Chapter 254: Transformation

The Demon Heart began absorbing the energy of the black mist tunnel; this continued for a quarter-hour until the tunnel faded, then suddenly collapsed, revealing the hidden canyon behind the great mountain.

It must be said that the unique supernatural powers of the four guardians of the Wuyi Clan are astonishing.

They had transformed such a vast canyon into a tiny world within a mustard seed, and the black mist tunnel could even trap four half-sages.

“Lord Wenguan, are you alright?”

Seeing the black mist tunnel that Lü Fang touched fade and vanish, the Confucian Liu Yan, who had noticed this, asked with concern.

Lü Fang forced a smile and said, “Probably the Wuyi guardian controlling the black mist tunnel is too far away—I was just about to examine how the tunnel formed when it suddenly became like this.”

The Confucian Bai Jiang nodded in warning: “You should still be cautious. If you accidentally get hurt, it won’t be good. The supernatural powers of these ancient clans are always suspicious—they can hide an entire canyon like this.”

No one doubted that the black mist tunnel’s fading and disappearance were due to the Demon Heart on Lü Fang’s person absorbing its vast energy.

Amid the chatter, everyone was expressing concern for him.

Lü Fang smiled and said no more; he had done what needed doing, and now they could only wait for the return of the four half-sages.

To be honest, his intuition was not good.

Even though each of the four half-sages was extremely powerful, the Wuyi King, having fused the four guardians’ supernatural powers, might not defeat them—but he could still escape with high likelihood.

They did not wait long.

The elite army of the Luo Sha Kingdom hurriedly arrived; according to Xue Luo Sha, this force of ten thousand was merely a detachment, sent only after receiving her orders.

Other units were scouring the land for the ancient Wuyi Clan, and the situation was even more optimistic than expected.

Those who could gather around the King were all the elite.

So they appeared extremely formidable.

The other Wuyi members were indeed significantly stronger than ordinary cultivators at the same level, but most had not yet restored to high-grade status, or had been injured during their escape from the seal.

They set up camp and searched the area for a full day and night.

The four half-sages who had pursued the Wuyi King finally returned, but from their expressions, it was clear they had failed to kill him.

“He got away?”

The Confucian Liu Yan rose to ask.

The Luo Sha Half-Sage shook his head. “The Wuyi King is far more troublesome than we imagined. We four joined forces and drove him into desperation several times, yet he always escaped through miraculous means.”

“Though he was badly wounded in the end, he still slipped away.”

“We searched for a long time and only returned after confirming his aura had truly vanished—he vanished as if into thin air.”

“How could this be?” muttered the Confucian Jiang Bai, frowning. “Even four half-sages working together let the Wuyi King escape?”

The Tai Feng Zhen Dao Saint sighed. “I was careless—I should have freed myself earlier to set up trapping arrays everywhere. I never expected the Wuyi King could erect a teleportation array in such a short time.”

“By the time I realized and tried to track the array’s endpoint, it had suddenly self-destructed.”

“The only silver lining is that the Wuyi King was severely wounded. Under these conditions, he’ll likely hide to recover for a while. With only the King and his four guardians left, they can’t cause much trouble.”

“We just happened to pass by here, so we came to warn you. We’ve just received orders from the Luo Sha King and His Majesty—we’ll continue searching for the Wuyi King. Dead or alive, we must find him.”

“You’ve all worked hard!” Lü Fang bowed.

The Tai Feng Zhen Dao Saint exchanged a few polite words with Lü Fang, then the four departed swiftly to resume their pursuit of the Wuyi King.

After everyone gradually left, Lü Fang and Xue Luo Sha, escorted by a squad of Luo Sha troops, headed toward the Luo Sha Kingdom.

“Lord Wenguan, since we’ve met, why not stay with us in the Luo Sha Kingdom for a while?” Xue Luo Sha smiled and extended an invitation.

Lü Fang smiled politely in refusal: “I still have some matters to attend to. Perhaps another time. By the way, how is the Small Upper Realm now? I heard it was upgraded, and many of its strange beasts grew much stronger.”

Xue Luo Sha sighed. “No one expected the sudden upgrade of the Small Upper Realm—the sealing grounds upgraded too, and many Wuyi escaped, causing massive losses to our Luo Sha army.”

“Now the Small Upper Realm is jointly managed by the Great Zhou Dynasty and our Luo Sha Kingdom. Whether other unknown places or entities remain inside will require gradual exploration.”

“Lord Wenguan, you seem so interested in the Small Upper Realm—do you plan to enter it?”

Lü Fang shook his head. “Doesn’t the Small Upper Realm ever close? I recall hearing that such special places can only open when energy fluctuations become abnormal.”

Xue Luo Sha nodded. “You’re right—normally, Small Upper Realms open only briefly. But this one seems unusual; preliminary estimates suggest it can remain open for up to a year.”

“So if you’re ever interested in entering, you can do so later—it won’t be too late.”

Along the way, the two discussed the ancient clans at length. At a fork in a charred wasteland, they parted ways.

Lü Fang’s greatest concern now was that his Invincible Army might be discovered by the Luo Sha troops scouring the land—but fortunately, his prior contact assured him the Invincible Army was currently safe.

After all, the Invincible Army’s original goal was to establish a base, so they chose a remote location.

It was normal they hadn’t been found.

After wandering around and confirming no one was following him, Lü Fang swiftly vanished toward the Invincible Army’s base.

He had already decided: for now, he’d stay at the base and use the time to write “The Elegant Western Journey.”

His most important goal right now was to finish writing “The Western Journey” and publish one chapter in the Great Zhou Literary Gazette.

Who knows? Someone might read it and awaken a supernatural power from within.

If even one person awakened a supernatural power from it, it would be a tremendous boost for Lü Fang.

To Lü Fang’s surprise, when he arrived at the Invincible Army’s base, he found it utterly transformed—the concealment array seemed to be the Small Binding Array Flags he had once given to Wu Yong.

Yet under Wu Yong’s hands, this concealment array had been refined into something far more masterful.