Slowly opening his eyes, Li Hongjiu awoke to see a familiar face—it was Shi Chun.

Feeling as though he had slept for a very long time, he wondered if he was even alive. Li Hongjiu looked around, hearing the sound of ocean waves, and saw the vast sea, quickly getting up. His body still felt weak, and he glanced at his severed arm, forcing a bitter smile.

After casting spells to probe his physical condition, he realized that he must have been treated for some time, with his injuries stabilized. He asked, "Have we escaped from danger?"

Shi Chun sighed, "It can be said that we barely escaped from death, thanks to the magical treasures obtained in the Divine Fire Domain."

Li Hongjiu looked around again, evidently back on a sea island, and asked, "Why are we on the sea again?"

Shi Chun: "With vast land and few people, it's not easy to be discovered. Besides, Brother Jiu, my little understanding still requires your help. Can your body still cast spells to wield the Thunder Sword?"

This time, Li Hongjiu looked at Shi Chun with a somewhat complex expression, not saying any unnecessary words. Shortly after confirming their safety, a tornado rose on the sea, rolling clouds ascended again, followed by the awe-inspiring thunderous deities' sound across the sky.

Within the misty tornado, everything was rendered in brilliant light once more, the earth-shattering Thunder Sword seemed to burst through the void from beyond the heavens, and struck Shi Chun.

Li Hongjiu once again witnessed the explosion of ancient-style Green Lotus light and shadow from Shi Chun's body, swaying with elegance.

Once assured they could safely finish, the winds gradually subsided, the clouds dispersed, and the one-armed Li Hongjiu landed gracefully with Shi Chun.

Looking at the dissipating grand scene between heaven and earth, Shi Chun stretched his arms to feel the change in cultivation within him, somewhat speechless. As expected, the Thunder Sword indeed transformed the Demonic Qi in his body into cultivation.

But the problem was, his cultivation was still in the High Martial Realm, merely reaching Greater Achievement Realm from the Minor Achievement Realm.

His original expectation was that this should help him break through to the Human Immortal Realm, but even though he was at the threshold, it still fell short.

He absorbed the Demonic Qi from a master in the Earth Immortal Realm, yet the transformed cultivation was unable to fill up the High Martial Great Achievement Realm, unable to breach the Human Immortal Realm. This implied that for the realms above, the requirement was even more extraordinary. How much Demonic Qi would he need to absorb for such advancement?

Calculating this, he felt bewildered, sensing his path ahead was long, without any joy in the cultivation improvement.

The giant waves on the sea were still surging, Li Hongjiu's face showed some paleness from the aftermath of exhaustion caused by mana depletion from his injuries. He looked back at Shi Chun, saw him somewhat sullen, and asked, "How are you?"

"Alas." Shi Chun let out a long sigh, slightly shook his head, "I fear I need to think harder."

This result was predictable from his expression. Li Hongjiu said, "Understanding such things sometimes happens in a moment, and sometimes impatience doesn't work."

Shi Chun shook his head, "Forget it, Brother Jiu, my matters are not important, we should first figure out a way to send you back to Yanbao Sect. This matter of you being pursued is quite mysterious, and the Heavenly Immortal Realm masters chasing you are willing to pay any cost. Currently, those capable of ensuring your safety may only be your sect; my abilities are limited, and indeed, I'm powerless."

Li Hongjiu's expression turned slightly grave, he also felt this pursuit was extraordinarily complicated. As his master feared, trouble indeed arose, "I suppose the sect might not know about my incident, I should return to explain."

With that, he turned to leave.

"Uh…" Shi Chun was stunned, quickly calling out, "Don't rush, the mastermind likely won't let you return to Yanbao Sect easily, we should discuss thoroughly and see how you can safely return to the sect."

These were words from the heart; he truly hoped Li Hongjiu wouldn't get into trouble, otherwise, why would he desperately rescue him.

Li Hongjiu glanced back and said, "Yanbao Sect isn't a pushover, I have my ways to contact my master, you take care of yourself."

Shi Chun quickly added, "Then I left Juku State, please Brother Jiu keep it a secret, don't tell anyone. You know, someone is after me, and I don't want anyone to know my whereabouts at the moment. Their forces are vast, just a hint and I might not escape, please feel pity for the struggles of someone like me."

"You brought this on yourself." Li Hongjiu tossed the words leaving into the air.

He also didn't want to involve Shi Chun further, he wasn't blind, he knew the people targeting Shi Chun just wanted to capture him, even though Shi Chun was also under murderous attack, it was purely because he was implicated.

This betrayal encounter, though stemming from Shi Chun, could not be blamed on him. A determined adversary would confront them, whether at this outing or the next.

As for Shi Chun's steadfast rescue effort, Li Hongjiu saw that screen unfold; whether Shi Chun was trying to cling to his background didn't matter, making a life-saving attempt was reality.

He couldn't deny this scoundrel was cunning, yet from his own position, in crucial moments, Shi Chun proved to be someone with life-preserving abilities, regardless of the shameless means he accumulated it. Had he not been with this scoundrel during this outing, had it been other sect mates, this little life of his might have truly been lost.

"Take care, Brother Jiu, I'll visit you at Yanbao Sect…" Shi Chun shouted with cupped hands by his mouth.

Li Hongjiu heard it vaguely as he flew into the distance, without turning back, remembering that when the Divine Fire Covenant ended, Shi Chun was yelling about visiting Yanbao Sect too…

Wukang Mountain was desolate and quiet, all the disciples of Wukang Mountain disappeared; to be precise, they were captured.

Within the prison at East Victory Royal City, the Wu Kang Mountain Sect Master Bian Weiyin sat cross-legged, lost in thought.

From the sudden unexpected disaster and their capture, she learned it was all because of Shi Chun. The Royal Court demanded they explain Shi Chun's whereabouts, or else they would be accused of conspiracy, leading to the collective execution of everyone in Wukang Mountain.

Claiming ignorance was useless, without any sense or reason.

Of course, there was a lifeline; someone visited them in prison, saying that if Wukang Mountain could offer the refining key method of the fifth-grade Body-Stabilizing Talisman, connections could be made, given that the Bian family ancestors once achieved great feats for the king. As long as the king took it into consideration, all would be resolved.

However, even if every head in Wukang Mountain was chopped off, they could not produce the refining key method of the fifth-grade Body-Stabilizing Talisman, because they simply didn't know.

The outcome is predictable.

Bian Weiyin's treatment was relatively favorable, as he still resided in a single room, whereas a group of elders were detained together.

Even the people from Wukang Mountain were captured, so the fate of the Mingshan Sect crowd was predictable.

Promised strong protective capability of mansions and background became ineffective, and the Royal Court's forces brazenly charged in to arrest people.

Not a single person at home managed to escape, including Xiang Laner and Feng Chi who were also captured.

The iron box Shi Chun had previously sent to Shen Moming ultimately ended up on the desk of Right Minister Jiahuan.

Within the power scope of East Victory Royal City, virtually everyone who seemed to have contact with Shi Chun was captured, including the oirans and madams previously acquainted with Wu Jinliang.

Those who were arrested were immediately informed that if Shi Chun couldn't be caught, they all would face execution by association.

Many panicked, but alas, none knew Shi Chun's whereabouts.

It's unclear what happened to Wu Jinliang, for whom Duan Xiangmei silently shed tears many times in worry.

In the cage, Feng Chi was the calmest, occasionally laughing and telling Xiang Laner that being able to make the East Victory Royal Court lose its composure was truly impressive!

Xiang Laner looked at her as if she were insane, thinking, "Everyone's going to be beheaded, and you're still laughing? You think the East Victory Royal Court is joking about this?"

Even those previously involved with Shi Chun, like the noble sons who dined and drank together, felt anxious and uneasy. Had they lacked people at home, they would have been captured.

However, the purpose of capturing these people is not the end goal; the sole aim is to force Shi Chun to show up, or to pressure Shi Chun into contacting Wei Mo.

This was Wei Mo's idea, proposed for support to Right Minister Jiahuan.

Originally, he wanted to have a bounty issued to the entire Cultivation World, but Jiahuan rejected this; capturing people on a small scale is fine, but a large bounty is unnecessary. If there were a bounty to capture people, what would be the need for Wei Mo?

Wei Mo also felt helpless and had Young Master Nan repeatedly attempt to contact Shi Chun, although Shi Chun remained unresponsive, as if disappearing into thin air.

Feeling desperate, he resorted to various means, thinking simply that capturing as many people as possible might accidentally catch someone Shi Chun cares about.

Of course, he's aware that the more support he seeks now, the greater the backlash will be if things don't work out later on.

This is a series of events that took place within a few days after Shi Chun and his companions hid in the Netherworld.

At dusk, the red-clothed woman, after dining in the library, appeared in an old and elegant courtyard building. Upon seeing Lan, she immediately asked, "What's going on?"

Her tone carried rare anger.

Lan, with an embarrassed expression, replied, "Indeed, I don't know how he left Juku State, but it has been confirmed that Li Hongjiu has returned to Yanbao Sect. Yanbao Sect Master Qu Wuming is furious, declaring he will not let go of whoever did it. His words were very heavy, promising not to let it go no matter who did it!"

"Hmph." The red-clothed woman snorted contemptuously, then asked, "Did Xun Gate detect how the person left at all?"

Lan explained, "Li Hongjiu lost an arm, his features are quite distinctive. In theory, under Xun Gate's strict watch, it should be impossible for him to enter or leave without being noticed. A Yanbao Sect insider has already been sent to inquire about how he left."

The red-clothed woman paced back and forth, saying, "In other words, either someone with Shattering Void ability aided him, or there was a problem with Xun Gate's guards."

Lan was unsure how to respond and quietly shifted the topic, saying, "Also not knowing where Shi Chun hid, East Victory seems determined not to stop until he is caught this time."

Upon hearing this, the red-clothed woman chuckled, "Causing trouble in the East Victory Queen's chamber; it's not surprising she's angry. It's a blatant challenge, being able to freely enter and exit the Royal Court's restricted area—who can sleep soundly without clarity? Not sure if that guy did it, but based on our current information, that fellow indeed has ties to the Death Refusing Incense. However, logically speaking, that guy's mind shouldn't be so foolish. With his intellect, how could he stir up trouble in the East Victory Queen's room?"

Up to this point, she had the Phoenix Clan leader speak up as well.

After Feng Xi returned from East Victory Royal Court, it's impossible to conceal this large-scale internal crackdown here, and under pressure, revealed the situation's cause.

However, Feng Xi didn't know about the naked male corpse thrown into the queen's chamber; he only knew someone had caused trouble there, suspecting Shi Chun's involvement.

Once the situation was communicated, Lan stepped aside.

The red-clothed woman lying on the recliner habitually took out the Mother-child Talisman to message Shi Chun: "Where are you? I really miss you."

Sending such messages became routine for her, with no sense of feeling as she dispatched them, and the initial discomfort was long gone.

At this time, Shi Chun had returned to Juku State, sat in the Heart-wrapping Grass forest, and also took out the Mother-child Talisman to see her message. However, Shi Chun was also in contact with Young Master Nan, having first received a message from him.

Shi Chun originally didn't want to reply to Young Master Nan but had to acknowledge that Wei Mo's method of capturing everyone indeed showed some effect.

While Young Master Nan repeatedly sent him messages about relevant personnel being captured and facing execution by association.

With such shocking news, Shi Chun, surprised, couldn't resist contacting Young Master Nan and was compelled to reply.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.