Reborn Medicine King

"I'm not as petty as you think. It's just that he was so reckless with his words, I felt the need to teach him a lesson."    

The speaker was Li Xingchen, the second prince of the Zhongtian Dynasty and the fiancé of the manager of the Drunken Immortal Pavilion. He didn't have any real grudge against Jiang Fann, but something Jiang Fann said that day really rubbed him the wrong way.    

Li Xingchen had known Xing Tianyong since they were kids. Given their similar status, they had a decent relationship.    

Xing Tianyong was disgruntled. "Don't call me 'petty.' I didn't bring many people this time, so take me to the palace's teleportation array. I need to bring my guards over. This time, that jerk won't get away!"    

Li Xingchen shook his head firmly. "This isn't your Sui Tian Dynasty. If your guards try to enter our palace, they'll be stopped. I've already given orders; he shouldn't be able to escape. Just wait for my update. I've halted the teleportation array for three days, which is the most I can do. If I push it any further, the elders will step in. Unless you want to talk to them yourself?"    

Hearing this, Xing Tianyong quickly shook his head, clearly wary of the elders.    

"Let's see how you handle this. I'll wait here for news. If you don't catch him, I'll just move in with you."    

Li Xingchen chuckled. "With the teleportation array down, they can only leave through the main gate. Have your people wait there. The array at the gate will reveal any disguises, so once they show up, your people will recognize them."    

"You guys have so many pointless rules. If it were up to me, I'd just take care of them as soon as they left the city. Why bother with all this hassle?"    

"Rules are relative. Complaining to me won't change anything."    

Xing Tianyong took a sip of his drink, trying to calm himself down, and then couldn't resist mocking the other person.    

"You're something else, managing to tolerate Wan Chengfeng in the city for so long. I'm genuinely impressed."    

Li Xingchen remained unbothered, responding calmly, "What's my status compared to his? Why would I lower myself to get angry with him? Besides, I doubt he has the guts to compete with me over a woman. He's not the same Wan Chengfeng from two centuries ago."    

...    

At the city square, Jiang Fann was ready at the teleportation platform, and Lin Zhan had informed him that the array could be activated at any moment. Jiang first connected his own setup to the teleportation array using his spiritual strength, which would interfere with the other side's control of the array.    

He then sent a message to the two others, "Come over."    

They got up and walked over to Jiang Fann, with Fang Xiang feeling a bit anxious.    

"Elder Brother Jiang, you need to understand something. If the array fails to activate, our identities will be completely exposed. Plus, using the imperial teleportation array without permission is a serious crime. We could all end up in the dungeon."    

Jiang Fann's lips curled into a smile. "Want to take a gamble?"    

Fang Xiang swallowed hard, a sheen of sweat forming on his forehead, clearly feeling a bit guilty.    

Wan Chengfeng, on the other hand, was much more at ease. After all, he'd been trapped for two hundred years, and his mindset was something Fang Xiang couldn't quite match.    

"Hurry up, hurry up! There are experts coming this way. They must be the ones who were watching us near the inn. They probably realized we're not there anymore."    

With that, he headed toward a group of practitioners not far away, planning to bring them along once the formation was activated, hoping to divert the attention of those approaching.    

Jiang Fann wasted no time, instructing Lin Zhan to use his spiritual strength to activate the formation, synchronizing it with the one he had set up.    

In the next moment, the formation on the ground glowed, tearing through space, and a portal appeared beside Jiang Fann, drawing gasps from afar.    

The person in charge of the formation was taken aback, quickly trying to use the control token to shut it down. However, some force interfered, and the formation seemed to slip from his control, acting strangely.    

Wan Chengfeng nudged the practitioners toward the portal, saying as they moved, "The formation's working again, and this time it's free. Let's go quickly."    

Using the teleportation array in the capital usually came with a hefty fee, so the fact that it was operating without charge surprised the group. Before they could fully process what was happening, they were already being ushered to the entrance and finally stepped through.    

Jiang Fann and Fang Xiang had already gone ahead, with Wan Chengfeng closely following behind them. A skilled warrior from the Central Dynasty tried to fly directly to the array, intending to rush in, but the gap closed right in front of him, leaving him empty-handed.    

Turning to the manager standing by the square, he angrily demanded, "Wasn't there an order to prohibit this? How dare you activate the teleportation array?" Normally, the manager would have argued back, but this time he was at a loss for words. He had received the same order but couldn't figure out why the teleportation array was operating on its own.    

Seeing the manager's silence, the warrior insisted, "Stop wasting our time. Quickly reactivate the teleportation array and send us after them." The manager nodded quickly and tried to use the token to control the array, but it wouldn't budge. There wasn't even a hint of spiritual energy released, let alone any space being torn open.    

The group of warriors waited for a long time without seeing the array activate and began to suspect the manager was deliberately causing trouble. "If they get away, you'll bear all the consequences," one of them threatened.    

Finally, the manager couldn't hold back any longer and said, "What does this have to do with me? For some reason, the token isn't working, and I can't activate the teleportation array." As he spoke, he jogged over to the array and handed the token to the warriors, letting them try for themselves.    

Once there, he used his sense of the array's energy to detect any changes in the surrounding spiritual strength. He quickly realized that an external force was interfering with the token's power.    

Following the trail, they quickly discovered the hidden formation set up by Jiang Fann, and were quite surprised.    

"They actually used a formation to interfere with my control over the teleportation array. There must be a master of formations among those people," he remarked.    

With that, he unleashed his power, shattering Jiang Fann's concealment barrier. A small formation appeared on the ground before them, which he promptly destroyed before attempting to control the array again. This time, the large formation operated smoothly, quickly tearing through space and revealing a passageway.    

The group of cultivators wasted no time and rushed through it. Upon arriving in the plaza of another city, they were greeted by a bustling crowd, but the figures they pursued had already vanished.    

They inquired with the local authorities, but no one had noticed the newcomers' direction, as there had been no alerts to watch for anything unusual. These cultivators hailed from different cities and typically didn't cause trouble.    

"Dammit!" one of them cursed.    

A nearby cultivator asked, "Sir, what should we do now? Several people used the teleportation array to leave. The person we're looking for might not even be among them and could still be in the capital."    

The leader shook his head. "The others had no reason to risk using the array to leave."    

"Not necessarily," the other replied. "Someone else might have been nervous and didn't want to stay in the capital. Plus, from what we've heard, Jiang Fann is an alchemist with unknown combat abilities. Fang Xiang's skills are no secret, and while Wan Chengfeng isn't weak, he doesn't seem to have much talent in formations. Could these three really have set up such a formation in such a short time?"    

The leading man said, "There's nothing more to discuss at this point. Once we're back, keep an eye on the situation in town. I'll report to the prince. I didn't expect to be caught off guard like this."    

Back at the royal city, the manager could tell from their disappointed faces what the outcome was. He felt a bit frustrated, not expecting someone to set up a formation right under his nose and use the main array to escape.    

"Come with me."    

The formation manager clearly understood his intention and replied, "I'll explain everything to the boss."    

"Let's hope those who left aren't the ones the prince is looking for."    

...    

Meanwhile, Jiang Fann used the Thunder Pearl to reorient himself, planning to use the teleportation array here to continue their journey. The three of them hid in a corner of the plaza, watching the city's experts chase after them, only to return through the formation. Wan Chengfeng was smiling broadly, clearly in a good mood.    

Fang Xiang also breathed a sigh of relief. When Jiang Fann successfully activated the main array, he hadn't even considered the risk of being pulled into a void after entering the passage. All he wanted was to leave the royal city and figure things out later.    

"This time, we've really made an enemy."    

Jiang Fann chuckled, "What are you worried about? They have no proof it was us who left. Even if they try to blame us, we'll just have to be more careful in the future."    

With that, he handed the pearl to Fang Xiang, instructing him to lead them to the next city. They planned to remove their disguises once they reached their destination. As they traveled through the cities, they knew it was best to keep a low profile.    

The three of them found the person in charge, quickly paid the travel fee, and left the town in no time. However, upon reaching the next town, they realized they were still far from their destination, with the marked location requiring them to continue onward.    

Fang Xiang glanced at the map, looking quite helpless, and pointed to the next town. When the other two checked it out, they discovered that the next location was already within the borders of the Sui Dynasty. This meant their future destination was a border town of the Sui Dynasty, and from there, they would head to the capital city to continue to the next location.    

Fang Xiang remarked, "I bet Xingtian Yong would never dream that we’d have to pass through his territory."    

Wan Chengfeng cautioned, "We can't be careless, though. Don't underestimate Xingtian Yong. He's not just petty; he was quite formidable back in the day, a peer of mine. We should find a place to assume new identities before heading to the capital."    

Jiang Fann had no reason to doubt Wan Chengfeng's words. They still needed to head to a border town of the Central Dynasty before moving on to the Sui Dynasty border.    

Near the teleportation array, the three quickly departed. The border town was noticeably quieter than the previous ones. They found an empty alley, disguised themselves with new identities, and then returned to the square to head into the Sui Dynasty territory.