Chapter 455

The red-dressed girl's speed is extremely fast, much, much faster than Wu Tie's current Vertical Earth Golden Light.

In just a few breaths, she brought Wu Tie deep into the mountains for twenty to thirty thousand li, and this is still a straight-line distance, not counting the winding detours around those towering mountains that pierce the clouds.

Wu Tie increasingly cursed Long Lang in his heart.

This idiot, facing the red-dressed girl's terrifying speed and terrifying strength, where does he get the confidence to actually bring along about a hundred defeated remnants whose highest cultivation is merely the peak of the Life Pool Realm and escape with their lives?

They are clearly playing cat and mouse, deliberately letting them escape.

This guy actually dragged himself into the water against his will.

Of course, Wu Tie won't admit that he was lured in by the high bounty on the secret list of the Great Jin Divine Nation. Being dragged into the water is indeed his own fault, but Wu Tie naturally won't admit that.

Surrounding mist and clouds intertwine; everywhere are mountain peaks shaped like bamboo shoots, hundreds of li high, with beautiful and splendid lines all over, verdant green.

Mountain after mountain gathers wind and qi; in Wu Tie's view, each mountain here can be called a feng shui blessed land, capable of opening up dozens of cultivation treasures worthy of being offerings.

The red-dressed girl slowed her speed, treading on flowing clouds, lightly weaving between the beautiful and splendid mountain peaks; not long after, a magnificent, towering and gorgeous vista suddenly burst into Wu Tie's view.

That is a expanse of beautiful peaks arranged in a fan shape, with waterfalls like white dragons rushing down from the high mountains, accompanied by thunderous roars, crashing into a vast emerald lake at the mountain's base.

In the lake stands a circular peak, tens of li high, nearly a hundred li in diameter, its whole body smooth and lustrous; the mountain itself is naturally formed as a single massive piece of jade. Such a huge piece of jade is already a priceless treasure in itself, and what's even more precious is that the jade's quality is actually quite good, fully qualifying as top-grade.

Such a huge piece of top-grade beautiful jade, and who knows how large another piece lies beneath the lake surface!

Wu Tie stared wide-eyed in shock.

This expanse of water, this circular peak, and those hundred-plus waterfalls rushing down like giant dragons resemble a scene of a hundred dragons vying for a pearl; the sight delivers an extremely strong psychological impact.

Those hundred-plus waterfalls also carry immense amounts of worldly elemental energy, continuously pouring into the lake below. In the lake, a ring-shaped vortex and undercurrents naturally form, feeding the worldly elemental energy in endless circles into the central circular peak, which continually absorbs it.

Perhaps many, many years ago, this circular peak was merely an ordinary large stone.

Only after countless eons of worldly elemental energy, worldly essence, and years of tempering could an ordinary mountain stone be polished into this huge, beautiful and splendid, peerless treasure of jade.

On this circular peak there are no towering giant trees, only extremely fertile soil, on which grow lush moss and verdant long grass; amidst the grass, spirit ginseng, lingzhi, and various strange flowers and herbs can be seen everywhere.

These rare medicinal herbs are nourished by the refined essence emanating from within the peak, becoming plump and large-eared, with their leaves almost dripping with a liquid like jade balm.

Each stalk is a peerless precious medicine, not only extremely ancient in age but also possessing extremely potent and pure medicinal power.

Wu Tie cannot concoct pills, but his eyesight is sufficient; if all the medicinal herbs on this circular peak were dug up, they would surely cause a frenzied tsunami among the alchemists of Anyang City.

Their value is beyond measure, even a city cannot describe these precious herbs.

But Wu Tie can also see that these herbs show no signs of having been harvested.

All the medicinal herbs grow naturally and freely; he even saw an enormous clump of he shou wu, heavy and laden, hanging down from the edge of the circular peak, its length reaching over a thousand zhang.

Who knows how many years such a huge clump of he shou wu has been growing.

Besides these astonishingly valuable medicinal herbs, the most eye-catching thing on this circular peak is a paifang standing at its very center.

The paifang is three stories high, with a nine-bay layout, simple and antiquated in style, its surface bearing hardly any relief decoration, only the simplest wind-cloud-thunder pattern continuing without end, covering the entire paifang.

The material of the paifang appears to be the most ordinary granite, dull and unremarkable, standing there without attracting any attention.

Wu Tie suddenly opened his third-eye divine vision; a dull divine light shone on the paifang, and only then did he discover that the paifang's divine light was inwardly focused, within it a faint unique Dao rhythm flickering. This is a divine object, not a mundane one.

But as to exactly what grade of existence this paifang is—whether it is an innate spiritual treasure or an acquired object—Wu Tie cannot see through.

The red-dressed girl brought Wu Tie flying toward a mountain peak beside the lake on one side of the circular peak.

This beautiful mountain peak, tens of li high, had its summit leveled into a flat area of several hundred mu, on which hundreds of extremely simple wooden lodges were built. The exteriors of the wooden lodges are covered with abundant vines, blending perfectly with the vegetation on the mountain body.

Thus, viewed from high above or from afar, the wooden lodges on the mountain summit blend perfectly with nature, leaving no trace of human habitation.

The red-dressed girl grabbed Wu Tie by the neck and flew him to the summit.

Dozens of sturdy youths in armor stood on the peak; upon seeing the red-dressed girl land, they simultaneously placed their left hands on their sword hilts, clenched their right fists, lightly tapped their chests, then bowed deeply in salute.

"Your Highness!"

Wu Tie's eyebrows twitched; hearing these sturdy youths address the girl as "Your Highness," he couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild.

Who is this girl to the former crown prince?

Daughter?

Granddaughter?

Hmm, perhaps she is a great-granddaughter many generations removed.

After all, the former crown prince is a figure from six thousand years ago; according to Long Lang's account, after escaping Anyang City he soon died from severe wounds. If the former crown prince had offspring, they would be several thousand years old—impossible for this youthful-looking girl.

"Fetch the Escape Dragon Pillar!" the girl snorted coldly: "This fellow cultivates the Nine Turns Mystic Art, a most troublesome sort; ordinary binding objects cannot imprison him. Take the Escape Dragon Pillar, then take the Dragon Tiger Heavenly Master's Seal to seal his soul… and also bring that set of exquisite dragon-binding locks to pierce his limbs and bones."

Wu Tie felt a chill run down his spine.

The Escape Dragon Pillar immobilizes his form, preventing transformation; the Dragon Tiger Heavenly Master's Seal seals his soul, making him unable to mobilize his power.

These are standard measures; even if Wu Tie cultivates the Nine Turns Mystic Art, they are enough to prevent him from fleeing.

What the heck are those exquisite dragon-binding locks that pierce the limbs and bones?

"Miss, there's no need to be so harsh; with you guarding me, I couldn't escape anyway."

As soon as Wu Tie finished speaking, the youth at the front launched a flying kick at his chest.

"Impudent! How dare you be rude to Your Highness!"

With a thud, the body of Wu Tie, whose neck was held by the girl and lifted in her hand, jerked; then everyone heard the sound of the youth's right foot breaking.

The youth's face turned deathly pale in an instant; he stepped back with his left foot, hopped a few times on it, and his right leg twitched, unable to bear weight. He had kicked Wu Tie hard, but Wu Tie's internal recoil shattered his right foot—who can he blame for this?

"You!" several youths exclaimed, their faces changing as they each drew out half of their side swords with a clang.

"Enough, first subdue him, then you can do whatever you like." The red-dressed girl snorted coldly: "Hurry up, holding such a big living person in hand is awfully heavy."

The youths then came to their senses.

They glared at Wu Tie with abnormal fury, quickly scanned his naked body, then hurriedly turned and ran into the rear wooden lodges.

Obviously, Wu Tie being stark naked while held in the hand of their own Highness is, in the youths' eyes, a desecration, a great desecration, an offense, an extremely rude offense.

Especially the youth whose right foot was shattered, his eyes turned completely blood-red, his stare at Wu Tie almost like a blade.

"Don't blame me; I was originally wearing a full set of armor… but your Highness forcibly stripped me naked." Wu Tie's joints all dislocated, unable to move at all, he could only sigh and squeeze out a few words from between his teeth.

His jaw had been dislocated by the girl's shock; when he spoke, his mouth shape couldn't change, but fortunately he could perfectly control his breath, so the sound he made was still fairly standard.

With a 'hum' sound, a gleaming gold metal pillar flew out from the wooden building and landed heavily before Wu Tie.

Then three metal rings covered in patterns flew out from the metal pillar, respectively clasping his neck, waist, both hands, and both feet, firmly fastening him to the pillar.

A strange, extremely heavy and highly penetrating force surged into his body, making Wu Tie feel his whole body weighed down; attempting to use divine abilities to transform—say, into insects or birds—to escape became extremely difficult.

Accompanied by a strange whistle, two phantom images—a dragon and a tiger—flew out from the wooden building, turning into a large seal the size of a bowl that heavily pressed onto Wu Tie's crown, then remained there motionless.

Wu Tie felt his soul suddenly freeze, unable to mobilize even a trace of magical power.

Several youths walked out of the wooden building, holding dozens of thin chains as thick as mung beans, entirely crystalline and transparent, covered with barbs and hooks; they picked up each delicate hook and stabbed it into various joints and vital points of his limbs and body.

The hooks spat out cold light, heavily cutting Wu Tie's skin.

Wu Tie's skin was extremely supple; even with the youths exerting all their strength, they could not pierce his flesh at all.

The youths had expended great effort, yet could do nothing to Wu Tie; they stared at each other, faces flushed, unable to speak.

The girl in the red skirt furrowed her brows, gave a cold snort: "Truly a bunch of good-for-nothings… Well, with the Escape Dragon Pillar and the Heavenly Master's Seal, there shouldn't be any problem… This guy is a bit odd; you take turns keeping strict watch, don't let him escape."

She shook her head, the red-skirted girl walked toward the wooden building, clapping her hands and humming lightly: "You're idle, so go ahead and refine him properly. As long as you don't kill him, do whatever you like… Anyway, keep him alive to lure those lackeys to their deaths."

All the youths, especially the one whose right leg had been shattered, showed delighted smiles, and they all bowed to the red-skirted girl: "Yes, Your Highness!"

The red-skirted girl entered the wooden building; hearing her light footsteps fade away, soon there was no sound at all.

Dozens of youths quickly surrounded Wu Tie.

Especially the youth whose right leg had been shattered stood on one leg before Wu Tie, fiercely pointing his right hand at Wu Tie's nose: "You little dog, good, good, you'll get what's coming to you!"

Wu Tie's neck joint had dislocated, so he couldn't move his head and couldn't see the expressions of those around him, but he could feel their gazes filled with deep-seated hatred. He gave a wry smile and said in a low voice: "We have no grudge…"

"No grudge?" dozens of youths burst into loud laughter, their laughter filled with an indescribable spite and hatred.

The one-legged youth let out a long whistle, shook his hand and flung out a wrist-thick iron chain, seven or eight zhang long, spewing fierce fire; the youth swung it hard, and it lashed Wu Tie like a vicious dragon baring its fangs and claws.

With a tremendous bang, sparks flew everywhere.

Wu Tie's skin didn't redden at all, not even a wrinkle; the iron chain rebounded back very high, almost bouncing back to strike that youth's head.

The youth cursed, hopping on one leg back several zhang to the distance where his iron chain could exert maximum power, then he swung it overhead and across his face in a frenzied lashing at Wu Tie.

The bangs continued; the iron chain turned into a vast black shadow, rolling up a cloud of fire that smashed into Wu Tie.

Wu Tie couldn't move at all, only able to let the iron chain lash wildly.

His internal bones, no longer suppressed by the red-skirted girl, each piece began to emit a dim, gloomy light, burning with dim flames; they attracted each other like powerful magnets, slowly withstanding the Escape Dragon Pillar's sealing force, gradually piecing themselves together.

Suddenly struck by a fierce assault of the iron chain, Wu Tie's bones showed no reaction, merely trembling slightly as they continued to self-assemble.

But immediately after came a storm-like barrage; Wu Tie's bones, just about to join together, were shaken askew by the external immense force.

Finally, the bones flashed with light all over, and a violent tremor surged back from within Wu Tie's body.

With a 'clang' bang, the iron chain shattered into pieces; countless streams of light visible only to Wu Tie coalesced into torrents several zhang thick, spraying from the chain's powder and 'booming' into Wu Tie's body.

Wu Tie's whole skeleton vibrated with joy, like a starving wolf seeing succulent roasted meat, and he gulped down those streams of light in one gulp.

This iron chain turned out to be a heavy weapon not inferior to Nine Refined Immortal Arms; Wu Tie's bones were wreathed in flames, a heat surge sweeping over his body, stimulating his physical strength to rapidly increase, continually soaring upward.

The five-element essence blood in his heart also continued to release tremendous power; without his realm advancing, it frenziedly strengthened Wu Tie's bodily cultivation.

Wu Tie's eyes lit up, and he laughed at the stunned one-legged youth: "Not strong enough? Didn't you eat?"

Beat him!

Dozens of youths surrounding Wu Tie roared, then drew various weapons and struck at him.

Spears, halberds, great axes, heavy hammers.

Iron chains, meteors, caltrops, long hooks.

Lasso, treasure wheel, treasure pestle, treasure pearl.

Lotus, shackles, embroidered ball, treasure pagoda.

These strange weapons spat out thunderfire, Xuanbing gales, and moreover various strange seals exploded with tremendous force; even if an iron man were bound here, they would beat him into iron filings.

Yet Wu Tie's body was far tougher than an iron man by an unknown factor; despite their furious assaults, his whole body gleamed with light, his skin becoming ever more lustrous like jade, radiant with treasure light, and no matter how they whipped him, there was not a single scratch or blemish.

Suddenly, with a tremendous bang, dozens of Qimen weapons were simultaneously struck by a powerful rebound force from within Wu Tie's body; only the sound of continuous explosions was heard, and dozens of Qimen weapons of grade not below Nine Refined Immortal Arms shattered at once, turning into streams of light that Wu Tie's entire skeleton swallowed clean.

Wu Tie grimaced and let out a dry howl: "It hurts, it hurts! Wah-yah-yah, you're not human, actually torturing a prisoner!"