Nine Astra Skies

"Young masters, I cannot accept this. All the buns in my stall put together aren't even worth two taels of silver," the old man said hurriedly. When he saw Ye Chen who was dressed in expensive clothes, he was somewhat nervous. These two young masters must be nobility. His life had been difficult so he was a cautious person. He would never dare to offend these people from martial arts families.

This boss was rather honest. Ye Chen waved his hand. "Boss, hurry up and pack them up. We still have to hurry on."

When the old man heard this, he was afraid that Ye Chen would get impatient, so he quickly responded. "Very well, I'll pack them up." He had packed all the buns of his stall into a bundle. There were more than fifty buns.

Little Wingsy picked up that bundle and started to eat ravenously. He devoured each bun in one bite, chomping until his mouth was dripping with grease.

"How delicious!" Little Wingsy cried out happily with his mouth full.

The bun vendor was stunned by this. In just a short while, this young child had stuffed over ten buns into his tummy.

"Young master truly has a good appetite." The old man bowed modestly and gave a pacifying smile. He kept the ten taels of silver somewhat uneasily.

When Ye Chen observed the old man's humble manner, he was deeply moved. In this world where strength was supreme, someone like this bun stall vendor who had no strength could only live their lives carefully. This was the way of the world.

"Let's go." Ye Chen handed a bun to Little Tanuki who was on his shoulder. He placed his right hand behind Little Wingsy's head and guided Little Wingsy forward.

Little Tanuki was eating the bun when her ears suddenly perked up and an alert look crossed her face.

"Little Tanuki, what's wrong?" Ye Chen, who was emotionally connected to Little Tanuki, immediately sensed her reaction and unleashed his Astral Body.

Ye Chen sensed a trace of Psyche energy and shuddered slightly. There was a Celestial Beast! His Astral Body swiftly raced into that direction.

It was on the roof of a rich family's house. Grass and moss had grown over the hefty roof tiles, and a small, white creature was bounding over them. When Ye Chen got a clear look at its appearance, he was momentarily stunned. It was a tanuki with three tails. This was… Little Tanuki's species?

Ye Chen was totally amazed. He had never thought they would come across Little Tanuki's species here! Although that small tanuki was also white all over, it had a few tufts of odd-colored fur, and its appearance was not as glamorous and alluring as Little Tanuki.

"Little Tanuki, is that your family?" Ye Chen asked in joyful surprise. He turned back and glanced at Little Tanuki, but noticed she showed no trace of excitement and instead looked apathetic.

Little Tanuki shook her head.

"Not your family?" Ye Chen was rather disappointed. He thought that a relative of Little Tanuki had survived by luck. If so, Little Tanuki would not have to feel so lonely.

The tanuki made a few leaps and disappeared at the end of an alley.

Ye Chen retracted his Astral Body. He could feel Little Tanuki's sorrow. He stroked her head tenderly and gave her a bright smile. "Little Tanuki, don't be sad. Who knows, maybe some of your relatives have survived. I'll be sure to bring you to look for them."

Little Tanuki's limpid eyes gazed at Ye Chen and some of Ye Chen's optimism seemed to have rubbed off on her as she nodded.

When Ye Chen turned back, he realized that Little Wingsy had finished all of the buns and was staring hopefully at a distant stall that sold pastries. That had been no fewer than fifty, sixty buns and they were gone in the blink of an eye. Ye Chen was speechless at Little Wingsy's bottomless pit!

"Hold on, something's wrong!" Ye Chen suddenly noticed that something was not right. He had sensed a few pairs of gazes from the corner that aimed at him from time to time. When he had not released his Astral Body, he had no way of detecting this. However, after he did, he was able to distinctly perceive any hostility toward himself coming from anyone near him.

Ye Chen's Astral Body had promptly locked onto those people.

The beggar in tattered clothes, begging on the ground by the side of the road, the vendor selling rice cakes, the merchant who was acting nonchalant as he walked past, the customers of the restaurant who were observing from above, the fortune-teller who had set up a stall by the street…

"Ten, eleven…" Just from what he could observe, there were eleven of them. Ye Chen frowned. What group was this? They had such phenomenal abilities. He had only entered the town for a day and they had already set their sights on him, arranging so many eyes and ears.

Could it be the two major sects? However, the two major sects would not have nurtured so many spies, unless they were trying to topple the Xiwu Empire… Ye Chen immediately thought of something.

"Squeak squeak," Little Tanuki called out, reminding Ye Chen.

"I've got it." Ye Chen nodded. With no change in his expression, he continued to guide Little Wingsy forward.

Ye Chen discovered that as he walked on, the entire town was filled with their people. No matter where he went, there were at least more than ten people whose gazes were fixed upon him at the same time. These people did not have high cultivation bases and their strength was at the Sixth or Seventh Level at most. There was only one Eighth Level fighter.

Ye Chen did not know what they were planning, so he decided to follow his initial plan to buy a first-rate Nightwind then get out of the town.

On the main road of the town, people swarmed about. Some of his observers were concealed within the throng of people, following behind them.

Ye Chen's Astral Body had picked up some information.

"Have those big shots arrived?"

"According to what we've scheduled, they should be reaching soon."

"Keep a close watch! Everyone, be very careful not to attract his attention. You should know that he's an Earthly Venerable fighter!"

These people must have been trained. They hid very well and most experts would find it difficult to notice them. Nevertheless, they had never imagined that every word they said was overheard by Ye Chen's Astral Body.

Those big shots? Ye Chen furrowed his brow. He had already guessed that those tracking him were from the Nanman Kingdom. Based on what they had said, could there be combatants from the Nanman Kingdom coming to kill him?

Ye Chen did not know how many people from the Nanman Kingdom were coming and what experts there would be. However, since his opponents had prepared so thoroughly, they must know about his and Little Wingsy's strength to some degree. A wise man would not stand under a collapsing wall. Of the <anno data-annotation-id="3c703a89-a6a0-87dd-ad65-0fa7d2a9f836">Thirty-six Stratagems</anno>, fleeing is best!

Ye Chen did not think that the Nanman Kingdom would just send good-for-nothings over on a suicide mission!

"Little Tanuki, Little Wingsy, let's go!" Ye Chen spurred on the Nightwind and suddenly switched direction. He galloped toward the mountain forest by the side of the road.

The spies that had been tracking Ye Chen were dumbstruck. By the time they had recovered their senses, Ye Chen had already vanished into the forest.

"What happened?"

"Were we discovered?"

"This is impossible!" Leiyu Tianyi's face was scarily sullen. They had camouflaged themselves well, so the cat should not have been out of the bag. Why did their target suddenly change paths then? Was Ye Chen not heading to the Capital City after all?

"Big Man Leiyu, what do we do?"

"Keep a few of our people here who will be responsible for contacting those big shots. The rest of you, follow me and chase him!" Leiyu Tianyi brought a few people with him and started the pursuit. The Nightwind was extremely fast and excelled in winding through forests. They could not possibly catch up to Ye Chen, but this was all they could do. They must not allow Ye Chen to slip even further away.

This area was still within a mountainous region with clear skies. They were surrounded by high mountains with dense forests all around. Ye Chen would have no way of getting across the mountains in a short time. Although Leiyu Tianyi's opponent was an Earthly Venerable expert, he and his team could only put on a bold face and press on. Otherwise, if his superiors knew that he had allowed Ye Chen to escape just like that, he would surely be put to death!

Ye Chen rode the Nightwind and disappeared into the forest's depths.

After a while, fifteen figures came dashing in from the main road. Their speed was swift and graceful, and their presence caused the horses that were transporting goods on the road to neigh in fear and create a trampling mess.

The leader of this group was a black-armored, robust man with a black sword in his hand. His beard was neatly cropped and his face was covered in scars, giving him an unusually sinister appearance.

"Where's he?" the man asked in a loud, harsh voice, exuding the force of a Heavenly Venerable Rank fighter.

Those on the main road were mostly ordinary people. When the strong man had barked his question, the people nearby immediately felt an incomparably tyrannical force crashing into their chests. They spat blood wildly as they flew backward. The horses that weighed two to three hundred catties also neighed pitifully.

"Father, mother!"

"Uncle Lin!"

When the people in the distance saw their relatives suffering this unexpected calamity, the sound of weeping rose.

The Heavenly Venerable Rank fighter frowned slightly and waved his sleeve. The crying immediately stopped and the main road was piled with dozens of corpses on both sides.

When the merchants saw how vicious these people were, they rapidly and fearfully went into hiding with their horses.

The Nanman Kingdom spies who were tasked with trailing Ye Chen, upon seeing the violent attitude of the strong man, also knelt down in terror.

"General Dongmen… The target… Has run in that direction." They kept stammering and could not speak clearly.

"Useless trash who can't even keep an eye on one man!" Dongmen Yingyang snorted coldly and waved his hand. Thud thud thud – a few people flew backward, spurting fresh blood.

"Go!"

The fifteen figures started moving, chasing in the direction that Ye Chen had fled.

Ye Chen's Nightwind was traversing through the forest. With a sweep of his Astral Body, he had noticed that a few overpowering energies were urgently closing in. Two Heavenly Venerable Rank, five Earthly Venerable Rank, and eight top Tenth Level fighters! The bloody devastation on the main road was vivid in his mind. These people from the Nanman Kingdom were savage killers! Ye Chen was boiling with rage. In other words, those innocent people on the main road had died because of him!

It seemed like the battle at Central Lake Island had revealed his and Little Wingsy's capabilities to the Nanman Kingdom. He did not expect they would send so many experts for him!

Ye Chen abandoned the Nightwind and carried Little Tanuki and Little Wingsy with him. He concealed himself in the dense thicket.

Little Tanuki promptly erased their energies.

Leiyu Tianyi and the rest found the Nightwind abandoned in the forest and looked around. Nevertheless, Ye Chen, Little Wingsy, and Little Tanuki were nowhere to be found.

"Big Man Leiyu, what do we do?

"How should I know?" Leiyu Tianyi burst out scolding. Ye Chen was really too fast. Logically, since the most powerful one in his group was at the Eighth Level, an Earthly Venerable fighter like Ye Chen had no need to run. Could Ye Chen have known that there were experts closing in from behind?

If Ye Chen had not fled in such a hurry and turned back to face them, they could think of a way to drag things out. Soon, the two Heavenly Venerable experts would reach here. However, Ye Chen did not even give them this chance! Leiyu Tianyi did not know that Ye Chen's Astral Body had already learned about the fact that two Heavenly Venerable experts and five Earthly Venerable experts were giving chase behind!

<annotations style="display: none;"><ol class="tinymce-annotation-container"><li data-annotation-id="3c703a89-a6a0-87dd-ad65-0fa7d2a9f836">A Chinese collection of thirty-six proverbs that are applicable to politics, war, and civil interaction</li></ol></annotations>",