Chapter 35: The End and the Departure
When Chen Chang'an emerged from the dark secret passage, the sky was already turning fish-belly white.
He stood on the high wall outside the City Lord's mansion, glanced back at the building that imprisoned the White Wolf King, and a smile touched his lips.
Since his promise to the White Wolf King had been fulfilled, he naturally had no intention of returning to the death row cell.
However, he didn't plan to leave the city immediately either.
"Ten days..." he murmured to himself. "Let me see just what you're capable of."
The morning wind blew through his robes. Chen Chang'an took a deep breath, feeling the spiritual power flowing within him.
Although this Profound-Connecting Realm avatar's cultivation was not high, under the control of his Saint-Realm True Essence, it was far beyond what an ordinary Profound-Connecting Realm cultivator could compare to.
With a light leap, his figure floated down from the high wall like a falling leaf and disappeared into the morning mist.
...
As the sky brightened, the morning market of Fu'an City was already bustling with activity.
The bluestone slab road was damp with last night's dew. Vendors set up their oilcloth awnings, their cries echoing one after another.
A tofu seller pushed a wheelbarrow, its wheel creaking as it rolled over the cracks in the stone.
White steam rose from a tea stall at the street corner, where a few porters squatted on benches, slurping hot tea from coarse porcelain bowls.
The sizzle of frying dough sticks filled the air, and the sweet fragrance of sugar-fried chestnuts wafted far and wide, attracting the eager gazes of several children clutching copper coins.
As the morning light grew, the clamor of the market became more vibrant, immersing the entire street in the lively, worldly atmosphere that Chen Chang'an enjoyed.
At this moment, he had changed into a set of coarse cloth clothes, blending seamlessly into the crowd.
His gaze passed through the bustling throng and landed on a familiar sundry stall.
Ah Li was organizing the shelves, the side of her face under the bamboo hat appearing particularly cool and detached in the morning light.
Chen Chang'an stood before the stall, blocking the sunlight that fell upon her.
"What are you buying?" Ah Li asked without looking up.
"I'm not buying anything," Chen Chang'an said. "I've come to apologize."
Ah Li's hands paused, and she slowly raised her head. A trace of surprise flashed in the eyes beneath the light veil.
"You were right last time," Chen Chang'an said earnestly. "All things have a spirit. I shouldn't have been so quick to judge."
Ah Li's pupils contracted slightly.
She put down the goods in her hand and carefully studied the man before her, the one who had argued with her incessantly.
A figure from many, many years ago, one who had traveled the mortal world with her, a figure she had almost forgotten, gradually overlapped with the young man in front of her.
They look so alike...
She sighed softly in her heart.
At the same time, the expression on her face softened slightly. "What... did you see?"
Chen Chang'an smiled without answering. The sunlight shone on his face, and his eyes seemed to hold a light that was out of place with the surrounding crowd.
Ji Hongli suddenly understood why the White Wolf King had treated this human differently. She hummed softly, a half-smile on her face as she turned away. "So you know how to admit you're wrong now?"
"To know one's mistakes and be able to correct them, there is no greater good," Chen Chang'an said, mimicking the tone of a fortune teller.
"Smooth talker," Ji Hongli said, but the corners of her lips curled up secretly. "I forgive you."
...
After leaving Ah Li's stall, Chen Chang'an went straight out of the city.
He knew the City Lord's mansion would soon discover that the prisoner in the death row cell was missing, and the entire city would be under lockdown.
He set up a simple shelter under an old locust tree three miles outside the city gate.
The view here was open, allowing him to observe the movements at the city gate and retreat quickly if necessary.
On the first day, everything at the city gate was as usual.
On the third day, he saw the guards of the City Lord's mansion begin to check pedestrians at the gate.
On the fifth day, news spread within the city of a search for an escaped death row prisoner.
On the seventh day, the search area expanded to outside the city.
Chen Chang'an changed his disguise every day, sometimes as a woodcutter, sometimes as a peddler, never leaving the vicinity of Fu'an City.
He noticed that the security at the City Lord's mansion grew tighter each day, but the faces of the guards were filled with an unconcealable fear.
On the night of the ninth day, Chen Chang'an stood on a high slope, looking towards the City Lord's mansion from afar.
Under the moonlight, the building resembled a dormant beast, but he could feel that something was brewing inside.
"Tomorrow is the tenth day..." he murmured.
...
On the morning of the tenth day, the sky above Fu'an City was clear for thousands of miles.
Chen Chang'an arrived early at a tea stall outside the city gate. He ordered a pot of clear tea and sipped it slowly, his eyes fixed on the direction of the City Lord's mansion.
At noon, a strange event occurred.
First, the ground began to tremble slightly, and ripples appeared on the surface of the water in his teacup. Then, a blood-red cloud suddenly gathered above the City Lord's mansion. The color deepened until it became a heart-stopping dark red.
"Look! What is that?" a customer at the tea stall exclaimed.
Chen Chang'an put down his teacup. He felt a familiar aura—it was the power of the White Wolf King, mixed with some older, more violent energy.
"BOOM—!"
An earth-shattering explosion roared from within the city. A blinding red light erupted from the location of the City Lord's mansion, instantly expanding to engulf the entire estate. A shockwave swept through, making the very bricks of the city gate tremble.
The patrons at the tea stall scattered and fled, but Chen Chang'an remained seated.
He watched the blood-red pillar of light that shot up into the sky, a slow smile spreading across his lips.
"Well done," he said softly.
The pillar of light lasted for about a quarter of an hour before gradually dissipating. When the dust settled, only a massive, deep pit remained where the City Lord's mansion had once stood, and the surrounding buildings were reduced to rubble.
But just as the blood-red light faded, a ferocious figure suddenly shot up from the ruins!
"Hahaha—"
A wild laugh shook the plains. The City Lord was covered in blood, his clothes in tatters, but strange, bloody runes coiled around his body, and his aura was several times stronger than before!
"Didn't expect that, did you? I don't die so easily!"
He hovered in mid-air, his eyes as red as blood, and looked down at the ruined city below with a crazed expression.
Chen Chang'an narrowed his eyes. With a flash, he was standing in the air, facing the City Lord from a distance.
"I certainly didn't," he said lightly. "You're even more resilient than I imagined."
The City Lord sneered. "So it was you, the one who was spying in the blood pool that day? You thought you could kill me with just that beast? I have long since linked my divine soul to the blood sacrifice formation. As long as the formation stands, I am immortal!"
Hearing this, Chen Chang'an's gaze swept over the city below, and sure enough, he could see faint blood-red lines still visible among the ruins—they were the formation patterns that had not been completely destroyed!
"I see," he nodded. "In that case, on behalf of that old friend, I'll just have to kill you one more time."
Before his words had faded, the longsword in Chen Chang'an's hand was already unsheathed!
"Nine Heavens Thunderous Sword Art—Heavenly Punishment!"
In an instant, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and lightning flashed like dragons! A brilliant sword light, wrapped in the majestic might of the heavens, struck down towards the City Lord!
The City Lord's face changed drastically, and he retreated rapidly. "Don't even think about it!"
However, just as he was about to dodge—
"Hum!"
A red light suddenly shot out from the city ruins, coiling around the City Lord like a chain, holding him firmly in place!
"What?!" The City Lord looked back in horror, only to see Ah Li in the ruins, holding a broken red crystal and pointing it at him. It emanated an ancient aura that could suppress anything.
"Ah, my demon crystal?!" the City Lord shrieked. "Impossible! How can you activate it?!"
Ah Li sneered without a word, and the light from the demon crystal in her hand intensified.
In that fleeting moment, Chen Chang'an's sword light arrived!
"No—!!"
Amidst the City Lord's desperate roar, the sword light descended like heavenly punishment, completely engulfing him!
The lightning dissipated, and the sky cleared.
The City Lord's figure had been turned to ash, without a single trace left behind.
Chen Chang'an sheathed his sword and floated to the ground. He looked at Ah Li, whose demon crystal had now dimmed, seemingly having exhausted its power.
"Thank you," he said sincerely.
Ah Li shook her head and said softly, "It was what I had to do."
She looked at the ruins of the City Lord's mansion, a complex expression in her eyes.
The surviving citizens began to emerge from all corners of the city. They looked at the ruins, their faces a mixture of fear and relief.
Chen Chang'an knew that this city's ordeal was finally over.
...
System Prompt: [Epic achievement series completed: Youthful Deeds [1/4]]
Youthful Deeds (Part 1): [A promise to carry spring wine, riding the wind to send off the white wolf.]
Completing the Youthful Deeds achievement series rewards [Otherworldly Jade (upgrades one supreme immortal art).]
...
"Have you not seen the wandering knight of Huainan, who hunts by day and gambles by night?He'd lose a million without regret, and for revenge, a thousand miles is but a step..."
Closing the system panel and dusting off his clothes, Chen Chang'an stood up and took one last look at the city.
In a daze, he saw a handsome, ethereal man with white clothes and white hair standing on the city wall, waving goodbye to him.
Chen Chang'an smiled slightly, hummed a little tune, and turned to leave without a second thought.
...
Several days later—
In the direction Chen Chang'an had left... five hundred miles away, a small sect called the 'Eight Elephants Gate' was holding a grand entrance examination.
This kind of small sect was at the very bottom of the cultivation world in the Xuan-Ying Continent, but even so, it was the only path for countless ordinary mortals who yearned for eternal life.
At this moment, a young boy named 'Han Yu' was shrewdly shrinking his thin body into a corner of the small square, while secretly sizing up the other youths participating in the examination..
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