The Hunted and the Unexpected Reunion

Two days later.

Beneath the stone stele in the Yanqing Sect’s plaza.

A woman in white stood motionless, her gaze fixed on the stele hovering in the sky, as if lost in deep meditation.

She was Yu Qingxuan.

Her eyes scanned Qin Yan’s name on the stele, which had now fallen beyond the dozens, his merit points stagnant at around two hundred and forty for quite some time.

Despite Qin Yan’s lowered ranking, Yu Qingxuan appeared pleased.

Two days prior, Qin Yan’s merit points had shot to the top of the rankings before falling silent, only to suddenly increase by two hundred, indicating he must have encountered a Foundation Establishment stage demon.

Having experienced the Green Seed Hidden Realm herself, Yu Qingxuan was familiar with its intricacies.

His current ranking suggested he had escaped danger, yet she couldn’t help but worry about his present condition. Was he injured? Or perhaps still fleeing? The uncertainty gnawed at her.

The sky was hazy, and a light rain began to fall, carrying a distinct chill now that autumn had arrived.

“Sister Yu has been standing here for two days straight.”

“It seems she’s still worried about her junior brother. I heard she suffered significant injuries after the last Demon City incident…”

Numerous passing disciples whispered amongst themselves.

****

What had Qin Yan been doing these past two days?

He had been evading a half-step Golden Core demon’s relentless pursuit!

Concealed within a dense thicket, Qin Yan heard the whistling wind above, carrying a cold, clear voice.

“Stop hiding! I see you, you accursed human cultivator! How dare you ruin decades of my meticulous planning? I’d been raising those Thousand-Foot Mountain demons for so, so long, just waiting to harvest them recently!”

The voice’s owner sounded as if they were gritting their teeth in fury.

Qin Yan looked up at the cultivator hovering in the sky. She wore pristine white robes, her long, bluish-grey hair draped over her shoulders, and a pair of brown wings slowly fanned behind her.

She appeared to be some kind of bird demon.

Considering her words, it seemed the demon society also operated on a ‘demon-eat-demon’ principle, which, in a way, was logical, given that even animals had their own food chains. The Thousand-Foot Mountain, then, was likely this bird demon’s breeding ground.

For two days, this bird demon had hounded Qin Yan. If not for the artifact named ‘Empty’ that Shizun had gifted him, Qin Yan would have been captured long ago.

The ‘Empty‘ artifact was precisely the Empty Gate within the Bagua array.

Thus, this artifact served not only for swift travel but also as a cunning escape tool. Despite Qin Yan being less than a few hundred meters from the bird demon, she remained utterly unable to pinpoint his exact location.

However, as a half-step Golden Core demon, she could still sense Qin Yan’s presence nearby through sheer intuition.

‘This human cultivator must possess some extraordinary treasure that conceals his aura!’

The bird demon quickly arrived at this conclusion, a thought that further fueled her desire to capture Qin Yan. After all, artifacts of such caliber were not easily come by.

“Come out, I see you.”

She circled high above the forest, her words amplified by spiritual energy, echoing far and wide.

This was, of course, a tactic to flush Qin Yan out. She didn’t need him to fully emerge; even the slightest movement would betray his position. An ordinary cultivator might panic, inadvertently revealing their tracks.

Qin Yan, keenly aware of the bird demon’s ploy, knew his spiritual energy was dwindling, barely enough to sustain the artifact for much longer.

Growing increasingly impatient at Qin Yan’s continued silence, the bird demon’s anger flared. If the human cultivator refused to come out, she would simply force him to.

In an instant, a fierce gale erupted through the mountain forest. Trees as thick as two men embracing were snapped by the powerful winds. The entire forest was engulfed in a swirling cloud of dust, as vast swathes of trees toppled like stalks of wheat.

Witnessing this, Qin Yan desperately channeled his remaining spiritual energy, yet he dared not move. The situation seemed to have plunged into utter despair.

Just then, a plume of black mist rose in the distance, drawing the bird demon’s attention. Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t black mist at all, but rather countless small, sharp-toothed insects!

‘Insect manipulation? Is it an insect demon from somewhere else? By the looks of it, they seem to be a Golden Core True Person as well.’

It appeared her commotion had attracted nearby fellow cultivators. Even so, she felt no fear; after all, what bird demon feared an insect demon?

“Where did this damn insect demon come from, daring to ruin my plans?!”

The bird demon bellowed, hoping to intimidate the cultivator into retreating.

To her surprise, the insect mist’s momentum remained unchecked, surging directly towards her. Faced with such aggression, the bird demon wasted no more words, charging straight into the swarm.

Upon contact, the dense mass of insects swarmed to gnaw at the bird demon. However, with a shake, her white robes burst open, revealing the feathers beneath, preventing the insects from finding purchase.

She even reached out, scooped up a handful of insects, and chewed them.

“Pah!”

The bird demon spat out the insects, a look of disgust on her face. “Nothing but carrion-eating bugs, reeking of decay.”

With that, she flapped her two pairs of wings, and the surrounding insects rained down like drops, falling in a dense shower to the ground. As Qin Yan watched the insects descend, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him.

‘But that person shouldn’t be here!’

This was clearly not the time for such considerations. Qin Yan pulled a Luban Lock from his robe. Seizing the moment while the bird demon was preoccupied, he channeled his dwindling spiritual energy and hurled it towards her.

Qin Yan, already hidden in the shadows, and with the bird demon’s attention fixed on the insects around her, was caught unawares, becoming enveloped by the Luban Lock.

Then, Qin Yan vanished into the distance.

Regardless of who had intervened, he had successfully bound the bird demon. Now was the perfect opportunity for that person to deal with her; with the two ‘dogs’ fighting, it was his chance to escape.

Without another glance, Qin Yan prepared to leave the area.

“Chirp—”

Just then, a sharp shriek pierced Qin Yan’s ears. He glanced back, only to see the bird demon already decapitated.

A massive bird carcass plummeted from the sky, a blood-red shadow coiled around its body. Witnessing this, Qin Yan quickened his pace even further.

At that very moment, however, a young woman dressed in black robes blocked Qin Yan’s path.

“Give me a reason to spare you.”

Her gaze fixed intently on Qin Yan, her tone utterly devoid of warmth.

Her eyes locked onto him with unyielding intensity. Though Qin Yan was still using his artifact, he slowly revealed himself to the woman before him.

“It’s actually you, Qin Yan.”

The young woman’s expression was one of profound surprise.

“We meet again, Fangyuan.”

Qin Yan was equally astonished, for, nominally, only the cream of the crop from various major powers were allowed into the Green Seed Hidden Realm during the first seven days.

How had Fangyuan managed to enter this secret realm?