“What kind of power is this?” Dongbo Xueying sensed his surroundings as the fifty-one cultivators of their hunting party flew at low altitude. An invisible force permeated the air—one that manipulated space-time, and another far more sinister, seemingly isolating them from the outside world, making it difficult for anyone to detect their presence.
“Brother Youya, the domain has been deployed.”
“Good.”
Daoist Youya took charge, his gaze shifting to two other cultivators—a gray-robed man and a cold-faced warrior clad in golden armor. “Chong Man, you two should act as well.”
The gray-robed man gave a slight nod and flicked his sleeve, releasing a dense swarm of tiny insects that scattered in all directions beyond the group. Meanwhile, the golden-armored warrior’s armor split apart, dispersing countless mechanical creatures that swiftly spread outward.
Dongbo Xueying observed silently, nodding to himself. “As expected of Daoist Youya’s team. Whether it’s domain mastery or long-range reconnaissance, they all have their own unique methods.”
Those insects and mechanical constructs could scout far ahead, keeping the group informed of any threats.
“Whoosh.”
The party moved forward in eerie silence. None of them, including Dongbo Xueying, actively exerted their power. Instead, the gray-robed ‘Chong Man’ controlled the entire formation, guiding them forward.
—
As they traveled, their scouts detected distant hunyuan lifeforms, prompting the group to steer clear. Their speed fluctuated—sometimes swift, sometimes slowed, sometimes detouring.
For the first half-hour, they encountered no danger at all. Dongbo Xueying almost felt as if they were on a leisurely excursion. “When I first arrived in this Sacred Realm and was teleported near Chiyun City, I had to rely on my void techniques to conceal my flight—yet I was attacked almost immediately. Back at the Reception Hall, I saw the map. The hunyuan lifeforms were densely packed everywhere. Yet, we haven’t run into a single one after all this time… Daoist Youya’s subordinates are indeed handpicked.”
Each expert had their own specialization.
The mighty figures from countless worlds each excelled in their own fields. Those under Daoist Youya and Xie Fan were, at the very least, at the Divine Emperor Perfection level—after all, such warriors made up eighty percent of Chiyun City’s population.
To reach Divine Emperor Perfection, one had to achieve unfathomable mastery in their path.
In some aspects, they even surpassed the three City Lords!
“Brother Xie Fan, this time it’s Daoist Youya’s hunting party—his men and us included. Ordinary dangers mean nothing to us. But plotting against that ‘Flying Snow’… that’s a bit tricky.”
“Relax. Youya’s target this time is the ‘Mowu Chaos Serpent’—an extremely perilous zone. That’s why he set the minimum team size at fifty. Any fewer, and he wouldn’t have confidence.” Xie Fan spoke with ease and confidence. “When true danger strikes, all we need is a slight nudge. Without support from his comrades, relying solely on his own strength, do you think a Divine Emperor Perfection can survive a hunyuan lifeform onslaught? Hmph.”
“Exactly. There’ll be plenty of opportunities along the way, especially since hunting the Mowu Chaos Serpent itself is a major crisis. Even if Flying Snow survives one or two dangers, he won’t make it through every time. He’s doomed.”
“For someone like him to dare join a team deliberately targeting the Mowu Chaos Serpent… If I were him, I’d have been cautious enough to stick with parties hunting near the city outskirts.”
Xie Fan and his group murmured among themselves.
According to Xie Fan’s plan, the hunt for food was secondary. The primary goal was to use the hunyuan lifeforms to kill Dongbo Xueying. Success would not only vent Xie Fan’s anger but also grant them access to Dongbo Xueying’s possessions—at least six Divine Emperor Perfection-level hunyuan lifeform corpses, an incalculable treasure.
“He’s finished.”
—
“This ‘Flying Snow’ is as good as dead,” some of the other independent cultivators in the party mused silently.
“Offending Xie Fan was his own undoing.”
“But once he dies, his belongings will be distributed as spoils among the team. I heard he has at least six Divine Emperor Perfection-level hunyuan corpses. Even split among us, that’s a hefty sum.” These independent cultivators eagerly anticipated the windfall. Six corpses could sustain a cultivator for hundreds of billions of years. Even divided, each would receive a substantial share.
Life wasn’t easy for these lone warriors.
With no ties to Dongbo Xueying, they watched coldly, content to see him fall and his treasures shared among them.
—
“Flying Snow must have some trump card to act so boldly,” thought Daoist Youya, the only figure in the party whose status rivaled Xie Fan’s. At his level, his insight was far keener. He was willing to offer some aid—if Dongbo Xueying truly possessed some formidable means, such assistance would be well worth it.
This approach had earned Daoist Youya widespread goodwill.
“Youya, be careful. A swarm of Ant Dragons has sensed us and is attacking,” the gray-robed man transmitted.
“Ant Dragons? How many?” Daoist Youya pressed.
“Eighty-six in the initial wave, with more converging from afar,” came the reply.
“Cheng Yu,” Daoist Youya ordered immediately, “lead everyone in full-speed retreat.”
“Acknowledged.”
Cheng Yu, a gray-skinned man with blue curved horns—the fastest in Daoist Youya’s team—responded. He unleashed a surge of murky gray energy that instantly enveloped all fifty-one members of the party.
Then—
**Boom!**
The gray-shrouded group’s speed skyrocketed, more than tripling in an instant.
“Hmm?” Dongbo Xueying felt the scenery blur around them as their velocity surged dramatically.
“Everyone, we’ve been detected by nearby hunyuan lifeforms. We must move at maximum speed,” Daoist Youya transmitted.
“Detected?”
“We need to shake them off fast.”
“What kind of hunyuan lifeforms?”
The cultivators remained calm. Having lived in Chiyun City for ages and embarked on countless hunts, they were accustomed to crises. Even death in battle merely meant failure on their path toward hunyuan. When they left their homelands for this so-called “World of Despair,” “Exile World,” or “Survival World,” they had already steeled themselves.
Either succeed…
Or fall along the way.
“Ant Dragons are blocking us ahead, Brother Youya. Do we charge or detour?”
“Charge.”
Daoist Youya made the call without hesitation. “The Ant Dragon swarm is vast. Now that they’ve spotted us, detouring will only complicate things.”
He based his decision on his scouts’ intelligence.
Soon—
Dongbo Xueying’s party saw the hunyuan lifeforms ahead. These creatures, dubbed “Ant Dragons” by Chiyun City’s cultivators, resembled giant ants but bore long, razor-sharp tails—their most lethal weapons. They relied on numbers; intelligence suggested at least a hundred thousand inhabited the surrounding region, including one high-level hunyuan lifeform imprisoned among them.
Given their wide distribution, Dongbo Xueying’s group only faced a few dozen for now.
“Remember, our goal isn’t to kill—just break through as fast as possible,” Daoist Youya ordered.
**Boom!**
The Ant Dragons—some as small as a hundred meters tall with three-hundred-meter tails, others towering like hills at a thousand meters—attacked with frenzied brutality.
In this Sacred Realm, while cultivators hunted hunyuan lifeforms, the latter showed no mercy either.
“Whoosh.” The Ant Dragons clashed with the hunting party in an instant. Techniques erupted in a flash. Daoist Youya’s and Xie Fan’s teams coordinated flawlessly. Daoist Youya, at least, extended his domain to shield the independent cultivators and Dongbo Xueying.
“Meddler,” Xie Fan shot a glance at Daoist Youya from afar, sneering inwardly. “You can protect him now, but I doubt you’ll spare the effort for him the entire journey.”
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