Chapter 697: Wind-Riding Wheel

Volume 5: Famous Far and Wide

Han Li followed behind Nanlong Hou and the others, finally flying out of the massive wind formation that stretched for dozens of miles. Throughout this journey, not a single Spell Warrior appeared to obstruct them, indicating they had likely received instructions from someone.

This reminded Han Li of an unusual situation he had inadvertently discovered while escaping the restriction. In fact, it was quite a coincidence!

At that time, his spiritual sense couldn't penetrate the surrounding sandstorm. Left with no choice, he infused spiritual power into his eyes to test the divine ability of his 'Bright Clear Spirit Eyes'. After all, he had already applied the Bright Clear Spirit Water to his eyes numerous times. Now was the perfect opportunity to test its efficacy.

The results far exceeded his expectations: the swirling yellow sand, which had previously obscured his vision, became easily penetrable with a glance from his spirit eyes. He was immensely surprised and delighted!

However, he was then surprised again. Not far away, amidst the sandstorm, he distinctly saw a round, shadowy presence, spanning over ten zhang in diameter. Startled, the spiritual power in his eyes faded, and the black shadow vanished with it. What he saw with his naked eyes was once again nothing but swirling sand.

Han Li paused, then activated his spirit eyes again. The black shadow reappeared in its original position, as if it had never vanished. This time, however, Han Li intensified the spiritual power in his eyes. The black shadow became slightly clearer, and he could vaguely discern several human figures moving within it. Even with further infusions of spiritual power, this was the clearest it got, indicating the limit of his Bright Clear Spirit Eyes' divine ability. Nevertheless, Han Li now understood that someone was employing a divine ability to hide nearby.

He didn't know what kind of astonishing divine ability this was, capable of deceiving even Nascent Soul cultivators, but undoubtedly, only Spell Warriors would be present in this area. It appeared the other party recognized the strength of their group and had no intention of revealing themselves for a direct confrontation, preferring instead to observe from the sidelines. Consequently, Han Li chose not to expose their presence. Instead, he feigned ignorance and departed. He presumed these individuals wouldn't dare to emerge and obstruct them again.

Upon exiting the yellow sand formation, Han Li and the others immediately activated their escape lights. They transformed into streaks of dazzling light, soaring through the air at full speed. They knew that while they had evaded the Spell Warrior vanguard, the main Spell Warrior force would arrive shortly. If they failed to escape this yellow earth wilderness within a short time, their lives would truly be in peril. Whether high-ranking cultivators from the Spell Warrior army attacked them individually, or countless Spell Warriors swarmed them, they wouldn't be able to handle the onslaught. Therefore, Nanlong Hou and the others remained silent, simply accelerating their flight.

Thanks to their profound cultivation, they maintained their speed, and after just half a day, they vaguely spotted a hint of green on the distant horizon, finally reaching the edge of the Mulan Grassland.

“Alright, we can finally breathe a sigh of relief. It seems this time, we've had a narrow escape.” Nanlong Hou, leading the group, let out a long breath and a faint smile appeared on his face as he slowed his escape speed. Such a prolonged period of intense magical consumption had even begun to wear him out. The others were in similar straits and also reduced their flight speed.

“Indeed. We've made it this far without incident. Even if the Mulan people regret it, they won't be able to catch us now,” the dark-faced man said with relief, clearly believing they were out of danger.

“Don't drop your guard! There are many formidable individuals among the Spell Warriors, possessing truly astonishing divine abilities. We... hmm!” The white-robed elder had just spoken a few words when he uttered a soft sound of surprise, his expression turning doubtful as he glanced behind him. Han Li's heart stirred at this sight. Just as he was about to speak, a piercing boom faintly echoed from the distant rear. In a mere instant, this strange, high-pitched shriek intensified significantly.

At once, everyone's expressions drastically changed, and they all turned to look behind them. They saw a flashing white light on the distant horizon—a seemingly small orb of light, rapidly approaching them at a bewildering speed. Its speed was truly astonishing!

“This is bad! That's a Spell Warrior Wind Chariot. It must be carrying Spell Warriors at our cultivation level; otherwise, they wouldn't dare to pursue us,” the white-robed elder exclaimed, instantly recognizing the flying object, his face contorting in shock and anger.

“There are five Spell Warriors inside, all at the Nascent Soul stage, just like us. It appears their goal isn't to defeat us, but to engage and delay us, buying time for reinforcements,” Wang Tiangu stated, his expression grim after a spiritual sense scan.

“We cannot engage them in combat. With five Spell Warriors, we won't be able to defeat them quickly, and once we start fighting, we'll be trapped. We should split up and proceed independently, each employing our own divine abilities. Here are some jade slips, one for each of you; they contain a meeting point. We'll reconvene here three days after we separate.” Nanlong Hou finished speaking in a rush, immediately pulling out several identical jade slips from his robe and tossing one to each person.

Even in that brief delay, the distant Wind Chariot became clearly visible.

“Fellow Daoists, take care of yourselves. See you in three days.” Nanlong Hou wasted no more time. His entire body enveloped in golden light, he shot out diagonally. The white-robed elder, his expression grim, transformed into a white rainbow and departed, remarkably heading in a different direction from Nanlong Hou.

After receiving the jade slips, the old woman and the others wasted no time, each activating their secret arts and scattering in different directions. The dark-faced man erupted in pale yellow spiritual flames several feet high. He plunged toward the ground, disappearing directly into the earth as he employed an earth-escape technique. Meanwhile, silver light flashed in the old woman's hand as a gleaming silver white crane hairpin materialized. She breathed spiritual energy onto the artifact, and a white-feathered spirit crane, enveloped in white mist, instantly appeared before her. With a swift movement, the old woman stood precariously on the crane's back. After a long cry from the white crane, the two of them were over a hundred zhang away.

The cold-faced cultivator surnamed You, however, glowed with brilliant silver light. After forming a hand seal, he merged with an unknown treasure, transforming into a silver flood dragon that soared upward, piercing the sky and vanishing into the clouds. Wang Tiangu, Wang Chan, and Yan Ruyan, employing some unknown Ghost Spirit Sect secret art, transformed into a single, thick black beam and fled together. In an instant, the three were reduced to a mere black speck. Their escape speed was truly breathtaking!

Han Li's actions were equally swift. Almost immediately upon receiving the jade slip from Nanlong Hou, a red light flared, and a crimson cloak materialized on his body. After determining a direction, he unhesitatingly infused a large amount of spiritual power into the cloak. A humming sound emanated from the cloak, and crimson light flared brightly. Han Li transformed into a blur of blood-red light and shot forth, his speed barely lagging behind the others. He even had the leisure to glance back at the pursuing Wind Chariot.

Though the chariot was still distant, Han Li's powerful spiritual sense allowed him to discern it clearly in the blink of an eye. The artifact's appearance was indeed peculiar! It resembled a pristine white, four-sided beast chariot, but without any spiritual beasts to pull it or wheels beneath. Instead, dark red wooden wings, seven to eight zhang long, extended from each side of its body. Runes drifted across their surface, and five-colored shimmering light continuously pulsed within them. Upon closer inspection, Han Li was surprised to discover that the Wind Chariot was entirely crafted from unknown beast bones, giving it a pristine white and delicate appearance, while subtly radiating a fierce, malevolent aura. Due to the obscuring white light, Han Li could only vaguely discern how many individuals were seated inside the chariot. Moreover, having never engaged Spell Warriors in combat, Han Li dared not rashly probe the Wind Chariot with his spiritual sense. Instead, he turned his attention back to his escape, reactivating the blood-colored cloak on his body and directly fleeing south towards the Mulan Grassland.

Within moments, Han Li and the other eight individuals had each flown over ten li in different directions. Meanwhile, the Wind Chariot closely pursued them to the very spot where Han Li and the others had just separated, causing Han Li to instinctively glance back at it again. The Wind Chariot suddenly halted. After a few flashes of white light, four figures, three men and one woman, disembarked from it, each dressed differently. These four Spell Warriors then gathered, conversed briefly, and subsequently split into four groups, each vigorously pursuing one of Nanlong Hou's scattered companions.

Conveniently, no one pursued Han Li's direction. Seeing this, Han Li's heart eased. Just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, a sudden thought struck him, and he inwardly exclaimed, “Oh no!” Almost simultaneously, the previously stationary Wind Chariot pulsed with blinding white light before shooting directly toward Han Li. The piercing boom resonated like a demonic drill in his mind, causing Han Li's expression within the blood-red light to turn grim.

But Han Li then let out a cold snort. The light around him suddenly intensified, becoming dazzling. His escape speed increased by a third, and the crimson cloak itself began to emit a low hum. Two glowing orbs—one blood-red in front, one white behind—now separated by more than ten li, began a relentless chase. While the Spell Warrior's Wind Chariot possessed astonishing speed, Han Li's blood-red cloak was no less remarkable. Surprisingly, a stalemate ensued; neither could gain or lose any ground for a time. Moments later, they streamed, one after the other, into the vast grasslands. Soon, the two glowing orbs vanished from sight above the prairie's edge, their chase continuing deeper into the expanse.

(End of this chapter.)