In the wildlands 375 miles away from Flowing Fire Prefecture, a group of three people was fleeing for their lives…
Well, they weren’t exactly “fleeing.” In fact, because of that gong-and-drum dharma tool that had once terrified Yun Feng, the scene looked quite ridiculous.
“Young Master, to summarize, you actually had two goals for going back: First, to get intel on Xuan Sun from your father and mother and select specific dharma tools; and second, to obtain an identity from the Demon Inspection Department to ensure that if the worst happens, we can use the rules to remain invincible?”
Jiang Keke sat behind Yun Heng. While she took a moment to look back and smash the extremely hideous monster, she was also racking her brain.
“I remember I’ve explained this twice.”
Yun Heng calmly took a sip of tea. He didn’t look like he was being chased by a monster at all; rather, he looked like he was enjoying a leisurely afternoon.
In his hand were many old intelligence reports regarding Xuan Sun, all provided by Yun Wangji and Shen Chujing.
“That’s because you followed it up with so many geographical advantages of Flowing Fire Prefecture and a bunch of technical terms… My head hurts just listening to it.”
Jiang Keke playfully stuck out her tongue and turned back to give the monster another hammer strike.
“Three Disadvantages and One Advantage.”
Yun Heng looked away from the reports and toward Jiang Keke, repeating his plan for the third time.
“First, Flowing Fire Prefecture is perpetually eroded by fire poison and miasma, which naturally weakens cultivators like Xuan Sun who rely on precise perception and high-speed mobility.”
“However, this weakening won’t be too significant because he is an Integration Stage expert with extensive combat experience.”
“Second, most of the Demon Inspection Department’s frontline personnel are in the Lower Three Continents.”
“Even the Pacification Commissioner themselves might be stationed near the demon race. Therefore, no matter what, Xuan Sun won’t dare to use over-the-limit spells in high-traffic areas.”
“As long as we don’t go looking for death in the remote mountains, our lives will be somewhat guaranteed.”
“Finally, the more chaotic it gets, the more things the Seventy-two Seats have to worry about. This is a form of psychological warfare on a moral level. It’s fine if you don’t understand it.”
Jiang Keke nodded half-comprehendingly. “Then the ‘advantage’… refers to the fact that you are very familiar with this land, Young Master?”
“More or less.”
‘More than just familiar.’
In his past life, Yun Heng had lived in Flowing Fire Prefecture for more than 3,000 years. He knew even the types of monster beasts hidden in specific underground regions like the back of his hand.
“Then how can you be sure Xuan Sun will come to Flowing Fire Prefecture, Young Master?” Jiang Keke asked.
“Because I sent out a message that is half-true and half-false. He might not get the news firsthand, but he can catch a scent of it secondhand.”
Similar to a certain person, Yun Heng was also the person who knew the demon immortal best in this world.
Ling Yao would definitely come.
And Xuan Sun would definitely follow close behind.
However, although Yun Heng didn’t mind explaining things to Jiang Keke a few more times, there were still many things he chose to hide.
If Yun Heng’s plan were written into a book, the title would surely be ‘How to turn an uncontrollable lunatic into a controllable strategic pawn.’
Including the “blindfold” used to remotely assist Ling Yao in avoiding the demon inspection team with a dharma tool, this was an “angel investment” that no one else might ever understand except for Yun Heng — not asking about stance, not looking at reasons, only caring if it was useful.
“Then, Young Master, what is our first destination?”
Jiang Keke looked up at the sky.
Logically, they should have arrived at Flowing Fire Prefecture early this morning.
However, after teleporting into Yu Gong province, they were unexpectedly informed that most of the relevant teleportation arrays were under repair.
With no other choice, they had to “walk” to Flowing Fire Prefecture using a flying artifact.
Although they encountered quite a bit of trouble along the way — such as the monster behind them — fortunately, the gong-and-drum dharma tool was very fast.
Now, there were less than 100 miles left before they entered the territory of Flowing Fire Prefecture.
Looking from a distance, the entire sky seemed to have been split into two by a giant axe.
One half was the clear blue sky belonging to the Middle Three Continents, while the other half was the thick red mist belonging to Flowing Fire Prefecture.
“We’ll go to the Red Fire Sect first. I need to find someone.”
Yun Heng wiped away the drool dripping from A Xiang’s mouth as she slept soundly on his head.
Jiang Keke was currently at the peak of Qi Refining Level 7.
According to the previous plan, she only needed to find someone to fight once to successfully break through to Level 8 — the monster behind them was a good choice.
As for the remaining two levels, they could use the Marrow Cleansing Pills provided by Master Rong Yu.
Once her cultivation reached Qi Refining Great Circle, all Yun Heng needed to do was find a suitable location for her to enter secluded meditation.
With the help of formations and elixirs, it wouldn’t even be difficult for her to break through to the Golden Core stage in one go.
The natural environment of Flowing Fire Prefecture was extremely harsh, with rampant fire poison. In a sense, it was even less habitable than the mortal realm.
However, there was a slang term in the cultivation world: “Treasures are born in desperate straits, and mysteries are hidden in dead lands.” The more dangerous a place was, the more one could obtain supreme secrets.
On the way to this “dangerous place,” Yun Heng would get lost. His constitution was too weak.
Even if he kept a dharma tool active 24 hours a day for protection, it was inevitable that the fire poison would erode his system and cause neurological disorders.
By then, let alone setting up high-level formations, he would probably need Jiang Keke to carry him just to walk.
So, he needed a “guide” who was familiar with the roads. A guide named Wang Laoqi, whom he had known in his past life.
Yun Heng put down the intelligence report and, after some thought, took out the Monster Hunting Mirror from his storage bag.
Ding Huairou hadn’t assigned him any tasks. Or rather, she was already exhausted just dealing with the paperwork on hand and had no time for Yun Heng for now.
That being said, she had still tampered with the Monster Hunting Mirror and the demon-binding chains, adding some simple monitoring arrays.
Although Yun Heng could easily break them, if he did, Ding Huairou might personally rush over from the Demon Inspection Department to “physically monitor” him.
Yun Heng pointed the Monster Hunting Mirror at A Xiang, who was on his neck.
In the mirror was a chubby little face sleeping extremely comfortably. No matter how one looked at it, this was a human.
“This thing is as useless as ever…” Yun Heng sighed.
In his past life, he had complained more than once to his close friend Yue Wuhen about the appalling low efficiency of this thing.
Then Yue Wuhen asked if he could improve it. Yun Heng said he couldn’t, and Yue Wuhen rolled his eyes and told him to stop talking nonsense.
But in theory, Yun Heng could improve it.
It was just that since his bedmate at the time was Ling Yao, even if he could improve it, he had no reason to.
Yun Heng looked at the half-blue, half-red sky ahead.
They would enter the interior of Flowing Fire Prefecture soon. However, it would still take a few days and nights to reach the Red Fire Sect.
Yun Heng rubbed his chin and pondered for a moment, deciding to temporarily improve this useless Monster Hunting Mirror.
After all, there would definitely be many members of the demon race in the future.
If a demon skilled at hiding launched a sneak attack from behind, the current trio would surely be wiped out — of course, the snarling monster behind them, which Jiang Keke occasionally hammered into the ground, didn’t count.
However, even if he wanted to improve it, he had to bypass Ding Huairou’s monitoring first to avoid having a peanut suddenly drop from the sky and hit his head.
No sooner said than done.
Yun Heng first put away the Monster Hunting Mirror and then used a brush to draw a small array on A Xiang’s and Jiang Keke’s faces.
A Xiang was tickled awake and giggled, while Jiang Keke complained that it looked like a turtle.
After that, Yun Heng stuck a talisman on his right arm and drew a triple-nested illusion array on it. He then did the same on the table.
“The array patterns will automatically disappear after three days.”
After instructing A Xiang, who was currently playing with the “turtle” on Jiang Keke’s face with her small hands, Yun Heng began to attempt to improve the Monster Hunting Mirror.
Thus, Yun Heng sat motionless for three days and three nights; Jiang Keke ran and beat the monster for three days and three nights; and the monster chased them for three days and three nights without fatigue or shouting in pain.
When the gong-and-drum tool crossed the inland of Flowing Fire Prefecture and went deep into the territory under the jurisdiction of the Red Fire Sect, Yun Heng finally finished the modifications.
He stuffed two refreshing elixirs into his mouth and sighed.
“If I really wanted to succeed in all-around improvements, I would probably need to go into seclusion for at least 1,000 years… and that’s only if I had a complete supply of tools and materials.”
Although the effectiveness of this Monster Hunting Mirror was mediocre, it was an ancient relic. Many of the array patterns within it were things even Yun Heng had never seen.
It was no wonder that in his past life, Yue Wuhen, a freak who was as obsessed with formations as he was, didn’t have the heart to improve the Monster Hunting Mirror.
The good news was that Yun Heng had gone home and gained some inspiration that he had never considered in his past life from his younger sister, Yun Sheng.
By combining mechanical ingenuity with formations, he was able to make progress in just three days.
Although the “Seek Breath” function could only be used once every 24 hours and the “Track” had only about an 80% success rate, it could at least capture the residual demon energy around A Xiang now.
Yun Heng put the improved Monster Hunting Mirror back into his storage bag.
Once the array patterns on A Xiang’s and Jiang Keke’s faces disappeared, he signaled Jiang Keke to give the monster behind them another hammer strike to make it quiet down, and then he stepped off the gong-and-drum dharma tool.
“Actually, sometimes I’m quite curious. Am I some reincarnation of the Tang Monk? Why does everyone in your demon race like to huddle around me?”
“Ga-ah—”
The monster let out a harsh roar, seemingly venting its resentment for being subjected to cold violence for the past three days.
Yun Heng sighed and waved his right hand. “Keke, finish this quickly.”