Chapter 216 - 145: Take People’s Money, Avert Their Disasters

Chapter 216: Chapter 145: Take People’s Money, Avert Their Disasters

Jiang Hao casually picked a towering ancient tree and sat cross-legged beneath it. However, he didn’t meditate to regulate his breath and restore his Spiritual Power; instead, he focused on stabilizing his cultivation. The minor exhaustion he had experienced was nothing to him.

As time slowly passed and everyone else sat meditating with their eyes closed, Jiang Hao suddenly opened his eyes beneath the ancient tree. He couldn’t help but gaze into the darkness of the path they had come from.

He wondered, "Are they here?"

Jiang Hao’s gaze burned bright. Even across an endless distance, he sensed countless auras rapidly approaching. Among them were indeed three ripples of Transcendence. In the darkness, he subconsciously looked toward the two Elders of the Cyan Mist Sect, but they were as calm as still water, completely oblivious.

Dozens of breaths later, Song Changlin finally caught onto something and exclaimed in alarm, "Oh no, they’ve caught up!"

"It took him this long to notice?" Jiang Hao whispered to himself.

As an older-generation Mortal Transformation Cultivator who had stepped into Early-stage Transcendence at least three to five years ago—if not eight or ten—Song Changlin’s perception was actually inferior to his own. One had to know that in the span of dozens of breaths, even ordinary Cultivators would have flown an unknown number of miles. Ever since Jiang Hao broke through the ten-transformation limit, all his perceptive abilities had reached an absolutely terrifying level. He had long realized this, but he never had a point of comparison until now. At this moment, this superior perception became even more apparent.

Song Changlin’s exclamation instantly sent the camp into an uproar. One by one, the Cyan Mist Sect Cultivators snapped their eyes open, their gazes filled with waves of panic. The Cultivators with slightly lower cultivation bases were especially terrified.

"What do we do? Elder, what should we do?"

"We’re still tens of thousands of miles away from Demon Ridge! We won’t make it back."

"Elder, I don’t want to die!"

Cries instantly echoed throughout the forest. When facing death directly, anyone would feel fear. Even Mu Wanning’s beautiful face turned extremely pale. However, the ones with the darkest expressions were undoubtedly Song Changlin and Elder He.

"Let’s go!"

BOOM!

Without a moment of hesitation, Song Changlin unleashed boundless Transcendence Spiritual Power and led the Cyan Mist Sect crowd into the sky. Seeing this, Jiang Hao hesitated for a brief moment before taking to the air and following closely behind.

Shortly after they left, terrifying fluctuations of power erupted from behind them.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

The void trembled under the sheer force.

Jiang Hao couldn’t help but look back. He saw dozens of figures tailing them. Leading the charge were three individuals whose Transcendence auras swept across the heavens and the earth—two old men and one middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man had a slightly plump build and looked no different from an ordinary Cultivator, lacking the monstrous Demonic Qi that Jiang Hao had imagined. As for the two old men, one had a full head of white hair with a sinister vibe radiating from his brows. The other had wildly flying silver hair and sunken facial features, making him look quite terrifying.

Behind these three imposing figures were dozens of evil Cultivators whose auras fluctuated erratically. All of them were high-level Spirit Transformation Realm Cultivators, with most of their cultivation bases at the eighth or ninth transformation, Great Perfection of Perfection, or even the Peak of Spirit Transformation.

"Hahaha! Old Monster Song, Old Ghost He, you won’t get away!"

"Little brats of the Cyan Mist Sect, if you know what’s good for you, hand over the item immediately! Old Evil here can play with you nicely. If I’m in a good mood, I might just let you return to the Cyan Mist Sect!"

The two old men roared with laughter. Hearing their sinister laughter, even Jiang Hao felt a bit uncomfortable, experiencing a wave of sheer disgust. They were indeed Demon Sect Cultivators; their wickedness could be felt even across several miles of empty space.

As the three men pursued them, the ugly middle-aged man suddenly noticed something and voiced his surprise. "Hmm? Another Great Power of Transcendence?"

His words caught the attention of the two old men.

"Such a young Mortal Transformation Cultivator. Could it be reinforcements from the Cyan Mist Sect?"

"It doesn’t seem like it. That’s not an aura from the nearby Earth Realm. Moreover, he doesn’t have a Guardian by his side; he’s a Loose Cultivator."

By now, Jiang Hao was no longer hiding his cultivation. He allowed his Transcendence aura to radiate naturally, which allowed the three men to recognize his power at a glance. However, upon confirming that the aura emanating from the white-robed youth didn’t belong to the surrounding Earth Realm, the white-haired old man immediately understood the situation.

"Song Changlin, you don’t actually think that hiring outside help will allow you to escape from the palms of our hands, do you?"

"What a joke. He’s just a fledgling brat who’s still wet behind the ears. Even if he broke through to Transcendence, how strong could he possibly be? He probably stepped into Transcendence using some sinister arts."

Although the three men mocked him one after another, their brows noticeably furrowed. The addition of another Great Power of Transcendence introduced an unpredictable variable. As they continued their pursuit, the three exchanged a glance and immediately reached a tacit understanding.

Taking a deep breath, the white-haired old man’s voice echoed through the air. "You there, the brat in front! This isn’t muddy water you should be wading into. If you don’t want to perish here, leave on your own. Otherwise, don’t blame Old Evil for being ruthless!"

"Hmph, a boy barely out of his diapers dares to interfere in my business? Get lost if you know what’s good for you! If you anger me, I’ll skin you alive, rip out your tendons, and boil you into a stew!"

"Hahahaha! Song Changlin, where did you find such a junior? Do you honestly believe this kid can turn the tide and save you all from Old Evil’s grasp?"

Faced with the verbal barrage from the three men, Song Changlin didn’t respond at all. Instead, he desperately fled for his life with Mu Wanning and the others in tow.

"It’s no use, Song! An evil curse has been planted on you. We could track you down even if you fled to the ends of the earth! You’re still seventy thousand miles away from Thousand Sects Island—how do you plan to escape?"