Chapter 318: Pursuit! Counterkill! Counter-Pursuit!

The mournful cry of a night owl echoed through the howling wind.

Tu Shan, cloaked in earthen-yellow spirit light, streaked forward with unimaginable speed, guided by spirit sense.

Earth Escape, a second-tier technique of the Five Element Escape Arts, it allowed cultivators to temporarily merge into the ambient earth-element spirit energy of the world. This drastically reduced resistance while fleeing or chasing.

More than that, the very essence of earth became their ally; when moving through soil, stone, or dust, that elemental energy pushed them forward with even greater speed.

Since stumbling upon this technique by sheer chance, Tu Shan’s life as a rogue cultivator had become far easier, almost leisurely. He raided when he needed to, pillaged when he pleased, and used the resources he gained to purchase pills and retreat into seclusion for focused cultivation. Even if someone tried to hunt him down, he rarely felt threatened.

With Earth Escape, he could soar over ten zhang in the blink of an eye back when he was still in the Qi-Refining Realm. After reaching Foundation Establishment, that range expanded dramatically. He now crossed dozens of zhang with each step, as if the very earth shrank to make his movement faster.

The only downside was its high consumption of spirit power. It couldn’t be sustained for long.

Well, no need to last long. I just have to catch Dan Chenzi, stall him a bit, and wait for Wang Haichao to catch up. Oh, there he is!

Eyes gleaming, Tu Shan burst from the ground. The instant he emerged, he launched an all-out strike.

A small seal expanded rapidly and slammed upward from below. It was as if the heavens and earth had flipped.

Yet what he saw was Luo Chen, utterly unruffled, calmly smiling.

What’s he smiling at?

Before Tu Shan could react, Luo Chen made his move.

His hands crossed in a blur, and in the blink of an eye, a towering earthen mountain, ten zhang in height, condensed before him. With a thunderous roar, it slammed downward, colliding head-on with the seal Tu Shan had launched. The two forces met in midair, locking in a trembling, shuddering stalemate.

Luo Chen stepped lightly onto the summit, sending tremendous power through the mountain and pressing the seal down with a thunderous roar.

Seizing the moment, Luo Chen opened his mouth and spat forth a golden sword orb. It exploded into radiant light.

A swarm of golden sword-lights surged toward Tu Shan.

Tu Shan had no time to check on the condition of his seal. In a panic, he activated his defensive artifact, a flying shield that quickly enveloped him.

He can control a sword orb? Is he a Jade Cauldron sword cultivator?!

The thought struck him like lightning.

Before he could dwell on it, the swordlights descended, clanging violently against the surface of his shield in a flurry of sharp, ringing impacts.

Clang!

Sword lights rained down outside the shield, ringing like chimes on steel. Still, he’d weathered the most dangerous volley.

"Dan Chenzi, give it up," Tu Shan called out confidently. "Fellow Daoist Wang will be here any moment now."

But just as a smug grin began to creep across his face, something shifted in his peripheral vision—a flicker of shadow, barely there.

Huh?

In that instant of shock, that shadow pounced like a snake, phasing right through the massive iron shield.

Roar!

"What the hell is that..."

It radiated a chill that was bone-deep; it felt sinister, unnatural, and there was nothing human about it.

As terror gripped Tu Shan, the shadow passed straight through him in an instant.

A moment later, it crouched nearby, silently devouring something clutched in its hands. Whatever it was, it consumed it with ravenous hunger.

Thud. Thud.

The imprint seal and iron shield, no longer sustained by anything, crashed heavily to the ground.

Luo Chen curled his lip in a faint sneer. He looked down at the lifeless corpse slumped beside the torn earth.

“A bold one, aren't you,” he said coldly. “Really thought you could chase me down alone?”

With a wave of his hand, the imprint seal, iron shield, Tu Shan’s storage pouch, and even his pristine robes flew into Luo Chen’s grip.

Luo Chen cast a brief glance over the items and shook his head in quiet disdain. The shield was poor quality—barely a top-grade artifact, and already on the verge of collapse after taking a hit from his sword orb.

The small seal, however, was a cut above. Carved with several array formations, it qualified as a supreme-grade enchanted artifact. Decent enough... for someone newly in Foundation Establishment. But in Luo Chen’s eyes, it was hardly worth mentioning.

Though it had seemed like Tu Shan had cornered him, Luo Chen had planned it all. Before the pursuit had even begun, he had planted the Soul-Refining Banner and summoned Little Black, his Ghost General, hiding him in the shadows nearby.

All he needed to do was unleash a brief, fierce offensive—just enough to throw Tu Shan off. That one moment of distraction was all Little Black required to strike the killing blow.

On the surface, it looked like two Foundation Establishment cultivators were chasing Luo Chen. But in reality, it was Luo Chen and a Ghost General of equal might, playing a deadly timing game.

"The roles have reversed," Luo Chen murmured. "Now, the hunter... is the prey."

Luo Chen raised his head sharply, his gaze locking forward.

Wang Haichao skidded to a halt, eyes wide in disbelief. "He killed him—instantly?!"

"Gang Leader Wang, why stand so far off? How about you come closer so we can catch up?" Luo Chen strode forward. His movements appeared casual, yet the air surged into a raging gust as he closed the distance.

With Perfected Mastery Carefree Wind-Control enhancing his form, golden light rippled around him. The tip of his sword pulsed with flickering sword-qi.

Seeing this, Wang Haichao shuddered involuntarily.

He instinctively stepped backward. "Luo Chen, surely this is all a misunderstanding!"

"A misunderstanding?" Luo Chen smiled but then bared his teeth in a snarl. "To hell with your misunderstanding!"

He raised two fingers like a blade. The sword orb erupted, launching a thousand rays of golden sword-light that surged forth like a tidal wave. The sheer speed was staggering.

"You really think I’m afraid of you?!" Wang Haichao snorted and swung his arm, unleashing a crashing wall of azure waves.

The blazing-fast sword lights slowed dramatically, halted by layer upon layer of surging water.

The sword light slowly dissipated.

I'm no sword cultivator. I can’t bring out the full power of a sword orb. If it were a true sword cultivator, I could’ve instantly gathered the scattered lights into a single blade and simply cut through.

Luo Chen sighed inwardly with a trace of regret.

He swept his wide sleeve and dissipated the remnants of that mighty strike completely.

Droplets infused with spirit energy drifted down from the sky, falling softly like a gentle rain.

Luo Chen’s eyes narrowed. Through the curtain of rain, he caught sight of Wang Haichao retreating in a frenzy, fleeing back the way he had come.

Wang Haichao’s heart pounded in terror. Luo Chen’s strength was beyond anything he had anticipated, and his strike had been completely useless.

He took down Tu Shan in a blink. I thought he’d just tamed a second-tier Explosive Ape, but he actually subdued a Ghost General?! The Soul-Refining Banner... wasn't that a secret weapon crafted by Li Da? Could it be that he spent those three missing years inside Ghost City?

No wonder Li Da vanished without a trace. I thought he just left Dahe Market, but it was Luo Chen all along, killing and looting...

Countless thoughts surged through his mind.

Wang Haichao had lost all will to confront Luo Chen. Facing both man and ghost, he knew he stood no chance. Worse still, Luo Chen’s explosive burst of speed was a terrible sign. If things devolved into a prolonged battle, he might not even have the chance to escape.

He decided to regroup with Huo Hu first; they’d deal with Luo Chen together.

Surely, with Huo Hu’s Foundation Establishment strength and a powerful enchanted treasure at his side, that brute Wang Yuan should be dead by now.

Wang Haichao sighed inwardly.

But right as that thought crossed his mind, a feeling of alarm surged through his chest. He stopped abruptly, activating his defensive shield in a flash.

Roar!

Roar!

Roar!

In the blink of an eye, three massive dragon heads surged forward with terrifying speed, slamming into his defensive barrier.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The impact sent the three azure flood dragons hurtling backward, flung hundreds of meters away by the sheer force of the rebound. Their towering forms visibly shrank, spirit energy dispersing with each retreat.

But when Wang Haichao refocused, his eyes widened.

Nine flood dragons, each one crackling with azure light, had already taken position. Above, below, left and right, from every angle, they encircled him like a tightening noose, cutting off every possible route of escape.

From the rear, a figure soared forth like a great roc rising with the wind. With a single leap, he landed atop the last of the spirit-formed flood dragons.

"Tsk tsk, not bad for a defensive artifact. Didn't expect it to come with recoil."

Wang Haichao took a deep breath, gripping his supreme-grade blue flying sword tightly.

When the hell did Luo Chen set all this up?

But that no longer mattered. He certainly wasn’t going to get an answer now. Glaring at the figure standing atop the spirit dragon, he growled, "Are you really going to push this all the way?"

"What else would you expect?" Luo Chen sneered.

He raised both hands into the air, his fingers moving with fluid precision as he cast seal after seal. Spirit light pulsed with every motion.

As an alchemist, his wealth far exceeded that of most cultivators, and after surviving several major battles, he had carefully absorbed the spoils into his personal arsenal, choosing only the most valuable and practical items.

Among all the artifacts in his possession, the one he used most frequently was the sword orb. It was fast, reactive, and capable of responding in an instant. It was his go-to for swift offense.

The one with the greatest destructive power was the Soul-Refining Banner. Not because of the banner itself, but because it housed Little Black, a second-tier Ghost General.

But ghost generals were notoriously difficult to control. After devouring Tu Shan’s divine soul just moments ago, Little Black was temporarily unresponsive, too full of consumed essence to act again so soon.

It was a misstep on Luo Chen’s part; he hadn’t mastered the intricacies of the banner yet. If he’d issued clearer commands beforehand, restricting Little Black from feeding mid-battle, the issue wouldn’t have arisen at all.

Still, beyond the sword orb and the Soul-Refining Banner, Luo Chen possessed one more artifact, an item whose strength had become increasingly prominent since his breakthrough into Foundation Establishment.

The Blue Musk Gathering Serpent Banner!

A supreme-grade enchanted artifact, it could summon multiple spirit-formed flood dragons when infused with enough spirit power. Not only that, it could also unleash clouds of toxic blue musk, suffocating and disorienting its foes.

In anyone else’s hands, its effects would be unremarkable.

But he had achieved Perfected Mastery in Traction, something that allowed him unparalleled control over a single artifact. Under his command, the banner became more than a weapon; it became a precise, lethal extension of his will.

Once the Blue Musk Gathering Serpent Banner summoned its flood dragons, it functioned almost like the commander of a synergistic artifact set. Only now was its full destructive potential truly coming to light.

As Luo Chen continued casting seals with unwavering focus, the three flood dragons previously shrunk by the force of Wang Haichao’s defensive counter strike were once more infused with spirit energy. Within just moments, they swelled back to their original, massive forms.

All nine of the blue musk flood dragons now surged with vitality. They glided through the air and circled around Wang Haichao like serpentine predators closing in.

At the sight of this, Wang Haichao’s blood ran cold. He understood now: This fight was going to be brutal. There would be no quick victory, and no easy escape.

With a fierce shout, he channeled his spirit power, and the flying sword in his grasp blazed to life, pulsing with intense azure light.

From a distance, Luo Chen observed the scene without a ripple of emotion. His heart was calm, and his gaze unflinching.

He lifted a single finger.

"Go!"

With that command, one of the spirit-formed flood dragons shot forward, jaws snapping in a vicious lunge.

It was merely a probing strike. Behind it, seven more dragons writhed forward, swaying and weaving through the air in pursuit.

"Slash!" Wang Haichao shouted.

A brilliant arc of sword light swept outward, clean and precise.

The first dragon vanished instantly, shattered into mist. The second, the third... in a heartbeat, five of the eight were gone, destroyed before they could make contact.

Only three remained, crashing straight into him.

Buzz...

The resonant hum of a defensive barrier rang out as the three dragons were thrown back several meters by the force of his protective shield.

"Luo Chen, did you really think—" Wang Haichao began smugly. But just as he reveled in his success, more flood dragons surged out from the misty void!

The spirit energy was endless, a cycle of unceasing renewal.

That truly is a supreme-grade enchanted artifact!

Wang Haichao stopped clinging to any false hope and poured his full concentration into fending off the oncoming spirit-formed dragons.

So it’s a battle of spirit power, is it?

He was at the third stage of Foundation Establishment; his spirit power was far superior to Luo Chen’s. He didn’t believe for a second that Luo Chen could outlast him while pushing a supreme grade enchanted artifact to its absolute limit. After all, flying swords consumed far less spirit energy than flags or banners.

The spirit-formed flood dragons charged relentlessly, one after another. His flying sword flared again and again with bursts of brilliance. What began as a fierce clash soon turned into a test of stamina, a battle of who would exhaust their spirit power first.

But barely half a cup of tea's time had passed when Wang Haichao’s expression began to shift.

His internal spirit power felt sluggish, congealed. He couldn’t draw on it at all. Even with his full focus, there was resistance and friction in every attempt to circulate his energy.

And with each breath, tendrils of blue musk clung to his nose.

Poison!

“Despicable!” Wang Haichao snarled.

Luo Chen’s eyebrow twitched.

Oh, he noticed?

“Well, isn't it the pot calling the kettle black?!” he snapped back coldly.

He stomped the ground. The dragon beneath his foot, dormant till now, suddenly collapsed into mist. A massive cloud of blue musk toxin billowed outward without a hint of restraint.

At the same moment, the remaining eight spirit-formed dragons all self-detonated.

Boom!

A violent surge of spirit energy exploded with deafening force.

Luo Chen reached up, and the Blue Musk Gathering Serpent Banner descended from the cloud layer into his palm. He gave it a quick glance. The banner was now sporting several deep cracks, and was practically one swing away from shattering.

In this battle, Luo Chen had truly used this artifact to its very limits. Those spirit-formed dragons were reborn again and again, but the cost was far more than just spirit energy.

But at the same time, with assaults of this magnitude, Wang Haichao surely wasn’t having an easy time either.

Luo Chen swiftly stowed away the nearly ruined Blue Musk Gathering Serpent Banner. Then, with a sharp exhale, he spat out his sword orb. In an instant, it transformed into a massive sword, which he gripped firmly in his hand.

The detonation of eight spirit-formed flood dragons had unleashed a cataclysmic wave of destruction. Dust surged into the air as waves of azure light burst outward, only to be beaten back by the sheer force of the aftermath, over and over.

And then, everything fell still. Even the light had been swallowed by the silence.

Is he dead?

Luo Chen thought to himself.

Just as Luo Chen was preparing to launch another strike, a blast of searing spirit power erupted from within the smoke. A streak of fire-red sword energy howled out, tearing through the dust like a burning comet, splitting sky and earth with terrifying force.

"An enchanted treasure?" Luo Chen muttered, his eyes narrowing. "No.. It’s the Mystic Flame Sword!"

Within the haze, Wang Haichao was in complete disarray.

His once-proud appearance was in shambles. His hair and beard had been completely burned away, his scalp raw and exposed. In his hands, a tortoiseshell shield—once a supreme-grade defensive artifact of the rare mystical level—was now riddled with deep cracks, its spirit light flickering weakly.

The supreme-grade enchanted artifact was utterly destroyed!

He had no spare energy to mourn it; he was gripping a blazing red flying sword, and the intense heat had already scorched away the flesh from his hands, exposing white bone beneath.

Shame... I haven’t had this enchanted treasure long enough to fully refine it, so it’s only at one third of its true power. But even so, it should be enough!

Muttering to himself, he peered through the swirling smoke.

And the next instant, his eyes widened in disbelief.

Through the thick smoke, Luo Chen’s figure stormed forward without the slightest attempt to dodge. The crimson sword energy struck him directly.

This was the strike Wang Haichao had poured all his remaining spirit power into, even sacrificing his hands to unleash it. Yet Luo Chen didn’t even try to avoid it! His cold, unyielding gaze locked onto Wang Haichao through the smoke!

How... dares he?!

Wang Haichao thought in horror.

Just as Wang Haichao reeled in disbelief, a black chess piece suddenly shot out from Luo Chen’s body.

A dark halo bloomed outward in an instant. The devastating Mystic Flame Sword made contact... and began to dissolve, inch by inch. The crimson energy unraveled into nothingness as it touched the black radiance.

As if... it had never existed at all.

“Valley of Ghosts and Divinities, Mi Shuhua... Forsaken Chess Piece...”

Whoosh!

The golden greatsword swept in a brilliant arc and Wang Haichao's head flew clean off.

Luo Chen let out a muffled grunt and struck the headless corpse with a distant palm strike.

Mountain Cleaving Monument Breaking Palm!

Boom!

The body exploded into countless fragments.

With a flick of his wrist, the storage pouch and the blazing Mystic Flame Sword flew into his hand. Clutching the bloodstained, still-searing blade, Luo Chen exhaled a long breath of turbid air.

“It’s only been in his possession a few days, and he already managed to refine it to a usable level. No doubt, that’s thanks to Huo Hu’s help!”

Huo Hu!

Thinking of Huo Hu, Luo Chen no longer hesitated. He launched into the sky. Soaring like a roc on the updraft, he shot straight toward the Gaoling Plains!