Fang Yazi led the mule, following the crowd into Baolian City, while a woman dressed as a young wife on the mule curiously looked around.

This time, the Sword Sect sent him and Xiyaogu to execute the task of stealing the Grotto Heaven, bringing the Stone Fetus to see if they could use the Wu Sect's method to steal the Wu Sect's Grotto Heaven.

The reason these two were chosen was that Fang Yazi is one of the top three Golden Core sword cultivators in the Sword Sect currently, akin to Hou Niao, having both body sword and flying sword in one body, and has had some fortuitous encounters, making him a guarantee of martial prowess.

He carried the Stone Fetus with him, and with Hou Niao lending him a shabby cloth to alter his appearance, he could not only conceal his identity as a cultivator but also mask the aura of the Stone Fetus; Hou Niao found the shabby cloth increasingly effective, as it helped mask the aura of the Yin Yang Umbrella and Isolation Banner during the year-end celebratory banquet, though it's unknown how it actually does it.

Xiyaogu came along because she was originally an assassin with a unique method to conceal aura, and she had stayed in Baolian City for a long time, familiar with the area, which provided many conveniences.

Their purpose was to intercept when the Wu Sect prepared to steal its own Grotto Heaven through space items; this is a very discreet method and doesn't require close proximity to the Grotto Heaven, just within the perception range of the Stone Fetus.

Overall, it's not a battle of brute force, but more a competition in the application of spatial ability. They may not have as deep an understanding as Wu Sect cultivators, but their advantage lies in possessing the original compatible Stone Fetus.

Even now, the Wu Sect is still searching for the anchored cultivator carrying the Stone Fetus, unaware that the Stone Fetus has already fallen into the hands of the Sword Sect. In the past decade, the Sword Sect has maintained strict confidentiality, and the outside world doesn't know how they protected the secret of the Sword Tomb Space back then.

Under normal circumstances, if the Sword Sect had indeed had the Sword Tomb Cave Heaven stolen, they couldn't have retrieved it in just two or three days. No Daoist on Jinxiu Continent could do that, so they leaned more toward the belief that the anchored cultivator was sabotaging.

There is a certain probability, not completely guaranteed success. The leading thought of the Sword Sect high-level is to let Wu Sect and Lian Sect suffer in silence, just like the Sword Sect did during the Dushan Ceremony, which also became a way for various Daoists on the continent to interact before Jinxiu Heaven Creation.

Lian Sect Heartless Dao is also a sect with a long-established mountain gate, and Lotus Mountain became the center of Lian Sect due to its unique status a thousand years ago, when most of the continent's Daoists were still mixed with mortal cities. In this regard, it was far ahead.

However, stepping too far forward may not be a good thing. Because of its early determination, the villages under Lotus Mountain gradually became towns, turning into cities, until the whole Baolian City surrounded Lotus Mountain, becoming a mountain within a city.

Moving was impossible, and millions of mortal civilians couldn't be driven away, resulting in the current situation where the mountain gate is not a mountain gate, and the city is not a city.

Baolian City is like a garland, tightly surrounding Lotus City, forming a unique pattern on the continent.

For the Sword Sect's forthcoming action plan, there's a major advantage—it's easy to blend in; of course, they could only blend into the outskirts of Baolian City, the core Lotus Mountain was impossible, with very strict inspections and a proper Mountain Gate Formation.

Nevertheless, from the distance controlled by the Stone Fetus, it was enough; the anchored cultivator back then hid dozens of miles under the main peak of Dushan and managed to control the Stone Sword.

This remote control is safer, especially when in a densely populated city, which is the biggest weakness of Heartless Dao Lotus Mountain Gate, although they cannot change it.

Xiyaogu sat on the mule, swaying up and down with the mule's movements, indistinguishable from an ordinary farm woman entering the city.

Disguise is a profound art. Compared to mortal fraudsters trying to portray the demeanor of a detached sage, for cultivators to disguise themselves back as mortals is much harder, as the years of cultivation have engraved cultivation into the very bones, unable to be erased.

No cultivation sect will deliberately train such mundane skills; under the enhancement of cultivation power, many ancient arts have become dim and gradually lost.

However, Chaoge Daoist is a peculiar case; they relish such ancient things, and when combined with cultivators' methods, can surprisingly prove effective in certain situations.

For instance, the ancient assassin industry.

For cultivators whose power has reached a certain level, distance is no longer an issue; this led Chaoge's artistry to sink into decline, unable to keep up with the times, eventually vanishing into thin air.

Xiyaogu's experience is quite unique, but that's another story. Now, sitting on the mule, swaying back and forth, gazing around, she vividly portrayed the demeanor of a rustic woman unfamiliar with the world, causing Heartless Dao巡回修士's occasional gaze to never linger on her even briefly.

This is the assassin's fundamental skill: she doesn't act, so no one knows her background. In this area, the Chaoge Daoist has unique tricks, excelling in aura concealment.

They easily blended into Baolian City; neither Heartless Dao cultivators nor the simple arrays at the city gates detected their anomalies. In recent years, the human Daoists have been more concerned with defense against the Demon Clan.

Two people, one with a hunter background, possessing strong mental fortitude; the other inherently an assassin, living between life and death, the Sword Sect high-level must have put some thought into sending them for the task.

Actually, they retained the possibility of resorting to action if necessary.

Xiyaogu riding on the mule felt somewhat nostalgic: how many years since she last came to Baolian City? She once stirred up turmoil here, now returning to old grounds felt bittersweet.

There were notably more raggedly clothed people on the street, many beggars, sitting along the roadsides; this was the aftershock of the Human-Demon War, even after many years, many people couldn't return to their hometowns, especially those residing along the borders of the Ten Thousand Mountains, as that place remained in a low-intensity combat state, taking away tranquility forever.

These people could only move southward, crowding into cities they deemed safe; some manage to find jobs, others could only resort to begging.

She couldn't help but sigh, "Heartless Dao should mobilize mortal power to create employment opportunities for these beggars. How is this grand city supposed to look?"

Walking ahead, Fang Yazi didn't turn back, "What's the difference? Even those who find jobs are at the bottom, being driven by others; all they can say is: 'Alright, sir, fine, fine, okay.' Beggars would say the same: 'Alright, sir, please be kind…'

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