Chapter 664

“What did you say, Old Seventh is dead?”

“Seventh Brother’s Soul Lamp has indeed gone out.”

“Who dares to be so brazen!”

“Out of seclusion, immediately out of seclusion!”

“We must capture that person and use his soul to honor Old Seventh!”

When they heard the black-robed elder’s words, the powerful existences around him immediately began to sense. Sure enough, they discovered that Gongshu Lian’s Soul Lamp had really gone out. At once, all of them flew into a rage.

Old Seventh had long been unable to break through. His lifespan was nearly exhausted, and his essence, energy, and spirit had been declining with each year. To maintain his cultivation, he hadn’t even dared to split his Divine Soul.

Now that the Soul Lamp was extinguished, that meant true death. Not even the chance of revival remained.

The fury within the Nascent Soul experts of the Gongshu Clan could easily be imagined.

At once, one after another terrifying aura revived from the inner city, soaring into the skies and rushing toward the outer city.

Such a disturbance naturally alarmed the other powerhouses within Zhou Tian City.

Especially in the outer city, where the subordinate forces serving under the Gongshu Clan resided, shock swept through them all.

“What’s happening? Why are all the Ancestors leaving seclusion?”

“Someone is assassinating the main clan’s Nascent Soul expert—who dares?”

“They’ve activated the entire city’s defensive formation. They haven’t caught the assassin yet?”

“Hurry outside! If we can help the Ancestors capture the assassin, it’ll be a great merit!”

Immediately, many cultivators of the Nascent Soul Realm within the outer city took action, hoping to assist in capturing the assassin.

As for Golden Core cultivators, none dared to try.

They had heard very clearly just now: the assassin had killed a Gongshu Clan Nascent Soul Ancestor. To confront such a terrifying figure, Golden Core cultivators going forth would be nothing but throwing away their lives.

Merit was good, but one had to stay alive to claim it.

“Fourth Brother, we’re nearly there. Have you caught that thief yet?”

Zhou Tian City, as the Gongshu Clan’s base, was vast beyond measure. Even Nascent Soul experts couldn’t cross it in an instant.

Otherwise, Lu Qing wouldn’t have needed nearly half a year, even with his special abilities, to completely map out the formations here.

From the moment Lu Qing slew Gongshu Lian and fled, to when the black-robed elder appeared, and then summoned the other Ancestors from the inner city, only twenty or thirty breaths of time had passed.

The revival of those Ancestors, up until this moment, had been less than ten breaths. Hardly enough time for them to arrive.

“That fellow is extremely cunning, using the buildings to block my sight, but I’ve already locked onto his aura. He won’t escape… Impossible!”

The black-robed elder was flying above Zhou Tian City, answering confidently.

He could have gone even faster to catch the assassin, but since the man had killed Old Seventh in an instant, he was cautious. He preferred to wait for reinforcements before making a move.

Yet before he could even finish speaking, his eyes suddenly widened in shock, and he let out a cry.

He accelerated sharply, rushing to the area ahead, his Divine Soul power sweeping across the land.

But no matter how he searched, that faint aura he had locked onto was gone.

“Fourth Brother, what’s wrong? Where’s the assassin?”

At that moment, more than ten figures descended, arriving by the black-robed elder’s side.

“Strange. I had clearly locked onto him, but just now his aura suddenly vanished. I can’t sense him anymore.”

The black-robed elder’s expression darkened.

“Vanished? Could it be he’s escaped the city?” someone asked.

“Impossible. I already activated the city’s grand defensive formation. Without approval, no one can leave! And I sensed no fluctuation in the formation.”

The black-robed figure’s tone was grim.

“Then he’s still inside. Perhaps he used a treasure to conceal his aura.”

A white-haired, child-faced elder’s eyes turned cold. “Does he think a treasure can hide him?

“Fourth Brother, transmit his aura to us. Eldest and Second Brothers, with me! We’ll activate the formation and sweep the entire outer city. Even if he conceals himself with a spiritual artifact, the Zhou Tian Star Array will uncover him!”

“Yes, Father!”

Two other mighty figures answered at once.

The black-robed elder reconstructed the aura he had sensed earlier and transmitted it to his father and elder brothers.

Then, under the white-haired elder’s lead, the three Nascent Soul experts began to form hand seals, sending techniques into the ground below.

The outer city’s formation suddenly roared to life.

Overwhelming formation power surged outward, ignoring all barriers, scanning inch by inch through the outer city.

They first swept over the area where the assassin’s aura had vanished.

As expected, nothing.

But they weren’t discouraged, continuing to search other areas.

The powerhouses of the various forces within the outer city naturally felt the terrifying pressure of the formation. None dared show dissatisfaction. They stood still, allowing the scanning force to sweep over them, not daring to resist in the slightest.

They all knew the Gongshu Ancestors were searching for the assassin. If they showed even the smallest sign of rebellion, they could easily be suspected of collusion and doomed.

“So they’ve activated the Zhou Tian Star Array after all?”

While the Gongshu Ancestors scoured the city with the formation, a figure appeared quietly in a hidden corner ten miles away.

It was Lu Qing.

He could feel the outer city section of the Zhou Tian Star Array had been fully activated.

“Trying to use the Zhou Tian Star Array to find me?”

A faint smile played across his lips. His aura was now formless, already merged into the formation itself.

Even when the array’s force swept directly over him, he registered as nothing more than part of the array itself.

By now, Lu Qing’s mastery over the outer city’s formation surpassed even that of the Gongshu Ancestors.

Coupled with the Shapeless Transformation of the Perfect Golden Core, which let him change his aura at will, there was no way they could ever locate him.

“But this is a chance.”

Without revealing a ripple of emotion, he glanced once at the ten or so figures in the sky, then turned toward the inner city.

The reason he had slain Gongshu Lian so publicly was precisely to draw out the Nascent Soul Ancestors of the inner city.

Otherwise, he could have waited until Gongshu Lian visited the Dream Rapture Pavilion for his debauchery, then quietly ended him there.

With his current strength, that would not have been difficult.

But by making a scene, he had forced the Gongshu Ancestors’ hand. And indeed, they had all flown into a fury and rushed out.

Now the inner city was emptier than ever. The perfect chance.

Lu Qing moved silently.

Zhou Tian City’s many buildings provided natural cover from the Ancestors’ sight. And besides, he was already cloaked by an invisibility technique, bending the light around his body.

As for spiritual senses, his aura had already become one with the Zhou Tian Star Array. No detection was possible.

Like a shadow, he raced through the city. In short order, he reached the inner city walls.

By now, he was far from the ten Ancestors behind him.

Gazing at the towering walls and the shimmering barrier of formation light, Lu Qing did not hesitate. He transformed into a translucent phantom and drifted forward.

As his body touched the light barrier, it was like a drop of water merging into the sea. Not a ripple stirred. He passed through, silent and unseen, entering the inner city.

After a month of studying, downloading, and replicating the formations, he already had complete command over these defenses.

Entering was child’s play.

Inside, the scenery was utterly different.

No bustling cityscape. Instead, spiritual mountains nourished by flowing clouds and waterfalls, with cranes and birds circling. Each mountain peak carried elegant dwellings, like a hidden paradise.

From above, one could see the peaks arranged like stars in the sky, laid out according to profound formation principles.

Indeed, that was exactly what Lu Qing was doing now.

Hidden in a drifting cloud, he opened his special ability and observed the arrangement of mountains.

His mastery of formations let him immediately discern that the inner city’s peaks mirrored the constellations of the Zhou Tian Stars.

He had already downloaded and comprehended seventy percent of Zhou Tian City’s array. The remaining thirty percent, the most crucial portion, surely lay within this stellar layout.

Activating his ability, he gazed down. When he saw new messages appear before his eyes, he felt a surge of joy.

He didn’t hesitate and began downloading.

[… Download complete. Begin simulation?]

This time, however, Lu Qing held off. Time was short. The ten Ancestors could return at any moment. He had to move quickly.

The formation was already downloaded. He could simulate and study later.

Memorizing the terrain, he descended toward one specific direction.

In this half year, Lu Qing hadn’t only studied formations. He had also investigated the location of Qiu Rong.

The outer city was vast and filled with countless people—not just the subordinate forces but also many Gongshu branch members.

Through his weapon shop, Lu Qing had gained contact with several Gongshu branch disciples.

With his cultivation strength, and his Phantasm divine ability, extracting information from them had been easy.

That included Qiu Rong’s residence.

“Xiaoyou Peak. They say when Qiu Rong went mad and openly placed a bounty on Nangong Yuanwu, gravely wounding him, the Gongshu and Nangong Clans nearly went to war.

Only under the Holy Assembly’s mediation did they barely reconcile. Even so, Qiu Rong was punished. Though she was a direct wife of the Second Branch, she was confined to Xiaoyou Peak, forbidden to descend without orders.”

The information flashed in his mind as Lu Qing ghosted across the inner city, heading toward Xiaoyou Peak.

Before long, he reached a cold and austere mountain. The cliff bore three black characters: Xiaoyou Peak. He smiled.

At that moment, a maid was approaching the mountain path.

Lu Qing’s eyes flickered. A wave of Divine Soul power touched the girl’s brow acupoint.

As he probed her mind with illusion, within a residence atop Xiaoyou Peak, a noble-looking middle-aged woman sat tensely.

“Have you found out? What’s going on? Why did all the Ancestors suddenly leave seclusion?”

Ten Nascent Soul Ancestors leaving at once—such a thing had not happened in hundreds of years.

Could it be the Demon Clan had invaded?

“Madam, this old servant just checked at the ancestral shrine. They say the Third Branch’s Seventh Ancestor’s Soul Lamp suddenly went out.

Fourth Ancestor then roared that someone had dared assassinate a Gongshu Nascent Soul, and he rushed to the outer city. Soon after, the other Ancestors also emerged and followed.”

The stewardly old man bowed respectfully, though his face was full of shock.

“Seventh Ancestor was assassinated in the outer city? You’re certain?”

The middle-aged woman leapt to her feet in astonishment.

She had indeed heard Fourth Ancestor’s voice booming across the city earlier. But she had never imagined the victim was a direct Ancestor of the Gongshu Clan.

“Why would Seventh Ancestor be in the outer city… Ah. That old lecher. Every half year, he would sneak to the brothels for his pleasures. And today was just such a day.”

At first she couldn’t believe it, then realization dawned.

And in the next moment, her expression shifted—not to worry, but to satisfaction.

“No wonder the old fellows are in a frenzy. They doted on him the most. Now that he’s dead, of course they’ll go mad.

But good riddance. That old bastard deserved to die long ago!”

Her lips curved into a smile. She seemed positively delighted by Gongshu Lian’s death.

The steward, however, blanched with fright. “Madam, such words are dangerous! If the Ancestors overheard, it would be disastrous!”

“What’s there to fear? I’ve already been exiled to this wretched peak. Could it get any worse? Will they kill me?

When I first married into the Gongshu Clan, that filthy old Lian was already drooling over me. Now he’s dead, and I can’t be happy?”

The middle-aged woman spoke venomously, unafraid.

Since her daughter Yu’er’s death and her own confinement to Xiaoyou Peak, she had only hatred left for the Gongshu Clan. She wished nothing more than its destruction.

The steward could only stand there, anxious and helpless, not daring to press further.

“Then… did you find out who killed that old bastard Gongshu Lian?” she asked.