1623 Stalking

Zhan shi and the others might not have been aware of the secret hidden within Sage Kui's sculpture, but Zhang Xuan was well aware of it.

The upper body of Vicious, the formidable Otherworldly Demon who had fought on equal grounds with Kong shi back in his prime, was sealed within the sculpture!

Back then, after he found that Vicious' upper body was stored in the sculpture with the Library of Heaven's Path, he had intended to smash that sculpture into bits to retrieve the upper body. But in the end, he had forced himself to calm down and decided against it.

No matter what, he was still a master teacher and the head of the Sanctum of Sages. Even if it was to achieve his goals, he had to take note of how he went around doing it.

In any case, for the Otherworldly Demons to barge into the Inner Sanctum and take only Sage Kui's sculpture, there was no doubt that it had something to do with Vicious' upper body!

No matter what, Vicious was still one of the strongest Otherworldly Demon Emperors, so there were bound to be many uses for his upper body. In fact… one could even seek to revive Vicious through awakening and gathering his missing parts!

"Vicious?" Hearing Zhang Xuan's mumblings, Zhan shi was taken aback.

"Ah, it's nothing!" Zhang Xuan quickly replied. "How many people were there? What cultivation realm were they at?"

"There are four of them. I couldn't see through their cultivation realm, but they were able to breach the Guardian Formation of the Sanctum of Sages easily… We weren't able to stop them at all!" Zhan shi said in embarrassment.

The Sanctum of Sages was the number one academy of the Master Teacher Continent, but its defenses had actually been breached twice within the short span of half a month. It had been their sanctum head the first time around, so it still was not too embarrassing, but to think that even the Otherworldly Demons would successfully take their possessions…

To be honest, they were even hesitant about reporting this to the Master Teacher Pavilion headquarters.

It was simply too humiliating!

"There were four of them?" Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes. "Where did they escape to?"

"That direction… We ended up losing them after chasing them for a while, so we could only send a message to ask for your help," Zhan shi replied as he pointed in a certain direction.

"It's fine, I understand. For the time being, focus on repairing the collapsed buildings and restoring the formation," Zhang Xuan instructed as he gazed deeply in the direction that Zhan shi had pointed out. "Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get Sage Kui's sculpture back!"

The theft of Sage Kui's sculpture didn't just concern the dignity of the Sanctum of Sages. More importantly, Vicious' upper body was at stake! If he could not get it back, even though he had not officially been inaugurated yet, he would still be shamed for his incompetence.

Through his deep comprehension of space, Zhang Xuan was able to flit extremely quickly. In just ten breaths or so, he had already covered a distance of over ten thousand li.

He glanced backward and saw that Luo Ruoxin was still following closely behind him. With a grim look on his face, he activated the Eye of Insight and began scanning his surroundings carefully in order to find the trail of the assailants.

"That won't work!" Luo Ruoxin shook her head. "There's a good chance that the four assailants are the four young men that we met earlier at the White Creek Mountain. They are all Sempiternal realm experts, and they possess special means to erase their trail. You won't be able to track them unless your Eye of Insight reaches the fourth realm!"

"You're right…" Zhang Xuan had noticed that as well.

At the crime scenes where Zhao Ya and the others had been kidnapped, the culprits did not leave any marks behind either. Even with the keen Eye of Insight, he had not been able to find anything at all.

"However, they won't be getting away that easy this time around…" Zhang Xuan sneered coldly.

With a flick of his wrist, a book emanating an air of inviolability materialized in his hand.

It was the Book of Heaven's Path.

It might have been difficult for him to locate Zhao Ya and the others, but Sage Kui's sculpture was a different matter!

As long as Vicious could sense the general direction that his upper body had been taken to, he would be able to determine a general location and eventually find them!

Unless… they were to use some kind of unique spatial secret art to conceal the whereabouts of the upper body!

However, considering that it had not been too long since they snatched the sculpture, it was unlikely that they would have the time to do it yet.

Luo Ruoxin glanced at the book that Zhang Xuan had taken out, but she did not say a word.

"Little Vicious, time to wake up. I need you to sense where your upper body is!" Zhang Xuan patted the book.

"Un!" Vicious twitched a little upon hearing his new nickname, but he still swiftly got to action. After sensing for a moment, he pointed the Book of Heaven's Path in a certain direction and said, "That way!"

"Alright!" Heaving a sigh of relief, Zhang Xuan quickly flitted in the direction pointed out by Vicious.

Luo Ruoxin also followed close behind him.

They traveled for roughly five minutes before Vicious spoke up once more. "They are in the city ahead of us… Sh*t! I can't sense my upper body anymore!"

Zhang Xuan quickly looked in front of him and saw a city just ahead.

The city was massive. In terms of scale, it was comparable to the massive Alliance Empire City.

"You can't sense your upper body anymore? What do you mean?" Zhang Xuan frowned.

"It feels like my body has been taken into some kind of barrier. I could still sense it a moment ago, but all of a sudden, the connection vanished without a trace," Vicious replied.

"Brought into some kind of barrier?" Zhang Xuan's complexion did not look too good.

He had chased the enemy as quickly as he could, but he was still a step too late. If only he had successfully tracked them down before they hid themselves, he might have just been able to take down all of them at once. Unfortunately, the enemy moved quicker than he had expected.

It would be truly difficult for him to find the enemy in the midst of the massive city before him without any clues to lead him along.

"Do you still remember the location where the connection with your upper body vanished?" Zhang Xuan asked.

Vicious pondered for a moment before replying, "I can only deduce the rough location…"

"Lead the way!" Zhang Xuan instructed, knowing that there was no time to be lost.

To be honest, he could not have cared less about the loss in reputation for him and the Sanctum of Sages. The crucial thing was really Vicious' upper body.

Firstly, it would be dangerous if such a powerful weapon fell into the hands of the enemy. Secondly, if he could acquire the upper body, he would be able to enhance Vicious' strength.

Vicious' fighting prowess had been rather lackluster recently, but there was no denying that Vicious had been a reliable ally for a very long time.

Just the heart, a finger, and the head together had already granted Vicious strength comparable to a Saint 8-dan cultivator. If he fused together with his upper body too, would his fighting prowess not immediately surpass the level of a Great Sage?

In fact, he might even reach the level of Ancient Sage. After all, that was his entire upper body!

Of course, there was no way that Zhang Xuan would pass on the opportunity to gain an Ancient Sage subordinate! That would be the strongest trump card that he could ever wish for!

Under Vicious' lead, it did not take long for them to reach the center of the city.

"I think it was around here that I lost connection with my upper body. My estimate could be off though…" Vicious said awkwardly.

As an expert who had once dominated the Master Teacher Continent, it was truly shameful that he was unable to find even his own body parts right now.

Hearing those words, Zhang Xuan frowned. "What is the degree of error for your estimate?"

The center of this massive city was filled with countless resplendent residences and manors. If they had to comb every nook and cranny of the area, the enemy would have probably slipped away again by the time they found any useful clue. If Vicious could come up with a more precise area for them to comb through, it would make their work much easier.

"This… Roughly around… two hundred li…" Vicious replied awkwardly.

"Two hundred li?" Zhang Xuan suddenly felt an urge to tear Vicious into shreds.

There had to be at least be a million people within a radius of two hundred li from where they were standing! To find a sculpture that was carefully hidden from the detection of Spiritual Perception and other tracking means within this large area… Unless a miracle occurred, that was practically asking for the impossible!

Knowing the impossibility of the matter as well, Vicious muttered meekly, "It suddenly vanished without a trace. If we move quickly, I might just be able to pick up its whereabouts once more…"

"Alright, I understand," Zhang Xuan replied with an exasperated sigh.

Knowing that there was no better alternative at this point in time, he could only resign himself to it. Vicious' upper body was of the utmost importance to him, so he could not possibly allow it to get away without at least trying to search for it.

There was a huge flowing crowd traveling in and out of the city center, be it on the streets or in the air. Zhang Xuan and Luo Ruoxin did not release their zhenqi, so the others were not able to see through their cultivation either. As such, their presence did not draw too much attention from the passersby.

Otherwise, their astounding strength surely would have induced a huge commotion among the local populace.200 li = 100km