Lu Chen called out, then raised his fingers like a sword, releasing a streak of light. The flying boat trembled as a protective shield formed around it, instantly soaring into the sky and speeding off into the distance.

As for the two Elders' flying boats, they were even faster—already out of sight.

Chang'sheng sat in a corner of the flying boat, rubbing his hands together to increase his Golden Bell Shield experience points.

As for the Five Elements Essence Condensing Technique, he'd already spent five spirit stones to simplify it, converting it into merely mixing Five Elements Items together.

He'd already tested it out: just get a basin—put in some dirt (earth), a little gunpowder (fire), a gold chunk (metal), a wood chip (wood), and water; mix them together, and he'd gain experience points.

But on this flying boat, it wasn't practical to bring that out, so he had to wait until they reached Liuyun Immortal Sect to mix things up.

......

The flying boat shot through the sky at high speed.

Inside, the two junior martial uncles and over sixty teenagers sat in silence, not saying a word.

Outside the boat, there was nothing to see but a layer of gray mist.

Suddenly, Lu Chen and Junior Martial Uncle Li's expressions changed—they both stood up.

"Buzz!"

Right then, the flying boat seemed to hit something; it spun violently. The more than sixty teenagers inside tumbled together, cries of alarm filling the air. Chang'sheng grabbed the inner wall of the flying boat to steady himself.

"Everyone, we're under surprise attack from Celestial Demon Sect demon cultivators! I'll land and leave you on the ground first—after Junior Martial Uncle and I kill the demon cultivators, we'll come back for you!"

Junior Martial Uncle Lu Chen's face hardened as he spoke, steadying the flying boat as it descended. Soon, the boat landed and vanished in a flash. Uncle Lu Chen stashed the flying boat away, then with a wave summoned a flaming flying sword beneath his feet, shooting into the sky toward a mass of black mist.

Junior Martial Uncle Li charged in too.

Chang'sheng and the rest—over sixty teens—were now stranded atop a mountain range.

All around, the roars of wild beasts sounded.

At that moment—

Chang'sheng looked up.

Far off in the sky, the black mist morphed into three cultivators shrouded in rolling demonic qi, each wielding a skull, a wolf fang club, scissors and other magical artifacts, instantly clashing with Junior Martial Uncles Lu Chen and Li.

Boom boom boom!

Bam bam bam!

Red light, blue light, and mist flashed continuously!

"Celestial Demon Sect demon cultivators?"

Hearing Lu Chen's words, Chang'sheng's heart clenched. Seriously, could his luck be any worse?

Taking the sect's flying boat home, only to get ambushed by demon cultivators halfway?

"Everyone, split up and run! Each of you—just get out of here if you can!!"

Suddenly, Lu Chen's urgent voice rang out from the sky.

"Bah! The Righteous Dao is so naive! You should worry about yourselves! Hahaha!"

A sinister voice echoed, reverberating across the heavens.

Up above, three demon-qi-shrouded figures surrounded Lu Chen and Li, attacking relentlessly. The two faced off against three demon cultivators of equal realm, gradually losing ground. The red glow in their Magic Swords grew fainter and fainter.

"Junior Martial Uncle Lu says we should run!"

"Let's split up!"

"Hurry! Looks like the uncles can't hold out much longer!"

"........"

Around Chang'sheng, the teens panicked, scattering as they fled in all directions.

"Weird—where are the two Golden Core Elders who were supposed to rescue us?"

Chang'sheng's eyes filled with doubt as he darted like lightning, instantly heading toward the nearby dense forest!

Soon after—

Chang'sheng slipped into the woods and kept pushing forward, afraid to look back. From far behind, he could still hear the continuous booming.

Chang'sheng pushed Wind God Leg to the max.

Gradually, he couldn't hear the explosions behind him anymore. He had no idea how far he'd raced, just that he kept running straight ahead. Those three demon cultivators' presences were no weaker than Junior Martial Uncle Lu Chen's—it'd be tough to take them all on.

Chang'sheng ran for ten days straight. Along the way, he picked wild berries and drank from mountain springs, plus his storage bag still had plenty of dry rations. So, he didn't go hungry.

"Bad luck!"

Chang'sheng grumbled, but at least he'd made it out alive.

The sky hung heavy with mist.

Chang'sheng kept going, and gradually spotted a massive city ahead.

Just then—

Outside the city, an enormous wave of elite cavalry filled the plain, dense as ants, charging straight inside. Within the city, flames leapt skyward amid shouts and screams of battle. The four main gates were wide open, and squads of defeated soldiers were fleeing for their lives.

"Celestial Dragon City?"

"Did I somehow end up back at Great Yu's border?"

Chang'sheng moved a bit closer and read the three characters over the gate—[Celestial Dragon City]—leaving him totally bewildered.

As far as he knew, Celestial Dragon City was the fortress city between Great Yu and the Southern Barbarian Land—a key strategic battleground.

The city had been ravaged by countless wars.

"I went through all that trouble joining Liuyun Immortal Sect, and now I'm back?"

Chang'sheng couldn't believe he'd blindly run back to the Great Yu border.

Still—

At least he'd survived. As for the teens who escaped with him, he had no idea what became of them, nor whether any Golden Core elders had managed to make it back to help.

At that moment, a squad of around a thousand battered soldiers were charging straight toward Chang'sheng's spot.

Behind them, a massive column of iron cavalry gave chase.

The thunder of hooves shook the earth.

"Halt!"

"Capture the Eldest Princess of Great Yu alive!!"

"......"

Shouts rang out—a moment ago Chang'sheng had been about to slip away, but on hearing those cries, his eyes flashed. He thought, "The Eldest Princess of Great Yu?"

With that thought—

Chang'sheng immediately darted behind a rocky outcrop in the mountains, rubbing his left hand on his waist. No point wasting this time—he needed to farm Golden Bell Shield experience points.

Golden Bell Shield experience points +1!

Golden Bell Shield experience points +1!

........

Soon, the thousand battered troops fled right past Chang'sheng's hiding spot. At the front, a middle-aged commander in silver armor, drenched in blood and wielding a longsword, shouted to a woman beside him in golden battle armor, valiant and striking: "Your Highness, take your people and go—I'll hold them off!"

"Uncle Jin, if we leave, we leave together!"

The woman spun her long spear and spoke in a low voice.

"Your Highness, go! If we all stay, no one escapes!"

"The Southern Barbarians brought a cultivator with them—we can't stop him. As long as the green hills remain, there'll always be firewood."

Jin Wuque spoke in utter despair.

As a retainer of the Eldest Princess, he was already a Martial Arts Grandmaster. For this southern campaign, he'd commanded the army. But somehow, the Southern Barbarians had brought in a cultivator—a few fireballs, and the city gates had been burned down; the iron cavalry poured in, more than ten Great Yu generals were killed, and their army was routed!

"I can't believe I bumped into Yu Wenjing here!"

Chang'sheng remained hidden behind the boulder, spotting a woman in golden armor among the battered soldiers—not expecting it to be Wenjing—and looked genuinely surprised.

"Which one of you is the Eldest Princess of Great Yu? Step forward, damn it!"

Just then, a horse-faced young man in black clothing, maybe twenty-eight or twenty-nine, flashed over with unmatched speed. His hands were behind his back, bearing a smug, arrogant grin.

"Southern Barbarians, you bastards! This is a mortal war—how dare you bring in a cultivator!!"

Jin Wuque's eyes burned with fury as he stepped forward to confront the horse-faced youth.

He knew with a cultivator on the battlefield, escape was hopeless today. If he was going to die, he'd rather go out in a blaze of glory!

"Hahaha! Who ever saw a Southern Barbarian cultivator?! "

"You're all dead!"

The horse-faced youth let out a mad laugh, flashing forward, and swung his long saber—several Great Yu soldiers fell dead instantly!

"Peak of Qi Refining Third Layer!"

Chang'sheng watched from behind the rock, his eyes gleaming.

No wonder—they really were a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining Third Layer. With a few fireballs, he could sweep the battlefield and decide the outcome.

Right then—

The horse-faced youth killed several more Great Yu soldiers, then rushed at Yu Wenjing, slashed aside Jin Wuque who'd charged in desperately, and reached out for Wenjing's shoulder, laughing lewdly: "Eldest Princess of Great Yu—I'm dying to see what a princess tastes like!"

"Filthy bastard! Evil scum!"

Yu Wenjing's eyes filled with despair. She raised her sword, ready to kill herself.

Screech!

Just then, a glowing red arrow sliced through the air, screeching like a meteor!

It streaked like a shooting star, like thunder, flying straight for the horse-faced youth's chest!

"You!?"

A surge of mortal danger struck him. Tao Feng's pupils contracted sharply. He tried to dodge instinctively, but the arrow was so fast—he didn't stand a chance. Pain bloomed in his chest as he gazed down, seeing the arrow had punched straight through him!

A fist-sized hole gaped in his torso!

The arrow's raging magical power shattered his organs!

"Ugh!"

Tao Feng felt blood seething up his throat and spat out a mouthful. All his magical power drained away. As he looked at Chang'sheng walking out from behind the boulder, he stammered in disbelief, "You... you're... Qi Refining Fourth Layer!?"

With that, he crashed to the ground, eyes wide open—dead, not willing to accept it.

Chang'sheng flashed forward, rummaging at the horse-faced youth's waist. He found a gray cloth bag, which he snatched up, then picked up the long saber that had been dropped. His eyes lit up.

This long saber was about as good as Dawn, but way better in quality—it was a magical artifact!

"Finally—I've got myself a magical artifact blade!"

Chang'sheng willed it into his storage bag!

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