"I must catch him, I must search his soul, and find out the origin of his many magic treasures. Even the 'Sacred Demon Palace' couldn't possibly give a Golden Core cultivator so many good treasures. This person must have had some unknown immortal fortune to have obtained so many good things. In that case, Zhao Min's secrets are also many. She is very familiar with this person. What exactly is their relationship?"
Dongli Qing turned into an afterimage, no longer hiding his cultivation, and quickly flew forward. At this time, he could no longer calm himself down.
In the city, Zhao Min forced herself not to use her Divine Sense to scan behind her. If she did, she would definitely be discovered by Dongli Qing, whose cultivation was an unknown amount stronger than hers.
The plan that Li Yan had told her before would have a flaw, and then everything Li Yan had done would be in vain.
Li Yan had requested that when she left the alley, she could show a look of vigilance, but she absolutely could not repeatedly scan herself with her Divine Sense. At that time, the two of them should be like strangers.
"Junior Brother will be fine!"
Thinking of the plan Li Yan had transmitted to her with the voice transmission talisman before, a strong sense of unease rose in Zhao Min's heart again.
Li Yan had repeatedly transmitted messages to her six times, asking her to cooperate with the plan. Zhao Min went from shock to refusal.
"A Golden Core against a Nascent Soul, you will die!"
Li Yan gave her various reasons to persuade her. At that time, although Zhao Min's heart was already somewhat shaken, she still replied firmly.
"Senior Sister, trust me, I have a certain degree of confidence that I can get away. If I really can't, I will hide in that space you once entered. That space, I've told you before, even a Spirit Transformation might not be able to detect it. That was my biggest gain from the expedition to the Jingtu Sect."
Li Yan even brought out the "Earthen Patch" again.
Seeing Li Yan's certainty, Zhao Min's heart was filled with shock and silence for a moment. She knew of the hidden madness in Li Yan's character.
Even if she didn't agree to cooperate, he might try to lure out Dongli Qing in a more risky way. The result of that would really be out of control.
For a moment, she thought of the Heart-Entangling Twin Gu again, and a look of determination finally appeared on her face.
"Junior Brother, since you insist, then I'll go along with you!"
Li Yan finally replied.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister, we still have to return to Little Bamboo Peak!"
...
Dongli Qing's handsome face was extremely grave. In the chase, one in front and one behind, they had already traveled more than five thousand li.
Even so, he had only narrowed the distance between them to more than seven hundred li. If this matter were to spread, he would lose a lot of face, but at the same time, it also showed how powerful the other party's flying magic treasure was.
"How long can you run, hmph!"
The killing intent in Dongli Qing's eyes grew stronger as he coldly stared at the approaching figure in his Divine Sense.
Time flew by. As the two continued to fly, the distance between them was rapidly shortening.
The stooped, gray-robed old man in front suddenly fell downwards. Below was a series of rolling mountain ridges and lush dense forests.
"Panicked and lost his way?"
A sneer appeared on the corner of Dongli Qing's mouth. The other party was trying to use the rocks and dense forest to block him. For a cultivator to use such a method, he had already lost his head.
Dongli Qing's Divine Sense firmly locked onto the other party's figure. After the stooped, gray-robed old man landed, he stumbled, clearly showing a look of physical exhaustion and great loss of magic power.
This made Dongli Qing even more certain that the other party had reached a dead end.
The stooped, gray-robed old man plunged headfirst into the dense forest, turning into an afterimage and running wildly along the ground.
At this time, the distance between the two was only about three hundred li. For Dongli Qing, it wasn't even a flash. In the blink of an eye, he had already flown above the dense forest.
And below, the flickering figure of the stooped, gray-robed old man suddenly disappeared from the ground.
"Hmm?"
Dongli Qing was stunned for a moment. The next moment, his Divine Sense quickly swept over the dense forest below. The position he was currently in was a gentle slope.
The entire dense forest spread up a mountain slope. He soon found something in the dense forest and the ubiquitous vines and thorny bushes.
There was a faint and elusive trace of Spirit Qi.
"So he set up a hiding place here!"
If he were also a Golden Core cultivator, he might have really been deceived by the other party. But unfortunately, he had encountered him.
Dongli Qing didn't even need to think. His figure directly descended. Before he arrived, the trees and bushes below had already turned into a handful of dust, shooting outwards in the strong wind, revealing the color of black mountain rocks.
The next moment, Dongli Qing had already stepped heavily on the mountain rock. With a "bang," a ball of golden light exploded under his feet, and then turned into specks of starlight and dissipated in the air.
And he had already shot out from the ground. When Dongli Qing's feet landed on the mountain slope, what appeared in front of him were still huge, verdant trees connected together.
Dongli Qing stepped on the root of a large tree that was three or four people's arm-span around. With a rumble, the restriction formation set up by the stooped, gray-robed old man was completely broken with just one kick.
This tree, which was completely identical to its surroundings, immediately disappeared, revealing a cave entrance just large enough for one person to pass through.
Facing the dark cave entrance, Dongli Qing's Divine Sense penetrated through. Then, he had already flashed in without any hesitation.
The cave was very cold and dark, with only some light at the entrance.
The cave was only about a zhang high and a zhang wide. Stalactites and cone-shaped protrusions extended from the ceiling and both sides, as sharp as blades. They crisscrossed, making it very difficult for a person to pass through.
The cave was very deep, winding and extending inwards in the darkness. Even with the eyesight of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, it was impossible to see the end.
Gusts of yin wind blew out from the deep depths, carrying a cold dampness and chill, forming a completely different space from the outside world.
After Dongli Qing entered, he felt a little uncomfortable. The height of the cave was very restrictive for their tall Demon Clan figures.
Although he didn't have to bow his head to walk, it was impossible to fly. The ground, both sides, and the top were covered with various strange protruding rocks, like a mouthful of sharp teeth.
The terrain in the cave was undulating and winding. If a mortal were to walk in it, they might not be able to walk two or three li in an hour.
But all of this, although it affected Dongli Qing, was not too much. With a few flashes, he turned into an afterimage and sped through the cave.
Even if there were stalagmites blocking the way ahead, the sharp Qi around his body had already ground them into a pile of dust in advance.
However, what made Dongli Qing secretly curse the other party was that the other party was too cunning.
There were many forked paths in this cave. With his Divine Sense, he could of course cover the entire cave and easily find the stooped, gray-robed old man.
But the other party had already made preparations here. Every forked path, and even every certain distance, would have a small restriction sealing it.
In Dongli Qing's eyes, these restrictions were ridiculously weak, but they were endless and annoying.
He walked quickly while using his Divine Sense to probe into the depths of the cave. The restrictions he passed were like thin paper, breaking at a touch.
They had almost no effect on him, but it was just "almost."
An ant stretching its leg to trip an elephant was not scary at all, but if there were too many ants, the elephant would have to shake its legs from time to time while walking. This would also distract Dongli Qing a little.
As he was walking forward, his foot suddenly slipped, and his whole person fell downwards. Dongli Qing's reaction was extremely fast. His body instinctively flashed with Spirit Power, covering his body, and he was already suspended in the air.
Then, the Qi under his feet exploded, and he quickly shot upwards. And just as he had flown less than a zhang, several sounds of breaking air had already arrived in front of him.
After sensing the object shooting towards him, Dongli Qing snorted coldly and pointed out a finger. A vortex of Qi instantly appeared at his fingertip, firmly locking the flying object in mid-air.
Dongli Qing's reaction was already faster than his Divine Sense. Only now did he have time to sweep his Divine Sense back. On the ground a zhang behind him, a deep pit had appeared.
In the pit stood sharp wooden spikes. The unique yin and cold Qi of the cave was constantly rising from the dark pit, like a dark giant mouth, revealing its sharp fangs.
He should have stepped on a loosely laid wooden board on it just now. With a little force, one end of the wooden board would have tilted up, causing him to fall in an instant.
But Dongli Qing's feet only sank slightly before he had already left, so it had no effect.
Then he turned his gaze to the object that had shot towards him from the front. What was locked by his Spirit Power were also a dozen or so hard wooden branches sharpened into sharp arrows.
"Hmph, what use is this to a cultivator?"
Dongli Qing saw that they were all mundane things, ordinary objects that had not been refined at all. This might only have a fatal effect on Qi Condensation stage cultivators.
Even against a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they would be useless. Their physical bodies could no longer be injured by these things.
So, even if Dongli Qing didn't dodge such an attack, for him, it wasn't even a scratch.
If he fell into the pit, the wooden spikes in the pit would have turned into a pile of dust before he even got there.
He snorted coldly, and the Qi around his body exploded. The dozen or so sharp wooden spikes suspended in mid-air in front of him were instantly blasted into a cloud of wood dust and scattered in the air.
So Dongli Qing once again rushed forward. He had already sensed the direction of the stooped, gray-robed old man, but there were still many forked branches in that direction.
"With the difference in cultivation, you can only temporarily hide by relying on your familiarity with the terrain. But how much time can this delay?"
Dongli Qing's heart was excited as he continued to rush inward. Up to now, he had been in the cave for two breaths. For him, this was too much of a delay.
Dongli Qing reached out and flicked away a vine noose that had suddenly dropped from the ceiling of the cave. He couldn't help but frown. In the next ten-odd zhang, he had encountered thirteen traps.
He finally understood the purpose of the traps set by the other party. The traps were all set up using purely mechanical methods. This meant that his Divine Sense had to carefully scan every inch of the place to discover them one by one.
The most crucial thing here was that the materials the other party used were not refined at all, so they would not produce any Spirit Qi fluctuations.
This was like a small stone appearing on the roadside. Did a cultivator have to pay attention to every stone and every speck of dust under his feet every day when he walked? At that rate, just walking could tire a cultivator to death.
So, these branches, vines, stones, etc., which had no Spirit Qi at all, had instead become Dongli Qing's biggest headache now. This kind of thing was simply countless in the cave.
Even if he protected his whole body with Spirit Power and didn't dodge at all, just like before, letting himself fall into the deep pit, he would certainly be unharmed, but he would have to fly up again.
The result of doing that would be even more of a delay.
What was even more brilliant about the other party was the coordination between these traps. Including the endless small restrictions that Dongli Qing had despised before, they also played a huge role at this time, constantly distracting him.
As long as he was slightly dazed and his attention was drawn by the Qi emitted by the restrictions, he would be hit two or three times in a row.
From the deep pit trap on the ground at the very beginning, it was connected to a trigger on the wall. As long as he stepped on the wooden board, it would trigger the trigger on the wall not far away, and then shoot out "arrows."
He would either fall into the deep pit or be hit and interfered with by the "arrows" when he jumped up to dodge. Continuous interference.
Just as Dongli Qing had just flicked away the vine noose hanging from the ceiling of the cave, he was at a turning point in the cave. He subconsciously used his hand to touch the corner of the stone wall for support.