After hearing Dugu Qiu’s words, Zhang Chen suddenly understood that the Judgment naturally had the ability to manipulate the Power of Time, which is why it dropped skills related to time. But if he stimulated the Judgment again, would he have the chance to get the Celestial Thunder skill?
Thoughts swirled in Zhang Chen’s mind, and his eyes involuntarily fell on that long spear. Dugu Qiu noticed Zhang Chen’s gaze and quickly took hold of the spear: "You brat, don’t think about touching this Divine Artifact again. If you stir up more trouble, it won’t be good, and even your old ancestor can’t save you."
Seeing this, Zhang Chen muttered to himself, ’What a pity,’ and then maneuvered his boat to leave.
The duo traveled all the way to the foot of the mountain where Zhang Chen hid his family, and then Zhang Chen stopped the boat and landed on the shore with Dugu Qiu.
At this moment, Dugu Qiu had already regained his ability to move, and he was in no significant trouble; his Qi Mechanism circulated smoothly, and most of his injuries had healed.
"Why are you coming here?" Dugu Qiu looked at the melting Ice Ship, and his eyes gazed at the distant mountains with an indescribable expression.
"My family is on this mountain, and I want to take them away from here," Zhang Chen said.
Dugu Qiu heard this and said with an odd expression: "It seems like your family has run into some trouble."
"Trouble?" Zhang Chen was shocked to hear this and quickly hurried into the mountain.
Outside the stone cave where the Zhang Family was hiding, a figure shrouded in Divine Light emerged from the void, holding a tray with an exquisite golden spoon on it, pointing towards the cave.
Gu Mingyue scrutinized the tray in her hand, looked at the spoon’s handle pointing at the cave, and revealed a thoughtful expression: "So Chengyu is hiding here, huh?"
Gu Mingyue put away the tray and spoon and stepped into the cave, startling Mrs. Zhang immediately.
"Who are you?" Mrs. Zhang held a dagger in her hand, looking warily at Gu Mingyue.
Gu Mingyue ignored Mrs. Zhang, instead looking at Chengyu, who was undergoing transformation, with a smile on her lips: "Found her."
She stepped towards Chengyu, and Mrs. Zhang quickly moved forward to block Gu Mingyue: "Stop! If you go any further, I won’t be polite."
Gu Mingyue glanced at Mrs. Zhang, and just with a look, it contained endless Divine Power. Mrs. Zhang’s body flew backward, hitting the stone wall, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and fainted.
"You girl, you really gave me a hard time finding you. I need you to restrain the Great Virtuous Master, I can’t let you escape!" Gu Mingyue stepped forward, grabbing Chengyu’s belt and slinging her over her shoulder like a bag of cotton, ignoring Zhang Tuowei and Zhang Fei beside her, and turned to leave the cave.
However, before she could step out of the cave, her steps halted as two figures blocked her way.
"Dugu Qiu and Zhang Chen! How did these two get involved together? And Zhang Chen, whom I had locked in the earth’s magma, how is he still alive?"
Gu Mingyue looked at Dugu Qiu opposite, feeling a chill in her heart. Although both were ninth-tier beings, one relied on external Divine Power, one relied on self-cultivation; how could they compare? Furthermore, Dugu Qiu held a twelfth-tier mystery, which she couldn’t contend with at all.
"Let go of Chengyu!" Zhang Chen uttered.
"Chengyu is a Yellow Heaven Dao cultivator and should return to Yellow Heaven Dao. You’re merely a disciple of the last generation, how dare you speak to me this way?" Gu Mingyue glared at Zhang Chen, her voice full of gloom, recalling Zhang Chen controlling the flood against her and controlling the earth’s power, a hint of dread rose in her heart.
Zhang Chen ignored Gu Mingyue, instead looking at the weary old eunuch beside him, his eyes conveying a clear meaning: "Your son is being bullied."
"All under heaven belong to the king’s lands, and those on the shore are the king’s subjects. I, the old ancestor, come carrying the king’s mandate. What if I ask you to put her down?" Dugu Qiu grabbed the long spear on his back, speaking cheerfully to Gu Mingyue.
"This is a Yellow Heaven Dao family affair. Although you are from the court, it’s not appropriate for you to meddle in others’ family matters." Though Gu Mingyue felt weak-hearted, she still retorted to Dugu Qiu, but to avoid provoking him, she purposefully used the word ’you.’
Zhang Chen thought Dugu Qiu would continue exchanging words, but unexpectedly, Dugu Qiu just chuckled. In the next moment, the Judgment long spear in his hand flickered with thunder, already thrusting towards Gu Mingyue.
"Dugu Qiu, how dare you meddle in the Yellow Heaven Dao’s affairs. When the Great Virtuous Master comes out of seclusion, I hope you can still be so domineering." Gu Mingyue threw Chengyu aside and crashed into the wall, disappearing without a trace.
"My son, wait here while I slay this stubborn fellow for you." Dugu Qiu transformed into a beam of light and vanished, leaving Zhang Chen standing in the stone cave, looking at the unconscious Mrs. Zhang and the sleeping Chengyu with a somber expression.
"Chengyu is indeed important to the Yellow Heaven Dao, and these guys found their way here. If I hadn’t saved Dugu Qiu, today would have been troublesome." Zhang Chen felt relieved in his heart. He wasn’t afraid of Gu Mingyue and could escape at any time, but his family couldn’t.
Zhang Chen approached to examine Chengyu and confirmed that he hadn’t been harmed, then quickly moved to Mrs. Zhang’s side, using the Blood Control Technique to sense her condition. He found three broken ribs and internal bruising, but no life-threatening injuries.
"Thank goodness!" Zhang Chen felt relieved and took out an elixir from the Ba Snake Space, placing it in Mrs. Zhang’s mouth.
This elixir was crafted during the Mysterious Era, created by that young girl to prevent injuries during calamities.
With this elixir, Mrs. Zhang’s injuries could be healed in a day.
Zhang Chen checked on the two little ones, confirming they were unharmed, before finally relaxing: "Damn it, I fear I won’t have peace in the future. The Yellow Heaven Dao won’t let Chengyu go. They have plans involving Chengyu and won’t give up easily. But I already hid Chengyu. How did they find her?"
"Unless the Yellow Heaven Dao has some hidden means to pinpoint Chengyu’s location. This time, a Ninth Tier expert came, but with Dugu Qiu’s protection. If next time three Ninth Tier experts come or more, what then? Even though Dugu Qiu possesses Twelfth Tier mysteries, he’s not omnipotent." Zhang Chen felt anxious: "So the most important thing now is to suppress Chengyu’s aura, preventing Yellow Heaven Dao from locking onto her Qi Mechanism."
Zhang Chen scratched his head and looked at his Golden Finger Interface, his gaze landing on the Sealing Rune:
[9 Skills (Fifth Tier): Sealing Rune (2000000)]
"The Sealing Rune can indeed suppress all Qi Mechanisms, but its level is too low, and it may not be reliable. If I want to upgrade the Sealing Rune, it requires an enormous amount of Skill Points. My Six-Word True Mantra Seal is already a top-tier suppression technique. With its current power, how could Chengyu still be tracked?" Zhang Chen pondered, analyzing the flaws.
"Could it be my Six-Word True Mantra Seal mainly suppresses Chengyu’s soul palace and not her soul itself?" Zhang Chen thought for a long time, and this was the only explanation he could think of, otherwise, his Six-Word True Mantra Seal wouldn’t be easily broken.
"That’s troublesome because my Six-Word True Mantra Seal can only suppress either Chengyu’s body or her palace, a choice between the two." Zhang Chen felt vexed: "There is no other way unless I delay and increase the Sealing Rune’s level, then suppress all of Chengyu’s aura."
But upgrading the Sealing Rune is extremely difficult. Currently, it’s just Fifth Tier, already requiring two million experience points; reaching the Fruit Realm or even Twelfth Tier would demand massive experience, practically unreachable for now.
"I wonder if my godfather has any solutions." Zhang Chen considered consulting Dugu Qiu, as Dugu Qiu is the top master of the royal family, possessing countless secret techniques and perhaps having a workaround.
With this in mind, Zhang Chen took out the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror and activated it. He saw two divine lights chasing each other among the mountains: one fleeing like a defeated dog, the other pursuing with lightning flashing all over his body, leaving no escape for the one ahead.
The pursuit led to the Demon Race’s stronghold. Dugu Qiu looked apprehensive at the powerful aura swirling in the distant sky—the aura of Hu Li the Immortal. Sure enough, several Demon Race auras rose to the sky, chasing after Dugu Qiu, who shivered and disappeared, turning away.
Zhang Chen quickly closed the Heaven and Earth Treasure Mirror and stored it in the Ba Snake Space. Just two breaths later, the old eunuch appeared in the stone cave.
He heard Dugu Qiu grumbling: "Lucky for him. If not for that Great Demon King of the Demon Race, I’d have killed him today. Yellow Heaven Dao is causing chaos in the Northern Land, helping Zhang Shicheng become a Divine Dragon, disrupting the region’s fate—they deserve death."
"Father, are you unharmed?" Zhang Chen stepped forward, feigning concern.
"You brat have some conscience, caring about me. It was just a mere Yang God expert, nothing to hurt me." Dugu Qiu said, "But we can’t stay here any longer. Gu Mingyue of Yellow Heaven Dao has gathered reinforcements for a counterattack. I may not be afraid, but I can’t protect you all. We need to flee promptly."
Earlier, he had clearly seen that experts in the barracks had sensed his aura and were tracking him. He hadn’t yet recovered from his wounds and didn’t wish to entangle with the Demon Race. If Hu Li the Immortal collaborated with his cronies, escaping would be impossible.
Zhang Chen quickly carried Mrs. Zhang, holding Chengyu, while Dugu Qiu slung the two little ones over his shoulder. The group rushed out of the cave as Dugu Qiu cast an unknown technique, summoning a fierce wind, enveloping Zhang Chen and the others, transforming into a streak of light.
Dugu Qiu maneuvered through the mountains, winding and zigzagging for an hour before stopping his escape light, looking back with a heavy expression: "Something’s not right! We should have shaken them off by now. How are they tracking our aura?"