80: Chapter 80 Prey and the Oriole

Great Yu Cultivation World, on the outskirts of the Qingmu Cliff ruins, in a rocky forest.

The night wind was like a knife, whipping up scorched earth across the sky.

Gu Shen stopped behind a sheltered rock and wiped his hand across his face. With a slight output of magical power, the Thousand Faces rippled once more.

The youthful face quickly faded, his bones and skin subtly shifting to transform into a gaunt, sallow-complexioned herb collector with age spots at the corners of his eyes. He precisely suppressed his magical aura to Qi Refining Stage 4.

"Yunze Immortal City is located deep in the heartland of the Danding Sect."

Gu Shen's gaze was deep as he looked toward the blockade shrouded in the spiritual light of Formations outside the rocky forest. "To hunt down the True Disciple who escaped with the Blood Lotus remnant, the Blood Fiend Sect and the Danding Sect have turned this hundred-mile radius into an iron barrel. If I want to go to the Immortal City, this is the only way."

He did not choose to take a detour. A detour would take another half a month, and with Yao Beasts running rampant in the wilderness, the variables were too great.

"Crab, report the distribution of living targets at the blockade ahead," Gu Shen thought to himself.

The mechanical spider on his shoulder was like a piece of cold black iron, its standalone alert mode fully engaged.

"Master, within three miles ahead, a total of twelve patrol teams have been scanned. Infrared thermal imaging shows that their patrol paths have three extremely tiny overlapping blind spots. As long as your movement speed is fast enough and you do not emit spiritual power fluctuations, you can slip through the bottom of the dried-up riverbed on the left." Crab's standalone data processing remained precise.

"Good."

A black light flashed from the shadow shoes on Gu Shen's feet, and his entire body, like a withered shadow hugging the ground, slid silently into the dried-up riverbed.

The terrifying control over his Physical Body brought about by the Major Achievement of the Bone Refining Art was displayed to the fullest at this moment.

He did not rely on magical power for lift, purely using his formidable muscle control to manage the force of every step. Stepping on the ground littered with gravel and dry bones, he did not even stir up a speck of dust. His heartbeat was forcibly suppressed into a turtle-breathing state, beating only once every incense stick of time.

One mile. Two miles.

Gu Shen wove through the dark riverbed with extreme patience. Above him, Blood Fiend Sect Disciples occasionally whizzed by on flying Magical Artifacts, but he was like a lifeless stone, perfectly blending into the darkness.

He was about to reach the end of the riverbed.

Once he crossed the steep cliff ahead, he would be completely out of the blockade range of Qingmu Cliff.

Gu Shen slightly extended his body, like a nimble civet cat, preparing to scale over the cliff face.

"Such a lax blockade is nothing much," Gu Shen sneered inwardly, just about to exert force.

However, he did not know.

In a hidden cliff cave less than fifty zhang above his head, an extremely faint Ice Mist Concealment Formation, which even infrared thermal imaging could not penetrate, was running silently.

Inside the cliff cave sat three Blood Fiend Sect Cultivators wearing blood-colored robes.

The captain, Captain Shen Kuo, was at Qi Refining Level 8 with a sinister face; a long blade exuding thick blood energy lay across his knees. The two team members beside him, Xue Ming and Zhou Tong, were both at Qi Refining Level 7.

Each of the three had an extremely rare Cold Turtle Talisman attached to their bodies. This type of Talisman had no defensive power; its only function was to completely freeze the Cultivator's body temperature and heartbeat, merging them with the cold surrounding rocks.

This was an excellent method for secret sentries in the Cultivation World to counter various Divine Sense probes and biological perception! It was precisely because of the dual concealment of this Talisman and the Formation that Crab's Wasteland thermal imaging scan had completely failed.

"Senior Brother Shen, we've been squatting in this godforsaken cliff cave for five days,"

Zhou Tong chewed on a Bigu Pill in boredom and complained in a low voice, "That True Disciple of Qingmu Cliff has long since escaped into the Misty Swamp. The Elders don't go there to search, but insist on making us elites guard this rear dry riverbed, and we haven't even caught a ghost."

Xue Ming also chimed in, "Yeah. These past few days, we've just watched the teams on the front mountain eat and drink well, while we can't even squeeze any oil from a Loose Cultivator. This job is really not meant for humans."

"Shut up, all of you."

Captain Shen Kuo didn't even lift his eyelids, his voice as cold as ice shards. "Is the Elders' business something you can recklessly discuss? That True Disciple is as cunning as a fox; who can guarantee he won't make a counterattack and try to break through from this most inconspicuous dry riverbed?"

"Watch the Formation Plate properly. If you let a fly escape, I'll use your essence blood to fill the blood pool in the White Bone Forest!"

Zhou Tong and Xue Ming shrank their necks, not daring to speak again.

Just then, an octagonal Formation Plate on Captain Shen Kuo's knees suddenly lit up with a faint white light at the edge.

This Formation Plate was connected to several extremely fine spirit-guiding spider threads placed in the riverbed at the bottom of the cliff. As long as any living creature touched them, even without spiritual power fluctuations, it would cause the Formation Plate to resonate.

Captain Shen Kuo's tightly closed eyes snapped open, and two glints of light like venomous snakes flashed in the darkness.

He raised his hand abruptly, making a very stern gesture for silence.

Zhou Tong and Xue Ming held their breath instantly, their hands reaching for the Magical Artifacts at their waists with extreme familiarity.

Captain Shen Kuo moved silently to the edge of the cliff cave, peering down from above through the gaps in the Ice Mist Formation toward the bottom of the cliff.

Under the cold moonlight.

A sallow-complexioned, gaunt-backed herb collector was climbing up the cliff face with extreme agility, like a gecko. His movements were completely devoid of any aura, and if not for triggering the extremely hidden spider thread Formation, it would have been almost impossible for the naked eye to distinguish his existence in the night.

"Interesting."

A cruel, sinister smile curled the corners of Captain Shen Kuo's mouth.

"To be able to sneak here right under the noses of twelve overt patrol teams without revealing a single trace of magical power fluctuations. If we hadn't set up the spider thread secret Formation here, this rat would have really slipped away."

Zhou Tong leaned forward, scanning with his Divine Sense in an extremely subtle manner: "Senior Brother Shen, I can't detect his depth. Looking at how skinny he is, he's probably just a small Loose Cultivator who has practiced some secular breath-concealment martial art and wants to slip out during the chaos."

"Whatever he is. Since he bumped into our secret sentry, he can only blame his bad luck."

A bloodthirsty glint flashed in Xue Ming's eyes, and his right hand had already grasped a foul-smelling, blood-colored flying fork.

Captain Shen Kuo slowly drew the blood-colored long blade from his knees, his eyes like a lone wolf staring at prey caught in a trap.

"Those who dare to cross the border alone like this usually hide good loot dug up from the ruins. No need for live captives, kill him in one blow."

At the bottom of the cliff.

Gu Shen's left hand had just gripped a protruding rock, preparing for one final push to clear the top of the cliff.

Hum—!

The mechanical spider on his shoulder, which had been in a silent state, suddenly emitted an extremely faint vibration frequency alarm!

"Master! Fifty zhang above, three high-energy magical power sources have erupted instantly! We have been locked on!" Crab's voice carried unprecedented urgency.

Gu Shen's pupils suddenly contracted into pinpricks.

Without the slightest hesitation.

"Retreat!"

Gu Shen's five fingers gripping the rock suddenly let go, and he gave up the climb, falling like an extremely heavy meteorite, crashing down toward the dry riverbed below!

Almost at the same instant he let go.

Swish!

A blood-colored blade glow, two zhang long and carrying a nauseating stench and terrifying corrosive power, wrapped in the terrifying pressure of a Qi Refining Level 8 Cultivator, directly slashed the cliff face Gu Shen had just been clinging to into dust!

Amidst the flying gravel.

Three figures draped in blood-colored robes, like three bloodthirsty bats, swooped down from the cliff cave, firmly locking onto the position where Gu Shen was falling!

The roles of the prey and the oriole were abruptly reversed in this instant!