Chapter 380: Chapter 188: Capturing the Beautiful Female Knight of the Song Realm

"That little thief... he ran away again, again, again!"

She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. A part of her was relieved, but that relief was overshadowed by regret.

’I’m afraid I’ve offended that little thief beyond repair this time.’

’I was just trying to tease you a bit, and then we could go back to Blue Star together. How did it end up like this?’

Mo Ling’Er’s heart was filled with bitterness.

"If he has no feelings for you, kill him!"

The Old Ancestor said coolly, glancing at her sideways.

"Yes, Old Ancestor!"

Mo Ling’Er bowed her head in assent, her heart already consumed with regret.

...

The Cosmos was a vast and boundless expanse.

On the endless plains, strange and ancient trees stood in dense rows. Though they didn’t form a forest, their immense size allowed each to dominate its own patch of sky and earth.

In the distance, running Exotic Beasts kicked up plumes of dust that scattered in all directions.

Zhao Rui sped for hundreds of miles before finally releasing the two men he was carrying.

Both men were in the Dharma Realm. While they couldn’t stand on thin air, they could hover for a short time.

Freed from his grasp, the two hurriedly circulated their True Qi and struggled to stabilize themselves.

"G-Greetings, Senior! I am He Wenhua, and this is my junior martial nephew, Tao Yuansheng. Thank you, Senior, for saving our lives."

"Mm. Where is the Qingcheng Sect? Do you know?"

Zhao Rui asked.

"Senior, are you from the Qingcheng Sect?"

The two were overjoyed to learn he was also a member of the Righteous Dao of the Martial Arts. They could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"That’s right."

Zhao Rui nodded. Since the sects had merged, the news must have already reached Gui Xu. After all, the members of Gui Xu Qing City would all have to return to Blue Star eventually.

"Qingcheng Mountain isn’t in this region. It’s a long journey from here. Senior, why don’t you come to our Quanzhen Sect to rest for a day or two? You can set out again on another day."

After explaining the locations of the two sects, He Wenhua invited Zhao Rui to be a guest at the Quanzhen Sect.

Zhao Rui didn’t refuse. ’What was the point of crossing all those mountains and ridges, running from the coast to the interior? Wasn’t it all to find someone from a sect and use the opportunity to return to Blue Star?’

"Alright."

Zhao Rui nodded. The two men were ecstatic. They quickly descended, used their Lightweight Skill to lead the way, and the three of them sped toward the Song Realm.

"Ahead is Tiger Leaping Cliff. That’s Great Shang territory. Senior, we must be careful."

The Gui Xu territory here was jointly controlled by three major powers. One was the Gui Xu Dynasty, composed of people who had arrived from the Shang and Zhou eras. The other was the Central Plains Dynasty, composed of people from the late Song Dynasty.

The Central Plains Dynasty was itself divided into two groups: the remnant nomadic forces of Mongolia and Xixia, and the orthodox Central Plains faction, which was made up of the Central Plains Martial Arts world and soldiers from the Song Court.

In terms of territory, Great Zhou held the absolute advantage and maintained an aggressive, offensive posture.

The Great Shang, on the other hand, had fallen into decline. They were forced to abandon large swathes of inland territory, turtling up along their border with the Central Plains Dynasty and just barely clinging to existence.

But even so, they were still much stronger than the Central Plains Dynasty. The difference in the martial strength of their soldiers was extremely clear.

Fortunately, the Central Plains Martial Arts world was not to be trifled with. Although they had fewer top-tier masters, the ones they had were no weaker in terms of skill.

And with Great Zhou’s unstoppable momentum, the Great Shang didn’t dare to go too far.

This stalemate had lasted for one or two hundred years.

Later, when the Gui Xu Spiritual Qi channel appeared, the Great Shang seized the initiative. Over a hundred years ago, they had already sent people to sneak into Blue Star. Taking advantage of the Spiritual Qi Revival, they established a foothold in the Central Asian States ahead of everyone else.

In fact, the main enemy that Blue Star Huaxia currently faced were the forces from Gui Xu’s Great Shang, not the more powerful people of Great Zhou.

These people from Shang had rapacious ambitions, dead set on occupying Blue Star and moving their entire civilization over.

It was the masters from the various sects of the Central Plains forces who joined hands to resist them, shattering their delusions and setting up their own arrangements with the Huaxia Court in advance.

This had led to the current situation.

The three of them concealed their presence and moved forward cautiously.

There were many checkpoints along the way, belonging to both the Great Shang and the Great Zhou.

Armies often faced off against each other, with signal fires rising everywhere.

One moment, a hundred-meter-tall Exotic Beast would appear and charge a camp; the next, a sky-blotting rain would pour down.

One minute, two supreme masters would be dueling in the clouds, unleashing thunderous force; the next, a squad of soldiers would be charging into a bloody skirmish.

It was a good thing the Gui Xu World was so vast. A battle involving hundreds or even thousands of people was barely considered an event.

If this were on Blue Star, it would have already become a major conflict.

Zhao Rui felt as if he were watching a scene from *The Investiture of the Gods* from his previous life.

"What’s the deal with those Manghuang people?"

Zhao Rui had followed the two men through several locations when he suddenly noticed a squad of Manghuang people, all several dozen meters tall, appearing on the battlefield.

He couldn’t help but ask in surprise.

"They’re Great Zhou’s troops. They are extremely bloodthirsty and fierce. I heard a capable person emerged in Great Zhou who managed to subjugate a tribe of the Mang people," He Wenhua said.

Zhao Rui couldn’t help but be impressed. ’Subjugating the Mang people... that certainly took some skill.’

He had seen the strength of the Mang people firsthand, and it was truly terrifying.

He never expected the people of Great Zhou could tame the Mang people.

With this development, the pressure on the Great Shang and the Central Plains Martial Arts world was bound to increase.

The three of them cautiously took a detour, not daring to make the slightest unusual sound.

After walking for about twenty hours, they suddenly heard a series of sharp rebukes from up ahead, immediately followed by the clang of blades.

"Someone’s in danger! They sound like they’re from the Central Plains Martial Arts world."

As the three passed through a dense forest, they suddenly heard shouts from within. Judging by the language, it was clearly a Central Plains dialect.

Tao Yuansheng exclaimed the moment he heard it.

"Don’t be rash!"

He Wenhua immediately stopped Tao Yuansheng’s movement and whispered, shaking his head. He warned that they couldn’t rashly reveal their presence without knowing the full story.

Zhao Rui stealthily moved several hundred meters forward, hiding in the canopy of a tree to look down.

He saw a group of Great Shang soldiers locked in a fierce battle with three Female Knights dressed in the style of the Central Plains Martial Arts world.

The three Female Knights were tall and graceful with fine features. Their Martial Arts were also impressive, as they were all at the Grandmaster Realm.

But the Great Shang soldiers they faced were even stronger. Each one was an Innate Martial Artist. Though not as profound as the Grandmaster Realm, the gap wasn’t large.

The so-called Innate Martial Artists were those whose bodies had been cleansed by True Qi, giving them an inborn talent for Martial Arts.

Any random set of Martial Arts techniques could cause them to undergo a complete transformation.

While individually weaker than a Grandmaster, these Martial Artists were exceptionally strong. A group of more than ten of them could even stand against a Grandmaster Realm Martial Artist.

Seeing the hundreds of Great Shang soldiers in the field, Zhao Rui couldn’t help but unleash his Spring Breeze and Rain Technique, instantly forming the Spring Rain Domain.

Silken drops of rain fell from the sky, silent, colorless, and odorless. The Divine Soul Techniques hidden within them were even more ethereal and formless, seeping into everything.

"Capture!"

Zhao Rui gave a low shout. Using his Spring Rain Domain, he activated a Stealth Skill, instantly snatching the three women into his grasp and drifting away from the forest.

"I’m on your side, don’t be afraid!"

The three women were in the heat of battle when they suddenly found themselves seized by a large hand, causing them to panic.

But this person was incredibly powerful and had sealed their acupoints in advance.

They didn’t even have the chance to scream their lungs out.

After saving the three women, Zhao Rui whisked away He Wenhua and his nephew, mounted a streak of sword light, and fled for dozens of miles.

Although the three women’s acupoints were sealed, they were still conscious.

They saw that besides abducting them, Zhao Rui was also traveling with two young Martial Artists, both of whom were unrestrained.

Judging by their attire, the two men seemed to be from the Song Realm.

The terror in their hearts lessened slightly.

In the Gui Xu World, the most terrifying thing for a woman wasn’t dying in battle, but being captured by Desolate Warriors.

That was truly a fate worse than death.

After traveling for several more miles, Zhao Rui came to a stop and released the three women.

The moment they were freed, the three women immediately formed a trinity formation and looked warily at Zhao Rui and his companions.

Zhao Rui’s eyes narrowed slightly, but he said nothing.

Seeing that the three men had an imposing bearing—extraordinary despite their ragged clothes—a pretty, round-faced woman among the three quickly dropped her defensive stance, bowed to Zhao Rui, and said, "Thank you, Senior, for saving our lives."

"No need for thanks. How did the three of you end up fighting with the Gui Xu people?"

Zhao Rui said nonchalantly. Since the other party was sensible, it would save him a lot of trouble explaining.

Dealing with intelligent people was always better than dealing with fools.

"Senior, it’s a long story." The leading woman immediately began to recount what they had been through recently.