Chapter 67: The Chase

Dongbo Xueying sprinted with all his might, leaving behind a blurred afterimage. The power of the heavens and earth surged around him, resisting the impact of the blood-red wave chasing behind! Xiang Pangyun, his face twisted with ferocity, pursued relentlessly, closing the distance between them.

Though Dongbo could not see what was happening behind, he could sense through the power of the heavens and earth that Xiang Pangyun was drawing closer.

“He’s faster than me.”

Dongbo was moving at such a speed that within moments he had reached the edge of a cliff on Xueshi Mountain.

Whoosh!

He pushed off with his legs, launching himself into the air.

Leaping from the cliff’s edge, Dongbo soared across the sky, aiming for a distant mountain peak.

“Hmph.” Xiang Pangyun also dashed forward in an instant, leaping powerfully after Dongbo Xueying in relentless pursuit.

At their level, with the buffering power of the heavens and earth, falling from even the highest altitude posed no danger. More importantly, the heavens’ power could support up to a thousand jin of force—so long as one’s body weight did not exceed that, one could even glide through the air at a slow pace.

But such flight was painfully slow.

Consider this: a meteoric-class flying magical beast could flap its wings with tens of thousands of jin of force, and with its body structure, accelerate to near-sonic speeds! Compared to such creatures, Dongbo Xueying and others of the Title-ranked, relying only on the heavens’ power for assistance, flew far too slowly. Whether on flying vessels, alchemical flying artifacts, or even flying magical beasts, all could easily leave them behind—even an ordinary bird might outpace them.

Moreover, it was difficult to gain leverage while airborne.

Power originates from the roots, and the feet are the foundation! For instance, when thrusting a spear or slashing with a blade, the force usually originates from the feet. But midair, the feet could not exert force, as the heavens’ power could barely withstand a thousand jin of force. With the terrifying might of Title-ranked warriors, the heavens simply could not support them mid-flight, making it impossible to fully display their strength in aerial combat.

Therefore, they rarely fought in the air.

Boom!

With the heavens’ power aiding him, Dongbo leapt over three hundred meters in a single bound, landing heavily on the mid-slope of another mountain. The ground shook as his feet struck the earth, yet without hesitation, he resumed his high-speed dash.

Boom! Xiang Pangyun landed on the same slope moments later, continuing his frenzied pursuit.

Run, run, run!

Both pushed their speeds to the limit.

To them, mountains and rivers were like flat ground. As Dongbo dashed forward, he swept his long spear sideways, sending massive boulders flying toward Xiang Pangyun behind him. But Xiang merely sidestepped, stepping onto one of the boulders and continuing his pursuit. He wouldn’t waste time cleaving through them like a fool.

The distance between them continued to shrink.

In just a few breaths, they had crossed three mountains. As Dongbo leapt from the fourth, Xiang finally caught up. In midair, the two clashed once again.

Hiss! Hiss!

Dongbo turned to face Xiang Pangyun.

Midair, Xiang surged forward, his blade flashing like a white streak. Dongbo countered with his spear, attempting to block head-on, but Xiang shifted his swordplay at the last moment, denying Dongbo the chance to clash directly.

Both were clever.

For if they did clash head-on, Xiang would suffer the backlash, slowing him down significantly—while Dongbo could use the force to propel himself forward once more.

“Trying to kill me without a direct confrontation?” Dongbo sneered. His spear moved in arcs, its tip swirling like a vortex of flowing water, or struck with lightning speed. Snowflakes swirled around his spear, momentarily confounding Xiang Pangyun.

To break through Dongbo’s spear defense purely through technique and speed, without brute force, was extremely difficult—after all, the gap between them wasn’t absurd enough for such an outcome.

In midair, they exchanged dozens of blows.

Thud!

Dongbo landed heavily on the mid-slope of another mountain. The moment he touched down, he veered sideways in a new direction. Xiang, landing moments later, could only resume the chase.

“Cursed! Without overpowering him with brute force, it’s hard to kill him,” Xiang Pangyun muttered. “I’ll go all-out and crush him directly! Even if he escapes temporarily, each time we clash, I have the advantage to win and kill him.”

With this change in strategy, the battle shifted entirely.

BOOM!

At a rocky plain beside a roaring river, thousands of meters wide—Qing River.

Dongbo Xueying and Xiang Pangyun clashed again.

During the fight, Dongbo dared not turn his back on Xiang and had to stop and face him directly.

The two warriors exchanged blows, dozens of strikes in an instant.

Dongbo constantly searched for openings. Even with brute force, opportunities weren’t always available—like if Xiang struck downward, could Dongbo really use that force to dig into the ground? Xiang, even while overpowering him, did his best to prevent Dongbo from escaping. But as the battle wore on, chances would come. After all, in a life-or-death fight, many moves were instinctive—there was no time for careful selection.

“Escape!” Dongbo seized an opening, using the recoil force to launch himself two or three hundred meters in a single bound, dashing across the turbulent surface of Qing River.

“Cursed! He escaped again!” Xiang’s crimson eyes burned with fury. “Every time you fight me, you’re on the edge of death! Let’s see how long you can last!”

The two raced side by side, gliding effortlessly across the roaring river like it was solid ground, locked in a desperate chase.

…

Above the night sky.

The Black Moon Centipede was flying frantically, surrounded by a faint glowing barrier. Inside were seven figures—Mage Bai Yuanzhi, Qing Shi, Zong Ling, Tong San, Kong Youyue, Si Chen, and Ji Rong—who watched tensely below at the breathtaking chase, observing the two figures darting across Qing River’s surface like phantoms.

Both combatants had unleashed power that sent chills down their spines.

Xiang Pangyun had been forced to use secret techniques of his martial arts. Dongbo Xueying had long since activated his bloodline power!

Logically, such an explosive state should drain them quickly. Fortunately, both had merged with the heavens, constantly receiving energy from the Heaven and Earth, allowing them to sustain the battle for far longer! Without such an explosive state, they could fight for days without exhausting their strength.

“Too fast! Their speed is incredible!”

Bai Yuanzhi and Si Chen were awestruck.

“They’re chasing while fighting at the same time,” Si Chen marveled. “Even with mountains, rivers, and forests along the way! But we’re flying straight from above, and even then it’s hard to keep up. This Black Moon Centipede must be flying at nearly half the speed of sound.”

“About half,” Bai Yuanzhi nodded. “There are too many people on board this time. Normally, it could exceed half.”

At half the speed of sound, flying straight through the air was still a struggle—imagine how terrifying the speed of the two figures below must be.

“Is this his power?” Kong Youyue stared at the two blurs below, breathless. She had always thought Dongbo Xueying was just a martial fanatic, but now she realized how wrong she was. Such power was enough to make ordinary humans despair—ten thousand or even a hundred thousand soldiers would be nothing before such might.

“They may not be transcendent,” Bai Yuanzhi said, “but they’re close. I’ve heard that those at the top of the Longshan Rankings even have the power to slay weaker transcendent beings! Xiang Pangyun, ranked five hundred, should be nearly transcendent.”

“Close to transcendent?”

The others gazed at the two figures below, stunned.

“Brother,” Qing Shi clenched his fists tightly, watching from above. Pride and worry warred within him. Guilt gnawed at him too, for this battle was all because of him. Though Dongbo Xueying never blamed him, even saying that his younger brother’s self-defense and retaliation were natural under those circumstances.

Still, Qing Shi felt guilt and self-reproach, especially after their argument earlier that day.

“Brother, you must survive. You must.” Never before had Qing Shi felt such fear and anxiety. If his brother truly died, he wouldn’t know what to do—such a thought was unbearable.

…

Dongbo Xueying was fleeing madly.

Whoosh! The wind howled past his ears, the scenery blurring into a streak behind him. Only Xiang Pangyun continued to close in.

In the blink of an eye, they had clashed nine times, fleeing over a hundred li away.

“We’re almost there.” Dongbo gazed ahead at a towering mountain piercing through the clouds. “This is my only chance to survive!”