Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 616 Escape
After examining the mother-child talisman, Wei Mo's attendant also made a move, quickly approaching Wei Mo and whispering, "The search team found the bodies of two generals at sea. One was beheaded, and the other was split in two. The demon cultivator's death was even more gruesome."

Upon hearing this, Wei Mo suddenly raised his eyes and stared at Li Hongjiu, who was being carried by Shi Chun, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.

In his view, this was something only Li Hongjiu could do; with Shi Chun's limited skills, it was impossible for him to kill three experts at the Celestial Immortal level.

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone's gazes toward the mirror image suddenly tightened.

After a brief standoff, the Dongsheng troops who had stopped Shi Chun suddenly made their move.

At first, everyone only intended to keep Shi Chun and his group occupied and had no desire to clash with Li Hongjiu's side. If it weren't for the Heavenly Mirror watching over them, they would have even tried to delay as long as possible. Even several experts at the Heavenly Immortal level were no match for Li Hongjiu, and they would only go head-to-head if they were courting death.

However, upon seeing Li Hongjiu's horrific injuries—missing an arm and barely able to stand—they were immediately energized. They knew that Shi Chun was no match for them.

The only worry is whether Li Hongjiu's injuries are fake.

Under the watchful gaze of the celestial mirror, the brave will surely be the first to ascend.

The burly man at the Earth Immortal realm was the first to rush forward, wanting to test Li Hongjiu's strength. If he was truly seriously injured, he intended to take advantage of the situation to capture Shi Chun, complete the mission, and earn merit and reward.

Without hesitation, Shi Chun rushed towards them.

With his head drooping on his shoulder, Li Hongjiu watched this scene helplessly. He knew that the other party was probably a master at the Earth Immortal level, and even he would find it difficult to confront him head-on. But Shi Chun carried him and charged forward fearlessly. He was helpless and could only watch.

He thought to himself, "This is unbelievable. I might actually die on the same day, month, and year as that bastard."

The burly man who charged forward had already taken the lead by swinging his sword and unleashing a powerful aerial slash to test the waters.

The black lotus dharma image flying above Shi Chun also swung its sword and struck, blocking the attack with a loud boom.

Shi Chun retaliated almost simultaneously, spitting out the Flying Dragon Sword he held in his mouth, which instantly transformed into a streak of light and flew away. The bronze mirror in his hand also shot out a fan-shaped beam of dark light, which instantly enveloped his opponent.

The Dong Sheng troops were startled and were about to help, but a sudden ringing of bells that echoed through the heavens and earth made them stagger and they all cast spells to protect themselves.

The bell was coming from the 'Soul-Severing Bell' hanging on Shi Chun's finger, as he shook the bell with his left hand to cast a spell.

Seeing the surrounding people suddenly lose their composure, Li Hongjiu immediately knew what was going on. Coincidentally, he had seen this bell in the Divine Fire Domain as well. In fact, he had seen many of Shi Chun's magical treasures in the Divine Fire Domain and knew that most of them were stolen from there.

Magical treasures are not something everyone possesses. Collecting so many different kinds of magical treasures in a short period of time is probably only possible in a place like the Divine Fire Domain, where various weapon-refining sects gather.

Now, in order to save him, he was brought out to fight the enemy. Li Hongjiu felt somewhat amused and exasperated, finding it absurd.

However, somewhat surprisingly, although he had experienced the power of the 'Soul-Severing Bell' before, this time he only heard the sound of the bell and was not affected by it.

He could guess that it was because Shi Chun was using magic to protect him, but he couldn't guess that Shi Chun was using magic to protect him because he was too weak and he was afraid that he couldn't withstand the torment of the bell.

The burly man, enveloped in the dark light, was instantly startled. He could see and hear nothing, and seemed oblivious to his surroundings, as if he had fallen into an endless abyss. He immediately realized it was the effect of the opponent's magic weapon.

He first unleashed another powerful attack forward, his body immediately leaping into the air, attempting to escape the shroud of the dark light.

Little did they know that Shi Chun's right eye ability allowed him to see his movements within the dark light. The Flying Dragon Sword's light anticipated and intercepted him, striking his target from mid-air.

The burly man, enveloped in the dark light, was completely unaware of the impending attack. Just as he was about to break free of the light, he was struck down by the Flying Dragon Sword.

His attack was blocked by the Black Lotus Dharma Form.

Shi Chun pushed forward relentlessly, his fan-shaped dark light illuminating those blocking his path, while the slain men fell behind him, blood raining down on them.

A cultivator at the high martial arts realm killed a cultivator at the Earth Immortal realm in a single exchange. Wei Mo's face was gloomy as he stood before the mirror image.

Young Master Nan felt a headache coming on. Under normal circumstances, he thought that even if Shi Chun was captured, there might still be a chance to find someone to help him. But how could the killing of the Dong Sheng Royal Court's troops in public be resolved peacefully?

Shi Chuncai didn't care about those things. Although he often took long-term matters into consideration, he often couldn't manage them all. Due to his low position, he could only focus on the immediate present.

Two figures escaped from the area shrouded in the dark light of the Three Corpse Mirror ahead. They had just shaken off the influence of the dark light, but were instantly affected by the 'Soul-Severing Bell'.

Shi Chun did not entangle with them. He seized the opportunity to rush over and break through the encirclement. The Black Lotus Dharma Image pushed him forward rapidly from behind and was responsible for guarding the rear.

After regaining their composure, the Dongsheng troops in the rear continued their pursuit.

Knowing that they had regained their composure, Shi Chun realized that the "Soul-Severing Bell" would no longer be able to easily disturb them. Therefore, he stopped ringing the bell and urged the Black Lotus Dharma Image to increase its flight speed, urgently flying towards the target location.

The Three Corpse Mirror in his hand wasn't idle; he would occasionally shoot out dark light to shine on the pursuers, just to scare them. Before long, the highest mountain peak along the winding river appeared in front of them.

The sunny ravine was the location he had previously agreed upon with Wu Jinliang. Shi Chun immediately carried Li Hongjiu and swooped down. While in mid-air, he could vaguely see a figure waving and beckoning on the ground; it was Wu Jinliang.

He immediately cast a spell and threw out the Soul-Destroying Mace in his hand. The mace immediately shone with a precious light and expanded, its sections resembling a tower, each rotating. Holes like windows appeared, blowing out golden sand grains, which gradually poured out like a torrent, swirling around the tower-shaped Soul-Destroying Mace like a whirlwind. In no time, it became a tornado connecting the sky and the earth, and the soil, rocks and trees on the ground were crushed into dust and swept up.

Another tornado has appeared. First, there was a fog tornado at sea, and now it's a sandstorm on dry land.

One of their accomplices was killed in a single encounter. The Dong Sheng troops who rushed in did not make any rash moves, but instead scattered and surrounded the area to prevent anyone from escaping.

On the gray, dusty ground, at the foot of the tornado, Shi Chun had already landed and met Wu Jinliang face-to-face in the strong wind.

At this point, Li Hongjiu, whose mind was already somewhat unclear, realized that Shi Chun, that bitch, probably had other plans.

Upon seeing Li Hongjiu's severed arm and serious injuries, Wu Jinliang was also shocked and asked amidst the howling wind, "What happened?"

Shi Chun had no time to argue about this. He had already publicly killed one person to establish his authority, intending to make the pursuers wary and not dare to act rashly. He was fighting for this chance to catch their breath, and he couldn't afford to waste it.

He quickly cast a spell to activate the Soul-Destroying Mace, causing the yellow sand tornado to expand violently, stirring up dust that filled the sky.

In the air, a cultivator casually tossed out a sword to test the waters. Immediately, a series of rapid clanging and popping sounds came from the swirling dust. He waved his hand and retrieved the sword to examine it. The sword was already covered in wounds. Looking at the scale and formation of the raging tornado, he knew that if he broke in, he would suffer a continuous and violent erosion attack if he could not break through it immediately.

With the added assistance of that eerie dark light, the group from Dongsheng were indeed somewhat wary.

Before the mirror of the inn, seeing the raging tornado take shape in an instant, Wei Mo snorted coldly, "Where did this guy get so many magical treasures?"

After glancing at the message on the talisman, the attendant whispered, "The expert they dispatched will arrive in a moment; he can't escape now."

Hopefully, Wei Mo nodded slightly. If they still couldn't catch the person after paying such a high price, it would be really hard to explain when they got back.

Seeing that the whirlwind had stirred up dust everywhere, Shi Chun immediately retrieved the Soul-Destroying Mace. Soon, the pagoda, which had returned with a whooshing cloud of yellow sand, transformed back into the mace and fell into his hand.

Ignoring everything else, Shi Chun glanced at the already gray and hazy world, turned his head and shouted to Wu Jinliang, "Where?"

Wu Jinliang immediately waved his hand, and the nearby ground quickly melted to create a hole. Without hesitation, Shi Chun carried Li Hongjiu and jumped directly into it.

The entrance to the cave was small, and the towering Black Lotus Dharma Image was not captured; instead, it shrank slightly and jumped in.

A wisp of sandalwood-gold flame landed on Shi Chun's finger, illuminating the darkness of the cave. In her dazed state, Li Hongjiu could feel herself jumping into a very deep cave. She wondered what secrets this cave held that allowed her to rely on it to save her life at this critical juncture.

He wanted to stay as clear-headed as possible and see things more clearly.

Wu Jinliang then used earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a technique used in Chinese fantasy novels) to block the path of his descent.

The marks on the ground were quickly covered by the swirling sand and stones.

Upon landing in the underground space, Shi Chun quickly untied Li Hongjiu and laid her on the ground. He then pinched the back of her neck and used magic to knock her unconscious. He quickly threw out a corpse and urged urgently, "Quickly start a fire, quick, don't worry about wasting it."

Upon landing, Wu Jinliang quickly pulled out a small jar, opened it, scooped out a large lump of it, and conjured flames out of thin air to surround the lump of incense and ignite it into a raging fire.

Shi Chun quickly coordinated his Demon Bathing Technique, locking in the flames emitted by the Death Incense and directing them directly towards the corpse, while simultaneously using his right eye's special ability to closely observe the outside world.

The Dongsheng forces surrounding this area were not many, only about ten people. Seeing that the power of the magic weapon, the Sandstorm, had disappeared and their vision was blurred, they released their magic power and searched further.

Deep underground, Shi Chun was also quite nervous. The reason he kept the Black Lotus magic weapon by his side was so that if he were discovered or attacked from the ground, the Black Lotus Dharma Image would be there to help withstand the heavy pressure of the blows.

The more I worry, the more anxious I get, and my mind is urging me to hurry up.

Fortunately, the result was relatively smooth. The golden threads on the corpse finally reappeared, swaying and growing, breaking through the void bit by bit. The tiny cracks in the void quickly seeped out wisps of yin energy.

"Okay, stop, that's enough." Shi Chun shouted, and at the same time cast a spell to bind the golden threads. The passage between the two worlds appeared immediately. He then said to Wu Jinliang, who had put away the incense of death, "Take Li Hongjiu in first. Be careful when carrying him. His internal injuries are very serious and he can't withstand any more disturbances. Also, his internal organs are too weak. He can't withstand absorbing a lot of yin energy. Use the 'Ice Sheep' to protect him."

"Okay." Wu Jinliang, who had hurriedly stopped, agreed, quickly took out the 'Ice Sheep', carefully picked up the unconscious Li Hongjiu, and then directly rushed into the interdimensional passage.

Shi Chun had already quickly withdrawn the Black Lotus Dharma Image, and with a swing of his sword, he quickly made several cuts on various parts of the corpse on the ground. He then took out a bottle of 'corpse powder' and poured it onto the wounds. Immediately, the wounds began to sizzle and smoke. Only then did he flash into the passage between the two worlds.

Upon landing in the underworld, he ignored Wu Jinliang, who was holding someone beside him. He quickly scanned his surroundings with his right eye's special ability, then turned around and cast a powerful palm strike into the passage, collapsing the underground cave where he had just been. Only then did he release the large bundle of golden threads that had been binding him.

(End of this chapter)