Zhao Min suddenly remembered something.
'Junior Brother, the cultivation you've been talking about these past few years, has it all been a secret plan for this matter? But... but you're too bold...'
Dongli Qing was in a very bad mood recently. Almost three years had passed, and his plan had made no progress, which had greatly displeased the elders of his branch.
'These old fossils, all they know is how to rush me. That Zhao Min is in seclusion most of the time, what can I do? You tell me! On the rare occasion I meet her, not only is she impervious to persuasion, but the moment I try to get close, she uses the Supreme Elders to pressure me. Can you bear the consequences for me? You say I'm incompetent, if you have the ability, go find someone else to try. Decades have passed, has anyone been able to get close to her...'
Dongli Qing paced back and forth in his room. Thinking about the scene where he was called over by the clan elders today, he felt even more suffocated.
Zhao Min was right here in the "Sacred Demon Palace." Although the "Sacred Demon Palace" was large, for them, it was undoubtedly right under their noses. But even with his status as a Nascent Soul, he was unable to get close to her.
In recent years, he had been unable to cultivate peacefully. The elders of his branch would ask about his progress every once in a while.
It seemed that as Zhao Min's cultivation grew day by day, they all realized her importance. Once Zhao Min successfully reached the Nascent Soul stage one day, trying to form a marriage alliance would be countless times more difficult than it was now.
At that time, every branch would try every means to prevent others from getting close to Zhao Min and would recommend their own elite cultivators for the marriage alliance.
As Dongli Qing paced back and forth in his anxiety, his expression suddenly changed, and his Divine Sense immediately fell outside his cave residence.
There, a voice transmission talisman was bumping around the restriction outside the cave residence like a headless fly, constantly flashing with light.
Dongli Qing immediately made a grabbing motion with his fingers in the air. The voice transmission talisman disappeared from outside the cave residence, and with a flash of yellow light in his hand, a voice transmission talisman appeared.
Pressing it to his forehead, a smile suddenly appeared on his face.
'You've finally come out. Today, no matter what, I have to find a reason to prevent you from leaving immediately!'
As he thought, his figure quickly faded and disappeared from the spot.
Zhao Min hadn't left her cave residence for nearly three years, and today, after coming out, she was just wandering around the palace.
After being constantly urged by the clan elders, Dongli Qing had already been sending people to guard the palace both inside and out every day. Last time, his fourth disciple, in order to claim credit, had actually followed her out himself.
Not only did he not notify him in time, but he was also discovered by Zhao Min.
This made Dongli Qing give that disciple a harsh scolding. Such a good tracking opportunity had been wasted by him. This would only make Zhao Min more vigilant in the future.
And he had also compared Zhao Min's cultivation; her Divine Sense was at least not inferior to a Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator.
The few disciples he had arranged now were to send him a voice transmission the first moment they discovered Zhao Min. Anyway, those old guys had made it so that he couldn't cultivate peacefully either.
Dongli Qing found the beautiful female disciple who sent the voice transmission talisman in just a few breaths.
He had arranged for a female disciple to watch Zhao Min in the palace. Even if she was discovered, the trouble caused would be much smaller.
Before Dongli Qing could ask, the female disciple said hastily, "Master, that person just left the palace. Second Senior Brother is guarding there, so I didn't follow!"
Dongli Qing's heart first jumped in alarm, then he was overjoyed.
'You've gone out again. This time, I'll follow you personally to see what you're up to. Maybe this time I can find out who you're meeting.'
He had to find out the reason for Zhao Min's departure from the palace. This time, his efforts were not in vain, and he had received the news at the first possible moment.
Dongli Qing arrived outside the "Sacred Demon Palace" in an instant. He saw his disciple at a corner of the mountain peak at a glance. His figure flickered and he appeared behind the person.
"How long has she been out?"
The cultivator was constantly looking around in secret. The voice from behind gave him a scare. He turned around sharply, and upon seeing who it was, he was about to bow.
Dongli Qing, however, said impatiently, "Quick, speak!"
"Master, she just went down the mountain not five breaths ago. She probably hasn't reached the foot of the mountain yet!"
His words had just fallen when he felt a blur before his eyes, and Dongli Qing had already disappeared. He swallowed.
'If I lose her again this time, it won't be my fault. Last time, Fourth Junior Brother was scolded like a dog. We also need to cultivate. Doing these things every day is really annoying!'
He complained endlessly in his heart. He had also diligently sent the voice transmission talisman just now, but he didn't know that Dongli Qing had already come out after receiving the first one.
Dongli Qing quickly discovered a woman in white robes rushing down the mountain. A smile appeared on the corner of Dongli Qing's mouth.
After descending the mountain, Zhao Min went straight east along the main street, showing no intention of stopping.
After walking for more than half an hour, she began to be sneaky, constantly changing her route, and walking further and further to the side, finally gradually leaving the main city area.
Another half an hour later, Zhao Min had already entered the east city of "Sacred Demon City." She flickered through the dilapidated low houses.
After many twists and turns, she entered a long, narrow alley. After pausing for a moment, she walked straight ahead.
In the long alley, Zhao Min finally stopped under a dark courtyard wall. There, a stooped, gray-robed old man was hiding in the corner of the wall. At a glance, it was almost difficult to spot him.
After Zhao Min stopped, the stooped, gray-robed old man slowly walked out of the shadow. He wore a conical hat, and his face could not be seen clearly.
After they met, they did not speak, but instead used their Divine Senses to record words on a jade slip, then handed it to the other party. After the other party's Divine Sense swept over it, they would likewise record what they wanted to say and hand it back.
"To be so careful!"
Dongli Qing, far away, couldn't help but be annoyed. With his cultivation, if these two were talking in low voices, or even transmitting voices, he could completely eavesdrop.
To his surprise, these two did not say a word from beginning to end, but instead passed a jade slip back and forth. This made him hesitate to spy.
Some jade slips were made with restrictions, and could only bear a certain amount of Divine Sense power at one time. Therefore, the person recording had to control the strength of their Divine Sense to be able to record.
And Dongli Qing did not know if the jade slip in these two people's hands was like this. So if his Divine Sense quietly probed over and the jade slip exploded, he would be discovered.
He wasn't afraid of the cultivation of these two, but he didn't want to startle Zhao Min right away.
In this way, the two in the depths of the alley silently communicated for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Zhao Min then crushed the communication jade slip and turned to walk in the direction she came from.
Only the stooped, gray-robed old man with the conical hat was left in the alley. After watching Zhao Min's figure disappear from his sight, he also immediately walked quickly towards the other end of the alley.
Just as the stooped, gray-robed old man had walked less than five steps, a figure quietly appeared behind him. Following that, a cold voice sounded in the stooped, gray-robed old man's mind.
"Old man, could you spare a moment? Let's have a talk, shall we?"
The stooped, gray-robed old man's advancing body trembled violently and he immediately froze on the spot.
Then, he slowly turned around, slowly raised his head. It was an extremely old face. He looked at the blurred figure behind him and said in a somewhat stiff voice, "Forgive my poor eyesight, do I know you, sir?"
Dongli Qing only felt a gloomy Divine Sense sweep towards him. He sneered in his heart. The other party was trying to ascertain his cultivation and background.
It was just that the power transmitted through the Divine Sense was not very stable, as if he dared not exert his full strength.
'He's using a cultivation method to conceal his aura. This method should not be weak, but in my opinion, the aura fluctuation is still very large. His true cultivation should be around the Mid-to-Late Golden Core stage.'
"We don't know each other, so we can't talk? You're just a Golden Core cultivator!"
As Dongli Qing spoke, his arm suddenly stretched out, instantly crossing dozens of zhang, and grabbed towards the chest of the stooped, gray-robed old man.
He wanted to capture the old man in one fell swoop. As soon as he caught the other party, he would immediately use a soul-searching art to learn all his secrets, and then destroy the body and erase all traces.
Now, under the pressure of the elders, he didn't care about killing in the city, but it had to be done cleanly, without leaving any traces.
The stooped, gray-robed old man opposite him was not from the White Demon Clan. He was very sure of this point. It was precisely because he was sure of this that he dared to make a move.
For a foreign cultivator, the "Sacred Demon Palace" had never had much obligation to investigate the murderer. Most of it was just to show its authority.
Dongli Qing's thoughts were well-laid. And with his cultivation, it was indeed not difficult to do this. It was just a matter of catching him.
The reaction of the stooped, gray-robed old man was just as he expected. The cultivation gap between the two was too large. A look of surprise and anger appeared on the stooped, gray-robed old man's face.
His hands had just been raised when the long arm that had crossed the distance had already grabbed his chest.
"With your level of cultivation, you still dare to question me? It wouldn't even take me a single breath to crush you!"
Dongli Qing's mocking voice came out. And just as his fingertips touched the other party's collar, Dongli Qing only felt a blur before his eyes, and the stooped, gray-robed old man suddenly disappeared.
Such a sudden turn of events made Dongli Qing slightly stunned.
Then he saw a large black flood dragon rapidly moving in front of him. Then Dongli Qing only felt his fingertips touch a layer of hard material.
Then he saw a black flood dragon's tail flash in front of him, with yellow light shattering inch by inch at the tail. Then the other party had already disappeared.
"Such a fast evasion art, such a hard physical body, and a very good defensive magic treasure!"
Dongli Qing's eyes flashed with a sharp light. The other party had revealed his true form in a hurry, and a defensive magic treasure that could at least resist a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator was protecting his body.
Dongli Qing's sure-fire attack was actually blocked by the other party. Dongli Qing knew that he had been careless just now.
"I actually missed!"
A trace of anger appeared on Dongli Qing's handsome face.
And at this time, at the exit of the alley, the stooped, gray-robed old man who had been standing still on the spot also spewed out a mouthful of blood.
His old face actually blurred for a moment, and a young, ordinary face flashed before quickly returning to its wrinkled appearance.
"Well... I guess... I don't have to deliberately force out blood! The gap between him and me is too big..."
Immediately, his arm, trembling slightly, quickly waved towards the blood on the ground. An invisible Qi covered the blood.
The pool of bright red blood on the ground immediately made a slight "hissing" sound. After some smoke rose, it actually turned dark green.
Then the stooped, gray-robed old man hurriedly glanced at Dongli Qing, who was still in the middle of the alley, alone, having just made a grab at the empty space.
He took a deep breath, suppressed the splitting headache that was making him nauseous, and immediately rushed towards the east city gate.
"His cultivation is much higher than those I tested against. This is a significant deviation from the expected results of the tests over the past few months. The Illusion Poison can affect him for about three breaths at most, maybe not even that long. And with my cultivation, I can't get close to him for a sneak attack, otherwise, I would destroy the environment created by the Illusion Poison!"