Celestial Refining Divine Scripture

Just as they were about to leave the city, Xu Yang’s heart stirred and he called out to Yuan Mie, "Senior, how about I stay in the city? I actually think Miss Xu might still be hiding somewhere inside."

Hiding in the city?

A glint flashed in Yuan Mie’s eyes. He immediately said, "That works too. I’ll go outside the city and follow the Celestial Phenomenon Gang and the Feng Family. If anything happens or I discover something, just touch the Primordial Spirit Seal."

One inside, one outside—clearly much safer.

Xu Yang quickly nodded.

Yuan Mie flashed away, following the others out of the city.

Xu Yang quietly returned into the streets.

This idea wasn’t just a spur of the moment.

As the saying goes, "the darkest place is right under the lamp."

Judging from the traces left by Xu Ruoruo’s journey, that girl was extremely clever.

Now that the Celestial Phenomenon Gang was searching outside the city, Xu Yang actually felt there was a good chance she was still inside.

"If she’s still in the city, what place could she use to avoid the Celestial Phenomenon Gang’s search and still not draw attention?"

Xu Yang walked along, silently scanning his surroundings.

At a certain moment.

He suddenly stopped and looked to the side at a nearby inn.

"Get the hell out of here! Do you even know where you are, coming here to beg?"

"Get lost."

A beggar, dressed in rags, filthy head to toe, and even dragging a crippled leg, was being chased away by the inn’s waiter.

Xu Yang stared hard at the departing beggar, his eyes flashing with keen insight.

The slums, beggars—the lowest rung in Tianxiang City.

Among them, there were even ordinary folk who weren’t even as good as the lowest-ranked cultivators.

If one can’t cultivate, one’s life is as cheap as grass.

The Celestial Phenomenon Gang, if they searched such a place, surely wouldn’t be thorough with all the filth and chaos.

Xu Yang’s eyes lit up.

He felt he’d found the right direction.

Immediately, he silently followed that beggar.

The beggar wandered around, begging just for some food. He himself had no cultivation, and the lame leg wasn’t a disguise, it was real.

He was beaten a few times, but managed to get quite a bit of food.

The beggar hobbled off toward an alley, crossed it and another street; the crowds thinned, and the environment grew filthier and darker.

Xu Yang, shadowing the beggar, even caught the scent of blood in the air, and rotting corpses lay in the corners.

He knew this area was the slums of Tianxiang City.

The beggar finally entered a rundown shack, curled up and lay down inside.

Xu Yang watched a while from the shadows, then silently drifted through the area.

Living here weren’t just ordinary people, but also some third-rate and second-rate cultivators.

With such low cultivation, even the inn’s waiters had better prospects.

They could only mix in here, bullying those even weaker, flaunting what little power they had.

"Searching like this won’t get me anywhere."

Xu Yang stopped in an alley, brows furrowed tightly.

"Heh, that little chick was real pretty."

"Just one squeeze and she’d drip—brothers, we’re in for a treat tonight."

...

A burst of vulgar, filthy words suddenly rang out.

Xu Yang’s eyes grew cold. With a flicker, he vanished from where he stood.

Moments later, four men waltzed out from the other side of the alley, joking and laughing.

Suddenly—

Xu Yang dropped from the sky, and, with a swipe of his sleeve—

Bam bam bam!!

Three of them collapsed noiselessly, stiff as boards.

Only one remained, dumbstruck, staring at Xu Yang. With difficulty, he gulped, then, with a loud thud, knelt right down.

"Please, sir, have mercy! Please spare me!"

"I beg you, sir, take pity on this wretched life!"

He banged his head on the ground so hard he drew blood.

"Any outsiders recently? Women." Xu Yang asked coldly.

"Outsiders? Yes."

"But a few days ago, the Celestial Phenomenon Gang found them all and killed them."

"Besides that, I really don’t know anything."

Celestial Phenomenon Gang!

Xu Yang pondered—clearly, the Celestial Phenomenon Gang wasn’t stupid, they’d searched here too.

If any trace had been left, the gang would’ve found it then and there.

So either she wasn’t here, or Xu Ruoruo hadn’t left the slightest trace.

Or perhaps she wasn’t in the city at all.

Xu Yang turned and left.

The youth who’d been kneeling behind him let out a heavy sigh of relief. But in the next instant, his eyes widened in terror, mouth open and gasping for breath, unable to draw any air—and collapsed, writhing on the ground.

Moments later.

The four corpses vanished without a trace, leaving not the faintest mark behind.

Elsewhere, Xu Yang glanced at the sky—it was almost night.

He decided to leave the slums and look for a place to settle down.

As for Yuan Mie, he wasn’t worried.

A Golden Immortal, hiding himself was no issue.

Even if the Feng Family’s Golden Immortal was around, it wouldn’t be so easy to discover Yuan Mie.

On his way to find an inn, Xu Yang suddenly saw two cultivators wearing the Celestial Phenomenon Gang’s uniform, strolling about.

They noticed Xu Yang—and walked straight over.

Seeing this, Xu Yang frowned slightly.

"What’s your business?"

"Kid, where’d you come from? You look unfamiliar."

One man sized up Xu Yang, a cold sneer on his face.

Xu Yang’s expression didn’t change. "Tianxiang City’s so big—do you expect to know every single person here?"

"Heh, no, not really."

"But you just don’t look like you’re from around here."

"Oh? How so?"

Xu Yang was a bit surprised.

"You’re too clean."

"Only people who’ve just arrived in Tianxiang City would look like that."

"And—there’s not a whiff of blood on you. That’s just not normal."

Hearing this explanation, even Xu Yang paused for a second.

What kind of weird reason was that?

In the end, he could only chalk it up to the gang members’ natural ability to tell locals from outsiders.

In some places, the locals and newcomers really were easy to distinguish at a glance.

Suddenly, the cultivator on the left struck out, grabbing for Xu Yang’s shoulder.

Xu Yang’s shoulder shook, instantly shaking the assailant off.

"Such strength!"

The left-hand cultivator’s face changed drastically, clutching his hand and staring fiercely at Xu Yang.

The other squinted, amazed. "Not bad, you’ve got some skill."

Both were Late Stage True Immortals.

Xu Yang said in a low voice, "You two want money, right? I’m willing to pay, there’s no need to fight."

"Sorry."

"We want money—and your life."

"In Tianxiang City, nobody gets to bargain with the Celestial Phenomenon Gang."

"You two alone represent the Celestial Phenomenon Gang?"

"Arrogant!"

"Attack together!"

The two lunged at him like lightning.

Right there on the dusk-lit street, without a hint of hesitation.

The passersby on the street, glimpsing this scene, hurried their steps, eyes full of pity.

"Provoking the Celestial Phenomenon Gang—a death wish."

"The Celestial Phenomenon Gang sets the rules in Tianxiang City."

"This kid must be a first-timer in Tianxiang City."

...

Bam bam!!

Xu Yang lashed out with both hands, grabbing the pair in an instant. Their eyes bulged wide, bodies convulsing, terror and agony flashing in their eyes. Their mouths gaped—but not a sound escaped; they’d been forcibly silenced.

Xu Yang’s figure blurred, and clutching the two men, he vanished in a streak, darting into a nearby alley.

"Come out here now."

Xu Yang tossed the two aside, directly facing the far end of the alley.

"Hm?"

Sensing a faint, hidden aura fleeing in the shadows, Xu Yang’s eyes flashed. With a wave of his sleeve, he annihilated the two Celestial Phenomenon Gang members, dropped a wisp of Spirit Fire, and leaped over the alley after his quarry.