Enemies Under Heaven

At Niu Youdao's call, Fu Hua and the others, who had been waiting for a long time, revealed themselves. All of them watched the direction behind Niu Youdao with suspicious expressions. He was calling them out now—wasn't he afraid the informants following behind would discover them?

Seeing that the bundle on Niu Youdao's body was gone, that he was holding a hollow log, and that blood still stained the corner of his mouth, Fu Hua asked, "What happened?"

The hollow log in Niu Youdao's hand burst apart, scattering glittering purple Spirit Seeds across the ground. "The bait didn't work. I ran into robbers on the way and nearly had the Spirit Seeds taken. Luckily, I snatched them back."

Hong Gaitian asked in surprise, "You have the Heaven Sword Talisman on you. Who would dare lay a hand on you so easily?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. "I don't know them either. It's nothing. The chase and fighting along the way delayed us. I suffered a minor injury, so there's no way to lure anyone out again today. Tomorrow."

He did not reveal what had happened along the way. He really had brought those minor injuries upon himself and needed time to recuperate.

The next day, having rested and recovered, Niu Youdao set out once more.

This time, things went smoothly. The Korean cultivators truly wished Niu Youdao dead. A Yan Kingdom driven by a cohesive and powerful Southern Prefecture posed far too great a threat to Korea.

More importantly, blinded by greed, the Heavenly Maiden Cult members who discovered Niu Youdao's trail saw the large number of Spirit Seeds in his possession and wanted to swallow them all for themselves. They likewise did not inform the other two factions, secretly sending a team after Niu Youdao to kill him. The