Chapter 190 - 159: Successful Escape, Preparing to Leave the Floating City

Chapter 190: Chapter 159: Successful Escape, Preparing to Leave the Floating City

"The hanging ladder passage in Lingcui Heaven has been sealed. You have nowhere to run! Surrender now!"

Nangong Zhiqing sent a threat to Zhang Ji via Divine Thought.

But Zhang Ji completely ignored her.

He turned and fled without a second thought.

His body transformed into lightning. In an instant, he pushed his speed to the max, breaking one hundred and twenty times the speed of sound.

"CRACKLE~!"

An arc of electricity flashed through the void. With a flicker, Zhang Ji’s figure was almost out of Nangong Zhiqing’s Divine Thought detection range.

’So fast!’

Even Nangong Zhiqing was stunned by such incredible speed.

The next moment, Nangong Zhiqing raised a hand and unleashed her ultimate move.

A massive, three-legged, two-handled Bronze Cauldron gleaming with emerald spiritual light was summoned by her. The cauldron grew in the wind, instantly expanding into a colossal vessel tens of miles in diameter, bearing down to suppress Zhang Ji.

In that instant, the void around Zhang Ji solidified, forming a locked space. The more he flew, the closer he got to the cauldron.

’This is bad. I can’t escape like this.’

Zhang Ji made his decision. The next moment, electromagnetism surged around him as Primordial Qi flowed out as if it were free. At the same time, a layer of True Solar Flame enveloped his body.

"SWOOSH~!"

His speed continued to increase, reaching the verge of being uncontrollable.

As he kept accelerating, the cauldron drew ever closer.

Suddenly, Zhang Ji turned back.

In an instant, his figure flickered and he reversed course, heading toward the Shennong Cauldron and exiting his Half-Elementalization state.

Then, he threw a full-power punch at the Shennong Cauldron.

"BOOM~!"

"CLANG~!"

A resounding hum echoed throughout Lingcui Heaven.

The Shennong Cauldron trembled, its Spiritual Power Field thrown into disarray as it was slowly knocked backward.

More than half of Zhang Ji’s body instantly disintegrated, but guided by his Spirit particles and seared by the True Solar Flame, the flesh and blood returned to his frame, rapidly healing with the help of his Celestial Silkworm Origin.

He immediately transformed back into lightning. With a flash, he became a bolt of thunder racing into the distance.

Nangong Zhiqing was stunned by Zhang Ji’s attack. In her moment of hesitation, Zhang Ji had already reached the edge of the Xuanji Array of Ten Thousand Transformations.

Taiyi-Zero opened a gap for Zhang Ji, and he immediately escaped the Four-Quadrant Cosmos and headed for the outside world.

As the Xuanji Array of Ten Thousand Transformations was breached, the entire Floating City received an alert and immediately entered a state of high alert.

This scene unfolded right before Nangong Zhiqing’s eyes.

She halted her pursuit, her eyes filled with shock and uncertainty.

’No Spiritual Power fluctuations? A strike like that... comparable to a Divinity Transformation cultivator’s power... and he broke through the Xuanji Array of Ten Thousand Transformations so easily!!’

An unbelievable thought surfaced in her mind.

They had yet to venture into the outer domains, but someone from the outer domains had already arrived.

And judging by his actions, he seemed to have some knowledge about them.

’Their numbers are unknown, but I can be sure of his strength. This one, at least, is no weaker than an ordinary Divinity Transformation Stage cultivator.’

’But there’s no large-scale movement yet. It seems to be just a few cultivators who have come over, and I don’t know if they’re the top-tier ones...’

Nangong Zhiqing’s mind raced with possibilities. She felt the Celestial Dao Alliance had been too naive about the world beyond.

They thought the other side would wait for them to explore, and they assumed their side would most likely be stronger.

But the reality was that the Celestial Demons from the outer domains had come first, and judging by their strength, they might be even more powerful.

At this moment, a streak of light sped over from the distance, materializing into the figure of a woman in a white dress.

It was none other than Nangong Zhiqing’s older sister, Nangong Zhi Xian.

She looked even younger than Nangong Zhiqing, but that was only because she had taken a Youthful Appearance Pill at a younger age.

"Zhiqing, did you catch him?" Nangong Zhi Xian asked.

"He got away," Nangong Zhiqing said. "It was a coincidence. I was just about to come look for you when this happened."

"Got away? He managed to escape from you? What kind of thief is so powerful?" Nangong Zhi Xian asked, surprised.

"You don’t need to worry about it, Sister. Stay away from the factory for a while to avoid any trouble," Nangong Zhiqing said. "I have something to take care of. Be careful, Sister."

With that, Nangong Zhiqing transformed into a streak of light and departed.

She was in a hurry to relay the information to Dugu Yunfeng and the others and discuss a counter-strategy.

.....

.....

「Ten Thousand Birds Heaven.」

Yin Jiushu and Li Yi led members of the Celestial Sword Inspection Bureau to Zhang Ji in the general market.

"Sirs, this is Zhang Ji, the newly appointed Blood Master of the Ascetic Order. He’s the one supervising the Ascetic Order now," Li Yi said to the two law enforcement officers, looking at Zhang Ji.

"Hm?" One of the officers looked at Zhang Ji with a confused expression and asked, "Are you also a reporter?"

"Yes, Officers. Heavens have mercy, I’m just a lowly factory manager. Who knew two criminals from the Ascetic Order would sneak into my factory? I’ve been scared out of my wits lately," Zhang Ji said. "As soon as I knew they were there, I started gathering evidence of their crimes. Now, I’m handing it all over to you."

As he spoke, Zhang Ji also took out a jade slip and handed it to them.

Seeing this, both Yin Jiushu and Li Yi were stunned. They hadn’t expected Zhang Ji to turn the tables on them.

"And you? Do you have evidence?" one of the officers asked, looking at Li Yi and Yin Jiushu after reading Zhang Ji’s jade slip with his Divine Thought.

"Yes."

Although Yin Jiushu and her companion were caught off guard by Zhang Ji’s report, they still took out their own jade slip and handed it to the officer.

The officer took the jade slip, read it with his Divine Thought, and then his expression turned to shock. "It’s blank? Are you trying to fool us?"

"What? Blank?"

Yin Jiushu and Li Yi looked at Zhang Ji, only to see him wearing a meaningful smile.

"Run!"

Yin Jiushu and Li Yi reacted instantly, summoning their Spiritual Artifacts to try and escape.

However, just as their two streaks of light shot into the sky, each officer threw out a Spirit-Locking Ring.

The Spirit-Locking Rings were incredibly fast, catching up to the two in an instant and binding them.

In a flash, the Spiritual Power in their bodies was completely suppressed.

And just as their Spiritual Power was restricted, the expressions on Yin Jiushu’s and Li Yi’s faces changed.

"BOOM~! BOOM~!"

Two violent explosions erupted in the air. Spiritual light flared up on the surrounding buildings, shielding them from the aftershocks of the blast.

"They self-detonated their Golden Cores! They really are terrorists from the Ascetic Order!" one of the officers said, still shaken.

Zhang Ji also patted his chest and said, "That scared me to death. These Ascetic Order terrorists are so savage."

Suddenly, one of the officers’ expressions shifted slightly. He said to his partner, "Stop the investigation. We’ve got another job. There’s been a theft in Lingcui Heaven."

Hearing this, the other officer said to Zhang Ji, "You’re Zhang Ji, right? We’ve checked your identity information, and there are no major issues. Once we’ve verified the evidence you submitted and investigated your factory, you will be rewarded."

"As residents of the Floating City, it is our duty to assist the Celestial Dao Alliance in maintaining order and punishing criminals," Zhang Ji said righteously.

.....

Only after the shuttle departed did Zhang Ji’s expression finally relax.

Committing two major crimes back-to-back, then rushing back to manage the situation... he was truly exhausted.

He had almost run out of time.

But thankfully, Taiyi-Zero was reliable. He could move throughout the entire Floating City with almost no obstruction, which was how he’d managed to get back in time.

The criminal information on Li Yi and Yin Jiushu was provided by Taiyi-Zero.

It was all real, but with some parts redacted.

As for the criminal information Yin Jiushu and the others had collected, it was erased by Taiyi-Zero.

’Those two were clearly not smart enough.’

’Even if their report had been successful, they were doomed to die.’

’Yan Jiulin had placed a restriction in their bodies long ago.’

’The moment their Spiritual Power was restricted, or if Yan Jiulin simply had the thought, they would self-detonate.’

’From the very beginning, their lives were in someone else’s hands.’

’Once they started down this path, they had to see it through to the bitter end. There was no other choice.’

Taking the hanging ladder, Zhang Ji returned to True Origin Technologies in Duobao Heaven.

Three people left, but only one returned.

There was no good way to explain this.

Yan Jiulin seemed to have a premonition, as he found Zhang Ji the moment he returned.

"Brother, what on earth happened? Where are Fairy Yin and Daoist Friend Li Yi?" Yan Jiulin asked when he found Zhang Ji.

"They’re dead," Zhang Ji said grimly. "They betrayed the Ascetic Order. While being taken away by the Inspection Bureau for questioning, their Golden Cores suddenly self-detonated and they died..."

"What?" Yan Jiulin’s expression changed. "Ah, brother, why did you take them out of the factory at a time like this? Sigh~!"

"I just thought everyone was getting stir-crazy from being cooped up for so long. I wanted to go out and buy something nice to treat everyone," Zhang Ji said. "I never expected something like this to happen."

"Forget it. Brother, come with me."

Yan Jiulin led Zhang Ji deeper into the factory.

Before long, the two entered a folding cavern-abode.

As soon as he entered, Zhang Ji saw rows of Spirit-Suppressing Needles being produced, as well as the workers operating the machinery.

"What are these?" Zhang Ji asked, confused.

"Spirit-Suppressing Needles. A type of Spiritual Artifact that can destroy the core of a grand array," Yan Jiulin explained. "Brother, most of the Star Sand we went to get before has been used for these. A significant portion of it has already been moved to Yuyi Grotto-Heaven. This is just the last batch. It will be the key to shaking the Floating City to its core."

"Brother Yan, what do you mean by telling me all this now?" Zhang Ji asked.

"There have been rifts within the Ascetic Order for a long time. It wasn’t just Yin Jiushu and Li Yi; many others have grown suspicious of our goals. A considerable number of them have now contacted the Celestial Dao Alliance, turned traitor, and sold us out. True Origin Technologies is being watched around the clock. We’re already planning to cut them loose from the Ascetic Order and abandon this stronghold," Yan Jiulin said. "But you’re different, brother. You’re the only one who truly has the Ascetic Order’s cause at heart. That’s why I’m telling you this. Are you willing to continue pursuing our great cause with us?"

Hearing this, Zhang Ji thought, ’Just as I expected.’

’No wonder Yan Jiulin chose to go into seclusion at such a critical moment. It was to transfer supplies.’

’But he’s still trying to bring me along, not treating me as a disposable pawn. And to think I was just about to switch sides to the Celestial Dao Alliance for a new identity.’

"Of course, I am!" Zhang Ji said without hesitation.

"I knew I wasn’t wrong about you," Yan Jiulin said, clapping Zhang Ji on the shoulder. "Pack your things. We leave tonight. We’re getting out of the Floating City."