6289

Chapter 6288: Black Fog

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Xiang Yang nodded and replied, “That aura came crashing from the sea without any restraint. Even a deaf person could sense it!”

“Keep your voice down!” Jian Wushuang frowned slightly, glanced out the window, and asked, “How did you know they came from the sea?”

“To be honest, yesterday I saw you sneaking away, and I couldn’t sleep all night. I kept watch outside. After you left for about an hour, a black mist came from the sea, filled with an evil aura. I don’t know how many people there were, but the leader was definitely a cultivator in the Golden Core stage!”

Jian Wushuang was surprised, not because Xiang Yang discovered that the group came from the sea, but because Xiang Yang had been watching him all along.

This made him somewhat displeased. He frowned and said, “Why are you watching me so closely?”

“I was afraid you might run away!” Xiang Yang said, somewhat aggrieved. “To be honest, you’ve always been guarded against me. You haven’t even given me the complete cultivation method. If I don’t keep an eye on you, what if one day you find me useless and run off with Jiang Shang?”

Since Xiang Yang had embarked on the path of cultivation again, his mind had become more active.

He increasingly felt that his presence or absence didn’t seem to make much difference to Jian Wushuang, so he began to worry that Jian Wushuang might abandon him one day.

“You’re overthinking it!” Jian Wushuang patted Xiang Yang on the shoulder.

He didn’t explain further because some things couldn’t be told to him, but he would involve him in the plans.

For instance, the Wanliu Divine Tree on Jiang Shang’s back seemed unrelated to Xiang Yang, but it was actually significant.

The aura of Wanliu Divine Wood was on Xingluo, and it might be possible to use Xiang Yang’s identity to transmit it to Xingluo and lure him out.

Their cultivation speed was still too slow.

If Xingluo were willing to take them, Jian Wushuang would regain his immortality within a hundred years.

The immortality referred to here was not the immortals of the mortal world, but the Immortal of Derivation.

After leaving Xiang Yang, Jian Wushuang found One Ear.

He instructed him to prepare supplies for the ship, buying as much as possible.

After all, they would soon reach the inland of the Great Tang, so there was no need to bring much.

Once the instructions were given, the others had almost finished packing.

They left the inn together.

The rain outside was getting heavier. Everyone held oiled paper umbrellas, but their clothes still got wet.

When they reached the dock, they found that there were still many people there.

They stood at the dock in the heavy rain, not knowing what they were doing.

When Jian Wushuang and the others approached, they heard cries of sorrow.

Pushing through the crowd.

They walked to the dock’s deck and discovered an elderly couple crying over the corpse of a woman in coarse clothes.

The elderly couple had gone fishing at sea yesterday and returned to the dock in the morning, only to find their daughter’s corpse lying on the deck.

Jian Wushuang was not surprised. The demonic cultivator had followed the woman in coarse clothes to the fishing village yesterday.

It wasn’t surprising that she was dead now.

However, Jian Wushuang still felt a bit regretful.

Listening to the old man’s repeated calls of his daughter’s name, Jian Wushuang learned that the woman’s name was “Azi.”

After noting it down, he boarded the ship without looking back.

After One Ear brought the supplies on board, Jian Wushuang asked him to bring A’zi’s parents onto the ship as well.

The fishing village was gone.

The elderly couple probably had no place to stay anymore, which was truly pitiful.

Moreover, since Jian Wushuang had obtained the coral from their well, he felt he had fulfilled a karmic bond.

The treasure ship set sail once more.

After reaching the straits of the Shanhai County, they began heading towards the Grand Tang Canal.

Along the way, A’zi’s body was given a water burial.

Jian Wushuang then began refining the coral.

The spiritual energy above continued to dissipate, and he couldn’t let it go to waste.

Unfortunately, he only had the coral at the moment and no alchemy furnace; otherwise, he could have refined a batch of pills.

Now he could only refine the spiritual energy from the coral, which was quite polite.

Fortunately, the spiritual energy was abundant, enough for the three of them to absorb.

The three surrounded the coral and began their attempt to break through to the Golden Core stage.

They paid no heed to the outside world.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the treasure ship stopped, but Jian Wushuang and the other two were still in closed-door cultivation, and no one dared disturb them, so the ship remained stationary.

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

The treasure ship turned back, but three people disembarked.

It was Jian Wushuang and the other two.

They were now very close to Tai’an City.

Jian Wushuang dismissed One Ear and the others, as it was not suitable to bring a group of ordinary people while seeking opportunities to enter the cultivation world. Therefore, he gave the ship to One Ear, telling him to live well in the Great Tang.

As for the three of them, they bought three fast horses and headed straight for Tai’an City.

They traveled six hundred miles in a day.

By nightfall, they were still in the wilderness.

They thought of finding a small town to rest for the night.

However, when they entered a village, they found it eerily silent.

There was also a stench of decay.

“It’s a corpse!”

Xiang Yang frowned, walking into a courtyard and looking at the rotting corpse inside. His stomach churned, and he almost vomited on the spot.

“Let’s go, find another place,” Jian Wushuang said calmly.

But they had already seen several villages like this.

After six months in seclusion, they had all reached the Golden Core stage.

Originally, they could have flown directly to Tai’an City, but to keep a low profile, they decided to enter Tai’an City as ordinary people. However, they hadn’t expected to encounter such strange occurrences on the way.

Some towns had even been slaughtered entirely.

Corpses were piled together, with the same bowl-sized wound on their chests as Jian Wushuang had seen in the fishing village.

It was clearly the work of the same group.

They had removed the hearts of the ordinary people.

“The demonic cult is rampant!”

And not just rampant, but extremely so; they were only a hundred miles from the imperial city!

Such things happened despite the fact that the Emperor of the Great Tang could also cultivate and even had immortals under his command. Didn’t he fear that one day the demonic cult might massacre Tai’an City?

The three decided not to stop and rushed to the outskirts of Tai’an City overnight.

There was a curfew at night.

So when they reached the city gates, they couldn’t enter.

They had to wait until dawn to enter Tai’an City with the crowd.

Jiang Shang, who was initially full of curiosity about the Great Tang, felt somewhat disappointed after the incidents on the way. Especially upon entering Tai’an City, she found it incredibly prosperous but did not see the grandeur she had expected.

In this regard, Jian Wushuang and Xiang Yang were quite experienced.

Seeing was believing.

Besides, they had seen many large cities.

In their view, this so-called flourishing Great Tang, boasted by ordinary people, was just that—a large city, somewhat more prosperous.

Ultimately, it could not escape its vulgarity.

After entering the city, the three found a relatively bustling inn to stay in.

Jian Wushuang did not rest for a moment; after a slight disguise, he headed straight for the First Building Under Heaven.

He initially planned to buy some information with gold and silver to understand the Great Tang.

However, upon entering the First Building Under Heaven, he realized he had come to the wrong place.

Chapter 6288: Black Fog

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Xiang Yang nodded and replied, “That aura came crashing from the sea without any restraint. Even a deaf person could sense it!”

“Keep your voice down!” Jian Wushuang frowned slightly, glanced out the window, and asked, “How did you know they came from the sea?”

“To be honest, yesterday I saw you sneaking away, and I couldn’t sleep all night. I kept watch outside. After you left for about an hour, a black mist came from the sea, filled with an evil aura. I don’t know how many people there were, but the leader was definitely a cultivator in the Golden Core stage!”

Jian Wushuang was surprised, not because Xiang Yang discovered that the group came from the sea, but because Xiang Yang had been watching him all along.

This made him somewhat displeased. He frowned and said, “Why are you watching me so closely?”

“I was afraid you might run away!” Xiang Yang said, somewhat aggrieved. “To be honest, you’ve always been guarded against me. You haven’t even given me the complete cultivation method. If I don’t keep an eye on you, what if one day you find me useless and run off with Jiang Shang?”

Since Xiang Yang had embarked on the path of cultivation again, his mind had become more active.

He increasingly felt that his presence or absence didn’t seem to make much difference to Jian Wushuang, so he began to worry that Jian Wushuang might abandon him one day.

“You’re overthinking it!” Jian Wushuang patted Xiang Yang on the shoulder.

He didn’t explain further because some things couldn’t be told to him, but he would involve him in the plans.

For instance, the Wanliu Divine Tree on Jiang Shang’s back seemed unrelated to Xiang Yang, but it was actually significant.

The aura of Wanliu Divine Wood was on Xingluo, and it might be possible to use Xiang Yang’s identity to transmit it to Xingluo and lure him out.

Their cultivation speed was still too slow.

If Xingluo were willing to take them, Jian Wushuang would regain his immortality within a hundred years.

The immortality referred to here was not the immortals of the mortal world, but the Immortal of Derivation.

After leaving Xiang Yang, Jian Wushuang found One Ear.

He instructed him to prepare supplies for the ship, buying as much as possible.

After all, they would soon reach the inland of the Great Tang, so there was no need to bring much.

Once the instructions were given, the others had almost finished packing.

They left the inn together.

The rain outside was getting heavier. Everyone held oiled paper umbrellas, but their clothes still got wet.

When they reached the dock, they found that there were still many people there.

They stood at the dock in the heavy rain, not knowing what they were doing.

When Jian Wushuang and the others approached, they heard cries of sorrow.

Pushing through the crowd.

They walked to the dock’s deck and discovered an elderly couple crying over the corpse of a woman in coarse clothes.

The elderly couple had gone fishing at sea yesterday and returned to the dock in the morning, only to find their daughter’s corpse lying on the deck.

Jian Wushuang was not surprised. The demonic cultivator had followed the woman in coarse clothes to the fishing village yesterday.

It wasn’t surprising that she was dead now.

However, Jian Wushuang still felt a bit regretful.

Listening to the old man’s repeated calls of his daughter’s name, Jian Wushuang learned that the woman’s name was “Azi.”

After noting it down, he boarded the ship without looking back.

After One Ear brought the supplies on board, Jian Wushuang asked him to bring A’zi’s parents onto the ship as well.

The fishing village was gone.

The elderly couple probably had no place to stay anymore, which was truly pitiful.

Moreover, since Jian Wushuang had obtained the coral from their well, he felt he had fulfilled a karmic bond.

The treasure ship set sail once more.

After reaching the straits of the Shanhai County, they began heading towards the Grand Tang Canal.

Along the way, A’zi’s body was given a water burial.

Jian Wushuang then began refining the coral.

The spiritual energy above continued to dissipate, and he couldn’t let it go to waste.

Unfortunately, he only had the coral at the moment and no alchemy furnace; otherwise, he could have refined a batch of pills.

Now he could only refine the spiritual energy from the coral, which was quite polite.

Fortunately, the spiritual energy was abundant, enough for the three of them to absorb.

The three surrounded the coral and began their attempt to break through to the Golden Core stage.

They paid no heed to the outside world.

It was unknown how much time had passed when the treasure ship stopped, but Jian Wushuang and the other two were still in closed-door cultivation, and no one dared disturb them, so the ship remained stationary.

In the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.

The treasure ship turned back, but three people disembarked.

It was Jian Wushuang and the other two.

They were now very close to Tai’an City.

Jian Wushuang dismissed One Ear and the others, as it was not suitable to bring a group of ordinary people while seeking opportunities to enter the cultivation world. Therefore, he gave the ship to One Ear, telling him to live well in the Great Tang.

As for the three of them, they bought three fast horses and headed straight for Tai’an City.

They traveled six hundred miles in a day.

By nightfall, they were still in the wilderness.

They thought of finding a small town to rest for the night.

However, when they entered a village, they found it eerily silent.

There was also a stench of decay.

“It’s a corpse!”

Xiang Yang frowned, walking into a courtyard and looking at the rotting corpse inside. His stomach churned, and he almost vomited on the spot.

“Let’s go, find another place,” Jian Wushuang said calmly.

But they had already seen several villages like this.

After six months in seclusion, they had all reached the Golden Core stage.

Originally, they could have flown directly to Tai’an City, but to keep a low profile, they decided to enter Tai’an City as ordinary people. However, they hadn’t expected to encounter such strange occurrences on the way.

Some towns had even been slaughtered entirely.

Corpses were piled together, with the same bowl-sized wound on their chests as Jian Wushuang had seen in the fishing village.

It was clearly the work of the same group.

They had removed the hearts of the ordinary people.

“The demonic cult is rampant!”

And not just rampant, but extremely so; they were only a hundred miles from the imperial city!

Such things happened despite the fact that the Emperor of the Great Tang could also cultivate and even had immortals under his command. Didn’t he fear that one day the demonic cult might massacre Tai’an City?

The three decided not to stop and rushed to the outskirts of Tai’an City overnight.

There was a curfew at night.

So when they reached the city gates, they couldn’t enter.

They had to wait until dawn to enter Tai’an City with the crowd.

Jiang Shang, who was initially full of curiosity about the Great Tang, felt somewhat disappointed after the incidents on the way. Especially upon entering Tai’an City, she found it incredibly prosperous but did not see the grandeur she had expected.

In this regard, Jian Wushuang and Xiang Yang were quite experienced.

Seeing was believing.

Besides, they had seen many large cities.

In their view, this so-called flourishing Great Tang, boasted by ordinary people, was just that—a large city, somewhat more prosperous.

Ultimately, it could not escape its vulgarity.

After entering the city, the three found a relatively bustling inn to stay in.

Jian Wushuang did not rest for a moment; after a slight disguise, he headed straight for the First Building Under Heaven.

He initially planned to buy some information with gold and silver to understand the Great Tang.

However, upon entering the First Building Under Heaven, he realized he had come to the wrong place.