Chapter 201: Golden Sun Moving North

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One year later.

In the depths of the Liang Kingdom, within the dense forests to the north of Fox Valley.

Huff! Huff!

A muscular man with a broad back and bear-like stature was gasping for breath as he held a stealth talisman, hiding among the thick foliage.

"Qi Feng! There's no point in resisting!"

"According to the sect’s summons, a wanted criminal like you can redeem yourself by fighting on the frontlines. If you're fortunate enough to make a meritorious contribution, you might even be rewarded, it's a blessing in disguise!"

A man and a woman’s voices echoed from above the forest.

They were two disciples of the sect, wearing uniforms of black robes embroidered with gold, riding on flying weapons. Their sharp gazes carefully monitored the movements within the forest below.

Qi Feng remained silent, swallowing two pills without a word.

His hair was scorched and disheveled, and his body was littered with wounds. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he focused on treating his broken ribs.

"Qi Feng, if you don’t come out soon, don’t blame us for setting the forest on fire."

The two sect disciples exchanged a glance, their expressions impatient, though neither dared to recklessly enter the woods.

Qi Feng was at the eighth layer of Qi-Refining, similar in cultivation to the pair. However, with his rich combat experience and status as a Martial Innate in the mortal world, his battle prowess far exceeded that of ordinary loose cultivators.

Boom! Boom!

A few fireballs descended from the sky, igniting the forest, and filling the air with thick smoke.

Thud!

A loud crash came from within the woods, followed by a surge of magical energy, and a large tree toppled over.

"His position’s exposed!"

The female sect disciple’s eyes lit up, and together with her companion, they flanked the location, slowly closing in.

"Wait, it's a trap!"

Using a flying weapon, they cut through the branches, only to freeze in surprise. There, lying beneath the crushed trees, was nothing but a damaged humanoid puppet.

Meanwhile, at the far end of the forest...

Whoosh!

A large, agile figure darted through the smoke and sprinted a good distance. Then, standing atop a black blade weapon, he shot into the sky.

"After him!"

The two sect disciples hurriedly turned in pursuit, but the black smoke obscured their vision, preventing them from catching him right away.

"Qi Feng! Why are you so stubborn? Do you really want to live your life as a fugitive, hiding in the shadows like a rat?"

The female sect disciple yelled in frustration.

"Guarding the Liang Kingdom’s borders and redeeming yourself—this is the sect's mercy, giving you a chance at rebirth!"

"Redeeming myself?"

Qi Feng smirked mockingly. Ignoring his injuries, he pushed his magical power to the limit, speeding up his escape.

He had read history books in the mortal world and learned that criminals sent to the frontlines were often used as cannon fodder, thrown into suicide missions. The sect forcing wanted criminals to fight in defense of the Liang Kingdom—how was that any different from the mortal dynasties?

Most importantly, he hadn’t committed any crime at all.

He had been wronged!

"I'm injured. With my current magical reserves, I won’t be able to run for long. If I run into other sect patrols..."

Flying over a hundred li, Qi Feng’s body ached, and his face grew grim.

Recalling the map of the Liang Kingdom in his mind, he desperately sought an escape route.

"Fox Valley... if I head northeast, there’s the Huanglong Immortal City. To the northwest is..."

Suddenly, a familiar location flashed in his memory, causing both relief and hesitation to appear on his face.

"Aunt Guan! Qi Feng is incompetent, I’m afraid I’ll have to go against your wishes."

Taking a deep breath, Qi Feng gritted his teeth and adjusted his flight path.

Aunt Guan had once warned him that unless it was a life-or-death situation, he must never go to that place.

If she ever passed away, only then could he take her ashes there for burial.

...

"Ha! That criminal's mana is depleting!"

An hour later, the two sect disciples had gradually closed the distance.

Just ahead loomed a mist-shrouded mountain range, teeming with spiritual energy.

Qi Feng, barely managing to control his flying weapon, wobbled as he plunged into the mist.

"Senior Brother Yue, that criminal has fled into Wuqi Mountain."

The female disciple hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Wuqi Mountain? That’s where the spiritual vein of our Jin Yun Valley lies! Get the cultivators on the mountain to assist us in arresting him. If they refuse..."

Senior Brother Yue stopped mid-sentence, suddenly considering something.

"Let’s go in first. We can handle this ourselves."

Senior Brother Yue, at the ninth layer of Qi-Refining, was the first to pierce through the fog and enter the mountain range.

Within Wuqi Mountain.

It wasn’t long before they spotted Qi Feng again. He was struggling, flying toward a relatively low, flat peak.

Suddenly!

Qi Feng seemed to hit an invisible wall of wind. His body stumbled, rolling down the mountainside.

Senior Brother Yue and his companion laughed, speeding up to capture their target.

Just as they approached within a hundred zhang...

Both sect disciples' expressions changed drastically, their flight interrupted by a powerful tremor.

"What is this..."

They sensed an overwhelming spiritual pressure emanating from the mountain peak, accompanied by turbulent waves of spiritual energy.

Under this immense pressure, they felt as insignificant as small boats in a storm, one wrong move away from being utterly destroyed.

"Foundation Establishment-level spiritual power! It seems they are at the final stage of breakthrough!"

"This pressure rivals that of Elder Dongmen! Could it be someone who’s just advanced to the late Foundation Establishment stage?"

The two sect disciples were filled with dread and hesitation, too afraid to approach any closer.

They feared disturbing the late stage great cultivator breakthrough.

These Fake Dan experts could even safely travel to neighboring countries.

...

After coming out of seclusion.

Lan Chang'an summoned Qi Feng to his cave.

"This junior, Qi Feng, pays respects to Grandfather Lan..."

Qi Feng’s sturdy figure, with his broad shoulders and thick waist, made him appear to be in his mid-thirties, though his actual age was over fifty.

At this moment, he resembled a clumsy bear cub as he knelt, prostrating himself on the ground.

Qi Feng was overwhelmed with shock. He could hardly believe that this young man, dressed in elegant white robes and appearing so youthful, was his 'half-ancestor.'

Lan Chang'an was the adopted son of Qi Jingyun. In terms of seniority, this made him Qi Feng’s non-blood-related great-grandfather.

"Stand."

After the customary bow, Qi Feng didn’t dare to sit. He repeatedly claimed that he had brought trouble upon Wuqi Mountain by being wanted by the sect.

"Tell me about your situation first."

Lan Chang'an smiled faintly, reserving judgment.

"Grandfather Lan, I’ve been wanted by the sect since a certain escort mission a few months ago..."

Qi Feng’s expression darkened as he recalled the events, his eyes filled with bitterness and resentment.

Over the past decade, Qi Feng had been cultivating around the markets controlled by the Jiang Family, one of the seven great families in the southwest of the Liang Kingdom.

His primary source of spirit stones came from two avenues.

First, he was skilled at processing materials for talisman crafting, making talisman paper and spirit ink.

This was a low-threshold skill passed down to him by Aunt Guan.

Qi Feng wasn’t as deft as Aunt Guan, so he didn’t earn much from processing materials alone.

Thus, he occasionally took on work as a "guard-for-hire," providing his second source of income.

This job had its risks but paid well.

As a guard, Qi Feng worked under legitimate escort organizations, mostly undertaking collective missions to provide protection and escort services.

"That escort mission to Liaoyuan Immortal City... all the merchants and the dozen or so guards were killed by rogue cultivators. Even the Foundation Establishment leader of the team perished!"

As he spoke, Qi Feng shuddered.

"You were the only survivor?"

Lan Chang'an looked at him thoughtfully.

"Yes." Qi Feng braced himself to answer.

"I survived thanks to a combination of luck and two main factors."

"First, I’m a martial arts grandmaster. From the mortal world to the cultivation world, I’ve been through countless battles, and I have ample experience in escaping. Second, Aunt Guan had given me life-saving talismans, which allowed me to narrowly escape death."

Lan Chang'an nodded, not pressing further.

He had already used his Fake Dan spiritual sense to scan Qi Feng earlier and found no obvious signs of extraordinary fortune or lucky encounters.

Qi Feng’s advantage lay mainly in his strong martial foundation and natural talent for combat.

In the cultivation world, fighting was also a form of talent.

Some cultivators were inherently better at combat than others, with sharper instincts and stronger adaptability in battle.

Qi Feng might just be one of those cultivators, naturally suited for the profession of an escort.

"So, you were suspected of colluding with rogue cultivators and became wanted by the sect?"

Lan Chang'an smiled.

"Yes! They didn’t care about evidence at all. They just put me on the sect’s wanted list, branding me a criminal."

Qi Feng clenched his teeth, deeply aggrieved.

"Do you have any evidence to clear your name?"

"Uh..."

Qi Feng hesitated, shaking his head.

Lan Chang'an found it amusing. In these troubled times, it wasn’t unreasonable for the sect to put someone like him on the wanted list.

In the cultivation world, there was no presumption of innocence.

After all, there are far too many ways to investigate suspected crimes.

...

At this very moment, the Liang Kingdom's borders were under siege by the Feng Kingdom, led by Golden Sun Sect’s army of cultivators.

In just one short year, the Liang Kingdom had transformed from an opportunistic invader a few years ago to the invaded party, now a weak cultivation nation.

No one could have predicted that after over twenty years of warfare, Feng Kingdom would suddenly engage in peace talks—and with unexpected ease.

The Nascent Soul realm True Monarchs of Feng Kingdom, Yan Kingdom, and Chen Kingdom had reached a secret agreement, even signing a fourth-rank soul blood pact.

The details of how and why this happened were unclear.

But the final result was that, while the broader power structure remained unchanged, the Golden Sun Sect was moving northward.

Of course, Feng Kingdom’s Golden Sun Sect branded this move as a "counter-attack in self-defense."

This was all information Lan Chang'an had gathered over the past year through his connections with Zheng Centipede and friends from other sects.

Golden Sun Sect had deployed only one Nascent Soul True Monarch for this campaign, while another remained to guard the sect.

Along with a massive force of affiliated cultivation factions, the Golden Sun Sect was steadily advancing toward the Liang Kingdom's borders.

In the small skirmishes along the frontlines, Liang Kingdom had suffered several defeats, losing one True Dan stage cultivator and four or five Fake Dan experts.

To resist the Feng Kingdom’s "counter-attack in self-defense," the frontlines in the Liang Kingdom were desperate for reinforcements. The sects were conscripting cultivators from every major immortal city, family, and business, with methods far harsher than in previous campaigns.

A few disobedient cultivation families had been severely punished.

One Foundation Establishment family that attempted to flee had been accused of colluding with the enemy and was completely eradicated.

Even Lan Chang'an’s Little Turtle Peak, though a loose cultivator’s cultivation site, was assigned a quota of talisman-making tasks each month. Fortunately, the sect provided the materials.

Essentially, it was free labor for the war effort.

However, Lan Changan's success rate in drawing talismans was very high. While other talisman masters struggled just to break even on their assigned quotas, Lan Chang'an could even make a small profit.

Given this backdrop of war...

Who would care about a loose cultivator like Qi Feng being wrongfully accused and wanted?

Liang Kingdom's sects would love nothing more than for more criminals like him to exist, so they could all be conscripted to fight on the frontlines.

(End of chapter)