Chapter 2348: We escort them back together

The Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace arrived a step later, unaware of what had happened before.

After all, the Immortal Vessel's speed could not possibly compare to He Yingqin's.

Rushing all the way without the slightest pause, I thought we had caught up, but as the words fell, the Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace glanced around and saw no trace of their ancestor.

Then, noticing the strange looks of the many cultivators, I immediately felt something was off, and my brows furrowed tightly.

"Where is the ancestor?"

I muttered a sentence under my breath; hearing it, the elders beside me also silently shook their heads.

They hadn't seen the ancestor either—how strange; could it be that the ancestor hasn't arrived yet?

But the ancestor isn't here—what are we to do?

The gazes of Huang Lao and Zuo Fu put great pressure on them; the Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to fight Huang Lao and the two of them.

Even if they all went up together, the result would only be being directly killed by Huang Lao and the two of them.

Just as the Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace and their party were completely bewildered, unable to make sense of the situation, someone whispered.

"Um, your ancestor just left."

Huh???

This person is the sect master of another major power in the Immortal Realm, and is a fellow cultivator of the Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace, with deep ties, so they spoke up to remind.

Just hearing this, the Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace became even more bewildered.

Looking at this person, they said with a doubtful expression.

"My ancestor left? Where did they go?"

"I don't know, but they were driven off by Senior Huang Lao and the others."

Huh???

That was already quite euphemistic; plainly put, it means they ran away.

The Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace couldn't react for a moment—how long had the ancestor been here before they ran off?

Besides, what about the Heavenly Family ancestor, Miao Cuihua, and the other top experts—did they also run away?

Something's off, really off—why are only Huang Lao and Zuo Fu the two top experts present?

But before the Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace could figure it out, Huang Lao spoke.

"Within three breaths, anyone who gathers around the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree will be killed."

Speaking, violent Línglì surged forth; the immense pressure made many cultivators' hearts sink involuntarily.

At present there are no other top experts; Huang Lao and Zuo Fu are absolutely unrestrained, and no one can stop them.

Once they make a move, with so many cultivators present, even without discussing whether they could resist together, casualties would certainly be heavy.

Although the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree is precious, who would be willing to risk their life in a desperate struggle for it?

If I die then, having made a wedding dress for others, that wouldn't be a loss.

With so many cultivators, they are not of one mind, so naturally they cannot regard death as home.

Everyone wants the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree, but nobody wants to die, let alone use their life to create opportunities for others.

So, as Huang Lao's words fell, some cultivators immediately chose to leave.

Other top experts never appeared; for this Nine Heavens Treasure Tree, they don't even have the qualification to fish in troubled waters.

Staying behind would only waste one's life for nothing—that would be a loss not worth the gain.

Someone took the lead, and soon others followed suit, choosing to leave one after another.

The Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace watched as the many cultivators dispersed one after another, feeling torn inside.

They had come all this way, yet hadn't even seen their ancestor's face—were they just going to leave?

"Palace Master, what should we do?"

At that moment, the Grand Elder beside them asked quietly.

Hearing that, the Palace Master of Extreme Bliss Palace fell silent for a moment, then gritted their teeth and said.

"Withdraw first."

Those who know the times are heroes; in this situation, it's not wise to linger—this Huang Lao really dares to kill.

Not long after, the originally dense crowd dispersed completely; only Ye Zhangqing and a few others remained around the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree, together with Zhang Xiaohai and the other strong cultivators of Cooking King Immortal City.

Things were proceeding fairly smoothly, and He Yingqin didn't stir up any waves.

After the many cultivators had dispersed, Huang Lao said.

"Go, let's return first to the Dao One Immortal Sect."

Hearing that, Ye Zhangqing nodded; the group was about to set out, when the Heavenly Family ancestor, Miao Cuihua, Tianlin, and Miao Qianqian—who had not appeared before—finally showed up before everyone.

"You're returning to the Dao One Immortal Sect? Let us escort you as well—more people means greater safety."

Grinning, the Heavenly Family ancestor cheerfully looked at Huang Lao and said.

Their appearance was naturally not to seize the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree; if they wanted to take it, they would have acted earlier.

Upon hearing this, Huang Lao snorted and curled their lip.

"If you just want a free meal, say so—why bother with all this?"

"What nonsense escort—this guy obviously just wants to tag along for a free meal."

Carrying the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree, the group's speed is doomed to be slow; traveling from the Western Border back to the Dao One Immortal Sect, even with no mishaps along the way at their pace, it would still take several days.

Hearing that, the Heavenly Family ancestor feigned anger and said.

"What nonsense is this? Want to go back on your word? Then I'll call He Yingqin back."

"You......................"

Although they knew it was a joke, Huang Lao was still angered, their mouth twitching.

In the end, the Heavenly Family ancestor, Miao Cuihua, and the others still joined the group, heading together toward the Dao One Immortal Sect.

Zhang Xiaohuai and the others naturally followed along as well; before the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree was safely delivered to the Dao One Immortal Sect, nobody dared to let their guard down.

However, that very night Ye Zhangqing made good on his promise, giving Tianlin and Miao Qianqian enough fruit to break through to the Ancient Immortal Realm.

This Nine Heavens Treasure Tree had already matured; even after giving fruit to the two, there were still hundreds of fruits left.

Enough to greatly boost the strength of the Dao One Immortal Sect.

At least Qi Xiong, Hong Zun, Zhao Zhengping, Xu Jie and the others could make rapid progress in a short time.

However, carrying the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree, along this road it was practically like holding up a huge lantern.

Wherever they went it was blazingly obvious; trying to hide was futile, and anyone could easily sense their whereabouts.

There was no way around it; the manifestations of the Nine Heavens Treasure Tree could not be concealed even by Huang Lao and Zuo Fu, so they had to make all these preparations before taking action.

Otherwise they could have just quietly finished the job; why go through all this trouble?

On the immortal vessel, Huang Lao said rather helplessly.

"These guys are really unwilling to give up."

One could naturally sense clearly that, all around and along the way, quite a few people were following secretly.

Their number was no less than ten thousand, and they were all prominent figures of the Immortal Realm.

They were either the sect masters and elders of the various immortal sects, or the clan heads and patriarchs of the various immortal clans.

These folks had been following them all the way from Xijiang, not daring to act but also unwilling to leave; Huang Lao felt quite helpless about this as well.

Knowing these people lacked the guts to make a move, but who could say for sure? Better safe than sorry—no fear of ten thousand, just fear of the one chance.

Upon hearing this, Zuo Fu beside him also gave a helpless wry smile.

"It's only natural; everyone wants to try their luck. Once we return to the Dao One Immortal Sect and properly settle the treasure tree, we can relax a bit."

The group proceeded slowly, while tens of thousands of cultivators behind them followed step for step, keeping a distance neither far nor near, making no move, just trailing along, which made everyone feel somewhat irritable.