728: Chapter 727 Heading North Alone 728: Chapter 727 Heading North Alone Hou Niao left the Heavenly Heart Pavilion and strolled through the nine major flower towns of Sui Mo City, stealthily reverting to his original appearance without anyone noticing.
He faintly felt several Divine Senses tracking him, but for him, shaking off such tracking was a simple task; an old-time criminal, whether in his mortal days or after joining the Daoist Sect, he had always revolved around this line of work, and in this regard, he was a professional.
“Wife, we might have to prepare to leave,” he said to Bai Qingqian with guilt in his heart, but he had to say it.
The small courtyard had started to show results after being tended to over these days, a complete reversal from its previous desolation, which showed that Bai Qingqian had indeed put a lot of effort into it.
They had thought they would settle down for several years, yet it hadn’t even been a month.
But Bai Qingqian showed no sign of surprise, “Oh, are we going to the Northern Territory?”
Hou Niao gave a dry laugh, “To be precise, it’s to the Yaoguang Mountain Range, the vast mountains…
You don’t seem the least bit surprised?”
Bai Qingqian sipped her mouth and smiled, “Why should I be surprised?
Isn’t this very normal for you?
Every time we arrive at a place, the basic pattern is trouble, conflict, then flight…
If you didn’t run, I’d really be surprised, wondering whether it’s still the real you under that mask?”
Hou Niao couldn’t help but smile wryly; it was indeed so, whether in Anhe, Lihai, Jianye, Northwest, or even in his old lair of Yujing, he never changed this pattern and was frequently kicked out…
However, Bai Qingqian’s next words caught him off guard, “But I don’t want to run away with you; I don’t like that feeling…
I enjoy leisurely mountain and water excursions, without plans, not to be affected by external factors; otherwise, it’s not traveling but fleeing…”
Hou Niao had no reply, “Wife, you…”
Bai Qingqian spoke earnestly, “Actually, this half year of traveling has already made me quite content; I can’t ask for more.
There are other reasons too, like, won’t taking me along hinder you?
Won’t hastily coming and going in Sui Mo City catch the attention of those with intentions?”
The most important thing is, I place, not the dangerous vast mountains.”
Hou Niao sighed, “But won’t you be too lonely here by yourself?”
Bai Qingqian shook her head, “Loneliness is a state of mind; if the heart has a place to rest, then it won’t feel lonely.
I plan to open a Flower Shop here, hire a few helpers, and enjoy myself.”
Hou Niao couldn’t rebut, because he could see that she was serious; recalling that the old blind man had once said this place would be good for her, he felt even less inclined to press her to leave.
In the Cultivation World, whether as spouses or Daoist couples, it is quite normal to spend more time apart than together.
Many things that are important in the Mortal World are not deemed important by Cultivators.
Without the presence of elderly, children, familial ties, or the worries of daily sustenance, how could two capable people constantly hinder each other?
After some thought, he had to admit the environment here was superior to Mirage and even to Yujing; because there was hardly any strife here, no struggle for power, someone with Bai Qingqian’s temperament opening a flower shop here would almost certainly encounter no troubles, as long as he wasn’t around!
Relatively speaking, he himself was actually the biggest risk, a fact that people around him had long realized, except for him himself.
These days I’ve given the entire Continent’s True Inheritors a run for their money, and they’re probably not convinced inside, and I’m not completely satisfied either.
So, let’s take them for a walk outside, but if we meet outside, things won’t be as easygoing as they were in the small world.”
“We’re not waiting for the old blind man anymore?”
If he wants to find me, he’ll always manage.”
A night of tenderness, an old couple well-acquainted with each other;
Yunlong knew the Qu Shui Cave well, in Taoyuan he would welcome guests down the brook’s path…
Early the next day, before dawn, Fuyao took off, soaring into the blue sky.
He could feel several streaks of tunneling light chasing relentlessly behind him, unwilling to give up; this was the arrangement of the True Disciples from the Daoist Sect.
Apart from them, no other True Disciples had the gall to do this—it was a clear message that they were tracking him, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Hou Niao was calm and collected, for this was but a game, a game with no danger.
He could outpace them with sheer speed, but that would require leaving Shangyu Country, and he wasn’t sure if using the Sword Control Technique might attract the attention of the occasional passing cultivator.
He could only rely on the environment to rid himself of these annoying pests.
But once he entered the Northern Territory, the boundless plains offered not a single hilltop, first the fields, then the grasslands; he didn’t want to drag these people too far and reveal the direction towards the Yaoguang Mountain Range, so he leaped up and began to ascend sharply.
A thousand zhang, three thousand zhang, five thousand zhang…
The several figures behind him were already struggling to keep up.
For cultivators in the Tongtian Realm, there is a limit to their ascending heights.
Although, in theory, they could fly up to the level of the Heaven and Earth Chains, that is merely theoretical.
Because cultivation levels differ and the robustness of a Taoist Body varies between individuals, flying too high is not a concern about thinning air, but the sparseness of spiritual essence is a lethal threat; without the Golden Core to stabilize mana, their mana keeps depleting without being replenished, and they’d eventually fall until they reach an altitude where consumption and absorption balance out.
For the vast majority of Tongtian Realm cultivators, three thousand zhang is their limit, an altitude where they can barely maintain the balance of consumption and absorption with the spiritual essence in the air, but any higher would be unsustainable.
The spiritual essence intake would not meet the output, tunneling required mana support, and the body also needed mana to maintain, for warmth, for pressure…
So, when Hou Niao reached five thousand zhang, no one dared to follow; it was too dangerous—if this good guy harbored any bad intentions, basically none of them would have a chance to show their abilities.
Hou Niao’s cultivation was profound, his Taoist Body was robust, far surpassing his peers, and among these people, there were none of the powerful True Disciples, hence he easily widened the gap.
However, although he widened the altitude gap, Divine Sense could still reach him, so he had to fly higher.
When he reached six thousand zhang, aside from one person, the other traces of Qi had completely disappeared.
If he couldn’t sense those people, naturally they also couldn’t detect his whereabouts.
But there was one person, persistently chasing.
He was curious, not because of this person’s persistence, but because of their overestimation of their abilities.
In his perception, this person’s Qi was not strong.
Flying up to five thousand zhang was almost like risking their life.
The slightest turbulence could cause high-altitude Gang winds to wreak havoc; at the lighter end is injury, at the heavier end is death.
What kind of grudge was this, to gamble with one’s life?
He was a bit curious, wanting to see who this person was.
If it was indeed a rival from the Wu Sect or Qi Sect, he wouldn’t mind eliminating them in mid-air, reducing one threat—such stubborn and irrational people were troublesome because their impulsiveness trumped their rationality.
He slowed down a bit and changed direction, keeping the person below unaware of his exact location, then suddenly descended.
Through his eyes, a woman flew grotesquely, gritting her teeth, struggling with all her might and unable to even cry for help.
She was clearly unable to hold on any longer, yet there she was, relentlessly pursuing.