Chapter 4283 — Finding the Star Ink Milk

No one dared show the slightest negligence. Each of them immediately pushed their movement techniques to the absolute limit, chasing hard after the direction in which Chang Daoping's figure had flickered. At a moment like this, to fall behind meant truly letting the Star Ink Milk slip through one's fingers, and living out the rest of one's days in regret.

The consequences could be even worse than that, for left to their own devices, they would not even know how to leave the ruins—they might well be trapped here to die.

Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao exchanged a glance, then likewise poured everything into the chase. Chang Daoping's current speed was in fact already extremely fast, several times greater than when they had been moving through the dense forest outside. Even with a broad, flat, empty street before them, the others found it painfully hard to keep pace with him.

Among the group, aside from Luo Tuoxiang and Cao Shishi, who were relatively stronger, the rest all wore plainly strained expressions. Chang Daoping had not made things too difficult for them, but the current pace was essentially the limit of a mid-Golden Core expert; that they struggled to keep up was entirely normal.

Watching this, Wei Zhao felt a chill creep up from the bottom of his heart. Chang Daoping truly did not mean to make things too hard for the five he had brought himself—barring mishaps, all five ought to be able to just barely keep pace. But by deliberately holding the speed at this level, his intent to make things difficult for Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, whose nominal strength was only early Golden Core, could not have been more obvious.

Any other ordinary early-Golden Core expert would not merely have failed to keep up without falling behind—they would likely have lost the trail at the very first step. It was only thanks to the fact that both Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao excelled in movement techniques and speed, and were moreover experts who had achieved perfect breakthroughs into the Golden Core stage, that their strength far exceeded that of ordinary early-Golden Core cultivators.

Wei Zhao, in particular, could replenish true qi for himself and Huang Xiaotao at any time. Free of that worry, the two could go all out; even the极限 speed of a mid-Golden Core expert could not shake them off.

When Chang Daoping discovered this, it genuinely gave him a shock. He had deliberately raised the pace so high partly so that the others would be too busy chasing to memorize the route, but on the other hand he truly had meant to shake off Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao.

After all, as far as he was concerned, by this point Wei Zhao and the other had no use value whatsoever. Rather than let them follow along and share in the Star Ink Milk, it would be better to simply ditch them halfway—clean and final, saving himself the trouble.

Yet to his surprise, these two, plainly only at early Golden Core, possessed such deep reserves of strength that even this could not shake them off. It was simply unbelievable.

As a full-fledged Nascent Soul expert, Chang Daoping could of course go even faster; if he truly set his mind to shaking off Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, it would be no difficult matter. But if he went faster still, he might not have shaken off the two of them before the others gave out first.

Though he had taken precautions before, holding something back deliberately when they passed through the Moon Shadow Formation, these people had been chosen by him, and their ties to him were anything but ordinary. Apart from Cao Shishi, his dual-cultivation partner, the rest were all loyal subordinates he had cultivated for many years. Luo Tuoxiang, for one, even had a tie of kinship—a distant cousin relationship.

And at Chang Daoping's level in particular, personal strength was important, but so too was the strength of one's subordinates. Without a few trusted, capable men running about and risking their lives for him, both his status and his influence would suffer enormously.

Thus, while Chang Daoping did not want the group to memorize the route, he genuinely did intend to share some of the Star Ink Milk with them, so that they might improve their strength as quickly as possible. The Star Ink Milk could be harvested once every year or so anyway; he himself had no worry of running short.

Distributing the surplus Star Ink Milk to the group would not only help them grow stronger but also win their hearts—two birds with one stone.

But "the group" absolutely did not include Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao. Those two were merely laborers he had dragged in on the spot to break the formation; now they had no use value at all. How could something as precious as the Star Ink Milk be casually given to such unrelated outsiders?

To keep his own people from falling behind, Chang Daoping did not increase the pace further, yet murderous intent was already surging in his heart. Good water should not flow into outsiders' fields—the Star Ink Milk could not be given to outsiders. Since speed would not shake them off, only one option remained.

Wei Zhao knew nothing of the shift in Chang Daoping's mind, and continued following closely behind the group with Huang Xiaotao, seemingly utterly unaware.

They spoke not a word the whole way. Half an hour later, after leading them around countless turns, Chang Daoping finally stopped before an altar that was concealed in position and archaic in design.

Could this be the destination? Everyone was gasping for breath; after rushing so hard for so long, each of them was thoroughly exhausted. Those of slightly lesser strength had true qi reserves in their bodies that were nearly running dry.

Wei Zhao and Huang Xiaotao, by contrast, looked somewhat short of breath but were in fact still full of vigor, their true qi abundant—far beyond comparison with the rest.

Could it be that he had been overthinking, and there really was no danger here? Wei Zhao studied the altar before him, his heart wavering between doubt and alarm. From the moment they had entered and he noticed the anomaly in the ruins, he had been quietly keeping watch all along.

Yet Chang Daoping had led them crashing straight through, traversing this dead city for half an hour, and they had encountered not a single living thing; the jade pendant had given no warning either. There truly had been no sign of danger the whole way.

And this dilapidated altar before them was nothing remarkable either. Many of its steps were already crumbling, but for the group to climb it was still a simple matter.

With Chang Daoping in the lead, the group scrambled eagerly up onto the altar. They met no obstruction along the way, nor any extra formation guarding it, and given how remote and out-of-the-way this location was, it gave everyone the impression that this altar was hardly an important place in the Aoduo Cultivation City.

The scene before them was more like an ordinary roadside shrine; it was nothing at all like the mysterious treasure hoard they had imagined.

On second thought, though, it made perfect sense. To human cultivators, the Star Ink Milk was a priceless, rare treasure, but to the spirit beast clan it had little use at all—that it should be held in little regard was only natural.

"Star Ink Milk!" Chang Daoping, at the head of the group, suddenly cried out in a low voice, unable to conceal the excitement in his tone.

Everyone hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound. The first thing that met their eyes, at the center of the altar, was a spirit beast statue several people tall... R1152