Chapter 247 – Suspicion

The Attack of the Wastrel

The same scenario took place all over the Sacred Lands. Upon being teleported to a safe place, some chose to leave while others set foot once again onto the Sacred Lands.

These Martial Artists thought that they were lucky and stepped into a Teleportation Spell. What they were unaware of was that the second after they were sent away, those people pursuing them were attacked by the Restrictive Shield. Each of them were all slashed instantaneously.

And what caused all this was undoubtedly, Gu Lingzhi.

Although many of the Restrictive Shields in the Sacred Lands were destroyed by the North Qiu Royal Family, there were still many more being kept intact. Those Restrictive Shields with formidable powers were secretly hidden away unscarred in different corners of the Sacred Lands. Through Gu Lingzhi’s manipulation, she could control the entire situation.

“Senior Mei, there’s danger!” Gu Lingzhi warned suddenly.

The ring reflected an image of the Sacred Lands in which one could clearly see Mei Ying and Su Rou, who had been promoted to a Demigod, walking deeper into the Sacred Lands. In less than a hundred meters lurked three masked Martial Artists who seemed to be up to no good. To their right was an empty plot of land.

Just as Gu Lingzhi finished saying those words, Mei Ying and Su Rou fell into a trap prepared by the North Qiu Royal Family and knocked into an invisible wall.

“Zik … ” A series of electric shocks that could terrorise one’s hair accompanied Mei Ying’s curse, “Who in the world set up this Restrictive Shield? Couldn’t they even spare an inch of empty space?”

He sensed something was wrong not long after cursing. He had no clue as to when the three shadows appeared while he was following behind Su Ruo. The three of them split into three directions in order to block off their escape.

“What’s going on? What do you want?” Mei Ying’s face darkened instantly.

Seeing how the opponents were unwilling to reveal their motives, Mei Ying knew that they were acquaintances. Mei Ying, who had been through so much, could understand this situation that he was in instantly. Since the other party dared to take action, they would have already calculated and devised on how to kill them both. Thus, he whispered to Su Ruo, “In a while, I would hold them off while you leave first.”

“No, I want to be with you!” Su Ruo objected immediately. After finally prolonging her lifespan in order to grow old with Mei Ying, how could she possibly leave him alone now?

“Listen to me. Go out so that it’s easier to get help, I …” Before he could complete his sentence, one of the assailants began the attack.

Of course, the powers of Demigods were much more formidable compared to normal Martial Artists. Almost instantly, Mei Ying and Su Ruo retreated into different corners and disappeared into two different space-dimension realms that one of their assailants formed.

Mei Ying showed no signs of weakness and exuded his own realm as well. Suddenly, the corner where the four of them stood, distorted temporarily due to the expansion of their realms. This caused the people, who were originally here for treasure hunting, to retreat far away instantly. They knew better than to be involved in duels between Demigods.

Although Mei Ying’s reaction was fast and the time to hold up the domain was short, his overpowering abilities were still unable to withstand the clash of the realms. After holding up the domain and fighting a few rounds with the opponents, Mei Ying felt weak as if all his spiritual energy was being sucked out of his body.

“The lot of you…” Actually used poison against me!

Without finishing the sentence, Mei Ying’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and fell onto the ground.

On the other side, Su Ruo was no better as she fell to the ground a second after him. The corners of her mouth turned into a bitter smile. She did not expect to fall for someone else’s schemes just after prolonging her lifespan.

A second before their eyes closed, all they could see was a cold ruthless knife being lifted by one of the men…

“Huh? Big Brother, where did they go?” The Demigod wondered just as he was about to kill the couple. They were so close, but at the last step, their targets vanished into thin air.

“I don’t know.” The man who was addressed as ‘Big Brother’, stared gloomily at where the couple had been lying. “Maybe they accidentally touched some Restrictive Shield and they were teleported elsewhere?”

“They actually touched a Restrictive Shield at a time like this, they are really lucky!”

All three of them looked a little resentful. They did not have time to rejoice for wearing masks during their assault such that their identities were not seen by Mei Ying for in the next moment, numerous vines grew out of the once calm and peaceful surroundings. All three of them were surrounded and trapped. A subsequent white flame engulfed and devoured them.

“So, this is the power of Divine Fire.” While watching the high-ranking Martial Artists in the continent being turned to ashes by the raging white flames, Gu Lingzhi, who used a Restrictive Shield to hide herself, could not help but heave a sigh of relief.

Divine Fire was fire-based spiritual power released by True Gods. After surpassing the Thunder God trial and successfully ascending from a Demigod to a True God, one’s Spiritual Roots in the body would also undergo mega changes.

The white flame from before that burned the three Demigods was the energy Gu Lingzhi created using the Restrictive Shield. She followed a method Liu Yiyan taught her and managed to simulate the Divine Fire. The power was overbearing as expected and so was the consumption. Just a fist-sized flame would consume two pieces of spiritual treasures acquired from the seventh floor. This caused Gu Lingzhi to be anguished and elated at the same time.

At the same time, the underground Secret Chamber of the North Qiu Royal Palace was built such that it was not inferior to the extravagance of other palaces. Within a bronze coffin laid Pan Luming who shook his body before slowly opening his eyes. His dry lips spit out three words tragically, “My son…”

A man meditating in another room immediately rushed over and greeted Pan Luming respectfully with a bow, “Uncle, what can I do for you?”

Upon hearing that, Pan Luming turned to the speaker with murky eyes. His rough voice sounded once again, “Find the murderer and take revenge for my son.”

“Uncle, you mean…” Pan Yu did not dare to continue his words under those fierce eyes of Pan Luming. When one reaches Pan Luming’s level of cultivation, there are many things that can be known through the sensory of the unseen world.

With what Pan Luming had said, it was likely that his son, Pan Wei, had an accident while being sent out to hunt down a Demigod. And this accident was likely to be one whereby the North Qiu Royal Family was unable to bear.

This was indeed the case. When Pan Yu passed Pan Luming’s words and ordered a search for Pan Wei and the others in the Sacred Lands, nothing could be found. Pan Wei and his trio disappeared silently as if they had never appeared in the Sacred Lands.

“Who is it? Who could cause three demigods to vanish mysteriously? Could it be…that person?” Pan Wuyang, who was informed of the incident, speculated in horror.

Even though the cultivation of Pan Wei and others were not as superb, it was by no means that they could be taken down so easily. In order to eliminate the three of them without giving them a chance to call for help, the other party must have had at least five Demigods to do so. But Pan Wei and the rest were not fools. It was not likely for them to attack the other group that was larger in numbers. Thus, there could only be two other possibilities.

One would be that they have met an opponent that is far more superior. The only person in the Tianyuan Continent had such capabilities was Lord Fashen. However, he has always been retreating in the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild and had never once meddled with worldly affairs. How could he possibly appear at such a place like this? Moreover, to do something to Pan Wei? He did not think that the three of them would be stupid enough to initiate an attack on Lord Fashen.

Another possibility was that they had accidentally encountered a Restrictive Shield which teleported them to an unknown place.

Hadn’t such things been happening these days, where Martial Artists had accidentally encountered Restrictive Shields while their lives were at stake and thus, escaped?

“I hope that’s the case.” Pan Wuyang looked hopelessly. That’s three Demigods that they had lost!

There were only eight Demigods in the North Qiu Royal Family. Half of them were gone in just an instant. The pursuit had only begun for a few days yet such an incident had already occurred. There had better be no further mistakes.

Unfortunately, things never turned out the way one wished them to.

Just before the panic caused by the disappearance of Pan Wei and the rest had been stabilised, Pan Wuyang received several other bad news. More than half of their subordinates who were dispatched to hunt the top-ranking Martial Artists in other kingdoms could not be reached.

If only a small number of them could not be reached, he could still regard this as a failed mission. However there were many Martial Sages amongst their subordinates. Their mysterious disappearance caused him to become vigilant.

“Get back to the palace, this matter must be quickly reported to the ancestors!” Pan Wuyang stood up and left the Sacred Lands immediately.

Besides, Gu Lingzhi had been using the Restrictive Shield on the other side to kill the people sent out by the North Qiu Kingdom. She suffered a heavy loss but gained plenty at the same time.

In addition to Pan Wei and his trio, Gu Lingzhi successfully made use of the Restrictive Shield to hunt down two Demigods from the North Qiu Kingdom as well as a few Martial Sages. It could be said that she recovered all the injustices suffered during the period at Pan En’s.

“After killing this wave of people, it’s about time to reveal my identity,” Gu Lingzhi muttered to herself while looking at the batch of Martial Artists sent out by the North Qiu Kingdom that fell at her feet. With a lift of her hand, a large sea of fire rose from the air and burned the corpses on the ground completely.

For days, she had been doing this with ease. As the use of Restrictive Shield grew, she gained a new understanding of how to manipulate it in the Sacred Lands. In such a situation where she could see and hit them, whereas they were completely unable to see her, her control over the Restrictive Shield became more and more delicate. While dealing with low-level Martial Artists, she no longer needed the ring’s guidance and could successfully manipulate the Restrictive Shield to deal with all of them.

As the traces on the ground were smoothed, Gu Lingzhi controlled the Restrictive Shield and returned to the main palace. She was as usual, greeted by Rong Yuan’s hug. Both of them embraced each other for a moment before Gu Lingzhi asked Liu Yiyan to light up the sixth level as a pretense. After pushing open the windows, she rushed to the haggard-looking Pan En and asked, “Second Highness, I’ve succeeded once again. What treasures do you need this time round?”

Pan En was stunned for a while before recalling that there was such a figure like Gu Lingzhi. He casually said, “Pick the treasure yourself, as long as it is helpful for cultivation.”

With the disappearance of the five Demigods and numerous Martial Sages, it led the North Qiu Royal Family to realise that something went wrong. Thinking of the words disseminated by the ancestors, it was indeed suspicious that Gu Lingzhi was able to enter and leave the main palace many times. He began to eye Gu Lingzhi with suspicion.

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