Chapter 224: Next Stop Arrived (Monthly Ticket Bonus Chapter)

Yunyi City.

This major regional thoroughfare city, located in the southeast, is as prosperous and flourishing today as it has always been.

On the north side of its square-shaped outer city lies a place of detention for convicts known as the Sin Prison, where criminal cultivators transported from various cities in the Luoyu Southern Lands are held.

These criminal cultivators, who have committed various offenses, are first gathered here, and once a sufficient number is reached, they are transported in bulk to the convict camps on the front lines.

Inside the dim space, there is only a miserable silence.

Gao Feng is also among them at this moment.

Formerly the inner city superintendent of the southern frontier city of Nanmo, he had always been the one to send others to prison, yet he never imagined that one day he would fall to this state, able only to numbly count the days, counting how many days he has left to live.

Once transported to the front lines, even a first-rate Golden Core cultivator like him would undoubtedly die!

"... I was wrong, I was so wrong! I shouldn't have been cowardly, I shouldn't have hesitated, I shouldn't have been so cautious!"

Recalling his past actions now, his heart is filled only with regret, and he can no longer maintain his usual cold and stern expression, showing only deep annoyance and dejection.

Had he known Meng Changqing would be so heartless, he should have done as Tang Yiping did and directly defected to the side of the High Envoy, risking his life to gamble; if he could have helped him win, he would not have ended up in such a plight!

In the end, it was because he thought too much, was greedy for life and afraid of death, and dared not pick a side, that he met this fate!

And when it all comes down to it, it actually started with one thing!

"I shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have; had I known Du En would be the key, I shouldn't have sent him into the forbidden prison back then, otherwise I wouldn't have been passive every step of the way, worrying about the outcome and throwing my life away in vain!"

Gao Feng regrets it, deeply regrets it; if only he were given a chance...

Tap!

The deliberately heavy footsteps make Gao Feng lift his regretful gaze; he looks as if his spine has been pulled out, appearing aged, weak, and frail.

"Is it really him?"

"Eighth Master, it is him, the only criminal cultivator sent from Nanmo; it must be him, no mistake."

The Sin Prison jailer nods and bows, constantly affirming, while the man he calls Eighth Master—Yun Ying, the eighth disciple of the Great Cultivator of Yunyi, now at the Foundation Establishment perfection stage—still looks suspiciously at Gao Feng, who sits behind the cold bars looking as unsightly as a pile of dog shit.

"Hmm, you may go."

"Yes, yes."

The jailer bows and backs away.

Once he is far away, Yun Ying speaks with disdain from his superior position: "Gao Feng, if you don't want to die, I can give you a chance to gamble with your life right now; will you listen or not?"

"Gamble with my life?"

Gao Feng cannot help but be startled, a glimmer of light appearing in the depths of his eyes.

Yun Ying watches him, nods slowly, and lowers his voice: "Du En, he has already left Nanmo; I estimate he will go to a certain place next, and I want to ambush him there, so I need a suitable helper now."

"You want to kill him?"

Hearing this, Gao Feng is stunned again, but his thoughts break free from his dejection and he quickly captures the key point: "Did you tamper with the reply letter back then?"

"Hmph!"

Yun Ying just snorts coldly in annoyance, which counts as an admission, though he is actually quite depressed inside.

He had thought that by doing so, he could cut off one of his junior martial brother's arms, but he never expected that this arm would grow into a leg in just eight short years; if he really let his junior martial brother successfully embrace it and then reveal the past in conversation, his own situation would be very dangerous!

After all, although the position of Traveling Walker has no real power, it is equivalent to a certificate of genius, indicating that Du En is valued by some superior in the sect, and his future prospects are limitless!

Therefore, even his master, the Nascent Soul Great Cultivator of Yunyi, could not protect him forever; in fact, if Du En keeps breaking through at this speed, his master might even choose to sacrifice the pawn to save the chariot!

Anyway, because of the connection with Ren Li, there would at least be room for maneuver...

Thinking of these possibilities at the time, Yun Ying felt his hair stand on end; naturally, he could not just wait to be captured, so he inquired about Gao Feng's situation and made a special trip here at this time.

At this moment, he is very concise: "I am giving you a chance; will you kill him or not?"

"Kill!"

A sharp glint flashes in Gao Feng's eyes, and his entire demeanor is swept clean of dejection; the intensity of the killing intent he erupts with makes Yun Ying involuntarily step back, feeling both horrified and extremely excited.

"Good, good, good! With you taking action, there is no chance of failure!"

West of the Luoyu Southern Lands, Chiwu City.

Of the three hundred and sixty cities in the Southern Lands, there are three hundred small cities, fifty medium cities, and ten large cities, all under the jurisdiction of a hub city.

Chiwu City, like Nanmo City, is a small city.

However, its situation is somewhat different from that of the frontier city of Nanmo.

The responsibility this small city bears, unlike other small cities, is purely logistical support.

Du En arrives by air at this moment, crossing the cloud currents from afar to see the familiar square-shaped city nestled upon the Chiwu Mountain Range in the southwest.

The mountain range runs from east to west, covered in red-leafed parasol trees that look like torches, their leaves shaped like flying birds and as red as blood.

Legend has it that a phoenix once perched here, turning the mundane into the spiritual and dyeing the entire mountain range red; even under the noon sun, it does not lose its color, but instead steals the spotlight from the sunlight.

In reality, there is spiritual energy of the third-grade peak quality quietly circulating here, nourishing these red-leafed parasol trees; the whole place is actually a fourth-grade spiritual cultivation ground.

Such a spiritual ground naturally produces red-leafed parasol trees of varying grades, and with the cultivators of this city—ranging from the bottom-tier laborers who fell and dig, to the high-level technicians who refine them into magical artifacts, talismans, and pills, and finally the master craftsmen who refine the superior materials...

The overall framework is actually the same as Nanmo, but the difference lies in the fact that the various materials and manpower transported outward are relatively greater, moving in and out along the mountain ridge paths and aerial routes at this moment.

Du En hovers in the air at the edge of the mountain range.

After surveying the whole, he begins to move in and out.

Because this mountain range is a single spiritual cultivation ground, it should nourish fourth-grade red-leafed parasol trees; having just arrived at the border, his proficiency count for spirit-seeking has accumulated once.

So, naturally, he will finish filling up this stage of spirit-seeking before doing anything else.

After a thousand trips back and forth, he successfully fills it up.

【Hundred Arts: Spirit-Seeking (Mastery 0/300)】

"An unexpected harvest right upon arrival; it seems this trip should go quite smoothly."

Du En came to Chiwu City this time, firstly for the purpose of traveling, and secondly because when he was a corpse-burier years ago, he had promised someone—Shi Lei—that he would come here to help him find his son, explain the circumstances, and return his belongings as per his dying wish.

Shi Lei had already given him a reward, which served as the main material for his initial Shadow-Lacquer Dharma Robe, and he continued to use it until the Foundation Establishment stage; it can be said that it was a great help.

Since I can travel freely now, naturally I must come over to settle this matter.

(End of this chapter)