The old woman appeared utterly decrepit, yet when she struck, it was with thunderous might.
“Boom!”
Her palm slapped through the air towards Long Bodhisattva, swift and incisive, with killing intent blanketing the sky and earth.
Long Bodhisattva dared not clash with her at all. After all, this was a nascent soul peak cultivator who knew not how many years she had lived; she was absolutely a terrifying existence.
Most critically, there were two other nascent soul powerhouses eyeing him covetously nearby.
Long Bodhisattva swiftly stepped into the array pattern. The next second, his body vanished from the spot.
“Slap!”
The old woman’s palm followed and struck the ground, immediately creating a pit dozens of metres deep in the earth.
One could imagine that if that palm had landed on Long Bodhisattva just now, he would likely have been smashed to pulp.
“Damn it!”
The old woman missed with her palm and cursed in fury. “With three nascent soul powerhouses here, he still escaped. What an utter disgrace!”
The sword-bearing middle-aged man said to the old woman, “Granny, no need to be angry. That boy only has half a saintly array pattern in hand. He cannot escape.”
“Brother Li is right. That boy cannot escape.” The other elder chimed in agreement.
The old woman suppressed her rage and looked at Su Monyan. “Eighteenth holy son, how are your injuries?”
Su Monyan replied respectfully, “Thank you for your concern, senior. This junior’s injuries are not serious. It is just that using the Nine Nether Sword Canon has left me drained; my strength will take a while to recover.”
The old woman took out a pill and flicked it with her finger, sending it before Su Monyan.
“Take this pill, and the eighteenth holy son’s strength will recover immediately. Then, you will come with us to pursue Long Bodhisattva.”
The old woman said sinisterly, “No matter what, this time, we must capture Long Bodhisattva alive.”
Su Monyan immediately swallowed the pill. A white light emanated from his body, and in an instant, his power returned to its peak.
Su Monyan quickly changed into a clean set of clothes and said, “Granny, we can set off now.”
The old woman replied, “Long Bodhisattva thinks he can escape with half a saintly array pattern, little knowing that he has one, but I too have a treasure.”
As her words fell, the old woman extended her right hand. With a flash of light, a wooden boat appeared in her palm.
The wooden boat was just over a foot long and appeared utterly ordinary.
However, Su Monyan and the two other nascent soul realm powerhouses recognised the wooden boat at a glance, their faces showing shock.
“The Wind-Riding Boat!”
“This is a treasure personally refined by the Sixth Elder!”
The two nascent soul realm powerhouses exclaimed in turn.
“The Sixth Elder bestowed the Wind-Riding Boat upon this old one precisely to prevent Long Bodhisattva from fleeing. With this divine item in hand, Long Bodhisattva cannot escape.”
With that, the old woman infused her vast true qi into the Wind-Riding Boat. Instantly, the wooden boat, originally just a foot long, transformed into a wooden ship about three zhang in length.
Around the wooden ship flowed one black and one white stream of light, mysterious and unfathomable.
“Come aboard!”
After the old woman spoke, Su Monyan and the two nascent soul powerhouses flew into the wooden ship.
The next second, the wooden ship shot through the air and vanished in an instant.
“Where is the eighteenth holy son? Where have they gone?” A Yin-Yang Sect disciple, seeing this scene, asked in astonishment.
“They have gone to pursue Long Bodhisattva.” A cave heaven realm powerhouse said, “The Wind-Riding Boat is a treasure personally crafted by the Sixth Elder. It can traverse space. Though it cannot match a complete saintly array pattern, Long Bodhisattva only has half in hand, so he cannot escape.”
“Long Bodhisattva’s cultivation is too strong. Even the eighteenth holy son is no match for him. This fellow must be eliminated.”
“Otherwise, in the future, he will surely become a great enemy of our Yin-Yang Sect.”
…
Meanwhile, after Long Bodhisattva entered the saintly array pattern and fled from the spot, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
“Su Monyan, I remember you now. Cannot beat me, so you call for help. Shameless.”
Long Bodhisattva cursed inwardly.
After an unknown amount of time, a landscape of verdant mountains and clear waters finally appeared before his eyes.
Long Bodhisattva stepped out from the array pattern and sighed. “What a pity. With only half a saintly array pattern, the teleportation distance is limited. Otherwise, I could ride the teleportation array straight to the Azure Cloud Sword Sect and challenge their holy son.”
“I wonder where the other half of the saintly array pattern is?”
Speaking of this half saintly array pattern, there was a peculiar story behind it.
When Long Bodhisattva first arrived in the cultivation world, he was penniless and utterly unfamiliar with the place. With no spirit stones to his name, he felt profoundly isolated and lonely.
One day, as he passed through a small town, he saw a street vendor selling steamed buns.
The steaming hot buns emitted an irresistibly tantalising aroma. Long Bodhisattva could not help but think of the soup dumplings from the secular world. A wave of homesickness welled up, causing tears to stream down his face uncontrollably.
Thus, he stole a few buns.
Unexpectedly, this was witnessed by the bun seller, who grabbed the stone disc propping up the table and hurled it at him.
Long Bodhisattva caught the stone disc and fled.
Later, he discovered that this half stone disc was no ordinary item. After some time studying it, he fully understood that it was half a saintly array pattern.
“So what if they are nascent soul powerhouses? With the saintly array pattern in hand, you lot want to capture me? Keep dreaming.”
Long Bodhisattva felt immensely pleased with himself.
At that moment, a fierce gale arose in the sky.
Long Bodhisattva looked up and saw a wooden ship breaking through the air. Su Monyan and the three nascent soul powerhouses stood at the bow.
“Holy shit, they caught up?” Long Bodhisattva jumped in fright.
“Long Bodhisattva, surrender without a fight!” The people on the wooden ship also spotted Long Bodhisattva. The old woman stepped into the high air and then stomped down with one foot, causing the void to tremble.
Without a word, Long Bodhisattva activated the array pattern once more and fled swiftly from the area.
“Bang!”
The old woman’s foot missed, creating a massive deep pit in the ground. She turned and returned to the wooden ship.
“Pursue!”
And so, Long Bodhisattva fled desperately ahead, while the Yin-Yang Sect members chased after him.
They pursued for a full two days.
Over these two days, Long Bodhisattva was exhausted to the bone. Using the saintly array pattern consumed enormous energy. Fortunately, he had spirit medicines to restore his stamina; otherwise, he would have been worn down to death long ago.
“Damn it, all I did was defeat one holy son. Why are you lot chasing me so relentlessly?”
“Cannot even afford to lose?”
In two days, Long Bodhisattva teleported several million li using the saintly array pattern. Several times, he nearly perished at the hands of the Yin-Yang Sect.
“I merely defeated one holy son, yet you chase me for several million li. Is it truly necessary? Is it truly necessary!”
Little did Long Bodhisattva know that the Yin-Yang Sect powerhouses were pursuing him not to avenge Su Monyan’s honour, but because he had been framed by Ye Qiu.
At this moment, Long Bodhisattva was dishevelled and unkempt, covered in dirt and grime, his clothes in tatters, looking for all the world like a beggar.
On the evening of the third day.
Long Bodhisattva fled to Sifang City, a major city under the Yin-Yang Sect’s jurisdiction, with a population nearing ten million and exceedingly prosperous.
Long Bodhisattva blended into the crowd, quietly altered his appearance, then hid in an inn to rest.
He could finally catch his breath.
Almost at the same time, Ye Qiu and Master Changmei arrived in Sifang City as well.
