At this moment, his heart was burning with anxiety, but where could he find Hee Qi?
He took a deep breath, pushed Zhiwei aside, and first searched around the house for signs of a fight between the two.
"Master..."
Zhiwei bit her lower lip. She didn’t care about others, but seeing her master with a stern expression, anxiously checking the traces left by Uncle He outside the house, she couldn’t help herself.
She ran over to him in small steps, stretched out her small hand, and handed an item to her master:
"Master, Uncle He gave this to me before he left."
"What is it?"
Chen Ye took it and examined it carefully, only to realize it was a Spirit Beast Pouch.
Inside the pouch, there was a Spirit Bee.
"Uncle He said... Uncle He said the Spirit Bee recognizes its owner and can lead the way to find him."
Zhiwei’s voice became even softer. She originally wanted to hide the Spirit Bee, so her master would not find Hee Qi and thus avoid a confrontation with the Cultivator from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect.
That Cultivator from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect came on fiercely, with backup.
Not to mention, he himself was a Foundation Establishment Cultivator and had Foundation Establishment Puppets.
Coincidentally, her master had just reached Foundation Establishment and had not yet stabilized his Realm. Moreover, he was loyal and righteous...
"You! Alas!"
Chen Ye was furious, instinctively reaching for his waist, but now there was no time to educate Zhiwei.
He let out a heavy sigh and took the Spirit Bee.
"Chang——!"
The Iron Sword responded to his thoughts and floated beneath his feet!
Chen Ye stepped onto it, and that First Tier Iron Sword let out a mournful cry under the overwhelming Spiritual Power of his Foundation Establishment Stage!
With only a whistle from the sword, his master’s figure disappeared without a trace.
Zhiwei watched her master’s distant back, hearing the mournful cry of the Iron Sword, she bit her lower lip even harder.
She understood that her master had just reached Foundation Establishment and could not yet control his power properly, which caused the Iron Sword to cry out...
"Master, master..."
She only cared about her master.
...
Upon reaching Foundation Establishment, the difference is like heaven and earth.
Chen Ye sword-traveled with ease, only feeling the Spiritual Power around him surging like rivers, and with a thought, majestic Spiritual Power poured into the Iron Sword.
"Buzz!"
The speed increased sharply once more!
However, with the creaking of the sword, Chen Ye’s heart tightened, quickly retracting seventy percent of his strength.
With his current cultivation, this First Tier Magical Artifact could no longer bear it.
As for the Flying Light?
The Flying Light was thin as a cicada’s wing, a lethal weapon for killing, though a Second Tier Magical Treasure, it was not suitable for Sword Control.
However, the current speed was sufficient.
Any faster, and he would overtake the Spirit Bee.
"Once this matter is settled, I must recast the Iron Sword."
He suppressed any distracting thoughts and focused on the Spirit Bee desperately leading the way ahead.
The Spirit Bee flew at an extreme speed, turning into a golden light, rapidly darting through the crumbling stone monuments and collapsed building complexes.
Chen Ye followed closely on his sword, and after less than a half time period, he found the traces of a fight between two people.
"Hmm... Hee Qi, with his rich experience, knew he was not the opponent of the Cultivator from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect, so he fought while retreating, dragging it out until now."
From the traces Chen Ye examined, it was more of Hee Qi fleeing and the Cultivator from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect pursuing him than a proper duel between the two.
Only... Why did this Cultivator from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect target him?
Back in the Eighth Layer Heaven, he had secretly attacked him.
The two had no enmity or grievance.
Chen Ye asked himself, not having had any connection with the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect... Except for the Puppet Core, which Bai Susu had gifted him.
And he had once killed an insignificant member of the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect, but only he and Li Qiuyun knew about it; no one else could possibly know.
"Hmm? We’re almost there..."
Chen Ye had by then arrived at the Eighth Layer Heaven.
Here, he also saw some puppet remains and corpses of disciples from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect, presumably slain by Hee Qi.
"Buzz, buzz——"
The Spirit Bee anxiously hovered ahead, while already Spiritual Power fluctuations could be clearly felt further on.
...
On the desolate square.
"Pfft!"
Hee Qi spat out another mouthful of blood, bracing against his knife, half-kneeling in the ruins, drenched in blood, his aura weakened to its lowest point.
In front of him, a towering three-zhang tall bronze warrior was steadily approaching with heavy steps.
Behind him, the cloaked man from the Ten Thousand Puppet Sect stood leisurely:
"Why bother running? Do you think I don’t know you’re stalling for time? Could it be you’re counting on that Qi Cultivation Stage boy?"
"Pah!" Hee Qi spat out a bloody froth, hoarsely snarling, "If I hadn’t been injured earlier, would I let you vile creature run amok!"
"On the brink of death, your mouth remains tough."
The cloaked man shook his head, a trace of impatience flickering in his eyes,
"Enough, the game should end. After killing you, I’ll deal with that boy... A Qi Cultivation Stage, managing to reach the Ninth Layer with a little girl at his side. Who’d believe there wasn’t a great opportunity?"
When he saw Chen Ye and the little girl by his side at the Eighth Layer Heaven, he knew this person must be killed!
Unusual circumstances are always suspicious!
He slightly moved his fingers, and the eyes of the bronze warrior glimmered ominously, charging at Hee Qi.
"Damn it."
Hee Qi gritted his teeth. His long knife was only a First Tier Magical Artifact, how could it withstand a Second Tier battle?
If he had a Second Tier Magical Artifact, he could at least fight the cloaked man for a few days!
"Thunderbolt!"
The sword light arrived first, and then the sound followed.
The compressed cyan sword light, like a thunderbolt falling from the heavens, struck the neck of the bronze warrior before anything else!
"Clang——!"
The indestructible Second Tier Puppet was forcibly slashed back several steps by this sword!
"Who is it?!"
The cloaked man’s face changed drastically, and he suddenly looked up, only to see a cyan figure already landing in front of Hee Qi.