Chapter 573 - 519: Entering and Exiting the City

Chapter 573: Chapter 519: Entering and Exiting the City

Chu Mu glanced at the cataclysmic battle raging in the sky, then gathered his thoughts and calmed himself.

In a battle of this magnitude, even if one of the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls wanted to pay him any mind, it was unlikely they could spare the energy.

The battle had raged for days with no clear victor, which meant the two sides were evenly matched.

In a life-or-death struggle between equals, the slightest distraction could be fatal.

Furthermore, with the chaotic Spiritual Qi and the sky thick with Blood Qi, it would be difficult to detect his presence unless someone was actively searching for him.

As his thoughts raced, he slowly concealed his presence. He activated the Illusion God Mask, suppressing his aura to the absolute minimum, and only then did he cautiously head into the city.

At that moment, several Chen Family Golden Core Cultivators behind him followed him into the city without the slightest hesitation.

However, unlike their relentless pursuit outside the walls, they were now forced to be far more cautious.

After all, the Nascent Soul Battle above Bazhou City was far from over.

For any Cultivator below the Nascent Soul Realm, every single move—even the slightest ripple of an aftershock—was a potentially fatal threat.

Chu Mu moved cautiously, as did the handful of Chen Family Cultivators who had followed him into the city.

Outside, once Chu Mu had entered, the gathered Chen Family Cultivators, led by their Golden Core True Masters, fanned out to surround Bazhou City and cut off any escape.

Inside the city, however, Chu Mu moved with a familiarity the Chen Family’s Golden Core Cultivators lacked. Out of his usual caution, he had memorized the entire layout of Bazhou City upon his first arrival.

Even though the city was now in ruins, the basic layout remained. He moved as if on a familiar path, darting and weaving through the rubble with hurried steps.

He knew, of course, that from the moment he entered the city, it was a race against time with the Chen Family.

He had to shake off the tails behind him and escape the city before the Chen Family could fully re-establish their perimeter outside.

Otherwise, his gamble of entering the city would have been a complete waste of time, utterly meaningless!

As he rushed along, Chu Mu would occasionally form a hand seal, causing a few Array Flags to fall and form an Array within the city, or he would toss out an experimental Puppet he’d built in his spare time to hide amongst the ruins.

Being in this city, within this special "Forbidden God" environment, Chu Mu felt an unexpected sense of being in his element, like a fish in water.

This unique environment, created by a fortunate coincidence, seemed to be... a perfect fit for him.

And with his mastery of Array Puppets, this chaotic Spiritual Qi environment was the perfect natural camouflage for his Array Prohibition Puppets.

After all, the threat of the ongoing Nascent Soul Battle guaranteed that any Cultivator within the city would have to be extremely cautious and would never dare to act recklessly.

The chaotic Spiritual Qi and overwhelming Blood Qi also ensured that a Cultivator’s Divine Sense would be severely restricted.

’With these two factors combined, could I... turn the tables on them in this city?’

The idea was tempting to Chu Mu. Right or wrong, factions aside, he’d been hunted like a rabbit for days. Even a saint has a breaking point, to say nothing of him.

’And he was no saint!’

But the impulse lasted only a moment before reason took over and suppressed it.

’Killing them would be easy, but if I start a Battle in the city, it would draw the attention of the Chen Family’s Nascent Souls...’

’When he’d escaped the city before, even a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator from the Qing Cang Ancient Race had shamelessly attacked him. If it happened again, he didn’t have a second Corpse Puppet to use as a shield.’

Chu Mu glanced back at the sprawling ruins, the cold light in his eyes slowly fading. He leaped up and began weaving through the wreckage once more, constantly deploying his tools as he went. The fruits of his many years of research and experimentation on Array Puppets poured from his Storage Space like water.

Everywhere he passed became littered with hidden dangers. In just a few moments, the feeling of being watched from within the ruins vanished completely.

The moment he sensed the change, Chu Mu didn’t hesitate. He immediately reversed course, heading back the way he came.

This time, his path was incredibly smooth. Without any obstruction, the collapsed city wall came back into view.

Chu Mu patted Wangcai, who was beside him, giving a slight signal.

During the days of pursuit and evasion, he hadn’t just been learning the Chen Family’s methods; he had also been keeping records of nearly every Cultivator hunting him.

Before, these records might not have been very useful.

He was the type to repay every grievance, but it was unlikely he would go out of his way to seek revenge after this was all over.

An endeavor where the risks outweighed the rewards was meaningless.

But now, thanks to Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Techniques, those records were incredibly useful.

With the wondrous tracking ability of Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Techniques, having detailed records of these Cultivators meant he could pinpoint their exact locations.

His ability to escape their encirclement time and time again over the past few days was almost entirely thanks to Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Techniques.

Without Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Techniques, he would have been forced into one bitter fight after another. Even if he had managed to escape, his eventual capture would have been inevitable.

At that moment, a faint bloodline fluctuation pulsed. Wangcai raised its head and let out a low growl. Chu Mu looked from one spot to another, cross-referencing everything with the map in his head. A rough picture of the Chen Family’s deployment against him began to form in his mind.

Every location with a Chen Family Golden Core Cultivator undoubtedly had a large contingent of Low Tier Cultivators stationed there as well.

It was this inescapable net of cannon fodder, combined with the Chen Family’s surveillance network that covered more than half of Bazhou, that had made it nearly impossible for him to make a move.

Although he could slaughter vast numbers of Low Tier Cultivators with a single thought, the moment he did so, the Chen Family would instantly lock onto his position.

Now, Chu Mu took up a brush. On a sheet of Spirit Paper, he began to sketch out a rough deployment map based on the information Wangcai had gleaned, encircling the whole of Bazhou City.

’About eighty percent...’

Chu Mu mused, cross-referencing the locations with the names he had recorded.

Over the past few days, he had personally identified more than a dozen Chen Family Golden Core Cultivators involved in the hunt.

Now, on this rough map, there were already more than ten Golden Core Cultivators deployed around Bazhou City.

The remaining few Chen Family Golden Core Cultivators formed another defensive ring even farther out.

And as for Qing Ling, the one leading this hunt...

Chu Mu stared at the northernmost point of the sketch. The dot representing Qing Ling was clear. According to Wangcai’s reconnaissance, she was accompanied by two other Chen Family Golden Core Cultivators.

’Does she think I’ll try to leave the Vast Sea?’

Chu Mu chuckled.

To the north, at the edge of the Bazhou Basin, lay the vast Chu River. Crossing it would lead directly into the territory of Great Chu.

Less than three thousand miles north of there was Henei City, a city under the Longevity Sect’s jurisdiction. As far as he knew, Henei City had a long-distance transmission array belonging to the Northern Border Longevity Sect.

Given his status as the Ninth True Inheritor of Longevity and his current predicament, escaping the Vast Sea by heading in that direction seemed like the only logical choice.

Having so thoroughly offended the Chen Family, there was clearly no place left for him in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World.

The problem was, for now at least, he had no plans to flee the Vast Sea...

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