Chapter 1623: Tracking

The statue of Saint Kui—Master Zhan and the others might not see anything wrong with it, but Zhang Xuan knew very well.

Inside, the chest bone of the Ruthless One had been secretly placed!

Back then, after discovering it with the Library, he had considered smashing the statue to retrieve the skeleton, but in the end, he stopped.

After all, he was a Master Teacher and a Hall Master, with his own principles; he could not do something so heretical.

Now, the alien tribesmen had rushed in, taking nothing else but this very item—it must be for this reason.

After all, the Ruthless One was once one of the most巅峰 emperors of the alien tribe. Seizing this skeleton might be of great use, perhaps even… like him, to bring it back to life!

"Ruthless One?"

Hearing his muttering, Master Zhan was startled.

"Oh, nothing!" Zhang Xuan raised an eyebrow. "How many people, and what are their strengths?"

"There are four. I couldn't discern their exact strength, but… the grand formation of the Saint Hall couldn't stop them; it was easily broken…" Master Zhan said, full of shame.

The prestigious Saint Hall, the continent's top academy, had been breached twice in half a month, with people escaping. The first time was their Hall Master—no shame in that—but now alien tribesmen had stolen something and escaped…

To be honest, they hadn't even dared to report it to the headquarters of the Master Teacher Pavilion!

They couldn't bear the disgrace!

"Four?" Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, his eyes narrowing. "Which direction did they flee?"

"That way… Our cultivation was too low; we chased for a while but couldn't catch up, so we had to send a message to the Hall Master…" Pointing a finger, Master Zhan said.

"I understand. You repair these collapsed buildings and restore the formations!" Zhang Xuan's eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction Master Zhan had indicated. With a movement of his body, he stepped forward. "I'll go take a look and be sure to retrieve the statue of Saint Kui!"

The statue of Saint Kui was not only tied to the dignity of the Saint Hall but also to the skeleton of the Ruthless One. If he couldn't get it back, he, as Hall Master, would lose face… even though the succession ceremony had yet to be held.

Using his comprehension of space, he flew extremely fast. After more than ten breaths, he had already traveled over ten thousand kilometers.

Turning his head, he saw Luo Ruoxin still following behind, and he breathed a sigh of relief. His Eye of Insight shone everywhere, searching for any traces.

"You won't find them like this!" Seeing his actions, Luo Ruoxin shook her head. "These four people are likely the ones we encountered at Baixi Mountain. They all have the cultivation of peak Great Sages, and they've deliberately erased their tracks using special methods, making them hard to trace unless… your Eye of Insight reaches the fourth level!"

"Indeed, I can't detect anything…"

Actually, even without her saying it, he had already noticed.

This time, like the previous capture of Zhao Ya and the others, there were no clues left behind. Even he couldn't detect anything.

"But escaping won't be that easy…"

With a light smile, he flipped his wrist, and a book appeared in his hand, emitting the aura of the Heavenly Dao.

The Book of Heaven's Path.

When Zhao Ya and the others were captured, without traces, he couldn't track them, but… the statue of Saint Kui was different!

It concealed the skeleton of the Ruthless One. Even if he couldn't find it, as long as the Ruthless One could sense the direction and reach a certain range, he would surely be able to locate it!

Unless… the other party had hidden the skeleton using a special spatial secret technique!

But since it had just been stolen and not much time had passed, under normal circumstances, they shouldn't have been able to do that yet.

Seeing him take out the book, Luo Ruoxin glanced at it but said nothing.

"Little Ruthless, stop sleeping. Sense it—where is your chest bone?"

Patting the book, Zhang Xuan said.

"Mm…"

Hearing this address, the Ruthless One twitched but finally nodded. After sensing for a moment, the book immediately pointed in a direction. "Over there!"

"Good!"

Seeing that it could indeed sense it, Zhang Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and moved quickly in the direction indicated.

Luo Ruoxin said nothing, following closely behind.

After flying about a hundred thousand kilometers for over an hour, the Ruthless One spoke: "It's in the city ahead… Ah, damn, the sensation has disappeared…"

Zhang Xuan hurriedly looked ahead and indeed saw a city standing in the distance.

The city was vast, no less than the former Empire Alliance, perhaps even surpassing it.

"Sensation disappeared? What do you mean?"

Zhang Xuan frowned.

Even if it entered the city, with your ability at the Ancient Sage level, you shouldn't be unable to sense it! How could it vanish out of thin air?

"It must have been blocked by some formation or hidden away. I could sense it just now, but suddenly it disappeared…"

The Ruthless One said.

"Blocked by a formation?" Zhang Xuan's expression darkened.

Earlier, he had thought he could catch up before it was hidden, but he hadn't expected the other party to be so fast.

He had pursued very quickly, yet he was still a step too slow.

If it was truly blocked, in such a large city, it would be very hard to find.

It was like when it had been placed in the inner courtyard of the Saint Hall, undetectable.

"Can you still remember the exact location where it disappeared?"

Zhang Xuan said.

"I can only estimate a rough range…" The Ruthless One hesitated.

"Lead the way!"

Too lazy to waste words, Zhang Xuan said.

If the skeleton was truly taken away, it wouldn't matter much that the Saint Hall lost face, but his Ruthless One would find it hard to improve further.

Although the Ruthless One had been unhelpful lately, it was still a major asset.

Having fused the heart, finger bone, and head, it already possessed the strength of Saint Realm level eight or nine. If it could fuse the complete chest bone, wouldn't it directly advance to Great Sage?

If done well, it might even reach Ancient Sage!

Having an Ancient Sage-level fighter by one's side—who would give that up?

The Ruthless One led the way, flying for a short time until they reached the middle of the city.

"It disappeared roughly in this area, but I can't be sure…" The Ruthless One said sheepishly.

A super-strong being who once roamed the heavens, now so scattered that he couldn't even find his own bones—it was embarrassing to say.

"How precise can you make this 'rough range'?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

In such a large city with countless mansions, searching one by one would be useless even if he exhausted himself. If he could narrow it down, it might be much easier.

"This… roughly a hundred kilometers in radius…"

The Ruthless One was embarrassed.

"A hundred kilometers?" Zhang Xuan staggered, nearly fainting.

A hundred kilometers in radius, with a population of at least tens of millions, searching for a statue that was hidden and undetectable by divine sense… Only a ghost could find it!

"It disappeared suddenly. If we had been a bit faster, we might have sensed something…"

Knowing the difficulty, the Ruthless One muttered in defense.

"I understand…"

Knowing that the other party also wanted him to fuse and become stronger—and besides, this chest bone, suppressed by the ancient sage statue with the power of the Saint Hall, should not have developed consciousness and would be easy to refine—now that it had disappeared, the Ruthless One should be even more anxious than he was. So he didn't say much more and instead looked around.

People flowed like a stream. Since many strong individuals flew around every day, Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxin, not releasing their power, had their cultivation levels unseen and didn't attract much surprise or attention.

Otherwise, with their strength, the entire city would have been in an uproar.