Chapter 33: The Cunning Fate‑Immortal King!

"I'm exorcising demons underground in the Great Li Dynasty, while Bai Haichan is delivering treasures on the surface to Fang Han; it's rather interesting."

The celestial crane's back makes Chen Zheng smile inwardly.

Xu Yueer, seated in front, sees him fall silent, closes her eyes to rest her spirit, and turns her head away.

She concentrates on the Beast Card to command the celestial crane, flying side by side with the cranes ridden by the other seven women; wherever they pass, the clouds are stretched into eight straight white plumes.

These celestial cranes, though not as powerful as the Gale Divine Eagle Chen Zheng rode in, are all variants specially bred by the Feather Ascension Sect.

Each is as fast as lightning, possesses boundless strength, and especially its two sharp claws, like steel hooks, can easily pierce metal and iron.

The celestial cranes also know martial arts.

For example, when an outer disciple enters the sect, one of the three fundamental martial arts they receive is the Pine Crane Longevity Fist, derived from crane-like movements.

And whenever a new true‑transmission disciple establishes a foundation, they may request a batch of such celestial cranes from the sect to raise themselves; simply using the Beast Card to command them makes travel for their subordinates convenient and handles errands.

Moreover, the crane's saliva that drips from its beak is an excellent tonic for nourishing yin, strengthening yang, and moistening the lungs, coveted by many inner and outer disciples who devise all sorts of ways to make the crane salivate and stealthily collect it.

The journey remains silent.

Before long, the nine people and eight cranes completely fly out of the Feather Ascension Mountain range.

"Something's off, very off."

Chen Zheng suddenly opens his eyes, as if recalling something terrifying, his pupils snapping shut.

He hurriedly asks Xu Yueer, "You just said that Bai Haichan obtained the Nine-Opening Golden Core and the Radiant Blessing Golden Circle Map; people from both the righteous and demonic paths now know and are tracking his whereabouts?"

Hearing this, Xu Yueer turns back, sees Chen Zheng's expression exceedingly solemn, and is momentarily stunned.

She doesn't hesitate, nods and says, "Indeed. When I borrowed a celestial crane, Senior Sister Jia Lan mentioned that our Feather Ascension Sect's brothers Jin Shitai, Cang Bozi, and Shi Longzi have all gone to the Great Li Dynasty to search for Bai Haichan. The Star Cluster Sect also dispatched true‑transmission disciples to protect Bai Haichan. Even the six great immortals of the Supreme One Sect—Fushou, Dafa, Kun Yuan, Kan Li, Lu Ming, and Chang Chun—have mobilized."

"Actually, Thus we have Title: Elder Jin gave us this task to help his son Jin Shitai obtain the Radiant Blessing Golden Circle Map."

"And the mission to find Bai Haichan isn't only taken by our group of outer disciples; many other groups have also accepted it…"

Xu Yueer's words keep flowing.

The more Chen Zheng listens, the deeper his brows furrow, and his gaze grows dim and obscure.

He just recalled a detail: the matter of Bai Haichan obtaining the supreme treasure was initially known only to the Fang family and Fang Qingxue.

Only their family launched a hunt on it.

Until Bai Haichan was gravely wounded by Fang Qingxue's Purple Lightning Yin Thunder Blade, the Radiant Blessing Golden Circle Map, imbued with magical force, carried Bai Haichan into the Dragon Abyss River; the dying Bai Haichan happened upon Fang Han on a beach, gave him the two treasures, and only then did the whole affair gradually surface and become known to others.

But now Xu Yueer claims the matter is already known to everyone, drawing masters from all sects into the Great Li Dynasty.

This plot… doesn't match at all.

"Junior Brother Chen, are you alright?" Xu Yueer, seeing Chen Zheng's changed expression, asks worriedly.

"You let the celestial crane land, I'm quitting the mission." Chen Zheng shakes his head, his complexion unchanged, yet a chill rises within him.

He speculates a terrifying "truth".

The reason Bai Haichan's acquisition of the supreme treasure spread worldwide, stirring turmoil within the Great Li Dynasty, may be because of him.

The purpose was to bait him.

Imagine, if some uncontrollable 'anomaly' suddenly appears in the world and a supreme being in this realm catches a hint of it, would that supreme being go to any lengths to root out this 'anomaly'?

Chen Zheng is that 'anomaly'.

He doesn't yet know where the problem lies.

But he guesses that the Fate-Immortal King may have already sensed his existence, or glimpsed some future in the river of time, or due to a butterfly effect, and thus set this trap to lure him into a jar.

In short… the Fate-Immortal King is exceedingly treacherous.

Unfortunately, the Fate-Immortal King miscalculated one thing.

The point is, Chen Zheng knows the storyline and can cross‑verify inconsistencies. If it were another person unaware of the plot, or a careless transmigrator who blithely rushes to the Great Li Dynasty, they'd likely be singled out by the Fate‑Immortal King.

Of course, all of the above are Chen Zheng's own conjectures.

As for the specifics, only the Fate‑Immortal King knows.

Nevertheless, he has no intention of descending into the underground world beneath the Great Li Dynasty.

Just in case.

"No… not doing the mission?" Xu Yueer looks at Chen Zheng in stunned disbelief.

Chen Zheng looks straight at her and says seriously, "I'm not doing it."

"Then… okay then." Xu Yueer hesitates slightly, nods in agreement.

She mentally links the Beast Card in her bosom, commanding the celestial crane to reduce its speed and descend.

In a short while, the celestial crane lands from the heights onto the open ground below.

You have reached this novel.

"Great Virtue Dynasty?"

Chen Zheng leaps down from the celestial crane's back, looks around; the place is a vast green meadow stretching endlessly.

According to records of the myriad worlds, the Great Virtue is a nomadic empire neighboring the Great Li Dynasty; the two nations frequently clash, fighting at border passes over land and populace.

He doesn't need to go to the Great Li, nor return to the Feather Ascension Sect; instead he could go to the underground world beneath the Great Virtue Dynasty to hunt demons.

"Senior Sister Yueer, Junior Brother Chen, why did you suddenly stop? Are you setting up camp to rest here?"

The other seven women, seeing the two land abruptly, also ride celestial cranes to the pair's side to inquire.

Xu Yueer sighs, "It's not to camp; Junior Brother Chen said he's not doing the mission."

"What?"

The women are taken aback by the words.

They were about to head to the Great Li Dynasty.

Chen Zheng suddenly changed his mind at the last moment.

Chen Zheng explains, "I can't stand the character of Jin Shitai and his father; I don't want to sell my life for them, so I won't do this task. I'll go to the underground of the Great Virtue Dynasty to hunt demons."

……

The girls fell speechless for a moment.

They didn't know whether Chen Zheng's words were true or false, but since the other party had made up their mind like that, there was nothing they could do.

"If we don't go, we don't go; who cares about him! Bei Bei, Xiao Yu, Aiwei... let's go."

A tall woman with a cold face called out for the girls to leave.

She is called Yu'er, her cultivation is Rou Shen Di Shi Chong, and the entire Eight Girls Team is led by her and Xu Yueer.

Nan Beibei, who had previously said she would protect Chen Zheng, also glared at him angrily: "Junior Brother Chen Zheng, you've let me down so much!"

"Hmph, let's not bother with him; let him go to the underground of the Great Virtue Dynasty himself."

"When he encounters danger and lacks our sisters' protection, when he is about to lose his life, he will regret it too late..."

Several other girls widened their almond eyes in anger, glared at Chen Zheng, and then took flight on their immortal cranes, following Yu'er into midair.

In their view, bringing Chen Zheng out on a mission with good intentions was equivalent to sending him through to qualify for the inner disciple examination.

But Chen Zheng treated their good intentions as if they were worthless, which is really infuriating.

(End of chapter)