Chen Changqing had been away from the ancient Immortal Palace grounds for less than half an hour when the discussions behind him were flung so far away they vanished without a trace.
He did not take the main road.
With the Undying Medicine on him, no matter which path he took, someone would be watching.
The only difference was whether they came quickly or slowly.
Deep within the mountain ranges, mist flowed close through the forest.
Chen Changqing stepped across a patch of broken stones, then suddenly stopped.
Ahead was too quiet.
Not the sort of quiet a mountain forest ought to have.
The insects had gone silent, and even the wind had stopped.
Even the grass beneath his feet carried traces of having been pressed down by someone.
Chen Changqing raised a hand and touched his palm.
He had already suppressed the Nine-Colored Medicine Pattern, yet the Undying Medicine within him still occasionally throbbed, reminding him just how scalding hot this thing had become.
"Come out."
He looked toward the valley ahead.
"You've already set an ambush. Why pretend you're just passing by?"
As soon as the words fell.
Black markings lit up across the rock walls on both sides of the valley.
Streams of demonic qi burrowed out from underground and rapidly linked together across the ground.
In the blink of an eye, black array light covered dozens of miles in every direction.
The forest withered yellow, and the mountain rocks split apart.
One Nether Banner after another rose from underground, resentful souls coiling around their surfaces as they let out piercing, low howls.
Chen Changqing did not move.
Looking at those array patterns, his first thought was not danger.
It was that the scale was no small matter.
The Nether Sect had truly been willing to spend