Han Li watched the retreating purple figure but made no move to pursue.
Although he had managed to force this Unity-level being to retreat with the power of his sword formation, he was under no illusion that his abilities truly surpassed the old man’s, let alone that he could kill him. Moreover, given the other party’s bizarre speed, he wouldn’t be able to catch up in time.
Han Li was well aware of the reasons behind the old man’s retreat. On one hand, the old man had been struck by the Essence Sword, leaving him disoriented by the bleeding and the suppression of his cultivation. On the other hand, the fearsome reputation of the Gold Devouring Beetles and the overwhelming aura Han Li had displayed at the end made the old man realize that even if he risked a desperate fight, his chances of victory were slim. Thus, he had no choice but to flee for the time being.
In truth, if the old man had relied on his agility to prolong the battle, neither the bleeding caused by the Essence Sword nor the control of the Gold Devouring Beetles would have lasted much longer.
At that point, it would have been anyone’s guess who would emerge victorious. Han Li had no intention of engaging in a reckless, mutually destructive battle without good reason.
Furthermore, although this place was far enough from Green Light City, reinforcements from the Horned Race could still arrive at any moment.
This was also why he had ultimately withdrawn the sword formation and gambled everything on the Essence Sword. Compared to the threat posed by the old man, he was far more concerned about the Horned Race’s pursuit.
Watching as the old man vanished into the distance as a purple blur under his Spirit Eyes, Han Li wasted no time. He stored his techniques and treasures and transformed into a green streak, shooting through the sky.
However, he deliberately altered his course, veering off to one side. Within moments, the green streak disappeared beyond the horizon. The forest, left in ruins by their battle, fell silent once more.
But barely a quarter of an hour later, two streaks of light flashed across the sky, emerging menacingly from the direction of Green Light City.
With a few flickers, they arrived above the forest and began circling.
As the light dissipated, two figures were revealed.
One was the old man surnamed Tu, who had left earlier, now restored to his original form. The other was another Unity-level existence—the silver-robed middle-aged man.
“He’s already gone. With his speed, he could have easily traveled over a hundred thousand miles by now,” the old man said bitterly, scanning the area below.
“Naturally. He’s no fool to linger here. At such a distance, even the Heavenly Mystery Compass would be useless. Besides, we’ve already used it once today. We’ll have to wait three days before using it again.” The middle-aged man gazed at the massive crater below, his expression thoughtful. “I’m curious, though—how did a mere Void Refinement cultivator manage to injure you, Brother Tu?”
At this question, the old man’s face twitched with embarrassment, but his expression quickly twisted into a snarl as he glanced at his shoulder.
“I underestimated him. I carelessly got trapped in his sword formation, and its power was extraordinary. On top of that, he possesses several other formidable techniques and treasures, forcing me to retreat. Oh, and he has several dozen mature Gold Devouring Beetles.”
“What? Gold Devouring Beetles?” The middle-aged man’s expression darkened drastically.
“If not for them, I wouldn’t have retreated so hastily,” the old man spat bitterly.
“With several dozen, even a true Saint-level existence would hesitate. But as long as there aren’t over a hundred, top-tier wood or stone treasures can temporarily restrain them.” After a moment of contemplation, the middle-aged man regained some composure.
“Heh, if there were hundreds of mature Gold Devouring Beetles, I wouldn’t have dared to return here with you—I’d have fled long ago,” the old man said with a bitter laugh.
“If the swarm numbered in the thousands, even a Saint-level being trapped within would face certain death. I’ve heard that many years ago, a swarm of mature Gold Devouring Beetles appeared in a corner of the Thunder Continent, numbering in the tens of thousands. They wiped out three or four small races nearby. If not for a certain super race using the Heaven-Shattering Hammer to tear open a spatial rift and banish the swarm to another realm, even more races would have suffered.” The middle-aged man spoke slowly, lost in thought.
“But raising Gold Devouring Beetles is an arduous task, requiring generations of effort to succeed. They’re among the hardest spirit insects to cultivate. For someone to control several dozen at once—what kind of background does he have? Is he from the Thirteen Heavenly Cloud Races?” The middle-aged man’s eyes flickered with suspicion.
“No. My detection artifact didn’t react to him. His appearance was unremarkable—I couldn’t tell which race he belongs to.” The old man shook his head after a moment’s thought.
“That complicates things. If he truly has a jade box, it’ll be difficult to recover.” The middle-aged man frowned.
“Brother Ning, how many boxes did you obtain?” the old man suddenly asked.
“Two. That Wan Gu man was cunning—he threatened to destroy the boxes to escape. But he underestimated my Blood Severing Soul-Stealing Technique, which excels at ambushes. I subdued him in one strike and retrieved them.” The middle-aged man flipped his hand, revealing two identical jade boxes sealed with restriction talismans.
The large-headed alien, after distributing one box each to Han Li and the others, had secretly kept two for himself.
The old man nodded and produced another jade box from his sleeve—the one taken from the green-skinned man.
“So we have three now. According to Hong Mie’s message, how many did the Wan Gu man have?” The old man’s tone was probing, as if he wanted confirmation.
“Five or six. His information wasn’t exact.” The middle-aged man hesitated before answering.
“Five or six… That’s a troublesome number. So this man must have at least one.” The old man sighed.
“Most likely. And given his abilities, Hong Mie must have fallen to him. Whether for personal or public reasons, we can’t let him escape.” The middle-aged man’s eyes glinted coldly.
“But he’s already vanished. How do we track him now?” the old man asked skeptically.
“Alone, we can’t. But Brother Tu, don’t forget—most cities in this region are under our control. We’ll send messages via the Ten-Thousand Mile Talisman to the nearest cities, ordering them to block key routes and dispatch search parties. The searchers don’t need high cultivation—just enough to flush him out. Then we’ll use teleportation arrays to intercept him.” The middle-aged man laid out his plan methodically.
“Hmm, worth a try.” Though the old man doubted its effectiveness, he had no better ideas and nodded in agreement.
He then produced a green stone slab from his sleeve and swiftly inscribed rows of faint golden characters onto it. With a final slap, the characters vanished in a flash of light.
“Let’s return to the war chariot. That Wan Gu man planted a self-destruct formation beneath the city, but it was detected and dismantled. Still, there’s plenty of cleanup work left for us.” The middle-aged man smiled faintly.
“Very well.” The old man had no objections.
Their light streaked back the way they came, vanishing into the distance.
—
Han Li flew relentlessly for a million miles, only slowing down once he was certain the Horned Race couldn’t catch up. Even so, the prolonged flight had drained him considerably.
He retrieved two top-grade wood-attribute spirit stones from his storage bracelet and began absorbing their energy without hesitation.
Finding a secluded mountain peak, he landed beneath a hidden tree and meditated to restore his depleted spiritual power. The Spring Thunder Sword Formation, while immensely powerful, consumed vast amounts of energy—especially the final Essence Sword strike, which had nearly exhausted his vitality.
Half a day passed without disturbance. By then, Han Li had recovered most of his strength.
Refreshed, he stored the spirit stones and soared into the sky as a green streak. But after flying a hundred zhang, his figure blurred, becoming nearly invisible.
Pulling out a jade slip—a regional map obtained from Qing Xiao before teleporting to Green Light City—he scanned it carefully. Though the Fire Coral Archipelago had been isolated from the Thunder Continent for years, geographical features rarely changed drastically.
Avoiding nearby cities, he plotted a course toward the Golden Armor City, the Thirteen Heavenly Cloud Races’ largest stronghold in the region. Given its strategic importance, it was heavily fortified with elite troops and high-ranking experts.
Unless the map was outdated, the Horned Race wouldn’t attack it before securing surrounding cities.
After verifying his direction under the multiple suns, Han Li accelerated toward the distant horizon.
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