96: Chapter 96 Taking advantage of the chaos to leave the city

Yunze Immortal City, Qingyi Alley, Grade C Immortal Cave.

The earth-yellow light screen of the Thick Earth Array completely isolated the inside and outside of the Immortal Cave.

Gu Shen sat cross-legged on the stone bed, his eyes slightly closed. He was not Cultivating; he was merely suppressing his breathing into a faint state of suspended animation.

Ten full days had passed since the shocking turmoil of the Blood River Dark Assembly.

For these ten days, the Spirit-Locking Formation in the sky above Yunze Immortal City had been operating day and night, its dark golden array patterns like a heavenly net, tightly shrouding the entire Immortal City.

On the streets of the Outer City, the Law Enforcement Squad of the Danding Sect and the secret agents of the Blood Fiend Sect searched like mad dogs. Every day, Loose Cultivators were killed on the street for suspicious behavior or dragged into dark alleys for soul-searching.

Gu Shen kept a low profile. His current disguise was that of a gray-clothed Loose Cultivator with an ordinary face, his cultivation suppressed to the Qi Refining Stage 4. In the eyes of those high-and-mighty Sect Disciples, this kind of bottom-feeder ant wasn't even worth a second glance.

"Master."

The black iron buckle at his collar vibrated slightly, and Crab's single-machine electronic voice came through extremely faintly, "Microwave detection shows that the high-energy magnetic field (Spirit-Locking Formation) above the Immortal City is experiencing weakening energy fluctuations. The spiritual energy output frequency of the Formation hub is showing extremely regular decay."

Gu Shen opened his eyes abruptly, a flash of sharpness appearing in them.

"Is the Formation about to be withdrawn?"

He stood up, walked to the stone window of the Immortal Cave, and through the light screen of the Thick Earth Array, gazed far into the sky above the Immortal City.

Sure enough, those originally piercing dark golden array patterns were now fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Ten days. The two major Sects have dug three feet into the ground in the city and haven't even caught a ghost's shadow. A Sword Cultivator like Wei Lingfeng, since he dared to set up the scheme, must have long prepared a foolproof escape route; it's impossible for him to be trapped to death in this Immortal City."

Gu Shen sneered in his heart.

"Now that the Formation is being withdrawn, it means the higher-ups of the two major Sects have completely lost patience. Their real target was never any fugitive, but that blood marrow lotus about to mature in the White Bone Forest!"

Rumble!

Just as Gu Shen was deep in thought, a dull roar suddenly came from the direction of the Inner City of the Immortal City.

Immediately after, three huge spirit boats, dozens of zhang long and engraved with complex array patterns, rose slowly into the air like three primordial beasts breaking out of the sea!

On the spirit boats, banners fluttered. The emblems of the Danding Sect and the Blood Fiend Sect hung side by side, looking extremely strange yet taken for granted.

"Look quickly! It's the Sect's war boats!"

"Heavens! The Formation is withdrawn! The big shots of the Sect are leaving the city!"

On the streets of the Outer City, countless Loose Cultivators poked their heads out from their hiding places, staring at the sky in shock.

Gu Shen did not make a sound, only extending his Divine Sense obscurely.

Those three spirit boats were densely packed with Inner Sect elites wearing the attire of the two Sects. And at the bow of the main boat at the very front, several figures exuding terrifying Spiritual Pressure stood side by side!

Foundation Establishment Stage masters! And more than one!

"A full five Foundation Establishment Stage Elders! They are out in full force!"

Gu Shen's pupils contracted slightly.

This kind of Formation was enough to sweep away any mid-sized Loose Cultivator force in the Great Yu Cultivation World. The two major Sects had completely torn off their masks, not even bothering to pretend, and were taking their army directly to the White Bone Forest to snatch the blood marrow lotus!

"Master, the Formation is completely shut down. Space curvature is returning to normal," Crab reported.

"A good opportunity."

A flash of killing intent appeared in Gu Shen's eyes.

With the main force of the Sect out in full force, the internal defenses of the Immortal City must be empty to the extreme. The Law Enforcement Squads and secret agents left behind had all their attention attracted by the spirit boats in the sky.

This was the perfect time for him to escape the city amidst the chaos!

Gu Shen did not hesitate. He waved his large sleeve and put away the Thick Earth Array's Formation Plate.

Subsequently, he took out a wide black cloak from his Storage Ring and wrapped himself tightly. Thousand Faces squirmed again, transforming into a one-eyed, burly man with a sinister face and a face full of flesh.

His cultivation aura was precisely adjusted to the Peak of Qi Refinement Level 6.

The image of a Cultivator Bandit who licked blood on the edge of a knife all year round and had a violent temper emerged.

Pushing open the door of the Immortal Cave, Gu Shen strode into Qingyi Alley.

At this time, the Outer City had completely turned into a pot of porridge.

Once the Formation was withdrawn, those Loose Cultivators trapped in the city were like hornets whose nest had been blown, rushing crazily towards every city gate. No one wanted to remain in this place of right and wrong that could turn into a meat grinder at any moment.

Gu Shen mixed into the crowded flow of people, moving like a slippery loach through the gaps in the crowd.

At the city gate.

The originally strict checks now appeared pale and powerless in the face of the surging tide of Loose Cultivators.

The dozen or so remaining Danding Sect Disciples, holding Magical Artifacts, roared hoarsely to maintain order, but it was of no use at all.

"Get lost! I want to leave the city!"

"Don't push! People are being trampled to death!"

Curses and shoving sounds rang out everywhere.

Gu Shen was mixed in the middle of the crowd, his eyes cold. He didn't go to squeeze at the very front but waited patiently for an opportunity.

Just at the moment when the crowd was about to break through the city gate defense line.

"Presumptuous!"

Above the city gate, a Danding Sect commander at the Peak of the Qi Refining 9th Layer roared, sacrificing a huge bronze magic mirror in his hand.

Buzz!

A piercing green light shot out from the magic mirror, like an invisible wall, smashing fiercely into the dozens of Loose Cultivators who had rushed to the front.

"Ah—!"

Screams rang out everywhere. Dozens of Loose Cultivators were hit by the green light, their bones instantly broken and tendons snapped, flying backward and knocking down a large group of people behind them.

The chaos at the city gate experienced a brief stagnation.

"Now is the time!"

A flash of brilliance exploded in the depths of Gu Shen's eyes.

He did not retreat, but instead, taking advantage of the gap left by the falling crowd in front, his legs exerted force suddenly!

The terrifying physical strength after the first layer of the Bone Refining Art reached Major Achievement exploded at this moment. He himself was like a violent black rhinoceros, forcibly smashing through several Loose Cultivators blocking the front, and charged directly towards the city gate!

"Courting death!"

Seeing this, the commander at the Qi Refining 9th Layer had a flash of killing intent in his eyes. The bronze magic mirror in his hand turned again, and a green light, thicker than the one just now, headed straight for Gu Shen's face.

Gu Shen did not dodge or evade.

"Condense!"

Green light flared on his body surface, and the Wood Armor Technique instantly took shape. A vine armor as thick and tough as old tree bark tightly protected his whole body.

Bang!

The green light smashed fiercely onto the Wood Armor.

The surface of the Wood Armor made a teeth-grinding friction sound, and the vines snapped, but Gu Shen's footsteps did not stop in the slightest. He braced himself against this Spell attack from the Peak of the Qi Refining 9th Layer, like a heavy war chariot, and smashed directly through the defense Formation light screen at the city gate!

Crack!

The Formation light screen shattered.

Gu Shen's figure, like a black lightning bolt, instantly rushed out of the towering city gate of Yunze Immortal City!

"Stop him!" the commander roared.

But Gu Shen's speed was too fast. The shadow shoes shimmered with dark light, and he had already merged into the vast wilderness outside the city.

Behind him was the completely out-of-control army of Loose Cultivators, pouring out of the city gate like a tide.

That commander was instantly submerged by the surging tide of people, and no longer had the time to care about the one-eyed burly man who had forcibly broken out of the city.

...

Half an hour later.

In a desolate mountain forest fifty miles away from Yunze Immortal City.

Gu Shen stopped his steps, leaned against a thick ancient tree, and gasped for breath.

Having just withstood a strike from the Peak of the Qi Refining 9th Layer, although he had the dual defenses of the Wood Armor Technique and iron bones, it still made his Qi and blood churn.

His Divine Sense moved slightly, and he took out a drop of essence white dew (inferior) from his Storage Ring and swallowed it.

The pure spiritual energy dissolved, quickly calming the churning Qi and blood in his body.

"This muddy water of the Immortal City has finally been jumped out of."

Gu Shen looked back at the direction of Yunze Immortal City. Those three huge spirit boats had long since disappeared into the horizon.

"The main force of the two major Sects has gone to the White Bone Forest. That Wei Lingfeng must also be there."

Gu Shen's eyes were deep.

The battle for the blood marrow lotus was destined to be a slaughter of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. He had no intention of joining the fun.

His goal now was very clear.

"Baiyin Mountain."

Gu Shen took out the black bone fragment he had snatched at the Rootless Ghost Market from his Storage Ring.

The bone fragment felt cold to the touch, and the rough route map depicted on it was clearly imprinted into his mind under the scanning of Gu Shen's Divine Sense.

"The finger bone of the Thunder Bone Demon Ape needs to be neutralized by extremely Yin objects. The Nine Nether Silkworm used to refine the Soul-Pulling Threads also only survives in places of extreme Yin and extreme Sha."

"This Baiyin Mountain is the perfect treasure land for me to break through to the second layer of the Bone Refining Art and refine the Puppet!"

Gu Shen tucked the bone fragment close to his body.

He did not set off immediately.

In these wild mountains, Yao Beasts were rampant. He had to first find a hidden place to recover to his Peak state.

"Crab, scan a radius of five miles to find a suitable hiding place."

"Understood, Master."

The red light on the iron spider on his shoulder flashed slightly.

A moment later.

"Master, at the three o'clock direction, two miles away, there is a natural underground karst cave. Thermal imaging shows no large life signs inside; it is very hidden."

"Let's go."

Dark light flashed under Gu Shen's feet, and his figure, like a ghost, swept towards the direction of the karst cave.