The First Sir, who was in mid-flight, constantly scanned behind him with his Divine Sense to confirm Gu Jiuqi's tracking position.
'Hmph, I'll let you chase for a while longer. Otherwise, if you can't catch up now, you might just tear the void and enter there directly. The escape routes set up by those "Sand Star King Stones" are very scattered, but there are a few in this nearby space. If he accidentally stumbles upon one, whoever he encounters will surely die.'
The First Sir could have actually torn the void and entered long ago. Once he was in the Chaotic Flow Space, he could escape just like last time. In the decisive battle at the Devil's Cliff Crevice back then, Gu Jiuqi had pursued him relentlessly. In the end, the First Sir could only tear the void and dive in. Subsequently, he had another great battle with Gu Jiuqi in the Chaotic Flow Space.
There, the First Sir's combat power had actually increased considerably. In particular, his method of escape inside made even Gu Jiuqi suck in a breath of cold air. In some places where even Gu Jiuqi couldn't be sure of their safety, the First Sir flew and teleported through in an instant.
What shocked Gu Jiuqi even more was that the First Sir not only dared to teleport, but he did so consecutively, two or three times in a row. This behavior, in Gu Jiuqi's eyes, was undoubtedly suicidal. The place they were in was an unstable region of fragmented nodes. If a Spirit Transformation cultivator mistakenly entered a region of overlapping spatial fragments, they would either be instantly minced or be swept into an endless black hole, making it basically impossible to get out. Perhaps only Gu Jiuqi's main body could be so reckless.
But the First Sir, whose cultivation was a bit lower than his, seemed to have no worries at all. Several times, his teleports were extremely risky, appearing at the very edge of the fragmented nodes. The sight made even Gu Jiuqi's heart pound with fear.
Those fragmented nodes were invisible to Divine Sense. Only when a living being got extremely close would a slight clue occasionally reveal itself, which was what made it so terrifying for cultivators.
Under such circumstances, after several teleports, the First Sir pulled further and further away from Gu Jiuqi. That was how he had managed to shake off Gu Jiuqi's pursuit that time.
For the past hundred years, Gu Jiuqi had been trying to contact his main body, attempting to get more insights on traversing the Chaotic Flow Space. Although they were separated by two realms, his main body had sensed his request and had successively sent back some information about the Chaotic Flow Space. However, most of it was lost under the influence of the rules of the two realms.
Nevertheless, Gu Jiuqi still managed to comprehend some of the true meaning of the spatial rules from this incomplete information, which gave him the confidence to capture this foreign cultivator this time.
The First Sir, who was in mid-flight, suddenly felt his body tremble slightly. He turned his head in confusion and looked in a certain direction. There, he had actually sensed an aura extremely similar to the cultivation method he practiced. But it was so faint it was almost imperceptible. If it weren't so similar to his own cultivation method, he wouldn't have noticed it at all.
Following his confusion, he still released his Divine Sense several times in succession.
A few breaths later, a look of surprise appeared on Gu Jiuqi's face behind him. The direction of the First Sir's flight was no longer a straight escape, but a semi-circle back towards him.
"Hm? What is he trying to do? Take the opportunity to kill someone else?" Gu Jiuqi grew suspicious. In the direction the First Sir was flying, Mo Qing's figure had appeared in that area, though they were still quite far apart.
But with him watching from behind, how could the First Sir have a chance to attack others? The First Sir himself should have been aware of this. So Gu Jiuqi suspected that the First Sir had some other motive.
The two of them, like streaks of lightning, rapidly closed the distance with Mo Qing. Gu Jiuqi immediately sent a voice transmission telling Mo Qing to get out of the way and leave that area quickly.
But just at this moment, the First Sir suddenly stopped in mid-air, looking around with a puzzled expression.
Then, just as Gu Jiuqi arrived in a flash from behind, the First Sir instantly... vanished before his eyes!
Gu Jiuqi cursed inwardly.
"Not good!"
He had just felt a very faint spatial fluctuation. By the time he arrived at the spot where the First Sir had disappeared, even that trace of spatial fluctuation had vanished.
"What kind of advanced teleportation formation is this? If my Divine Sense hadn't been locked onto him from start to finish, I would never have noticed any spatial anomaly here!"
For a moment, Gu Jiuqi's face turned uncertain. He was certain that his opponent had not escaped by tearing the void, but had been teleported away. But he hadn't seen him cast any arts or form any hand seals. Not even a trace of a formation plate or rune had been revealed. If his opponent's mastery of formations had reached this level, then the Desolate Moon Continent would be in real trouble.
'Refining formations into the mind, a formation appears with a thought? That's something that only cultivators at the Body Integration stage and above can begin to achieve. I don't believe he can do it! If he could, he wouldn't have had to go in such a big circle to escape. There must be something strange about the node here. Based on past information, these foreign cultivators are extremely familiar with the Chaotic Flow Space, as if they have lived in it for a very long time. In that case, did the First Sir, as a Spirit Transformation cultivator, have a premeditated plan? Did he leave a countermeasure near here long ago and just used some node's power to escape? But stable spatial nodes are few and far between. Eighty percent of them are constantly moving. Even if you wanted to set up something in advance, it might not be effective. Many nodes move very fast and could be a thousand li away in the next breath. However... some only move a few li in tens of thousands of years. Could it be that he was looking for this pre-arranged node before?'
With this thought, Gu Jiuqi, in the void, suddenly extended a hand and casually swiped at the air. A crack, about ten feet high, appeared there. The next moment, his figure flashed and entered the endless dark crack. Subsequently, the crack rapidly closed and vanished without a trace.
In the dense forest, the space in front of Li Yan rippled slightly, and then an ancient, round Rhomboid Crystal floated before his eyes.
Li Yan couldn't help but be overjoyed. He snatched it in his hand and quickly connected his Divine Sense with the imprint inside.
"Senior, you just..." Li Yan eagerly asked via voice transmission the moment he connected. But before he could finish, Ping Tu's somewhat unusual voice came through.
"It's done!"
"What's done?"
"That First Sir has been trapped by me!"
"Ah, Senior, isn't your main body still in deep sleep? How could you trap a late-stage Spirit Transformation expert!"
"Kid, don't call that leftover dog food an expert in front of me. If I recover just a little more, I can kill him with a single slap!"
"Oh... oh oh... Senior, have you confirmed this person's identity?" Li Yan quickly agreed. He knew that Ping Tu was actually very tyrannical and had a heavy killing intent. He would absolutely rather fight than talk. This was only because he was one of his own. If it were any other cultivator from the Desolate Moon Continent, he wouldn't even give you time to speak.
"I can be completely sure of this. That person is a disciple of one of those who escaped back then. I have already trapped him in the 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl.' I estimate he won't live for much longer."
Listening to Ping Tu's transmission, Li Yan, with his intelligence, instantly understood what Ping Tu had done. That ancient round Rhomboid Crystal was itself a special teleportation formation talisman. Ping Tu had used some unknown method to draw the First Sir nearby, and then instantly activated the teleportation power within the Rhomboid Crystal.
'It seems this ancient round Rhomboid Crystal is not a directional teleportation talisman. It doesn't just teleport to the secret chamber. Under Senior's control, it can probably teleport to any place in the secret realm!'
Li Yan looked at the round Rhomboid Crystal in his hand, but he still had a question.
"Senior, the First Sir is a Spirit Transformation cultivator. I have also been to that 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl' before. Can it really kill him?"
Li Yan had also personally been to the so-called "Wheel of Life and Death" before. The dangers there were enough to kill Foundation Establishment cultivators, no doubt. But as for dealing with Nascent Soul cultivators, Li Yan had always felt that it was impossible.
"Kid, I am the artifact spirit of this magical treasure. I know better than you whether I can kill this thief or not!" Ping Tu's tone held a hint of displeasure, but he quickly continued to explain.
"The 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl' is a magical treasure used by a Body Integration stage cultivator. The toughness of its material is beyond your imagination, and the power of the five elements inside is also beyond your comprehension. When it was used by your four sects as the so-called 'Wheel of Life and Death' trial, they were only borrowing a fraction of its power. But if I control it personally with this wisp of my divine will, although I cannot fully unleash the 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl's' full power, I can still exert about thirty percent of its strength. I can slowly grind that so-called First Sir to death, and he will be completely unable to break through the spatial barrier of the 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl' to escape. That old wolf in the secret realm should have sensed that there might be a problem with the 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl,' which is why he never enters this magical treasure. Otherwise, I would have killed him long ago. As for you and those low-level demonic beasts entering, since my main body has been recuperating in slumber, I naturally couldn't be bothered to act. Besides, I didn't want others to know the true power of the 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl.'"
After Ping Tu's brief explanation, Li Yan finally understood.
"What Senior says is absolutely right. The 'Five Elements Dao-Defiance Pearl' has been used as a training ground by low-level cultivators for too long. Even I, who knew the inside story, felt that its power was not what it used to be."
"By the way, that gray-robed old man is a Spirit Transformation cultivator from your current sect. How does he treat you usually? If not well, we might as well just bring him in and kill him too."
Ping Tu suddenly said such a thing, which gave Li Yan a great scare. He quickly said, "Senior, you absolutely must not touch my Martial Uncle! Spirit Transformation cultivators are rare on the Desolate Moon Continent now, he cannot have an accident. Besides, he treats this junior quite well!"
Li Yan didn't know why Ping Tu's killing intent had suddenly flared up, to the point of wanting to kill Gu Jiuqi as well.
"Oh... is that so? Then forget it! That's all. Someone is flying this way." Ping Tu's voice carried a hint of regret. After saying that, he went silent.
Li Yan also sensed that some cultivators were flying this way. They were some Golden Core cultivators chasing enemies. They were still quite a distance from him, but Ping Tu was clearly unwilling to say more.
Li Yan was also unwilling to stay here any longer. He still had to patrol the tens of thousands of li around the sect. If Hang Lin and the other Nascent Soul cultivators who had fled had truly escaped, they would be long gone and hard to track. But if they took the opportunity to turn back and ambush the pursuing Golden Core cultivators, it would be bad. He also sensed that Wei Zhongran and the others had already dispersed and flown out, likely with the same purpose as him.
With a flicker, Li Yan's figure disappeared from the dense forest.
In a secret chamber, Ping Tu's huge face showed a lot of regret.
"Sigh, since that kid said so, I can only let it go! That old fellow is getting off easy. The Nascent Soul of a Spirit Transformation cultivator, ah. If I could swallow it, it would at least speed up my recovery by ten percent. If I could swallow two Spirit Transformation Nascent Souls at once, I could probably reduce my cultivation time by about a sixty-year cycle."
Ping Tu's injuries were very severe. Besides needing eighth-rank and above medicinal pills, heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and supreme-grade spirit stones, the inner cores of high-level demonic beasts and the Nascent Souls of Spirit Transformation and above cultivators were also helpful. He was a unique artifact spirit that had developed its own consciousness. He was not like human or demonic cultivators who couldn't directly swallow inner cores and Nascent Souls. He could directly refine and absorb them.
This time, he not only wanted to kill the First Sir, but also obtain his Nascent Soul. This was a very important matter for the current Ping Tu.
...
The First Sir withdrew his Divine Sense. He had been standing here motionless for dozens of breaths. Apart from the initial shock, he had been carefully observing for a long time. In his life, he had experienced countless life-and-death dangers. He was not afraid of the terrifying, death-like Chaotic Flow Space, let alone this place before him.
At this moment, the First Sir was standing at the beginning of a dimly lit street. The street snaked forward from his feet in the twilight, disappearing into the distant end...
On both sides of the street were various shops, restaurants, and businesses. On either side of the doorways hung various canvas signs and signboards. When the breeze blew, the signboards swayed and fluttered, like falling leaves about to be torn off in the wind.
But there were no hawking cries, no bustling crowds, not even the crowing of a rooster or the barking of a dog!
There was only silence, a boundless, dead silence that spread out. Even the signboards and canvas signs swaying in the breeze were silent, not making the slightest sound.
Everything was still, yet the scene in his vision was moving. But in his ears, it was so quiet he could only hear his own breathing. A sense of loneliness and sorrow rose from the depths of his heart. Everything before him was so strange and gloomy...