Chapter 252: We Can Always Run if We Can’t Win

Several hundred kilometers away, in Forgotten God Palace.

Achoo!

Wen Yu fiercely sneezed! Could it be that his wife who had long since passed away, was thinking of him again? Their fate together was too short, and in a blink of an eye, it had already been a few hundred years. He seemed to have kept a keepsake with him still. Reaching out to the side of his waist, he however grabbed onto empty air instead.

Eh? His storage pouch seemed to be…

Old Ancestor, get back here now!!!!

The sky above this continental land was extremely huge. The two of them walked straight for four hours, before they could get a faint glimpse of human figures. No wait, they were bird figures. The people here all had a gigantic pair of wings attached behind them. There were white and black wings, and also wings with bright colours like yellow and red. Every single one of them was different. When they flew in the sky, they looked like a bunch of huge… birdmen. However, when they landed on the ground, those wings would disappear without a trace.

To prevent themselves from being exposed, they had no choice but to walk on foot throughout their entire journey.

As they walked further in, the number of birdmen grew, and the faint silhouette of a city could finally be seen. The city was humongous, with an endless stream of birdmen walking back and forth, exuding a bustling atmosphere. The moment the two entered the city, they split up to gather information. However, after asking around for exactly an entire afternoon, they could not find a single birdman who knew of it.

“Yu Yao, I think this place is simply too huge. It seems we won’t be able to find it in a short span of time.” Ying Luo panted a few breaths. Back then, when she activated the seal, she simply sensed that a mystic artifact had fallen somewhere near here. However, with how many years it had been since then, she could not concretely tell where it was. “This is too hard to find.”

Zhu Yao stopped at the city gates. “Girly, do you still remember the appearances of the five mystic artifacts?”

“Of course I do!” After all, she personally sealed them herself.

“Then was one of them a piece of jade tablet?”

She nodded. “That’s right! How did you know?”

“On that jade tablet, were the two words ‘Azure City’ engraved on it?”

Ying Luo was startled. “You have seen it before.”

The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched, as she reached out her hand and pointed at the city gates. “I haven’t seen it before, but I have seen it now.”

At the top of the city gates, a pitch-black plaque was hanging up high, and there were traces of black miasma circulating in it. The two red words ‘Azure City’ that were engraved on it, were extremely striking to the eye, and around the jade tablet, there were even faint traces of golden sealing runic symbols flashing about.

The second mystic artifact!

Momma’s egg, why did every single mystic artifact had to be openly placed in such eye-catching locations? Were they really not looking down upon the intelligence of the people looking for them?

“What should we do?” Ying Luo said with a suppressed voice. This mystic artifact had evidently been treated as the city gates’ plaque by the birdmen of the city. It seemed like this city was exactly given the name ‘Azure City’. “Why don’t we, directly dig it out?”

“…” If we dig it out right in front of everyone’s faces, we will be beaten to death, right!?

Just as she was frustrating what she should do, a loud ringing sound suddenly reverberated within the city, and it seemed to the sound of a horn. A sunken and heavy sound instantly spread throughout the entire city.

In an instant, all the birdmen in the city scattered in all directions. Every single one of them entered their own homes with anxious looks, and they even closed their doors and windows. In just a few moments, not many bird figures were left on the streets.

Was that a curfew alarm? Zhu Yao raised her head to look at the sky, and indeed, it had already begun to darken.

“I have a plan!” Ying Luo winked at her. “Isn’t there still some concealment talismans in Wen Yu’s storage pouch? Let’s first conceal ourselves and head up the city wall. Then, once everyone has left, we will make our move.”

“Is this plan reliable?” Zhu Yao expressed her doubts.

She patted on her surging buns. “When it comes to tasks I’m in-charge of, you don’t have to worry.”

Zhu Yao nodded, and then first pulled her over to an empty alleyway. Sticking the concealment talismans on themselves, they then returned to the city gates. Currently, there was not even a single figure left on the streets, while all of the homes were shining with candle lights. The two of them went up the city wall together, and to their surprise, they discovered that there was actually no one keeping watch.

Just as Zhu Yao was about to fly her sword over and retrieve the mystic artifact, she was pulled by Ying Luo.

“Wait a minute! There’s a formation on the wall.” A row of faint yellow runic symbols floated above the city wall, and if one did not pay attention, they were impossible to spot. “You can’t pull out the jade tablet. You can only push it inwards.”

“Inwards?” On the other side of the tablet was the wall, how was she going to push through it?

Zhu Yao carefully scanned the city wall. “There’s a door here.”

At the right corner of the city wall was a wooden door, and after pushing the door open, she discovered that this city wall was a little different from the rest. The city wall was very tall, yet there was still space within the wall itself. Like a mezzanine, there was still a small flight of stairs that lead all the way to the roof, and at the very top, there was actually a huge platform for unknown uses.

At the front of the platform was that mystic artifact.

“We finally found it, let’s hurry and take it down.” Ying Luo anxiously urged.

“Are you certain we can take it down?” She felt that things were a little too smooth-sailing.

“Don’t worry, there’s no problemo.”

Zhu Yao took a step forward, performed a light set of hand-seals, and that gigantic jade tablet slowly grew smaller. When the jade tablet was the size of a pendant, it flew towards her palm. On the wall which was covered with the jade tablet earlier, it now had a hole half the size of an average adult. Through the hole, it was also possible to see the light of the moon and stars shining upon the city streets, filled with a dense crowd of… birdmen. Furthermore, every single one of them was even carrying objects that looked similar to sacrificial offerings.

Zhu Yao: …

Ying Luo: …

The birdmen stared straight at the two people.

The two people stared straight at the crowd.

A moment of silence.

“They stole the city plaque, capture them!”

It was unclear who shouted out first, but instantly after, rows of birdmen swooshed into the sky, pouncing straight towards them.

“Run!” Picking Ying Luo up, she stepped onto her sword and madly flew in the direction they came from.

The hell, what happened to the promised ‘no problemo’?

Ying Luo winced, as she tried to justify herself. “I heard from rumours that the Heavenly Feathered Race had a custom of offering sacrifices during a certain night, but I never expected that it’s today. And here I was wondering why not a single person could be seen right after the sky had gotten dark. It’s an oversight, it’s definitely an oversight.”

“Oversight, your sister. Can’t you be a little more reliable?” She got them in such big trouble.

“Uh…” Her face was filled with embarrassment.

Why the hell did she encounter piggish teammates everywhere she went!?

“They are human practitioners, kill them!” The birdmen that were chasing after them saw they were flying on a sword, and they grew even more furious. They forcefully flapped their wings, instantly shooting out streams of feathers. In a blink of an eye, some of those feathers turned into flames, some turned into icicles, and there were even some that turned into sharp blades, as they all attacked the two people in an overwhelming manner.

“Yu Yao, behind you, behind you!” Ying Luo’s face paled from fright.

Zhu Yao circulated her spiritual energy, and with a wave of her hand, a stream of cold wind swept towards the back. In an instant, ice began to form in the air, freezing all of the attacks behind them.

Zhu Yao did not stop there. She circulated even more energy into the spiritual sword beneath her feet, and just as they were about to reach the barrier they entered from.

The sound of a horn once again reverberated behind them. From the initially quiet forest in front of them, five birdmen popped out, blocking their path.

“Catch those two human practitioners!” One of the people shouted out, and then came pouncing towards the two of them.

“The hell!” Zhu Yao shifted her body to evade them, and had almost flung out the girl Ying Luo who was behind her.

“Big sis… Big sis Yu Yao. Calm down, calm down.”

Zhu Yao turned to glare at her. Just as the other four people were about to charge towards them, she gnashed her teeth and instantly summoned a bolt of heavenly lightning. With an explosive roar, the bolt zapped straight down and grazed the four people. For a moment, the five birdmen had pale expressions, as though they were frightened by the heavenly lightning bolt that suddenly descended.

“Hurry and go!” Zhu Yao took the opportunity to fly to the barrier in a crazed manner. The small red dudou was already passionately waving at them.

Zhu Yao immediately descended, circulated her spiritual energy, and inserted it into the dudou-shaped defensive mystic artifact.

The five birdmen behind them had already come chasing after them. With a flap of their wings, several icicles were shot straight towards them.

“Aiyo! My buttocks!” Ying Luo, who was standing behind, was struck dead-on, as her buttocks were now stabbed with an icicle the width of two fingers.

“Forget about your buttocks, let’s hurry!” That dudou had already activated, and the exit appeared. Zhu Yao pulled onto Ying Luo, and hurriedly scrammed. While leaving, she slammed her palm onto the ground, and in an instant, countless lightning lights pierced out from beneath the ground, forming a wall made of lightning.

Zhu Yao took the opportunity to step on her sword, and then, carrying the piggish teammate who was injured backstage, she madly flew for several hundred kilometers.

“Aiyo, it hurts so much.” The girl cast a fire type art to melt the icicle, and rubbed her buttocks, wailing.

“Does it really hurt that much?” She was not even bleeding, wasn’t she? Zhu Yao reached out to check her pulse.

“Haah…” Ying Luo glanced at her dejectedly. “Do you know how important buttocks are to women? There’s a saying like this – Women with big buttocks are great at childbirth. If this important body part of mine is injured, there’s a possibility that I might not get to marry in the future… You don’t understand!”

“…” What kind of twisted logic was this? And why wouldn’t she be able to understand? This old lady here is a woman too, hey. And since you wish to marry someone, why the hell are you still cultivating!? “Don’t worry, a small injury like this won’t affect your female functions. Auntie will still make her regular visit next month!”

“Auntie? What’s that?” She said with a curious look.

The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. “Menstruation.”

“Oh~~~” She was suddenly enlightened, but a moment later, her expression paled once more, as she said with a complicated look. “Sovereign, but… it’s a few hundred years since my auntie visited me, this… would it have an influence on me?”

“…”

She really wanted to kick her off the sword, what should she do?

In the end, the two people still returned to Forgotten God Palace. They were not worried that the Heavenly Feathered Race would come chasing after them. After all, this was the territory of human practitioners, and the loss of a plaque was not enough to start a fight.

Wen Yu looked a little dumbfoundedly at the two worn-out people.

“Old Ancestor, you two… came back from your training journey so quickly?” It had only been a day and a night, right?

Zhu Yao patted on his shoulders. “Life is just this unpredictable.”

Just as Wen Yu wanted to ask about something else, Zhu Yao silently pulled out that dudou, and stuffed it back to him. “I say, Wen Yu. Next time, when it comes to this sort of private hobbies, it’s best not to show it off to the world. If people from other sects were to find out, it would be bad on your image.”

“…” Wen Yu was instantly petrified. When he regained his senses, the master and disciple had already disappeared.

What private hobbies? Wait! Old Ancestor, listen to my explanation!

“I’m tired to death!”

The moment she stepped through the door, Ying Luo spread herself out on the bed, looking half-dead.

The corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. You’re tired my ass. All the fighting and flying were all done by me, hey.

“Oh right, hurry and store that mystic artifact away.” She twitched a little before sitting up, picking up the storage pouch which Zhu Yao threw onto the table. “Where’s the jade tablet?”

“Here!” Zhu Yao passed it over.

Ying Luo immediately stored it in. However, just as she was about tighten the strings, the jade tablet came falling out.

“Eh?” She was startled for a moment, before she once again threw the jade tablet in. In the next moment, that jade tablet fell out again. She threw it in once more, and it continued to fall off. “What’s going on?”

Ying Luo reached her hand into the pouch, and suddenly cried out. “Aiya, so hot! Yu Yao, what did you place inside?”

Yu Yao received the pouch and took a look inside it. “You took the wrong one, it’s not this pouch.” She then immediately pulled out the Metal Spirit.

“Chick… Chick…” The Metal Spirit cried out pitifully, as it rolled around her palm. Zhu Yao sighed as she grabbed onto the other storage pouch and threw it over to Ying Luo. “Place the jade tablet in there then. This little one doesn’t like to stay with other mystic artifacts.”

“What’s that? It looks really pretty.” Ying Luo curiously looked at her palm. “Is it an egg? What kind of egg is it?”

“Chick!” The Metal Spirit let out a protesting sound.

“Chicken egg?”

“Chick chick chick chick chick…” The Metal Spirit was instantly enraged, as it leapt and smashed towards her face. Ying Luo was unable to evade in time, and was smacked dead-on.

“Yo, it sure is arrogant! I’m going to cook you today.” Ying Luo motioned to grab it.

The body of the Metal Spirit flashed, emitting out a golden glow from all around its body. “Chick—”

In an instant, all the mystic artifacts on their bodies flew out and floated in the air. Every single one of them was pointing at Ying Luo with surging killing intent.

Ying Luo was instantly dumbfounded.

“Enough, enough.” Zhu Yao hurriedly extinguished the fire, and placed Metal Spirit back into the pouch. The mystic artifacts then fell onto the ground. “Don’t anger it, it doesn’t have a good temper.”

“Wa!” Ying Luo patted on her chest, and was basically unable to believe her own eyes. “Just what in the world is that?”

“Metal Spirit.”

“Metal Spirit?” She had a puzzled look. “This chicken of yours is amazing, it’s actually able to control mystic artifacts!”

I already said it’s not a chicken!

But, control? Zhu Yao was stunned. The Metal Spirit was the materialization of metal spiritual energy, and a large portion of mystic artifacts were indeed made of metals, so it was very normal for Metal Spirit to be capable of controlling them. In that case, then those five mystic artifacts were…

“I know how to find the remaining ones now.” Zhu Yao suddenly stood right up. “Ying Luo, where are the remaining three mystic artifacts located?”

“One is located in Point Formation Clan, one is located in the ancient ruin where the Devil first appeared, and there’s one in Sword Seeking Peak.”

“Sword Seeking Peak?” Zhu Yao was startled. “That Sword Seeking Peak over there?”

Ying Luo nodded.

Zhu Yao was filled with joy. She took out the Metal Spirit, and seriously said. “Metal Spirit, is there a mystic artifact that has a Devil sealed in it, within Sword Seeking Peak?”

“Chick?” The rock on her palm tilted.

Zhu Yao had no choice but to pull out that jade tablet and fan. “It’s a mystic artifact which carry a similar aura as these two.”

“Chick…” It let out a long sound, as though it was pondering about this matter. A while later, it rolled about. “Chick chick chick!”

“There’s one?”

“Chick!”

“Where is it? Can you bring me there to retrieve it?”

The Metal Spirit rubbed her hand, and then its entire body began to emit out a golden light. Suddenly, it let out a long chick sound. “Chick…”

That sound travelled far into the distance, as though it was summoning something.

Before the two could even react, three door knocks could be heard from the door.

“Kong, kong, kong!” They were neither light, nor heavy.

Zhu Yao waved her hand, and the door opened. A completely pitch-black sword flew in, and then obediently landed on the table.

“Chick!” The Metal Spirit instantly let out an unsatisfied sound.

That sword once again flew back to the door, used its hilt to close the opened door, before returning back to the table.

This sword sure has manners!