Chương 112: Volume 2: The Hidden Dragon Enters Huizhou Chapter 1: Ambush on the Road

"Uncles, elders, there is no need to see me off further. We part ways here." Reyn's gaze swept across the elders of the Lei Clan, his expression as cold and unyielding as an iron mask. Behind him, the graves of his parents lay in the frozen earth, a silent testament to the price of survival. The clan he was leaving behind had long since become a den of vipers, and though he had purged the traitors, he knew he could not linger. The path to immortality was a relentless march—to stop was to invite death.

"This is where we separate," he said, his voice cutting through the morning chill like a blade.

"The road ahead is far too treacherous for you to follow."

"Very well. We shall halt our steps here," the eldest of the clan sighed, his voice heavy with the weight of years.

"The journey before you is long and fraught with peril. Devote yourself to your cultivation and do not squander your natural gifts. Do not forget the hopes that the entire Lei Clan has placed upon your shoulders." As the senior elders halted, their faces were etched with a complex tapestry of worry and reverence. The days of tearful partings with parents were long gone; now, only the solemn duty of a young patriarch remained.

Reyn felt a slight heaviness in his chest, but he refused to let sentimentality cloud his focus. He turned to Elder Sun and Elder Ma, bowing deeply with his hands clasped.

"The future affairs of the clan will depend on your guidance and care, Elders. For that, I offer my thanks in advance." The two elders hurried forward to support him, insisting that such duties were merely their obligation. Reyn nodded slightly, his eyes lingering one last time on the gathered kinsmen before he uttered two final words: "We move." With a flick of his wrist, Reyn summoned a circular magic tool.

As his True Essence surged into the artifact, the disk expanded rapidly until it measured two zhang across, shimmering with an azure light. With a fluid motion, Reyn stepped onto the platform. Lei Tianqi followed immediately, and without a backward glance, they shot into the sky, leaving a streak of light in their wake. Watching the green glow vanish into the horizon, Elder Ma turned to the somber crowd.

"Do not fret, everyone. Patriarch Reyn is a cultivation genius the likes of which we haven't seen in a millennium. He is highly regarded by both the Sect Master and the honored Dan Chenzi. His future is limitless; we should be celebrating his ascent, not mourning his departure." The head elder looked up at the empty sky, whispering to the wind, "In a peaceful world, I would have wished for him to stay, to live a simple life within the clan.

But the path of cultivation is a thicket of thorns, and the weight of our entire lineage now rests on his shoulders alone. Still, to have a patriarch capable of such things... our Lei Clan has no regrets." Hundreds of meters above the earth, the sky was a piercing, cloudless blue. A streak of azure light, roughly six meters wide, tore through the atmosphere at a blistering pace.

A shuttle-shaped mana shield flickered around the flying disk, its surface rippling as it deflected the violent astral winds generated by their speed. This flying tool was a trophy claimed from the storage bag of some unfortunate cultivator, and though its origins were ignoble, its speed was undeniable. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. Reyn sat cross-legged at the center, his fingers tracing mudras to maintain their heading.

Behind him, Lei Tianqi was deep in meditation, the faint, medicinal scent of spirit pills wafting from his pores. After the incident with the Jinshan Sect, Reyn had reconciled with his kin, following his father's final wishes. Though Tianqi lacked a Spirit Root, Reyn had provided him with enough Qi Condensation pills to potentially force his way into the 6th level of the realm. They were now over a thousand li from Thunder Abyss City. At this rate, they would reach the Xuanxiao Sect before nightfall.

"Sister, this Blood Escape Art is truly remarkable," Reyn communicated through his Divine Sense, even as he focused on the manual he had looted from Cheng Ergui.

"The physical toll is heavy, but as a means of survival, it is peerless." A snort of derision echoed in his mind from Yu Meiren.

"That Blood Escape Art is a crude, mid-tier rag at best. It pales in comparison to the Magic Wind Escape I bestowed upon you. You've only scratched the surface of that technique. At its peak, it evolves into the Great Divine Ability of Wind Teleportation. Your speed would be indistinguishable from instantaneous movement." Reyn chuckled inwardly.

"I know, I know. I'm only studying this for emergencies. Unless it's a matter of life and death, I won't touch it."

"Hmph, at least you have some taste. In the future—" Yu Meiren's sultry voice suddenly sharpened into a cold hiss.

"Careful. There is an ambush ahead. The aura... it feels like a Golden Core expert!" Reyn's heart hammered against his ribs, but his expression remained as still as a frozen lake. He scanned the horizon out of the corner of his eye, seeing nothing but empty air, yet the lack of visible threats only deepened his dread. Suddenly, Reyn cut the power to the flying disk. His face twisted into a mask of sudden, inexplicable fury. He lashed out with a palm strike, sending the startled Lei Tianqi tumbling off the platform.

"Do not think for a second that I have forgiven the humiliations you and your father heaped upon my family!" Reyn roared, his voice laced with venom.

"I was merely playing a part for the elders. Now, get out of my sight! You are nothing but a burden!"

"You... Fine! I was a fool to trust you, Reyn!" Lei Tianqi snarled back, his eyes flashing with a mix of rage and realization as he stabilized himself in mid-air.

"Mark my words, you will regret this!" With a cold laugh, Tianqi ignited his own escape light and sped away in the opposite direction. Ten li away, once he was out of sight, Tianqi's anger vanished instantly. He crushed a jade slip in his hand, his face turning pale with worry as he glanced back at Reyn's position before fleeing toward the Xuanxiao Sect at maximum speed. Watching him go, Reyn let out a haughty sneer.

"A waste without a Spirit Root... you think you can threaten me? If we weren't of the same blood, I would have crippled you long ago!" Talking to himself, Reyn flooded the circular tool with True Essence. The azure light flared with blinding intensity as he pulled a sharp U-turn, racing back the way they had come.

"Cunning little brat! But even if you had the wings of a phoenix, you wouldn't escape my grasp today!" A cold snort rumbled through the sky. Ahead of Reyn's original path, the space rippled like a disturbed pond. An old man with a face like sunken parchment stepped out of the void. With a casual wave of his hand, a massive, pitch-black net—nearly seventy zhang wide—shrank instantly and flew into his palm. The net pulsed with a viscous, foul-smelling miasma, a weapon of pure malice.

A cold sweat broke out across Reyn's back. If not for Yu Meiren's warning, he would have flown straight into that web, and both he and Tianqi would have been reduced to bloody mist.

"Ancestor Ming Diao! I should have known it was you!" Reyn bellowed, his voice trembling with feigned panic. The azure light on his disk intensified as he pushed the artifact to its breaking point, desperate to put distance between himself and the predator.

"Do you truly believe you can run?" Ancestor Ming Diao's eyes erupted with murderous intent. The suffocating pressure of a Golden Core cultivator exploded outward, his robes whipping violently in the gale of his own power. With a flash of light, he vanished, reappearing less than a hundred feet behind Reyn. The gap was closing with terrifying speed.