She slowly turned her head back, casting a defiant glance at the distant dungeon. "You want to lock me up? In your dreams. See ya, folks."
With a carefree spin, she turned and left. Inside the heavily guarded Xuanyou Palace of the Northern Realm, Murong Yunsheng moved like a ghost in the dark night, coming and going as she pleased...
Meanwhile, on the other side...
Leng Zhou, who had gone to the dungeon to fetch the prisoner upon the Lord's orders, experienced a rare moment of utter shock the instant he saw the empty cell. His pupils constricted slightly, while the men who followed him in behind were so frightened they instantly dropped to their knees.
Trembling as they knelt on the floor with lowered heads, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, one of them stammered, "Protector, we've been guarding the outside the whole time. Absolutely no one entered."
With a grave expression, Leng Zhou lowered his gaze to sweep over the undamaged lock of the cell. He took a deep breath and spoke in a heavy tone, "Open the door."
This entire dungeon was laced with formation arrays, and furthermore, they had not dared to lower their guard in the slightest. For an ordinary person to escape from this place without them noticing in the least was practically as difficult as ascending to the heavens. They could only blame themselves for taking that woman far too lightly.
The man behind him stood up tremblingly, retrieved the key from his storage ring, and unlocked the cell with shaking hands. Lingering inside the cell was the faint trace of an aura that had not yet completely dissipated, along with something left resting on the table.
Leng Zhou picked up the porcelain bottle. When he opened it, a wave of medicinal fragrance rushed toward his face. Leng Zhou's expression faltered slightly—this pill...
He picked up the piece of paper, and the few words instantly leapt into his line of sight: "Brother, let us never meet again."
Leng Zhou: "..."
Leng Zhou's expression was grave. Who on earth was that woman? Not only had she dropped out of nowhere and worn bizarre clothing, but now she had actually managed to escape from this dungeon without alerting a single soul, vanishing completely into thin air.
Leng Zhou knew that whatever the situation, he had to report this to the Lord first at once.
In the grand hall...
"Say that to me again," Mo Lihuan said, holding the piece of paper and the medicinal pills as his face darkened and he gritted his teeth.
He was trembling all over with anger, clenching his fists tightly as he took a deep breath to slowly calm his surging emotions.
Leng Zhou reported, "Lord, that woman vanished as if into thin air. Your subordinates have already sent people out to search for her."
Mo Lihuan gritted his teeth. "Good. Very good indeed."
That damned woman had crashed right into him, left behind these few bottles of healing pills, and then made off before anyone could blink. If he ever caught her...
"Give the order. Paste portraits of that woman all over the Northern Realm. Whoever finds a clue about her, or captures her, shall receive a heavy bounty."
Leng Zhou replied, "Understood!"
Because the woman had been brought straight to the dungeon by them, they had seen her appearance clearly, so sketching a portrait of her was hardly a difficult task.
Yet judging by the Lord's current state, he was probably furious beyond belief!
Alas!
Meanwhile, Murong Yunsheng, having successfully escaped from the dungeon, was currently sitting at a small stall in the imperial capital of the Northern Realm, eating wontons. Piping hot wontons went down bowl after bowl. After polishing off a full three bowls, Murong Yunsheng finally stopped, rubbing her round belly in satisfaction.
My, who would have thought that things in this different world could taste so good!
Chiyun chimed in, "Master, are you some starving ghost reincarnated? We've barely been in this place for two hours, and you managed to starve yourself to this degree?"
Murong Yunsheng fired back without the slightest hesitation, "What do you know? You weren't the one who fell from such a great height."
Chiyun: "..."
Fine, fine, fine. It was entirely his own fault. He hadn't expected that their connection would suddenly snap like that, either!
Chiyun asked, "So, what are you planning to do next—"
Before Chiyun could finish speaking, the urgent sound of horse hooves came rolling in from the distance, causing pedestrians on the street to scatter in all directions.
Murong Yunsheng: "???"
What on earth was happening now?
However, Murong Yunsheng had no intention of going over to watch the commotion. Instead, she kept her focus entirely on the fragrant bowl of wontons sitting on the table before her. But before she could even finish this bowl of wontons, she heard people walking past, discussing the scene as they went:
"Who on earth is that woman in the portrait?"
"Right, and her clothes look so bizarre! She doesn't look like anyone from our Northern Realm at all!"
"Why do you suppose the Lord is offering a bounty to find her?"
"..."
Every single word spoken by these people reached Murong Yunsheng's ears. Her hand holding the wonton spoon abruptly froze. A woman, bizarre clothing, the Lord, a bounty...
Her lovely eyes widened in disbelief. Uh...
They couldn't possibly be talking about her, could they?
Heavens above! After escaping from that dungeon, she had realized how magnificent the palace was, slipped into her spatial storage to change into a more normal set of clothes, and then gone out to ask around—only to discover that it was actually the imperial palace of the Northern Realm.
And the man she had crashed into, according to Chiyun, was presumably none other than the Lord of the Northern Realm, the supreme ruler of these lands.
Hadn't she already left behind healing pills as compensation? Wasn't that man being a bit too petty? To actually, actually...
Murong Yunsheng was almost angry enough to pass out.
Yet seeing how things stood, staying in the imperial capital of the Northern Realm was no longer an option. But that was fine too—her original goal was not this Northern Realm, nor this Xuanming Continent. That petty man could do whatever he liked!
...
As night fell...
Although the imperial capital of the Northern Realm was heavily guarded, and extra manpower had been deployed specifically to hunt her down, trying to trap Murong Yunsheng was still nothing short of a fantasy.
Looking at the towering imperial capital now left far behind her, Murong Yunsheng curled the corners of her lips into a defiant smile. "See ya, you petty-minded man."
If Mo Lihuan had heard those words, he probably would have fainted from rage.
In the blink of an eye, her figure vanished into the pitch-black veil of night.
Chiyun asked, "Master, where do you want to start?"
Murong Yunsheng's expression grew slightly solemn. She naturally understood what Chiyun meant. There were nine continents in total in this world, excluding the Central Continent located right at the center, and the Slave Continent—which drifted upon the boundless ocean and could only be found using the maps held solely by the ruler of the Central Continent, Emperor Yun, and the Eight Great Families. The other seven continents all stood surrounding the Central Continent.
Between these continents lay vast, endless oceans of water.
Although her ultimate goal was the Central Continent, trying to force her way there with her current level of cultivation would likely result in nothing more than leaving behind no bones at all.
However, she simply had to go to the Slave Continent, so acquiring the map was of the utmost importance.
Murong Yunsheng mused, "If this young lady remembers correctly, the Gu Family and the Shangguan Family have pretty good relations with those collateral branches on the Shuangmeng Continent, don't they?"
Chiyun replied, "The Shuangmeng Continent is, after all, the continent with the densest Spirit Power among the other seven continents, apart from the Central Continent and the Slave Continent."
Murong Yunsheng declared, "Very well. Then let's head to the Shuangmeng Continent!"