Chapter 271: The Hero's Path
Jiang Chen followed Qin Nianmin in secret for a while. Once he saw that the old man had left Yue City's territory and was far from any other dangers, he stopped.
The rest of this hero's path — he would let the old man walk it alone.
He deeply respected Qin Nianmin's choice, but in truth, he held little confidence in the old man's journey.
People often harbored unrealistic fantasies about "wise rulers" and "just officials," always believing that the darkness before their eyes existed only because the ruler's gaze had not yet fallen upon it. They never considered where the soil that nurtured evil came from, or who had cultivated it.
He did not regret saving Qin Nianmin on a whim, but his plan to use Yue City's Lord's Manor to pursue the Bone Path cultivators had clearly fallen through.
It was almost laughable — he had set out to save the common people of this region, yet he had offended two city governments in succession.
I offered my heart to the bright moon, only for the moon to shine upon the gutter.
Jiang Chen estimated that the possibility of swiftly rooting out the Bone Path cultivators was now gone. All he could do was rely on patient, grinding work — searching slowly by himself.
It was a dispiriting thought.
But then the wind parted before a sweeping robe.
Someone was approaching fast.
Jiang Chen did not slow his steps. He merely tightened his grip on his sword.
"I did not know the emissary graced us with their presence! This subordinate was remiss, failing to welcome you earlier!"
A woman's voice drew near from the distance and quickly settled behind him.
Jiang Chen spun around to face her directly.
The first thing that caught his attention was the small bell hanging from her hand. Its appearance was plain and unremarkable — only two fingers wide and two knuckles long — yet it swayed without producing any sound, giving one an unsettling feeling.
"You are not the emissary?" The person holding the small bell seemed stunned as well. Her voice emerged from beneath a heavy cloak, like a serpent gliding across the ground.
After receiving news about Zhang Yuan, the Snake-Mask's initial thought had been to investigate what Zhang Yuan was doing so quietly in the State of Yang.
According to the original plan, it should have been the Holy Sovereign himself who came to clean up.
She currently sided with the Holy Maiden's faction and could not afford to ignore Zhang Yuan's movements.
But the person before her matched the description given by the three Yue City cultivators — young, wearing simple black martial attire, half-long hair, carrying a long sword. Yet he was decidedly not Zhang Yuan!
She had assumed Zhang Yuan had removed his mask and changed his disguise, intending to use the old man surnamed Qin for some purpose. Now it was clear that was entirely wrong. This person was not Zhang Yuan at all.
Not Zhang Yuan — then why did he know Zhang Yuan's name?
Same name, or…
The Snake-Mask's mind raced, and in an instant she seized upon the truth: "You killed the Pig-Mask?"
Here, the only person who could possibly know Zhang Yuan's name was the Zhu Kingdom cultivator who had killed the Pig-Bone Mask.
Without waiting for Jiang Chen's reply, she turned and fled in an instant!
To have killed the Pig-Mask — regardless of the method — spoke to this person's strength.
She might not survive a direct confrontation.
So… run!
She had originally been tracking the supposed Zhang Yuan's trail, never expecting to encounter the very last person she wished to meet in the State of Yang.
She had been fleeing danger with single-minded purpose, only to crash headlong into it.
In a burst of full power, she vanished into the distance in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Chen was momentarily stunned, unsure who this "emissary" was. But the moment she burst into flight without a word, his eyes turned cold.
Found!
He had searched iron shoes to no avail, only to stumble upon what he sought without effort.
This unmistakable aura — the Twelve Divine Manifestations Secret Art of the Bone Path!
The newcomer was one of the Twelve Bone Masks!
Even as the thought formed, he was already charging forward.
Wreathed in violet qi, his body streaked along like sword light.
Dao essence surged from his Celestial Palace, racing through his blood.
Jiang Chen swept across the earth like a sudden gale, the churning air lifting countless leaves and clouds of dust.
Because he had not yet opened the Gate of Heaven and Earth, he could not tread upon the sky. Each time he pushed off the ground, it erupted with a deafening boom, leaving a shallow crater beneath his foot.
From high above, one would see a rising dragon of dust rapidly spreading forward.
This was speed driven purely by his formidable Dao essence reserves — already at Jiang Chen's current limit.
Yet the Snake-Mask grew more distant still, gradually vanishing from sight.
Though he now possessed the combat power to slay cultivators of the Soaring Dragon realm, he had not yet crossed the Gate of Heaven and Earth in essence. He could not match the Soaring Dragon realm's ability to fly through the sky or burrow through the earth.
He could hold his own against opponents in a fierce melee, but against a Soaring Dragon realm cultivator who fled from the outset, he had few options.
But Jiang Chen did not give up. Even as he ran, one hand formed seals to complete the Dao art Mourning.
In their brief encounter just moments ago, he had already captured a wisp of the fleeing Bone Mask's aura — perfect for this very purpose.
Mourning guided him toward his target. Jiang Chen pressed on with abandon, chasing at full speed.
Judging from this Bone Mask's reaction, if he let her escape this time, she would likely never appear before him again.
This chance to pin her down might be the only one he would ever get.
Whether for the people of the State of Yang, still suffering under the plague, or for himself, Jiang Chen refused to let her go.
It was a pursuit that could only be called grueling — the two of them, one fleeing and one chasing, tore across the entirety of Yue City's domain, pursued into Jia City's territory, then veered into Ning City's domain…
Along the way, countless people took notice, but none dared to intervene.
In absolute speed, the Snake-Mask was naturally faster. But she could not shake Jiang Chen, who pursued without rest, sustaining this chase with iron-willed persistence.
The moment she paused, she would quickly spot Jiang Chen drawing near, and was forced to flee again.
Each time Jiang Chen lost sight of his target, he immediately re-locked the direction with Mourning and resumed the chase.
The two of them crossed more than half of Rizhao County, then took a wide arc into Chiwei County.
The Snake-Mask, fleeing ahead, dared not enter the State of Qi under any circumstances. If she were intercepted there, it would likely mean her destruction — and this was precisely why Jiang Chen pursued so brazenly.
Cults like the Bone Path were rats in the street — beaten by all who encountered them.
In any land under the sun, the pursuit of heretical cultivators was supported and encouraged. The only ones who should be afraid were the rats themselves, never the ones who hunted them.
Having crossed more than half of Rizhao County and circled around into Chiwei County, the two had traversed nearly half the State of Yang.
Under normal travel, such a journey would take no less than half a month. At their maximum speed of flight and pursuit, it had consumed three full days and nights.
By now, the Snake-Mask's mood was utterly bleak.
Though they had not yet engaged in direct combat, she already understood why this person had been able to slay the Pig-Mask.
His sheer volume of Dao essence reserves alone was staggering.
Compared to cultivators of the Celestial Palace realm, Soaring Dragon realm cultivators required vast amounts of Dao essence to sustain the Heaven-Earth isolated island. Before completely clearing the Fog of Ignorance and penetrating the Sea of the Body, the amount of Dao essence they could actually deploy did not increase in any fundamental way.
Though theoretically they still commanded greater reserves than Celestial Palace cultivators, Jiang Chen had opened his meridians with the finest Meridian-Opening Pills. His Celestial Palace was towering and vast, further founded upon the Starfield Array. Nine Star River Dao Vortices operated within, giving him Dao essence reserves far exceeding those of cultivators at the same level.
She simply could not shake him.
Along the way, the Snake-Mask rarely dared pass through cities, choosing instead to cross mountains and ridges. No matter how powerful or terrifying the Bone Path might be, beneath the sun her identity was a fatal disadvantage.
If it were possible, she would have fled all the way back to the underground palace that served as the Bone Path's headquarters. But that was only a fantasy.
Before she could reach such distant refuge, if this desperate flight persisted for even two more days, her Dao essence would run dry. She would be forced to draw upon the reserves of her Heaven-Earth isolated island — and the agony of the Fog of Ignorance returning was something she refused to endure again.
She did not know how much longer Jiang Chen could keep this up, but she was unwilling to gamble. Once she reached her own limit, she would have no strength left to fight.
At that point, she feared she would become the first Soaring Dragon realm cultivator to die while fleeing. No matter how much she cherished her life, she did not want that distinction.
So she stopped, and began to seize the time to regulate her breath.
Then let us fight with everything we have!
Since there was no escape.