Inside Ximen Manor.
The clansmen were gathered in groups, scattered in various spots. As instructed by Qin Yun, they had to go about their days in a specific region. Thankfully, there were many servants to tend to them. The servants were free to move about, because this mysterious great fiendish demon acted oddly. He only attacked the members of the Ximen family, as well as the cultivators that came to help them. As for the ordinary servants, none of them fell victim.
When Qin Yun noticed this, he sighed. These actions did not resemble that of a great fiendish demon. Instead, they was akin to those of great demons from Skydemon Palace.
“Big!”
“Small!”
A group of Ximen family clansmen was gathered in a hall, playing dice.
“Open!”
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the wooden bowl.
A thin youth gave an odd chuckle, “Everyone watch closely. As the house, I’m going to wipe you all out!” As he spoke, he opened the wooden bowl.
“One, two, five. Small!” The thin youth quickly distributed and took the money. “This is yours. This is yours. This is mine. Ah, what a pity. I didn’t wipe you all out. I earned only a little.”
“Let’s have another round.” A glint flashed in the thin youth’s eyes.
“Master Bian, you sure made a killing today. You have really good luck. I, on the other hand, am doomed. I have lost everything,” a person beside him flattered. “Can you loan me some silver? I’ll return it to you when I recoup my losses.”
“There is to be no borrowing of money in gambling,” rejected the thin youth directly. “Place your bets. Quick! Finalize your bets!”
At that moment—
The thin youth’s face suddenly flushed red as the flesh and blood in his body was rapidly sucked away. He thinned at a discernible speed.
The Ximen family clansmen who were betting by the side had drastic changes in expression when they saw this.
“It’s here again.”
“That great fiendish demon is here again.”
“Oh no.”
The clansmen were horrified. After two days of inaction, the great fiendish demon had reared its head once again.
…
In a yard inside the ancestral building, Qin Yun was sitting quietly on grass. He was cultivating, but his sword intent domain continued to envelope a thousand feet of his surroundings. The entire ancestral building was within his purview. There were people gambling, producing calligraphy, cultivating, having sex, and all sorts of other things. There were all kinds of people. Although Qin Yun was constantly paying attention, he did not do so with full concentration. He was mostly focused on improving his sword art.
Suddenly—
In his sword intent domain, a mysterious and sinister power crept over from the south. It targeted the thin gambling youth.
“He’s finally here.”
Qin Yun opened his eyes as a sharp glint flashed in them.
Sou!
Instantly, Qin Yun transformed into a beam and headed south, straight for the mysterious and evil power.
As he flew, Qin Yun instantly triggered the Mist Lock Array that had already been set up. Instantly, forty-five kilometers around the Ximen family began to be covered in a thin mist. The thin mist also appeared everywhere in Yanglai County City, be it the streets, the residences of the commoners, or wealthy manors.
“Daoist Qin has taken action?” Yin Lihuo was also at Ximen Manor. He noticed that Qin Yun had transformed into a beam and headed south. He also transformed into a blazing inferno and flew south. However, his speed was clearly slower.
“He’s right ahead!”
Qin Yun flew south in the form of a beam. His sword intent domain constantly enveloped a thousand feet of his surroundings.
As he headed south, he naturally sensed the mysterious power. Qin Yun had long cultivated the Beam Transformation Art to the ninth level. It was powered by the purplish-gold Golden Core so how astonishingly fast was his flying art? He was not much inferior to the Elder Sword of yesteryear. In fact, when it came to Dharmic powers, Elder Sword was not even comparable to Qin Yun. Only his realm was higher.
With his flying art, he traveled about two kilometers in a blink of an eye.
…
On the third floor of the restaurant.
The middle-aged man was still standing by the window, looking north. Jade Bottle was sucking the thin youth’s lifeblood from a distance.
“No good. Quickly leave! Qin Yun is here! Quick, head east! Go, now!” Jade Bottle sent an anxious voice transmission. It could sense Qin Yun’s extremely fast flying art and although they were twenty-five hundred meters away from the Ximen family, Qin Yun would catch up to them if they hesitated for even a minute longer.
As Jade Bottle anxiously urged him, it instantly severed the suction.
If it continued sucking, the mysterious evil power would only lead Qin Yun right to them.
Although the suction had been severed, Qin Yun would continue flying in the direction that he sensed the power coming from. When Qin Yun passed overhead, his sword intent domain would sweep the area and be able to discover them if they were still a thousand feet from the restaurant! No matter how much the middle-aged man converged his aura, he had an aura at the Connate Golden Core realm. There was no way to hide it from Qin Yun.
“What?” Yu Shiqi was alarmed.
However, he rapidly transformed into a stream of light as he leaped out of the third floor of the restaurant and headed east. His speed was extremely fast as well.
When Qin Yun flew over the restaurant, he was already half a kilometer away from the restaurant. Qin Yun’s sword intent domain naturally could not detect him.
“He’s fast.”
Qin Yun suddenly stopped in midair.
The commoners in Yanglai County City continued their bustle and went about their ordinary lives. As for Qin Yun, he turned to head east in midair. A cold smile suffused his lips. “Instantly escaping half a kilometer away. However, there’s no way you can escape.” Qin Yun transformed into a beam and whizzed towards the east, in pursuit of the escapee.
The middle-aged man who was escaping heaved a sigh of relief.
“No good, this thin mist is the work of an array formation. We have been discovered.” Jade Bottle said urgently. “Keep escaping east. Escape at your maximum possible speed.”
“What?”
As the middle-aged man escaped, he remained alarmed. “Aren’t you able to insulate us from psyche probes? To the point that even the Heaven and Earth powers cannot discover us?”
“This mist is covering the whole city. It’s not Heaven and Earth powers but an array formation’s powers. Any sentient being that moves in the array formation will be obstructed by the thin mist,” said Jade Bottle. “Just like when you swim in water. You will disturb the flow of water. By flying inside the array formation, you are disturbing the mist, allowing the array formation’s controller to immediately detect our location.”
“Don’t slow down. Keep escaping. Let’s hope we can escape out of this array formation,” said Jade Bottle with an anxious voice transmission.
…
Indeed.
With the Mist Lock Array, Qin Yun was able to observe all motion in a forty-five-kilometer radius. The enemy might be able to control the Heaven and Earth powers and isolate themselves from the probing of psyche perception, but the array formation’s powers were constantly powered by the array formation’s controller. Any movement by a sentient being in the city would stir the mist.
“If he had stayed in his original spot or did not escape far, my sword intent domain would have discovered him when I arrived. And if he can escape more than a thousand feet away in a short amount of time… that speed is not achievable by typical Connate False Cores,” thought Qin Yun. “When I was in pursuit, there was only one being that was flying extremely fast in this direction. He has to be the murderer, that great fiendish demon!”
He happened to be chasing.
And this particular person was fleeing? Especially at such extreme speeds?
Who else could he be but the murderer?
According to the Mist Lock Array’s forty-five-kilometer range, other than himself and Yin Lihuo, who was following behind him, the murderer was the only one moving so quickly.
“Sou!”
The Beam Transformation Art rapidly pursued the murderer. With a wave of his hand, Qin Yun released the Seven Kills Sword.
Shoo!
The Seven Kills Sword transformed into a stream of light and moved at a speed even faster than Qin Yun.
“We won’t be able to escape,” said Jade Bottle with a voice transmission. “The flying sword is coming. There’s no way to flee. We aren’t even able to escape out of Yanglai County City.”
“What?” The middle-aged man panicked.
“We can’t hold back anymore!” He clenched his teeth as his body phased into a Fiendbody. He was more than ten feet tall and his body was covered with black scales. His eyes were red, and there were two gigantic curved horns growing from his head. Any cultivator who saw this fiendbody would recognize it as a great fiendish demon.
After he revealed his Fiendbody, the middle-aged man continued escaping east.
But with a whoosh, a flying sword overtook him and stopped in front of him.
“Flying sword?” The middle-aged man halted in his tracks. In his Fiendbody state, he looked at the floating and blurry flying sword. He had a twisted expression.
“I wonder which great fiendish demon you are from the Nine Lineage Fiendish Demons.” Qin Yun’s voice sounded behind him.
The middle-aged man, in his Fiendbody form, turned back. Qin Yun was already hovering in midair not far behind him, glaring at him.
Behind him was Qin Yun and in front of him, a flying sword that blocked his way.
At that moment, the middle-aged man finally felt that he was truly in trouble. “Jade Bottle, what do I do now?”
“Fight it out. Perhaps you might survive.” Jade Bottle replied with a voice transmission and did not speak again.
However, Jade Bottle was cursing inwardly. “Fool, what a fool. I told him to escape! I told him to leave! He refused. I allowed him to kill the Ximen family and it could have been done in one go but he insisted on tormenting them slowly… He still refused to escape when Qin Yun arrived. He still wanted to continue tormenting the Ximen family? Great! Now we are targeted. It looks like this helper of mine is finished.”
“Whatever, the seal on the jade bottle is almost half gone. It won’t be long before I can escape. I must turn my thoughts to my next host. Will it be this Qin Yun?” Jade Bottle pondered in secret.