Wu Qi kept laughing as he left the place after successfully conning Arhat Bao Sheng. As for whether the monk would kill everyone to shut their mouths or just flee desperately, that was not his business anymore. He had shouted with all his strength just now, and all of the several million people both inside and outside Qing Xu Immortal Pass had heard him loud and clear. Could Arhat Bao Sheng really kill so many people in the entire Qing Xu Immortal Pass?
After spending some time laughing heartily, he opened the storage bracelet and took a quick glance with his divine will.
The glance made his heart cramp instantly. This General of Qing Xu Immortal Pass was extremely rich! Not only was there a large heap of immortal stones, he found no energy stones of mid-grade or below, as the rest of them were all upper and supreme-grade energy stones! The number of upper-grade energy stones alone had exceeded 500,000 pieces!
When Feng Qingya was on duty in Qing Xu Immortal Pass, anyone who visited the place would have a layer of their skin ripped off by him. And, added up with the commission and taxes he collected from Qing Xu Immortal Square, as well as bribes given by the others, this amount of energy stones was not that much really. Since all the cultivators from the nearby three hundred provinces would come here to trade, the yearly turnover for Qing Xu Immortal Pass was actually an astronomical figure.
It was a pity that the energy stones stored in Qing Xu Immortal Pass's treasury would be handed over to Yu Dynasty every three years. Had it not been the case, Wu Qi's loot would be even greater!
He took in a deep breath. The total value of the energy stones and immortal stones in the bracelet was nearly ten times what he had right now. At that moment, Wu Qi felt he should visit a few more immortal passes and squares ran by the authority of Yu Dynasty, testing the water and seeing if there were any chances he could strike. If there were, he did not mind robbing them all!
Clicking his tongue, he transferred all the energy stones, immortal stones, as well as heaps of precious materials into the black dragon spirit ring. He had the ring devour the storage bracelet too, a better way to completely destroy the evidence. Then, with a sway of his body, his Daoist robe, underwear, boots, socks, including the string used to tie his hair, were all shattered to powder. A brand new outfit was spat out by the black dragon spirit ring: a moon blue Daoist robe, a pair of cloud boots made with white deerskin, and a tall crown socketed with gold and jades.
He put on the new outfit and wrapped a jade belt around his waist. With one hand holding a jade Ruyi scepter carved out of one whole piece of spirit jade, and a whisk with purple gold as handle and silk of the heavenly silkworms as hairs in his collar, he modified his visage and disguised into a wealthy Daoist who looked neat and clean. He quietly exercised his cultivation base, leaking out a little bit of fiend aura from his Nether Inferno Fiend Nascent Soul, as well as some cold air from the fake Nascent Soul who cultivated the Dark Yin Water Scripture. With that being done, he was immediately shrouded with an immense evil aura and a biting coldness. Together with his luxurious outfit, anyone with a sensible mind would know that he was not a man to be provoked.
Assuming an unfriendly manner, he sped away on a cloud at top speed towards An He City.
When he was approaching the shoreline of the great lake, he suddenly recalled the lady General who he met when he came, Feng Qingwu. He hesitated for a while, then decided to take a detour, bypassing the ten thousand miles of restrictive zone determined by Feng Qingwu and her subordinates, so as to avoid that unruly lady and save him the unwanted troubles.
But, when the trouble was looking for one, any efforts made to avoid it would be just useless. Wu Qi had avoided the place where he had a conflict with Feng Qingwu and took a detour of thirty thousand miles. However, right when he stepped back onto the shore, a huge shadow loomed over his head.
He looked up with surprise, and saw an enormous bird struggling to fly over him. The bird had a wingspan of over ten miles. Its giant mouth was opened, but it made no sound. Instead, a couple dozens of thick iron chains were sticking out of it. They stretched several hundreds of miles long, and were stretched taut, with their ends held in the hands of a group of burly people from the Long Bo Kingdom.
Following the commands of a golden-armored captain, the group of several thousand Long Bo men roared rhythmically at the top of their voices, pulling the iron chains with all their strength. The stretched long chains creaked and produced numerous bright sparks every now and then when they clashed with each other. Even single Long Bo man had a strength that could carry a mountain. But shockingly, this group of several thousand Long Bo men was actually being dragged further away by the giant bird, approaching Wu Qi slowly.
Clearly, they were not a match of the giant bird. The joined forces of several thousand men were actually weaker than the giant bird alone!
Wu Qi was stunned. The giant bird flying over his head had a wingspan of ten miles, and a body full of long feathers that were pale green in color, almost looking colorless. Gusts of wild wind swirled rapidly around it. Its feathers swayed gently amidst the wild winds, and it had three extra long feathers near its back, stretching over tens of miles long and blinking with a dazzling green light. When these extra long feathers stirred, there were always several dozens of twisters springing up from the ground without making a noise.
The bird was enormous, and the wind was extremely violent. However, when the bird flew and the wind blew, they made not a single sound.
The bird, as well as the wind, were just like part of the atmosphere. Both of them had completely blended into this part of the void, fusing with the atmosphere. That was why when it flew, and when the wind stirred, they did not make any sound. When the bird flapped its wings, it was showing a magnificent quality that vaguely corresponded to the Great Dao of the Heaven, the Earth, and the Universe. It made Wu Qi's heart race, as if he had just peeped into the ultimate secret of the Heaven and Earth.
It was the legendary divine bird, a Gale!
Legends said that Gales lived through their entire life flying in the air. Unless they were dead, they never landed on the ground. They flew proudly and loftily at a high altitude, millions of miles above the ground, hunting flood dragons as their food. Those supreme experts among the Gales could even hunt Heavenly Dragons, and took True Dragons as their food.
The Gale that flew over Wu Qi was obviously a rookie who had just turned adult. Its overall strength was at most of that an ordinary Heaven Immortal. It was clearly struggling with its innate wind controlling divine ability and the innate mighty strength. If it were a seasoned adult Gale, it would have an overall strength to instantly kill all of the several thousand Long Bo men.
Only a rookie who had just turned adult would be lured by the fragrance of fully cooked flood dragons and great pythons placed by the humans on the surface of the lake, flying excitedly down from its safe zone millions of miles above the ground to devour the delicious meals and get its throat hooked by the specially made iron chains, being trapped in such an awkward situation.
But according to the setup Wu Qi saw previously, those iron chains were nailed to the ground with iron pillars. However, they were now held in the hands of several thousand Long Bo men as the Gale struggled to fly away. It showed that the Gale had been struggling for a long time, and it had broken those iron pillars.
As Wu Qi was observing the mighty Gale with rapt attention, the furious roar of Feng Qingwu was suddenly heard coming from behind, "Hey you, Daoist! Stop that beast and I'll reward you handsomely! As long as you can help us capture this Gale alive, our Prefecture Overseer will definitely give you an endless benefit!"
Wu Qi turned to look over his shoulder and saw Feng Qingwu riding towards him on a Heavenly Steed with a very sorry look, followed by a troop of nearly one thousand cavalries. Her armor was ripped and broken, exposing many patches of her fair skins, and numerous deep wounds with blood seeping out. Her left arm was drooping on the side. From the look of how it swayed freely as she moved, it had completely broken off her shoulder.
And those cavalries behind her were in an even worse situation. Many of them had lost their nose and eyes, and their bodies were bathed in blood. They looked utterly miserable. Their image fitted perfectly with a description in Wu Qi's mind: a routed army and a beaten general.
Perhaps it was because Wu Qi did not obey Feng Qingwu's order to stop the Gale immediately, her face twisted as she cursed at the top of her voice, "You bast*rd! Do you not want to live? Make haste and stop the Gale, or I'll cut you into pieces and slaughter your entire sect!"
'Ah, that same threat?' Wu Qi shook his head, wondering who had spoiled her into such an arrogant and unruly lady?
Nevertheless, Wu Qi was too lazy to argue with a lady like this. He flew several hundred feet up into the sky on a cloud, lazily throwing out a lower-grade magical flying sword, turning it into a three feet long, half-white and half grayish sword beam, then controlling it to fly totteringly towards the Gale's bottom. When it was still a couple of miles away from the Gale, a strong wind blew it away.
Countless wind blades ground the flying sword amidst the strong wind, shattering it into a couple dozens of broken fragments which fell to the ground.
Wu Qi bit his tongue and let out a strange cry, "Aye, what a powerful bird!" Then, he opened his mouth to spray out a stream of blood, retracting the cloud and plunging straight to the ground, spending a long time to struggle, but still failing to get back up on feet.
Wu Qi was thinking to fool Feng Qingwu with a show. He did not wish to get his feet wet in this puddle of troubled water. The Gale was not his friend, and he had a conflict with Feng Qingwu. He had decided to not help either side. Therefore, he threw himself to the ground, weeping and wailing as he put his buttock between hands, wiggling and twisting his body like a wounded worm.
Feng Qingwu rode over and stopped next to him, fixing her gaze at the Gale flying above as she cursed under her breath, "A useless fool!" As she cursed, she pulled out a spear from a leather pouch hanging next to the saddle, casually throwing it towards Wu Qi's heart.
Wu Qi was taken back. 'Why is she killing me?' For the very least, he had attacked the Gale with a flying sword just now. He had helped her, even though it was just a show, yet she was still trying to kill him? Wu Qi frowned and his body twisted, slipping on the ground like a fish to a distance ten feet away as he dodged the spear. The metal spear shot down forcefully, piercing over one foot deep into the hard rock ground.
Feng Qingwu turned to look at Wu Qi with surprise. Grinning coldly, she said, "A good dodge! But... How dare you to dodge when I am killing you?"
She pointed at Wu Qi and shouted coldly, "Somebody, kill this useless fool! Search his soul and find out where his sect is. When we are done here, slaughter everyone in his sect!"
A few cavalries answered her call and rode wildly towards Wu Qi. Even as they approached, heavy axes and swords were drawn, piercing through the air with shrill whistles as they shot straight towards Wu Qi's vital spots.
Wu Qi flew into rage instantly and snapped, "Crazy woman! Are you insane or what? I had helped you attack that bird just now!"
With a sudden teleportation, he dodged the attacks from the few cavalries, and with another blink, he came next to Feng Qingwu, throwing out a thunderbolt to her face. Feng Qingwu spun with shock as she bellowed, "Nasty Daoist, so you were pretending just now?"
Right at this moment, the Gale suddenly halted midair, flinging three extra long feathers from its back to smash heavily down onto Feng Qingwu's head.
Three gusts of strong wind, about one hundred miles long each, came pressing down silently with a suffocating pressure.
As Wu Qi was standing next to Feng Qingwu, he was under the coverage of the strong winds as well.