Before long, Fang Han put down his chopsticks and gave Luo Yuntian and the Deacon a wink.
The two understood and put down their bowls and chopsticks.
The three of them got up and walked unhurriedly towards the stairwell, went up to the second floor, and returned to their respective rooms.
Lei Zheng's gaze swept over the three figures as they went upstairs, then he looked away, not paying them any attention.
He picked up the wine pot and poured himself a cup.
As First Grade martial artist, no alcohol can get him drunk unless he wants to, so he doesn't need to worry about getting drunk.
The next morning, as dawn broke.
Fang Han pushed open the door and came out, just as Luo Yuntian was also walking out of the room.
The two exchanged a glance and nodded slightly.
Before long, the Azure Profound Sect Deacon finished getting ready, and the three of them went downstairs together.
After checking out of the room, we went to the backyard.
The White Tiger stood there spiritedly. Upon seeing the three arrive, it snorted softly and exhaled two puffs of white mist.
Last night, I had the innkeeper's staff buy a lot of meat to feed it, so it didn't go hungry.
The Deacon leaped onto the tiger's back, and Fang Han and Luo Yuntian followed suit, settling into their seats inside the carriage.
"Drive!"
The Deacon gave the reins a gentle tug, and the White Tiger strode off, heading towards the city gate along the route it had come from.
Just as White Tiger's figure turned the corner, Lei Zheng and his two companions walked out of the inn.
The young disciple stretched and muttered complaints about not sleeping well last night.
"Um?"
Lei Zheng suddenly stopped in his tracks.
His gaze fell on the white figure that had just disappeared around the street corner.
It was a White Tiger.
It is pure white, nearly ten feet tall at the shoulders, and more than three feet long, with a carriage on its back.
" White Tiger demon?"
Lei Zheng's brows furrowed sharply.
He remembered very clearly that the Azure Profound Sect Master's mount was an extremely rare White Tiger demon.
It is said that the White Tiger was First Grade demonic creature, which Chen Tianyuan captured and tamed in his early years and used as a means of transportation for many years.
White Tiger demons are rare, and he didn't believe it was a mere coincidence that another force had also captured and tamed a White Tiger demon.
"People from the Azure Profound Sect?!"
A cold glint flashed in Lei Zheng's eyes, his sharp, eagle-like eyes fixed on the street corner where the White Tiger had disappeared.
" Elder?"
Seeing that Lei Zheng's expression was unusual, the young disciple tentatively spoke up.
Lei Zheng did not answer immediately, but slowly withdrew his gaze, his brows furrowed.
He quickly reviewed the information on the First Grade martial artists of the Azure Profound Sect in his mind— Chen Tianyuan, Chen Wanjun ... He remembered all of these people.
None of the three people just now possessed such a person.
"Interesting."
Lei Zheng's lips curled into a cold smile.
"It seems they are disciples going to the Imperial Capital to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament."
Upon hearing Lei Zhen's words, the young disciple asked uncertainly:
" Elder Lei, are they from the Azure Profound Sect?"
"And there wasn't First Grade martial artist accompanying or protecting him."
Lei Zheng's voice was very low and slightly hoarse.
His right hand, which was hanging in his sleeve, clenched slightly, and his knuckles made a soft clicking sound.
During the trip to the Ancient Ruins, Thunderlight Pavilion lost a First Grade Elder and several outstanding disciples, a debt that Thunderlight Pavilion has always remembered.
Now that we've encountered this Azure Profound Sect team, it's practically a godsend opportunity for revenge.
" Elder, should we follow them?"
The middle-aged man who looked like Deacon also heard Lei Zheng's words, lowered his voice, and a ruthless glint flashed in his eyes.
Lei Zheng did not answer immediately, but stared in the direction where the White Tiger had disappeared, his gaze growing increasingly profound.
"No rush, let's wait until they leave this city."
He paused, his voice as cold as a poisoned knife:
" The Azure Profound Sect owes my Thunderlight Pavilion, and today we'll collect it all back, with interest."
The White Tiger demon left the city gate and sped north along the official road.
Inside the carriage, Luo Yuntian sat opposite Fang Han, holding the yellowed sword manual in his hand, but did not turn the page.
He looked up at Fang Han, his voice carrying a hint of relief:
"I never expected to run into people from the Thunderlight Pavilion."
" Skywind Prefecture is a necessary route to the Imperial Capital, so it's not surprising to encounter people from the Thunderlight Pavilion here."
Fang Han spoke calmly.
The Azure Profound Sect Deacon, sitting at the front of the carriage, turned around, wiped the fine sweat from his forehead, and spoke with a hint of relief in his voice:
"Fortunately, we were dressed in civilian clothes, so Lei Zheng shouldn't have recognized us. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to escape so easily."
Luo Yuntian nodded slightly, about to reply—
Fang Han's expression suddenly changed.
"They've caught up."
Those four short words were like a bucket of cold water poured over someone's head.
Luo Yuntian's fingers tightened suddenly as he gripped the sword manual, his expression of relief freezing instantly.
The Deacon's face paled even more, and he turned around abruptly to look at the empty road behind the carriage.
There were no pursuers in sight there yet.
"Fang True Disciple, are you sure...?"
"They are chasing us along the official road at an extremely fast speed; they are still several miles away."
Fang Han's voice was calm and steady, yet carried an undeniable certainty. Proficiency Realm of tracking techniques, he could not possibly be mistaken.
The air inside the carriage seemed to freeze at that moment.
Luo Yuntian put down the sword manual, his right hand already on the hilt of the sword at his waist, his knuckles turning slightly white from the force.
The Deacon gritted his teeth, turned around, and gave a low shout:
"Drive!"
With a sudden jerk of the reins, the White Tiger let out a deep roar, its four paws stomping on the ground, and its speed suddenly increased dramatically.
The carriage sped forward amidst violent jolts, the scenery outside the window stretched into blurry bands of color, and the wind whistled past our ears.
They hoped to use this opportunity to shake off their pursuers.
But it ended in failure.
Soon, a series of urgent wolf howls faintly came from behind.
Luo Yuntian's expression changed drastically as he lifted a corner of the carriage curtain and looked behind him.
At the end of the official road, a dark figure pursued relentlessly like an arrow released from a bow.
It was a giant silver-gray wolf, twice the size of an ordinary horse, and its speed was astonishing as it moved its four paws with incredible speed.
A figure stood atop the giant wolf, fluttering in the wind, his deep blue robe billowing behind him, the silver lightning patterns on his cuffs clearly visible—it was Lei Zheng.
"They've really caught up with us."
Luo Yuntian lowered the carriage curtain, his voice low and deep.
The Azure Profound Sect Deacon desperately urged the White Tiger on, uttering short, sharp commands.
However, although the White Tiger is fast, its endurance is clearly inferior to that of the demon wolf, which excels in both speed and endurance.
The distance between the two sides is gradually shrinking.
Sanli.
Two miles.
One mile.
Half a mile.
The distance is getting closer and closer.
"Call out--"
A sharp whooshing sound rang out as a blue Gang Qi attacked from behind, striking the road in front of the White Tiger.
The Azure Profound Sect Deacon quickly reined in the White Tiger, which pawed at the ground with its four paws, finally stopping it and avoiding being hit by the blue Gang Qi.
Lei Zheng's voice came from behind, hoarse and cold:
Why are you running? Do you have something to hide?
Lei Zheng Lang stepped forward.
The silver-gray giant wolf slowly strolled to a stop about ten feet in front of the White Tiger. Lei Zheng flipped off the wolf's back and stood with his hands behind his back in the middle of the official road.
Those sharp, eagle-like eyes were now coldly fixed on the White Tiger demon's carriage.
The young disciples and Deacon also stepped out of the carriage and stood on the giant wolf's back, their eyes filled with undisguised mockery.
The Azure Profound Sect Deacon took a deep breath, suppressing his fear, and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture towards Lei Zheng, trying to keep his voice steady:
"Senior, what brings you to block our path?"
He paused, then continued.
"We are disciples of the Lingyun Sword Sect, and we are here on a mission to the Imperial Capital. If we have offended you in any way, we hope you will forgive us, senior."
Upon hearing this, Lei Zheng's lips slowly curled into a cold smile.
" Lingyun Sword Sect?"
He slowly repeated those four words, the sarcasm in his smile growing stronger.
"A disciple of the Lingyun Sword Sect riding the White Tiger mount of the Azure Profound Sect Master—that's quite novel."
Upon hearing this, the Azure Profound Sect Deacon's face instantly turned deathly pale.
Lei Zheng stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze passing over the Azure Profound Sect Deacon and landing on the carriage curtain. His voice was calm, yet carried a certain certainty:
"The mount of Chen Tianyuan, the sect leader of the Azure Profound Sect, is a White Tiger."
He paused, and the coldness in his sharp eyes intensified.
"If you are truly disciples of the Lingyun Sword Sect, where did this White Tiger come from? Could it be that Chen Tianyuan lent it to you?"
Silence fell over the carriage.
"As for these two, they should be Fang Han and Luo Yuntian, the True Disciple of the Azure Profound Sect, right?"
Lei Zheng's gaze fell on Fang Han and Luo Yuntian as they stepped out of the carriage, his voice like a cat playing with a mouse.
"Those who received the invitation to the Imperial Capital Martial Arts Tournament and were able to travel on Chen Tianyuan's White Tiger must be only the two of them."
He sighed softly, but there was no regret in that sigh, only an irrepressible sense of pleasure:
" The Azure Profound Sect's expedition to the Ancient Ruins caused heavy losses to our Thunderlight Pavilion. A First Grade Elder and several outstanding disciples all perished at your hands. I will never forget this Elder."
He took a step forward, and deep blue Internal Qi condensed on his fist, emitting a faint hissing sound, like lightning leaping in the air.
"I, this Elder, will kill the three of you today, so that the Azure Profound Sect can taste the bitterness of losing a prodigy."
"If you have someone to blame, blame the Azure Profound Sect for not taking you seriously enough, not even sending a First Grade martial artist to accompany and protect you."
Before he could finish speaking, he unleashed a punch from a distance!
The condensed blue fist energy detached from the fist surface, expanded in the wind, and transformed into a fist imprint the size of a water vat, carrying blinding arcs of electricity and the force to Mountain-Splitting Stone-Cracking, and slammed straight into the carriage!
Where the fist passed, the air made a piercing tearing sound, and a shallow furrow was plowed into the ground.
On the tiger's back, Fang Han placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist.
"Clang!"
The Cloudsplitter Sword was drawn.
A clear, melodious sword cry, like a dragon's roar, overpowered the sharp whistling of the fist's energy piercing the air, and suddenly exploded on the empty official road.
A flash of sword light.
The solidified blue fist energy, upon touching the sword light, was as if it had struck an invisible blade, silently splitting in two from the very center!
The cleaved fist energy scattered to both sides, crashing into the field ridges on either side of the official road, blasting up two clumps of mud and gravel.
The sword light, however, still possessed considerable momentum and struck Lei Zheng squarely in the face.
"What?"
Lei Zheng's pupils suddenly contracted.
He never imagined that his punch, powerful enough to severely injure an ordinary First Grade martial artist, would be so easily sliced apart by a single sword strike.
Although the oncoming sword light had weakened somewhat, it still carried a sharpness that sent chills down his spine.
He leaned back abruptly, trying to dodge, but he couldn't completely avoid it.
On the dark blue Elder's robe on his chest, a sword mark was slashed diagonally from the collar to his left rib, even tearing through his soft armor. If the sword had been any stronger, it could have disemboweled him.
He suddenly looked up at the young man on the White Tiger's back, his rugged face filled with surprise and uncertainty.