"Hee hee."

Herr Rufeng looked just like a rebellious little girl running away from home. She said to Herr Ningshuang, "Sis, my chariot is really fast. By the time the whole family reacts, we’ll be almost out of the Tianmu Sea. They won’t be able to stop us."

"Good! Good!"

Wu Qingxia nodded excitedly. According to Herr Ningshuang’s plan, as long as the Herr Family’s experts made a move, Ding Fan’s life would be saved this time.

"Whoosh~"

Inside Daozhen Villa, a Scout Cavalry Leader came sprinting like mad. In the blink of an eye he rushed onto the terrace where Madam Yan was. Seeing her, he immediately knelt and said, "Reporting to Madam, we just received news: Rufeng and Miss Ningshuang have transmitted to Yuexia City, and then took a chariot and rushed out toward the outer area of the Tianmu Sea."

"What did you say?"

Madam Yan jumped to her feet and said to that Scout Cavalry Leader, "Say it again, and be specific."

The Scout Cavalry Leader said, "The specifics aren’t very clear. I heard the two young ladies were returning from an outing when they ran into two people from Skull Island. No one knows what exactly they talked about. The two young ladies directly took them to the Teleportation Array and transmitted to Moon Mist Island. At this time they’ve probably already left the Tianmu Sea."

"Those two rotten girls, are they trying to anger me to death!"

Madam Yan was not an ordinary person; she instantly understood Herr Ningshuang and Herr Rufeng’s little scheme and knew what they intended to do.

Fuming, she said to that Scout Cavalry Leader, "Go report to the Elders immediately. Have them send out Scout Cavalry to intercept the girls. Once you find them, tell them this from me: if they don’t come back, I’ll never acknowledge them again."

The Scout Cavalry Leader darted away like flying, but Madam Yan couldn’t sit still anymore. She thought for a moment, then finally got up and rushed toward a huge castle in the rear courtyard.

Once she reached that castle, Madam Yan didn’t bother having anyone announce her; she barged straight in. In the castle hall, a Brocade Robe Elder was sitting with eyes closed, resting. This elder was rather interesting: his hair and beard were completely white, yet his eyebrows were black, and there was even a little topknot tied up on his head, making him look somewhat comical.

The Brocade Robe Elder heard Madam Yan’s hurried footsteps. He opened his eyes, saw it was her, and said with a laugh, "Miss Yan! What’s wrong with you, is your backside on fire?"

Madam Yan smiled bitterly and said, "Uncle Zhan, something’s happened. That idiot Ding Fan has gone back to Shenwu Country to seek death. What’s worse, once Rufeng and Ningshuang found out, those two girls actually took a chariot and chased after him. I reckon before long they’ll be out of the Tianmu Sea."

"Oh!"

The elder before her was the Daozhen Family’s second-in-command, Herr Wanzhan!

At this moment Herr Wanzhan sprang to his feet and shouted, "Those two crazy girls sure have guts. Something this fun, and they didn’t bring me along!"

Madam Yan said with a wry smile, "Uncle Zhan, stop joking. One of Ding Fan’s friends died, his corpse was hung on the city wall. And I heard the Sirius Ancient Tomb was dug open, all the skeletons inside were scattered to the winds. The problem is, this is clearly a vicious scheme—what the Zhong Family really wants is to lure him out so they can kill him."

She sighed and continued, "Ding Fan doesn’t want to join our Herr Family at all. Whether he lives or dies is none of our concern. But our two girls have gone too. The Scout Cavalry definitely won’t be able to stop them. Not long ago, Brother Qian Jun crippled two of the Zhong Family’s Elders, and Zhong Wushang also died within our Tianmu Sea territory. If by any chance the Zhong Family were to do something to those two girls..."

"Relax, they don’t have the guts!"

Bai Wanzhan said with a grin, "If the Zhong Family dares to harm even a single hair on those two girls’ heads, I’ll go tear down their ancestral shrine!"

Madam Yan paused for a moment, then said to Herr Wanzhan, "Uncle Zhan, should we inform the Old Ancestor?"

"No need!"

Herr Wanzhan’s body surged with a blood-sea-like aura as he shouted, "A few lousy prawns—having me is enough. Someone, go tell Qian Jun to bring a few Fifth Level Divine Realm Elders. We’re going to Shenwu Country for a little fun. We’ve been quiet for so many years that some people think our Daozhen Family is easy to bully. We’ll use the Zhong Family as a bit of practice."

...

One hundred meters below the surface of the Tianmu Sea, two people were moving forward swiftly like swimming fish. Under their feet was a Divine Silver Sword shining with a silvery light. It was what Mu Gaosou had refined after reaching the Fourth Level of the Divine Realm. The two of them were currently speeding toward the outer reaches of the Tianmu Sea.

These two were exactly Ding Fan and Mu Gaosou, heading out of the Tianmu Sea to kill. The moment they left Skull Island, Ding Fan had Mu Gaosou travel along the sea floor. Although moving underwater was a bit slower, it greatly increased their safety and concealment.

Mu Gaosou’s Divine Silver Sword flew very fast; compared with Herr Rufeng’s chariot, it was about the same. The water resistance only slowed them a tiny bit, almost negligible. There were some low-level spiritual beasts on the sea floor, but with Mu Gaosou’s aura released, those spiritual beasts didn’t dare come close at all.

Though Ding Fan had stormed out in a rage, he wasn’t a fool. He knew that once he left the Tianmu Sea, his greatest enemy would be the Zhong Family. If he fell into their hands, he would definitely die. So he had to be extra cautious: hiding his tracks well was the most important thing.

Of course, Ding Fan had also considered that this might be a trap laid by the Zhong Family. But he still left without looking back.

A man lives in this world with things he must do and things he must not do. Some things must be done even if it costs your life—just like going now to collect Xia Ling’s body. If this matter wasn’t settled, Ding Fan felt he would never be able to focus on anything again; it would be worse than death.

He had learned many principles and knew that as a man, there are things you have to shoulder. You must dare to do, dare to bear, stand tall between heaven and earth, and stick to your principles and bottom line. Some things must be completed, even if you know for sure it will cost you your head.

So there was never any thought of backing down in Ding Fan’s heart. He kept silent all the way, but in his mind he was thinking about how to reach the Wu Family Fortress on Great Python Mountain without a sound, and how to avoid the Zhong Family’s scout cavalry.

And what if this whole matter was actually the Zhong Family’s conspiracy? What should he do to deal with it?

All along, Ding Fan had a principle in doing things: even in a situation of certain death he would never give up. And right now things had not yet reached that level of severity, so of course he had to think carefully, try his best not to take risks lightly. He didn’t want to die; he still had too many wishes left unfulfilled.

By using True Yuan, Ding Fan could last an hour underwater, so as long as he surfaced every hour to take a breath it would be fine. Mugao Elder’s Realm was higher than his, so he could hold his breath even longer.

After the two of them surfaced again for air, Ding Fan turned his eyes to Mugao Elder and asked, "Do you have any good ideas for how we can quietly reach the Wu Family Fortress without letting the Zhong Family people discover us?"

Mugao Elder had been pondering this question all along the way. Because he couldn’t disobey Ding Fan’s orders, he naturally spent even more time thinking about how to survive.

He said very seriously, "We go around. We take a long detour and then turn toward Great Python Mountain. At the same time, we need makeup and Disguise. I can compress my bones and joints, change my physique. As for Master, you can find some dye to color your hair and disguise yourself a bit. That will greatly reduce the chance of being discovered. But all of this has a premise: that this is not the Zhong Family’s conspiracy. Otherwise any other method will ultimately fall into their trap, because in the end we will still have to go to the Wu Family Fortress on Great Python Mountain."

"Alright, we’ll do as you said. Let’s go!"

Ding Fan seemed not to have heard the latter part of that sentence, but once they were back underwater he said, "If it can’t be done, if you can’t beat the other side’s Martial Artists, then you run. I’ll refine away your soul control mark before any accident happens and let you obtain freedom."

"Thank you, Master."

The soul control mark was in the Divine Sea within both their minds. If Mugao Elder tried to forcibly refine it himself and Ding Fan sensed it, he would only need to issue a command to the soul mark in the Divine Sea, and Mugao Elder’s body would explode and he would die. But if Ding Fan, before dying, refined away the soul control mark in his own Divine Sea, then it would be nothing more than a matter of an instant.

In that case, Mugao Elder would immediately obtain freedom. His heart settled a lot; if things really came to that, his chances of survival would be much greater if he fled alone.

Skull Island lay in the Northwestern part of Tianmu Sea. If they went out by Warship it would take about two days. The Warship wasn’t fast, while Mugao Elder’s Divine Sword was more than ten times faster than a ship, so in less than two hours Ding Fan and Mugao Elder had already reached the shore.

"Crack crack~"

As soon as they landed and confirmed there was no one nearby, Mugao Elder’s bones began to creak. His back straightened, he grew taller, and the bones of his face swelled. He became another man entirely.

"Shape-shifting Technique? That’s incredible! Can I learn it?"

Ding Fan opened his eyes, staring at Mugao Elder with burning eagerness. If he could learn this kind of Martial Skills, the two of them could even walk openly to the Wu Family Fortress on Great Python Mountain without it being a problem.

"You can learn it, but it takes time!"

Mugao Elder said with a wry smile, "I obtained this in a certain ruin. It took me three years to master it. With Master’s talent it would take at least a year or two."

"Forget it then."

Ding Fan waved his hand in disappointment, then thought for a moment and took a black robe out from his ring and put it on. He pulled out another piece of black cloth to cover his face and head, leaving only his eyes exposed, then asked Mugao Elder, "What do we do next? Are we still going to ride your Divine Sword?"

"That..."

Mugao Elder was a bit speechless as he said to Ding Fan, "If we ride a Flying sword over in such a high-profile way, it won’t even take half a day before the Zhong Family spots us. We can only travel through the wilderness, we can’t appear near any cities. I’ll take you and we’ll run together."

"Alright!"

After entering the Fourth Level of the Divine Realm, Mugao Elder’s Soul had grown much stronger, giving him a powerful Perception Ability. He could easily detect ordinary scout cavalry and could take Ding Fan to escape faster and more safely.

Mugao Elder grabbed Ding Fan, and the two of them turned into afterimages as they shot forward, quickly disappearing into the boundless mountain range.

Half an hour after the two left, a purple War Chariot roared into view a hundred miles east of where they had come ashore.

Three beauties stood on the Chariot. When one of them saw land she cried out in delight, "Sister, we’re about to leave Tianmu Sea!"

Herr Ningshuang only smiled faintly and said nothing. The sisters had grown up on Tianmu Sea and had never left it. Herr Rufeng was naturally lively; sneaking out this time made her feel excited and happy.

On the way, they had run into three Herr Family scout cavalry, but the first two had just found them when the Purple Gold War Chariot flew off, and the last one shouted after the Chariot’s rumble, passing along Madam Yan’s words to them.

Herr Ningshuang acted as if she hadn’t heard. Ding Fan felt there were some things that had to be done. Don’t look at her as just a woman—she was anything but indecisive. She felt that some kindness had to be repaid. Ding Fan had saved her life; now that Ding Fan was in danger, if she did not act, then she was not Herr Ningshuang.

She certainly knew that leaving Tianmu Sea this time would be dangerous. If they pushed the Zhong Family too far, they would definitely make a move against the sisters, and that would be troublesome. However, compared to Ding Fan, they were still safer, because Master Daozhen stood behind them. If the Zhong Family dared to kill them, the entire Zhong Family might face annihilation.

"Sister, are you going to turn on the cloaking device?"

Herr Rufeng’s shout pulled Herr Ningshuang out of her thoughts. Seeing that they had already entered the territory of Shenwu Country, Herr Rufeng naturally needed to keep a low profile.