Chapter 42: Net of Heaven and Earth

Wilderness.

Xu Qing's body was agile, speeding forward.

He had been running for two days. Because of his recovery ability, the fatigue caused by non-stop traveling for others did not appear in Xu Qing.

He even had a feeling that his body had completely warmed up.

During this period, he had also noticed the figures of Jin Gang Sect cultivators with the same attire as the camp master from afar, but under his careful avoidance and speed, he had avoided them all.

At this moment, when he was only one day away from his destination, Deer Horn City, Xu Qing's path also reached a fork.

On the left was the place where the city he had lived in for six years was located. That place had now turned into a forbidden zone, and looking from afar, it was pitch black in the twilight.

The other direction was Deer Horn City.

Standing here, Xu Qing turned his head to look at the direction of the forbidden zone. After a few breaths of silence, his body flickered, and he was about to rush to Deer Horn City, but at this moment, his expression changed, his body crouched down instantly, hiding in the bushes.

Narrowing his eyes, Xu Qing looked up at the distant sky.

There, a golden rainbow was whistling past.

Because the distance was too far, Xu Qing could only see the blinding golden light and could not see the figure inside, but the other party's spiritual energy fluctuations were the same as the camp master's and even more intense, which made his heart shake.

"This pressure surpasses the camp master..."

Until the rainbow went far away, Xu Qing took a deep breath, hesitation appearing in his eyes.

In two days, he had encountered three waves of Jin Gang Sect cultivators, all of which he had carefully avoided, but clearly, this time gave him the most dangerous feeling.

"Continuing forward, I can reach Deer Horn City within a day..." Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and pondered. He knew that his current advantage was that no one knew that he possessed the Seven Blood Eyes token.

In this way, it was difficult for his destination to be guessed.

But he had another advantage, which was that he did not care about the rich strange substances in the forbidden zone; if he was careful, he could live in it for a long time.

The former advantage lay in the need for him to be quick in his actions, catching the Jin Gang Sect off guard; there was a high probability that he could teleport away from Deer Horn City.

But there were also drawbacks. Once he was detected on the road to Deer Horn City, this advantage would instantly shatter. It would be easy for people to guess his destination, and at the same time, his own safety would be threatened.

The latter advantage lay in delaying time.

Delaying until the Jin Gang Sect was tired and lax would make it easier for him to go to Deer Horn City more safely according to the former advantage, and during this time, if he encountered danger, he also had room to maneuver in the forbidden zone.

"Two methods, two choices..." Xu Qing pondered.

While analyzing the pros and cons in his heart, suddenly, the golden light that had gone far away in the sky appeared again, and this time the speed was faster.

This abnormal scene made Xu Qing frown immediately. He hid and observed carefully until the golden light flew past from afar, its speed clearly slowing down a lot.

This allowed Xu Qing to see the figure within the golden light clearly; it was a middle-aged cultivator.

This person had a talisman stuck to his right leg, emitting spiritual energy fluctuations, seemingly supporting his body to fly.

In front of him was another talisman paper, which was the source of the golden light.

At this moment, as the light of this talisman paper flickered constantly, there was actually a faint figure within it. Looking closely, that figure was exactly the guard of the camp master's mansion who had been killed by Xu Qing.

It was like a soul body, sensing all around in the golden light like a hound.

The middle-aged cultivator's speed became slower and slower, as if observing the surroundings. After a long while, he changed direction and continued to search until he went further and further away.

This scene made Xu Qing's heart skip a beat.

"Talisman Treasure!"

He recognized those two talismans. Although he did not know the specifics, he guessed their general function.

"Using the person I killed to sense my existence? But clearly, the range is not very large, and the sensing is also blurry..." Xu Qing took a deep breath, deeply realizing the magic and mystery of the techniques. At this moment, the analysis of pros and cons in his heart immediately had a tendency.

"I cannot continue to Deer Horn City. With a whole day's time, the probability and risk of being discovered are extremely high. Once discovered, not only will I be in a dangerous place, but my destination will also be exposed." Xu Qing made a decision. Taking advantage of the other party going far away, his body flickered and he headed straight for the forbidden zone.

He prepared to go there to hide for a period of time before making a decision.

And just as Xu Qing was speeding, not long after, when he was still an incense stick's time away from the forbidden zone, the golden light appeared again in the sky behind him.

Xu Qing hid immediately, looked back, and his eyes shrank violently.

That golden light now seemed to have locked onto him, its speed suddenly increasing, rushing straight to the place where he was, and there was even a sword light whistling over with even faster speed.

This scene made Xu Qing's expression change slightly. He stopped hiding and his body flickered violently.

The moment he left, a roar erupted. The sword light landed suddenly on the place where he had just been hiding, causing mud to splash and setting off a violent impact.

At the same time, the golden light in the sky also arrived instantly, and there was even a cold snort echoing.

"Little brat, finally found you. So you were coming here!"

As the sound came out, the golden light approached, and the middle-aged figure within it was clearly revealed.

This person had a square face, wore a golden robe, was of ordinary height, and had an ordinary appearance, only his eyebrows were extremely heavy, looking very distinct.

At this moment, under his thick eyebrows, his eyes carried coldness and killing intent, looking at the direction where Xu Qing was from the sky.

Almost the moment he looked down, Xu Qing stomped his right foot on the ground, and his whole body shot up with a bang, whistling and rushing toward the middle-aged man in mid-air.

The middle-aged cultivator sneered. When he passed by here for the first time before, the tracking talisman had appeared abnormal, so he searched carefully, and now he had finally locked onto Xu Qing. Seeing Xu Qing coming, his body rose instantly.

After reaching a height that Xu Qing could not reach, the moment Xu Qing's body's momentum dissipated and his body fell, the middle-aged cultivator raised his right hand.

As a storm appeared in the surroundings, he pointed suddenly.

Instantly, the storm fell, directly submerging Xu Qing's figure within it.

Amidst the roar, Xu Qing landed on the ground in a very sorry state, his body flickering as he headed straight for the direction of the forbidden zone.

The middle-aged cultivator was just about to chase, but the next moment, a cold glint flashed from Xu Qing's side, turning into a dagger and arriving at the middle-aged cultivator with astonishing speed.

This middle-aged cultivator narrowed his eyes, and his body rose into the air to avoid it directly.

"Small tricks!"

On the ground, Xu Qing looked deeply at this middle-aged cultivator, did not speak, his speed exploded fully, and he accelerated forward.

He had already realized that he was not this person's opponent.

If the other party could not fly, he could still trade injury for injury and drag him to death.

But facing an opponent who could fly, Xu Qing did not have many methods.

One in the sky, one on the ground—in such a fight, he did not possess any advantage.

At this moment, as his speed exploded, Xu Qing ran with all his might. In the sky behind him, the gold-robed middle-aged man sneered, directly took out a jade slip to transmit sound to the ancestor, then accelerated his pursuit, and while pinching techniques, one after another technique lights bombarded the earth.

As a great elder at the ninth layer of Qi Condensation, his spiritual energy was very abundant, and he had mastered more techniques.

Looking from afar, one could only see wind blades and fireballs bombarding constantly, making Xu Qing, who was running on the ground, exhausted to deal with them. Even if he dodged, he was still affected, and bloodstains slowly overflowed from the corners of his mouth.

"The ancestor is too cautious. There is no need for him to come; I can kill you myself." The middle-aged cultivator in mid-air sneered.

Although he said so, he did not land. Even if Xu Qing was in a sorry state many times, he still maintained a certain height, and while pinching techniques with both hands, the storm rose again, bombarding the ground.

Killing intent flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. Being beaten so passively made the killing intent in his heart even stronger.

But he was very clear that although the other party was one person, he must have a method to contact the sect. If he did not fight quickly to enter the forbidden zone, after a long time, once others from the Jin Gang Sect arrived, his situation would be even more dangerous, especially the ancestor mentioned by the other party, which made Xu Qing's heart shake.

But the other party never lowered his height, which made Xu Qing unable to counterattack. He had also pretended to be weak several times before, but still could not lure the other party down.

"This person is too cautious, I cannot wait any longer."

Thinking of this, purple light flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. The moment the other party's storm fell and submerged his whole body, a purple blade shadow suddenly appeared within the storm.

Inside the storm, Xu Qing spat out blood, carrying the damage of the other party's technique, and his right hand fell accordingly.

Instantly, the Heavenly Blade reappeared and slashed down suddenly.

A sense of life-and-death crisis, intense to the extreme, erupted directly within the heart of the middle-aged cultivator in mid-air. His expression changed drastically, his body retreated rapidly, and he used a flight talisman to ascend with all his might.

And the moment he rose into the air, the void below him roared astonishingly. The blade shadow arrived, as if it could cut off everything, whistling past from under his body dangerously.

If he had avoided it a little slower, or if he had lowered his height before, I am afraid that now he would definitely have been slashed by this blade with the momentum of thunder.

Although he avoided life and death at this moment, his left foot was still touched, collapsing directly, flesh and blood blurry.

Enduring the severe pain, this middle-aged cultivator breathed rapidly, killing intent strong in his eyes, but the vigilance and lingering fear in his heart were even stronger. He was very clear that if there were no flight talisman, if he were slashed by that astonishing blade, even if he did not die, he would definitely be seriously injured.

"The Ancestor was right, this child is evil!"

On the ground, Xu Qing wiped away the blood from the corners of his mouth, looked coldly at the middle-aged cultivator with the blurry flesh and blood on his left foot in mid-air, suppressed the regret in his heart, turned around, and flickered, speeding toward the forbidden zone.

The middle-aged cultivator in the sky, at this moment, could not bear the severe pain. After sealing the wound, he looked down at Xu Qing. Although the killing intent in his heart was strong, he still hesitated for a moment and did not dare to continue approaching, but instead opened up the height and interfered with techniques.

He did not intend to do it alone anymore. Compared to completing the sect mission, his own life was more important, so he planned to drag it out. Even if the other party wanted to enter the forbidden zone, he would let this matter happen.

"When the Ancestor comes, this child will definitely die!"

Thus, in the situation where he dared not approach, although the techniques also caused damage to Xu Qing, Xu Qing's recovery was astonishing, so the impact was not very large, and his speed was getting faster and faster.

Until Xu Qing saw the edge of the forbidden zone, his body flickered, and he stepped in at high speed.

Outside the forbidden zone, the middle-aged cultivator's figure in mid-air paused. Just as he was hesitating whether to chase in, heavenly thunder suddenly appeared in the sky behind him, rolling and echoing, and two figures whistled over.

The former wore a red robe, white hair scattered, dignified without anger.

Behind him was the shadow of a Vajra, turning into a storm and shaking all directions—it was the Jin Gang Sect Ancestor.

The latter was another elder of the Jin Gang Sect. The two followed one after another, approaching at high speed. ===== CHAPTER 43 =====