Escaping Sky Titan City wasn't filled with a tense aura or battle tethering over life and death, both Ying Zhihao and Ying Yimian were having a conversation and laughing while Yan Zaizen was controlling the skyship. There were no sudden developments, and they had already planned everything. It didn't take long, only a few minutes, before they reached the western gate with the skyship's maximum speed. When they approached the gate, Ying Yimian simply produced a titan badge — similar to the one Ying Sumian had earlier — and a location on the gate miraculously opened.
They proceeded through it without a single obstacle.
"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be." Yan Zaizen couldn't help but remark at the sheer ease of their escape. His eyes glowed with suspicion, but then he thought about what they wanted to accomplish. They likely removed anything that would've been an obstacle. This meant they were planning this for a long time.
Looking at the spatial ring on Ying Zhihao's finger, he couldn't help but feel his mouth turning dry. He had a distinct belief that the ring had an extraordinary amount of wealth. Likely it had Ying Zhihao's wealth and likely even a portion of the clan's. There's no way it had delicacies like Ying Yimian said. He was tempted.
He thought this through.
It's unlikely that the Ying Clan would be notified for several hours, and even after that, they would probably have to determine which direction they went. With the skyship's speed, there's no way in hell they would have enough time to search all directions. This could be seen when Ying Sumian was said to have stolen the skyship before, but there was no one who could stop her. Its maximum speed could rival the consistent speed of a high-stage Qi Unification cultivator, and all it needed was essence for that speed to be maintained. This meant unless one had an Origin Core cultivation base, catching up would be impossible.
Even if he wanted to search for the ship after a few hours, it would be extremely difficult without a direction. The speed covered in those hours would vastly exceed his spiritual sense range, even if he used the Source Sonar Soul Art.
It's likely they'll make their move to reap away his life after several hours. If they decide to take action, he will definitely respond in kind. He was never a kind-hearted individual. He assumed they would likely want to park the ship somewhere so they don't crash because of him piloting it.
To be honest, he was quite curious. How did this Ying Yimian plan to deal with this Qi Unification Cultivator?
The beautiful moonlight shone on the skyship as they traveled west. Several hours passed by quickly, and they had already reached an incredibly far distance from Sky Titan City. The essence fuel reserves were only down by about 3%, this was extraordinary. He was sure he could take advantage of this to make it back home even if he didn't use the Xuanwu City spatial platform. It took about eighteen days to arrive with Ying Sumian, but if he traveled at maximum speed, it would presumably require two.
"We should land. We need to figure out where we are in comparison to where the Serene Moon Cove is on the map." Ying Sumian suggested.
"Agreed. After finding our direction, we won't become lost due to any unforeseen circumstance," Ying Zhihao said in agreement. Yan Zaizen's eyes sparkled with a cunning light.
It's going to start soon.
"Okay. I don't want to get lost. If we do, we won't be able to make our way back before we get in trouble." As he said this, he revealed a worried tone. Both of the Ying's had a cunning smile on their faces, both with their own ideas.
They swiftly landed in a forest's flat plain area. The skyship truly was extraordinary. It landed softly with barely any sound, and when it initiated or flew through the sky it was as stealthy as a shadow. It didn't disturb the wildlife or any of the inhabitants nearby.
The three, Ying Zhihao, Ying Yimian, and Yan Zaizen gathered together on the deck. They each had varied expressions. From a cold indifferent expression, a pleasant smile, and an impish look of anticipatory lust respectively.
"Where are we?" Yan Zaizen asked.
BANG!!!
A thunderous sound resounded that originated from below. A profound formation on the deck of the skyship revealed itself. If one was familiar with formations, they would notice this formation was recently set up. Both Yan Zaizen and Ying Zhihao revealed shocked expressions, while Ying Yimian had a vicious smile that caused her original sweet beauty to turn devilish.
A white wispy smoke erupted upwards and seeped into the skin and orifices of Yan Zaizen and Ying Zhihao. They were stunned, and immediately realized they couldn't move. Their physical bodies were restrained by the formation, and when the white smoke forced its way into their bodies, Yan Zaizen felt his qi begin to become chaotic and diffuse rapidly whenever he tried to use it. If it wasn't for that, this level of formation could be easily shattered, but without their qi, it was useless.
However, Ying Zhihao didn't feel this chaotic situation. Despite this, he still revealed a weakened appearance. As if he couldn't move his physical body or use his qi. Powder-like substance funneled into his body by the white smoke.
Ying Yimian laughed lightly after the white smoke dissipated revealing her cold eyes and triumphant smile. "Truly, toads after swan meat." She remarked with disdain. "Mister Han, I must thank you. My father wouldn't give me the method to use the ship, but to you, he was willing to let his guard down due to his weakness and your potential. He even gave you the book! That stingy old coot." The sweet and tender Ying Yimian was gone, and what replaced it was a foul-mouthed arrogance.
"As for you, Big Brother Zhi. You're pathetic. You think I didn't know your intentions? Psst, fool." She pulled out a dagger from her spatial bag and walked over towards Ying Zhihao. It seems her intention was to reap his life first.
Ying Zhihao revealed a fearful expression, he shouted loudly, "I loved you Ying Yimian! We were supposed to kill this fool, and live happily ever after! Was it all a lie?!" His voice was frantic. Ying Zhihao had extraordinary acting skills. If he was in another world, he would likely win some sort of award.
"Hahaha! Loved me? Just die." She didn't even want to pander to his nonsensical thoughts. When she reached his side, she raised the dagger and struck down intending to plunge it deep inside his skull. At this time, a flash of devious light revealed in Ying Zhihao's eyes. Ying Yimian was surprised by this sudden change and wanted to end his life as quickly as possible to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.
However, an eruption of powerful qi exploded outwards. Ying Yimian, with her initial-Essence Formation cultivation base, was sent backwards and smashed heavily towards the railings of the skyboat. A grunt of pain followed by a grimacing expression was revealed on Ying Yimian face. Her eyes filled with disbelief.
"How?!"
Ying Zhihao stood there with a sharp aura, his qi cultivation base rotating without any hindrance from the poison. He coldly smiled, vanishing from her sight with his movement art and reappearing beside her, decisively sending a palm filled with qi towards her dantian.
"NO!!" She couldn't help but cry out in fear. She merely had the cultivation base of an initial-Essence Formation, to someone at the initial-Qi Unification she was simply a dead fish on a cutting board.
The palm struck fiercely, a fierce qi surged that shattered her dantian and severed her pathways. She was officially crippled. The light in her lovely blue eyes dimmed greatly, and a mouthful of blood revealed sprayed outwards.
How could this have happened? She planned everything perfectly. She set up the formation. She got a poison that not even a Qi Unification Cultivator could fight and even picked someone who didn't have a profound body cultivation so it would be easier to deliver a deadly strike with her weapon. Yet, here she was, crippled. The fate she was trying so hard to fight for was taken away from her instantly. It's likely her only path left was death.
Her thoughts spun and she thought that maybe marrying He Shijing would've been better than this.
"Bitch, scheming against me?! You're a billion years too young." He spat a wad of spit at her face in disgust and disdain. He was a Qi Unification Cultivator, if he wasn't intelligent, he would've died long ago. "I'll be sure to give you a lot of my love before sending you off."
Yan Zaizen, on the other hand, was absolutely surprised by these events. He thought for sure that Ying Zhihao would die, but then again, it made more sense that the situation didn't happen. Ying Zhihao must be hundreds of years old, living in a hotpot of complexity that was the Sky Titan City, and yet he still was capable of attaining his level. Anyone who could do that, under those circumstances, wouldn't be so childish as to be schemed against successfully by a girl not even twenty.
He couldn't help but shake his head and had his horizons broadened by these events. This world was cruel, with one mistake, your death was all but ensured.
Unfortunately for Ying Zhihao, the person who he wanted to get rid of was him.
PNEUMA DISRUPTION!
A surge of powerful soul energy shot directly for Ying Zhihao's soul form. This soul art had reached the peak initial success, was superior-grade, and possessed extraordinary offensive power. With his soul cultivation at the Perfect Nascent Soul, while the target merely had the soul cultivation at the Initial Nascent Soul, the effect could be imagined. Especially when the target didn't set up any active defenses due to his ignorance and negligence.
"Wha?!" Ying Zhihao's last words was thus. A stream of powerful foreign soul energy directed itself towards his soul flame and snuffed it out suddenly. His body crumbled to the ground like a puppet without its strings support. His body may be alive, but he was essentially in a coma without any way to wake up.