Chapter 143

Exactly six Life Pond realm masters retreated just like that.

They withdrew cleanly and decisively, without a hint of hesitation; they also showed no trace of the anger a dignified Life Pond realm expert ought to feel after being forced to retreat by juniors, and they simply and dignifiedly retreated toward Dragon City.

What they were after was exactly the disk in Lu Ji's hand, and the Cangyan Destruction Bomb he claimed to have buried in Dragon City.

Wu Tie stared intently at the several burly men who left without looking back, taking big strides, and he nodded firmly.

"The Six Paths Palace's precepts and rules…… I like people who follow the rules…… I like this kind of person, who treats the weak as equal lives and does not regard all living beings as ants." Wu Tie let out an admiring sigh, then turned and fled at top speed.

The shamaness's little face flushed red as she exerted all her strength to wave the Wind and Cloud Banner; smoke and clouds roiled, cutting off all breath and sound, leaving no trace of passage on the ground, and she swept the group into a frantic escape.

Lu Ji buried many Cangyan Destruction Bombs in Dragon City?

Assuming this is true, Lu Ji couldn't possibly stand at the passageway entrance threatening the Six Paths Palace people forever; once they cleared those Cangyan Destruction Bombs inside Dragon City…… what would happen is easy to imagine.

Especially……

Smoke and clouds billowed, the wild wind howled, the group, riding several huge mounts, surged along the passageway at high speed, and Wu Tie loudly asked Lu Ji: "Did you really bury that many Cangyan Destruction Bombs inside Dragon City?"

Lu Ji gave a dry laugh, firm and decisive, shaking his head.

"Just one…… When I was about to leave, I suddenly had an inspiration and casually tossed it under the bed in my room."

Lu Ji gave an embarrassed laugh: "In the Lu Family, I'm notorious for not pursuing a proper livelihood…… The blueprints for the Cangyan Realm destruction bomb were obtained by the Shi Family from a secret realm they found in a mineral vein; the Lu Family elders and siblings weren't interested, so I took them."

Shi Fei stared at Lu Ji in surprise: "There's still this?"

"Yeah, probably. The Shi Family's mining crews dig everywhere, often pulling out strange gadgets and many ancient oddities. When they unearth weird blueprints and sell them at high prices to these gullible Lu Family folks, it's only natural."

"However, the resources I got from the Lu Family are limited." Lu Ji sighed helplessly: "After great effort, I merely stole… no, I merely gathered a bit of the Lu Family's Cangyan Realm firepower and forged this single Cangyan Realm destruction bomb."

Wu Tie nodded in sudden realization, then he firmly patted Wu Nu's little head: "Wu Nu, speed up…… there's only one Cangyan Realm destruction bomb…… those Six Paths Palace folks will catch up soon……"

Yan Hanlu beside them gave a light cough and said softly: "Perhaps we don't need to be too anxious; maybe they don't have the time to come after us……"

Wu Tie, Shi Fei, Lu Ji, Tie Dajian, plus Lao Bai and Wu Nu, all turned their gaze toward Yan Hanlu.

Yan Hanlu's face flushed slightly as she whispered: "The Six Paths Palace pursuers would have to find every Cangyan Realm destruction bomb and eliminate all hidden threats before they could come after us…… Lu Ji said he'd scattered over three hundred such bombs in the city……"

Shi Fei's eyes narrowed into slits as he slapped his belly and laughed gleefully: "But actually there's only one…… even if they searched blindly, they couldn't find a second or third…… The Six Paths Palace folks are single‑minded; they'll surely think it's their own mistake, not that Lu Ji deceived them……"

As Shi Fei said the Six Paths Palace folks were single‑minded, he was punched and sent flying; at that moment, the constantly coughing‑blood Tie Dajian glared at him fiercely.

Wu Tie produced a red primordial fruit and casually handed it to Tie Dajian.

This is a resource the Six Paths Palace uses to trade for the Arhat Subduing Demon Blade; the fruit is called the 'dragon saliva fruit', said to be formed when dragon saliva is infused and then long‑seasoned by earth‑fire, making it excellent for nourishing blood and vitality, ideal for healing wounds.

Poor Tie Dajian, he got himself into this mess; when the Six Paths Palace effectively 'sold' him to Wu Tie, aside from a set of clothes and his personal weapons, his cosmic pouch and all his personal property were confiscated by the Discipline Hall.

Now Tie Dajian is so poor he can't find a single copper coin anywhere on his person.

Tie Dajian readily accepted the dragon saliva fruit, swallowing it whole, skin and seed included. As a veteran mercenary with three hundred years of experience, it's only right to eat and drink what the employer provides—that's the rule—so Tie Dajian took the fruit without any psychological burden.

The Wind and Cloud Banner billowed, sweeping Wu Tie and the others forward in a hasty march.

This time, Wu Tie's group had Tie Dajian as their seasoned guide; they took obscure routes unknown to ordinary folk, avoiding merchant caravans and travelers, smoothly detouring past the next great domain bordering the Great Dragon Realm, bypassing over a dozen large and small grottoes, and finally arrived at the border between the Six Paths Palace and Nüwa Valley.

Along the way, Wu Tie and Wu Nu took turns driving the Wind and Cloud Banner, marching nonstop for over a month; Wu Tie was utterly exhausted, his whole body sore, while Wu Nu's snow‑white, tender cheeks had slimmed a bit, her pointed chin making her look pitiful.

"Alright, Nüwa Valley is the most unreasonable and domineering power among the dozens of neighboring great realms." Upon reaching the vicinity, Tie Dajian finally exhaled, his voice low: "The Six Paths Palace will certainly not fight here; it's still two or three days' journey to Nüwa Valley, so we can rest awhile."

Wu Tie also let out a heavy sigh; he was truly exhausted to the point of nearly falling apart.

The group found a medium‑sized cavern near a dark river; at several entrances Lao Bai set up small alarm devices; Shi Fei skillfully knocked a dozen large fish from the dark river with his spiked club and brought them back; Tie Dajian lit a campfire, and Yan Hanlu adeptly began grilling the fish.

Wu Tie lay spread‑eagled by the fire, every joint in his body sighing with comfort.

Wu Nu lay spread‑eagled on Wu Tie's chest, arms wrapped around the Wind and Cloud Banner, eyes half‑closed, sighing contentedly: "Dad, I'm hungry."

Mo Zhang Wang staggered over and slumped crookedly beside Wu Tie.

All this while, everyone focused on evading possible pursuit by the Six Paths Palace, truly marching day and night; on the road they only rested briefly two or three times, each break lasting no more than an hour or two, leaving no time for conversation.

Mo Zhang Wang sat beside Wu Tie and muttered lowly: "Thanks."

Wu Tie narrowed his eyes, feeling wave after wave of drowsiness wash over him; he was curious about Mo Zhang Wang's story, but he truly had no energy to talk now: "You're welcome…… if you have something to say, wait till I wake…… if you don't want to, no need to bother. Anyway, we're all on the same side."

He hadn't finished the sentence when Wu Tie fell asleep with a soft "huh‑huh."

Wu Nu, meanwhile, suddenly sat up energized, legs crossed, facing Mo Zhang Wang as she sat on Wu Tie's chest, looking at him earnestly: "Go ahead…… Dad won't listen, but I will."

Mo Zhang Wang opened his mouth, glanced at Wu Nu, reached out and gently pulled her cheeks left and right with both hands, then sighed deeply: "My story…… this little girl isn't suited to hear it…… so…… hungry? Have some meat……"

Mo Zhang Wang grabbed a hide sack, pulled out a large chunk of half‑cooked, smoke‑dried meat jerky from the road, and handed it to Wu Nu.

Wu Nu frowned, eyeing the dark‑red, bloody‑smelling jerky in Mo Zhang Wang's hand, then looking at Yan Hanlu's fish sizzling 'hiss‑hiss', oily and golden‑brown, she gave him a hard stare: "Bad person……"

Mo Zhang Wang gave a dry chuckle; Wu Nu raised the Wind and Cloud Banner and jabbed it hard into his nose, nearly flipping his nostrils upward.

Within the stone cavern about a hundred meters across, the aroma of grilled fish spread in all directions; Shi Fei, Lao Bai, and Tie Dajian produced several jars of old wine, sitting by the fire and drinking with relish.

Lu Ji continued to have his metal spider elongate its limbs into a metal cage, hiding himself inside while he carefully etched magical runes onto a single deadly poison cloud blast bomb; beside him lay that astonishing‑caliber short‑barreled double‑barreled hunting rifle, with two boxes of explosive rounds neatly stacked at hand.

Inside the small stone cavern a peculiar warmth lingered; Wu Nu and Mo Zhang Wang played and laughed, Mo Zhang Wang seeming good with children, while the usually overly mature and solemn Wu Nu burst forth with rich emotion for the first time.

Wu Tie snored with a soft "huh‑huh", his righteous vital energy circulating spontaneously within him; having frenziedly driven the Wind and Cloud Banner to rush and escape, he had ingested large amounts of primordial grass to replenish his magical power.

Much of the primordial grass's essence had settled in his body without being absorbed in time.

The righteous vital energy acted like a huge cauldron, forcibly activating those medicinal essences and turning them into a blazing flame that rolled back and forth inside Wu Tie's body.

Strand after strand of golden magical power continually merged into the golden light cluster at his brow, solidifying the foundation of the Great Strength Divine Magic, and Wu Tie's physical strength increased at a speed that left ordinary people stunned.

The Primordial Scripture's mysterious function quietly began to operate on its own; under the impetus of vast medicinal power, countless strands of golden magical power once again extended from the golden light at his brow as innumerable light threads toward the first level of the Heavenly Lock Pagoda. Various wonderful bodily insights continually merged into Wu Tie's soul, making his magical fluctuations deep and ethereal, filled with an indescribable spirituality.

Shi Fei drank until his face was flushed, and the painstakingly grilled fatty fish that Yan Hanlu had prepared were devoured piece by piece, even the bones taken to feed Shi Fei's gray‑rock lizard.

Wu Tie still hadn't awakened when Shi Fei hurried to the dark river, brandished his spiked club, scattered a bit of meat slurry into the water to lure a dozen greedy big fish, smashed them half‑dead with a single blow, and cheerfully shouldered the catch back.

Yan Hanlu earnestly roasted those fatty fish until they were charred and fragrant, made the fire a little smaller, and placed the grilled fish beside it to keep warm.

Wu Nu managed to finish off two fish each two or three times her body length; sated, she crouched beside Wu Tie while Mo Zhang Wang sketched a rough chessboard on the ground, found a few stones, and they played checkers together.

Having completed three deadly poison cloud blast bombs, Lu Ji finally felt a bit safer; he ran to the spot nearest Wu Tie, positioned his metal spider to shield his other side, and then fell asleep by the fire.

The stone cavern grew quiet; Shi Fei, Lao Bai, and Yan Hanlu listened silently as Tie Dajian recounted his past adventures.

No wonder, as a veteran mercenary who had wandered dozens of great realms, Tie Dajian had seen and experienced much; for the three country bumpkins who came from the Cangyan Realm, his experiences undoubtedly held tremendous appeal.

Wu Tie finally got enough sleep, and he woke up.

Stretching lazily with satisfaction, Wu Tie felt his whole body brimming with power, his spirit extremely full, his physical condition better than ever. Moreover, he discovered that both his strength and mana had increased somewhat, as if he had undergone a perfect cultivation even in his dream.

Smiling, he picked up the roasted fish by the campfire; Wu Tie ate the tasty fish meat while watching the witch maiden happily play chess with the Demon Chapter King.

This simple chess game had been taught to the witch maiden by the Demon Chapter King, but after just a few rounds, her chess skill had improved to the point of making the Demon Chapter King despair.

Especially since the Demon Chapter King was asking for trouble, he suggested to the witch maiden that they wager one gold coin on a game of chess...

When Wu Tie woke up, there were already fifty or sixty gleaming gold coins piled before the witch maiden; her snow-white little face bore a radiant smile, and she occasionally glanced at the Demon Chapter King… Wu Tie felt that the witch maiden's gaze gave him the illusion of a mountain bandit seeing a fat sheep…

The atmosphere was warm and everything was fine when the small mechanism that Lao Bai had set up outside an exit of the stone cavern was suddenly triggered.

A clear "ding" sounded—that was a small copper bell being struck.

Lao Bai flipped his body and dove straight into the shadow behind Tie Da Jian.

Shi Fei, Tie Da Jian, Yan Han Lu, and the others all stood there; Tie Da Jian strode forward a few steps, his burly body blocking the passageway.

Wu Tie tossed aside the roasted fish in his hand, slowly rose to his feet, a cluster of flame encircling his palm, and the grease stuck to his hand was instantly burned away clean. He lifted the White Tiger Cleave, flicked the spear shaft with his finger, and the White Tiger Cleave let out a low tiger's roar.

A tall, lithe beauty, moving like a leopard, strode into the stone cavern with her head held high.

Behind her followed seven or eight youths clad in soft armor, equally proud, even carrying a hint of arrogance and recklessness.

Then, a squad of over fifty burly men clad in heavy armor, riding uniform poisonous wolf-spiders, surged into the stone cavern. With so many people now in the cavern spanning a hundred meters, it instantly felt a bit cramped.

"Huh? What are you sneaking around here for? Do you know this is the territory of Nüwa Valley? Why are you lingering? What are you doing? Why are you resting here? Could it be that you have some design on my Nüwa Valley?"

The leopard-like beauty held her head high, not even bothering to see how many people were inside the stone cavern, and she spoke in a fiery tone, bluntly rebuking them.

Wu Tie looked at the maiden.

I heard that Nüwa Valley is a power where women are supreme.

Are these arrogant, overconfident maidens the direct descendants of Nüwa Valley?

In other words, they are relatives of Wu Tie's maternal clan.

"We're going to Nüwa Valley." Wu Tie stowed the White Tiger Cleave and said in a low voice, "I want to go to Nüwa Valley to find someone."

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