Gu Qinghan and Sheng Zhehan were equally shocked, but their shock stemmed only from a martial artist's surreal and unreal feeling when a legendary divine weapon appeared around them. Lv Yingbo's shock was due to hatred and guilt.
In this place, no one could understand the huge waves surging in Wang Anfeng's heart.
The last person in the world who could understand him, is still in the distant Great Qin.
A subtle yet unavoidable loneliness and pain, like a wooden splinter deeply piercing into the nail gap; there was no significant change on Wang Anfeng's face, and he said:
"How much more do you know about this matter?"
Lv Yingbo's expression hadn't recovered from his fright, and he said:
"I don't know, I'm not sure, but there's no time left."
"This matter is handled by me and the fortress leader of the Great Wilderness Stronghold, the two of us are responsible, but he's not here right now. It's very likely he's already reached Loulan Ancient City, or rather, he's already on his way to Loulan Ancient City..."
"This 'encirclement of the Great Wilderness Stronghold', rather than being a means of retreat, is likely more about luring the tiger from its mountain and attacking east while feigning west. He just didn't anticipate that this plan would be foiled by you."
Wang Anfeng's heart was far more composed than he anticipated.
The other party being the Hall Master of the White Tiger Hall, having such a plan is quite normal.
Previously, they only intended to hold the Jianghu of the entire Western Regions in his grasp, the scale was not sufficient.
He closed his eyes for a moment, the Buddha beads on his right wrist shrouded under the wide sleeves, slightly glimmering, a trace of his consciousness split, utilizing the relationship between the Buddha Beads and its Jade Beads, instantly grasping a Jade Bead in the distant direction of Great Qin.
That Jade Bead was roughly in the northern part of Great Qin, representing Gongsun Jing.
But at this moment, Gongsun Jing, who would respond every time he was contacted, did not respond to him, Wang Anfeng's expression sank slightly, and a familiar voice of Leng Che sounded in his ear, saying:
"No need to waste your efforts, you can't contact him right now."
"Gongsun Jing is on the brink of a broken mirror, his mind is entrapped in his inner world."
"Unless it's a life-and-death crisis, it's difficult to reach him."
"Whether it's you or me."
Great Qin · Fufeng County.
In the Quiet Room of the Divine Martial Mansion.
Gongsun Jing, dressed in Mysterious Armor, sat cross-legged, breathing deeply. With each breath, the air exhaled from his nose and mouth rose, forming the image of a flood dragon, coiling around him. Although the Jade Bead at his waist continually emitted a faint glow, it could not interrupt the fusion of his inner world with the external Heaven and Earth.
Over twenty years of suppressed talent and innate ability, accumulated experience, a foundation solidified continuously, exploded fiercely over these years.
As the dragon phenomenon spiraled, the aura from his body kept rising, gradually surpassing the Sixth Rank, climbing towards the Fifth Rank Realm enough to become an elder of a major sect.
Sunlight slanted in through the window frames, and that long face bore slight wrinkles, yet still retained some of the youthful spirit.
Outside, the neat and uniform sound of weapons and low roars were endless in the ear.
A central point dug deep into the ground, where wooden stakes barely allowing one person to sit cross-legged stood tall and dense, with different heights. The elder Li Laosan, who had already stepped into the Sixth Rank, continued to move quickly and shout softly.
On top of those stakes, the Qing Taoqi of the Divine Martial Mansion, shirtless, breathed in unison. Their bodies trembled slightly, using Tiger Roar Technique to mobilize their inner strength, refining their bodies. A thousand Great Qin Broad Sabers laid horizontally on their knees. Nearly a thousand people were here, yet the entire Divine Martial Mansion, with over ten thousand subordinates, could only hear a single breath.
Long and continuous, gathering like the wind.
Saber sounds trembled.
The Jade Bead beside Gongsun Jing's waist flickered again with faint glimmers, and then it completely dimmed.
In the place that was Xiuyun North Mountain, or rather where Xiuyun North Mountain once existed, Wang Anfeng opened his eyes, his mind and awareness speed was extremely fast. The three people beside him were all unsettled by the great change in events, and didn't notice Wang Anfeng's oddity at all, only assuming he was contemplating strategies.
Gu Qinghan saw him open his eyes and couldn't help but say:
"Master, now, what should we do?"
He didn't mention how they should escape, even though that's what he thought, but he knew that saying such words in front of a Qin person might lead to some unforeseen consequences.
Just the slightest fear in the heart couldn't be dispelled.
Golden Tent Empire, Great Qin.
A plan over twenty years, spanning the entire world in a true sense.
This must have been a blueprint proposed fifty years ago, or even a hundred years ago, gradually laid out, to weave such a large net.
For several generations of planning, Gu Qinghan had a faint intuition in his heart that if it were only the power of the Jin Empire alone, it would not have gone so smoothly. No matter what methods were used, among the Thirty-Six Kingdoms of the Western Regions, there must have been someone who had already betrayed the neutral stance of the past, siding with the Jin Empire.
It's just not known how many countries have betrayed their stance.
A chill couldn't help but rise in his heart.
Wang Anfeng saw more things; the erosion of the White Tiger Hall was one thing, the great change in the Central Plains happened just over twenty years, the heroes of the world back then have not all passed away, among them are those who hold grudges against Great Qin. If the Hall Master of the White Tiger Hall left an impression in the hearts of these masters, making their thoughts gradually become obsessive.
For instance, just now, Wang Anfeng felt that the reason Zhang Duo was so hostile to Great Qin and the Divine Martial Mansion was partly because there were multiple shadows in his heart, causing his thoughts to gradually tend towards extremity.
There are even more dangers lurking beneath the surface.
He pinched his brow and said, "I must go to the ancient city of Loulan, at least to retrieve the Divine Weapon Zhan Lu before the Jin Empire and the White Tiger Hall. Lv Yingbo, Sheng Zhehan, you will come with me."
Sheng Zhehan nodded, gripping the family heirloom strong bow in his hand tightly.
Gu Qinghan was taken aback, pointed at himself, and said:
Wang Anfeng looked at the person among his current forces with the best Qinggong, and said softly:
"As for you, I have another task for you."
All the sects and noble clans of the Thirty-Six Kingdoms suffered heavy casualties from this battle, with almost forty to fifty percent of the elites lost. Fortunately, the most vital group of people still survived, preventing their sects from falling into an embarrassing situation of decline.
They could faintly feel the fierce battle at the northern mountain of Xiuyun Mountain, and were terrified inside. Most wanted to leave, yet were reluctant. Among them, several sect forces left without hesitation, while the others hadn't made a decision when the battle had already ended. The most update n0vels are published on noⅴelfire.net
Xiuyun Mountain, once the most imposing within thousands of miles, had its northern peak collapse entirely, losing its former grandeur. When large chunks of Qingyan fell, crashing to the ground, the earth beneath their feet trembled slightly.
Yue Yue's breathing was somewhat difficult.
Could such destructive power really be achieved by martial artists?
But immediately another thought popped up uncontrollably — who was the final victor?
Was it the silently standing black-clad youth, or the bandits of the Great Wilderness Stronghold?
Such questions flashed through the minds of the senior members of these sects in an instant, and the tension made them involuntarily grip their weapons tightly. Then, several people shot out from the ruins of Xiuyun Mountain's northern peak, and the crowd looked up to see that it was those few who had never retreated before.
Sheng Zhehan, holding the strong bow, let out a loud whistle. Dozens of muscular men from noble clans skilled in archery responded, riding their black wolves, and turned to follow closely behind Sheng Zhehan, without responding to the other martial artists.
Dozens of wolves, like black lightning, raced along the mountain and ground, quickly disappearing.
After traveling parallel for a while, Wang Anfeng and the others turned north, heading for the ruins of the ancient city of Loulan.
Gu Qinghan moved alone in the direction of Great Qin.
He was originally a martial artist skilled in Qinggong and concealment techniques. Even walking in the Royal Palace, he could move as if no one was there. After obtaining two elixirs from Wang Anfeng, he broke through the bottleneck and stepped into the Fifth Rank Realm, considered an absolute master anywhere. Although unable to switch to superior martial arts, his Qinggong movement technique improved significantly with the support of inner strength.
But from here to Great Qin was far more than a mere thousand-mile journey, extremely distant.
In addition to the ever-changing weather, one moment clear and the next possibly erupting into a sandstorm, even a Fifth Rank martial artist struggled to contend with pure natural forces. Wang Anfeng took several months to travel from Xiong City to the Parthia border. Even with Gu Qinghan's outstanding Qinggong, reaching there in a few days was challenging.
It should have been so.
Gu Qinghan put all his strength into his movement technique, like a lingering shadow, and after a moment, his qi mechanism was slightly lacking, slowing down. Then heart filled with complex emotions, he pulled out a blue cloth bag tied with colorful string from his bosom.
With a casual grab inside, he took out a round elixir. He initially looked at this rare high-grade elixir with some regret, but now was numb, not even looking, and bit into it.
First a bitter taste, then the vast vital energy turned into inner strength, instantly restoring him to full peak condition.
Even numb, Gu Qinghan couldn't help but feel a heartache.
A single elixir, usually saved for several months' bounty and reluctant to eat even one, was now being used to keep his qi mechanism overflowing to slightly increase his movement speed, as if it were free.
Extravagant, too extravagant.
He pressed his right hand to his heart, forcing himself into a state devoid of emotions, abandoning reason, not thinking, then looked at the token in his hand, heavy, with two extremely domineering characters of Great Qin written on it.
Gu Qinghan took a deep breath, accelerating his movement speed by another ten percent, like a meteor passing over the wasteland.
Within seven days, Divine Martial Mansion.
PS: First update for today's update......
A standard chapter of three thousand words