In the sky, a streak of escape light sped from south to north, shifting directions and adjusting its flight angle from time to time.
The reason for such evasive maneuvers was that streaks of light would emerge from other directions at any moment.
To the southeast, two identical men, each wielding a massive flail, stepped out of the void, looking with surprise toward the direction in which Luo Chen had departed.
"This man's divine sense is remarkably sharp. He actually detected our ambush in advance."
"No matter. Sharp divine sense and rapid flight speed or not, he still hasn't left the bounds of Lengguang Island. He won't get away!"
"Mm, let's keep pursuing!"
The Xiang brothers of Lianfeng Hao were top-tier experts second only to the Master of the Edge.
Though only at the sixth layer of Core Formation, they were masters of combined-attack techniques. When joining forces, even an ordinary Great Cultivator could suffer a severe loss if they were careless.
In another direction, several beams of magic treasure radiance suddenly flared, shooting toward the escape light.
The owner of the escape light released ring after ring in succession, warding off the long-range attacks of the magic treasures.
Yet there were simply too many, and the fire-attribute defensive spell lasted only a few clashes.
Seeing this, the Core Formation cultivators executing the attacks were initially overjoyed. Yet to their surprise, the rogue cultivator Luo Hai used the shockwaves of the attacks to accelerate, shooting straight out of their encirclement.
"Chase him!"
"Taking a blow gathered with all our might head-on, that man must be gravely wounded."
"He cannot escape. The Mountain Lord of my Baizao Mountain has already taken the field and stands directly in his path. At this moment, Luo Hai is a fish swimming into a cauldron, a turtle in a jar!"
"Who told him to be so blind as to compete with Baizao Mountain for that batch of mineral ores, wrecking our sect's forging plans for the next ten years?"
"Does anyone know what place lies ahead?"
"I know, it's the Mo family's fishery."
"The Mo family? That's fine then. That family is related to the Wu family by marriage. Though not very strong, they still possess a Core Formation cultivator. Now that their in-laws in the Wu family have suffered heavy losses, they won't just sit idly by. Send a voice transmission in advance to tell the Mo family to get ready."
***
Across the vast ocean, no island was in sight, but iron chains spanned the expanse!
*Clang!*
A figure dropped from the sky, landing atop an iron chain, his sharp gaze sweeping left and right.
Specially forged long iron chains crisscrossed across the water in all directions, and massive water tanks hung from them, bobbing up and down in the salty brine.
Inside the tanks, large, shimmering golden fish rested peacefully.
With Luo Chen's arrival, an immense spiritual pressure spread out unrestrainedly. Roused from their tranquil slumber, the large fish in the tanks began thrashing about in a frenzy.
"A fishery?"
Luo Chen frowned slightly.
He had seen places like this before.
Back in the Flying Swallow Archipelago, the Xu family where Xu Muxian belonged had specifically cordoned off a calm stretch of sea to rear spiritual fish.
Judging by what he saw, the golden fish inside the tanks were evidently the best-selling Golden Dragon Fish in the cities of the Northern Sea.
Though not of high rank, their meat was delicious and rich in spiritual energy.
He swept his divine sense across the waters and quickly found his objective.
"Senior, why did you pick a place like this?"
From deep beneath the sea, Han Zhan's voice floated up faintly: "This old man is just a wisp of a remnant soul with little Dharmic powers, and your spirit pet Tianxuan knows nothing about arrays. I had no choice but to borrow this second-tier water vein to set up the array."
Luo Chen was enlightened.
Golden Dragon Fish preferred clean waters and rich spiritual energy; they could only be reared in places teeming with it.
This meant that beneath this sea area lay a spiritual vein brimming with spiritual energy.
"Are you in good enough shape?" Han Zhan asked with concern.
Luo Chen looked inward, instantly taking stock of his condition.
In just two brief battles earlier—ignoring low-tier spells like the Fireball Art that consumed negligible Dharmic powers—he had unleashed five consecutive Qingyang Great Handprints and several Blazing Sun Arts and Landslide spells. Not only that, he had repeatedly deployed his natal magic treasure, the Hunyuan Cauldron, the Blazing Fire Miasma, and pushed the Poyue Wings to cast the Ninety Thousand Li flight art.
It could be said that his consumption of Dharmic powers was staggering.
Had it been an ordinary mid Core Formation cultivator, their Dharmic powers would have run completely dry by now.
Yet Luo Chen's Dharmic powers were so vast and profound that he had barely expended half.
"Still fit for battle!"
Hearing his reply, Han Zhan's worry dissipated considerably.
"That is well. Many people are besieging you this time, and those with higher cultivation than yours are everywhere.
"Thinking you can escape in one breath is sheer wishful thinking.
"In Feileng City, wary of the other Nascent Soul True Persons, it wasn't appropriate for me to intervene. Now that we are outside, I no longer have my hands tied.
"Now, let us settle everything in a single stroke, wipe out these tails, and then the wide sea and high sky will be yours to roam freely.
"Are you ready?"
Faced with this question, Luo Chen bared his teeth in a fierce grin.
"You should ask whether *they* are ready!"
As he spoke, he patted the Hunyuan Cauldron.
The next moment, a serpentine figure several zhang long slithered out from within.
The instant it emerged, its body began expanding continuously—ten zhang, twenty zhang, thirty zhang... until in the end, it was a colossal fifty zhang long!
Inspecting its aura, it had long surpassed early third-rank and reached the mid third-rank tier.
In fact, it seemed only a step away from being a late third-rank Great Demon King.
Luo Chen nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that the corpse of the Cliff Snake had indeed been of immense help to Black King.
Crouching beneath the surface of the water, Black King droned in a menacing, gravelly tone, "Master, what is the plan? Black King awaits your command!"
He had been asleep inside the Hunyuan Cauldron all this time.
During this past half-year of travel, Luo Chen had not used the cauldron to refine pills, so Black King had slept quite soundly.
However, with the Hunyuan Cauldron mobilized repeatedly in several intense battles just now, he naturally knew what was happening outside.
Thus, the moment he emerged, he immediately volunteered for duty.
Luo Chen pointed beneath the water, his lips parting and closing as he conveyed instructions.
Having received his orders, Black King did not hesitate in the slightest. With a whip of his flood dragon tail, he plunged beneath the waves.
As he entered the water, the Golden Dragon Fish that had been violently crashing against the tanks suddenly fell dead silent, terrified to move an inch.
The majesty of a flood dragon naturally suppressed these low-tier demon beasts carrying faint dragon bloodlines.
Luo Chen's preparations did not end there.
"Tianxuan, go outside the array. If anyone flees from it, strike them down.
"Kill if you can, but do not be greedy for merit!"
From beneath the sea, Tianxuan stepped forth, clutching a plantain fan.
Luo Chen glanced at the plantain fan. "If you haven't mastered its refining, try not to use it, lest you suffer backlash from the magic treasure."
"Thank you for your concern, Master. Tianxuan knows what to do. I will give my all in this battle!"
Tianxuan bowed respectfully, then soared straight into the blue sky, vanishing into the boundless wind and clouds.
By this point, Luo Chen had done all he could.
Next, it was time to welcome his guests properly.
Indeed, after choosing his battleground, he—an outsider to Lengguang Island—was going to turn the tables and play host, treating his enemies to a proper reception!
"A pity the Profound Fire Sword is gone. Otherwise, I would be even more formidable in this battle."
Luo Chen muttered to himself and reached out, clenching his fist.
The crimson chains extending from the Hunyuan Cauldron behind him converged from nine into one, turning into a long whip that fell into his grip.
He stood quietly on the long iron chain, letting the sea breeze gently brush past him, his eyes half-open and half-closed.
Inside his body, the Golden Core spun continuously, drawing in the stray worldly spiritual energy to replenish his Dharmic powers.
Not only that, he held a top-grade True Flame Pill in his mouth to restore his reserves.
Luo Chen did not have to wait long.
Those pursuing him were all cultivators of formidable skill.
Their flying speeds were naturally not far behind his.
Luo Chen's eyes snapped open.
"Here they come!"
The long whip cracked through the air.
*Snap!*
A beam of black light was whipped out of the void.
It turned into a black flying knife, whooshing back into its owner's hand.
Midair, Qian Ting, patriarch of the Qian family, garbed in opulent robes, glared down at Luo Chen with a somber, sinister gaze.
"Run! Why aren't you running anymore?"
Luo Chen's expression remained calm. "Just you?"
Before Qian Ting could speak, silhouettes began manifesting around him one after another.
There were the identical twin brothers wielding strange flail-like magic treasures;
a burly, bare-chested brute carrying a massive warhammer;
a white-haired old crone fluttering a black cattail fan, radiating spiritual energy fluctuations no weaker than Luo Chen's;
and finally, a mid Core Formation cultivator flying on a golden sword, who landed beside Qian Ting.
One, two, three... six people!
The lowest in cultivation among them—the white-haired old woman—was at the fourth layer of Core Formation.
Luo Chen's eyes swept over them one by one, forming an estimate in his mind.
"The Qian family, Lianfeng Hao, Baizao Mountain... Heh, is there no one left from the Wu family?"
Faced with his mockery, Qian Ting sneered. "Of course the Wu family still has people. You killed Wu Di and the other two; how could the Wu family let this drop? However, since you cannot even withstand the few of us, I'm afraid you won't live to see the Wu family arrive."
Luo Chen raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Just as his words trailed off, a strange humming sound arose across the fishery.
It sounded like surging sea waves, yet also like the resonance of the iron chains separating the area from the outside world.
Finally!
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Eight pillars of light shot straight up from the deep sea, completely enveloping the entire fishery.
The eight pillars linked together, forming a light barrier that blotted out the sky and sun.
A peculiar fluctuation of Dharmic power rippled outward, attempting to ensnare everyone present.
The six Core Formation cultivators had sensed something amiss the moment the sea began to tremble.
Therefore, they had already prepared themselves in advance.
Sensing the peculiar Dharmic fluctuation now, they immediately unfurled their Dharmic powers to push it away.
"An array!"
"This scoundrel had a trap prepared. Everyone, be careful!"
"What array is this? Aside from this strange fluctuation trying to seal our Dharmic powers, there are no obvious signs."
"Who cares what array it is—break it first!"
Without hesitation, the six urged their magic treasures and struck at the light barrier.
During this, each of them kept part of their attention on Luo Chen, staying on guard.
Yet Luo Chen remained motionless, looking as though he were merely watching a show.
Then, a scene that astonished the six unfolded.
No matter how they attacked, the light barrier, though initially fragile and damaged, grew increasingly resilient.
Not only that, tendrils of black mist began spreading across it as the boundless moisture from the ocean converged toward it.
Watching this, Luo Chen showed a look of satisfaction.
As expected of a Nascent Soul True Person!
Though Han Zhan could not use eight spider legs as array foundations like that Demon Spider Crab Demon King had, he had taken an ingenious alternative: utilizing the souls of eight Demon Kings from the Ten Thousand Soul Banner as array foundations!
Combined with the Fengshen Compass under Han Zhan's control acting as the array core,
the Sea-Sealing Bagua Array reappeared in the world!
In fact, at this moment, it was no longer just a third-tier array; its might was fast approaching that of a fourth-tier grand array!
It combined trapping and killing into one.
Back then, Luo Chen had only managed to blast an opening through it by relying on the Hunyuan Cauldron, peerless brute strength, and the Wither-Bloom True Fire.
Now that the array was even more formidable, how could six mere Core Formation cultivators break it easily?
At this moment, this fishery had become a life-and-death arena for the seven of them!
And as time progressed, the advantage would inevitably tip in his favor.
"Luo Chen, fight with bold abandon! Now, they are the turtles in the jar, waiting for you and me to butcher!"
Luo Chen grinned broadly. "Just what I had in mind!"
The next moment, he shot forward, hurtling directly toward the golden-sword cultivator who had arrived last.
He had heard this man was named Jin Zhan, an elder of a different surname in the Qian family who possessed his own Jin Zhan Shop in Feileng City.
However, this man's cultivation was unimpressive, and the magic treasure he used was merely the most common golden sword favored by Qian family Core Formation cultivators.
Since he was the last to arrive, his strength was bound to be the lowest.
Seeing Luo Chen lunging straight for him, Jin Zhan looked rather nervous.
The opponent clearly intended to pick off the softest persimmon first!
"Do not panic!"
"He is alone! This array was surely laid by that female Core Formation cultivator who fled earlier. Her strength is mediocre; setting up such an array must have drained her completely, leaving her no strength to aid Luo Hai."
"Since we cannot escape the array, we shall kill him first!"
Qian Ting commanded from the center, immediately unleashing his black flying knife magic treasure to attack Luo Chen.
The others followed suit.
Confronted with the onslaught of multiple magic treasures—flying knife, warhammer, cattail fan, golden sword, and two giant flails sweeping in from left and right—even Luo Chen had to abandon his overly obvious scheme.
He had to weather this barrage first!
Without a second thought, he transformed his body.
In the blink of an eye, the Heavenly Roc True Form, over a dozen zhang tall, manifested before the six cultivators.
As the six attacks bore down upon him, Luo Chen struck out repeatedly with both hands.
Cloud-Seeking Divine Claw!
*Boom!*
A thunderous roar shook the fishery.
With just that single clash, the tens of thousands of Golden Dragon Fish reared here were completely reduced to powder.
Luo Chen himself was blasted down into the depths of the sea.
Seeing this, the Xiang brothers spoke in unison: "Nothing more than this!"
Seeing Luo Chen unleash a body-transformation art earlier, they had thought it would be terrifying.
They hadn't expected it to be mere superficial swagger.
However, Qian Ting's expression changed slightly.
"No, he's still alive!"
The next instant, an immense silhouette broke through the water.
Wings spanned the sky, and the long whip dispersed once more into nine chains, flailing unceasingly through the air like tentacles.
In the giant's grasp, a massive cauldron had appeared at some point.
Azure flames swirled around the cauldron, turning it into what looked like a colossal fireball.
At a glance, it looked like a giant hefting a blazing sun!
The giant strode forward, covering a hundred zhang with every step.
He swung the cauldron down from above!
The bare-chested brute from Baizao Mountain commanded his giant warhammer to meet it head-on.
*Boom!*
With a single collision, the man suffered a catastrophic blow and spat out a mouthful of blood.
Simply because under this strike, his natal magic treasure warhammer had been shattered to pieces!
Perhaps the Hunyuan Cauldron had not yet been tempered to perfection by Luo Chen, and its various miraculous properties had only been partially unlocked, leaving its power at the mid-grade tier.
Yet its base material was truly rare in the world.
After all, without relying on any additional powers, its raw materials alone had pushed the treasure to the high-grade tier.
Add to that the monstrous strength of Luo Chen's Heavenly Roc True Form,
and with a single blow, nothing could stand in its way!
While the warhammer cultivator had stepped forward, the other five naturally hadn't stood idle.
They were about to attack at the very same instant.
Yet suddenly, the grand array shifted, and dense spectral shadows surged from the water barrier, engulfing the five.
This gave Luo Chen the chance for a one-on-one duel.
With his natal magic treasure destroyed, the warhammer cultivator was grievously wounded through the spiritual connection and retreated in panic.
Yet the moment he stepped outside the formation of the other five, a flood dragon whipped its tail deep beneath the sea, stirring up violent wind and waves.
A gaping, bloody maw opened from the depths.
A terrifying devouring pull dragged him straight in.
Black King cast a cold, menacing glance at the remaining five before diving back into the deep sea.
That single glance sent their hearts pounding violently.
This rogue cultivator was not alone!
He had a helper!
While their minds were shaken, a voice that seemed to rise from the nine nether realms echoed in their ears:
"Are you distracted?"
Abruptly!
In the sky, like a divine bird governing flames, he hurled the flaming cauldron through the void with one hand.
Not only that!
He struck out with both hands, sending massive azure handprints crashing down one after another!
On the sea surface, ripples churned as concave handprints were stamped into the water.
Even the residual power was this terrifying; the five bearing the brunt felt it all the more acutely.
Confronted by the hurtling giant cauldron, Qian Ting opened his mouth and spat out a beam of white light. The black flying knife circling him shot upward alongside it.
Furthermore, with a flick of his wrist, a bronze basin appeared atop his palm.
Radiance erupted from the bronze basin, enveloping his entire body.
Yet even so, he was battered into staggering instability by the giant cauldron.
Under the barrage of Qingyang Great Handprints, the remaining four unleashed their respective capabilities.
After all, this was only cast in haste, not comparable to the fully charged blow on Xuanyan Island back then; the four Core Formation cultivators were able to resist by deploying their various methods.
However, as they resisted, sudden shifts overtook the grand array.
Dense black mist coalesced into tall silhouettes that pounced on them one-on-one.
With just a brief exchange, the old woman who had been violently fluttering her black cattail fan died silently, her eyes bulging outward.
Jin Zhan continuously swung the golden sword in his hand, scattering broad swaths of sword light.
Yet he still could not withstand the pincer attack of the Qingyang Great Handprint and a ghost king.
With a single slip, he was knocked tumbling into the sea below.
As for the Xiang brothers, undaunted in the face of danger, the flails in their hands whirled, not only deflecting the Qingyang Great Handprint, but even scattering the two approaching ghost kings.
High in the sky,
Luo Chen recalled the Hunyuan Cauldron, looking at the fruits of this clash with satisfaction.
Sure enough, that epiphany had brought him immense benefits.
After comprehending the essence of power,
now, when casting spells in his Heavenly Roc True Form, his Dharmic powers and blood vitality no longer conflicted and could be interchanged at will.
*Clang, clang, clang...*
Luo Chen frowned slightly and recalled the crimson chains that had been attacking relentlessly.
In the air, two beams of light—one black, one white—circled around before returning to Qian Ting's side and falling into his basin.
Looking closely, they were actually two flying knives, one black and one white.
At this moment, within the bronze basin, they looked like two yin-yang fish swimming about.
Looking past the two flying knives, Luo Chen stared at the bronze basin, a look of surprise crossing his face.
"Another fine treasure!"
Chapter 584