182: Chapter 182 Manipulated at Will!

Yun Feiyang flew on his sword through the clouds, the wind whistling in his ears.

He glanced down at Ruan Xingwan in his arms, increased his spiritual power, and the speed of the Qingming Dao Sword soared.

Just then, his mind shuddered.

An invisible thread in his mind snapped.

It was that phantom Puppet.

"So fast?"

Yun Feiyang's face darkened.

That Puppet was a treasure he had unearthed from this Secret Realm; it could perfectly replicate the original's cultivation, aura, and even the fluctuations of the Divine Soul.

He had just achieved his Breakthrough to the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, his Foundation was unstable, and if he faced Gu Changsheng head-on, he wouldn't even have a one-in-ten chance of winning.

This ruse of luring the tiger away from the mountain was his only path to survival.

He had calculated that, given the strength of the Puppet, it should have been able to stall Gu Changsheng for at least the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

But now, it hadn't even lasted half that time.

That man was several times more formidable than he had anticipated.

A heavy stone pressed upon Yun Feiyang's heart.

"Feiyang."

Ruan Xingwan in his arms stirred.

"Have we... escaped?"

Her voice was somewhat ethereal, trembling with the aftermath of surviving a disaster.

Yun Feiyang pulled back his thoughts and looked down at her.

"We've escaped, Xingwan, we are safe."

He saw the bewilderment in her eyes and felt a pang of pain in his heart.

"I'm sorry, it was me who implicated Xingluo Valley, and implicated your foster father."

Ruan Xingwan shook her head and buried her face in his chest.

"It's not your fault."

Her voice was muffled.

"It's the Daoxuan Immortal Sect, it's Gu Changsheng; they are devils."

Yun Feiyang didn't speak again, simply holding her tighter.

He fled the whole way, specifically choosing desolate mountains and wild ridges, flying for a full half-day.

Until the spiritual power in his body was mostly exhausted, he found a hidden cave to land in.

He helped Ruan Xingwan sit down in the cave and set up several Restrictions at the entrance to conceal their aura.

"You rest for a while; I'll go look around nearby."

Ruan Xingwan grabbed his sleeve.

"Don't go too far."

"Don't worry."

Yun Feiyang patted her hand and turned to leave the cave.

He didn't go far, just circled the vicinity of the cave to confirm there were no traces of pursuit.

When he returned to the cave, Ruan Xingwan had already fallen asleep against the stone wall.

She was sleeping very restlessly, her brows furrowed, and tearstains still hung at the corners of her eyes.

Yun Feiyang took off his outer robe and gently covered her with it.

He sat by the campfire, watching her sleeping face, his heart in turmoil.

He remembered clearly that when he infiltrated Changsheng Peak, everything went suspiciously smoothly.

The guards at the entrance of the East Side Hall seemed to have vanished into thin air.

He pushed the door open and went in; only a maidservant was inside, dozing off.

He chopped the maidservant unconscious with a hand strike, hid her in a cabinet, and didn't even see a drop of blood.

The whole process didn't alert anyone.

But he always felt something was wrong.

It was too quiet.

Someone like Gu Changsheng, with his meticulous mind and ruthless methods, how could he make such a low-level mistake?

When he brought Ruan Xingwan out, that sense of unease in his heart kept jumping.

Yun Feiyang's gaze fell upon Ruan Xingwan.

He stood up, walked to her side, and crouched down.

He extended two fingers and pressed them to Ruan Xingwan's brow.

A gentle Divine Sense probed into her Sea of Consciousness.

It was empty, very clean.

No Restrictions, no hidden hands, not even a trace of anyone else's Divine Soul imprint.

He wasn't reassured.

His Divine Sense followed her Meridians downwards, checking inch by inch.

From head to toe, from flesh to bone, he didn't even spare the depths of her Qi Sea.

There was nothing.

Inside Ruan Xingwan's body, there was nothing foreign.

Yun Feiyang withdrew his fingers, his brows furrowing even deeper.

Could it be that he was overthinking?

Did Gu Changsheng go to such great lengths to set up this trap just to humiliate him and then kill him?

He shook his head, unable to figure it out.

However... as long as the final result was good, the goal had been achieved.

Compared to usual, there was something indescribable about Xingwan.

Perhaps... it was because Xingwan had suffered too great a shock.

Yun Feiyang looked at her pale face, and the guilt in his heart surged up again.

Xingluo Valley was destroyed, and her foster father died a tragic death.

As a young girl, she had watched all this happen with her own eyes and was then imprisoned in the enemy's territory.

If it were anyone else, their Divine Soul would have been damaged.

"Xingwan, don't worry."

Yun Feiyang spoke in a low voice to her in her sleep.

"I will definitely avenge this."

"Whatever Gu Changsheng owes us, I will make him pay back a thousand times, ten thousand times over."

He stood up, walked to the cave entrance, and gazed at the pitch-black night sky outside.

"My greatest reliance is not my current cultivation."

"It is those ancient Secret Realms in my mind that have been dormant for hundreds, thousands of years."

"The Taisui Spirit Ginseng was just an appetizer."

"Once I find the 'nine-aperture divine stone' and refine the 'Heavenly Fire Dao Fetus', Gu Changsheng, your death day will have arrived."

A light reignited in his eyes.

Changsheng Peak, the secluded valley behind the mountain.

"Young Lord."

Gu Yi's figure emerged from the shadows, kneeling on one knee.

"As you commanded, I have intentionally let Yun Feiyang leave."

"Mm."

Gu Changsheng acknowledged, looking in the direction outside the valley with his hands behind his back.

Yun Feiyang was too ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth; did he really think the Daoxuan Immortal Sect was a place he could come and go as he pleased?

The Daoxuan Immortal Sect was the hegemon of the Eastern Region; within the sect, experts were as numerous as clouds, its Foundations were unfathomable, and its defenses were airtight.

From the moment Yun Feiyang infiltrated Changsheng Peak, he had already been detected by the sect's powerhouses.

If not for Gu Changsheng's prior instructions to let him be for the moment, this person would have long since been crushed to death on the spot!

And Yun Feiyang taking Ruan Xingwan away was originally a step in Gu Changsheng's plan.

After all, Yun Feiyang was a person of Rebirth, and his mind held many secrets of ancient Secret Realms.

Just the Taixu Imperial Court alone had yielded Gu Changsheng a rich harvest, and as for the other ancient Secret Realms that Yun Feiyang knew of, he was naturally determined to obtain them as well.