Chapter 2457: Redeeming the hostage
Ling Han was intrigued now, and pricked up his ears to listen.
However, the others were completely uninterested, and scoffed. To ordinary people like them, this city was more or less their everything. At most, the farthest they had gone would be several hundred kilometers out of the city.
Furthermore, there was no way they could become Celestial Kings, either. Staying on the Celestial Path or being in the Celestial Realm had completely no difference for them.
When the customer from before saw this, he couldn’t help but wilt. At first, he thought that he had a great secret, something that he could boast about for a few years.
Meanwhile, Ling Han thought back to when they had just entered the Celestial Path. It was said that the Celestial Kings here would try to be as near to the heart of the Celestial Path as possible, and that was to contend for the treasure trove lying within.
Now that he thought about it again, what if this so-called treasure trove was actually the chance to leave the Celestial Path?
Even Hui had thought of the idea to deceive the heavens, and wanted to leave this place. There was no reason that great and mighty Celestial Kings would resign themselves to being eternally trapped here.
…For ordinary people, the Celestial Path was incredibly massive, but for Celestial Kings, it was just a slightly bigger prison.
Ling Han frowned slightly. What he was concerned about now was if this “opportunity” that these Celestial Kings were contending over just happened to come into conflict with that flawless Celestial Seed.
Coming out of the restaurant, he asked around again, and found out that Summoning Clouds City was already very close to the heart of the Celestial Path. Going by the speed of an Ascending Origin Tier, it was only about a 300-year journey. For Pseudo-Celestial Kings like them, the time would definitely be much shorter than that.
…
However, it was not so easy to enter into the heart of the Celestial Path. There were powerful Immortal Beasts standing guard, and even the Celestial Kings would not dare to rashly set foot there. They were very wary about going there.
Ling Han and the others exited the city. Right when they arrived at the city gates, they saw someone attaching notices on the wall. At first, Ling Han did not pay any attention, but when he swept an eye over, a hint of surprise appeared in his expression.
This was an arrest warrant, and a person’s face was drawn there.
If some abominable, evil criminal was really being listed as wanted, Ling Han would forget about it after a single glance, but the problem here was that he recognized this face.
Yan Xianlu!
Could it be that this guy had made an enemy of the Summoning Clouds Celestial King?
But the Summoning Clouds Celestial King had already left, so who could be able to apprehend Yan Xianlu? He was a monarch tier, and had reached the peak stage of the Ascending Origin Tier. Without being a Celestial King, who could suppress him?
Ling Han looked towards that notice, and couldn’t help but look angered.
It was written there that Yan Xianlu had fallen into someone’s hands, and Ling Han was to head to a certain location to redeem him. He was given the time limit of 100 years, and 70 years had already passed since this deadline was given.
Ling Han captured the person who was sticking out the notices. It was just a minor character that had just advanced into the Heavenly Body Tier. He said that someone had given him a Star Stone to stick these notices everywhere in the city.
“Where is that person?” Ling Han asked. He knew that this guy was just a minor character, and wouldn’t know anything at all.
“I-in the Fortunate Clouds Inn!” Feeling Ling Han’s killing intent, the minor character shivered in fear.
Ling Han nodded, and when he found out where Fortunate Clouds Inn was, he directly charged over.
The three women were also furious. To actually dare to capture Ling Han’s friend and use him as a threat against him, who would dare be so outrageously bold?
However, since he had the intention to target Ling Han, it should be impossible that he did not know how strong Ling Han was. There had to be a terrifying trap laid out in wait for Ling Han.
They soon arrived at the Fortunate Clouds Inn. Ling Han headed directly for one of the rooms, and knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” Very soon, someone opened the doors. A middle-aged man walked out, directing a confused look at Ling Han.
Ling Han smiled slightly. “Don’t you know me?”
“Who are you?” the middle-aged man asked, his gaze filled with alertness.
This person’s cultivation level was only at the Severing Mundane Tier as well, being pitifully weak.
Ling Han frowned. It looked like this was also just an errand boy.
He pushed open the doors and entered. That person couldn’t stop him at all, but when he saw the Empress and the other women behind Ling Han, he couldn’t help but stare. Instantly, he was rendered speechless.
Ling Han sat down very casually. “Who told you to stick those notices?”
The middle-aged man was surprised, and hurriedly replied, “Milord, this has nothing to do with me. A lord told me to do this. He is very powerful, and I have no choice but to obey him.”
This person said that Summoning Clouds City was not the first place that he had gone to, but rather the third. Merely the journey itself had taken over a decade’s time. If it were not for the fact that the person who had commanded him to do this had also provided a carriage for him, the time he had spent would only have been even longer.
Ling Han paused. The true culprit told this person to spread the news of Yan Xianlu being captured everywhere, so it was probable the middle-aged man was not the only one that was hired. That was why he could stick notices in various cities, and increase the chances of Ling Han finding out.
“The person who has commanded you, do you remember what he looks like?” Ling Han asked.
“A section of my memories has been erased. I am not sure at all,” the middle-aged man said, slightly anxious, as if he feared that Ling Han would directly take his life in displeasure.
Ling Han sneered. The true culprit actually feared that he would find out who he really was?
Who exactly could it be?
“What do you plan to do?” the Empress asked.
“Naturally, I will keep the appointment,” Ling Han said. Firstly, Yan Xianlu was his subordinate, and had always been executing his commands. Though there was change in the present situation, and it was practically impossible that their alliance would come into play, their friendship was still there.
Secondly, Ling Han also wanted to know who was targeting him.
“There are many who want to kill me, but there are not many that have the strength to do so,” Ling Han thought out loud. “There should not be anyone in the Ascending Origin Tier that can touch me. Thus, the other must have broken through on the Celestial Path, and is compelling me to appear so he can take this opportunity when I have not become a Celestial King yet to get rid of me.”
“However, there seem to be quite a number of such Ascending Origin Tiers as well,” the Empress said in reminder.
There were indeed quite a number. There should be a great many Celestial Kings that wanted to curry the favor with the two great Heavenly Venerates, Jiuwu Heavenly Venerate and Sealed Emotion Heavenly Venerable, so it was nothing strange that they would tell their disciples to snipe Ling Han on the Celestial Path.
By now, more than 8000 years had passed, and those that should become Celestial Kings would naturally more or less have broken through, so they had begun to lay out traps for Ling Han.
On the other hand, only those with great ambition would not have broken through yet. Their goal was naturally the last flawless Celestial Seed. This would influence whether they would be able to become Heavenly Venerates or not!
“Looks like the other party seems to be quite confident,” Ling Han said. To attach notices so boldly and publicly was more or less an announcement to the world. If Ling Han could easily save the hostage, what face would his opponent have left?
“What do you plan on doing?” the Empress asked.
“Kill him!” Hu Niu called out from the sidelines.
Ling Han thought for a moment, and then said, “This time, I will go alone. All of you will wait outside for me. If it is just me alone, I can easily retreat or advance. However, you guys have to be careful as well. This may just be a trap, yet the main targets could be you guys.”
The Empress and the others nodded. Bewitching Maiden Rou said, “If we really encounter danger, I will break through immediately!”
She was a monarch tier. Once she broke through to the Celestial King Tier, she would definitely be one of the more powerful among newly advanced Celestial Kings. Only a Monarch Star would be able to suppress her.
“All right. Let’s set out first, and we will act separately when we are almost there.”
They left Summoning Clouds City. Previously, they had already found out where Yan Xianlu was being held hostage. Hence, they were directly heading towards the destination.
The location was actually very distant. Even they at their current level had traveled for over two months before finally drawing near to the location.
The place where Ling Han was to go to redeem the hostage was a canyon. Its name was Tiger Caging Canyon, and he knew just from the name itself that this place had to be extremely dangerous.