41: Chapter 41 Escape

The moment the blood-colored light screen closed behind him, that nauseating stench of blood was finally dispersed by the night breeze.

Gu Shen stepped onto the wilderness outside the White Bone Forest, not pausing for even a moment.

He ripped off the Blood-Averting Talisman stuck to his chest and, along with the blood jade array tablet in his hand, squeezed them both in his palm.

Tokens from major Sects have always been death warrants. That array tablet must certainly bear the Divine Sense imprint of the guarding Disciple.

"Refine."

In his Sea of Consciousness, the phantom fire of the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] surged.

The Talisman and blood jade in his palm instantly turned into a wisp of fly ash; the faint array patterns and Divine Sense tracking marks attached to them were wiped clean by the fire of rules. Not even a speck of residue remained.

Almost the very next breath after he destroyed the token.

Deep within the White Bone Forest behind him, a shrill, piercing howl suddenly erupted.

"Enemy attack! Someone has broken the array and escaped! Pursue!"

It was the three elite Danding Sect Disciples who had been lured away by the bone flute returning to the Gate of Life. Realizing their companion had been killed and the great array broken, they immediately sent out a signal.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Three crimson streaks of light shot into the sky, lunging towards the outside of the array like madmen. Their Divine Sense, like a dense net, spread crazily in all directions.

Gu Shen did not look back.

The layer of charred Wood Armor Technique spiritual light on his body instantly dispersed as he poured all his Qi Refinement Level 6 magic power into his legs.

The shadow shoes shone with a brilliant black light.

Gu Shen transformed into a faint gray shadow and plunged headlong into the primeval dense forest at the edge of the wilderness.

Sprinting. Sprinting without reservation.

After fleeing for a full thirty miles, Gu Shen heard a deafening roar of water ahead.

A Canglan Great River, over a hundred zhang wide with extremely turbulent currents, lay across his path. The river water was murky, and hidden reefs were dense.

Gu Shen's eyes hardened; without the slightest hesitation, he plunged into the icy, bone-chilling river water.

He switched the Longevity Art to an internal breathing technique.

He dived deep into the riverbed, following the violent current, drifting with the flow like a dead fish.

The cold river water washed away the last trace of Evil Qi remaining on him, and also completely severed any potential tracking aura.

...

Three days later.

In the lower reaches of the Canglan River, at a desolate, secluded shoal exactly eight hundred miles away from the White Bone Forest.

Splash.

A man with a sallow face and a scar on his left cheek crawled ashore from the mud and sand. The black Loose Cultivator robes on his body were already tattered, covered in water weeds and silt.

Gu Shen lay on his back on the pebble-strewn shoal, greedily gulping in fresh air.

He had drifted with the current for three full days.

He did not use the Great Furnace to escape into the Spiritless Ruins. In such a situation where he might be scanned by Foundation Establishment Stage Divine Sense at any moment, any spatial fluctuation would be suicide. He had relied solely on his own magic power and Physical Body as a Cultivator to endure through it.

Only one-tenth of the magic power in his Dantian remained.

Gu Shen moved his Divine Sense slightly and took out a drop of inferior white dew from his storage ring, swallowing it.

Pure spiritual power dispersed, dispelling the cold in his Meridians.

Having slightly recovered his strength, Gu Shen sat up and gazed with deep, profound eyes toward the direction of the White Bone Forest.

Although he had escaped with his life, a chill he had never felt before arose in the depths of his heart.

"What a massive game of chess."

Gu Shen silently peeled back the layers of everything that had happened over these past few days in his mind.

The Blood Fiend Sect and the Danding Sect, mortal enemies of the righteous and demonic paths in the Great Yu Cultivation World, had actually joined forces in the White Bone Forest to set up the Blood Sacrifice Array. They were using the essence blood of thousands of low-level Loose Cultivators to ripen a holy medicine capable of allowing a person to achieve perfect Foundation Establishment—the blood marrow lotus.

What did this mean?

It meant that the "Righteous-Demonic War" that was causing such an uproar in the outside world was, from beginning to end, a scam directed by the higher-ups!

It was a conflict deliberately manufactured by the power-holders of the two major Sects to deceive the public and logically slaughter Loose Cultivators to obtain the "drug primer."

"The day that blood marrow lotus matures will be the moment the two major Sects truly tear off their masks."

Gu Shen's fingertips dug deeply into the mud and sand in his palms.

This is the Cultivation World.

Without a backer, without strength, one wouldn't even know how they became the medicinal dregs in someone else's Cauldron. Under the pressure of such a grand trend, he, at Qi Refinement Level 6, remained just a slightly stronger ant.

"The Opportunity is good, but to touch it now is certain death."

Gu Shen was extremely clear-headed.

He would absolutely not get involved in events that touched upon the core interests of Foundation Establishment or even Core Formation old monsters right now.

He must wait. Wait until the day he is qualified to be a chess player.

"Now, I cannot return to any marketplace or gathering place for Loose Cultivators in this Great Yu Cultivation World."

Gu Shen stood up.

Once the secret of the White Bone Forest reached the time for the net to close, the two major Sects would certainly carry out an extremely cruel purge. All missing or escaped Loose Cultivators would face a manhunt where they would rather wrongly kill a thousand than let one escape.

Even a lawless place like Wild Dog Ridge was no longer safe.

...

The Mortal Realm, Chen State.

The Cultivation World and the Mortal Realm were not completely isolated, but because the Mortal Realm had thin Spiritual Qi, Cultivators there recovered magic power extremely slowly, and their cultivation levels found it difficult to advance an inch for their entire lives. Therefore, except for those old Cultivators whose lifespans were nearing their end and who went to the Mortal Realm to enjoy wealth and glory, true Cultivators avoided the place like the plague.

But for Gu Shen now, it was an excellent Shelter.

Thin Spiritual Qi?

He had the [Heaven and Earth Furnace], and he had ancient Spiritless Ruins that he could loot at will; he didn't need to rely on external Spiritual Qi to Cultivate at all!

"Go to the Chen State. Change my appearance and lie low as a mortal Martial Artist. While I'm at it, I will thoroughly solidify my foundation for the Late-Stage Qi Refining in those Spiritless Ruins."

Gu Shen made his decision.

He fitted the Thousand Faces mask perfectly. From this moment on, he was no longer a corpse collector struggling at the bottom of the Great Yu Cultivation World, nor was he a black market Loose Cultivator from Wild Dog Ridge.

He shook the silt off his body, wrapped the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade in layers with a piece of tattered cloth, and carried it on his back.

Facing the afterglow of the setting sun, Gu Shen, like a down-and-out Jianghu swordsman, walked unsteadily toward the mortal kingdom at the edge of the map.

A hidden Dragon enters the abyss, just waiting for the wind and clouds to rise again.