CHAPTER 674: RETURNING HOME

Around a dozen black-robed Nascent Soul Cultivators dashed out from all directions, led by Liu Changsheng, the leader of the assassin division of the Immortal Way Trading Company.

The Immortal Way Trading Company appeared to be a chain of businesses on the surface, but in reality, it functioned as an intelligence agency.

Thus, the thousands of shops under Xu Lun's responsibility were densely distributed in several cities starting from Lin Hai City.

The branches of the Immortal Way Trading Company only had one store per city, and by now, they had spread to every Cultivation City on the Fengwu Continent.

Whenever Wang Hong arrived at a city, he would make contact with the local intelligence agency, which made his task considerably easier.

Even this time, infiltrating Daoist Li's group, all was planned in advance by the Immortal Way Trading Company, gathering some intelligence.

"Kill them all!" Wang Hong uttered calmly and ceased speaking, with no intention to act himself.

The dozen or so black-robed Nascent Soul Cultivators received the order and stormed into Daoist Wei's team.

Although the numbers on both sides were similar, the Cultivator organization of the Immortal Way Trading Company was more disciplined and coordinated.

In contrast, the dozen or so individuals brought by Daoist Wei, many of whom were meeting each other for the first time, lacked even the most basic mutual trust, appearing as a disorganized group.

Daoist Wei was initially confident, leading a group of cultivators to block the Mountain Valley, vowing to avenge and seize the gains in the secret realm.

Now, however, he found himself without even the opportunity to confront Wang Hong, watching his companions fall one by one, filling him with despair.

He wanted to seize the opportunity to escape. His substitute death puppet had already been used up before, and if he were killed again now, it would be his true end.

However, as soon as he leaped to flee, two black flying knives sealed his path.

At that moment, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck, and his head flew into the sky.

Before his Nascent Soul could even leave his body, a large net fell, trapping his Nascent Soul and body together.

A black-robed cultivator approached, took out a thin needle-like magic weapon, and with a flick of his hand, pierced it into the forehead of the Nascent Soul inside the body.

This was a type of magic weapon specifically designed to capture and detain Nascent Souls, almost standard issue for Nascent Soul Cultivators of the Great Chu Immortal Nation.

Soon, all of the dozen or so individuals brought by Daoist Wei were slaughtered without mercy, none escaping.

"We pay our respects to Your Majesty!"

The dozen black-robed cultivators all saluted Wang Hong in unison.

"No need for formalities! Hand over this body to me, and the rest of you can take care of yourselves," Wang Hong said, pointing to Daoist Wei's corpse.

He was particularly interested in the death substitute technique Daoist Wei had used earlier, hoping to find it among the items in his storage bag.

He removed several storage bags from Daoist Wei's body and examined them one by one.

The items in these storage bags were diverse, obviously not from the same person. There were even women's clothing inside, indicating that they had been involved in robbery and murder.

When he flipped through one of the storage bags, he found only jade scrolls and various books, seemingly collected from different places.

Wang Hong's powerful divine sense swept through the storage bag, and eventually, his eyebrows raised as he pulled out a simple purple jade scroll from inside.

Taking the jade scroll into his hand, Wang Hong delved into it with his divine sense.

Indeed, it contained records of a death substitute technique, requiring the refinement of a death substitute puppet, using essence blood as a catalyst.

When a cultivator encountered a life-threatening situation, they could use it to substitute death once.

However, the refinement of this death substitute puppet was quite strict, and he currently lacked the materials for it.

"I'll leave this to you for cleanup. Stay stationed here for now, and report immediately if there are any disturbances."

Since he had found what he was looking for, Wang Hong instructed the black-robed cultivators briefly and then left with Wood Fairy.

Several months later, along the coast of Qizhou Island, a tall city wall rose from the flat ground, reaching a height of twenty to thirty zhang, and it was still growing taller.

Countless martial artists were responsible for quarrying massive stones, which were then placed into storage bags by some cultivators and transported to the city wall.

On top of the city wall, many martial artists lifted heavy thousand-jin boulders, stacking them meticulously.

Outside the city wall on the coastline, lush vegetation grew, entwined with various flowers and plants.

Despite the beauty, no one dared to approach; this was a deathtrap where victims vanished without a trace.

Now, the coastline outside the city walls of Qizhou Island was filled with various toxins, with Devilish Vines being the most common.

Once humans or other demonic beasts wandered into them, they faced various poisons. Even if some demonic beasts were immune to the toxins, they would still encounter attacks from Devilish Vines and demon-hunting trees.

Even if they managed to survive these hazards, countless traps awaited them.

Behind the city wall, a similar layout was set up, with a few additional safe passages.

This poisonous dead zone extended five li inward and was met with a second city wall.

The second city wall was currently under construction, and five li behind it, preparations were being made for a third city wall.

These were the defense measures planned by Qizhou Island beforehand. During Wang Hong's absence, these measures had been steadily progressing.

Wang Hong's return didn't stir too many people; he went straight to King's City.

Wood Fairy followed Wang Hong onto Qizhou Island and immediately saw the ongoing construction of the defense works.

Seeing those layers of insane defense measures, as a member of the Demon Race who had also been to the front lines of battles between the Human Clan and the Demon Race, she had never seen such sinister defense structures.

"Young Master, is this the power you belong to?" Wood Fairy inquired curiously.

Wang Hong nodded without further acknowledgment. Wood Fairy had been talking excessively throughout the journey, and if he entertained her now, she would push for more, perhaps even trying to advance her relationship with him.

"I guess, Young Master, you should have a significant position in this power, at the very least, you should be a high-ranking elder, or maybe even the young master of this power," she speculated based on the respect shown to Wang Hong by the black-robed cultivators.

Moreover, after entering the island, no one dared to stop Wang Hong, indicating his status.

Although she had some reluctance after being subjected to the prohibition before, she had come to terms with it. Since it was already a fact, there was no point in resisting; she might as well enjoy it.

Clinging to Wang Hong's thigh might have a brighter future than being a spy for the Demon Race.

"If only I could stay by his side forever!" Wood Fairy couldn't help but lick her lips at the thought.

As they passed through the three city walls, a dense spiritual aura engulfed them, almost making it hard to breathe.

"Wow! Such a dense spiritual aura!" Wood Fairy now felt that even if Wang Hong drove her away, she wouldn't want to leave. This place was nothing short of a holy land for cultivation.

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