Huiming paused slightly with the rosary beads in his hand, and his half-opened eyes opened slightly, revealing the clear and deep light in them.
He didn't speak, just sighed softly.
"Not necessarily."
Gu Changqing spoke.
His voice was old and flat, as if he was just stating something ordinary.
He silently tilted his head and his eyes fell on Gu Changqing.
Huiming also opened his eyes, and looked at Gu Changqing with his clear eyes, with a bit of inquiry in his eyes.
"There is still one person who has not returned yet."
Gu Changqing's eyes still fell towards the valley, and there was no emotion in those cloudy eyes.
Silence was startled for a moment, and then he remembered something.
His eyes swept across the dozen or so figures in the valley. Indeed, there was still one person who had not returned - the young man sent by the Azure Profound Sect.
"Donor Gu said it was Fang Han from your sect?"
Huiming spoke.
His voice was calm, with a calmness unique to monks.
"Exactly."
Gu Changqing nodded slightly.
"It seems that Donor Gu has quite a lot of confidence in this disciple in the sect."
Huiming A faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
The smile was very light, so light that it was almost undetectable if you didn't look closely, but it was somewhat clear.
Gu Changqing was silent for a moment and then slowly spoke.
"Confidence is out of the question."
His eyes fell in the direction where Fang Han left, where the trees were vast and the mist was thick.
"It's just that this boy is extremely accomplished in Tracking Secret Technique. In terms of tracking ability, few people in Qingyang Prefecture can match him. However, it is still difficult to say whether he can track that master-level monster."
Huiming nodded slightly, said no more, lowered his eyes again, and slowly moved the rosary beads in his hand.
Shen Mo stood with his hands behind his hands, looking towards the direction Fang Han was leaving. A trace of thoughtfulness flashed in those ancient and unwavering eyes.
The mountain breeze blew by, rustling the branches and leaves of the ancient trees.
The figures of the three masters are looming in the mottled light and shadow, as if the three statues have stood here since ancient times and have been completely integrated into the sculptures of this mountain forest.
Deep in the jungle.
"Whoosh!"
Fang Han's figure is like an invisible wind, moving silently among the ancient trees and rocks.
<Wind God Step>Minor Accomplishment After that, his speed was astonishingly fast, but he didn't make any sound of wind. It was like a real wind, blending into the vast forest.
His brows frowned slightly.
In <Thousand-Mile Soul Lock>'s perception, the faint aura of the master-level monster was always looming.
Sometimes it was a little clearer, as if it was not far ahead; sometimes it became fainter, almost completely disappearing from his perception.
Every time the breath faded, Fang Han had to stop and use all his strength to activate <Thousand-Mile Soul Lock> to recapture that faint wisp of breath from the vast sea of breath.
The master-level monster's breath-condensing method was stronger than he expected.
This monster is not only cunning, but also extremely cautious.
The breath it left behind was so weak that it almost didn't exist, and after being covered up by some means, it was like a grain of dust falling into the vast sea. If he hadn't cultivated <Thousand-Mile Soul Lock> to the Perfection Realm, it would have been impossible to trace it to the present.
Ten miles.
Dozens of miles.
Hundreds of miles.
Fang Han's figure silently walked through the dense forest. Although the breath was weak, it was never completely interrupted. It was like an invisible thread, pulling him forward.
"Huh?"
After traveling hundreds of miles, Fang Han's footsteps suddenly paused slightly.
In <Thousand-Mile Soul Lock>'s perception, the aura that had been so weak that it was almost non-existent suddenly became a little clearer.
The sense of clarity is not strong, but it is real -
Just like a lamp that was originally wrapped in layers of black cloth, a corner was suddenly lifted, revealing a faint but real light.
"Could it be?"
Fang Han's heartbeat accelerated slightly.
He did not move forward in a hurry, but stopped and activated <Thousand-Mile Soul Lock> with all his strength, carefully distinguishing the changes in the breath.
After a while, he confirmed his judgment - it was not an illusion.
The aura was indeed getting thicker. Although it was still weak, it was much clearer than before.
He took a deep breath, suppressed the faint fluctuation in his heart, and moved again.
This time, his speed was faster than before, but he was more cautious.
<Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art> Always operates at full strength, suppressing its own aura to the extreme.
And as we move forward, the breath becomes stronger and stronger.
Fang Han can even vaguely sense the violence and coldness contained in that aura.
We traveled several dozen miles further.
'Found it?!'
Fang Han's body suddenly stopped and landed on the branches of an ancient tree.
His pupils shrank slightly, and the hairs on his back stood on end.
A few miles away, he sensed an extremely dangerous aura.
It's not the lingering breath.
It is a living breath that is spreading out.
The breath was so weak that it almost didn't exist, but it was extremely terrifying - cold, violent, as deep as an abyss, with a sense of oppression that made the soul tremble.
It was like an ancient ferocious beast dormant in the abyss. Although it had restrained its fangs and claws, the instinctive pressure of a predator at the top of the food chain still made Fang Han feel cold all over.
'Grandmaster level monster!'
Fang Han's breathing almost stopped at this moment.
He held his breath and <Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art> ran crazily with unprecedented intensity.
The aura around the body seemed to be completely wiped away by invisible hands, the heartbeat became slow and long, and the temperature of the skin blended with the environment.
The whole person is like a real dead tree, a lifeless stone.
His eyes fell to the direction where the breath came from, several miles away.
Vaguely visible, there is a hidden mountain col a few miles away.
The mountain col is surrounded by cliffs, with dense forests and dense mist.
The sunlight was filtered into fragments by the layers of branches and leaves, casting mottled and dim light and shadow on the ground.
That breath was deep in the mountain col.
'You shouldn't have noticed me!'
Fang Han motionless, like a lifeless sculpture.
His perception was firmly locked on the location of the breath, and he was highly concentrated, sensing every change in the breath.
Smooth.
Deep.
There are no unusual fluctuations.
After a while, his tense heartstrings relaxed slightly.
That master-level monster probably didn't notice him.
If it were discovered, the breath would never be so stable.
"Huh--"
Fang Han slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
He didn't act in a hurry, he still maintained that posture, motionless.
It wasn't until he confirmed that there was indeed no change in the breath that he raised his right hand extremely slowly.
With a slight thought in my mind, I took out a palm-sized piece of paper and a charcoal pencil wrapped in a thin bamboo tube from Storage Ring.
The note is prepared before departure. The material is flexible and not easy to break.
The charcoal pen is set in a thin bamboo tube, and the tip is sharpened to make it easier to write small characters.
Fang Han spread the note in the palm of his hand and quickly wrote on it with a charcoal pen.
His movements were very light and steady, without making any sound. The charcoal pen scratched across the paper, leaving a line of fine and clear small words -
"The master-level monster has been discovered, located about four hundred miles northwest of Green Cliff Mountain, in a mountain depression..."
After writing, he put the charcoal pen into Storage Ring and took out the exquisite bamboo cage from his arms.
The bamboo cage was made of thin strips and was about the size of a palm. Inside, there lay quietly a bird with light blue feathers, a sharp beak and slender claws, and a pair of lively eyes.
It is the letter bird that Su Wanbai distributes to everyone.
Fang Han Fold the paper into a long and thin strip and carefully tie it to the letter bird's leg with a very thin silk thread.
His movements were still very light and steady, making no sound.
After tying the note, he held the letter bird in both hands and gently lifted it up.
The letter bird flapped its wings, flew up silently, shuttled through the gaps in the branches and leaves, and soon disappeared into the sky.
Fang Han looked at the direction where the messenger bird disappeared, and slowly looked away.
He did not leave, and remained motionless on the branches of the ancient tree.
<Return to Ruin Essence Concealment Art> Work with all your strength, suppressing your own aura to the extreme.
<Thousand-Mile Soul Lock>'s perception continued, sensing the still steady and deep aura of the master-level monster.
Now, all we have to do is wait for the powerful master to arrive.
In the valley.
More than a dozen trackers were sitting scattered on the bluestones and fallen dead trees near the entrance of the valley. Some closed their eyes and meditated, some talked in low voices, and some silently wiped the weapons in their hands.
The atmosphere was tense, as if there was an invisible layer of clouds pressing down on it.
"Everyone, although I failed to track the monster this time, it is not all without gain."
Su Wanbai put away the seven or eight jet black scales in his hand, glanced at everyone, and his gentle voice broke the silence.
"At least we know its method - using scales as bait to disperse the scent and lure the pursuer in the wrong direction."
The old man in gray robe shook his head and said in a low voice:
"Su Elder, what's the use of knowing what methods it uses? If you can't find its hiding place, everything is empty talk."
Tang Jun said in a dull voice:
"The beast spread its aura in all directions, and it was hard to tell whether it was real or fake. We chased it for hundreds of miles, but we only found its scales, not even its shadow."
"Such methods are beyond the reach of ordinary tracking techniques."
The blind woman tapped the bamboo stick gently on the ground with a hoarse voice:
"I have been tracking it for decades, and I have never seen such a cunning monster. It actually attached its own aura to its scales, and then let birds and beasts scatter away with the scales in their mouths."
"When we follow the aura, we are actually chasing those birds and beasts, not the monster itself."
Su Wanbai is silent.
Among the tracking experts present, which one has not been immersed in this art for decades? This tracking failure obviously shocked them a lot.
Luo Qi stood on a raised bluestone with his hands behind his hands, his face stern and silent.
Those penetrating eyes looked at the vast mountain forest outside the valley, and the gloomy color deep in the pupils almost solidified.
The old man in gray robe sighed:
"This time, I and a dozen people took action together, but they were all fooled around by that beast. If word spread, I'm afraid it will make Dafa laugh."
Tang Jun said:
"It's the second best thing to make people laugh. If that monster is not eliminated, Qingyang Prefecture will have no peace for a day. But we can't even find a trace of it. This is really frustrating."
Su Wanbai sighed lightly.
As the person in charge of this search, she has a heavier burden than anyone else.
Rain Listening Tower A Second Grade Elder was trapped under the claws of that monster. If she could not make good use of the clues that Second Grade Elder gave her life for, she would have no shame in returning to the sect to meet the sect leader.
At this moment, a slight flapping sound came from the mouth of the valley.