Seeing that the atmosphere between the two was somewhat heavy, Cai Meier walked over at the right moment.
Elder Mu knew full well that Xuan Zi had an impulsive personality and sometimes acted purely on a surge of hot-headedness. Therefore, this time, Xuan Zi was not the only one leading the team out; Elder Mu had also deliberately arranged for Cai Meier to accompany them.
Cai Meier walked between the two, first glancing at Xuan Zi before turning to Huo Yuhao. Her tone was polite yet natural, "Tower Master Huo, it would be best for us to leave the Sun Moon territory as soon as possible right now."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao nodded. The other party addressed him as "Tower Master Huo" instead of using her past form of address, which created a clear sense of boundaries.
Cai Meier clearly already viewed him as the person in charge of the Spirit Pagoda, rather than that Shrek Student from back then.
This sense of tact made Huo Yuhao feel somewhat comforted inside, and his expression also softened slightly.
In fact, he could completely take everyone into the Undead Plane; that way, it would be much simpler for him alone to leave the Sun Moon Empire.
But at this moment, besides his own people from the Spirit Pagoda, there were also people from the Star Luo Royal Spirit Master Academy and Shrek Academy present. He had no intention of exposing the Undead Plane in front of these people.
After weighing his options several times, he could only abandon that most convenient path.
He closed his eyes slightly, and his mental force spread out silently like a tidal wave, sweeping across the surrounding jungles and ridges, probing toward those faint fluctuations of aura in the distance.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, his brows slightly furrowing. Those "pursuers" were still wandering among the distant mountains and fields, like a net gradually closing in, faintly surrounding the area where they were located.
Huo Yuhao pondered for a moment and spoke, "The best method right now is to conceal our auras and pass through this jungle."
He paused here, a trace of solemnity flashing through his gaze, "However, currently only the western side has no Sun Moon people surrounding us. I am worried that this might be a trap set by them."
The current situation looked no matter how one examined it like the people of the Sun Moon Empire were intentionally forcing them to head west.
At this moment, Xuan Zi's expression also returned somewhat to normal. He said in a deep voice, "Regardless of whether it is a trap or not, there is no other way right now."
After saying this, he turned his head to look at Cai Meier, his tone carrying a hint of consultation, "Let us head west."
Although Xuan Zi had a higher seniority, the true leader of Shrek this time was actually Cai Meier. Before setting out, Elder Mu had specifically instructed that Cai Meier should make the decisions when encountering issues.
Cai Meier nodded, then turned to Huo Yuhao and asked, "Does Tower Master Huo want to come along?"
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and did not refuse, replying, "Then let us go together."
In his heart, he did not actually worry too much about whatever traps the Sun Moon Empire might set. After all, once a critical moment truly arrived, with the Undead Plane opened, he had the confidence to lead everyone out of danger.
In this World of Ten Thousand Years ago, if he wanted to leave, probably very few people could manage to keep him here.
As for the issue of exposing the Undead Plane, in the face of a life-and-death crisis, that naturally would not count for much.
After reaching a consensus, both sides did not delay any longer and immediately set off.
The group restrained their auras, rapidly passing through the mountain forest and advancing toward the western direction.
The night was deep, tree shadows flickered, and the fallen leaves and decayed soil beneath their feet emitted faint rustling sounds. Everyone maintained a high level of vigilance.
After walking for about an hour, Huo Yuhao, who had been walking on the flank within the crowd, suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "Stop!"
Hearing this, everyone stopped in their tracks simultaneously. Xuan Zi turned around, his eyebrows furrowed, and he asked with an unkind tone, "What is it again?!"
Huo Yuhao said with a solemn expression, "Something is wrong, a fog has risen."
Xuan Zi casually chimed in, "Isn't it normal for fog to rise in the mountain forest?"
Huo Yuhao glanced at him, inwardly complaining to himself about how this rank 98 Super Douluo managed to cultivation to his level—did he not even know how to use mental force?
But he did not waste words, only explaining in a deep voice, "This fog is abnormal; mental force cannot penetrate it."
Hearing this, the several high-level Spirit Masters present immediately dispersed their respective mental forces, probing toward that patch of white fog in the distance.
When their perception touched those white mists, they indeed discovered that their perception was swallowed by a sticky barrier, as if reaching into a lump of paste where nothing could be clearly probed. The expressions of several people changed slightly.
Cai Meier frowned tightly, pondering, "The scope of this white fog is very large; it doesn't look like the scale that a Spirit Ability can cover. Could it be naturally formed?"
Xuan Zi seemed to have already forgotten his arbitrary judgment from just a moment ago, and immediately followed up by saying, "How could naturally formed mountain fog obstruct mental perception? It must be the trickery of the Sun Moon people."
After finishing, without waiting for anyone to reply, he added another sentence, "Taking advantage of the fog not completely enveloping us yet, I'll go up to the sky and take a look!"
Before his voice faded, Xuan Zi slammed his foot heavily against the ground, his entire body soaring straight into the sky as if being catapulted out.
Cai Meier didn't even have time to open her mouth to stop him, and could only watch as his figure rapidly climbed upward.
She couldn't help gritting her teeth, feeling somewhat annoyed that Xuan Zi had once again impulsively acted on his own initiative.
Flying rashly into high altitudes, once there were pursuers nearby, it would extremely easily expose their current location.
Xuan Zi had just flown a dozen meters high when his vision suddenly broadened, allowing him to clearly see that patch of white fog in the distance slowly spreading along the mountain terrain.
That fog was so dense it was nearly solid, like a white giant python silently slithering through the mountain forest, completely swallowing even the moonlight wherever it passed.
Just as he wanted to elevate himself a bit higher to see the full picture clearly, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a flash of light deep within the white fog.
Immediately following that, a dual-colored gold and silver light fiercely rushed out from the fog, with a speed so fast it was like a shooting star streaking across the night sky, hitting Xuan Zi precisely in an instant.
Xuan Zi's figure paused, hovering mid-air without continuing to fly upward.
He lowered his head to look at his own body. The surface of his robes and his exposed skin were both stained with a layer of gold and silver color, as if adhered to the surface of his body by an extremely thin film of light.
He clenched his fist and felt the condition inside his body, only to discover that there was nothing wrong with himself; his Spirit Power flowed just as smoothly, and his body did not have any abnormal sensations either.
Yet it was precisely this "normality" that bred a deeper sense of apprehension in his heart. Unknown methods were often more unsettling than obvious attacks.
The crowd below looked at that abrupt layer of gold and silver luster on Xuan Zi's body, and everyone's expressions grew solemn.
On this path of escape, any slight change that exceeded expectations was enough to make them immensely vigilant.
In Huo Yuhao's perception, that patch of white fog that had previously been slowly enveloping toward them suddenly changed after Xuan Zi flew into high altitude.
The white fog seemed to have been stimulated by some power; the airflow inside suddenly churned, and its spreading speed drastically increased, resembling a giant beast that had been startled awake accelerating the rhythm of its predation.
In just a short moment, that thick white fog had already surged in from all directions, "tightly surrounding" the entire team within it.
Immediately following that, streams of gold and silver light flew out from within the white fog like a rain of arrows, so fast that people had no time to react.
Those lights precisely landed on every single person's body, and subsequently, everyone's bodies became stained with a layer of gold and silver luster identical to Xuan Zi's.
Then...
"Bang!"
A muffled sound came from above.
Xuan Zi's body plummeted straight down from mid-air without any warning, smashing heavily onto the ground and producing a dull thud.
That's right, he "dropped" down, rather than landing down.
His entire person smacked into the pile of fallen leaves, smashing out a shallow pit. If not for the powerful physical body of a Titled Douluo, this single impact probably would have already injured him.
Xuan Zi quickly crawled back up, patted the dirt off his body, and his expression turned so gloomy that water could almost drip from it.
He said through gritted teeth, "This white fog... actually restricts the ability to fly!"
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.