Chapter 572 - 518: A Plan to Break the Deadlock

Chapter 572: Chapter 518: A Plan to Break the Deadlock

A crimson saber light streaked low across the sky, almost as if it were plummeting, before disappearing into the mountain range. Chu Mu landed in a wretched state, his green robes stained with blood and his aura in clear disarray.

Wangcai vigilantly scanned their surroundings, letting out a low growl as it tried to identify any nearby threats.

Chu Mu’s face was pale. He raised his hand and formed a seal, sending several Cyan Bird Puppets carrying a wisp of his Divine Soul Aura into the forest. Immediately after, he flicked out a Technique that landed on the cliff face. He then took a step forward, leading Wangcai into the rock wall and vanishing from sight.

Before long, several streaks of Tunneling Light appeared, hovering in the sky. They then descended one by one into the mountain range. Some pursued the direction the Cyan Bird Puppets had taken, while others began to search the immediate area.

Just a moment later, more streaks of Tunneling Light arrived from all directions, and the once-peaceful mountain range was instantly filled with a clamorous uproar.

Deep within the mountain, Chu Mu tunneled onward. At some point, he came to an abrupt halt. With a flash of his saber, several brilliant slashes of light descended, followed by splatters of blood.

The lifeless corpses, no longer protected by any Magic Technique, were instantly crushed by the surrounding earth and completely buried within the mountain.

Chu Mu’s expression remained calm. Without even a second glance, his figure flickered and disappeared from that section of the mountain.

The Chen Family’s Heaven and Earth Net was simple and brutish.

It consisted mainly of blanket surveillance, followed by a dragnet-style search.

They only needed to lock down his general location. Then, a Heaven and Earth Net would descend, with Golden Core Cultivators taking charge while the Low Tier Cultivators from the Chen Family and Overlord Saber Alliance conducted the search.

Against such a dragnet search, any methods of evasion and concealment he had were of little use.

The moment a single trace of him was discovered, it led to his current predicament. They clung to him like maggots to a bone, and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t shake their pursuit.

’Southwest, Northwest, Southeast, due North...’

Under the effect of his Spiritual Radiance Blessing, Chu Mu’s expression was calm. As he tunneled on, a clear picture had already formed in his mind.

After several days of twists and turns, he had gotten a rough understanding of both the surveillance system that covered most of the Bazhou Basin and the Cultivators hunting him.

The surveillance system wasn’t unbreakable.

What was unbreakable was the pursuit by the Cultivators from the Chen Family and the Overlord Saber Alliance.

With the surveillance system in place, their relentless pursuit, like maggots on a bone, had trapped him in a complete and utter vicious cycle.

The more he fled, the more traces he left behind. This, in turn, further restricted his movements and allowed them to pinpoint his location with even greater accuracy.

From the moment his trail was first discovered, he had been caught in an irreversible, vicious cycle.

’And to break this vicious cycle...’

As this thought crossed his mind, Chu Mu’s speeding form came to a sudden halt. He looked toward Bazhou City.

’To break this vicious cycle, it seems my only option is... Bazhou City.’

After all, in the entire Bazhou Basin, Bazhou City was the only place where order had completely broken down for the Chen Family.

Moreover, the Nascent Soul Battle within Bazhou City wasn’t over. In fact, it was growing even more intense. Having spent days running in circles around the Bazhou Basin, he was keenly aware that the Spiritual Qi fluctuations from the battle could be felt for thousands of miles.

Amidst a Nascent Soul Battle, the Chen Family could neither replicate the Heaven and Earth Net they had outside nor maintain the same level of control over the city’s affairs as before.

If he could just get into Bazhou City, he would temporarily escape the Heaven and Earth Net’s surveillance. Furthermore, with a Nascent Soul Battle raging, the Cultivators hunting him would never dare to follow so closely and latch onto him.

The vicious cycle would inevitably be broken.

Then, when he found an opportunity to leave the city, his knowledge of the Chen Family’s surveillance system would be a great asset. Even if he couldn’t slip away completely undetected, he could still get a massive head start.

By the time the Chen Family reacted, it would be too late for them to weave another net he couldn’t escape.

After all, with him being repeatedly tracked and cornered, the vast majority of the Chen Family’s forces in the Bazhou Basin had already converged on his current location.

’But the problem is, how do I get in and out of Bazhou City without being detected by those Chen Family Nascent Soul Ancestors?’

’Besides, I have no idea what the situation is like inside Bazhou City. If things are not in my favor, I’d just be serving myself up on a platter...’

’I can’t drag this out any longer!’

Chu Mu gritted his teeth, a ruthless look crossing his face.

’If this pursuit continues, I’ll be worn down to death, even if the Chen Family sends no more reinforcements!’

With a wave of his sleeve, he dispatched several more Cyan Bird Puppets. Carrying his Divine Soul Aura, they burrowed into the earth and shot off in various directions.

At the same time, he patted Wangcai on the head, transferring the aura signatures of the six Chen Family Nascent Souls he had previously observed in the city into Wangcai’s Sea of Consciousness.

Wangcai whimpered twice, as if in response.

Chu Mu then abruptly changed direction. After descending several thousand meters underground, he still didn’t head straight for Bazhou City.

Instead, he continued to move as before, seemingly scrambling about randomly as if he were being cornered and cut off. He kept up this frantic charade until Bazhou City finally came into view. Only then did Chu Mu drop the pretense.

Using Wangcai’s tracking Bloodline Divine Techniques to roughly pinpoint the locations of the Chen Family’s Nascent Soul experts within the city, he finally made a beeline for Bazhou City.

By now, how could the encircling Chen Family Cultivators fail to notice his intentions? A flurry of voice transmissions instantly crisscrossed the area.

If one were to look down from the sky at that moment, they would have seen a swift change. After Chu Mu dropped his pretense and began fleeing toward Bazhou City, it took only a few breaths for the pursuing Chen Family Cultivators to react. The forces that had converged on him from all directions began to disperse in an orderly fashion, taking up new positions outside Bazhou City.

Meanwhile, the Nascent Soul Battle in Bazhou City was at its fiercest. More than a dozen Nascent Soul experts had been locked in mortal combat for days, and now, not a single intact building remained in the entire city.

Even the areas outside Bazhou City were devastated in every direction. Mountains had crumbled, rivers had been severed, and the plains were pockmarked with giant craters. Turbulent Spiritual Qi, thick with the stench of soaring Blood Qi, filled every inch of the sky and land.

If an ordinary Low Tier Cultivator were to enter this area, they would face immense danger. Even if they could resist the mental corrosion from the Blood Qi, the chaotic, explosive Spiritual Qi was another threat entirely. Unless they completely sealed their Essence, Qi, and Spirit, the slightest carelessness could cause the turbulent ambient Spiritual Qi to trigger their own Magical Power, causing it to run rampant until their bodies exploded.

Chu Mu concealed himself near the edge of the city. As he took a moment to sense the chaotic environment, the faint panic in his heart began to subside.

After all, the chaotic, explosive Spiritual Qi and the pervasive Blood Qi created a unique environment—practically a natural Forbidden God Domain. In a place like this, the effectiveness of one’s Divine Sense would be drastically suppressed.

’Even a Nascent Soul Great Power couldn’t possibly maintain perfect, detailed control over the entire city in an environment like this...’

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