Chapter 574 - 520: Making a Getaway

Chapter 574: Chapter 520: Making a Getaway

Chixia.

As the year drew to a close, snow fell for thousands of miles.

The biting wind howled like a knife, lending a strangely grim air to the Central Island.

Late into the night, the True Understanding Pavilion remained brightly lit. But beyond the barrier array at its entrance, a clear view of the pavilion’s interior could be had.

The True Understanding Main Pavilion, renowned throughout the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World, seemed to have been utterly abandoned today.

The entire True Understanding Pavilion was desolate, devoid of any people or objects.

Then, at some unknown moment, the night sky flashed with light. Several figures appeared, suspended in the air. Terrifying auras surged from them, like a Great Sun blooming in the darkness, completely sealing off the True Understanding Main Pavilion.

Simultaneously, a large contingent of Chen Family Cultivators stormed the building, but they found nothing. Not a single Cultivator from the True Understanding Pavilion was anywhere to be seen.

"Pursue them!"

A Golden Core Cultivator in the night sky roared in anger, striking down with his palm. With that single blow, the True Understanding Main Pavilion—a fixture on Chixia Island for many years—collapsed with a deafening crash, sending clouds of dust and debris billowing into the air.

The sudden, violent affair ended as abruptly as it began.

Naturally, such a spectacle set the entire city abuzz with discussion.

For the vast majority of Cultivators in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World, the name of the illustrious Chu True Master and his renowned Pill and Artifact Dual Proficiency was legendary.

In the past, such an act would have inevitably sparked considerable conflict.

After all, Chixia was the hub of the Vast Sea, a place where the interests and influences of countless factions converged. Combined with Chu Mu’s fame and status, even the mighty Chen Family would have found it impossible to justify such an act without a legitimate reason.

However, in the current climate, the old saying "a just cause finds many supporters, while an unjust one finds few" was being put to the test.

Whether the Chen Family truly had the unjust cause was still up for debate. But out of pure self-interest, more than half of the countless powers in the Vast Sea Cultivation Immortal World, both large and small, that had once depended on the Chen Family, had decisively abandoned them. They all planned to take advantage of the chaos to seize a fortune for themselves.

Under these circumstances, Chixia, the hub of the Vast Sea, was no longer the complex web of influences it once was. It could even be said to be a place where the Chen Family’s word was now law.

So, while the city was filled with gossip, it was clear that it would remain just that: gossip.

Meanwhile, on a desolate, uninhabited island roughly five thousand li southwest of Chixia Island, a dozen or so Cultivators stood clustered around a woman in red.

No one spoke, as if they were all waiting for something.

After only a few breaths, several streaks of Tunneling Light shot across the sky and landed on the island. At their arrival, the group sprang into action.

Led by Chang Hongyi, the group arrived at the base of a cliff on the island’s northern face. Chang Hongyi produced a Command Token and performed a Technique, and the seemingly ordinary cliff face suddenly rippled.

Then, with the grinding sound of a worldly mechanism, the massive rocks shifted. A passage, about half a zhang wide and a zhang high, appeared before them.

The group filed in, following the passage deep into the mountain’s core. They emerged into a spacious cavern where a tall altar stood. A small Teleportation Array was situated atop it.

With flashes of spatial fluctuation, the dozen or so Foundation Establishment Cultivators gathered in the cavern vanished one by one without a trace.

After the final glimmer of teleportation light faded, the Array Patterns on the altar suddenly dimmed. The faint, lingering glow and the spatial fluctuations vanished completely.

Just moments later, an earth-shattering explosion rocked the island. The ground quaked violently as the towering, desolate mountain collapsed, exposing the cave hidden within its core to the night sky.

High in the sky, several Golden Core Cultivators stood watch. Upon seeing the now-darkened Teleportation Array, they exchanged a glance and then departed one by one...

...

「Southwest of Bazhou City, at Yuning Mountain.」

The mountain stretched out in a series of gentle slopes, covered mostly in common, non-magical trees.

It was an utterly unremarkable mountain; if not for its proximity to Bazhou City, it probably wouldn’t even have a name.

At this moment, at the foot of Yuning Mountain, Chu Mu came to an abrupt halt. He gazed at the unremarkable, mundane mountain, his expression growing heavy.

Thanks to Wangcai’s Bloodline Divine Techniques, he was already perfectly aware of the specific measures the Chen Family had deployed to prevent his escape.

A Golden Core Cultivator was stationed on this very mountain. If things were as expected, there should also be a dozen or so Foundation Establishment Cultivators scattered strategically around the area.

In fact, all around Bazhou City, a Golden Core Cultivator leading at least a dozen Foundation Establishment Cultivators was stationed every hundred li or so.

Combined with the Chen Family’s surveillance system and the Cultivators’ own Divine Sense, this star-like distribution formed an airtight defensive cordon around the entirety of Bazhou City.

It was a simple, crude, and yet extremely effective strategy.

After all, the Divine Sense of a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator typically had a range of over a thousand meters.

And that was just a thousand-meter radius around the Cultivator. If a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator focused their Divine Sense in a single direction, they could easily extend their detection range to several thousand meters.

With a dozen or so Golden Core Cultivators and at least one to two hundred at the Foundation Establishment Realm, the coverage from their Divine Sense alone was enough to encircle Bazhou City several times over.

Given the miraculous ability of a Cultivator’s Divine Sense to perceive the finest details, coupled with the Chen Family’s surveillance system, the resulting dragnet was practically seamless.

After all, no matter how perfect one’s disguise, it would be impossible to avoid leaving some trace under such a relentless, all-encompassing siege.