Chapter 174: Escape

"Big Brother, are you mad?"

"What are you doing?"

Jian Zhu glared at Wu Wei with gritted teeth.

Wu Wei had truly gone mad; he laughed hysterically: "Die… die… everyone die!"

"I don't have many days left anyway!"

"Hahaha…"

"Wait until the Beast Taming Immortal Sect arrives… you'll all die!"

"Hahaha…"

He let out two loud laughs, suddenly spotted He Pingsheng, then lunged forward and punched straight at He Pingsheng, twenty zhang away.

He Pingsheng had anticipated this fool's madness, so he'd already retreated behind Master Yu Xuan.

Though Wu Wei's punch was powerful, Master Yu Xuan blocked it with a magic treasure—naturally, it couldn't harm He Pingsheng.

But after two exchanges between the two, the massive energy surge tore the Grand Void Palace apart.

He Pingsheng shot out of the hall in a flash.

Boom…

The next instant, the massive Grand Void Main Hall collapsed.

A cloud of dust rose into the air.

"Brother Wu Wei…" The purple-robed array master outside stepped forward and blocked the crazed Wu Wei. "I don't care about your sect's internal affairs, but what you promised me—you won't withhold it!"

"Relax," Wu Wei shook his robes. "Come with me. I'll hand over what you're owed."

Saying this, Wu Wei led the purple-robed cultivator away. Before leaving, he shot He Pingsheng a venomous glance: "Kid, don't even think about running—I'm a Great Jin Dan. I'll catch you in an instant!"

"Watch him. Don't let him leave Grand Void Gate!"

Wu Wei gave Jian Zhu a commanding look, then departed.

Though Jian Zhu was furious, she did indeed stay behind to guard.

But as long as He Pingsheng didn't leave Grand Void Gate, she paid him no mind.

"Master Yu Xuan…" He Pingsheng approached Yu Xuan and whispered: "Listen to me—the Beast Taming Sect will arrive within half an hour. We can't stay here!"

"My master has gone to Mount Matou Market. Go there immediately, find her, and tell her not to come back, not to come back, not to come back…"

"Also, take my sister Zhao Linger, Tian Xiaoqing, and my brother Xu Kunlun with you—get every disciple you can out of here!"

"Otherwise, it'll be a disaster!"

Yu Xuan didn't understand the full depth of it, but he trusted He Pingsheng.

Since He Pingsheng said it, he did it.

After Yu Xuan left, Chong Yang also hurried away.

On the entire Jade Dragon Peak's plaza, only He Pingsheng and Jian Zhu remained.

Jian Zhu looked at him and said: "Little brother, hand over your master's legacy. I'll let you go—and protect you."

"Big Brother won't kill you."

He Pingsheng shook his head: "What legacy?"

Saying this, he turned and walked toward the spiritual herb garden behind the former Grand Void Palace.

The Grand Void Ancestor had once warned He Pingsheng: if the golden lamp ever went out unexpectedly, flee immediately.

Do not hesitate.

Since he couldn't leave Grand Void Gate under Jian Zhu's watch, his only option was the teleportation array.

In truth, Grand Void Gate was vast, and guarded by a Grade-Four defensive array—the Mountain Protecting Array.

Once activated, led by a Jin Dan cultivator, it could expand to its maximum state.

Even if a Nascent Soul cultivator attacked, Grand Void Gate might still hold.

Under normal circumstances, He Pingsheng wouldn't have considered fleeing first—but Grand Void Gate was rotten to the core, its morale beyond repair.

In his later years, the Grand Void Ancestor ignored all affairs; his disciples hoarded resources, turning into greedy monsters. From top to bottom, no one cared for the lower disciples. Their cultivation resources were cut off; each day, they schemed to squeeze even the lowest disciples, constantly searching them for any chance of fortune.

He Pingsheng himself had been searched countless times like this.

It was rotten.

Grand Void Gate had rotted down to its roots.

Organizing resistance against a Nascent Soul cultivator from the Beast Taming Sect would be like an egg hitting a rock.

And there was Wu Wei—a madman. Could he possibly resist?

Resist? Pfft!

He Pingsheng saw the situation clearly—he chose to flee.

There was no second path.

But before leaving, one task remained: gather supplies.

The Grand Void Ancestor had prepared many supplies for him, all stored in the left annex.

Elixirs for growth from Foundation Establishment to before Nascent Soul were all there.

It would be best to take them.

He Pingsheng took his token and headed for the left annex to collect the supplies—when he looked up and saw a red light streaking across the sky.

The streak wasn't anyone else—it was Wu Wei, a Jin Dan cultivator.

Wu Wei was now insane, utterly irrational.

No…

He Pingsheng's mind spun rapidly: there was no time to retrieve the elixirs.

The elixirs were valuable, but not essential—I have the Treasure Basin, what do I fear?

If Wu Wei caught me, that would be terrifying.

Run…

No hesitation—leave now!

"Little brother…" Jian Zhu said. "Where are you rushing off to?"

He Pingsheng replied: "I'm paying respects to my master. Will you come with me?"

Without waiting for Jian Zhu, he leapt to the rock formation behind the herb garden, pulled out his token, and tapped the rock. A hidden entrance appeared.

He Pingsheng didn't hesitate—he shot into the passage.

"You—" Jian Zhu finally grew alarmed, but feared He Pingsheng might be setting a trap inside, so she hesitated to follow.

After several breaths of hesitation, the flying light from the sky landed before her.

"Damn it… how is there a secret chamber here?" Wu Wei had clearly seen He Pingsheng enter the chamber mid-flight. Now he snarled: "That old bastard didn't even tell me!"

"He Pingsheng… when you come out, you're dead!"

But no sooner had Wu Wei spoken than a cylindrical pillar of pale-green light erupted from the ground in one corner of the herb garden.

The massive pillar pulsed with immense energy; the surrounding earth trembled.

Jian Zhu said: "That's… a teleportation array—and a long-range one at that!"

Correct. He Pingsheng had activated the teleportation array.

"Damn it… how is there a teleportation array here?" Wu Wei cursed as he rushed into the dark chamber.

Behind him, Jian Zhu followed.

Entering the black void, twisting through several passages, they finally reached the chamber containing the teleportation array.

Inside the chamber stood a small tomb.

It was the Grand Void Ancestor's burial site.

"The old bastard's really dead!" Wu Wei glanced at the tomb and its stele, then hurried past it toward the teleportation platform.

On the platform, He Pingsheng was already gone.

Jian Zhu said: "Teleport immediately—we might still catch him!"

Wu Wei replied: "No. Once he teleports, he'll destroy the receiving array. Then we won't know where we'll end up!"

"Barging through blindly is just a waste of time!"

That's how teleportation arrays worked.

They had two platforms: a sending platform and a receiving platform.

Normally, you sent from the sending platform and emerged from the receiving platform.

But what if an array had only a sending platform?

Simple: it still worked—you could still be teleported out.

But without direction!

That meant, within range, it randomly sent you in any direction: up, down, left, right, east, west, north, south—on the ground, in the sky, or underground.

If you were unlucky and sent ten thousand li deep underground, even a Nascent Soul cultivator couldn't survive.

Unless you mastered earth-penetrating techniques.

And indeed, as Wu Wei predicted, He Pingsheng had destroyed the receiving array the moment he escaped.