The Legend of the Condor Heroes: From Being Expelled from Peach Blossom Island

Chapter 579 Battle
For ten days, a full ten days, Wu Chengyu was on the run, desperately trying to escape, while Bai Yuchan relentlessly pursued him, like a shadow, making it impossible for him to shake off.

While Wu Chengyu's lightness skill was unparalleled, Bai Yuchan was not as good as him in lightness skill, but his realm of cultivation always surpassed Wu Chengyu's. In addition, with the Soul Locking Technique, Bai Yuchan could always see Wu Chengyu's escape route.

Bai Yuchan couldn't catch Wu Chengyu for a while, but Wu Chengyu couldn't keep more than a mile between himself and Bai Yuchan.

As for the direction of his escape, Wu Chengyu headed west and entered the territory of the Jin Kingdom in ten days. He chose between towering mountains and bustling cities.

Whether concealed by mountains and forests or by crowds, nothing can escape Bai Yuchan's soul-locking technique.

Throughout the entire process, Wu Chengyu did not notify anyone. In fact, if he had mobilized the hundreds of thousands of troops under the control of Pingjiang Prefecture, it would have been enough to force Bai Yuchan to retreat.

Being born with innate abilities doesn't make one a god. Even a sword immortal in a fantasy world can only break through three thousand armored soldiers with a single sword strike. This is, after all, a low-level martial arts world. Even if Bai Yuchan is born with innate abilities, he wouldn't be able to take Wu Chengyu's life amidst an army of hundreds of thousands.

However, if Bai Yuchan wanted to escape, even if surrounded by hundreds of thousands of troops, he could still easily escape and spread the news that Wu Chengyu had commanded hundreds of thousands of troops to Hangzhou.

Wu Chengyu had no doubt about this, because he himself could do it.

If Wu Chengyu really chooses to call for reinforcements to save his own life, then the fact that he has been secretly training a new army in Pingjiang Prefecture over the years, gradually substituting one person for another, and taking control of hundreds of thousands of Song troops will no longer be able to be concealed.

Throughout history, many Han Chinese dynasties have been submissive and ceded territory and paid reparations in the face of foreign invasions, but they have always been exceptionally ruthless in dealing with internal rebellions.

With the Mongols about to march south, Wu Chengyu still hoped that the Jin and Song dynasties would unite to resist the Mongols, and that he and Hong Niangzi would lead the righteous army to finally seize the fruits of victory. He absolutely could not reveal his whereabouts at the last moment and attract the attention of the Song court.

Therefore, from beginning to end, Wu Chengyu chose to face Bai Yuchan alone. The Pingjiang Prefecture army was unaware of this, as were Guo Jing and the Beiwei Army who were training the new army on Taihu Lake. Even Hong Niangzi, who was leading the righteous army, was unaware that her husband was being hunted down.

After crossing the Dasanguan Pass the day before yesterday, Wu Chengyu plunged into the Qinling Mountains, but instead of choosing the rebel army's secret base in the Qinling Mountains, he fled in the opposite direction. After a frantic run, his internal energy was exhausted, and he had to lean against the canopy of a tree that was more than ten meters tall to rest.

In the distance, Bai Yuchan's figure appeared again. This guy could only stop now. There was nothing he could do. Wu Chengyu's lightness skill was too overpowered. Bai Yuchan had been chasing him tirelessly for ten days and had no strength left to fight.

The two remained a mile apart, trying to regain their strength. They looked at each other, neither able to catch the other nor shake him off. Neither could do anything about the other.

Wu Chengyu paused to catch his breath, and his mind drifted back to the day Bai Xian'er died, when Bai Yuchan strangled Lü Fang with the Soul-Guiding Silk and prepared to attack him.

At that very moment, Wu Chengyu realized that he had been deceived all along, and finally discovered the flaw at the last moment.

The moment Bai Xian'er died, Bai Yuchan's grief was genuine. Even though Bai Yuchan's grief disappeared immediately and his expression became indifferent, Wu Chengyu thought it was normal. As a patriarch of the Daoist sect, his cultivation of inner strength was extremely high, so it was normal for him to be able to conceal his emotions.

But his beloved daughter had just died, so why did Bai Yuchan's aura suddenly become even stronger? His cultivation level seemed to have improved visibly, even leading Wu Chengyu to speculate that Bai Yuchan was about to break through to the Innate Realm and reach an even higher level.

Back then, Wu Chengyu once asked his ancestor Zhenxiang if there was a realm beyond the innate level in this world. The old Taoist Zhenxiang first fell silent, and then shook his head.

"There may be something beyond the Innate Realm, but that was at least a thousand years ago. Those ancient sages might have been able to break through to the Innate Realm, but since then, the Innate Realm has been the ultimate in the human world, and no one can break through it."

The old Taoist priest even felt that those sages might at most be at the Innate Realm, and that this world might not even allow people above the Innate Realm to exist.

Although Xiantian is called a living god, he is still a human being. He just lives a long time and can fool people. If Xiantian's head is cut off, he will surely die. If one surpasses Xiantian, one may truly become an immortal, but the matter of immortals is ethereal and unpredictable.

Throughout my life, I have cultivated the Tao. The more profound my cultivation, the less I believe in the existence of immortals. The more Taoist scriptures I read, the more I realize that those who claimed to have become immortals in ancient times were mostly fabricating stories, using deception, or spreading misinformation to fool the people; they are not to be believed.

Although Zhen Xiang tricked Wu Chengyu with the Soul-Locking Technique, every piece of advice he gave Wu Chengyu was sincere, and Wu Chengyu always trusted him.

Ordinary people admire Buddhism and Taoism, and there are countless believers and many devout people. But those virtuous Buddhists and true Taoist practitioners are probably the ones who know best that all the gods and Buddhas in the sky are illusions.

Therefore, Wu Chengyu regarded breaking through to the Innate Realm as his ultimate goal, but he never thought about anything beyond the Innate Realm. However, it was clear that what Bai Yuchan was doing was breaking through to the Innate Realm.

At that time, Wu Chengyu saw that Bai Yuchan's realm was improving. Although he was still in the innate stage, he had a significant improvement trend. At that moment, Bai Yuchan could no longer be described as having the air of an immortal. He seemed to see the divinity in Bai Yuchan. The stronger the divinity, the weaker the human touch.

It's as if the white jade toad gradually transformed into a jade statue, or a statue that has been placed in a Taoist temple for people to worship and offer sacrifices for hundreds of years.

Suddenly, he had a flash of inspiration and seemed to understand what method Bai Yuchan had used to break through to the Innate Realm.

Just as he was about to reveal that Bai Yuchan seemed to be the one who truly wanted Bai Xian'er dead, Bai Yuchan's breakthrough was abruptly interrupted. He sighed helplessly, and in an instant, his human nature returned.

"You are also a successor of the Taoist school. Let me ask you, Buddhism talks about cause and effect, but what does Taoism talk about?"
Indeed, if you hadn't died, you would still have been lacking.

These words seemed like questions, but for the first time, Wu Chengyu sensed killing intent from Bai Yuchan. Although Bai Yuchan had said he wanted to kill him before, this was the first time he had so openly displayed his killing intent.

He didn't need Wu Chengyu to answer his question. In an instant, the invisible ropes binding his body tightened, as if trying to strangle Wu Chengyu to death right there, just like he had killed Lü Fang.

But Wu Chengyu was not just a bookworm like Lü Fang. He saw Bai Yuchan as an opportunity to break through to the Innate Realm. This time, he used people's hearts to kill Bai Xian'er with Lü Fang's help. He himself would not stay here to wait for death.

He had already been controlled twice by the Soul-Guiding Silk that Bai Yuchan had learned. If he had no way to protect himself, wouldn't coming here today be suicide?

Wu Chengyu is willing to fight to the death, but he can't fight someone who simply throws himself away.

The reason why Wu Chengyu was controlled by Bai Yuchan's Soul-Guiding Silk was that Bai Yuchan's true energy could neutralize Wu Chengyu's internal force. In response to this problem, Wu Chengyu also found a way to save his life.

Although his cultivation level was inferior to Bai Yuchan's, and he was suppressed in every way, Wu Chengyu was ultimately a cheat code; only a cheat code could allow him to ignore all threats. A touch of righteous spirit, a thousand miles of exhilarating wind. This was the reward he received from the bamboo slips.

The rewards from bamboo slips were sometimes rather random. After his trip to Peach Blossom Island, he obtained the "Cicada's Lament Breathing Technique," which was supposed to be his predecessor's greatest regret. This reward seemed rather unremarkable.

Later, they went to Zhongdu, the capital of the Jin Kingdom, and rescued Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo. After going through many hardships, the two lovers finally had a happy ending and no longer suffered a tragic double suicide.

By publicly beating Ouyang Feng to death, the Seven Heroes of Jiangnan were spared the fate of being tortured and killed, and they were finally able to spend their later years in peace in Jiangnan.

After these two moments of frustration, the bamboo slip remained unresponsive. Wu Chengyu assumed it was broken and, after asking around, received no answers and had to give up.

It wasn't until Yang Tiexin and Bao Xiruo had their second child, whom Wu Chengyu named Yang Guo, meaning "to be happy to hear criticism," that the bamboo slips finally received a new reward.

I don't know if this is a reward for all the regrets I've had, or if the absence of Yang Guo in this world would also be a source of regret. In any case, this reward is not simple. It includes two abilities and has already taken on a fantastical element.

After five years of arduous training, Wu Chengyu had mastered both of these rewards. He had not used them since Bai Yuchan was under his control, in order to keep a trump card for himself.

Now that Bai Xian'er is dead, Bai Yuchan has murderous intent and has no choice but to use his trump card.

Wu Chengyu used the Thousand-Mile Exhilarating Wind at that time. The wind is formless and shapeless, the most elusive thing, and there has never been a way to control a gust of wind.

Just as Bai Yuchan was using his true energy to simulate the Soul-Guiding Silk to wrap around Wu Chengyu in layers, attempting to strangle him, Bai Yuchan suddenly discovered that his control over Wu Chengyu had completely failed, and the Soul-Guiding Silk disappeared in an instant.

The so-called "swift wind" is actually a technique for breaking free from control. It is not the elemental transformation in One Piece that makes Wu Chengyu's body turn into wind in an instant, but rather it transforms Wu Chengyu's internal energy into a new attribute power.

This power is not offensive, but it can randomly change its attributes to counteract the opponent's power, just like it becomes the Nine Yang Divine Skill when it encounters the Xuanming Divine Palm, and the Ice Fruit when it encounters the Magma Fruit.

The true energy of Bai Yuchan, which was enough to suppress Wu Chengyu's entire body, was instantly dispelled by the swift wind. Wu Chengyu immediately regained his freedom, and without hesitation, he turned and ran.

Bai Yuchan never imagined that Wu Chengyu possessed such abilities, and he was inevitably momentarily distracted. Even a fleeting moment was enough for Wu Chengyu to rush forward nearly three zhang.

Just as Wu Chengyu reached three zhang and half of his body extended beyond three zhang, another change occurred. An invisible force pressed down on Wu Chengyu, almost rendering him unable to move.

This time it was no longer a tug-of-war between forces, but an invisible suppression between heaven and earth. Fortunately, Wu Chengyu's physical body was extraordinary, and he broke free completely with his powerful strength. His entire body finally reached a distance of more than three zhang, which allowed Wu Chengyu to escape the suppression.

Wu Chengyu understood that this invisible suppression should be the unique power of Bai Yuchan after reaching the Innate Realm. He had guessed it beforehand, and at this moment he roughly understood what it was. At the same time, he also tested the range of this power, which was three zhang in radius around Bai Yuchan.

After that, all Wu Chengyu could do was escape. He used his lightness skill to its fullest extent and rushed out of Suzhou City, fleeing westward.

Bai Yuchan also had reasons not to let Wu Chengyu go, so he immediately gave chase with all his might. Wu Chengyu's lightness skill was enough to ensure that he would not fall within three zhang of Bai Yuchan again, but he could never exceed the one li distance of Bai Yuchan's Soul Locking Technique.

And so, the two chased and fled until they finally reached the territory of the Jin Kingdom.

After the two had recovered somewhat, Bai Yuchan spoke from about a mile away, and his voice clearly reached Wu Chengyu's ears.

"Why make a futile struggle? Your lightness skill is indeed the best I have ever seen. Even someone at the Innate Realm cannot catch up with you. However, your internal energy accumulation is still shallower than mine. You can hide from me for ten days, or even ten months, but you will eventually exhaust your energy before me."

Your death is related to my path to the Great Dao, Bai Yuchan. The struggle for the Great Dao is a fight to the death, and the final victor will undoubtedly be me.

Wu Chengyu also understood that in terms of internal strength accumulation, he was not as good as Bai Yuchan, who had lived for nearly a hundred years. Even though he used so many rare and precious materials to make his internal strength no weaker than Huang Yaoshi and others, he was still far inferior to Bai Yuchan. Moreover, the quality of true qi far exceeded that of internal strength, and its recovery speed was also superior to that of internal strength.

If this chase continues for less than ten months, Wu Chengyu will inevitably run out of fuel before Bai Yuchan does, after another five or six months.

However, he was not without a chance of winning. After Bai Xian'er's death, it seemed that the door to the Innate Realm had been opened. As long as he pushed the door open and took another step, he would reach the Innate Realm.

It's just unknown when this step will be taken. It might happen tomorrow, or it might take a year or two. It was originally a natural progression, but unfortunately, Bai Yuchan will definitely not give him this opportunity.

"You old man, nearly a hundred years old, you can run so fast. I can't believe I couldn't outrun you. It's a bit embarrassing."

Since that's the case, I don't want to travel any further. Heading north from here, at our pace, it will only take another month to reach Chang'an, the ancient capital of six dynasties and the place where the dragon's aura once resided in China.

Why don't we settle this in Chang'an, in front of the Great Ci'en Temple and the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, and see who will advance to the Innate Realm and who will ultimately fail?

I'm already on the verge of reaching the Innate Realm, but for you to break through to something beyond that is practically impossible. Ultimately, my chances of winning are much greater.

Bai Yuchan shook his head: "It seems there really is no one above the Innate Realm in this world. But just because the ancients couldn't do it doesn't mean I, Bai Yuchan, can't."

I have no more attachments to this mortal world, and now I am striving diligently to open up a new realm of Taoism never before seen. You will ultimately be the stepping stone for me to break through to the Innate Realm, which can be considered as sharing in the grand event of Taoism. You should be honored to be a part of it.”

Wu Chengyu spat at the ground: "Whether I am a stepping stone or not is irrelevant. Bai Xian'er is your real stepping stone. You old bastard, you actually used your own daughter and acted like a loving father and filial daughter. It's disgusting."

Enough with the small talk, let me cut off your path to immortality at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.

(End of this chapter)