"Is that kid Jiang Chen courting death? Infant Crying Valley is a one-way trip — the deeper you go, the more terrifying it becomes. If he really went in, he'd be cutting off his own retreat. Even if we don't kill him, he won't be able to hold out and will have to come crawling back out on his own."
An expert from the Indestructible Heavenly Capital spoke up.
His words seemed directed at Jiang Chen, but in truth he was trying to give Gong Wuji a hint. He also had his doubts — were the two people they were tracking really Jiang Chen?
If it was Jiang Chen, he should be racing toward Liuli Royal City, not casually wandering off to some Infant Crying Valley.
He couldn't shake the feeling that Dharma King Gong Wuji might have made a misjudgment this time.
Gong Wuji naturally caught the underlying meaning and cast an indifferent glance at the man. "You needn't second-guess anything. Since I said so, I have my reasons. Without a shred of certainty, would I have abandoned the other two groups and committed our entire force to tracking these two?"
Gong Wuji couldn't be bothered to explain further. He waved his hand. "Move out!"
This time, his deployment was more methodical than before, with a far larger force, and he had made every possible preparation.
He had even prepared Void-Stabilizing Talismans to counter the Void Escape Talismans.
With powerful Void-Stabilizing Talismans, combined with the Imperial Realm domains of so many Imperial Realm experts — if he still couldn't seal off that kid Jiang Chen, Gong Wuji refused to believe it!
This time, the Indestructible Heavenly Capital alone had four or five Imperial Realm experts, plus over a dozen sect masters from the Scarlet Cauldron Central Domain — every one of them Imperial Realm cultivators. Though these sect masters were all at the early stage of the Imperial Realm, the early stage was still the Imperial Realm. Crushing a Saint Realm cultivator was as effortless as swatting a fly.
Even if Jiang Chen was an anomaly, Gong Wuji refused to believe the boy could escape this time!
The Indestructible Heavenly Capital's forces had not gone far when a massive contingent from the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect arrived on the scene. Clearly, the sect had sent out distress calls to surrounding powers as well. In just two or three days, their numbers had grown considerably, with over a dozen Imperial Realm experts among them.
Two more experts on par with Elder Hao had arrived.
One was a middle-aged martial cultivator whose gaze was sharp as a blade, his killing intent the most intense of all.
"Elder Hao, are you certain we haven't gone the wrong way?" the middle-aged man asked in a grave voice.
"Brother Cao, do you really need to worry about how I handle things? We in the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect may lack clues of our own, but tracking Gong Wuji's people is no problem at all," Elder Hao replied. He was clearly quite wary of this middle-aged man.
"I only hope that fool Gong Wuji isn't chasing the wrong person!" The middle-aged man surnamed Cao — Cao Meng — was Cao Jin's clan uncle and the strongest member of the Cao family. His cultivation was in no way inferior to Elder Hao's.
Cao Jin had been the Cao family's greatest hope for the future, the key to their rise within the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect. His inexplicable death had been a devastating blow.
Cao Meng was consumed with bitter resentment, harboring an implacable hatred toward whoever had killed his nephew.
Even though it was not yet confirmed whether Jiang Chen had been the one to do it, even the barest suspicion was enough — Cao Meng would not let the boy go.
Elder Hao cautioned, "Brother Cao, the matter of Jiang Chen is of great importance. We need him alive. Once he's captured, we can interrogate him. Sect business comes first, personal grudges second. Once every mystery surrounding that boy is fully unraveled, you can kill him or hack him to pieces — I'm certain the sect won't stand in your way."
Cao Meng paused, then nodded. "I understand the stakes."
Elder Hao pressed on. "Our main obstacle in capturing Jiang Chen is the Indestructible Heavenly Capital. That Gong Wuji..."
Cao Meng let out a cold snort. "If Gong Wuji doesn't know his place, I won't mind sending him on his way. Brother Sun, what do you think?"
A burly, portly man beside Cao Meng chuckled. "Since Brother Cao has invited me to lend a hand, of course I'll follow your lead in everything. Gong Wuji? Are we really supposed to be afraid of him?"
This large man was Cao Meng's sworn brother, their strength roughly equal. He had come at Cao Meng's invitation to provide backup. With this addition, the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect now held a clear edge over Gong Wuji's side in terms of peak combat power.
Seeing his old friend give him such face, Cao Meng felt a swell of satisfaction. "No time to waste. Let's catch up quickly."
Elder Hao nodded. "Judging by their route, they appear to be heading northwest. According to the map, there is a dangerous region in that direction called Infant Crying Valley."
"Who cares about some dangerous region? I refuse to believe that a backwater like the Sword Field Central Domain has anything that could frighten experts from a first-rate sect of the Upper Eight Domains!" Cao Meng was desperate to avenge his nephew and refused to delay even a moment longer.
---
At the mouth of Infant Crying Valley, Jiang Chen's spiritual sense stirred, and a gratified smile appeared on his face.
"Gong Wuji, oh Gong Wuji — you were finally clever enough to follow the breadcrumbs I left for you. Not bad, not bad."
Jiang Chen chuckled to himself. He had planted Gold-Munching Mice all along the way, using them as his eyes and ears. Even if Gong Wuji had gone in the wrong direction, he would have found a way to redirect him here.
"Hmm? Besides the Indestructible Heavenly Capital's forces, there seems to be another group in pursuit? The Nine Yang Heavenly Sect! So it is them. Ha! Neither of these two sects is willing to give up. It seems they've set aside their grudges for now and turned their spears on me?"
Jiang Chen mused over this, but quickly reasoned that the Nine Yang Heavenly Sect and the Indestructible Heavenly Capital could never have truly buried the hatchet. Perfect cooperation between them was out of the question.
Selfishness. Selfishness would ensure they could never truly work together.
These two sects keeping each other in check was actually more advantageous for Jiang Chen.
"Miss Huang'er, would you care to venture into this perilous valley with me?" Jiang Chen asked with easy grace, deferring to her opinion.
Huang'er smiled gently. "We've already crossed countless mountains and rivers. What is one valley to us?"
They exchanged a glance and a smile, then transformed into two streaks of light and shot into Infant Crying Valley.
Roughly a quarter of an hour later, the forces of the Indestructible Heavenly Capital arrived at the valley's entrance.