Chapter 128: Taking Refuge in Zhutai City

Upon hearing this, Chen Mu and Blood Heaven both frowned. After swiftly killing the man, they turned their attention to the three disciples Chen Mu had previously grievously wounded.

However, those three disciples had fled in disgrace as soon as Chen Mu shifted the battlefield. They were surely impossible to catch now.

Left with no choice, the man and demon immediately fled down the mountain. The Star Brahma Sect would certainly send experts at the Nascent Soul Realm or even higher, so they had to leave before reinforcements arrived.

Nearly half an hour after Chen Mu and Blood Heaven escaped, a Star Brahma Sect disciple who had just entered the early stage of the Divine Soul Realm led a large group of Nascent Soul cultivators and the three Core Formation disciples who had narrowly escaped death to the scene.

When they arrived at the battlefield and saw one of their sect’s disciples lying dead on the ground, their hearts filled with fury and gloom.

“I never expected anyone to dare kill our sect’s disciples within the territory of the Star Brahma Sect. They deserve ten thousand deaths! The blood hasn’t even coagulated, so it must have happened recently. They can’t have gone far. Senior Brother Hou Ying, what should we do now?” one of the Nascent Soul disciples snarled.

The disciple named Hou Ying was the personal disciple of Gao Mengyue, Sect Master of the Star Brahma Sect. Despite his young age, he had already reached the Divine Soul Realm. He happened to be nearby when he received the distress signal from the sect disciples concerning their clash with Chen Mu and Blood Heaven, and had immediately hurried over.

Hou Ying sternly questioned the three fleeing disciples. “Explain exactly what happened.”

The three disciples trembled with fear as they replied, “Two suspicious people broke into the sect’s forbidden grounds. We intended to capture them and bring them back for interrogation, since they were very likely spies from a rival sect. The two of them are extremely strange. One was clearly in the early stage of the Core Formation Realm, while the other was only at the perfected Foundation Establishment Realm, yet both could fight above their level. They were the ones who killed everyone else. We were seriously wounded by the Foundation Establishment cultivator, but when he realized we were no longer a threat, he shifted the battlefield. That was how we managed to secretly slip away and escape.”

“You useless fools! You couldn’t even defeat someone at the Foundation Establishment Realm? How have you been cultivating all this time? Hmph! You’ve completely disgraced the Star Brahma Sect.” Hou Ying gave a cold snort of rebuke.

After learning what had happened, Hou Ying closed his eyes. His divine sense left his body and swept across every living thing moving nearby.

When two figures fleeing at tremendous speed appeared in his mind, Hou Ying let out a cold laugh. “Escape? Let’s see where you can run!”

He immediately led the Nascent Soul cultivators in pursuit of Chen Mu and Blood Heaven.

But the moment Hou Ying’s divine sense scanned Blood Heaven, the latter cried inwardly, “This is bad!”

He hurriedly said to Chen Mu, “Kid, a Divine Soul cultivator is coming after us. I remember you have a secret art for concealing your aura. Use it quickly, or you’ll be exposed completely beneath a Divine Soul cultivator’s divine sense.”

Blood Heaven’s words startled Chen Mu. He had never expected that killing several Core Formation cultivators would draw out an old monster at the Divine Soul Realm—and that the man had already locked onto them.

Chen Mu had experienced the terror of the Divine Soul Realm on the Yuan Yao Continent, but the Divine Soul cultivator he had encountered there had merely been a weakened imitation whose strength had fallen drastically because of the continent’s limitations.

The Divine Soul cultivators of the Azure Firmament Continent were beings Chen Mu could scarcely imagine. This one was far stronger than Zhong Tianyao—at least ten times stronger, perhaps even more. That was only Chen Mu’s estimate, however, and he could not say for certain.

What Chen Mu did not know was that this Divine Soul cultivator was merely a disciple-level figure within the Star Brahma Sect. Had he known, the shock would have been immense, and the impact on his mind devastating.

After Chen Mu activated the Shadow Charm Concealment Art, the two continued fleeing at top speed. Their methods of concealing their auras were similar, and both were of the highest caliber. Before long, not the slightest trace of their auras leaked out.

Thus, Chen Mu and Blood Heaven vanished from Hou Ying’s divine-sense scan. However, because their cultivation was too weak, even after their auras disappeared, faint energy fluctuations caused by the movement of their bodies remained. Moreover, their positions had already been detected earlier. With a little careful observation, Hou Ying could still discover where they were.

Even so, Hou Ying was deeply shocked that Chen Mu and Blood Heaven could conceal their auras right under his nose so completely that even he could not detect them.

What kind of secret art was this? How could even a Divine Soul cultivator fail to sense their auras?

Hou Ying therefore guessed that the two must have extraordinary backgrounds.

Their cultivation was indeed low, but whether it was their ability to challenge opponents above their level or this miraculous art of concealing their auras, the Star Brahma Sect possessed nothing comparable.

For that reason, the two could not be killed. They had to be captured alive and interrogated carefully to discover their true purpose.

Chen Mu and Blood Heaven were still a considerable distance ahead of Hou Ying and his group. After killing those men, they had fled immediately, while Hou Ying had arrived nearly half an hour later.

Hou Ying would therefore need some time to catch up. Guided by Blood Heaven’s divine sense, Chen Mu and Blood Heaven flew toward a nearby city.

The two hurriedly landed outside the city gates. Cities generally possessed restrictions against aerial flight, so they could only land outside and enter on foot.

Seeing that entering the city required payment, Chen Mu, who was standing in line, asked the person ahead of him, “Excuse me, brother, how much does it cost to enter the city?”

The man looked Chen Mu up and down and replied strangely, “Cost? Do you think this is an ordinary mortal city? Who would accept that worthless copper and iron? There are two ways to enter. The first is to pay ten lower-grade essence stones per person for a one-day stay. The second is to apply for an identity token for Pearl Platform City, which costs eighty lower-grade essence stones.”

Chen Mu was stunned. So money was not the currency here. Essence stones were.

Eighty lower-grade essence stones? He remembered that he had gathered several thousand lower-grade essence stones on the Yuan Yao Continent during the war with the Bright Moon Empire.

But entering the city alone cost eighty essence stones. Wasn’t that far too expensive? He had only a few thousand in total. Still, in order to disappear into the crowd and avoid detection, he could only grit his teeth and hand over the eighty stones.

He turned to Blood Heaven, who was standing behind him, and asked whether he had enough essence stones to pay the entrance fee.

Blood Heaven chuckled and took out a storage ring. In an instant, eighty essence stones appeared in his hand.

Clearly, Blood Heaven’s gains on the battlefield between humans and demons had been considerable. His wealth was more than enough to make him a great magnate within the city.

Chen Mu felt depressed. He very much wanted Blood Heaven to give him some of the treasures in that storage ring, but he could not bring himself to ask.

After all, Blood Heaven had gathered those riches himself, and Chen Mu had no reason to demand any of them. If he accepted Blood Heaven’s favor, he would owe him a debt of gratitude, and it would then be difficult to refuse whatever Blood Heaven asked of him.

He might even be forced to follow Blood Heaven’s wishes. Perhaps one day he would grow increasingly close to Blood Heaven and eventually join the demon race. That was not an outcome Chen Mu wished to see.

After both of them paid eighty essence stones, they received bronze identity tokens. The tokens were merely symbolic proof of identity and contained no personal information. Anyone holding one could enter Pearl Platform City.

With the bronze tokens in hand, Chen Mu and Blood Heaven blended into the crowd and disappeared.

For the sake of caution, Blood Heaven also taught Chen Mu a disguise technique. They had left survivors behind earlier, and if the enemy knew their faces, it would cause trouble should they recognize them.

The two immediately entered an alley, changed their appearances and clothing, and then found a teahouse where they sat down.

By then, Hou Ying had also caught up to Pearl Platform City. His expression was dark. He knew exactly why the two had come here: to disappear into the crowd and evade pursuit.

Upon arriving at Pearl Platform City, Hou Ying released the aura of a Divine Soul cultivator. Under the reverent gazes of the guards, he entered the city.

As the Star Brahma Sect’s chief senior disciple, how could the people of Pearl Platform City dare to ask him for an entrance fee? The city belonged to the Star Brahma Sect’s sphere of influence. They were desperate to curry favor with Hou Ying, so only someone with a brain damaged beyond repair would dare demand payment from him.

Hou Ying’s arrival immediately alarmed the city lord, who came in person. He too was a Divine Soul cultivator, yet even as a fellow member of that realm, he bowed respectfully before Hou Ying.

In full view of everyone, the city lord, Fang Quan, clasped his fists and said deferentially, “I am Fang Quan, city lord of Pearl Platform City. Greetings, Young Master Hou Ying.”

Upon seeing the city lord arrive, Hou Ying immediately said, “City Lord Fang, I have been pursuing two suspects who killed disciples of the Star Brahma Sect. They have already entered your Pearl Platform City. Could you seal the city? Once I capture the two murderers, I will certainly reward you handsomely.”

Fang Quan was somewhat astonished. Someone had actually dared to kill disciples of the Star Brahma Sect within its own territory? Were they tired of living?

Realizing that this was an excellent opportunity to earn merit, Fang Quan immediately agreed.

Inside the teahouse, Chen Mu and Blood Heaven watched the scene unfold, their hearts sinking.

Fortunately, they had altered their appearances. No matter how sharp-eyed the Star Brahma Sect disciples were, they should not be able to notice anything unusual.

Before long, Pearl Platform City was sealed off. This immediately provoked the dissatisfaction of every cultivator within the city. But once they learned that Young Master Hou Ying of the Star Brahma Sect had ordered the lockdown, they all fell silent.

They were also astonished that anyone had dared kill a disciple of the Star Brahma Sect within its territory. Who could be so audacious?

Yet when they heard that the fugitives were merely one cultivator in the early stage of the Core Formation Realm and another at the perfected Foundation Establishment Realm, they quickly lost interest.

Conflicts between cultivators of such low realms were far too common to attract their attention.

Some people, however, became very interested. They sensed that something was unusual. A cultivator in the early stage of the Core Formation Realm and another at the perfected Foundation Establishment Realm had actually provoked a Divine Soul cultivator into pursuing them. That alone was extraordinary.

Moreover, the weakest disciples of the Star Brahma Sect were already at the Core Formation Realm. The two fugitives were far too weak to have openly clashed with the sect’s disciples, let alone kill several of them. No one believed they possessed such strength.

But if they truly had killed those disciples, then the two were certainly no ordinary people.

This matter was clearly far from simple.