Lighting Lanterns in the Mountains and Seas

Chapter 914 776: Accord

The sound of hooves gradually intensified like rolling thunder.

Qilin A San seemed to enjoy the feeling of kicking up dust along the way. In the world of floating immortal mountains within the Demon Altar, he couldn't experience this, which showcased the influence of his hooves.

In short, he was running faster and faster.

Shi Chun, wielding a large knife slanted at the side, couldn't allow it to reveal its strength right away. He patted its back and warned, "Slow down, slow down, don't run too fast."

A San turned his head and said, "Master, isn't it good to run fast to get you there quickly? A thousand miles, ten thousand miles, A San will carry you!"

The hooves were running with joy, just starting to enjoy it when he was asked to stop. It felt unsatisfactory.

This reason was really inadequate. Shi Chun could see that A San wanted to let loose, and he advised, "You'll have plenty of chances to run in the future, there might be an ambush ahead, be cautious, slower, slower, slower..."

As he spoke, he used his heel to tap on its belly; slow taps meant to decelerate, rapid taps meant speeding up.

The pace of both rider and steed finally slowed down gradually.

When they reached the front of the hilly terrain, the speed slowed down again, and once they entered the forest, it was smooth going.

Shi Chun continued to hold his knife and look around. With his right eye superpower, he gradually saw shadowy figures lurking around, but he did not disturb them, continuing forward until he reached the highest point of the hilly terrain, where he slowly stopped.

Qilin A San carried him as he slowly made a circle to observe.

In the shadows, a few pairs of eyes were observing the rider and horse, all showing surprise and suspicion.

The armored mount made it hard for people to identify its breed, but the material of the armor was obviously the same as the knight's.

Both the rider and steed were clad in dark metal battle armor, even the large knife held by the person was clearly forged from the same material, except for the red tassel on the person's helm, everything else was in heavy black metal style.

Even the antlers of the mount were wrapped in dark black metal.

When the rider and steed paused, it immediately gave an imposing presence of an immovable mountain.

Or rather, the fully black appearance gave a nearby feeling of gloomy death.

The single red tassel fluttering with the mountain wind added a touch of liveliness to the mix, creating an eerie oppressive sensation, like a coffin tied with a big red flower, or a specter emerging from the depths of the forest raising its head and flicking a bright red tongue.

The protruding face on the chest of the battle armor had pitch-black eyeholes, without pupils yet seemed to fix upon you, adding to the eerie effect.

Why a prominent ghost face on the chest of normal battle armor drew perplexed glances from those observing in the shadows.

Among them was Brother Chong's junior, Tie Anfeng, a disciple of the Thunder Sound Sect with Earth Immortal Upper Realm cultivation.

When the rider and horse first broke into the forest, he received a report from his subordinates' lookout. The report mentioned that the battle armor looked a bit eerie, which he didn't understand at first, but now seeing it firsthand, he found it indeed somewhat abnormal.

He turned his head and quietly asked the person beside him, "Is it him?"

This question naturally arose because he hadn't seen Shi Chun before, but preparations must have included searching for someone who had.

Since Shi Chun broke into this hilly terrain, confirmation had been repeatedly given, this time it was just a final confirmation.

The person beside him nodded slightly, "Yes, it's Shi Chun, but we've never seen this mount and armor before, not even when he rescued Li Hongjiu."

"It seems he's genuinely afraid, not only did he armor himself, he even armored his mount. He must be cautious to such an extent, if not for Mulan Jin's pressure he might not have come." Tie Anfeng muttered with amusement.

There was a hint of mockery in the tone.

Indeed, it was mocking, there was old resentment, the death of his sister Qu Xiaoxiao was still fresh in memory.

Though the killer wasn't Shi Chun himself, all knew the killer was one of Shi Chun's underlings.

The real intention of mockery was naturally looking down on Shi Chun. Shi Chun's strength in the Mingshan Sect was not comparable to Tong Mingshan, An Wuzhi, or Zhu Xiangxin, a known fact.

Entering with cultivation details clear, those three were all at Earth Immortal Realm, their high strength largely due to absorbing Divine Fire in the Divine Fire Domain.

As for Shi Chun, he couldn't absorb Divine Fire, he was merely at Human Immortal Realm.

Judging from comprehensive information, Shi Chun excelled in cunning, not combat, his biggest reliance being several Magical Treasures.

Talking about person to person, as a disciple of a top faction, Tie Anfeng truly didn't regard Shi Chun highly.

The reason to force Shi Chun to come alone for a meeting was indeed due to apprehension about Tong, An, and Zhu.

It was not Zhu Xiangxin who killed sister Qu Xiaoxiao they feared most, but it's the Mingshan Sect's Sect Master Tong Mingshan, notable for competing with Dongguo Shou who cultivated 'Inch and Mile' divine skills, also forcing Su Jikuan to lose two fingers, hence famous from a battle.

If An and Zhu assisted, the consequences could be unpredictable.

And the current layout of observation was precisely to guard against this.

After mocking, Tie Anfeng took out the Mother-child Talisman to contact scattered lookouts widely, checking for signs of others approaching.

Shi Chun observed around, seeing no one for a long time, hidden lurkers remained concealed, he did not disturb, pretending not to notice, took out the Mother-child Talisman again to contact Lan She, questioning: Commander, I'm here, where are the people to meet?

Lan She replied lightly: Let me ask.

Actually, no substantial action was taken. He knew once junior brothers were ready, they'd contact him, his gaze once again turned to the mirror image of the Heavenly Mirror, the scene showed intense fighting, the war teams of the Four Great Royal Courts were clashing fiercely.

He was also waiting for the safe path map of the Extreme Abyss. Once he got the map, he would immediately order the Beijiu troops to leave the battlefield besieged from all sides and hide in the abyss to eliminate the Heavenly Court forces. The outside should be left for those three families to fight first, while Beijiu could secretly intervene, even if it meant forcing the Heavenly Court forces out to join the battle.

He was eagerly anticipating.

Having contacted the surrounding spies and confirmed nothing unusual had been detected, the hidden Tie Anfeng sent a message to Brother Chongxing, informing him: "Brother Chong, Shi Chun has arrived. I've confirmed that the surrounding network hasn't detected anyone approaching."

Chongxing replied: "Good, I'll have Senior Brother Lan contact him. Remember, once he starts to move, the established network must move with him, always remaining vigilant to ensure no one approaches."

Tie Anfeng replied: "Understood. But Brother, to be honest, if he has a locating Magic Artifact on him, moving back and forth like this doesn't really help. For a mere monk in the Human Immortal Realm, it seems unnecessary to be so troublesome. Since no one has been detected nearby, why not take action now? I can capture him now, and even if he's prepared, surely it'll be too late for reinforcements."

Chongxing was startled and quickly suppressed the urge: "Don't act recklessly. Senior Brother Lan repeatedly warned us not to be careless. That guy is cunning; it's better to be safe than sorry. We must confirm everything clearly. Both you and I need to be present, with enough manpower to ensure containment without worries, before taking action. We must be prepared for his reinforcements. Only during the transfer, when he doesn't know the destination and his reinforcements don't know the destination, is it our window for swift action."

Tie Anfeng indeed felt impatient but still responded indicating compliance, simultaneously reporting the observed details.

After Chongxing understood the situation, he took out another Mother-child Talisman and contacted Lan She, conveying the relevant situation.

Upon hearing the news, suspicion flashed in Lan She's eyes. One person and one steed in armor? When did Shi Chun acquire a mount? Also, the armor looks a bit strange?

He really wanted to use the Mirror Image to see for himself but it was inconvenient.

Thinking of cancelling the meeting now was impossible; changing the date at whim, truly treating Mulan Jin like a soft persimmon to pinch at will wasn't feasible?

He suspected Shi Chun might be bluffing with false appearances. If there was really something of note, there was no reason not to use it during the urgent situation of saving Li Hongjiu.

The more he thought, the more possible it seemed. Plus, unable to renege and change the date, he could only proceed with the plan with a heavy heart.

He finally replied to Shi Chun: "Shi Chun, Tie Anfeng will take you to see Mulan Qingqing, just follow him."

Shi Chun replied with one word: "Understood."

Having ended the contact and put away the Mother-child Talisman, Tie Anfeng and a few others, hiding in the shadows, received the transmission and flashed out from the depths of the forest as planned, directly surrounding Shi Chun. Tie Anfeng said indifferently, "I am Tie Anfeng."

Shi Chun brandished his blade and cupped his hands, saying, "I've long heard of your illustrious name."

Tie Anfeng snorted, "Enough useless talk, follow me."

He then slowly levitated.

Qilin A San blinked his big eyes, feeling the other party didn't speak very respectfully to his master, with a hint of disdain. Could it be that his master's status wasn't high?

He was quite concerned about this, believing himself to be noble: even when being a mount, it should be for a person of high status.

Previously, he felt his master, who could use heaven and earth as a furnace and almost refine all living beings within a domain, seemed quite impressive.

Now, his little heart was a bit anxious.

Shi Chun flipped his hand, took out the Wind Scale, and cast a spell, allowing the dancing scales to envelop him and his mount, soaring into the sky.

Huh? Qilin A San turned to Shi Chun with confusion, wondering why they needed this shabby Magic Artifact for faster flight.

Seeing Shi Chun wink at him, he suddenly realized that his master was pretending to be low-key.

With this realization, he felt relieved; as long as it was pretense, not a truly low-status master, his life wouldn't be tarnished.

If it's for pretension, he could do it too, immediately feigning an air of fascination with flying.

Though he seemed to have forgotten most of his facial expressions were obscured by his battle armor.

Tie Anfeng, flying alongside, noticed the target still needed to use the Wind Scale, revealing sheer contempt in his gaze. He swiftly rotated the Mother-child Talisman, notifying various personnel to coordinate.

Before long, the group had flown out of the hilly area, the greenery gradually lessened, revealing barren wilderness.

Shi Chun, while vigilant of the surroundings, silently calculated in his mind, using his experience to estimate how long until they reached the destination, considering the transfer's distance between two points and the approximate arrival time.

The direction could meander, the route too, but such movement wouldn't be overly far nor too near; a location should be chosen within a certain travel period.

This judgment might not be precise, but it served as a basis for decision-making.

Quietly estimating that the destination might be approaching, upon seeing the terrain ahead flattening out, he decisively paused flight, beginning a slow descent to the ground.

Tie Anfeng, holding the Mother-child Talisman and contacting Chongxing, said they were almost there and was taken aback, seeing Shi Chun hunched down instead of trying to escape. He quickly chased him, shouting, "What are you doing?"

Shi Chun, mounted on A San, landed, put away the Wind Scale, grasped his blade horizontally, and coldly replied, "Where are you taking me? Where is Mulan Qingqing?"

Tie Anfeng sternly said, "Follow me, and you'll naturally meet!"

However, Shi Chun wouldn't advance any further. The reason he estimated the destination's approximate location was to stop early, fearing it held a thorough ambush waiting for him. In case there was a formidable Array ambush that threatened his life, he had to be cautious.

He wouldn't assume his cultivation in the Earth Immortal Realm, coupled with Qilin A San and the battle armor, made him invincible; that would grossly underestimate the heroes of the world.

He had his own experience to increase the odds of survival when faced with danger, so stopping one step ahead could reduce termination risks and offer a pretext.

Thus, with reasonable statements, he blocked further movement, "You keep instructing me where to go, I follow obediently and listen diligently, but what's the point of this endless wandering? I suspect something has happened to Mulan Qingqing."

He swung his knife sharply, "Stop deceiving, without seeing Mulan Qingqing I won't take another step forward!"