If lucky, even the valuable treasures on one’s body would be shrouded in the ‘blood mist’ and brought along.

If the Blood Evasion Technique was cultivated to the utmost limit, as long as one small piece of the blood mist managed to get away, it would be possible to restore one’s strength, and most of the injuries would recover within a few years. It was exactly for these properties that the Blood Evasion Technique could elude True Monarchs while being a technique of the Fifth Stage.

However, if a part of the blood mist was destroyed while the technique was active, the user would permanently lose something. It might be lifespan, potential, strength, and so on. But as long as you could get away with your life, the sacrifice would be worth it.

Nevertheless, Branch Leader Jing Mo was using a talisman to display the technique. Hence, the Blood Evasion Technique would lose some of its power and flexibility.

"Oh? A Blood Evasion Technique. Not bad." True Monarch Yellow Mountain smiled. He had already reached the peak of the True Monarch stage, and if he were to go all out, it wouldn’t be difficult to destroy the Blood Evasion Technique sealed in this talisman.

However, there was no need for him to interfere.

Venerable White had already made his move.

He stretched out his hand and drew something in the air. The world immediately changed. What was once the sky underwent an earth-shaking transformation and changed into a vast desert.

There were no living beings or plants in this desert. There was nothing but a boundless stretch of yellow sand.

Branch Leader Jing Mo changed into countless threads of blood mist after using the Blood Evasion Technique, scattering in all directions. But no matter where he was fleeing to, he was unable to leave the desert. After some time, the effect of the Blood Evasion Technique vanished.

Branch Leader Jing Mo returned to his original appearance.

His face was pale. Even if the Blood Evasion Technique was sealed into a talisman, it still consumed his true yuan.

If we add to that the fact that he had continuously used his true yuan when chasing Song Shuhang, right now he didn’t even have 10% of it left.

Jing Mo quickly inspected his body. Since he was against a Sixth Stage True Monarch, who knew how many threads of blood mist he had lost while using the Blood Evasion Technique.

This expedition had been a complete failure. If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have wasted time to torment that Stressed by a Mountain of Books. He would have directly killed him.

Never would he have expected that there was really a Sixth Stage True Monarch by that little rascal’s side. He felt fear just by recalling that scene.

After carefully inspecting his body, Branch Leader Jing Mo’s expression changed into one of delight. Unexpectedly, he didn’t lose a single thread of blood mist. Except for the consumption of true yuan, he had received no harm!

Even all the treasures he was carrying on his body, such as medicine pills and the flying sword, were all undamaged. Did that True Monarch keep his hand since he already knew that he wouldn’t be able to destroy the Blood Evasion Technique completely?

I was truly lucky!

‘So even a True Monarch is only so-so.’ Branch Leader Jing Mo thought to himself. He had made up his mind and was planning to ask his master to teach him the Blood Evasion Technique once he had reached the Fifth Stage Spiritual Emperor and condensed a Golden Core.

After confirming that he had received no harm, Branch Leader Jing Mo turned his head and looked all around. He wanted to see where had flown to.

‘Did I end up in a desert? Did I fly so far?’ Branch Leader Jing Mo thought to himself. After determining his position, the best course of action would be to head toward the nearest branch of the Limitless Demon Sect.

But at this time, he realized that there was something wrong with this situation.

This desert… why does it look so familiar? Where did I see it?

There is sand as far as the eye can see. There isn’t a single plant or animal. Only deathly stillness.

Wait!

I have already seen this place!

A few days ago, he had used a wooden figurine and entered Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ residence. Afterward, he had found himself in the middle of a vast desert.

And there, he had met a sadistic young man with green clothes that had crazily pounded the wooden figurine with a hammer. He hit the figurine till it was almost destroyed and let Jing Mo feel unbearable pain.

It was precisely that desert!

Why did I appear here?

Is it possible that I didn’t manage to escape? But how is that possible? Wasn’t the Blood Evasion Technique supposed to elude even a True Monarch?

Branch Leader Jing Mo was getting anxious.

But at this time, the desert in front of his eyes started to collapse, slowly disappearing.

What’s happening?

When Branch Leader Jing Mo regained his senses, he discovered that he was still standing in his original position. It was the same place where he was standing before using the Blood Evasion Technique.

Well, if one wanted to be fussy about it, this Blood Evasion Technique, which can let the user travel thousands of miles in the blink of an eye, allowed him to move for about… two centimeters?

Branch Leader Jing Mo’s complexion was now deathly pale.

"Sorry, but I couldn’t let you escape." At this time, a pleasant voice echoed.

Soon after, a handsome man with fluttering black hair came out of the fog; he was wearing casual modern clothes and a smile was plastered on his face. The handsome man was dragging Song Shuhang along, and both were floating in the air.

In the end, Jing Mo was still a disciple of a big sect like the Limitless Demon Sect. So, he immediately guessed what had happened—this was a real illusion.

"A Seventh Stage Spiritual Venerable." Branch Leader Jing Mo felt like crying at this moment.

"You have good eyes." Venerable White smiled.

After the opposite party confirmed his guess, Branch Leader Jing Mo died a little inside.

"Shuhang, what do you want to do with him?" Venerable White asked.

Song Shuhang had recovered with great difficulty from nausea. He looked at Jing Mo and said, "Were you sent here by Young Master Hai?"

"Hmph! You think someone like Young Master Hai has the authority to give me orders?!" Branch Leader Jing Mo unconsciously howled. Even in front of a True Monarch or a Venerable, his temperament was still awful.

"Oh. Just as I expected, the style was too different from Young Master Hai’s. It seems you came here to rob the Blood God Crystal of your own volition." Song Shuhang slightly nodded. Then, he said to Venerable White, "Senior, can you take him into custody?"

Senior White smiled and pointed his finger at Branch Leader Jing Mo. Immediately after, Jing Mo fell to the ground, unconscious and unable to move. True Monarch Yellow Mountain moved forward and took a rope out of his sleeve, tightly binding Jing Mo with it.

"How do you want to handle him?" Venerable White asked.

"I think a certain senior from the Nine Provinces Number One Group would be very interested in him." Song Shuhang took out his mobile phone and made a call.

Soon, the voice of a vigorous man echoed from the other side, "Little Friend Song Shuhang, were you looking for me?"

"Senior Seven, I got my hands on a disciple of the Limitless Demon Sect. Are you interested?" Song Shuhang asked with a weary smile.

"Hahaha. A disciple of the Limitless Demon Sect? I’m indeed interested. Keep your mobile phone at hand, I’ll rush over to your position!" Seven said with a laugh.

Song Shuhang took advantage of the opportunity and asked in a low voice, "Senior Seven, I wanted to ask… how is Sixteen-"

He had yet to finish his sentence when Seven hung up.

It seems that Senior Seven is really impatient! Forget it, I can ask him about Sixteen once he’s here.

❄️❄️❄️

At this time, True Monarch Yellow Mountain arrived beside Song Shuhang and asked in a teasing tone, "Little Friend Song Shuhang, did you take a liking to Seven’s younger generation? Su Clan’s Sixteen is a good lass. If you get a little stronger, you might have the chance to become dao companions with her."

"There is no such thing. After all, I’ve only seen Sixteen a few times." Song Shuhang continued, "I know that she suffered a severe wound, and since we’re friends, I wanted to know if her injury had recovered or not."

"Don’t worry. Seven is a member of the Spirit River Su Clan. That clan is stronger than what you think. There shouldn’t be too many problems with Sixteen’s injury." True Monarch Yellow Mountain tried to comfort him.

After getting out of the fog, True Monarch Yellow Mountain threw the fainted Jing Mo to a side and asked, "Little Friend Song Shuhang, how were things with Doudou these days?"

"Everything is fine. He seemed to be in a great mood lately." said Song Shuhang after pondering for a moment—he was about to say that he even made a human girlfriend. However, it was better not to mention this matter to True Monarch Yellow Mountain. Hence, he shut his mouth.

"He must have caused a lot of trouble, right?" True Monarch Yellow Mountain heaved a sigh. He was an outstanding and talented handsome man with a scholarly temperament. How did he exactly raise a silly pekingese like Doudou? When he chose to give him the name Doudou, maybe he should have actually opted for Doubi Doubi instead? [1]

"Not at all. Doudou helped me quite a bit," Song Shuhang hastily waved his hand. He was telling the truth.

True Monarch Yellow Mountain patted his shoulder and said, "No need to be polite. How can I not know about Doudou’s personality? Don’t worry. Once this matter is settled, I’ll give you a big gift! In these days, you should think of something that you would like to have."

"Thank you, Senior." What could Song Shuhang even do besides thanking him?

"Right. Recently, I told you to look at the pictures of the fairy maidens in the group. Did you look at them?" True Monarch Yellow Mountain asked in a low voice. At the same time, he created a soundproof barrier around Song Shuhang and him.

"Oh, I’ve seen one of Fairy Lychee’s selfies." Song Shuhang replied after thinking a bit.

"Only one?" True Monarch Yellow Mountain was surprised.

Then, he quietly asked, "What do you think of Venerable White?"

"Senior White is a very nice person. Just like the people in the group were saying, he’s someone that cares very much about the younger generation." Song Shuhang replied after pondering a bit.

True Monarch Yellow Mountain paused for a moment, I wasn’t speaking of this!

Soon after, he clenched his teeth and directly asked, "Do you find Venerable White attractive?"

"Yes, very attractive." Song Shuhang said without hesitation.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but remember that time when he courted death. The entire world had changed black and white, and only Venerable White had retained his colors. Therefore, he added, "There was a moment when I thought that Senior White was the most attractive man in the world."

True Monarch Yellow Mountain looked Song Shuhang’s in the eyes and removed the soundproof barrier.

Then, he departed from Song Shuhang’s side and kept a distance of at least three meters between them.

He remembered that when he’d added ‘Stressed by a Mountain of Books’ to the group by mistake, he’d calculated three trigrams.

At the time, he thought that those trigrams were bullshit.

But now, he got the feeling that little friend Song Shuhang’s way of thinking was indeed dangerous. Should he keep a certain distance between them for the time being?

[1] TL/N: 豆豆 = bean bean; 逗逼逗逼 = silly silly