Ancient trees towered into the clouds, with flowers blooming and birds singing beneath them, filling the place with life.
Whoosh-
Just then, a streak of purple light flashed past and stopped beneath one of the towering ancient trees.
Li Dao's figure slowly emerged, lightning flickering all over his body, like an immortal god born from a bath of thunder.
Behind him, a thin white trail flickered in and out of view in the air, clearly left in his wake.
Yet his passage had stirred not so much as a ripple.
"Over a month has flown by, and I still haven't left the Great Wilderness. This place really is vast!"
While Li Dao was getting his bearings, something stirred behind him atop the ancient tree's roots, which were as thick and gnarled as coiling dragons.
A black snake with reddish-brown eyes and sinister scales was quietly slithering toward him, flicking its forked tongue.
Hiss-
Once it came within a hundred meters, every bone in the black snake's body sounded in unison, and it shot toward Li Dao.
Its sharp fangs gleamed, looking as though they could easily pierce divine iron.
Li Dao lifted his gaze from the map in his hands, frowned slightly, and lightly stamped his foot.
Just as the black snake was about to sink its fangs into him, several Lightning Spears instantly thrust out of the ground and thin air.
Shhk-
Caught utterly unprepared, the black snake was pierced by several Lightning Spears. Amid the flashing lightning, its flesh and blood evaporated completely.
"Could I be lost?"
Li Dao looked at the map in his hands, paying no attention to the black snake that had been reduced to dust behind him.
It was merely a Cave Heaven Realm Ferocious Beast that knew neither the height of heaven nor the depth of earth. Grinding its bones to dust and scattering its ashes was nothing unusual.
"That shouldn't be possible. How could I be lost?"
"I followed every route marked on here!"
He put the map away and stopped dwelling on the matter. As long as he kept moving forward, he would eventually get out.
With that thought, he stopped hurrying on his way and sat cross-legged beneath the ancient tree instead.
He took the Sacrificial Altar for entering the Void God Realm out of his Star Bag, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes.
His first purpose in going there was to see whether the uproar outside had died down a little.
His second was to ask about any major events that had happened recently and learn what was going on outside.
"I wonder if there's any news about Shi Hao now?"
"He should have reached the Second Ancestral Land by now."
Recalling how Shi Hao had burned down the Stone Kingdom's Second Ancestral Land, he made up his mind and sat cross-legged on the Sacrificial Altar before him.
Divine power surged from his body like a tide, pouring into the Sacrificial Altar beneath him.
Hum, hum, hum-
Strange ripples spread outward, and the runes engraved on the Sacrificial Altar began to flicker.
Li Dao's vision blurred, and that familiar sensation washed over him once again.
By the time he could make out his surroundings, he had arrived at the same place as last time.
But the moment he landed, he felt several gazes turn toward him from all around.
Li Dao's heart tightened. He spread his spiritual sense outward and spotted several men wearing black hats and masks.
They were watching him while exchanging glances.
"These fellows really are like dogskin plasters. Once they stick, they won't come off."
As Li Dao looked toward them, they were also communicating among themselves:
"Is that him?"
"I've seen his portrait. There's no mistake. That's the fellow!"
"Get going! Send word out. If he spots us, we're in trouble!"
They exchanged glances and retreated together.
Divine light flashed in Li Dao's eyes. He took a step, and a streak of lightning flashed through the air.
He appeared in front of one of them, the Soul-Eradicating Needle materializing in his hand.
He had seized it from Jin Ming last time. He had never expected it to come in handy so soon.
Whoosh-
The Soul-Eradicating Needle pierced the man's body. Without so much as a scream, he vanished from the spot in an instant.
Crackle, crackle-
The whole thing took no more than a single breath. Only after Li Dao had killed one of them did the others realize what had happened.
"This monster! How has he gotten stronger again?"
"Run!!!"
"Damn it! He's too fast!"
These men sent to watch him did have some understanding of Li Dao's strength.
But only when they actually faced him did they understand just how terrifying that strength was.
In the blink of an eye, one of their companions had died at his hands, frightening them so badly that their souls nearly fled their bodies.
But how could they escape Li Dao's pursuit? Trying to flee before him was nothing short of a wild fantasy.
Even though every one of them exerted himself to the utmost, Li Dao easily caught up with them within a few breaths.
Streaks of reddish-white lightning lingered in the air as the Soul-Eradicating Needle darted ceaselessly through his hand.
In mere moments, only Li Dao and one watcher, already scared out of his wits, remained.
"Talk. Tell me everything you know!"
Li Dao's gaze was like lightning as he looked down at the cultivator trembling on the ground.
"I... I'll talk! I'll talk! Don't kill me!"
"Demon Spirit Lake sent us to watch you. As soon as we found your whereabouts, the clan elders would come to kill you!"
"We were only following orders! Please don't kill me!"
Li Dao flicked his hand, and the Soul-Eradicating Needle plunged straight between the man's brows. There was not a trace of mercy in his eyes.
Showing mercy to an enemy was being cruel to oneself.
"With so many cultivators dead, Demon Spirit Lake probably knows where I am now."
"I'd better leave first!"
With a wave of his hand, a Ghost-Face Mask instantly appeared over his face. He passed through the passage to the Starting Ground and entered it.
The moment he entered, he discovered that the Starting Ground was even livelier than on his last visit!
Li Dao looked around, then walked toward two people chatting up ahead.
"The Stone Kingdom's royal family really has suffered a monstrous humiliation this time!"
"Tell me about it! Their ancestral land was burned, and so much filthy business came to light along with it. Tsk, tsk, what a spectacle!"
"I heard the Rain Clan was involved too. The Stone Emperor flew into a rage, and the Rain Clan was punished!"
"That's right. Why else would they stop hunting the Little Devil King?!"
Li Dao had only drawn a little closer before their conversation yielded quite a bit of information.
The Second Ancestral Land was burned? Shi Hao must have made his move.
That's taken quite a few eyes off me!
Thinking back to earlier,
he realized that most of those watching him outside had been cultivators from Demon Spirit Lake, and everything immediately became clear.
The two men, who had been talking grandly as though passing judgment on the whole realm, grew wary when they saw a man in a Ghost-Face Mask approaching them.
They swept their spiritual senses over him. Finding not the slightest hint of imposing power coming from Li Dao, they grew even more wary instead.
"Fellow Daoist? What can we do for you?"
Li Dao said little. He simply tossed some Essence Jade to the two men and asked:
"Do you know where those two strange old men in the Starting Ground are?"
Feeling the Essence Jade in their hands, the two exchanged glances. Seeing that he had only come to ask for information, they relaxed a little.
"You mean those two old swindlers?"
"They're just up ahead, not far from here!"
Li Dao's brows rose slightly, and he could not help muttering inwardly:
Old swindlers? What have they done to incense heaven and enrage the people so much that their reputation has become this rotten?
Li Dao asked no further questions. He cupped his hands toward the two men, then headed in the direction they had indicated.
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