Chapter 602 - 346: Return 2
His life was a constant flight from countless Life-taking Talismans. They chased him one after another, never stopping, forcing him to press on without rest. If he ever fell behind, he would face eternal damnation.
Often, Yang An felt like a migratory bird, compelled to fly toward a predestined destination. He soared over mountains and plains, forests and coastlines, but his journey had only one end. There was nowhere suitable for him to rest along the way.
And he was the only such migratory bird.
Half a day later, Yang An successfully entered Ji Jiang State. This was the fastest he could manage while deliberately slowing down to conceal his identity and aura.
The Golden Soul Sect had previously transferred most of its forces to Chongwen State, preparing to advance on the Treasure Temple Domain. As a result, few of their members remained in Ji Jiang State, and no one noticed Yang An's presence.
After all, no one knew that a mole named White Bird had infiltrated the Golden Soul Sect's Central Sect. This was why Yang An had been immediately warned that he was a target, allowing him to escape right away.
"Look, what's that?"
Right then, on the outskirts of the Land of Shattered Armor in Ji Jiang State, a handful of Golden Soul Sect members stood guard.
When word came down some time ago that the Central Sect was planning a major operation, men were dispatched to stand guard and keep watch over the Land of Shattered Armor in each State Territory to handle any potential incidents.
But to this day, nothing had happened. The Land of Shattered Armor remained as tranquil as ever, with no one coming or going.
The dozen or so Cultivators on duty included two Zombie Gods, with the remainder being Corpse Transformations. They were responsible for monitoring the border of the Land of Shattered Armor across a radius of tens of thousands of meters.
Suddenly, one of the Zombie Gods sensed something. He snapped his head up toward the sky, where the sun was so bright it was almost blinding.
The sun wasn't usually this bright. It was as if something was falling from the sky.
Hearing the commotion, the other guards also looked up. A sharp gust of wind swept over their faces.
In the sky, like falling meteors, several bright streaks of Golden Radiance appeared from the direction of the sun, rapidly approaching. By the time the guards got a clear look, they could see the long trails of fire they left in their wake as they fell.
In that instant, an ominous premonition seized them all.
'Enemy attack!'
"Who is it?!"
The Zombie God in charge immediately shot into the sky, intending to intercept the falling objects.
At their Cultivation Level, they were only considered mid-tier within a dominant power like the Golden Soul Sect. Out in the world of smaller factions, however, any one of them would be a figure capable of founding their own sect.
There was no room for hesitation in the face of an enemy attack. A Zombie God who commanded the Power of Rules could not be felled by a mere sneak attack.
But just as he moved, before he could even ascend, the streaks of Golden Radiance, still distant a moment ago, suddenly accelerated and plummeted.
BOOM—
In a flash, a chain of explosions erupted. Blinding light engulfed the area around the Land of Shattered Armor, and in a mere instant, the auras of the dozen or so Golden Soul Sect guards vanished without a trace.
As the light faded, a figure appeared without warning, standing expressionlessly before the Land of Shattered Armor.
It was Yang An.
He didn't look back at the explosion. With no one left to stop him, he strode forward and stepped into the Land of Shattered Armor.
On this day, Non-Birth arrived outside Earth Demon Cliff once more, his perception blanketing the entire area.
Huan, within the Stone Stele, had long known of Non-Birth's arrival. In response, it couldn't even be bothered to manifest its Dharma Aspect, only letting out a disdainful sneer.
"Where did you hide him?"
Failing to detect Yang An's aura, Non-Birth began his interrogation of Huan.
Huan couldn't be bothered with him, simply closing its eyes and turning a deaf ear.
Before long, a message suddenly arrived from his subordinate, the new Grand Elder Ya Zhong. In Ji Jiang State, adjacent to Chongwen State, the Golden Soul Sect unit guarding the Land of Shattered Armor had been annihilated.
Upon hearing this, Non-Birth instantly realized what it meant, and his face darkened.
The better part of a day later, Yang An emerged from the Land of Shattered Armor, drenched in blood. The moment he stepped out, his exhaustion vanished, and he returned to his normal state.
'He hadn't expected crossing the Land of Shattered Armor in Ji Jiang State to be such a long journey. It had taken him the better part of a day, like traversing the entire length of a city.'
'The monsters he encountered within the Land of Shattered Armor were countless. He had killed until his hands grew numb and rivers of blood flowed before he finally emerged.'
'If not for his Spinal True Feather, which allowed him to maintain sufficient combat strength within the Land of Shattered Armor, even an Insect Dao expert would have likely had an extremely difficult time in this area.'
He was now back within the Treasure Temple Domain, currently in a place called Little Buddha State, which was under the control of the Great Virtue Temple. It was a full eight State Territories away from the temple's core territory, Ten Thousand Buddha State.
However, this place was only separated from the Fusheng Domain by the Land of Shattered Armor, so Yang An had no intention of staying for long.
As the war between the Golden Thread Pavilion and the Great Virtue Temple escalated, neither side was holding back. The fighting would only grow more white-hot, and life for ordinary people in these non-core regions was becoming increasingly difficult.
In a struggle between two such dominant powers, the countless smaller factions beneath them were forced to take a side. Otherwise, they would face a purge in the aftermath.