Chapter 657: Seeing Qu Yi

The moment Ding Huan stepped into Dao Ruin Street, he knew he was being watched.

He immediately understood that he had been spotted the moment he came out of Dao Ruin.

Whoever spotted him had probably sent word long ago, but the person who received the message never got a reply, so they didn't know how to handle it.

In the end, they chose to tail him.

The Dao Ruin Plaza had prepared so many measures against him, yet he was spotted the moment he came out—why was there no response?

It wasn't hard to guess: the people sent to grab him were busy fighting the God Race invaders.

This made Ding Huan all the more grateful that he'd chosen the right moment to return.

The God Race invaders were at least late-stage World Gods, most of them probably Divine Kings.

Which meant the ones originally planning to move against him were at least late-stage World Gods, most likely Divine Kings.

Ding Huan shot out of the Dao Ruin Street entrance at once and arrived at the Lower God Realm.

The instant he emerged from the Dao Ruin Street entrance, he summoned his long saber.

The long saber rolled up a curtain of blade light.

Almost the same instant Ding Huan's blade curtain rose, a late-stage Divine Sovereign cultivator burst forth.

And what greeted him was Ding Huan's saber strike.

"Puh!" Beneath the blade curtain, a spray of blood burst open—this Divine Sovereign's head was cleaved off by Ding Huan.

The instant his Primordial Spirit spilled out, two arcs of lightning sealed off its escape.

"Fellow Daoist Ding Huan, this has nothing to do with me, I'm just someone ordered to tail you…"

The Divine Sovereign cultivator's Primordial Spirit realized its predicament and cried out desperately.

"Talk—who's after me…" Ding Huan said flatly.

"You have to promise…"

Before the Primordial Spirit could finish, Ding Huan's lightning arcs slammed into it.

A shrill scream rang out as the Primordial Spirit cried desperately: "It's the Dao Ruin Merchant Guild…"

But whether he named the Dao Ruin Merchant Guild or not, Ding Huan couldn't possibly show mercy.

The lightning arcs exploded, tearing this Divine Sovereign realm Primordial Spirit into shreds.

Ding Huan swept up the man's ring, then tossed down a ball of flame.

From the moment he burst out of Dao Ruin Street, to killing this tailing Divine Sovereign, to destroying the body and vanishing—the whole thing took no more than ten breaths.

After putting distance between himself and the Dao Ruin Street entrance, Ding Huan didn't leave.

The Dao Ruin Merchant Guild had gone to such lengths to take him down—if he didn't repay them in kind, he wouldn't have survived till today.

Half a shichen later, Ding Huan transformed into a middle-aged cultivator and strolled unhurriedly back into Dao Ruin Street.

The fighting outside Dao Ruin Street had long since stopped, and the whole street looked somewhat chaotic.

Ding Huan headed straight for the Dao Ruin Plaza—there was a space inside prepared against him.

Since it was meant for him, he'd happily accept it.

His divine sense seeped in, and Ding Huan's expression stiffened slightly.

Something was off about the disguised entrance to that space—the transmission tower. He seeped his divine sense in again.

Ding Huan quickly spotted the difference: hidden beneath the space were two people, and the Dao rhythm auras around them had nearly merged with the surrounding space.

If he hadn't observed carefully, he really might not have noticed them.

When Ding Huan got a clear look at the two of them, he was stunned.

He knew both of them.

What he couldn't believe was that one of them was actually Qu Yi.

How could Qu Yi possibly have come to the God Realm?

This…

No matter how great Qu Yi's opportunities were, she couldn't possibly have reached the God Realm.

Luo Huan'er, on the other hand, didn't surprise him.

Luo Huan'er had regained her physical body, and reaching her current level of cultivation over these years was about normal.

Ding Huan immediately sent a voice transmission to Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er: "Are you tired of living? Get out of here now, and stop digging."

When Qu Yi heard Ding Huan's voice transmission, her whole expression froze.

"Sister Huan'er, did you hear Brother Ding's voice…"

Ding Huan could only continue transmitting helplessly: "Stop doubting it, it's me, I'm out. Also, you're in great danger right now—flee on the spot, I'll cover up your Dao rhythm fluctuations."

As he spoke, Ding Huan began laying down one interference array pattern after another.

Qu Yi was certain she hadn't misheard—it was Ding Huan's voice.

She quickly grabbed Luo Huan'er: "Sister Huan'er, let's go, now…"

The two of them fled the spot with an earth-escape technique. Because Qu Yi was desperate to see Ding Huan right away, and her strength was limited, the Dao rhythm fluctuations from her earth-escape were a bit too large.

Anyone paying attention could absolutely detect such fluctuations.

Ding Huan had no choice but to charge into the plaza, grab a woman's arm, and say: "Well, look at you—still haven't returned what you owe me, and now you dare show up at Dao Ruin Plaza."

As he spoke, Ding Huan's domain swept out wildly—he was deliberately picking a fight.

Ding Huan's domain fluctuations were so great that every cultivator in the plaza turned their gaze toward him.

"Ah…" the woman shrieked, then turned and fled.

Ding Huan was delighted, and threw a punch straight out.

The Dao rhythm fluctuations from this punch perfectly masked Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er's earth-escape fluctuations.

The woman sensed the intense killing intent; she simply couldn't believe Ding Huan dared to act here, and she turned and threw a punch back.

From the killing intent in Ding Huan's punch, she only hoped her injuries would be light.

Boom!

The Dao rhythms collided; to her astonishment, she had blocked Ding Huan's punch. So easily?

Ding Huan did not continue his attack.

"The item isn't with me—I can't return it to you now…" the woman said urgently.

Ding Huan halted his assault; he spotted Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er rushing out.

Ding Huan still wondered—could this woman truly owe someone something?

Right, I was already disguised; she thought the creditor was disguised too—this was an accidental coincidence.

Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er hid in a corner at the edge of the Dao Xu Square.

Since everyone's attention was drawn to Ding Huan, no one noticed Luo Huan'er or Qu Yi.

"Stop! Daring to fight in the Dao Xu Square…" two Dao Xu Street enforcers rushed over from afar.

Ding Huan swiftly plunged into the crowd and vanished.

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The woman saw Ding Huan flee; she too dashed into the crowd and headed in another direction.

She was deeply astonished—why had Ding Huan left?

Fighting was indeed forbidden in the Dao Xu Square, but neither she nor Ding Huan caused any damage or injury—only a small amount of Spirit Crystal would be fined.

Given what she owed him, he couldn't just walk away like this.

Normally, these two enforcers would have rushed forward to seize Ding Huan and the woman and force them to pay Spirit Crystals.

Today was clearly inopportune.

Though the outer protective array of Dao Xu Street had ceased being attacked, the battle between human and divine realm experts had not ended.

Several divine realm warriors had been killed; the human side had lost one Divine King.

Too many incidents had occurred on Dao Xu Street today; these enforcers didn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble over minor matters.

When they rushed up to Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er, they nearly failed to recognize the two.

Both were covered in the smell of dirt—no one knew how many years they'd spent buried in soil.

He quickly restored his true appearance.

"Big Brother Ding…" Qu Yi spoke only three words before her whole body trembled, tears streaming uncontrollably.

She had countless things to say—but now she could not speak.

Over these years, she had endured countless dangers; her will had long been hardened beyond breaking—yet seeing Ding Huan, she still could not hold back her tears.

This was not merely because she saw Ding Huan—it was an indescribable emotion churning deep within her, her thoughts stalling at this very moment.

Since leaving Earth, she had always been alone.

She had had friends, masters, even disciples.

Yet she could never find her own belonging—those were all passersby in her life's journey.

She had never before felt, as she did now, utterly unable to control her inner emotions.

Was the man before her the one she had longed for day and night? A relative from her distant homeland? Or the one who forged her foundation as her Dao instructor?

Finally, her gaze settled on Ding Huan's eyes—her own eyes had once been given to her by him…

Ding Huan seized Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er's hands; without them speaking, he already understood what had happened.

They had learned of the space that sought to capture him—and somehow came up with the stupid idea of digging through space with their bare hands, no artifacts involved.

In their minds, this would avoid any artifact Dao rhythm fluctuations.

Truly…

Though their hands had been forcibly restored to flesh and blood, the wounds were plain to Ding Huan's eyes.

"Thank you," Ding Huan suddenly felt that in his pursuit of the Dao, he might have missed many things.

These were Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er—if Jia Baihe and Wen Zhixi were here, would they do the same?

In mere moments, Ding Huan was certain—they would.

Because conversely, he too would find a way to save them—only the method would differ.

"Big Brother Ding, we didn't know you'd escaped without the Dao Xu Guild noticing—if we had known, we never would've used this method."

Luo Huan'er's tone was awkward; both she and Qu Yi had dug for years—those years had all been wasted.

"Let's find a place to stay first, then talk in detail…"

No sooner had Ding Huan spoken than he spun around—and saw the entire killing array of the Dao Xu Square activate.

A man with a red ribbon tied around his head swung his long halberd, unleashing a storm of halberd light that slew all seven Dao Xu Guild cultivators charging him.

Among them were four Divine Lords, one even at late-stage Divine Lord.

Boom!

A series of roars erupted as the man wielding the halberd activated a teleportation talisman.

The next instant, the man vanished without a trace.

Ding Huan silently cursed.

Sure enough, the teleportation tower at the edge of the Dao Xu Square suddenly disappeared.

Ding Huan was speechless—he hadn't expected this space to activate after all.

But the one caught wasn't him—it was another stranger, a man with a red ribbon tied around his head.

A thin man dashed diagonally into the Dao Xu Square, then reached out and grabbed the square's edge.

Ding Huan knew—the man was trying to reclaim his space world.

He was a Divine King; Ding Huan longed to strike now—but he glanced at Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er beside him.

He made a move to scheme against this Divine King, and then he could actually escape.

Seeing Qu Yi and Luo Huan'er would definitely not be able to get away.

(End of this chapter)