Chapter 234: Chapter 234 Things Remain but People Change (Part 1)
 

Wang Chen looked back at the towering mountain range piercing the clouds behind him and took a long breath.

After a month of travelling back and forth, he had finally returned from the mortal realm to the realm of immortal cultivation. The spiritual energy of heaven and earth in the surrounding space silently permeated his skin, making him feel so light as if he could fly away.

Such a feeling was hard to describe with words.

But Wang Chen had made up his mind: if there was ever a need to flee again, he would definitely not run back to the mortal realm!

He patted the neck of the big grey donkey, then leaped down from its back.

He then unfolded the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon and stored the trusty mount that had accompanied him for thousands of miles into it.

After crossing the East Wasteland Great Marsh, the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon could no longer replenish its She Qi. To prevent the chart from becoming ineffective, Wang Chen had ridden the big grey donkey across the tens of thousands of miles of mountains and rivers that followed.

Through refining and mastering the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon and combining it with the knowledge from reading hundreds of books in the past, Wang Chen could now confirm the source of its Merit Points.

It was the She Qi contained in the moisture of the Great Marsh!

The She is a type of flood dragon, with a form resembling that of a large snake and horns like a dragon, known as the Mirage Dragon.

The Mirage Dragon possesses the power to shape-shift and manipulate, swallowing and exhaling mist day and night to create myriad fantastical illusions.

Anyone who carelessly wanders into an illusion created by a Mirage Dragon might never find their way out for the rest of their life.

Wang Chen guessed that a powerful Mirage Dragon must have once resided in the East Wasteland Great Marsh, and after its fall, its She Qi spread throughout the land, enabling the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon to manifest its true powers.

Of course, whether this inference was correct or not, Wang Chen did not know.

But what he could be sure of was that the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon had a limit to the amount of She Qi it could contain.

He couldn’t possibly stay in the East Wasteland Great Marsh forever, and after leaving, he had no idea where to replenish the She Qi, so it was better to conserve as much as possible.

In fact, Wang Chen had only uncovered a small fraction of the marvels of the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon.

After putting away the big grey donkey, Wang Chen pinched a spell and the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon suddenly wrapped around his left arm.

The chart disappeared in an instant, leaving a lifelike Mirage Dragon tattoo on the skin of his arm!

The True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon was peculiar; if it didn’t contain living creatures, it could be stored in a storage bag.

But once it stored the big grey donkey, it could no longer fit inside the storage bag.

It could, however, be stored inside Wang Chen’s body!

When needed, with a surge of mana, the True Form Chart of the Mystical Mirage Dragon would instantly materialize.

It was extremely convenient.

With the Mirage Dragon on the left and the Heavenly Nets on the right, the flying sword hidden in the sleeves, and the travel bag on his back.

Now, Wang Chen was decked out in all the essential gear.

He took out the Willow Leaf Flying Boat from his storage bag and tossed it into the air, leaping onto the flying artifact.

After flying north for about four hours, Wang Chen entered the territory governed by the Guiyuan Gate sect.

He had always carried the Cloud Sun Thousands of Miles Geomantic Chart, which he had exchanged for with Merit Points from the Scripture Pavilion, allowing him to quickly determine the exact location of Cloud Mountain City with the help of this artifact.

Although the Cloud Sun sect no longer existed, Wang Chen was determined to return and have a look, no matter what.

Not because he was nostalgic for the past.

But the resources needed for his Breakthrough Mansion and the subsequent Cultivation Techniques for the Five Elements Skill were easier to obtain in the Immortal City.

Wang Chen would never have imagined the Cloud Sun sect would suddenly flee; otherwise, even if he couldn’t catch the flight ascending to the Upper Realm, he would have found a way to exchange for the Purple Mansion Realm’s Innate Five Elements Skill.

Additionally, Wang Chen also wanted to return to the estate on Sunset Peak once more.

He wondered whether his nominal master had followed the main forces of their sect to the Upper Realm, or if…

As Wang Chen was lost in thought, suddenly two streaks of light came flying directly towards him.

A sense of alarm rose in his heart!

He immediately stopped moving forward.

“Who goes there? State your name at once!”

The two cultivators intercepting Wang Chen were astride flying shuttles, dressed in white robes with long swords on their backs, their expressions haughty and posture lofty. They sized up Wang Chen with scrutinizing gazes.

Disciples of Guiyuan Gate!

Wang Chen recognized the origins of his adversaries at a glance.

The robes they wore were precisely the standard robes of Guiyuan Gate!

“Eh?”

Before Wang Chen could respond, the Guiyuan Gate cultivator on the right frowned, “Why do you look somewhat familiar?”

The person to the left stared at him intently, revealing a look of suspicion.

Wang Chen smiled, “I am Wang Chen, a disciple of the Cloud Sun Sect’s Sunset Peak!”

He didn’t know these individuals and believed it unlikely that he had met anyone from Guiyuan Gate previously.

The expressions of these two cultivators from Guiyuan Gate suggested that they had probably seen his portrait!

Whoosh!

Before he finished speaking, Wang Chen suddenly flung his sleeve, and the Fire Crow Sword quickly shot out from the cuff. With fierce and unmatched Sword Qi, it struck toward the Guiyuan Gate cultivator on the left with the swiftness of thunder that didn’t allow one to cover their ears.

One at the eighth level of Qi Cultivation, and one at the seventh, of course he should kill the one with the higher realm first!

When Wang Chen made his move, the Guiyuan Gate cultivator had already prepared for battle, having just strengthened himself with Spirit Light Armor and gathering mana with a spell gesture.

Given one more breathing time, he could have activated a spell.

However, in cultivator combat, the difference of a single breath could mean the difference between life and death!

The Fire Crow Sword, infused with the power of Geng Metal, pierced through the cultivator’s body in an instant.

His Spirit Light Armor was like paper paste, completely unable to stop the edge of the Flying Sword.

“Binding!”

At the same time, Wang Chen raised his left palm and struck toward the other cultivator.

Binding Skill!

The cultivator’s body shook, his expression turned extraordinarily rigid, and his reaction inevitably slowed.

Thud!

The Fire Crow Sword entered through his back and exited through his chest, leaving a glaringly large hole.

This Guiyuan Gate cultivator’s eyes suddenly widened, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something.

But he collapsed after letting out his last breath.

[Heavenly Merit +7]

[Heavenly Merit +6]

Two notifications flashed in Wang Chen’s view.

He reached out and reeled in the bodies of the two Guiyuan Gate cultivators, along with two Flying Shuttles.

He removed their Storage Bags and then stashed them all into his own Storage Bag.

Wang Chen threw out three Evil-Repelling Talismans and landed the flying vessel onto the ground.

After stowing away the vessel, he immediately used the Shadowless Divine Traverse, changing direction and fleeing into the distance.

Only after covering a hundred miles in one go did Wang Chen take out the two bodies, entirely incinerating them with the Fire Crow Technique.

As usual, he applied the Rebirth Talisman and Evil-Repelling Talisman, then hit the road again.

Cautiousness ensures safety for ten thousand years.

He had been somewhat careless earlier.

Unexpectedly, even so far from the Cloud Sun Sect’s gates, he had run into patrolling Guiyuan cultivators.

And he had been recognized.

Therefore, this time, Wang Chen took out the Thousand Mechanisms Changing and wore it, changing his facial appearance.

When he detoured a thousand miles and finally saw Cloud Mountain City from afar, he was already an indistinguishable, ordinary loose cultivator, hard to spot amidst the crowd.

———-

First update, delivered.