studiobondurri Chapter 276: Return to the ancestral religion
Chapter 276: Return to the ancestral religion
Chapter 276: Return to the ancestral religion
After confirming that Sha Hao had completely left, Yuan Ming's complexion suddenly turned as pale as paper. With a "thud," he collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.
The fire clouds in the sky churned a few times before quickly dissipating.
Ha Gong flew over and saw Yuan Ming's weakened state. He wanted to help but didn't know how, so he could only fret anxiously.
"Get me out of here, quick..." Yuan Ming rasped.
Ha Gong nodded repeatedly, scooping up Yuan Ming with two arms while using the other two to sprint towards the valley. After a few leaps, they vanished into the vast forest.
Yuan Ming didn't let Ha Gong run too far before instructing him to put him down. Hastily summoning a flower branch, he sat cross-legged and took out two mid-grade wood-attribute spirit stones to absorb their spiritual energy for recovery.
Although the flower branch and Ha Gong didn't get along, they both stood guard, one on each side, protecting Yuan Ming while he was injured.
Ha Gong sat down cross-legged on the ground, his bell-like giant eyes scanning the surroundings.
The flower branch extended its tendrils far and wide, covering a hundred-zhang radius. Any small creatures that passed by were captured by the tendrils, their blood consumed to heal its injuries.
A quarter of an hour later, Yuan Ming opened his eyes, his pale face regaining some color.
Sha Hao, as a disciple of the Twilight Firmament, indeed had profound achievements in soul cultivation, and his strength was beyond Yuan Ming's expectations.
When Yuan Ming had fled to the valley, his mana was nearly depleted. After the continuous activation of the fire cloud technique, his mana was exhausted. Fortunately, he managed to scare Sha Hao away at the last moment.
Caw, caw...
Accompanied by sharp cries, Lei Yu descended from the sky and landed next to Yuan Ming.
"Lucky I released you before entering that valley, or I would have truly died at Sha Hao's hands today," Yuan Ming said, stroking Lei Yu's smooth feathers.
"Master, how did you break through those illusions?" Ha Gong turned around and asked curiously.
The flower branch also returned and sat on Yuan Ming's other side, clearly wanting to know the answer as well.
"I didn't break through Sha Hao's illusions at all," Yuan Ming shook his head.
"You didn't break through the illusions? How is that possible? Sha Hao was clearly caught in your illusion and nearly got blown up by you," Ha Gong didn't understand.
"Who says you can't cast illusions on others while you're in an illusionary realm?" Yuan Ming chuckled.
Ha Gong scratched his head in confusion, not understanding Yuan Ming's words.Fịndd new updates at novelhall.com
"When I was caught in Sha Hao's illusion, I couldn't see clearly around me. But with your reminder, I realized that Sha Hao's illusions had a distance limit. So, I had Lei Yu scout the valley from above. Sure enough, Lei Yu wasn't affected and could see everything clearly from the sky. Although Lei Yu's spiritual intelligence isn't as high as yours or the flower branch's, it could still convey some simple information to me, like Sha Hao's location. This way, although I was still under Sha Hao's illusion, it was almost as if I wasn't affected at all," Yuan Ming explained.
"Oh, I see, it sounds a bit complicated," Ha Gong still seemed somewhat confused.
"Strong limbs but a simple mind," the flower branch understood and teased Ha Gong through mental communication.
"You sprout, asking for a beating!" Ha Gong roared in anger, his fan-sized palm reaching out to grab the flower branch's head.
The flower branch was prepared and quickly burrowed into the ground.
"If you dare, don't escape underground!" Ha Gong bellowed.
"If you dare, come down and fight!" the flower branch retorted.
"Come up here!"
"How did you all manage to gather together after scattering earlier?" Yuan Ming nodded to the two and asked.
"Reporting to Ha Gong senior, after Elder Lu Shen sent a message to me, I immediately flew the disciples away on the flying boat. Then I notified the remaining disciples to gather. The flying boat is large, and I was afraid it would be spotted by the enemy's spirit beasts, so I didn't dare to fly everyone back on it. We decided to travel back on foot," a tall young man from the Shengye Sect stepped forward, bowed to Yuan Ming, and said.
Yuan Ming recognized him as Luo Shan, the pilot of the flying boat and a peak Qi Refining cultivator. He was impressed by Luo Shan's handling of the situation. If the flying boat had left a moment later, all the disciples on it would have been captured by Sha Hao. Walking through the mountains also provided a good cover.
"Ha Gong senior, do you know what happened to Elders Lu Shen and Bai Ye?" Luo Shan asked again.
"Lu Shen and Bai Ye have both fallen. Fortunately, the enemy was injured and has left. You are all safe now," Yuan Ming said.
Hearing this, everyone's hearts finally settled, and some of the more timid and cowardly disciples even cried with joy.
"What should we do now? Can you escort us back to the sect alone?" Luo Shan asked.
"Where is the flying boat?" Yuan Ming asked.
"It's currently stopped in another valley," Luo Shan replied.
"Go bring the Qingmu flying boat here. I'll protect these disciples. We can leave on the flying boat now. Don't worry, I'm here," Yuan Ming said after a moment's thought.
He then lent the flying shuttle to Luo Shan, who quickly took off with it.
Yuan Ming rode the Qingyun Crane and patrolled the sky.
Seeing Yuan Ming in the sky, many Shengye Sect disciples showed admiration.
"This Ha Gong senior doesn't seem old, yet his strength is so formidable. Even Elder Lu Shen fell to the enemy, but he managed to escape unscathed," a round-faced female disciple from the Shengye Sect said, her eyes shining as she held her cheeks.
"Of course, Ha Gong senior is..." Luo Xing'er started to speak proudly of Yuan Ming's feat of killing the Great Jin national teacher but was stopped by Xu Tian's look.
"Xu junior brother, Luo junior sister, it seems you know this Ha Gong senior?" another disciple turned to them.
"We've never met before, but Ha Gong senior is acquainted with my family elders. Xing'er and I have heard some of his exploits," Xu Tian explained.
"What exploits does Ha Gong senior have? Tell us!" the round-faced female disciple pressed.
"Ha Gong senior is modest by nature and doesn't like to be discussed behind his back. It's not appropriate for us to say more. Please forgive us," Xu Tian said, shaking his head.
Yuan Ming had offended the Everlasting Spring Temple, and since he was using the alias Ha Gong, it was clear he didn't want to reveal his identity. Xu Tian, having learned some details from his grandmother, naturally wouldn't expose him.
The others were disappointed but did not press further.
After a while, Luo Shan returned with the Qingmu flying boat, shining with bright green light. He picked up all the Shengye Sect disciples, and the flying boat slowly took off, heading towards the Shengye Sect's mountain gate.
"Does anyone have a way to contact the sect?" Yuan Ming asked the others.
The Qingmu flying boat was large and conspicuous. It would be best to contact the Shengye Sect and have them send someone quickly to avoid any incidents along the way.
However, everyone shook their heads.
"The communication tools with the sect were all with Elder Lu Shen," Luo Shan said.
Yuan Ming frowned but did not take out Lu Shen's storage tool.
For the sake of this mission for the Shengye Sect, he had nearly lost his life. He wasn't about to return Lu Shen's storage tool; he considered it his hard-earned compensation.