Bai Xiaochun noticed Master Cloud Lightning almost as soon as he appeared, and most especially, the horde of sandworms following him.

“So, this Master Cloud Lightning is trying to pull a fast one on me, huh?!” He could immediately sense Master Cloud Lightning’s ill intentions, especially because of the way the man was eyeing the sandworm with the red aperture on its head.

“He wasn’t originally heading in this direction. He changed directions when he saw that one particular sandworm....” Having reached this conclusion, Bai Xiaochun immediately attacked that same sandworm.

“See me coming, and refuse to stand down?” Master Cloud Lightning said with a growl. “Well, you’re just looking to die!” His eyes shone with cold light as he accelerated in Bai Xiaochun’s direction, bringing countless howling sandworms with him.

As Master Cloud Lightning closed in, Bai Xiaochun spun, changed directions, and then headed, not toward the sandworm he had been fighting, but toward Master Cloud Lightning!

Master Cloud Lightning’s lips turned up into a sneer, as if he had anticipated Bai Xiaochun’s actions. Even as Bai Xiaochun closed in, he suddenly blurred, making him impossible to see with the naked eye, and almost impossible to detect with divine sense.

Even as Bai Xiaochun’s eyes flickered in surprise, the vast number of sandworms that Master Cloud Lightning had brought over locked onto him. Howling, they opened their mouths and swept forth to encircle Bai Xiaochun.

An unsightly expression could be seen on his face. The divine ability that Master Cloud Lightning had just used had already affected him dramatically. Although most of the more than 10,000 sandworms were at the Nascent Soul level, there were some who were in the Deva Realm, which meant that it would be very difficult to handle the entire group.

That was especially true... considering that Master Cloud Lightning was lurking menacingly in the vicinity.

Rumbling sounds could be heard as the shadowy form of Master Cloud Lightning backed away, a sneer on his face the entire time.

“Measly rookie deva! They might say he has incredible battle prowess, but rumors like that are usually just fabrications. If he had fled the moment he saw me, he might have had a chance. Unfortunately for him, he’s just an idiot.” Chuckling coldly, Master Cloud Lightning watched through narrowed eyes as the hordes of sandworms closed in on Bai Xiaochun.

The truth was that Bai Xiaochun was starting to get very angry at how this Master Cloud Lightning seemed to abound with wickedness. They had no beef with each other, and yet he had acted with utter viciousness, all because of a sandworm!

“Maybe if I were a Nascent Soul cultivator, this would make sense. But I’m a deva too! This Master Cloud Lightning is obviously looking down on me! The bully!” Having reached this point in his train of thought, Bai Xiaochun’s eyes narrowed. Blurring into motion, he unleashed attack after attack, blowing up sandworms with each one.

“Based on the speed he used earlier to fall back... he’s obviously no ordinary deva.... If I simultaneously used my Undying Hex and the Mountain Shaking Bash, I might be able to get close to him. But if he kept running afterward, the sandworms would still be after me, and that would put me in a bad position. I need to get him to come a bit closer to me....” Scrambling to come up with an idea, he took a deep breath, then shot forward toward Master Cloud Lightning with a burst of speed.

As he did, a faint smile of ridicule could be seen on Master Cloud Lightning’s face as he accelerated away. After a few such exchanges, Bai Xiaochun not only didn’t catch up to him, but actually seemed to be getting himself into a worse situation with each moment that passed.

Finally, a vicious expression overtook Bai Xiaochun’s face. Gritting his teeth angrily, he ignored Master Cloud Lightning and spun to attack the sandworm with the red aperture.

Booms rang out as the sandworms spat lightning out of their mouths, filling heaven and earth in such fashion that it seemed it would be impossible for Bai Xiaochun to fight back. However, it was at this point that the sandworm let out a terrifying shriek; it had been battered so badly by Bai Xiaochun’s divine abilities that it seemed on the verge of collapsing completely.

Master Cloud Lightning noticed what was happening, and it caused his eyes to flash with bright light. Although he couldn’t be sure whether Bai Xiaochun was feigning weakness or not, he was supremely confident in himself either way.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

“The point here isn’t to kill this guy, it’s to get the magical item in that sandworm’s body....” Eyes narrowing, he began to search for an opportunity. At this point, Bai Xiaochun landed a fist strike onto the sandworm, causing it to shriek and fall back.

That was when Bai Xiaochun made his move. He shot forward with such incredible speed that it bordered on teleportation, leaving a string of sonic booms behind him. In the blink of an eye, he was on the sandworm, reaching out with his right hand, the fingers of which glittered with black light.

However, just before his hand landed on the sandworm, his eyes glittered with gold light, and he utilized the Mountain Shaking Bash. Rumbling sounds echoed out as he accelerated with shocking momentum, surpassing the sandworm.

Any sandworm in his way was bashed to pieces, allowing him to shoot as straight as an arrow toward Master Cloud Lightning.

The speed was such that Master Cloud Lightning was struck with absolute shock. Snorting coldly, he gave up on his designs for the sandworm, and shot backward, still confident that not even someone in the late Deva Realm would be able to catch him. At the same time, he reinforced the secret magic he was using to make sure the sandworms couldn’t detect him.

In that moment in which Master Cloud Lightning accelerated again, Bai Xiaochun utilized his Undying Hex. In the blink of an eye, his speed broke past its previous limit, causing him to shoot after Master Cloud Lightning like a bolt of lightning.

Because they had already been relatively close, he didn’t hesitate to follow through with... the Throat Crushing Grasp!

Considering that Master Cloud Lightning was in the mid Deva Realm, Bai Xiaochun’s goal with the Throat Crushing Grasp wasn’t to kill him, but rather... to limit his speed and drag him in with gravitational force.

As soon as he unleashed the technique, the gravitational force erupted out, and Master Cloud Lightning’s face fell with the realization that he was decelerating.

“This Bai Xiaochun really is a strange one!” he gasped. Everything happened in the time it takes a spark to fly off a piece of flint. There was no time to ponder what to do, so Master Cloud Lightning bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. Despite the difficult situation he was in, he still managed to speed up again!

A faint buzzing sound could be heard as he faded away even more; it almost seemed like he had limitless stores of energy to draw upon. A single step backward took him 3,000 meters away, and yet, even as he moved away, a smile appeared on Bai Xiaochun’s face.

This was just what he had been waiting for; for Master Cloud Lightning to use a trump card to gain more speed.

It was in that exact moment that Bai Xiaochun’s Heavenspan Dharma Eye opened, causing violet light to spill out and latch onto Master Cloud Lightning like fetters.

Master Cloud Lightning could tell that trouble was brewing, and it caused his face to fall. It suddenly felt like he was stuck in sludge, and in fact, was temporarily incapable of moving at all.

Although it only lasted for a short moment, when devas fought, many things could happen in that amount of time.

“Undying... Emperor’s Fist!” Bai Xiaochun shouted. A black vortex sprang up around his hand, and a shadowy emperor appeared behind him. Then, the fist strike was unleashed!

It was a quintuple strength Undying Emperor’s Fist!

Sand blasted out in all directions, and the nearby sandworms trembled and screamed. At the same time, Master Cloud Lightning’s eyes widened.

Never could he have imagined that a single lapse in judgement on his part would lead him into such a deadly moment of crisis!

“What divine ability is that!?” All of a sudden, the burly right side of his body swelled, erupting with black light. At the same time, he drew upon as much spiritual power from his cultivation base as he could, causing the black light to take the shape of an enormous devilish god!

The devilish god radiated extraordinary energy, the type that could crush even the heavens. However, it only had half a body! It wasn’t complete! Even still, it lunged forward to defend against Bai Xiaochun.

In the blink of an eye, it slammed into the Undying Emperor’s Fist!

A huge boom erupted out in all directions!