In the seventh year, your group of four arrived at the Imperial Capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
However, after entering the city, the expressions on the faces of you, Gu Xinyue, and Ye Chuxue remained grim.
On the way to the Imperial Capital, you had heard some very bad news.
You had not expected that the matter of you killing the three sect masters in Qingzhou had already spread to the Central Continent.
And now everyone there knew that someone from the Demonic Path had entered the Central Continent, with the strongest among them being in Void Refinement.
In the eyes of mortals and low-level cultivators, you were bloodthirsty fiends who killed without blinking.
But from your point of view, there was at least one piece of good news. The major powers of the Central Continent did not seem particularly concerned about you.
The inspections in each city were little more than formalities, as if, in their eyes, a Void Refinement cultivator was not enough to make any real waves.
Moreover, you had all completely changed your appearances. Without a specialized spirit artifact, you would hardly be exposed.
And so, you gradually settled down in the Imperial Capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
In the eighth year, after living in the capital for a full year, you had all become thoroughly familiar with the environment there. Your current identities were those of wandering alchemist cultivators.
Using the status of alchemists, you and Gu Xinyue gradually built up some connections.
During that year, on the surface you refined pills for sale, but in truth you were gathering information about Zhou Lingxi.
Once you found Zhou Lingxi, you planned to leave the Great Zhou Dynasty immediately.
The Southern Region of the Central Continent was still too close to Qingzhou, and with Zhou Lingxi there, you always felt uneasy.
Another two and a half years passed before you finally obtained news about Zhou Lingxi.
That day, the whole Imperial Capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty was abuzz with gossip.
On the emperor's birthday, the Ninth Princess had stolen the spiritual medicine presented to the Zhou Emperor by the officials, and in the end she had been punished with three years of confinement.
After hearing this gossip, both Ye Chuxue and Wei Qing were utterly baffled.
"Su Ming, is this Ninth Princess who was locked up really the person you have been waiting for?"
Over the past few years, Ye Chuxue had heard you mention more than once that once a certain princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty appeared, you would leave.
After waiting for years with no news, what she heard now was completely different from the person she had imagined.
Wei Qing, standing to the side, also looked puzzled.
"She is the Ninth Princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Why would she need to steal spiritual medicine? Should she not have anything she wants?"
Hearing what they said, you did not explain.
The Great Zhou royal family had never publicly revealed that Zhou Lingxi possessed no spiritual roots.
To the royal family, producing a cripple was a stain.
But you alone knew that Zhou Lingxi was not a cripple.
She was the possessor of Innate Immortal Eyes.
The reason she had done all this was simply to escape the royal family and the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Now that you had finally found information about Zhou Lingxi, you decided to attempt a bold plan.
When you told Ye Chuxue and Wei Qing what you intended to do, the two of them were instantly dumbfounded.
"What? You are going to the imperial palace?"
"Going to the palace is one thing, but you are planning to abduct someone as well?"
You knew they did not want you taking such a risk, but you had no way to keep waiting here until Zhou Lingxi escaped by herself.
There were only about ten years left before the thing inside the Blood Demon Secret Realm would emerge.
More importantly, you still had no idea how that Mahayana cultivator had managed to find you.
This time, you decided not to return to Youzhou and instead see whether you could avoid that disaster.
"Do not worry. I have the Great Void Technique. As long as I know the detailed layout of the palace, I can return safely."
Hearing that, the two of them finally relaxed a little.
The next day, you went to Black Market Street and bought a map of the imperial palace.
It described in detail which person lived in each palace hall.
Most of those residing in the palace were underage princes and princesses.
The only exception was Zhou Lingxi.
After finding the palace where the Ninth Princess lived, you nodded in satisfaction and returned to your courtyard.
That night, you glanced in the direction of the imperial palace.
In the next moment, your figure vanished from the courtyard, and a purple void gate appeared above the imperial palace of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Standing in the air, you looked down over the imperial palace, locked onto the location, and did not dare linger for long, or you would be easily discovered.
Two breaths later, your figure appeared before the Ninth Princess's palace.
Looking at the two Initial Deity Transformation guards outside, you had no intention of making a move openly. Instead, you used the Great Void Technique to slip directly into the room.
Inside, Zhou Lingxi was curled up on a wooden bed with her knees wrapped in her arms.
When she sensed the disturbance, she raised her head and looked blankly at you as you stepped out of the void.
She stared fixedly at you.
The lifelessness in her eyes gradually turned to shock, and then her eyes filled with hope.
"You..."
Zhou Lingxi had just started to say something when you coldly interrupted her and signaled for her to follow you.
As the possessor of Innate Immortal Eyes, she could naturally tell that you were different from the people in the palace.
You were a true human.
So she trusted you completely.
Not long afterward, you brought Zhou Lingxi back to your courtyard in the capital.
Gu Xinyue and the other two had been waiting there the whole time, terrified that something might happen to you.
After returning, you had no time to explain anything. You had to leave the Imperial Capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty as soon as possible.
Once the royal family discovered what had happened, it would likely become impossible to escape.
At that moment, Zhou Lingxi, standing behind you, saw Gu Xinyue and the others and revealed a look of utter disbelief.
Since birth, she had never seen a normal human above Foundation Establishment.
And today, she had seen four of them at once.
Before dawn, your group of five had already left the capital's territory.
According to Wei Qing, as long as you headed north the whole way, you would reach the territory of the Great Qian Empire.
The Southern Region of the Central Continent was in constant conflict all year long, with the various imperial dynasties competing against one another.
And the Great Qian Empire was the mortal enemy of the Great Zhou Dynasty, so fleeing there was the safest option.
Three months later, you arrived within the territory of the Great Qian Empire and casually entered a city to settle down.
After living peacefully in Flying Dragon City for three years, everyone's cultivation improved.
Zhou Lingxi successfully broke through to Foundation Establishment, Ye Chuxue reached Core Formation Great Perfection, and although neither you nor Gu Xinyue nor Wei Qing broke through, your cultivation had all become more profound.
Even so, you were still not satisfied with this rate of progress.
The gap in spiritual roots meant that even with the help of your talents, cultivation still felt difficult for you.
That day, as usual, you were cultivating in the courtyard when Zhou Lingxi, who was beside you, suddenly said,
"Brother Su Ming, there is a human in the sky too!"
Hearing that, your brows furrowed slightly, and you looked up toward the sky.
The instant you saw who it was, it felt like a bolt from the blue had struck you. Every hair on your body stood on end.
"How could it be him?"
...