“Guys let’s go.”
Li Shen said as he approached the boys.
“Are we going to look for junior brother Chen?”
Yang Su said as he rose to his feet and absorbing the Wood Qi was immediately placed at the back of his mind.
The others except for Fei Yin stood up as well.
Jun lowered his head and went to use Mu Fan as a shield so he wouldn’t have to look at Lihua. Mu Fan sneered and immediately went to sidestep his attempt, but Jun grabbed his forearm and despite being a burly miniature giant, Mu Fan’s expression changed when he squeezed. It felt as if his arm was going to be ripped off.
Mu Fan immediately stopped his movements to dodge him and cursed internally.
‘Why the hell is his strength so monstrous?’
Mu Fan was almost twice the size of Jun with even his hand capable of wrapping around his head quite easily. But the strength his physique suggested seemed inadequate compared to a smaller Jun.
Was his strength even worth anything then?
‘No!’
That wasn't the case. Even though Li Shen didn’t go all out, Mu Fan could definitely say his physique was one of the strongest of the group. It's just that it was Jun’s strength that was too abnormal.
As this little exchange went on between Jun and Mu Fan, Li Shen nodded at Yang Su's question before he turned and waved his hand in front.
An eighty-meter ship with complex runes carved on the surface appeared. This wasn't actually something he got from his family but was a high-grade Spirit Artifact he got along with the resources he received back at the Academy.
This was the first time Li Shen dipped his finger into it, as he was saving it for something he planned for in the future.
Li Shen then moved to quickly board the ship and so did the others, but Fei Yin who was still sitting suddenly spoke up.
“Faction Leader wait, how are we planning to look for him? Are we just going to randomly search around the Dimension?”
Li Shen stopped and turned to Fei Yin. He curiously looked at him for a moment before he shook his head and tell him about the cave he was at in the Demon Grotto, and the last location he was seen in the Northern Region.
“We’ll search those places first, we’ll also have Tai look around as well. He might not be at the Demon Grotto anymore but I suspect the condition Lihua saw him it started from there.”
Fei Yin hearing that lowered his head and thought for a moment. Li Shen seeing him like this knew something was on his mind.
The others had already boarded the boat and were waiting for them.
Fei Yin soon looked up at Li Shen from his sitting position, determination flashed in his eyes as if he made up his mind about something.
“Faction Leader, please give me a couple of minutes.”
Li Shen didn’t know what Fei Yin was up to and he got more curious. He nodded at his request before he saw Fei Yin place his hand on the trunk below him.
Li Shen’s eyes flickered at that and he finally understood Fei Yin’s intentions somewhat.
Fei Yin was seen with closed eyes as his palm lay flat on the trunk. After a minute or two, his expression showed struggle while at the same time the branches of the Guardian Tree began to tremble.
The image of such a scene was both horrifying and spectacular at the same time.
Li Shen looked away from the tree trembling to observe Fei Yin. He saw that a green hue was released from the trunk below to encapsulate him. It seemed to help Fei Yin as his struggling expression became calm.
Li Shen immediately recognized the aura as Qiang’s own, but he didn't react to it.
After a few more minutes, Fei Yin finally opened his eyes with the green hue slowly retreating back into the trunk. An exhausted feeling immediately washed over him. Li Shen approached and slowly helped him stand.
“Were you searching for Fang Chen?”
Li Shen asked as he carried him towards the ship.
Fei Yin nodded in response and said.
“Little sister Qiang’s roots encapsulate the entire Western Territory and even some parts of the others. It was difficult to use her roots to search the entire Territory but with her help, I manage to do it.”
Li Shen hearing Fei Yin indeed had the ability to do this didn’t surprise him, it only confirmed his suspicions. He had long realized Fei Yin had gone through drastic changes when the attempted assimilation was a failure.
Even now as he carried him onto the ship, Li Shen was being bombarded by an absurd amount of Wood Qi fluctuations from him. It wasn’t simply a cultivator having no control over his Qi fluctuations and he was sensing it, but rather it was like a well that was being overflowed with Wood Qi.
The reservoir underneath the surface was completely full, thus forcing any excess energy to emerge through any and all channels.
The best thing Fei Yin should do is quickly cultivate and get his overflowing energy under control.
Li Shen placed him to sit while the others came over.
“Did you find him?”
Fei Yin shook his head at Li Shen’s question.
“He isn’t inside the Western Territory, however, I found dead Spirit Beasts at the borders that were killed by sword attacks. I don’t think it was more than three of four days since they were killed.”
Li Shen subconsciously released a sigh upon hearing that. It meant Fang Chen was at the very least alive three days ago. Li Shen then thought to himself.
‘First the Northern Territory now the Western Territory. Is he just wondering about the Dimension?
‘But why do I feel like he’s searching for something instead?’
Li Shen released a worried sigh once more before he stood up.
“Faction Leader, I saw something else.”
Li Shen's silence urged Fei Yin to continue.
“The Spirit Beasts, they were killed by a sword, but most of them were killed brutally by lacerations that looked like claws.”
“By claws? Like a beast’s claws? Are you saying Fang Chen had become some sort of beast?”
Mu Fan asked skeptically.
Fei Yin shook his head to say he didn’t know.
Li Shen didn’t ask any questions and simply decided to head there to look for himself. He had Fei Yin point the direction and he stirred the ship. Meanwhile, he sent out Tai to search independently.
The ship was quite fast, and in under an hour it approached the border that lead into the Eastern Territory.
Immediately as they reached, Li Shen already saw something off about the area.
He stopped the ship over the unnatural twenty-meter clearing that had severed limbs of tiger-like Spirit Beasts in the middle.
Li Shen left the ship and drifted down to the clearing to get a closer look. The others also followed as well.
Jun who reached the ground last immediately felt his skin crawl.
Something sticky and slimy seemed to be trying to make its way into his body.
“UGH!”
Jun was caught off guard but he immediately reacted.
His four pure white wings appeared on his back and his Righteous Qi burst out of his body. His appearance resembled a celestial being that had descended to the Mortal Plane from the Nine Heavens in holy light.
The others seeing his actions were taken aback.
Li Shen who was examining the tiger-like Spirit Beast moved and appeared where Jun was.
As he did, the white light around Jun faded away to reveal black veins running through his face and arms.
He was unable to prevent the weird energy from entering his body.
Jun groaned and fell to the ground. His white wings slowly gained black lines as well, that looked like they were a step away from turning his wings completely black
It was if the celestial being was being corrupted by the vileness of the Mortal Plane upon entering.
Jun’s pure white hair was the same, even his eyes which had turned white as he called on the Kun Peng’s power had streaks of black in them.
Inside Jun’s head, the roar of a Kun Peng filled with anger and agony echoed out in a dark void. Its massive white body was covered in black veins as well.
Jun’s wings and body twitched. If it wasn’t for his bulging eyes and him clawing at the ground until marks were left, no one would realize he was going through hell-like torture. His mouth was strangely clamp shut.
Li Shen was already over Jun sending his perception inside his body. The others quickly came up as well in hurry.
What Li Shen saw inside Jun was a parasitic dark energy drilling and worming itself throughout his body. It was even beginning to corrupt his Righteous Qi and his very cultivation.
**
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