was being protected in the middle by Qin Ruowei and Liu Yuan—or more accurately, locked onto the slightly bulging position on his chest.

The leader of the men in black, while still in mid-air, let out a hoarse, low shout filled with indisputable killing intent: "Hand over the star meteor iron essence, and we will leave your corpses intact!"

Before the words had even faded, two of his companions beside him had already raised their hands. Three specially made hand crossbows that had long been loaded were aimed at Lin Chen, the sound of the triggers clicking almost merging into one.

Three poison-coated crossbow bolts, shimmering with a ghostly blue luster, tore through the air in a triangular Formation, carrying a deadly whistle as they shot straight at Lin Chen's brow, throat, and heart!

This sudden attack was extremely ruthless; from appearing to delivering the lethal blow, there was no unnecessary probing.

However, Liu Yuan was faster than them.

Just at the moment those black shadows burst forth, he, who had been walking at the end of the team, suddenly flipped his palm.

A palm-sized Formation Plate, already warmed by the temperature of his palm, instantly appeared in his hand.

Without even looking, he pressed his thumb onto the center of the Formation Plate, and spiritual power surged in like a tidal wave!

"Hum!"

A pale yellow, bowl-shaped light barrier unfolded before the three of them in the blink of an eye.

Profound runes flowed across the surface of the light barrier, emitting an aura of thickness and solidity.

"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!"

The three poison-coated crossbow bolts struck the light barrier almost simultaneously, producing a teeth-grinding sound.

The arrowheads were melted by high heat the moment they made contact with the light barrier, and the attached deadly poison turned into a small wisp of black smoke, but it was firmly kept outside by the light barrier, unable to penetrate even a fraction.

At the same time, Qin Ruowei moved.

She did not attempt to meet the enemies rushing head-on; her figure, like a graceful swallow, nimbly darted several feet to the side.

During her movement, she flicked her slender hands repeatedly, and dozens of ice needles, as thin as ox hair and nearly transparent, slid out from her sleeves.

Driven by her spiritual power, the ice needles made no sound as they tore through the air, covering the three bandit cultivators rushing from the front like ghosts.

This move of hers was not intended to kill or injure; the cold energy contained within the ice needles was sufficient to instantly delay the opponents' movements and disrupt their pre-arranged charging Formation.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Lin Chen stood in place, not even moving his feet a single inch.

He looked coldly at the bandit cultivator who had circled around from the side, a short blade in hand tracing a sharp arc as it slashed toward his neck.

He did not use his Flying Sword, nor did he trigger any high-power Spells.

Just as the short blade was about to reach his body, he stepped aside, his figure shifting by an extremely small margin, narrowly dodging the blade's edge.

At the same time, he raised his right palm, a layer of faint green wood spiritual power rising in his palm, and struck the wrist of the bandit cultivator holding the blade without a trace of violent aura.

He needed a live captive, at least to figure out whether this group was driven by greed due to the leaked auction information, or... if they had another origin.

The palm wind stirred slightly, and it was about to seize the opponent's wrist.

Just at this critical moment, the storage box containing the star meteor iron essence that Lin Chen kept close to his body suddenly vibrated slightly without any warning.

An extremely obscure yet mountainously heavy invisible force field, centered on the storage box, suddenly expanded outward!

The blade-wielding bandit cultivator closest to Lin Chen suddenly froze!

He felt as if the surrounding air had instantly turned into a viscous quagmire, and an invisible force squeezed in from all directions, making every one of his movements incredibly difficult and heavy.

His rapidly slashing short blade slowed down by half a beat, and the momentum of the blade became sluggish as a result.

This sudden change caused a flicker of deep shock and disbelief to flash in the eyes of the bandit cultivator!

He was also a battle-hardened veteran, and he instantly judged the strangeness and power of this force.

Without any hesitation, he forcibly twisted his waist, abandoned the attack that was within his reach, and exerted force under his feet to retreat.

At the same time, he put one hand to his mouth and blew an extremely sharp whistle!

"Chirp—!"

The whistle pierced the silence of the valley.

The remaining five bandit cultivators heard the signal, and their reactions were astonishingly fast.

Whether they were attacking Liu Yuan's Formation barrier or being harassed by Qin Ruowei's ice needles, they all feinted an attack, simultaneously fished a black pellet from their bosoms, and smashed it fiercely onto the ground!

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Several thick clouds of black smoke, so dense one could not see their own fingers, exploded instantly, completely swallowing their figures.

When the smoke cleared slightly, the six black shadows had already taken advantage of the smoke's cover to escape into the dense mountain forests on both sides, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

From the launch of the attack to the full retreat, the entire process added up to less than ten breaths of time.

Well-trained, with clear division of labor; they retreated immediately when a single strike failed, without lingering in battle.

"Want to leave?!" Liu Yuan shouted in a low voice, preparing to put away the Formation Plate and pursue them.

"Do not pursue a desperate enemy." Lin Chen raised his hand to stop him, his voice calm. "The terrain is favorable to them, and we have fewer people; chasing them would easily lead to us being separated and surrounded."

Liu Yuan stopped his footsteps, a trace of unwillingness on his face, but he still followed Lin Chen's order.

Lin Chen ignored the smoke that had not yet dispersed, lowered his head, and looked at his chest with a deep gaze.

The specially made storage box had now returned to calm, as if the heavy force field from just now had never appeared.

Qin Ruowei's figure flashed, and she darted back to Lin Chen's side.

In her hand, she held a black, strangely shaped diamond-shaped throwing dart; this was something she had intercepted from the smoke thrown by one of the bandit cultivators as they retreated.

She handed the throwing dart to Lin Chen, her expression grave: "They are not ordinary Loose Cultivator bandits. The forging technique of this throwing dart is very special; it looks like standard-issue equipment from some faction."

Lin Chen took the throwing dart, feeling it slightly heavy in his hand, the cold metallic sensation transmitting from his fingertips.

He pinched the throwing dart with his thumb and forefinger, examining it carefully.

The throwing dart was pitch black, with sharp edges, and did not have many flashy patterns.

But at the tail of the throwing dart, there was an extremely subtle indentation that would be almost impossible to discover without careful observation.

It was a small shape, resembling a water droplet.

Lin Chen's right fingertip subconsciously stroked the water-droplet-shaped indentation, and in his deep eyes, the calm that had originally been undisturbed was finally replaced by a touch of deep chill.