Mountain and sea lantern

Chapter 623 Better to Arrest the Wrong Person
Slowly opening her eyes, Li Hongjiu, who was waking up, saw a familiar face – Shi Chun.

Feeling like he had slept for a very long time, Li Hongjiu began to doubt whether he was still alive. He looked around, heard the sound of waves again, and saw the vast blue sea. He immediately got up, still feeling very weak. Looking at his severed arm, he couldn't help but smile bitterly.

After using magic to check his physical condition, he knew that he had been treated for some time and his injuries had stabilized. He asked, "Are you out of danger?"

Shi Chun sighed, "I managed to escape death by any means necessary, thanks to the magical treasures I acquired in the Divine Fire Domain."

Li Hongjiu looked around and realized they were on another island. He asked, "Why are we at sea again?"

Shi Chun: "The land is vast and sparsely populated, so it's not easy to be discovered. Besides, Brother Jiu, I still need your help with my understanding. Is your body still capable of casting spells and controlling the lightning sword?"

This time, Li Hongjiu's gaze towards Shi Chun was somewhat complicated. Without saying anything unnecessary, shortly after confirming that it was safe here, a tornado rose again at sea, and rolling dark clouds rose into the sky once more, followed by the majestic thunderous roar of the heavens.

The dazzling light that illuminated everything within the mist tornado reappeared, and the Heaven-Shattering Thunder Sword seemed to pierce through the void from beyond the heavens, striking Shi Chun with a single blow.

Li Hongjiu saw again the ancient lotus light and shadow from that attack erupting from Shi Chun's body, swaying gracefully.

After it was confirmed that everything was alright, the wind gradually subsided, the clouds dispersed, and the one-armed Li Hongjiu and Shi Chun gracefully landed.

Watching the vast and dissipating atmosphere in the world, Shi Chun stretched out his arms and felt the changes in his cultivation. He was somewhat speechless. As expected, the thunder sword had indeed transformed the demonic energy in his body into cultivation.

The problem is that his cultivation level is still within the High Martial Realm; he has only progressed from the early stage of the High Martial Great Completion Realm to the late stage of the Great Completion Realm.

His original expectation was that this would help him break through to the Human Immortal realm, but he was still short of success even though he was on the verge of it.

The demonic energy I absorbed belonged to a master of the Earth Immortal realm, yet the resulting cultivation level was insufficient to reach the High Martial Arts Mastery realm or the Human Immortal realm. If that's the case, the requirements for the higher realms must be even greater. How much demonic energy would I need to absorb to advance?
After doing the math, he was a bit stunned, feeling a long road ahead and not at all the joy he felt after his cultivation level improved.

The giant waves were still crashing against the sea, and Li Hongjiu, her clothes fluttering in the wind, looked pale again, exhausted from the exertion of her magic power while injured. She turned to look at Shi Chun, who looked somewhat dejected, and asked, "How are you?"

"Sigh." Shi Chun sighed deeply and shook his head slightly. "I'm afraid I need to think about it some more."

Judging from his expression, I could guess the result. Li Hongjiu said, "Sometimes, enlightenment is instantaneous, and sometimes there's no use in rushing it."

Shi Chun shook his head: "Forget it, Brother Jiu, my matter is not important. Let's find a way to send you back to Yanbao Sect first. The reason you were hunted down this time is very strange. Several experts at the Heavenly Immortal level went to great lengths to hunt you down. Now, the only ones who have the strength to protect you are probably your sect. My abilities are limited, and I really can't do anything about it."

Li Hongjiu's expression turned slightly somber. He also felt that this pursuit was extremely serious. It seemed that his master's worries had come true. "The sect probably doesn't know that I'm in trouble yet. I need to go back and give them an explanation."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

“Uh…” Shi Chun was taken aback and quickly called out, “Don’t be in such a hurry. The mastermind behind this probably won’t let you return to Yanbao Sect so easily. Let’s discuss it properly and see how we can get you back to the sect safely.”

These were his heartfelt words; he truly didn't want anything to happen to Li Hongjiu, otherwise why would he risk his life to save her?

Li Hongjiu glanced back and said, "Yanbao Sect isn't to be trifled with either. I have my own channels to contact my master. You'd better take care of yourself."

Shi Chun hurriedly said, "I hope Brother Jiu will keep my departure from Jukuzhou a secret and not tell anyone. You know, someone is trying to capture me, and I don't want anyone to know my whereabouts. Those people are very powerful, and if I show any signs of them, I might not be able to get away. I hope Brother Jiu will have pity on the difficulties of a small person like me."

"You asked for it," Li Hongjiu said before taking to the air and disappearing.

He didn't want to implicate Shi Chun any further. He wasn't blind; the person who attacked Shi Chun only wanted to capture him. Shi Chun was also killed because of his own actions.

Although the robbery that happened on the way down the mountain was caused by Shi Chun, Shi Chun is not to blame. Since someone is deliberately trying to harm me, even if I don't encounter them this time, I will next time.

He also witnessed Shi Chun's unwavering and desperate rescue. Regardless of whether Shi Chun wanted to curry favor with him, the fact remains that he risked his life to save him.

It must be admitted that this scoundrel is indeed cunning, but if viewed from the perspective of one's own people, he is someone who can save his life in critical moments, regardless of what shameless means he used to accumulate that ability. If he hadn't happened to be with this scoundrel this time, and instead had been with other fellow disciples, he probably would have really lost his life.

"Take care, Brother Jiu. I'll come visit you at Yanbao Sect later..." Shi Chun shouted, covering his mouth with both hands as if he were a megaphone.

Li Hongjiu, who was flying away in the air, vaguely heard it, but did not turn around. She remembered that before the Divine Fire Alliance ended, that guy had also been shouting that he wanted to go and visit the Yanbao Sect...

Mount Wukang was deserted; all the disciples of Mount Wukang had disappeared, or rather, had been captured.

Inside the prison of the Eastern Capital, Bian Weiying, the sect leader of Wukang Mountain, sat cross-legged, lost in thought.

The sudden and undeserved disaster struck her. Only after being captured did she learn that it was because of Shi Chun. The royal court demanded that they reveal Shi Chun's whereabouts, saying that if they could not capture Shi Chun, they would be treated as accomplices and the entire Wukang Mountain would be executed.

Their claim that they don't know is useless; it makes almost no sense.

Of course, there is also hope. Someone came to visit the prison and said that if Wukang Mountain could offer the method of making a fifth-grade immobilization talisman, it might be able to help smooth things over. After all, the Bian family ancestors had also made contributions to the king in battle. As long as the king remembers them, everything will be fine.

Even if you cut off the heads of everyone on Wukang Mountain, they still wouldn't be able to produce the method for making a fifth-grade immobilization talisman, because they simply didn't know it.

The result was predictable. Bian Weiying was treated well, living in a single room, while the elders were locked up together.

Even the people from Wukang Mountain were captured, so the fate of the Mingshan Sect and their gang was predictable.

All the promises of powerful security and background from the mansion and its surroundings proved useless; the royal court's forces stormed in and arrested people without any restraint.

None of those who stayed at home managed to escape; even Lan'er and Fengchi were arrested.

The iron box that Shi Chun had previously sent to Shen Moming eventually ended up on the desk of Right Assistant Marquis Jia Huan.

Within the jurisdiction of the Eastern Capital, almost everyone who seemed to have close ties with Shi Chun was arrested, including the courtesans and madams who had been on good terms with Wu Jin.

Those who were arrested were immediately informed that if Shi Chun was not caught, they would all be executed along with his family.

Many people panicked, but unfortunately, they really didn't know where Shi Chun was.

Duan Xiangmei, worried about Wu Jinliang, shed tears silently many times.

Feng Chi, inside the cage, was the calmest, occasionally chuckling as he remarked on Lan'er's words that could cause the Eastern Sheng Royal Court to lose its composure so dramatically.
Xiang Lan'er looked at her like she was crazy. Everyone was about to be beheaded, and you could still laugh. Did you think the Dongsheng Royal Court was just joking around?
Not to mention them, even those wealthy young men who had previously socialized with Shi Chun and his gang were now living in fear. If they didn't have powerful connections, they would definitely have been arrested as well.

However, arresting these people was not the goal. The only goal was to force Shi Chun to show himself, or rather, to force Shi Chun to contact Wei Mo's side.

This was Wei Mo's idea, and he proposed the necessary support to Hou Jia Huan, the Right Assistant.

He originally wanted the royal court to issue a bounty to the entire cultivation world, but this was rejected by Jia Huan. He said that it was fine to arrest people in a small area, but there was no need for a large-scale bounty. If you were going to issue a bounty to arrest people, why would you, Wei Mo, need to take action?

Wei Mo was at his wits' end. He asked Young Master Nan to contact Shi Chun repeatedly, but Shi Chun never replied, as if he had vanished into thin air.

He was driven to desperation and resorted to any means necessary. His thinking was simple: arrest anyone he could, hoping to catch someone Shi Chun cared about online.

Of course, he was also aware that the greater the support he needed now, the greater the backlash would be if things failed.

This is a series of events that happened in the days after Shi Chun and his companions hid in the underworld.

As dusk fell, the woman in red, having finished her meal at the library, reappeared in another old and elegant courtyard pavilion. Upon seeing Alan, she immediately asked, "What's going on?"

His tone was unusually angry.

Alan said awkwardly, "I really don't know how he left Jukuzhou, but it's confirmed that Li Hongjiu has indeed returned to Yanbao Sect. The sect master of Yanbao Sect, Qu Wuming, is furious and has vowed to make sure he doesn't let anyone get away with it, no matter who it is!"

"Hmph." The woman in red snorted disdainfully, then asked, "Didn't the Xun Gate detect how the person got out?"

Alan explained, "Li Hongjiu lost an arm, which is a very obvious feature. Logically speaking, with the Xunmen guarding it so closely, it would be impossible for him to leave undetected. We have already asked the spies from the Yanbao Sect to find out how he left."

The woman in red paced back and forth and said, "In other words, either someone with the ability to shatter the void helped us, or there was a problem with the gatekeepers at the Xun Gate."

Alan didn't know what to say, so she quietly changed the subject, saying, "I wonder where Shi Chun has gone. It seems that in Dongsheng, they won't give up until they catch Shi Chun."

The woman in red chuckled upon hearing this, "They've even managed to cause trouble in Queen Dongsheng's room. No wonder she's furious. This is blatant provocation. Just the fact that she can freely enter and leave the royal court is enough to keep anyone awake at night. We don't know if it was that guy who did it, but based on what we know so far, he is indeed connected to the 'Death-Slaying Incense.' But logically speaking, that guy shouldn't be that stupid. How could someone with his intelligence possibly cause trouble in Queen Dongsheng's room?"

Now that things have come to this, she has finally gotten the Phoenix Clan Chief to speak.

How could Feng Xi's internal purges after returning from the Eastern Victory Court be kept secret from here? Under pressure from here, he revealed the reasons behind the events.

However, Feng Xi was unaware that a naked male corpse had been thrown into Queen Dong Sheng's room. He only knew that someone had entered the Queen's room and was causing trouble, and he suspected that Shi Chun was involved.

After explaining the situation, Alan stepped aside.

The woman in red, who was lying on the recliner, habitually took out the talisman and sent a message to Shi Chun: Where are you? I really miss you.

She could send these kinds of messages so easily that she felt nothing when sending them, and the extreme discomfort she felt at the beginning was gone.

At this time, Shi Chun had returned to Jukuzhou and was sitting in the Heart-Wrapping Grass Forest. He took out the Mother-Child Talisman and saw her message. At the same time, Shi Chun was also contacting Young Master Nan because he had received a message from Young Master Nan first.

He didn't want to reply to Young Master Nan, but he had to admit that Wei Mo's method of wiping out everyone in one fell swoop was indeed somewhat effective.

The message that Nan Gongzi repeatedly sent him was about the arrest of relevant personnel who were to be implicated and executed.

Given this news, how could Shi Chun, who was quite surprised, not contact Young Master Nan and be forced to reply?

(End of this chapter)