Eight hundred miles away, in a pocket of void, the three auras following them abruptly faltered.
Shadow Three, the Great Chu covert guard charged with surveillance, snapped his eyes open, his face grave. "Something's wrong. The Mount Shu Warship has changed course."
Beside him, True Lord Xuanming of the True Martial Immortal Sect gave a cold snort. "Changed course? Which way?"
"Southwest. Straight toward the Netherworld Trench." Disbelief edged Shadow Three's voice. "Almost no one takes that route. Netherworld miasma hangs over it year-round. Even a Heavenly Monarch would find it unpleasant down there."
Hesitation flashed across Shadow Fiend's face. "Should we follow?"
"Follow." True Lord Xuanming's answer was decisive. "Whatever route they take, our task is to keep watch. Fall back farther—trail them from a thousand miles away."
The three figures adjusted course within the pocket of void, cautiously keeping behind the Mount Shu Warship.
Twenty-three hundred miles away, the path of the crimson-gold glow on the Ten-Thousand-Mile Heart-Link Mirror in the Ji Clan grand elder's hand suddenly veered.
"They changed course?" The black-robed Heavenly Monarch frowned slightly.
"No matter." A cold smile touched the Ji Clan grand elder's lips. "The ambush points at Falling Star Gorge and the Sky-Reaching Mountains were bait to begin with. That little beast Chen Changqing's perception soared after his soul transformed. It's no surprise he sensed something amiss."
He took a pitch-black message Jade Talisman from his robes and crushed it.
"Carry out the backup plan. Spread the word."
The black-robed Heavenly Monarch accepted a second Jade Talisman and hesitated. "Elder, once word gets out, who knows how many forces across the Nine Provinces Continent will set their sights on Chen Changqing? If Mount Shu flies into a rage—"
"So what if it does?" Ruthlessness flashed in the Ji Clan grand elder's eyes.