The Demon with Holy Radiance

But his disciple had only reached the Corpse Transformation stage back then. Even if he had a breakthrough, he would only be at the Zombie God stage at most.

Why would the Great Virtue Temple send someone at the Insect Dao stage after him?

Even when he had assigned him the mission at the Round Gate Four Pavilions, Elder Zhuan Yu hadn’t actually held much confidence in him.

"Zhuan Yu, you don’t know yet, do you? Your disciple killed quite a few Zombie Gods at the Joyful Shrine Association.

The Guardian of the Round Gate Four Pavilions was said to be the strongest Zombie God in the Great Virtue Temple, and didn’t he die at your disciple’s hands all the same?"

Hearing the Pavilion Master’s words, the sea of blood in Zhuan Yu’s heart churned once more.

’Such a promising talent... I treated him so well, yet he was planning to defect. And to think I never noticed a thing.’

At the same time, Zhuan Yu was even more curious about who had helped Yang An tamper with the Rule Seal.

’Someone with that kind of power couldn’t possibly be a nobody.’

"Let’s drop the matter. With an Insect Dao cultivator on the move, your disciple’s fate is sealed. No matter how strong he is, he can’t survive a single exchange with someone at that level."

Even Thirty Flow felt it was a shame. If Yang An had just patiently waited for them to destroy the Great Virtue Temple and returned to the Golden Thread Pavilion, he would have made a great contribution, even if he didn’t receive the top honor.

But he chose to defect. Now, even if the Golden Thread Pavilion wanted to act—whether to kill him or to save him—he was far beyond their reach.

The Pavilion Master was right. Zhuan Yu nodded in somber agreement.

Before Yang An left the Golden Thread Pavilion, he had gifted him a wisp of the Power of Rules for protection. At most, it could save him from death once, even from the attack of a cultivator at the Middle Stage of the Insect Dao.

But what did that matter?

It would only save him once. If an Insect Dao cultivator could kill him once, they could kill him a thousand times over.

Unless that expert Yang An knew could intervene in time to save him.

But Zhuan Yu was highly skeptical. ’How could Yang An have such an expert at his beck and call? And why would they risk offending both the Great Virtue Temple and the Golden Thread Pavilion simultaneously?’

If that were the case, Zhuan Yu would suspect the so-called expert had ulterior motives. In the end, Yang An’s fate would be the same regardless.

’What a pity...’

Zhuan Yu sighed internally. He had once held such high hopes for Yang An, but since this was the choice he had made, he had no one to blame but himself.

Whatever fate awaited him, he had brought it upon himself. Sometimes, a single misstep costs you your life.

...

WHOOSH—

A dark figure flashed across the bright, clear sky. Yang An finally landed atop a mountain and gazed into the distance.

It was already Noon. Traveling at full speed, he had crossed more than ten State Territories without stopping. Now, he had finally reached the last one.

Once he crossed this State Territory, he would reach Broken Armor. After passing through Broken Armor, he would be in the Fusheng Domain.

Yang An couldn’t guarantee that the Fusheng Domain would be safe, but if his pursuers followed him there, they would certainly alert the powers within it. That would be greatly to his advantage.

The journey had not been without incident. Along the way, Yang An had run into trouble when he accidentally passed by a nest of Demon Fiends.

The situation had been perilous. He had come dangerously close... to not being able to completely annihilate those disgusting Demon Fiends, almost letting a few scattered ones escape.

It wasn’t that Yang An harbored some deep-seated hatred for Demon Fiends and felt compelled to kill them.

Rather, if someone was pursuing him from behind, these Demon Fiends might reveal his whereabouts. If that happened, he’d have no choice but to spend a little time erasing all traces of his passage.

Yet for some reason, just as he was about to cross this final State Territory, a strange sense of unease began to stir in Yang An’s heart.

’The only reason for such a subtle premonition is that danger lies ahead. I have to be on my guard.’

Yang An didn’t linger. He set off again toward Broken Armor, thinking it best to leave this place as soon as possible.

Just as Yang An’s figure vanished over the distant horizon...

「A stick of incense’s time later.」

A black lotus suddenly shot in from the distance, its form a churn of viscous matter. It finally solidified, revealing Hai Yun’s figure.

Despite his sturdy build, he landed on the ground with surprising lightness.

As his foot touched the ground, a black ripple emanated from him, spreading out in all directions. In an instant, it had covered a radius of several thousand meters.

On a mountaintop thousands of meters away, where the ripples had passed, a black, ethereal afterimage soon appeared.

SWISH!

In the next instant, Hai Yun’s figure appeared on that very mountaintop. His pitch-black eyes scrutinized the afterimage up close.

He had followed the trail all this way and finally locked onto this individual. His movements were the most suspicious. He had departed from the Ten Thousand Buddha State and had barely stopped since.

He wasn’t entirely certain this was the missing Buddha’s Son, but once he captured him, the truth would come to light.

Soon, he watched the black afterimage depart into the distance. It was heading in a direction that, after crossing this State Territory, led to Broken Armor.

Hai Yun was now almost certain. He immediately transformed back into the black lotus and gave chase.

Just a hundred li left!

Yang An was using his Light and Shadow Escape Technique at full speed. The remaining distance was shrinking fast. As long as he entered Broken Armor, he could escape the Treasure Temple Domain.

But the unease in his heart was growing stronger, as if some unknown danger was steadily closing in.

’Thankfully, it’s not much further. Just a little more effort...’

However, at that very moment, a voice rang out unexpectedly.

"Halt! Who are you? Why are you trespassing across the border?"

The voice was like a clap of thunder, deafeningly loud. A figure appeared before Yang An, blocking his path.