Inside the carriage.
Feiguang's figure slowly materialized, showing no signs of injury, only a hint of indignation on his face. He said, "Damn it!"
"If it weren't for you stopping me, my lord, I would have torn this damned Dingyang Pass to the ground!"
Despite his loud shouts, Chen Shuangbai merely glanced at him and then ignored him completely.
"There are not only the Divine Sense of five Nascent Soul Cultivator within Dingyang Pass, but also a powerful array or secret technique that I cannot detect. Anyone or any beast that approaches this place and reveals any unusual aura will be attacked by it immediately."
Chen Shuangbai guessed that this was most likely a mechanism activated during wartime, probably to prevent enemy countries or hostile cultivators from disguising themselves and to identify and strike them immediately.
Next, Chen Shuangbai put the Feiguang away again.
The caravan proceeded normally along the trade route, and it took several days for them to gradually approach Dingyang Pass.
Several gatekeeper monks came over and began inspecting the goods on each of the carriages.
Zhou Yuan hurriedly went to greet the gatekeeper with a big smile, while secretly handing him a bulging brocade pouch.
The gatekeeper did not immediately accept the brocade pouch, but instead refused it with righteous indignation. Then, he made a feigned gesture and put the pouch back.
After this incident, the guards significantly reduced their inspection efforts. They turned a blind eye to minor violations, such as carrying excessive amounts of controlled materials.
This made Chen Shuangbai secretly admire, "This is the survival Principle for ordinary people."
But in addition to checking the goods and the caravan's clearance documents, there were also the identity documents of each person in the caravan.
These identity documents were often issued by the prefect or county magistrate of the state or prefecture where the person was from. They were thin booklets stamped with the local seal, serving as an anti-counterfeiting measure.
Everyone else was fine, but when it came to Chen Shuangbai... the gatekeeper, a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator in armor, couldn't help but carefully examine the identity document in Chen Shuangbai's hand, and frowned slightly.
Chen Shuangbai maintained a respectful expression on her face, but in reality, she frowned inwardly.
"That shouldn't be the case. He's just a Foundation Establishment; he shouldn't be able to see through my illusion... Besides, this is Lin Zhou's identity document; it's not fake?"
Upon seeing this, Zhou Yuan frowned slightly and hurriedly stepped forward to make peace. At the same time, he secretly pinched another brocade pouch in his hand and quietly slipped it into the sleeve of the guard.
However, this time, the guard did not accept it. Instead, he put on a stern face and stared intently at Chen Shuangbai's illusory face.
Please wait a moment...
There were six soldiers guarding the pass. Two of them received the order and immediately turned and ran towards the pass, showing no intention of letting anyone pass.
Chen Shuangbai immediately sensed that something was amiss.
"I'm using Lin Zhou Lin Zhou's identity and his identity document, so where's the flaw?"
But Chen Shuangbai was incredibly clever. She immediately spared a wisp of her mind and went to where Haoming Boy was. She landed on Lin Zhou, who had been under an illusion and had fainted. She grabbed his head and used her Divine Sense to roughly sweep through his memories.
In no time at all.
Chen Shuangbai had already understood the cause and effect, and felt both angry and amused.
The fact is that Lin Zhou's identity document is indeed genuine, bearing the official seal of the prefecture. However, the crucial point is that Lin Zhou is also an identity; he is simultaneously a deputy leader of the Five Lotus Sect, wanted within the Great Chu territory.
When Chen Shuangbai took over his identity, he only thought he was an ordinary Rogue Cultivator at the Golden Core... and then he encountered this kind of thing!
The Five Lotus Sect was a major cult within the territory of the Great Chu Kingdom.
Its current leader was killed by the Emperor of Chu more than 30 years ago, and now most of the main branches are dead. However, the Five Lotus Sect's doctrines are very seductive, and even the remaining members who have fled have caused great trouble to the people in remote areas.
Lin Zhou had committed a crime and was on the wanted list of the Evil-Catching Bureau, one of the Six Bureaus of the Great Chu.
Lin Zhou himself probably didn't know that his true identity had been exposed. He just felt that things were not going well, so he wanted to escape, but... he ended up causing Chen Shuangbai a lot of trouble!
Chen Shuangbai smiled bitterly to herself, feeling that fate was playing tricks on her.
His calm demeanor only heightened the vigilance of the guards, who were now secretly using their Divine Ability to be on guard.
Under Chen Shuangbai's perception, at least three of the five Nascent Soul auras within the hall began to move.
Moreover, a portion of the formation of this formidable pass was subtly activated, and the sense of being locked on seemed to be trying to trap and kill him here.
"Never mind!"
He remained calm on the surface, but had already made up his mind. Facing the guards who had already drawn their flying swords, he took a step forward, and pure white snow light surged out around him.
Upon seeing this, the guarding soldier immediately unleashed crimson-gold Law Power, raised his flying sword and slashed down, shouting loudly, "Enemy attack..."
But he could only utter those two words before he could no longer speak.
All they felt was a sudden darkness before their eyes. The hundreds of cultivators, both above and below the gate, saw only a vast expanse of pure white light. Then they lost all consciousness and collapsed to the ground with thuds.
In this silence.
Chen Shuangbai's Divine Sense had already met the gaze of the Nascent Soul Cultivator at the forefront of the charge, and a furious thought echoed within his Divine Sense—
"You heretic, you dare to break through the gate?"
Chen Shuangbai didn't care at all. The pure white light on his body gradually intensified, triggering the [ Grand Yin Authority ] and lifting an invisible veil. In the last second before the other party broke through the void and arrived here, he completely concealed his aura.
Boom!
Almost the instant Chen Shuangbai concealed his figure and aura, the void ripped open, and arcs of golden energy poured down from it, cutting the spot where Chen Shuangbai had been standing to pieces, leaving crisscrossing trenches several feet deep on the ground.
The first Nascent Soul Cultivator to arrive stepped out of the void. He was a middle-aged general dressed in crimson-gold armor, with a resolute face and sharp golden light flashing in his eyes.
He glanced at the mess on the ground, his brows furrowing slightly. His Divine Sense spread out in all directions like a tide, trying to capture Chen Shuangbai's aura.
No matter how hard he tried to scan with his Divine Sense, he still couldn't find any trace of the Five Lotus Sect demon from before.
It was as if it had evaporated into thin air, leaving not even a trace of its former self.
Following closely behind, a man and a woman, both dressed in armor, stepped out.
The female warrior held a shimmering blue pearl in her hand. Rays of light emanated from the guards lying on the ground and from the entire caravan. It was because of this pearl that these people had not perished in the storm of swirling blades.
" Feng Guiyuan... you've acted far too violently!"
The female warrior, at the Nascent Soul Early Stage, frowned slightly, looking at the devastation on the ground, and retorted mercilessly, "The caravan is one thing, but if it weren't for my protection, these soldiers would have died at your hands if not at the hands of that demon!"
" Lan Hua, don't talk like that when you're not the one suffering!"
Feng Guiyuan turned around and said fiercely, "The matter of Marquis Xuanling has only been going on for a short while, and now several surrounding countries are starting to cause trouble again... This Five Lotus Sect fiend disappeared right under our noses, can't you see it?"
After being scolded by Feng Guiyuan, Lan Hua immediately realized that the Five Lotus Sect demon had vanished without a trace, and the dissatisfaction on his face turned serious.