The Frostwing Dragon continued flying along the official road towards Cloud City.
After flying for a while, Murong Yin asked curiously, "Jiang Liu, don't you know the way? Why are you making the Frostwing Dragon fly along the official road?"
Jiang Liu replied awkwardly, "I really don't know the way!"
"You should have said so earlier! We can avoid the official road by flying, which is much farther! Let me tell you how to get there," Murong Yin said, giving Jiang Liu a charming look.
Then Murong Yin began to explain in detail to Jiang Liu. As Murong Yin was explaining, the wind was so strong that she was standing quite close to Jiang Liu, and her fragrant breath brushed against Jiang Liu's cheek.
Jiang Liu suddenly felt awkward and could only pretend not to know anything. Murong Yin, perhaps having forgotten for a moment, sat down next to Jiang Liu after finishing her explanation.
Jiang Liu didn't say anything to remind them, and the two just sat there. Then, following Murong Yin's advice, Jiang Liu ordered the Frostwing Dragon to change direction and head towards the mountains.
To get to Yuncheng, you have to pass through a mountain range called the Ten Thousand Mountains. The previous way of traveling was to go straight along the official road, but now you have to go through the mountain range.
As darkness began to fall, Jiang Liu was considering where to spend the night before continuing his journey. He couldn't possibly fly all night, and there wasn't much of a rush.
Jiang Liu sat behind Murong Yin, looking at Murong Yin in front of him. She was dressed in a purple dress, which fluttered in the wind. She exuded a faint fragrance and her beautiful figure was truly like that of a fairy.
Jiang Liu was engrossed in watching when suddenly Murong Yin cried out "Ouch!" and fell backward. It turned out that the Frostwing Dragon had trembled.
Jiang Liu quickly opened his arms to catch it.
Murong Yin then turned to the side and hugged Jiang Liu tightly.
Suddenly, their eyes met.
"Roar!" At this moment, the Frostwing Dragon let out a roar!
The two were immediately startled awake and quickly separated.
Jiang Liu inquired with the Frostwing Dragon and learned that a column of smoke had appeared ahead. Jiang Liu quickly used the dim light to look into the distance and saw a thick plume of black smoke rising from the mountains.
Soon, the Frostwing Dragon approached the place where the black smoke was rising, and saw a huge altar below, with a large group of people surrounding it in a ritual.
Jiang Liu was about to order the Frostwing Dragon to go around it.
Suddenly, two Rank 9 Martial Practitioner appeared in front of the Frostwing Dragon, their eyes gleaming as they looked at Jiang Liu and Murong Yin. They were mainly staring at Murong Yin.
One of the figures said, "Please wait a moment, both of you! It's temporarily inconvenient to pass through ahead!"
Jiang Liu frowned upon hearing this and asked, "What happened ahead? If it's inconvenient, we can take a detour."
"Gui Fang! Why waste so much breath on them? If they see us performing the sacrifice, capture them and hand them over to the Dharma Protector for punishment!" another said.
Gui Fang said with dissatisfaction, "I'm handling it, why are you Gui Chou, talking so much nonsense?"
"Gentlemen, even taking a detour won't work. Your flying overhead has already disturbed the gods, so we can only ask you to stop for now!" Gui Fang continued.
At this moment, another figure flew up, looked at Gui Fang and Gui Chou, and said, "What's going on? You can't even handle a small task?"
"Elder Bai, it wasn't me, it was Gui Fang was wasting time," Gui Chou quickly complained.
"Alright! Enough with the nonsense, both of you stay silent!" Elder Bai then said to Jiang Liu and Murong Yin, "Disciples of the Exotic Beast Valley, the path ahead is temporarily blocked. You may turn back and proceed tomorrow."
Looking at the three martial artists opposite him—two ninth-rank and one Minor Grandmaster — Jiang Liu could only order the Frostwing Dragon to turn around and go back.
The Frostwing Dragon flew back for more than ten miles before Jiang Liu ordered it to land.
Jiang Liu and Murong Yin jumped off the Frostwing Dragon with their packs on their backs, while the Frostwing Dragon continued to hover in mid-air.
Jiang Liu looked at the place where he had landed; it was a large forest.
He then said to Murong Yin, "You stay here and wait for me. I'll go and see where we can stay for tonight."
Murong Yin shook her head and said, "What? You think I'm a weak woman? Although I'm not as strong as you, I'm still an Eighth Rank Martial Practitioner!"
Jiang Liu smiled sheepishly, then unfolded his form and began to probe with his Divine Sense. Murong Yin followed.
Below the altar, Gui Fang and Gui Chou, who had just flown into the air to intercept Jiang Liu and his group, sat to the side and muttered to themselves, "Gui Fang, those two disciples from the Exotic Beast Valley we saw earlier, the woman was really pretty! Any ideas?"
"If the elder hadn't come up just now, I was planning to wait until they were a little further away before making my move! What? You have ideas too?" Gui Fang said with a lewd expression.
Gui Chou stuck out his tongue and licked it. "Who wouldn't be interested in a beautiful woman? Especially such a beautiful woman?"
"However, their Exotic Beast is at the level of Lesser Beast King, and it's not easy to deal with! Do you have any good ideas?" Gui Chou asked hesitantly.
"Hey! So what if it's the Lesser Beast King's Exotic Beast? Do you think they can guard them forever?" Gui Fang said with a disdainful look.
"I just took a look, they're in the woods over there. After the ceremony, we'll sneak over there. They're just two weaklings, it'll be a piece of cake."
Gui Fang and Gui Chou exchanged a knowing smile and then burst into lewd laughter.
Jiang Liu and Murong Yin were unaware that someone was plotting against them and were still wandering through the dense forest, searching for their dinner that night.
Jiang Liu spread his Divine Sense to explore ahead, while Murong Yin followed Jiang Liu as they flew. Before long, Jiang Liu spotted three colorful-winged birds.
Jiang Liu darted forward and, with Annihilation by Thought, causing the colorful-winged bird in front of him to fall to the ground.
Murong Yin watched with curiosity. He hadn't even seen Jiang Liu make a move, yet the three colorful birds were already dead. What kind of technique was this?
Jiang Liu picked up three colorful-winged birds, each weighing four or five pounds, which was more than enough to eat.
Next, Jiang Liu built a shelter in a nearby tree, and soon Jiang Liu had finished one. Then he continued to build another.
Seeing Jiang Liu's practiced movements, Murong Yin knew Jiang Liu had spent a lot of time living in trees. She didn't try to help but make things worse, but occasionally she would whittle some branches and throw them to Jiang Liu.
By the time Jiang Liu finished setting up the two shacks, it was already completely dark.
Jiang Liu raised his right hand and made a grasping motion, and a pile of dry branches appeared in front of him. He pointed with his left hand, and the dry branches were set on fire.
Murong Yin watched with curiosity, his face full of questions.
Jiang Liu had no intention of explaining. He channeled his vital energy into his right hand, and a blade of vital energy appeared, which he used to disembowel the colorful bird. Then, with his left hand, he used a stream of vital energy to wash the bird clean.
Jiang Liu skewered the colorful-winged bird with a stick, then took out the seasonings, marinated the bird, and left it there to let the flavors infuse.
This series of smooth and effortless maneuvers drew admiration from Murong Yin.
She never imagined that Jiang Liu could use the Five Elements Primal Qi so skillfully, and even transform Qi into objects. She also remembered what her grandfather had told her: Jiang Liu's spiritual power had already reached the level of Minor Grandmaster.
Suddenly, he realized how right it was to choose Jiang Liu, especially since Jiang Liu didn't come from a prestigious school and therefore didn't have powerful backing.
Now is the perfect time for the Murong Family to intervene. Murong Yin looked at Jiang Liu's handsome face. Although he wasn't exactly dashing, he was certainly not bad-looking. In particular, his aura deeply attracted her.