Chapter 639: Ambush

Just now, it felt like someone was watching her from behind.

As a Qi Sea Realm cultivator, He Qingling's perception was no different from that of cultivators in the Lower Three Realms.

Only by cultivating to the Passable God Realm would a cultivator's spiritual sense undergo a dramatic improvement.

At that point, one's entire perception and understanding of the world would reach an entirely new level.

The current He Qingling merely possessed reaction speed, vision, and hearing that far surpassed cultivators in the Lower Three Realms.

As for why she suddenly felt like someone was watching her from behind...

She had no idea.

Perhaps it was simply a sudden illusion.

However, He Qingling didn't pay the "illusion" any mind. After all, she was now a cultivator at the late stage of the Qi Sea Realm.

In the vicinity of the Yunci Dynasty, aside from the Xuan Sheng Sect, there were no cultivation sects that could truly be considered respectable.

The three major cultivation sects situated within the borders of the Yunci Dynasty all had sect masters who were Qi Sea Realm cultivators.

Among them, the carriage-and-horse shop outside Yun Capital was the property of one of the three major cultivation sects within the dynasty.

Given He Qingling's current cultivation base and status, if the sect masters of these three major sects were to see her, they would indeed have to respectfully address her as "Elder He."

In other words, He Qingling could essentially do whatever she pleased within the borders of the Yunci Dynasty.

Even if someone really was watching her, so what?

This was the innocence and arrogance of a prodigy who had achieved fame at a young age and was extremely confident in her own strength.

Three li.

That was the distance between Yun Capital and the carriage-and-horse shop outside the city.

A distance of three li—if flying through the air, He Qingling, as a Qi Sea Realm cultivator, would only need about ten breaths to arrive.

But now, burdened with thoughts weighing on her mind, she had walked the entire distance, taking the time of one full stick of incense.

Finally arriving at the carriage-and-horse shop, He Qingling first glanced toward the stables at the side.

Six spirit horses were tethered there, leisurely munching on grass.

So quiet.

Normally, when she walked up to this place, the shop's waiter would have long since come out to greet her.

Suddenly, He Qingling furrowed her brows again and whipped her head around.

Still nothing there.

Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching her.

No matter how innocent she was, under these circumstances, she would inevitably become alert.

So He Qingling's hand gave a slight tremor in the air. A sword cry rang out, and a green long sword materialized in her hand.

This sword was a gift from her Grandmaster when she had decided to take up swordsmanship—a top-grade spiritual artifact by the name of Bamboo Leaf.

She walked toward the courtyard of the horse shop. As He Qingling pushed open the courtyard gate, accompanied by the creaking of the door hinges, an extremely faint sound drifted from within the courtyard—like the collision of a sword meeting its scabbard.

This made He Qingling even more vigilant. She placed her hand on the hilt of the green long sword.

The courtyard gate slowly swung open.

What came into He Qingling's view was freshly flowing blood, a corpse clad in black martial attire, and a fox mask that had been cleaved in two, scattered across the ground.

Shifting her gaze upward, a middle-aged man in light gray daoist robes with graying temples stood there, looking down at the corpse, seemingly lost in thought.

Two long swords hung at his left waist—one black, one white—highly conspicuous.

He Qingling's gaze swept over the swords at the waist of the middle-aged man in light gray daoist robes, then she asked:

"Who are you?"

Only then did the middle-aged man in light gray daoist robes finally turn his head to look at He Qingling, who stood at the courtyard gate.

He didn't answer immediately. Instead, he unhurriedly reached into his robes and produced a greenish-white jade token.

"I'm from Du Cang Mountain. By order of the True Person, I've been sent to escort you back to Du Cang Mountain."

The middle-aged man spoke slowly, then his gaze dropped back to the corpse at his feet, whose blood had yet to congeal. He lifted the tip of his foot and gave it a light kick:

"As for this man, all you need to know is that he came to kill you."

He Qingling looked at the greenish-white jade token in the middle-aged man's hand.

It was indeed a Du Cang Mountain token, and there was absolutely no possibility of forgery.

Because Du Cang Mountain tokens were forged from fragments of immortal artifacts personally refined by Immortal Ascension Realm cultivators in the past.

He Qingling recognized the lingering resonance of the immortal path lingering around the token.

"Someone wants to kill me?"

Immediately after, He Qingling once again posed her question to the middle-aged man before her.

"That's right, and you're not the only one they're targeting."

The middle-aged man nodded:

"Liang Qianbo of Wind Ravine Valley, one of the 'Three Heroes of Spirit Connection' on Du Cang Mountain, was ambushed and killed aboard the ferry traveling from Wind Ravine Valley back to Du Cang Mountain."

Hearing this, He Qingling's pupils contracted, as if she completely couldn't believe what the middle-aged man had just said.

Liang Qianbo was dead, and murdered at that?

She knew that Liang Qianbo was one of the current "Three Heroes of Spirit Connection" on Du Cang Mountain. Across the entire Chenping Continent, there were hardly any Passable God Realm cultivators who could match him.

If a Passable God Realm cultivator of that caliber could be killed, then it basically meant only one thing—

The person who did it had a cultivation base of at least the Myriad Transformations Realm or above.

But who, exactly?

Who had the audacity to strike at an elder of Wind Ravine Valley, a Dao Inquirer of Du Cang Mountain?

Moreover, if everything this middle-aged man said was true, then it meant the target wasn't Liang Qianbo as an individual.

It was Du Cang Mountain itself.

The moment this thought surfaced in He Qingling's mind, she could only feel it was absurd.

This was Du Cang Mountain!

The sacred ground of cultivation on Chenping Continent, personally established by Chen Yan, the steward of Chenping Continent and an Immortal Ascension Realm great power, True Person Du Cang!

If it were some ignorant Lower Three Realms cultivators who didn't understand the cultivation world of Chenping Continent, having wicked designs on Du Cang Mountain, He Qingling could still understand that.

But Myriad Transformations Realm cultivators and above?

She knew that in the cultivation world of Chenping Continent, a Myriad Transformations Realm cultivator could absolutely be called a towering figure.

After all, those Upper Three Realm greats were basically old monsters who rarely showed themselves.

Cultivators at the Passable God Realm and above absolutely understood the rules that maintained the operation of the cultivation world on Chenping Continent and that everyone adhered to.

They would also definitely know very well what it meant to make a move against a Guardian of the Dao on Du Cang Mountain.

Yet somehow, someone had actually done it.

Why?

Was there some real backing behind this, or was it...

"It's time to head back to the mountain, to avoid trouble arising from delays."

The words of the middle-aged man in light gray daoist robes with slightly graying temples interrupted He Qingling's thoughts. He then stepped over the corpse at his feet and walked out of the courtyard gate of the carriage-and-horse shop.