A fiery red Escape Light swept past the mountain foot, speeding rapidly towards the cluster of buildings of the Immortal Palace.
On a solitary peak, Lady Miaoying suddenly turned her head, looking at that Escape Light in surprise. "Which Fellow Daoist is this, actually flying like this within the Immortal Palace? Aren't they afraid of triggering some strange restriction?"
Traveling with her was a gaunt old man dressed in tattered Daoist robes—Daoist Guo of the Pufa Sect. The Jingxu Sect and Pufa Sect could only be considered medium-sized among the major powers. Apart from their two late-stage Nascent Soul Supreme Elders holding up appearances, the strength of their other Nascent Soul cultivators was average. When entering the Immortal Palace, the other cultivators from both sects were left outside, leaving only the two of them temporarily traveling together.
Daoist Guo stroked the goatee on his chin and immediately spotted the black demonic qi behind the red Escape Light. He exclaimed in shock, "Junior Sister Miaoying, look!"
"A demonic creature!" The two exchanged a glance, their expressions turning strange.
Given the scene before them, the cultivator in the red Escape Light was undoubtedly being pursued by that demonic qi. The question was, what exactly was this demonic qi? The two of them had traveled quite smoothly so far and hadn't encountered any Corpse Puppets.
Before long, they had their answer.
The red Escape Light fled extremely fast. The demonic qi gradually couldn't keep up, but midway, it detected their auras. It paused, changed direction, and flew towards them.
Realizing this, Lady Miaoying was startled. "Senior Brother Guo, look!"
The next moment, that surging aura almost shot into the sky. Daoist Guo's face turned even uglier. With a flick of his horsetail whisk, clouds formed beneath his feet as he prepared to flee. "Run! God Transformation Stage!"
"But..." Lady Miaoying looked rather regretfully at the Ancient Cultivator's cave abode they had only half-broken into. If they could breach this cave abode, they would surely obtain an astonishing Opportunity.
But she was no fool. Sensing the Corpse Puppet's imposing aura, she gritted her teeth and immediately transformed into an Escape Light, chasing after Daoist Guo.
No amount of Opportunity was as important as one's life!
After fleeing the Bitter Cultivation Cliff, flying past the peaks brimming with spiritual energy, and finally entering the building cluster of the Immortal Palace without sensing any further aura, Qin Xi paused his steps, temporarily retracting his flying cloud and landing in a courtyard garden.
"It didn't follow?" Mo Tiange, her heart still pounding, turned to look back. But with her spiritual sense restricted here, how far could her vision reach? Naturally, she saw nothing.
Qin Xi wiped the cold sweat from his face. "It went after someone else. Let's rest for a moment." During the escape just now, he had held almost nothing back, even using his essence blood to drive his True Essence. Flying so recklessly, he could only forcefully resolve any restrictions he encountered. Now, his spiritual energy was running low.
"Went after someone else?" Mo Tiange was momentarily stunned. Her cultivation was lower, and her spiritual sense was more restricted. Throughout the entire journey, she hadn't detected anyone else at all.
Qin Xi swallowed a handful of Spirit-Restoring Pills. "I sensed people ahead, so I deliberately flew near them. That Corpse Puppet indeed couldn't tell the difference and went after those two."
"..." Mo Tiange shot him a glance but said nothing.
Seeing her expression, Qin Xi smiled. "What do you want to say?"
Mo Tiange frowned but couldn't help smiling as well. "I really didn't know you could be so cunning."
"Hah!" Qin Xi's face wore a smile, but his eyes were faint, not taking it seriously. "Isn't this perfectly normal? Diverting the calamity to the east is how we escaped. I'm no saint."
Mo Tiange nodded, feeling no resistance in her heart. If it were her, she would probably make the same choice.
"Alright, let's not waste time. We need to recover our spiritual energy quickly." Having said this, Qin Xi sat cross-legged on the spot and began to meditate.
Mo Tiange had been carried along the entire way and hadn't expended much spiritual energy. But in this situation, the better prepared they were, the better. She also sat down cross-legged, meditating while considering their next move.
The appearance of a God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet in this Immortal Palace immediately made the treasure-hunting journey perilous for the cultivators who had entered.
The higher the cultivation realm, the greater the gap between two consecutive stages. The difference between the God Transformation Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage was absolutely worlds apart, even between early God Transformation and perfected Nascent Soul. This God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet was formed naturally by chance. Though it had no consciousness, it likely retained the combat habits of its original body. How could the divine abilities of a God Transformation Stage cultivator from this ancient great sect be matched by cultivators from their own, already-declined cultivation world over a hundred thousand years later? Therefore, if caught by this God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet, no matter how powerful a Nascent Soul cultivator was, death was the only outcome.
But since it was a Corpse Puppet, clumsy movement was its weakness. If one detected it early and hid, there would be no life-threatening danger. The problem was, with such a God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet roaming about, all the Nascent Soul cultivators would feel uneasy while treasure hunting.
"Master?" After pondering for a moment, Mo Tiange softly called out to Fuyaozi.
But for a good while, Fuyaozi showed no response. If she couldn't still sense the presence of his divine sense on the Fusheng Sword, she would almost think he had already dissipated. Remembering that Fuyaozi had mentioned his divine sense was weakening, Mo Tiange guessed he might be resting?
She couldn't help but sigh. In that case, they could only figure things out themselves.
She wasn't very keen on the other treasures within the Immortal Palace. Originally, their goal was the top-grade spirit treasures stored in the treasury. Now that a God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet was roaming the Immortal Palace, there was even less reason to stay outside.
The treasury had an illusion formation. A Corpse Puppet, when it came down to it, was just a stupid object that absolutely couldn't see through the illusion formation—the treasury was a safe place. But another problem arose: although she knew the weakness of the illusion formation, she and Qin Xi alone weren't enough to break it.
When they opened the treasury, the time agreed upon with Perfected One Yuanmu and the others was one day. Only half a day had passed now. Were they supposed to hide for half a day?
While Mo Tiange was contemplating, the Immortal Palace had descended into chaos because of this God Transformation Stage Corpse Puppet.
Seeing Daoist Guo and Lady Miaoying flying towards him at an unmatched speed, Venerable Xuxiang's loud voice rang out: "Ah, Fellow Daoists, where are you off to in such a hurry?"
Venerable Xuxiang's interpersonal skills were truly lacking. After entering the Immortal Palace, no one was willing to cooperate with him, so he could only wander around the palace alone, searching for Opportunities. His luck was fairly good; he had found several remains of Ancient Cultivators and obtained a few Qiankun Bags. However, these Ancient Cultivators' cultivation wasn't very high. Although there were several rare treasures in the Qiankun Bags, there was nothing related to the God Transformation Stage at all. Having been stuck at the late Nascent Soul Stage for so many years, apart from Opportunities related to God Transformation, nothing else really caught his eye.
He had also discovered the Ancient Cultivator cave abodes located on separate peaks, which were clearly of a much higher grade. Unfortunately, Perfected One Yuanmu and his crew, relying on their numbers, had snatched them again. Though he was loud and boisterous, as a late-stage Nascent Soul great cultivator, how could he be a fool? He was alone and simply couldn't compete with the Jiuyan Sect. He could only—endure it.
But without clear information or cooperative companions, apart from hoping for luck, he had no other choice. So he just wandered around the Immortal Palace, hoping to find the medicinal garden of this ancient great sect, or stumble upon a hidden Ancient Cultivator cave abode and pick up one or two items related to God Transformation.
While wandering like this, he suddenly saw two Escape Lights speeding towards him from ahead. There were only eleven late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in Yunzhong. These people were both competitors and kindred spirits who appreciated each other's talents. After hundreds, even thousands of years, they knew each other very well. With just a glance, he recognized them as Lady Miaoying and Daoist Guo.
Seeing the two of them, Venerable Xuxiang felt a surge of joy. Although these two weren't particularly close to him either, they were much better than those old fogies like Perfected One Yuanmu or Demon Lord Guifang. Lady Miaoying was famously good with people, smiling at everyone, and her relationship with him was passable. Daoist Guo was a turtle-like character, an old nice guy. Surely they wouldn't mind adding one more person? If he had these two as companions, he could really show his skills. Besides, Old Man Guo cultivated the Diamond Body-Refining Art, and Lady Miaoying's strengths didn't lie in attack. His own Tiger-Subduing Art was renowned for its ferocity, perfectly compensating for their weaknesses. They shouldn't have any objections.
Holding this thought, Venerable Xuxiang loudly called out to them: "Hey, hey, I'm talking to you! Why run so fast? This Buddha won't eat you!"
"Fellow Daoist Xuxiang, who are you calling 'Buddha'?" Hearing this, the two Escape Lights halted. Lady Miaoying smiled and glanced at Venerable Xuxiang, a hint of killing intent hidden beneath her usually dignified and amiable face.
"Uh..." Venerable Xuxiang had misspoken. Feeling both annoyed and playful, he grinned cheekily. "Junior Sister Miaoying, this old monk has always been like this, can't keep his mouth shut. I didn't mean it for you specifically, please don't take it to heart."
"If not for Junior Sister Miaoying, then it must be for this old Daoist?" Daoist Guo flicked his horsetail whisk, half-opening his eyes to glance at Venerable Xuxiang.
Venerable Xuxiang blinked his large, bell-like eyes, pretending innocence. "Old Man Guo, I just couldn't help it, okay? You're not that petty, are you?"
Daoist Guo lifted an eyelid and ignored him. Even though he was an old nice guy, he had little patience for this Venerable Xuxiang.
Venerable Xuxiang, needing their help, couldn't be bothered to argue. He fawned, asking, "Junior Sister Miaoying, Old Man Guo, what are you up to? In such a hurry, did you discover some Opportunity?"
Lady Miaoying glanced at him, a half-smile playing on her lips. "Fellow Daoist Xuxiang, this Opportunity... doesn't seem like something to discuss casually, does it?" If they discovered an Opportunity, why would they tell just anyone?
"Tell me, tell me!" Venerable Xuxiang was anxious. He had been wandering for over a day and still hadn't found any leads on Opportunities! "Straight talk between honest people. You two aren't skilled in attack. I can perfectly make up for your shortcomings. If you take me along and there's an Opportunity, I'm willing to let you choose first."
Lady Miaoying and Daoist Guo exchanged a glance, as if discussing.
Turning back and seeing Venerable Xuxiang staring at them eagerly, Lady Miaoying smiled. "Fellow Daoist Xuxiang, taking you along isn't impossible. But just now you said if there's an Opportunity, we choose first, right?"
"Of course, of course." Venerable Xuxiang nodded repeatedly.
"Good. We did indeed discover an Opportunity, not far ahead. You wait here first. After we go confirm it, we'll send a message for you to come over. How about that?"
"This... you're not fooling me, are you?"
"If you don't believe us, then forget it." Lady Miaoying made as if to leave.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Venerable Xuxiang quickly called them back. "Fine, I believe you!"
Lady Miaoying once again revealed her dignified, amiable smile. "Then Fellow Daoist Xuxiang, please wait here a moment. Senior Brother Guo and I will send a message shortly." With that, she glanced at Daoist Guo. The two transformed into Escape Lights and sped away once more.
Venerable Xuxiang rubbed his bald head, shouting from behind, "Make sure you send that message quickly!—"
The two Escape Lights didn't look back, swiftly disappearing among the mountain ranges.
A moment later, Venerable Xuxiang's furious roar echoed from the spot: "Miaoying! Old Man Guo! You two scoundrels, you actually tricked this Buddha!"