Attack in the Woods

Taking advantage of the early morning when there were few people, Mo Qingkuang left Lan Yan alone.

Having informed Han Shu to help gather information, Mo Qingkuang learned that the auction Mo Fan mentioned would be held three days later at the central auction house in Chiyan City, within the Blue Flame Empire.

Borrowing fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones under the name of Zheng Tao from Fu Qing, Mo Qingkuang set out lightly.

In fact, it wasn't that Mo Qingkuang didn't want to borrow more, but Fu Qing himself was quite poor. Although Fu Qing was unrestrained, he invested all his savings into the Imperial Academy. Despite his carefree nature, Fu Qing dutifully fulfilled his responsibilities as a principal.

The fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones lent to Mo Qingkuang came from a large portion of the exchange student funds.

If Mo Qingkuang's talent didn't show promise and signify hope for the resurgence of the Tianxuan Empire, how could Fu Qing be willing to lend such a large sum?

It could be said that Fu Qing might be the poorest emperor-level expert on the Tianhan Continent.

Nevertheless, it was better than nothing. According to Mo Fan's estimate, fifty thousand low-grade spirit stones were enough to surpass Lin Yang's financial resources.

...

"Young master, Mo Qingkuang has left the city. Shall we continue to follow him?" A man in a black cloak suddenly appeared beside Xu Kong on the city wall.

Xu Kong watched as the figure of Mo Qingkuang swiftly disappeared into the distance and shook his head, speaking meaningfully, "I thought I'd have to wait until the Autumn Hunt. What an opportunity."

With his wisdom, how could he not guess that Mo Qingkuang was planning to attend the auction in Chiyan City?

For an auction of this level, someone of Xu Kong's status wouldn't care for it. Anything he desired, the Blue Flame Empire would gather for him with the full strength of the nation.

However, for Mo Qingkuang, it might be a great opportunity to enhance his strength, which Xu Kong could understand.

Ten days had passed since his visit to Wang Hua. Sinister Hall had accepted the mission he posted, but they couldn't make a move while Mo Qingkuang was cultivating in the Ascension Array.

Even if they had the guts, they wouldn't dare to kill someone in the Ascension Array of the Blue Flame Royal Academy. They were just waiting for Mo Qingkuang to leave the city.

"This matter is significant. Our people must not take action. Pretend we know nothing."

"Understood."

...

"Qingkuang, be careful. Just now, Xu Kong was on the city wall. I think he noticed you leaving the city." Mo Fan reminded as they walked far from the city.

In fact, the distance from Capital Lan Yan to Chiyan City wasn't close. Even at Mo Qingkuang's speed, it would take two days to travel.

Although using a teleportation array would get them there instantly, the teleportation arrays were under official control, and anyone using them was strictly scrutinized daily.

To avoid drawing attention, Mo Qingkuang chose to disguise himself and travel on foot, setting off three days in advance.

Upon hearing Mo Fan's words, Mo Qingkuang was startled. "Ancestor, no one followed us, right?"

He had already sensed Xu Kong's peculiar attitude towards him. In the city, without proper justification, Xu Kong couldn't target him, but once he was outside, he could be killed in the wilderness without anyone knowing.

"No one is following us. Still, I have a bad feeling." Mo Fan felt uneasy. Although Xu Kong didn't follow them, he felt that someone of Xu Kong's nature wouldn't remain idle.

As they conversed, an arrow suddenly shot through the air, aimed directly at Mo Qingkuang's head.

Fortunately, Mo Qingkuang's wind spirit body made him highly sensitive to air currents, allowing him to detect the arrow in advance.

The arrow was extremely fast, reaching him in the blink of an eye, and the force it carried was immense!

"A Great-Grandmaster-realm expert is trying to kill me!" Mo Qingkuang was shocked.

The arrow had predicted Mo Qingkuang's movement speed and direction. If he continued forward, he would undoubtedly be struck in the head.

This was the work of a highly skilled archer!

Mo Qingkuang didn't dare to take the arrow head-on. Channeling his true qi, he forcefully stopped his forward momentum, narrowly dodging the arrow.

The arrow brushed past Mo Qingkuang's bangs, cutting off a tuft of hair before piercing through seven or eight large tree trunks ahead, finally coming to a stop.

Mo Qingkuang didn't pay attention to these details. He couldn't stay in one place and become an easy target. Increasing his speed dramatically, he moved like a blur through the forest, heading in the direction from which the arrow had been shot.

"Ah!" On the densely treed hilltop ten miles away, a young man, wrapped in green cloth strips, let out a soft exclamation, his eyes revealing a hint of surprise.

His face was also painted with a fresh green color, and he held a similarly green large bow, maintaining the posture of having just released the string.

It was clear that the arrow intended to kill Mo Qingkuang earlier was fired by him.

He was of Great-Grandmaster realm, but he clearly hadn't anticipated that Mo Qingkuang would be able to dodge his fatal strike at such a critical moment.

Obviously, he had underestimated him.

Noticing that Mo Qingkuang's seemingly random movements were, in fact, drawing closer and closer to his position, the green-bow-wielding youth narrowed his eyes. "Interesting."

He drew another arrow, carefully aiming at Mo Qingkuang's position. As true qi gathered, the arrow shimmered with a green light, emitting a terrifyingly sharp aura.

Once he confirmed Mo Qingkuang's location, the youth released the string again. Without checking if he hit his target, he swiftly changed direction, enveloped in green light, and dashed towards another direction.

Even though he was a Great-Grandmaster expert and unafraid of Mo Qingkuang's close combat threats, remaining undetected in terms of his precise location was a basic requirement for a sniper.

Even if the enemy's strength was far inferior to his own.

"Ancestor, what should I do?" Mo Qingkuang asked anxiously in his mind while moving swiftly.

He had no idea of the exact location of this archer and could only judge based on the direction from which the arrows were coming.

But he wasn't just facing an extremely threatening archer; he was up against a Great-Grandmaster-level expert.

Mo Qingkuang decided not to run anymore. With the enemy in the dark and himself in the light, escaping was not an option.

His only chance was to get close. Archers generally had weaker close-combat abilities. If he could pinpoint the enemy's exact location, Mo Qingkuang was confident he could exploit this and challenge above his level.

This was his only way out of this dangerous situation.

Before Mo Fan could respond, another arrow flew towards him. This arrow was different from the previous one.

The last one was powerful and sudden, aimed to take a life.

This one, however, came straight at him with a lock-on effect.

No matter how Mo Qingkuang tried to dodge, the arrow kept following his direction, determined not to miss!

"Damn it!" Mo Qingkuang cursed under his breath. He executed Flower Picking Finger, unleashing a vast amount of true qi that collided with the arrow in mid-air.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and then with a loud explosion, the arrow and the Flower Picking Finger imprint burst apart simultaneously.

Mo Qingkuang was sent flying dozens of meters by the strong impact, groaning as a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of his mouth.