Chapter 1977: Pursuit

The black line took to the sky, then silently split into an enormous net.

A taboo tower suddenly restricted the sky on all sides with Su Yi at its center, putting Su Yi under a terrifying suppression.

Space itself seemed to have frozen!

Su Yi’s cultivation base, body, and soul couldn’t budge in the slightest.

“Capture!” Off in the distance, the thin old man in plain robes bellowed, and the enormous black net instantly enveloped Su Yi.

Kcch kcch kcch!

The enormous black net erupted with strange power as it relentlessly constricted, slicing open countless gashes in Su Yi’s skin. He was thoroughly bound, head to toe.

It wasn’t that Su Yi didn’t try to resist, but that the black net’s power was far too terrifying. It relentlessly neutralized and suppressed his power!

This sudden development caught even Su Yi off guard.

Boom!

Without the slightest hesitation, Su Yi drew on the power of reincarnation, and when he exerted his will, the Sword of Proximity whooshed forth and erupted with chaos-like sword light.

Countless black strands floated to the ground as the net tore open!

When he saw that Su Yi was about to break free, the gaunt old man smiled faintly, flipped his hand, and said, “Imprison!”

The sky collapsed, and black light, like the darkness of an eternal night, condensed into a prison and ruthlessly suppressed Su Yi.

Su Yi used the Sword of Proximity to fight back, but every time he sliced the prison open, it recovered in the blink of an eye.

It was as futile as trying to cut a river with a knife. The prison was like an endless, surging current, and not even a secret chaos treasure like the Sword of Proximity could cut through it.

This was unquestionably far too terrifying!

“Heretic, no matter how crafty you might be, you cannot escape the Seamless Prison I crafted just for you!” The old man appeared outside the prison in a single step, raised his hand, and formed a hand seal. “Bind!”

The old man’s tone was as light and airy as if he were commenting on the weather, but when he attacked, he was more than just ruthless. He was as quick and direct as could be.

From the moment he first appeared, he was like a sovereign, and the situation was firmly under his control. To Su Yi, every movement and every gesture the old man took was like absolute suppression!

For a moment, even Su Yi felt a strong sense of crisis.

“Break!” He bellowed, his gaze as deep as an abyss.

Boom!

The Sword of Proximity rumbled and boomed, its hums sweeping out like the tide. When it swung, the strange Seamless Prison split and collapsed.

The old man’s pupils constricted, and he swung his palm to block.

Bang!!

A heaven-shaking impact rang out, and the old man staggered on his feet. A muffled grunt of agony escaped his lips.

Su Yi suffered a terrifying backlash too, but he managed to borrow the collision’s power to retreat explosively. In the blink of an eye, he was ten thousand feet away.

Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and fled. He could already tell that this old-timer was none other than Old Man Providence, the Angler the spearwoman had warned him about. He was a Master God!

This old-timer was also Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor’s divine backer.

There’d been a grudge between them since well before he had ascended to the Immortal Realm.

After Su Yi’s ascension, the Angler commanded the forces of Cloud Apparatus Immortal Manor to chase him. He'd even sent one of his divine emissaries, Hei Mo!

How could Su Yi possibly forget a grudge like that?

But he would never have guessed that the old man would appear out of nowhere and deliver a surprise attack just as he was about to break through!

Even though the old man was obviously just an avatar of will, he was terrifyingly strong. He was far, far stronger than Divine Venerate Luo Heng’s avatar of will.

The slash that tore open the Seamless Prison had been full of the aura of the Sword of the Nine Hells. It would have been enough to devastate Divine Venerate Luo Heng’s avatar of will, but it wasn’t enough to hurt the Angler!

The comparison was stark. Su Yi knew that he couldn’t break through this by force!

“Just as I suspected. Your greatest trump card really was that sword, heretic!” The moment Su Yi fled, the Angler took a step forward. Space shrank beneath his feet as he gave chase.

Black light of the natural order poured down around him, and although his gait seemed unhurried, he was moved with downright shocking speed.

He was gradually nearing Su Yi!

“But you’ve yet to even become a god. I can tell that your cultivation base is far from sufficient to display the sword’s true power,” the Angler said leisurely. “Compared to your past life, you're… hah! You’re far too weak!”

Su Yi disregarded him. As he fled, he drew on the Tree of All Worlds with all his might. Even so, the Angler was gradually gaining on him!

Su Yi couldn’t help but be solemn. The avatar of a Master God was truly far too terrifying. He couldn’t even imagine how terrifying the Angler’s true body would have been!

But Su Yi wasn’t at all panicked. He’d overcome far too many incomparable perils and life-and-death struggles. This little interlude didn’t count for anything.

“I want to prove my Dao and break through, but my opportune moment vanished inexplicably. Was that your doing, old man?” Su Yi asked suddenly.

His opportunity had been at arm’s reach, only to vanish out of nowhere. Then, the Angler appeared immediately afterward! How could that possibly have been a coincidence?

“Strange. Don’t tell me you’ve yet to regain the memories of your past life? Otherwise, how could you be ignorant of even that?” A strange light shone in the Angler’s eyes.

Su Yi’s question had inadvertently given him useful leads!

“That’s right.” Su Yi didn’t hide it. The Angler’s reply was confirmation enough that his lost opportunity to break through was indeed the old man’s doing!

“No wonder!” The Angler visibly relaxed, his face nothing but smiles. “In your past life, you would never have asked such a stupid question.”

Then, out of nowhere, he swung his sleeves. A streak of black thread pierced the sky and vanished.

A moment later, it reappeared immediately in front of Su Yi and transformed into a towering and majestic divine mountain. Countless illusory divine figures appeared on its slopes, their combined majestic auras blanketing the sky and blotting out the sun!

Su Yi’s pupils constricted. He waved his sword and attacked furiously.

He didn’t retreat, nor did he hesitate in the slightest. If he did, the Angler was sure to catch up to him!

Boom!

One hundred thousand feet of sword qi imbued with the aura of the Sword of the Nine Hells descended. One slash, and the towering black mountain split open. The illusory gods covering its slopes popped like soap bubbles on impact.

Su Yi seized the opportunity to slip through the gash, entirely unharmed!

But the Angler wasn’t at all concerned. He laughed, “The more you use that sword, the more you’ll drain your cultivation base. How much longer can you last?”

“Isn’t that true for you too? You’re just an avatar of will, and whatever you expend, you won’t be able to recover,” said Su Yi calmly. He didn’t so much as turn his head.

The Angler couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Then we’ll just have to see who can hold out the longest!”

With that, he raised his left hand and crushed a secret talisman.

Bang!!

A streak of firelight soared into the firmament.

A moment later, a colorful, illusory treasure tower appeared above Su Yi’s head, then descended ruthlessly.

At a critical juncture, the Sword of Proximity hovering above his head rumbled, and its edge swept backward.

Boom!

The entire stretch of sky collapsed, and the treasure tower dissipated, but its power was so strange and terrifying that Su Yi nonetheless staggered on impact.

The Angler seized the opportunity to appear out of nowhere, form a seal with both hands, and strike the air.

“Seal!” Countless black threads interwove, flashing with taboo, mysterious markings. It was so vast that it seemed to blanket the sky and blot out the sun as it thoroughly wrapped around Su Yi.

The most terrifying part was that this secret art severed the sky and separated the space within from the outside world. It was as if those imprisoned within had been exiled by Heaven’s Will. Even their six senses were blocked off completely.

All they saw was an endless field of darkness. They couldn’t sense anything at all!

It was just as Luo Tiandu had said. No matter a god’s cultivation base, the avatars of will they sent into the Immortal Realm were restricted to the Lesser God level.

But even so, a Master God’s avatar of will was sure to be the most terrifying. They controlled all manner of unbelievable, forbidden divine abilities. A true Lesser God wasn’t even worth looking at compared to them!

That was true of the Angler as well. His avatar’s raw strength wasn’t much different from Luo Heng’s, but the abilities at his disposal were far, far more terrifying.

“Break!” The moment he was trapped, Su Yi felt the prickling sensation of an imminent lethal threat all over his skin. He didn’t hesitate in the slightest. His cultivation base erupted, igniting like a furnace as he poured everything he had into the Sword of the Nine Hells.

The Sword of Proximity rumbled and boomed, and sword light swept outward like a wave of chaos.

Bang!!

The darkness woven out of countless black threads suffered a terrifying impact, leaving it riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse.

When that terrifying sword qi swept outward, even the Angler was forced back. His expression darkened, and before he’d even managed to steady himself, he raised his hand and struck the air.

Bang!

Su Yi was sent flying backward, coughing up blood. He now had a startling, palm-shaped imprint on his back. His skin and flesh tore, and his bones and tendons snapped, gushing fresh blood.

But he didn’t care in the slightest. On the contrary, he managed to borrow that palm strike’s power to create hundreds of thousands of feet of distance between himself and the Angler.

The Angler frowned. He’d originally been almost completely confident in his ability to capture Su Yi. He would never have thought that the Heretic Reincarnator would be this stubborn. He hadn’t even regained his memories of his past life yet!

Moreover, he was only in the Great Unity Stage, but his combat strength was comparable to a Lesser God’s!

Especially when he used that Dao Sword. Its power was far too taboo. Every time he drew upon it, he managed to escape what might otherwise have been a lethal attack.

This completely overturned the Angler’s predictions.

Nonetheless, a moment later, he laughed coldly. “Let’s see how much longer you can jump about!”

He took a step forward and gave chase.

One fled, and the other chased, each moving faster than the other. The Angler attacked several times along the way, but Su Yi avoided all of his “unstoppable, surefire killer moves” by a hair.

The Angler’s smile was now nowhere to be found. He had never even considered the possibility that Su Yi would be this troublesome, even when his avatar of will took action personally!

The longer this goes on, the more likely variables are to arise. If the other old-timers find us, it’ll be difficult to take the heretic down myself.

The Angler’s expression shifted. He wasn’t the only Master God to have descended into the Epoch Battlefield.

Moreover, he dared say with certainty that the other old-timers had sensed the ongoing chase, and that they’d started taking action!

Su Yi wasn’t any threat to speak of, but the other old-timers weren’t so easy to handle. The moment a fierce conflict arose, the outcome would be difficult to predict!

The Angler couldn’t help but feel a hint of urgency.