Chapter 478: The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell!

He Mingde had no idea what a stir Ye Yuan had caused in the Wildwind Realm.

He was still desperately trying to exonerate himself, hoping to gain Shangguan Wenrui's forgiveness.

In fact, Shangguan Wenrui had long since stopped blaming him.

But Shangguan Wenrui did not tell He Mingde about Ye Yuan's rampage in the Central Royal City, after all, it was not exactly glorious.

Shangguan Wenrui said nothing, as if lost in thought.

After a long while, he said slowly, "You say... that sect-protecting formation of the one called Nethercloud Sect is a quasi-fifth-rank formation?"

He Mingde quickly replied, "Yes! I don't know how a mere Sea Transformation Realm brat could activate a quasi-fifth-rank formation. But we certainly suffered a lot from that formation."

Shangguan Wenrui nodded slightly, not appearing particularly surprised at Ye Yuan's monstrousness.

"Have you kept people watching the Nethercloud Sect all this time? Don't let them slip away!" Shangguan Wenrui said.

"Rest assured, Lord Shangguan. I have placed countless spies around the Nethercloud Sect. At the slightest sign of trouble, they will report immediately!" He Mingde said hastily.

Shangguan Wenrui said, "In that case, sending a Divine Travel Realm expert should be enough to break that formation."

With that, Shangguan Wenrui turned to a Divine Travel First Layer martial artist behind him and said, "Yunrong, accompany Sect Master He on this trip. If possible, bring that brat to me so I can see if he really has three heads and six arms!"

Yunrong bowed and said, "Yes, Patriarch."

He Mingde was overjoyed. He had suffered a great loss at Ye Yuan's hands, but now with a Divine Travel Realm expert backing him, what did he have to fear?

...

A few days later, before the gates of the Nethercloud Sect, Shangguan Yunrong stood in midair.

Behind him stood He Mingde.

"This is the formation that your entire sect couldn't break through?" Shangguan Yunrong said indifferently.

He Mingde broke into a sweat and said, "Yes, I am incompetent! That Ye Yuan is truly sinister and hard to deal with!"

Shangguan Yunrong nodded slightly but said nothing.

He had naturally heard of Ye Yuan's reputation. Ever since the great battle between Ye Yuan and Zhao Chengqian, Shangguan Lingyun had been deeply stimulated, training day and night without rest.

As Shangguan Lingyun's elder, Shangguan Yunrong had seen it all.

For this battle, Shangguan Lingyun had volunteered and was already on his way.

Presumably, hearing the name Ye Yuan again would greatly excite Shangguan Lingyun.

But hearing that Ye Yuan had broken through to the Sea Transformation Realm surprised Shangguan Yunrong somewhat.

Ye Yuan had already possessed formidable combat power at the Crystal Condensation Realm; now that he had broken through to the Sea Transformation Realm, even if Shangguan Lingyun faced Ye Yuan, he would probably still be no match!

Having such an insurmountable opponent was truly terrifying!

Thus, the best course was... to destroy this opponent!

Shangguan Yunrong raised his hand, and terrifying yuan force instantly gathered in his palm.

He Mingde, standing behind him, saw this and his pupils contracted.

Such was the might of a Divine Travel Realm expert. Even though it was not directed at him, it still made his heart pound.

"Go!"

Shangguan Yunrong uttered a single word, and his attack instantly landed on the Two Extremes Chaotic Heaven Formation.

With a thunderous boom, the formation emitted sounds of cracking.

Shangguan Yunrong had maintained a calm demeanor all along, but now a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

"A quasi-fifth-rank formation... indeed, it has some tricks!"

His strike might have seemed effortless, but how could a Divine Travel Realm expert's attack be taken lightly?

This blow had used nearly seventy percent of Shangguan Yunrong's power, yet it had not broken the formation in one go. This showed how powerful the formation was!

"Boom!"

Shangguan Yunrong struck again. This time, the formation collapsed with a roar!

Seeing this, the Zichen Sect disciples were all flushed with excitement.

They had waited too long for this day!

As soon as the formation broke, the Zichen Sect disciples charged toward the main peak of Lingfu Mountain as if bloodthirsty.

He Mingde, standing behind Shangguan Yunrong, was also extremely excited. This time, he would skin Ye Yuan alive to vent the hatred in his heart!

Shangguan Yunrong did not move. He was only there to break the formation and naturally would not lower his status by charging ahead.

About half an hour later, a Soul Sea Realm martial artist flew before the two, his expression very grim.

Seeing this, He Mingde's heart skipped a beat. Had something gone wrong again?

"Lord Yunrong, Sect Master, the Nethercloud Sect's mountain gate is completely empty. All the scriptures and elixirs have vanished! We've turned Lingfu Mountain upside down and haven't seen a single ghost!"

"What! How is that possible?" He Mingde was so shocked he nearly fell.

The Soul Sea Realm martial artist said grimly, "We've sent people to search every peak. It's indeed empty!"

"This... this... Lord Yunrong... I had placed countless spies. Why didn't any of them see anyone leave the Nethercloud Sect?" He Mingde's shock was beyond words.

Could these people fly or burrow into the ground?

Shangguan Yunrong did not look too surprised. Instead, he chuckled and said, "Sect Master He asks me, but who am I to ask? Well, since the Nethercloud Sect is empty, let's head back."

With that, Shangguan Yunrong turned and flew away, leaving He Mingde, still stunned.

Though Shangguan Yunrong was surprised by this outcome, he found it reasonable.

To be able to turn the Central Royal City upside down, even alarming the Wind Emperor, and then swagger back to the Boundless Realm—

How could such a figure be easily caught?

...

At that moment, in Xinyang City, tens of thousands of miles from the Nethercloud Sect, several young martial artists in plain clothes casually entered the city.

Xinyang City was a border city of the Yan Kingdom, one of the Nethercloud Ten Kingdoms, adjacent to the Boundless Forest, and had been a gathering place for countless martial artists since ancient times.

"Hehe, just thinking about the expressions of those Zichen Sect guys gets me excited!" one young martial artist said excitedly.

"Haha, Junior Brother Ye's trick of the golden cicada shedding its shell was truly brilliant! Those guys from the Wildwind Realm spent so much effort storming the Nethercloud Sect, only to find nothing. They must be so frustrated," another young martial artist said.

"Those scumbags from the Wildwind Realm probably never dreamed that Junior Brother Ye could build a small teleportation array! Though it only covers a hundred li, it was enough to evade those spies! Those sentinels had their eyes wide open, but they never knew we had already left the Nethercloud Sect!"

These people were none other than Ye Yuan and his group, who had escaped from the Nethercloud Sect!

The group included Tianyu, Mo Yuntian, Ti Wujiu, and others, but they were all dressed plainly, like ordinary beast hunters.