The demon cultivator waved his hand and slashed at the space beside him. To Li Yan's surprise, a crack immediately appeared in the void next to the demon cultivator. The moment the crack appeared, the demon cultivator's figure was constantly pulled and distorted by a force, making him appear unreal despite standing right there.
The crack revealed an endless darkness. Even with Li Yan's current cultivation, a single glance at the crack made him feel a sense of awe.
Then, the demon cultivator shot Li Yan a sharp glare.
"Li Yan, next time, we'll have a proper fight! Or, if you have the guts, follow me in!"
As he spoke, his figure was pulled into the crack and vanished into the boundless darkness. Subsequently, the crack rapidly healed and disappeared from Li Yan's sight.
When the opponent's figure vanished, Li Yan could have instantly followed him in if he had used the "Phoenix Soars to the Heavens" movement skill. However, Li Yan immediately stopped where he was, watching until the crack had completely disappeared.
'A spatial crack. They're using a spatial crack to escape. But... this area is affected by the grand formation. The spatial crack torn open would be extremely unstable. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator entering would lose their sense of direction. How could he be so bold...'
Li Yan, of course, knew what that crack in the void was. It was the foreign space outside the Desolate Moon Continent. It was filled with deadly crises and dangers. Li Yan was now capable of tearing the void himself, but he had not yet had the time to try.
For newly advanced Nascent Soul cultivators like Li Yan, the major sects would designate several safe areas for them to practice tearing the void and then attempt to enter the Chaotic Flow Space for training. This was another blessing the sects provided for Nascent Soul cultivators, something those smaller sects could not compare to.
The places provided by the sects were relatively stable spaces, with much lower levels of danger, and it was easy to return to the Desolate Moon Continent. Such places were top secrets of a sect, never revealed to outsiders, and only cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above were qualified to know about them.
Take the Malevolent Spirit Sect, for example. Before a Spirit Transformation cultivator was born, they had lost two Nascent Soul cultivators and severely injured five more before they slowly found some stable spaces. These places were training grounds that rogue Nascent Soul cultivators would dream of obtaining. Not every cultivator had the courage to randomly find a place to tear open space and enter.
More importantly, tearing space within someone else's powerful formation increased the danger by at least tenfold. The reason a grand formation had world-destroying power was that when it was activated, it resonated with the rules of heaven and earth. Whether you forcibly broke the grand formation or tore the void within it, you were disrupting this balance. This would cause the rules of the grand formation to enter the Chaotic Flow Space at the same time, making that area of space extremely unstable.
Anyone who entered would be subjected to all sorts of unpredictable attacks, such as powerful suction pulling in countless large and small meteorites. Once a cultivator was swept into a meteorite belt, not even a Spirit Transformation cultivator could guarantee they would come out alive. Even more terrifying was the possibility that external forces could directly form an endless black hole in front of you. A cultivator might just plunge headfirst into it. Faced with such a place, even a Void Refining cultivator would have a fifty percent chance of perishing.
With Li Yan's current cultivation, he certainly wouldn't chase after him. However, in his view, this method of escape was undoubtedly suicidal.
'But his face showed no panic at all. That wasn't the look of someone facing death. If he truly wasn't afraid of death, he would have fought me to the death just now. He at least would have had a chance to kill me. Wouldn't this just be throwing his life away...'
The crack in the void had already vanished. Li Yan stood there, motionless. Even after more than ten breaths, he did not leave immediately but fell into deep thought. His gaze, fixed on a certain point in the void, suddenly flickered.
'No, he didn't use a divine ability to tear the void. He used that gray stone block in his hand to cut it... a gray... stone block. He dared to tear the void within a grand formation. Could it be because of that gray stone block? Besides being able to tear the void, what other unknown functions does that thing have...'
Li Yan's eyes flashed rapidly. He remembered the gray stone block in the demon cultivator's hand, and also recalled that this demon cultivator had not used it until he had run into the grand formation's invisible barrier.
'...He had to flee to the edge of the grand formation to use it. Does this mean that only the spatial crack here can guarantee his safety? But how would he know where the edge of the sect's grand formation is?' Li Yan frowned.
'...The purpose of his actions should be to escape as far as possible. Could it be... that gray stone is a short-distance teleportation array, and they set the other end on the outskirts of the Malevolent Spirit Sect...' Li Yan's mind raced. His guess was not far from the truth, but it wasn't quite right.
And just as Li Yan was chasing the demon cultivator, the scene that had just occurred was replaying in many places within the Malevolent Spirit Sect's grand formation. All of them, upon reaching the edge of the grand formation, took out an identical gray stone block and slashed fiercely at the void...
Thus, the demon cultivators and foreign cultivators entered the cracks one by one, leaving the pursuing cultivators like Li Wuyi and the others dumbfounded. They also recognized it as a spatial crack, but those demon cultivators, foreign cultivators, and traitorous cultivators were all at the Golden Core realm. How did they dare to enter directly?
This left Li Wuyi and the others with no choice but to stop in their tracks. No one dared to follow them into the crack. They could only watch as their opponents left with cold sneers.
In a similar situation, Arhat Yiye and the others, in their pursuit, also watched as the Sixth Sir, Hang Lin, and the others escaped into the cracks.
High above Lord Lao Peak, in the clouds of the ninth heaven, Gu Jiuqi and the First Sir stood facing each other. The First Sir's clothes were tattered in many places, with faint bloodstains, but he showed no signs of panic. A sharp glint shot out from Gu Jiuqi's eyes.
"As expected, you came prepared. This seems to be... like a 'Sand Star Stone.' You... you're using a 'Sand Star Stone' for spatial positioning, but..." His initially calm expression turned to one of shock as he looked at the First Sir.
He had previously destroyed the opponent's teleportation formation plate to prevent a large-scale escape. Later, he had sent a voice transmission to Mo Qing, telling him to activate the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation as soon as possible, ensuring the safety of the Malevolent Spirit Sect's low-level disciples, so that most of the invading enemies would be trapped. Here, only the First Sir had the strength to forcibly break the grand formation, but how could Gu Jiuqi give him the chance to attack it?
The First Sir certainly had other backup plans. This did not surprise Gu Jiuqi; his opponent had not come here to die. The First Sir had most likely left countermeasures with a few of the Nascent Soul cultivators. The others could be abandoned, but these few he would definitely try to take with him by any means necessary.
And Gu Jiuqi had also thought of some possible scenarios. Although he had anticipated some things, the final method of escape these people used truly astonished him. If he wasn't mistaken, what they held in their hands was a treasure called a "Sand Star Stone." It was a type of meteorite formed from shattered stars in the Chaotic Flow Space. It needed to wander in the Chaotic Flow Space for ten thousand, or even a hundred thousand years or more, to form slowly, and was not common.
This type of stone had a positioning function and was a treasure highly valued by cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage and above. But in the vast expanse of space, it was not so easily encountered.
After splitting a "Sand Star Stone," if a piece was left somewhere on the Desolate Moon Continent, then when a cultivator carrying the remaining part entered a spatial crack, as long as they did not go too deep into the Chaotic Flow Space, the two "Sand Star Stones" would be able to sense each other even across different spaces. This cultivator could then follow this faint connection to find the correct exit.
The reason for this was that the "Sand Star Stone" contained a certain kind of star power that could penetrate realm boundaries. Even as the sun and moon changed position, it would still emit its power, breaking through space and crossing realms until the day the residual star power inside was completely exhausted. Only then would it truly become a dead meteorite and no longer be called a "Sand Star Stone."
Therefore, cultivators who often ventured into the Chaotic Flow Space were particularly fond of "Sand Star Stones." Although it was just a small piece of shattered stone and didn't contain much star power, its sensing range did not exceed three thousand li. However, cultivators who frequently tore through the void had already accumulated a wealth of experience. They all had their own set of positioning methods, and although not very precise, the general area would not be wrong. With the assistance of a "Sand Star Stone," their chances of survival would be greatly increased.
Therefore, if they encountered a place in the Chaotic Flow Space that they felt was too dangerous, but thought there might be treasures hidden within, they would usually use their magical power to fix a piece of "Sand Star Stone" outside the perilous area before carefully venturing in. This way, they could obtain treasures during their training while also preserving their lives.
Although Gu Jiuqi recognized that it was likely a "Sand Star Stone," such a treasure was something that even he could only hope to encounter by chance. Thus, he was still somewhat doubtful! Not to mention this clone, even his main body had wandered and trained in the Chaotic Flow Space for a long time, but even after staying there for a thousand years, he might not encounter more than a few pieces.
But now, the First Sir's side had produced at least thirty pieces at once. Besides each of the Nascent Soul cultivators having one, many of the Golden Core cultivators also possessed one. This was truly astonishing!
However, among the Golden Core cultivators holding a "Sand Star Stone," they were either demon cultivators or foreign cultivators; none of the traitorous cultivators had one. Those demon and foreign cultivators had even brought many of the traitorous cultivators with them after tearing open space.
Gu Jiuqi knew that the opponent was using the "Sand Star Stone" to enter the Chaotic Flow Space, and then sense the exit on the other end, find it quickly, and then tear open space again to escape. This was why they had to get close to the edge of the Malevolent Spirit Sect's grand formation before using the "Sand Star Stone."
The exit on the other end certainly couldn't be too close to the Malevolent Spirit Sect. Firstly, during the initial setup, they were afraid that Malevolent Spirit Sect cultivators would discover suspicious individuals, which would immediately attract attention. Secondly, the range of the Malevolent Spirit Sect's grand formation was very large. They couldn't just come out and find themselves still within the formation's confines.
The fact that his opponent had so many "Sand Star Stones" already surprised Gu Jiuqi. But what shocked him even more was that those Golden Core cultivators, who should only be able to have their void torn by Nascent Soul cultivators and above, were able to directly slice open the void while holding a "Sand Star Stone." The "Sand Star Stone" itself, though tough, had no relation to whether one could tear a spatial crack. That required the power to shatter space itself. Yet, as far as Gu Jiuqi knew, the "Sand Star Stone" itself did not have this characteristic.
This alone was astonishing. But those Golden Core cultivators, apart from many of the traitorous cultivators who entered with pale faces after some hesitation, the rest entered one after another without a second thought, showing no fear of the dreaded astral wind.
'Judging by the expressions of those traitorous cultivators who hesitated at first, they clearly didn't know about this escape method beforehand, so they also didn't know how to avoid the astral wind. They only entered the crack after the demon and foreign cultivators said, 'Those who don't want to die, come in.' What does this mean? The demon and foreign cultivators have a magical treasure that can resist the astral wind over a large area…'
Gu Jiuqi's mind raced, and he immediately grasped the deeper meaning. What was astral wind? It was a natural disaster that even Nascent Soul cultivators dared not face head-on.
Seeing Gu Jiuqi's shocked expression, a hint of pride appeared on the First Sir's face.
"Hehehe... you still foolishly thought you could trap us! Gu Jiuqi, you miscalculated. Do you still think you can block me now? Here, neither of us dares to go all out. If you chase too closely, how about we go to the Chaotic Flow Space for a fight?"
Gu Jiuqi's expression brought a sense of satisfaction to the First Sir. This Chimei Emissary was stronger than him, and even if his main body had reached the Body Integration stage, so what? When it came to understanding the Chaotic Flow Space, who on this continent could compare to them!