The night was hazy, the pitch-black sky shrouding the entire land. Only the shadows of Ming Qi and his group could be vaguely seen as they hurried forward.
Da Bai and Da Hei were on guard duty on both sides, while Ming Qi and his four companions bypassed the human gathering area and took a detour towards Kill Star City.
With the matter settled, Ming Qi felt relieved. He no longer had much of a concern for the entire Biyou Sect. The reward for this escort mission could bring a significant turnaround to the mercenary group, at least eliminating their financial worries.
"...your token...where did you get it?"
As they walked along, Su Yuan suddenly approached Ming Qi and asked.
"Token, what token?"
Ming Qi simply feigned confusion, acting as if nothing had happened.
"Hehe, you're still pretending. It's that token you just took. It's rare, but I happen to recognize it..."
Su Yuan's words seemed playful and casual, but Ming Qi was quite surprised by what he said.
Su Yuan actually knew about the Great Celestial Witch Token?
Could it be that she had some connection to the Celestial Witch Cult?
Ming Qi knew that only the first person to come into contact with the Thirty-Six Great Celestial Witch Tokens knew the secrets within. Once one came into contact with the token, they were unconditionally promoted to the position of Dharma King, the Protector of the Celestial Witch Cult, becoming a high-ranking member of the cult. Therefore, such secrets could not be easily revealed.
But how did Su Yuan learn this?
"Oh? You know?"
Ming Qi asked calmly.
At this point, he even suspected that Su Yuan was just making things up, that she had no idea of the token's origins.
"Haha, since you don't want to talk, then I won't ask..."
With just one sentence, the topic was immediately brought to a halt.
Seeing Su Yuan cut the subject short, Ming Qi naturally didn't continue.
To avoid another unexpected encounter with Tian Ming and the others, Ming Qi and his group traveled almost day and night. Within a few days, they had already left the Jinchuan area.
Summer had arrived, and the sun had become much hotter. Walking would have been quite painful if they didn't mobilize their Yuanli to offset fatigue. Fortunately, they were all cultivators in the Xiantian realm, so they could easily handle the less intense day and night travel. The journey was quite peaceful for a few days, which helped them relax their tense minds.
Ming Qi even took advantage of the time he had to travel to further study the Ancient Spiritual Mirror and the Great Ancient Mirror Sutra.
It must be admitted that the Great Ancient Mirror Scripture is quite profound, but due to his current limitations, Ming Qi is unable to fully utilize it, much like he has been cultivating the Suzaku Burning Heaven Scripture for a long time.
The only magical power that can be unleashed through the Ancient Mirror Scripture is the mirror image.
Of course, Ming Qi isn't the type to be impatient. With the advanced magical skills already in hand, the only thing left to do is to improve his strength. Once his strength reaches a certain level, he will naturally be able to comprehend the mysteries within these magical skills.
In this short period of time, while his gains from the Great Ancient Mirror Scripture have been modest, his study and mastery of the Small Five Elements Fan have significantly improved. Ming Qi's own fire elemental power has reached a high level, and the Small Five Elements Fan allows him to better connect with the surrounding free fire elemental energy. After a few days, Ming Qi has mastered the Small Five Elements Fan with ease.
The Five Elements Gate's power increased significantly with the enhanced control of fire elemental power. The current display was even more powerful than Hua Danqing's previous display, which surprised Ming Qi somewhat. He didn't believe this was simply due to his own talent. After careful consideration, he concluded that the only possibility was the potential influence of the Suzaku Burning Heaven Scripture, which had amplified the Five Elements Gate.
But whatever the reason, the outcome was a positive one.
Thanks to his constant study of techniques and cultivation, Ming Qi's journey had been quite fulfilling, and he hadn't felt bored at all.
In contrast, the others weren't as well-rounded. Mo Changli and Wei Silong clearly lacked the ability to focus on their cultivation, and they chatted and joked about all sorts of things along the way. As for Su Yuan, he was the most boring of the group. Furthermore, he wasn't very familiar with Ming Qi and the others, and after a few days of drinking, he disappeared without a word.
Ming Qi was somewhat helpless about Su Yuan's disappearance without even saying hello. As for Mo Changli and Wei Silong, they had always had a slight dislike for Su Yuan, given her peculiar hobbies. They had agreed to her joining the Angels of Vengeance solely because of her innate strength at the fourth level of the Artifact Control Realm.
And every time she saw Su Yuan, Wei Silong couldn't help but lament why the only innately powerful person willing to join the Angels of Vengeance would be such a woman.
However, for the sake of the Angels of Vengeance's strength, and for the sake of her responsibility and mission, Wei Silong had gradually tried to adapt to Su Yuan's presence.
Su Yuan's disappearance without a word had infuriated Wei Silong, but she also knew she couldn't handle Su Yuan's temper and behavior. She knew that even if she spoke to her, it would be futile. So she simply let it slide, letting her have her way.
Su Yuan, on the other hand, was completely spontaneous, never even greeting Wei Silong. He'd only occasionally come up to Ming Qi for a few words, completely disregarding Wei Silong as their leader.
After traveling for over ten days, and seeing that they were nearing Killing Star City, Ming Qi turned his attention back to his journey. After all, escorting Mo Qingchen back to the Biyou Sect had offended many of the major and minor mercenary groups in Killing Star City, and he knew he might encounter some trouble on this return trip. However, Ming Qi wasn't concerned about mercenary groups as powerful as Huawai Xukong. His current concern was the attitude of the top five mercenary groups.
Although they had only encountered Daoyue, one of the five major mercenary groups, at Canglan River, and none of the other four powerful groups had appeared, that didn't mean they weren't paying attention or taking any action.
On the way, he had asked which major mercenary group might be behind the so-called Wind Listener. However, Su Yuan understood that the Wind Listener belonged to the Xinfeng Tribe in the Western Wasteland and did not appear to be affiliated with any particular mercenary group. Of course, this did not rule out the possibility that the Wind Listener was being employed.
Su Yuan ultimately concluded that the Wind Listener's pursuit was likely intended to provide intelligence for the Blood Rose Mercenary Group, the leader of the five major mercenary groups.
The Blood Rose, ranked number one in the Killing Star City mercenary group rankings, held a position second only to the City Lord, Yu Quanzhen. According to Su Yuan, the Blood Rose's supreme leader was a woman.
A woman with a venomous sting, known as Madam Rose.
Madam Rose led the Blood Rose to fame in Xilan Province, even fearing the many powerful families in Xixian City.
Madam Rose herself had close connections with many powerful individuals in the Western Wasteland, a key reason to believe the Wind Listener served the Blood Rose.
Ming Qi rested for a day on the way. During this time, he used a number of elixirs to boost the dire wolf Dahei's strength. While he wasn't able to directly elevate him to the innate level, he was close.
Three days later, Ming Qi and his companions arrived at the banks of the Canglan River.
Standing on the bank, Ming Qi spotted a dark red shadow drifting above the vast Canglan River.
"Hmm?"
Su Yuan and Wei Silong frowned at the sight of the dark red shadow floating in the sky.
"Who is he?"
Seeing the two women's expressions change instantly, Ming Qi knew that this person floating above the river was definitely not just there to enjoy the scenery.
"The Red Demon Prince, Madam Rose's son."
Su Yuan immediately revealed the man's origins.
Upon hearing that it was Madam Rose's son, they immediately sensed something was amiss. Although Blood Rose hadn't taken action during the escort, the Red Devil Prince's arrival must be about that matter.
"Is he here to cause trouble?"
Mo Changli frowned, then looked at the dark red shadow in the sky, his face brightening.
"I'm afraid so."
Ming Qi's suspicions were similar. The Red Devil Prince's appearance, blocking their path, was clearly aimed at them. If it wasn't to cause trouble, Ming Qi couldn't imagine what else it could be.
"The Red Devil Prince possesses the strength of the Sixth Level of the Innate Spirit Pearl Realm, and possesses a strange array of magical techniques that are both righteous and evil. Furthermore, he is incredibly talented, having mastered no fewer than dozens of techniques. He's considered a genius even in Killing Star City," Wei Silong explained.
"Genius?"
Ming Qi pondered for a moment, then said, "I hate geniuses the most."
…
The three women were immediately surprised, feeling that such a statement was completely out of character for Ming Qi.
Just then, Mo Changli pointed and said, "Look, he's coming."
As he spoke, Ming Qi looked up and saw a dark red shadow swiftly approaching over the Canglan River in the distance, leaving a trail of afterimage in the air.
The voice arrived before the person, a burst of deep laughter.
"Hahahaha, I've been waiting here for a long time. Looks like I've been waiting for a good while."
As he spoke, the Red Devil Prince had already arrived. He wore a dark red robe, his long black hair flowing in the wind, and he looked like a dark red cloud.
Ming Qi knew with a single glance that this Red Demon Prince was no ordinary being. It seemed Wei Silong's description of him possessing the strength of the sixth level of the Innate Spirit Pearl Realm was indeed true. Furthermore, judging by his age, he appeared to be in his early twenties. With such talent, he would be considered a genius no matter where he landed.
Standing still on the riverbank, Ming Qi smiled at the slowly descending Red Demon Prince and said, "Since you've troubled him to come personally, I bet you're not inviting us to admire the scenery of the Canglan River."