Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 295 - 295 294 Changes Arise One After Another

295: Chapter 294: Changes Arise One After Another 295: Chapter 294: Changes Arise One After Another Bai Qingqian ran forward, her steps alternating between deep and shallow, daring not to use her spiritual power, as that was the most obvious trace to a Tongxuan Cultivator’s perception.

Therefore, running purely on physical strength was relatively safer.

After all, the Poplar Forest was tall and dense, making it difficult for Divine Sense to accurately track a person in such an environment.

Her destination was Shan Country; she had no intention of foolishly running back to Anhe.

Such an approach wasn’t unexpected; their landing spot had been on the side of the Poplar Forest closer to Shan Country, which was the greatest extent of Bai Sanye’s ability.

Had they descended any later, the three Wu Sect cultivators would have caught up, and no one would have escaped.

For now, they had at least a few dozen breaths’ worth of time to break free.

After running for several dozen breaths, she could feel a tremendous spiritual pressure pressing down from the sky behind her, a signal of the Daoist from Wu Sect’s arrival, who was using all his Divine Sense to sweep through the Poplar Forest.

From this point on, aside from the strategy of fleeing, it all depended on luck.

She didn’t blindly run away but, after the Daoist arrived, took out a mushroom-like treasure and covered herself with it, then submerged into a state of deep breath concealment; this treasure was best used in a natural environment, able to use nature’s power to disperse the human scent from her.

She didn’t want to rely on luck, preferring to use her own wits to win back her life.

Being in such a state minimized her presence to the lowest level unless, by extreme misfortune, a Wu Sect cultivator were right at her heels.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t detect her.

She planned to maintain this state for an hour.

By then, the Wu Sect cultivators would have spread out to search, and she’d take the fourth direction.

Bai Sanye gave them three paths in the end, and theoretically, those were the only options.

The environment was treacherous, and there was no time to think further, but now, thinking back calmly, she realized there was indeed another path possible.

By completely shutting down her own perception, she became hard to detect by others, but likewise, she was utterly ignorant of the events happening outside, a state that could drive one mad.

Fortunately, her patience was always good.

She waited quietly, praying in her heart that the Wu Sect cultivators wouldn’t stumble upon the mushroom by chance.

The agony of the wait felt like years, but thankfully, after an hour, she hadn’t been discovered.

An hour was a strategic decision.

Typically, after such a length of time, the Wu Sect cultivators’ search in the forest would conclude, as they had no capacity to fight back.

Being found meant being captured without suspense.

The best response for the three Wu Sect cultivators now would be to have one wander on the Shan Country side of the Poplar Forest, another circle on the Anhe Country side, and only leave one to search within the forest, which would be the most efficient method for a thorough sweep.

Her countermeasure was not to leave the forest but to follow along the edge of it.

If her luck wasn’t too bad, the complex forest environment would make it difficult for even a Tongxuan Cultivator to discover her.

Maybe after she traveled dozens or even hundreds of miles through the forest, she’d leave for Shan Country or perhaps wait a few more days at the edge of the woods?

This was the fourth path she had thought of, theoretically feasible, and now it was time to put it into practice.

Removing the mushroom cover, the decayed leaves on the floor of the Poplar Forest gave off a nauseating smell, and she couldn’t afford to form any spiritual power defense to protect herself, so she had to trudge through the rotting leaves, her footsteps deep and shallow.

Soon, the hem of her dress was completely discolored, and her nose had grown accustomed to the stench of the place.

Humans were the most adaptable species among all living beings.

What she feared most were the native creatures of the forest, the Forest Beasts.

If they attacked her, what would she do?

This wasn’t a problem she could solve with wisdom alone and had to rely on luck.

Time slowly passed as she trudged through the forest, each moment taking her one step further from danger.

Thankfully, their escape coincided with the cover of night, rendering sight virtually useless here.

And just how far she could get this night would pretty much determine if she could escape the tiger’s mouth.

Luck, gradually, began to favor her side, but there was something that puzzled her—the Forest Beasts here were pitifully few, especially those that had birthed demonic power; there was nearly none.

Yet, she had a feeling as if something underground was following her.

She could not dare to verify it, as her current situation required her to avoid combat at all costs to prevent making any noise.

Just thinking of the rotten leaves beneath her and the ground insects squirming everywhere made her feel uneasy.

It could be something like an Armored Beast, right?

She could only console herself with this thought.

After about an hour and a half, as time neared the end of the Hai hour, contrary to what she expected, her pace was much slower.

The terrain here was complex, and she had to keep checking her direction to avoid going astray.

By her calculations, she must have covered over twenty li.

If she kept this up, she’d probably be fifty or sixty li away by dawn.

Not too bad.

Just then, a sudden palpitation struck her, and turning her head, she saw a pair of green glowing spots in the darkness.

She knew for sure that it was a fierce Forest Beast, which most likely would not give up easily.

Her moment of testing had arrived.

She didn’t expect a miracle or hope that these Forest Beasts would not harm humans; that was simply impossible.

Without hesitation, she flipped out a shiny Golden Short Spear.

This top-grade Spiritual Artifact was powerful and domineering, more than capable of handling such a Forest Beast.

She had considered how to fight; not releasing Spiritual Power was almost impossible, as she lacked the ability to take it down with mere physical strength without using Spiritual Power—this wasn’t her strong suit.

In her current situation, logically, she should use a Spiritual Artifact that releases a weaker Spiritual Pressure.

But there was an issue—if she couldn’t kill the Forest Beast instantly, its howls would seal her fate, leaving her with no escape.

Therefore, she simply used a high-powered Spiritual Artifact, hoping to kill in one hit and then relying on the Wu Sect Cultivators being far enough away to not fully determine her location before the battle ended.

Nothing was foolproof; she could only continue to gamble.

As she had predicted, it was a lone Forest Wolf, its stomach growling with hunger.

It couldn’t possibly give up such succulent prey, and after tracking her for a while, it decided to attack because it didn’t sense any potent aura from its target.

That’s how lone wolves behaved—steadfast, tracking, then suddenly striking.

It leaped high, so it died miserably.

The Golden Spear was a bit of overkill for such a beast, like using a cleaver to kill a chicken.

But this wasn’t Bai Qingqian’s fault; she didn’t understand the beasts of the forest here, unaware that the powerful Demon Beasts had already been scoured by others.

A flash of golden light, fleeting, yet almost at the same time, there was loud laughter from above the trees,

“Caught you now, little Bai Family runt!

You’ve run quite a distance!”