Yuantian Pidao

Chapter 188 Another Challenge Received
On Yan Hui Island, the auction has ended, and the excitement is fading away.

"Finally got it."

After leaving the auction house and putting the Soul-Returning Water into his storage bag, Liao Yonghuai finally felt relieved.

The Soul-Returning Water was quite valuable, but fortunately, not many people needed it, and no one was as eager as him. So, after several rounds of bidding, he successfully acquired the Soul-Returning Water.

"With this Soul-Returning Water, my soul injury can be repaired, and the lost silver puppet can be reforged."

Glancing to his left, he noticed something. Covering his face with his straw hat, Liao Yonghuai's figure merged into the crowd. His act of striking down the Soul-Returning Water attracted the attention of many.

Liao Yonghuai had anticipated this. After that, he changed his appearance several times, constantly shaking off his pursuers, and finally left Yan Hui Island quietly.

"Still want to pursue me?"

Sitting on the boat, Liao Yonghuai glanced back and a smug look appeared on his face. What he was using at this moment was not his real body, but a golden puppet. Although it was not as flexible as a silver puppet, it was still far superior to that of an ordinary cultivator.

However, at that moment, Liao Yonghuai noticed something and his expression changed slightly.

"Someone actually caught up with us."

Realizing something was wrong, Liao Yonghuai immediately took out a golden toad coin. In the next instant, his golden puppet body transformed, turning directly into a pool of liquid and merging into the river, disappearing into the distance at an extremely fast speed.

At the same time, a figure came from afar at lightning speed, directly conjuring a phantom palm that crushed the small boat Liao Yonghuai was riding in.

"Ran away? What bad luck!"

Wearing a mask and watching the surging river flow by, the cultivator who had originally intended to intercept and kill Liao Yonghuai couldn't help but sigh.

In the shadows, Jiang Chen took in all these changes.

"It really wasn't the real person after all. But with that, I'm pretty sure I didn't pick the wrong person."

As the thought crossed his mind, a glint of light flashed in Jiang Chen's eyes as he looked in the direction Liao Yonghuai had left.

The main function of the Soul-Returning Water is to repair soul wounds, which is not of much use to him, since he already possesses this ability. The reason he pays attention to it is more to try his luck and see if the mastermind behind the scenes will appear.

Although the chances are slim, it's always worth a try. In fact, the Taiping Sect had previously tried to lure the other party into a trap by using information about the soul treasure, but the other party was clearly cautious and never showed up.

Fortunately, he was lucky this time and managed to catch the other party by the tail. But thinking about it carefully, this is normal. After all, soul treasures are rare, and Yan Hui Island is the best channel in Qingyuan County for the other party to find such treasures.

Moreover, if the time drags on for too long, the opponent's soul injury may worsen, and the opponent cannot afford to wait any longer.

"Hopefully this time there will be a result."

A thin mist filled the air, and Jiang Chen, transforming into a dragon, disappeared into the water, following the clues.

Meanwhile, Liao Yonghuai quickly retrieved his golden puppet using a secret technique and continued to escape by taking advantage of the water. Relying on the special environment of the river, he was best able to conceal himself, and ordinary people could not detect his presence at all.

Why do I always feel uneasy?

Flowing along with the river, Liao Yonghuai did not detect any trace of the pursuers, but he always felt uneasy, as if something was warning him from the shadows. He had had similar feelings twice before, and each time they came true.

"Could it be that someone is really targeting me?" Liao Yonghuai's expression turned somewhat grim as he guessed a possibility.

"It's better to believe that it exists than to believe that it doesn't exist."

With a sudden thought, Liao Yonghuai activated a secret technique and released the golden puppet he had just retrieved. In an instant, his appearance changed again, transforming him from a fat man into a thin one.

In fact, he was not fat; he only appeared to be fat because he had fused with the golden golem.

The next instant, he parted ways with the golden puppet, but always maintained a distance of about ten miles, making the golden puppet a target in the open to confuse people, while his true body was hidden in the dark. He left behind many illusions and deceptions to guard against possible pursuers.

It took Liao Yonghuai several days to finally return to Qinghe County one night, but his actions caused some trouble for Jiang Chen's pursuit.

"That's a really good tactic. Did they detect something? If it were just simple caution, there would be no need to go to such lengths."

In the river, seeing the false traces left by the other party, Jiang Chen temporarily stopped in his tracks.

"The opponent's puppet is truly mysterious. Fortunately, the opponent chose water-style techniques, and this is my home turf."

Stirring up the river water and agitating its veins, following a mysterious intuition, Jiang Chen once again set off.

Even so, his pursuit was not so smooth, and he was still delayed by the illusions left behind by Liao Yonghuai.

As night fell, mist enveloped the Qingyuan River, and Jiang Chen slowly revealed his true form.

"It's actually Qinghe County..."

Gazing at the night-lit town of Qinghe, Jiang Chen fell into deep thought.

After some tracking, he finally pinpointed Liao Yonghuai's true whereabouts and followed him to the outskirts of Qinghe County. However, once there, he completely lost track of him. The only thing he was certain of was that Liao Yonghuai was in Qinghe County.

"It seems that the other party has most likely been hiding in Qinghe County all along. The Taiping Sect has already conducted a thorough search of this area and found no suspicious people. From this point of view, it is unlikely that the other party is an outsider. It is more likely that they are a local of Qinghe County, and even know a lot about the Taiping Sect. This would make it easier for them to hide themselves and evade the Taiping Sect's repeated investigations."

With a deep, unfathomable gaze, Jiang Chen made a rough guess about the other party's identity.

"Since they are not outsiders, there are only a few who can use such methods. We just need to focus on investigating them, but we must not make any big commotion so as not to alert them."

With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Chen did not approach Qinghe County again. His dragon form silently submerged into the river, leaving only a dark shadow under the moonlight.

In the following days, Jiang Chen once again arranged for people to search Taiping County, focusing on eliminating those suspicious targets. However, at this time, another matter caught Jiang Chen's attention.

Inside Qinghe Xiaozhu, Wang Yuan, his face solemn, handed a challenge letter to Jiang Chen.

"My lord, this was delivered today. Someone wants to emulate the former Yuling Sect and challenge my Taiping Sect to a duel to determine the ownership of Qinghe County."

"The other party is arrogant and quite strong; they probably came prepared."

In a low voice, Wang Yuan recounted the relevant details.

Hearing this and seeing the challenge sent by Wang Yuan, Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow. The timing of the challenge was indeed quite subtle.

(End of this chapter)