Qin Yun’s eyes could not help but moisten as he murmured softly. “Scholar.”
…
“Scholar, now that you are leaving, I wonder when we will meet again.” Seven years ago in the northern borderlands, Qin Yun and company were sending Scholar off.
“I’m all alone and have the world as my abode. We will meet again if fate allows it.”
“Take care.”
“Scholar, take care.”
Large bowls of alcohol were drunk as a send off for their brother.
The cold northern weather made it so that ancient trail was freezing, but Scholar only wore an old shirt and carried a bag as he left on his own.
Qin Yun and company watched him leave till they could no longer see him.
…
Beside him, Yi Xiao noticed Qin Yun’s expression. She immediately asked, “Brother Yun, what’s the matter?” As she spoke, she curiously picked up the letter from the floor.
“Xiaoxiao, I will be going to Qian Prefecture. Now. Immediately.” Qin Yun’s face was already somewhat pale.
Yi Xiao understood the moment she read the letter.
“Alright.” Yi Xiao nodded. “Ready yourself and go. I will remain here.”
“I’ll leave the family to you.” Qin Yun looked at Yi Xiao and said seriously, “If there’s anything, send me a message. Also, remember: do not leave the city.”
“Don’t worry! Grand Dominance is currently impregnable,” said Yi Xiao immediately. “But great fiendish demons might discover you when you leave.”
“It would be the perfect chance to unleash myself.” Qin Yun was feeling disconsolate. He was even more bent on killing those great fiendish demons.
“Alright. I have to get there as fast as possible. Perhaps…perhaps Scholar might still be saved.” Qin Yun looked at his wife.
Yi Xiao exhorted, “Be careful.”
“Yea.” Qin Yun nodded.
Phew.
He immediately flew off.
Under the protection of Qin Manor’s defensive arrays, Qin Yun flew into the clouds. First, he converged his aura and cast an Invisibility Spell. Then, he silently flew out about fifty kilometers before using the Beam Transformation Art.
“Whew!”
A beam streaked across the sky and headed straight for the south.
Qin Yun was now at the Paramount realm and had cultivated the Beam Transformation Art to the highest ninth level! His flying art was astonishingly fast.
“Scholar, you have to wait for me. Wait for me to come,” Qin Yun said quietly to himself. He was flying so fast that the swirling air around him distorted.
…
In a mountain forest outside Grand Dominance City.
A blind elder had his eyes covered by a piece of cloth. However, his ears were moving as he listened in a particular direction.
“Qin Yun is out?”
The blind elder could clearly lock onto a figure tens of kilometers away. He could ‘see’ Qin Yun’s face clearly.
“How gutsy he is. He actually dares to come out.” The blind elder chuckled. Following that, he transformed into a black stream of light that tore through the sky in pursuit.
…
“What? He actually dares come out?” A great fiendish demon that was lurking underground suddenly poked its head up from the mud. His eyes were strange in that they had three concentric pupils. He looked up into the distance, and very clearly saw Qin Yun, who had just entered the clouds.
Phew.
Turning his body, he transformed into a robed man. He chuckled. “Perhaps, I can take all of his treasures for myself.”
He also transformed into a black wind as he rapidly gave chase.
…
At that moment, only the two great fiendish demons had noticed Qin Yun.
Although there were many great fiendish demons keeping watch, there were only a handful that were both extremely good at probing and could detect Qin Yun’s actions from tens of kilometers away. Furthermore, they needed to rest. For example, the Triclops Ghost King from Cloudfiend Mountain was resting. Another great fiendish demon was responsible for monitoring in his place.
After all, keeping constant watch was tiring. No one knew how long Qin Yun would hide in the city.
“What? His speed is that fast?”
The blind elder and the robed elder were pursuing Qin Yun, but after Qin Yun used Beam Transformation Art, they were astounded.
The Beam Transformation Art was too fast!
“Sword immortals can use Sword Kinesis Flight but it shouldn’t be this fast. I’m a bat demon and have been flying since birth. Yet, my speed is incomparable to his.” The blind elder turned anxious. He could sense that Qin Yun was extending the gap between them. He was one of the faster ones among Connate Golden Core fiendish demons, but even so he was only moving about fifty to sixty percent of Qin Yun’s speed.
“Why is he so fast? He’s much faster than me.” Although the robed man was surprised, he did not panic. His eyes had those odd concentric pupils. Despite the great distance, he could still see Qin Yun clearly.
“As long as I’m locked onto him, there’s no way he can escape me without creating five thousand kilometers of distance.” The robed man stared at Qin Yun and continued his pursuit.
Although the distance between them was widening, the robed man kept up his slow flight. He had completely locked onto Qin Yun.
150 kilometers, 200 kilometers, 250 kilometers…
“Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect?” The blind elder secretly followed the robed man. A smile suffused across the blind elder’s mouth. “Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect is an ancient mutated ‘Kṣitigarbha Hound.’ He can hear the slightest movement in a five hundred kilometer range and see every scene within five thousand kilometers. As long as he’s locked onto Qin Yun, there is no need to fear Qin Yun escaping. However, Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect is stronger than me. I have to call for help.”
******
Qin Yun’s soul was powerful and he had reached the Paramount realm, so how sharp were his senses?
Patriarch Tenebrous Aspect had locked onto him and his dogged pursuit allowed Qin Yun to notice the feeling of being ‘watched.’
Qin Yun did not care about them at first. He believed that with his Beam Transformation Art, he could shirk them off. However, after flying a thousand kilometers, the feeling of eyes on him remained.
“He has been pursuing me all this time? Could his flying art be comparable to mine?” Qin Yun found it somewhat unbelievable. Very few people in the Connate Golden Core could chase up to him at the ninth level of the Beam Transformation Art. The only person he could think of that would definitely catch him was Jiang Prefecture’s Palatial Lord Essence Charm. After all, he had Lightning Manifestation, and its flying art was unparalleled.
“Hmph, continue chasing then.”
“If they attack, I’ll just kill them in passing.” Qin Yun’s eyes flashed with a sharp glint. He ignored them for he could only think of his brother.
Shoo!
He flew the entire journey.
After flying out of Grand Dominance and traveling a straight-line distance of three thousand kilometers, Qin Yun came to a halt.
“Tongfu Province.” Qin Yun overlooked the small provincial city beneath him.
Qian Prefecture’s Jia’an County’s Tongfu Province was a journey of five thousand kilometers on foot! However, Qin Yun flew the straight line distance and reached it after covering three thousand kilometers.
“Swoosh.”
He gradually landed.
Qin Yun’s Intrinsic Flying Sword appeared from his sleeve. With it, he began scanning the entire provincial city.
After being trapped in the immortal abode for three years, Qin Yun’s soul could match a Connate Golden Core through the Golden Core Outer core’s nourishment. His Heaven and Earth powers allowed him to perceive a radius of a hundred and fifty kilometers! And after attaining the Paramount realm, his sword intent Paramount realm also honed his soul. With his high cultivation realm, his Heaven and Earth powers could sense a staggering range of three hundred kilometers!
Of course, using the enveloping Heaven and Earth powers was a rather crude way of sensing. If he truly used his Intrinsic Flying Sword to envelop an area with his psyche, he could only span fifteen kilometers!
Fifteen kilometers! Everything within that range could be observed.
A small provincial city was only about five kilometers in diameter.
“Phew! Phew! Phew!” Every corner of the provincial city was under observation. Be they high officials, wealthy merchants, or poor beggars, all of them were under his surveillance. He was pretty much at the epitome of Connate Golden Core realm cultivators to be able to sense fifteen kilometers with a single thought.
“Scholar.”
Standing above the provincial city at night, Qin Yun’s face turned white suddenly.
He saw what he was looking for. He saw Scholar.
…
In a house at the end of Biluo Alley in Tongfu Province.
Scholar lay on a bed.
A thin girl was kneeling beside him with tears in her eyes. She could not find funeral garb, sp only tore a piece of white cloth to tie around her waist and head.
“Swoosh.”
A figure appeared inside the house.
The thin girl turned her head and saw a black-robed youth standing there. His red eyes were looking at the deceased on the bed.
“Scholar, why? Why are you dead when we reunite as brothers? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Why didn’t you?” Qin Yun’s voice was trembling. Tears flowed out of his eyes as he walked toward the bed and gazed at the peaceful look on the man’s face.
Scholar.
He had a very mild temper, perhaps overly mild. With his scholastic way of talking, Qin Yun and company always called him Scholar.
Scholar never got angry. He was a man of fewest words among the squad but he had never shrunk back in times of need. Over time, and without realizing it, Qin Yun and company got to be familiar with the silent but chuckling intellectual, who was a little old and a little overly scholastic. Despite his temperament, he had ardor and zeal coursing through his blood that motivated him to slay demons at the risk of his life.
He only left because he was forced to after taking a severe injury.
Scholar had once shared his story when he was drunk. In the past, he had been a successful candidate for the provincial civil exams! He had married a beautiful wife! Then one day, he lonelily decided to exit the mortal world and lead a Daoist life…
“Scholar, Lunatic Yun is here. I came late.” Qin Yun felt extremely pained.
Many of the brothers he had walked the tightrope of death with had died on the battlefields.
There were few who survived!
Separated by death, Qin Yun recalled the painful memories of seeing his comrades die on the battlefield.
A brother of his that looked fine and well seemed to appear before his eyes.
“Don’t worry. I will definitely do what you entrusted me. Scholar, you implored me to do it, so how can I, Lunatic Yun, disappoint you?” Qin Yun lifted his head up slightly and closed his eyes. Dharmic powers evaporated his tears before he turned to look at the thin girl. She had scales around her eyes and face. It was proof that she was not human but a lesser demoness.
“What’s your name?” Qin Yun looked at her.
“My name is Fu Sizhuo. My father’s name is Fu Qing.” She lifted her head and said solemnly. “I only have one father.”
When Scholar died, she had vowed that she only had one father from that day forth!
“Fu Sizhuo, Fu Sizhuo…” Qin Yun nodded gently. “Let us bury your father so that he may rest in peace. Following that, I will avenge him.”
Fu Sizhuo nodded immediately and said, “Are… Are you my father’s good friend, Uncle Qin?”
“Yes, my name is Qin Yun. Your father’s brother.” Qin Yun nodded.