Chapter 461 462: Reverse Deduction
But then Chen Dong reconsidered. 'Better not.' The Cyan Sky Sect clearly wanted to use Ao Jun to gain some advantage. Killing him now could easily disrupt the Human Race's overall strategy in the Floating Shadow Realm.
Chen Dong then shook his head. It seemed the meticulous caution and deep deliberation from his past life as an Emperor still had a profound influence on him in this life...
After flying low and concealed for a short distance, Chen Dong recognized his location. The fiery red pines ahead were too conspicuous. He had actually teleported to the vicinity of the Fire Pine Mountain Range. This was a stroke of good luck—he was even closer to Earth Sinking Mountain!
Even so, the danger was ever-present. Chen Dong sighed to himself. He had studied very little of the art of celestial divination, and now it had become his greatest threat. 'If I can make it out of this alive,' he vowed, 'I'm definitely going to study it properly.'
He communicated with Mu Qingzhu in the Jade Embryo, "Qingzhu, is there any way to conceal ourselves from celestial divination?"
"The Yuqing Immortal Technique has a method called Jie Kong, which can temporarily remove an object from the Great Dao's perception. But at our current Realms, neither of us can perform it. That's why I never mentioned it."
"What about the Great Divination Art? It's a divination technique itself. Can't it block others from divining our location?"
Mu Qingzhu replied via voice transmission, "You are already a piece on the board; how can you jump off it? The moment you perform a divination, you've made your move. Naturally, others can then divine you in return!"
Chen Dong's eyes lit up instantly.
"In that case, why don't we do the same to Ao Tian! If we can track his movements, we won't be so passive!"
"It's too difficult. Ao Tian is at Nascent Soul Perfection. Even if you use the Spiritual Qi from your supreme-grade Golden Core, you won't be able to get any precise information on him!"
"I don't need details! Just his general direction is enough!"
Hearing this, Mu Qingzhu said, "I'll give it a try!"
Immediately, a light shone in Chen Dong's left eye, as if it could perceive everything.
A faint smile touched Chen Dong's lips. 'I see it... I see it!' A blurry, golden streak of light was hurtling rapidly in his direction.
He immediately sent a voice transmission to Liu Ling: "Change direction!"
The group, which had been heading east, instantly veered north.
Mu Qingzhu remained focused on the divination. Every time Ao Tian changed his pursuit direction, Chen Dong would change their escape route. However, there was still a massive difference in their speeds.
By the fourth time they changed direction, Chen Dong was barely a hundred li away from Ao Tian.
For a Cultivator of Ao Tian's level, a distance of a hundred li was a matter of a few dozen breaths. Fortunately, Chen Dong's group could block Divine Sense, so Ao Tian couldn't lock onto their precise location. Otherwise, he would have caught up to them in moments.
But at this rate, it was only a matter of time. Chen Dong was racking his brain for a way out.
Just then, Mu Qingzhu exclaimed, "I found him! The Demon Race member who's divining our location for Ao Tian!"
Through his left eye, Chen Dong saw an old man in yellow robes performing a ritual on a Cyan Jade Ancient Mirror. The mirror clearly showed the locations of Ao Jun and Meng Yingluo, but he and Liu Ling were completely invisible.
This was why Ao Tian hadn't caught up to them yet. The great demon wasn't performing the divination himself; someone else was doing it and relaying the information to him via a Communication Talisman. This created a delay, which was why he sometimes overshot their position.
Chen Dong instantly thought of two solutions. The first was to abandon Meng Yingluo and Ao Jun. Since the Ancient Mirror couldn't see him or Liu Ling, it meant that if he left those two behind, the enemy would no longer be able to divine his position.
The second was to solve the problem at its source: kill the demon performing the divination. With no one to help Ao Tian, he would naturally lose track of their whereabouts.
With this in mind, Chen Dong made his decision instantly and once again changed their route.
It seemed the yellow-robed old man's divination had a range limit, as he wasn't far from them—just over eight hundred li to the north. However, for Chen Dong's group, covering that distance would take at least six hours.
However, in a stroke of luck amidst their misfortune, Chen Dong still had Teleportation Talismans in his ring—all of which were contributions from Feng You.
They couldn't compare to that one treasured talisman that could teleport a thousand li in an instant, but they were still Tier Four Teleportation Talismans. They could transport a user several hundred li and be aimed in a general direction.
This kind of Teleportation Talisman required some time to activate, making it impractical for combat or quick escapes. Furthermore, while it could be aimed in a general direction, the final destination was still random. Using it in the Demon Realm wasn't even a viable way to travel. The reason Chen Dong had never used them, besides not having the time to prepare, was that he simply didn't trust his luck.
Teleporting right into a Demon Race den would be a tragedy. Because of these impracticalities and other drawbacks—such as the risk of these lower-grade talismans dropping you into a spatial rift—they weren't ideal even for normal travel. That was why Feng You only had four of them.
But now, they were Chen Dong's best option for solving this problem. 'And four should be enough.'
Chen Dong brought the group to a halt. He took a yellow Jade Talisman from his ring, fixed his bearings to the north, and channeled his Spiritual Qi into it. The Teleportation Talisman began to emit waves of fluorescent light that slowly enveloped him and the others.
Chen Dong frowned. It was too slow. Just activating the Teleportation Talisman was taking dozens of breaths. Fortunately, Ao Tian had just overshot their position again; otherwise, they would have been intercepted by now.
With a flash of light, Chen Dong and the others appeared three hundred li away. He immediately took out another yellow Jade Talisman. The first jump had been the most dangerous, but Ao Tian had gone the wrong way, giving Chen Dong ample time to prepare for the next one.
After the third teleportation, they landed squarely in a demonic beast's nest—and not just any nest, but one belonging to Spotted-Eye Vipers, a notoriously troublesome breed. Several of the vipers were powerful enough to rival a Golden Core Stage cultivator.
Meanwhile, the old man who had been divining their location stared wide-eyed, clicking his tongue in disbelief. Chen Dong's group was now far too close—less than a hundred li away!