Chapter Sixty-Four: Another Supreme Incarnation Talisman!

Under the massive hand of Tu Lu, Jin Donghe’s punch didn’t even stir the slightest ripple.

“No!” Zituofeng screamed in agony.

The enormous cyan hand reached down and seized both Jin Donghe and Zituofeng, crushing them together into fragments with a single squeeze.

At the same time, two more screams echoed through the air. Ziling’s sword energy cleaved the two men in green robes cleanly in half.

With a flash, both Tu Lu and Ziling appeared in the canyon. Tu Lu opened his hand, letting a handful of shredded talisman papers drift to the ground.

“Supreme Incarnation Talisman,” Ziling spat out the words through gritted teeth. Even she was visibly shaken. After all their effort, they had only managed to kill an incarnation!

“It doesn't matter. An Incarnation Talisman only lasts a short while. Even a supreme one can’t persist for more than five hours. Zituofeng is only at the Mountain-Moving Realm—he can’t have gone far. Now that everyone with him is dead, if he’s still alive and we find him, this game will be over,” Tu Lu reassured her.

Ziling nodded, though her face was still clouded. She closed her eyes for a moment to make contact, and finally relaxed.

“After that battle, we still have twenty-seven Half-Step Violet Mansion cultivators with fighting strength on our side. It’s not enough to form a complete net, but finding a Mountain-Moving Realm cultivator shouldn’t be difficult.”

Tu Lu nodded in agreement. Then the two of them joined the search themselves. There was no longer any need for ambushes; as he’d said, it was just a Mountain-Moving Realm cultivator—if they found him, it would be over.

But the search dragged on for three days.

Even at the speed of a Mountain-Moving Realm cultivator traveling without rest, that would have been enough time to reach the provincial capital, yet they still found nothing. Zituofeng had vanished as utterly as a grain of sand cast into the sea.

The two of them crossed the Purple Waters, traversed White Elephant Mountain, and passed through the Shadowed Wastes. They searched every place they could reach.

Gradually, their conversations dwindled, all their energy focused on the hunt.

“Where could he have gone?” Ziling’s face was grim. Were it not for the lack of news from the provincial capital about Zituofeng’s arrival, she might have given up already. As it was, it seemed he must still be hiding somewhere in the Great Wilderness. Yet they simply couldn’t find him.

Tu Lu’s brows furrowed. This aimless searching was getting them nowhere. He began to consider: if it had been him, using a supreme incarnation talisman to escape at such a critical moment, where would he have gone?

From the current perspective, Zituofeng had saved his own life with the talisman. But if Tu Lu and Ziling hadn’t been lying in wait in that area, the squad with three Half-Step Violet Mansion protectors would surely have been far safer than Zituofeng alone…

“I understand now!”

Tu Lu’s expression changed. “Stop! Quickly!”

“What is it?”

“Zituofeng never left Jin Donghe and the other two. He was following behind them—the three of them were clearing the way for him!”

Ziling’s face paled at his words. “You mean he took the Pisces Gorge route?”

“Exactly.” Tu Lu drew a deep breath and nodded. “We were deceived by the supreme incarnation talisman there, tricked into thinking his true body went another way and so lessened our search in that area. But now that I think on it, he’s just a Mountain-Moving Realm cultivator. How could he travel another path alone? Even if he didn’t encounter our people, a random demon beast could have been fatal to him!”

“Let’s go!” Ziling’s eyes flashed with resolve. “If Zituofeng really took that route, he should have reached the provincial capital by now. If he hasn’t, there’s only one explanation—he was delayed along the way! Maybe by a demon beast, or perhaps by some innate peril.”

“But whatever it is, this is no time for leisure!” At the same time, Ziling sent word to all the Half-Step Violet Mansion cultivators, ordering them all to converge on the final stretch of that route.

All or nothing—they had to find Zituofeng!