Relentless Pursuit

Daoist Zilei strode upon the rainbow bridge. In just a few steps that seemed slow yet were deceptively swift, he traversed it. The rainbow bridge vanished in a flash. Fiend-winds surged once more, and the restrictive arrays reasserted themselves. Daoist Zilei had vanished like a wild swan into the boundless sky. Had everyone present not witnessed it with their own eyes—and had the restrictive arrays not appeared altered, the fiend-winds no longer churning as violently as before—they might have thought what they had just seen was a mere illusion. Even so, the power of the Eight Views Palace Lantern to still fiend-winds and pierce restrictive arrays left everyone thoroughly shaken and deeply wary. Dishou Mountain was blanketed in layers of restrictive arrays, their auras intricately interwoven. Though the others had their own ways to force their way up against the fiend-winds, doing so as effortlessly as Daoist Zilei to ascend straight to the peak in one bound was utterly impossible. What had happened up on the mountain? The same question surfaced in everyone's minds. In that fleeting glimpse, they had seen that Daoist Zilei's destination appeared to be near the summit, yet they could not see clearly, nor did they know the exact location or what anomaly had arisen there. All they knew was that he was likely not after the Daoist nun. There were only a handful of top experts who had ascended Dishou Mountain, so it was not difficult to deduce. In this battle at the medicine garden, most everyone had been present, including that Daoist nun of unknown origin. That left only the two old devils of Tianhao Tower, as well as the scar-faced man and Cave Master Qiling, whose whereabouts were unknown. The latter two had never shown their faces at all, and it remained uncertain whether they were even on Dishou Mountain. The most likely culprits were Old Demon Zhu and Old Demon Fan. No one knew what those two devils had done to provoke such an intense reaction from Daoist Zilei. For a moment, everyone covertly and overtly watched Daoist Hegao. Looking at Daoist Hegao's expression, he clearly showed some surprise as well, yet he undoubtedly knew something, for his composure quickly returned. However, some had their sights set elsewhere and possessed no interest in any of this. Qin Sang was one of them. From start to finish, he had never drawn too close to the medicine garden, keeping his attention fixed on the Daoist nun. Sweeping a cursory glance over the garden, he caught sight of several celestial blossoms and spirit trees nestled deep amidst the earthen mounds. Wanlixiang, Ganlu Mingtan... Name after name flashed through Qin Sang's mind, and he recognized most of them. These spirit herbs actually largely matched Daoist Zilei's earlier assessments. "All are rare, precious spirit herbs seldom seen in the outside world!" Qin Sang clicked his tongue. To claim he was unmoved would be a lie. Ever since the Wuxiang Immortal Sect had sealed its grounds, this was the medicine garden's first opening. To seize a share of them would make the entire trip worthwhile. Yet priorities had to be weighed; treasures differed in importance. At most, these spirit herbs could save some cultivation time—how could they compare to a treasure for crossing tribulation? Naturally, had the Lingxi Celestial Fruit truly existed, Qin Sang would have stayed. But that had clearly been a trap set by the Daoist nun using the garden's restrictions—an illusion. If the Lingxi Celestial Fruit were real, the Daoist nun would have had to be mad to use it as bait. How could Qin Sang fail to understand the wisdom of knowing what to pursue and what to forfeit? Daoist Zilei's abrupt departure via the rainbow bridge also instilled a sense of urgency in Qin Sang. He knew full well that even with the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's assistance, breaking through the dense layers of restrictive arrays in a short time to catch up with Daoist Zilei and the others at the mountain summit would be exceedingly difficult. If he wished to vie for the Wordless Jade Wall, his only entry point was through the Daoist nun. Thus, once the nun fled, Qin Sang retreated after her without hesitation, observing subsequent developments through his Heavenly Eye divine ability. Another person whose mind was elsewhere was the Poison King. Catching a hurried glimpse of the Lingxi Celestial Fruit had stoked greed in his heart, but once he confirmed it was merely another of the Daoist nun's traps, the Poison King promptly cast aside all distracting thoughts and recalled his true purpose. A black thread crept out from his sleeve, traveled across his fair wrist into his palm, and swallowed a drop of his essence blood. The Poison King turned slightly pale. Everyone's attention was drawn by Daoist Zilei, and none noticed the Poison King's strange movement. The Poison King was repeating what he had done before the jade gate—relying on the power of his Gu insect to sense the location of the jade beetle. With so many top experts gathered in one place, this was the optimal moment to use the secret technique. Moreover, due to the closer proximity, the cost was somewhat lower than before. The secret technique completed, the Poison King abruptly whipped his head around to stare directly in the direction where Qin Sang had vanished. The Gu insect in his palm hissed toward Qin Sang—there was no mistake. The Poison King's heart sank; his suspicion had proven true—the Gu King had changed masters! He had finally locked onto the Gu King's position, yet his mood grew heavier still. If even the Gu King was lost, one could easily imagine the scar-faced man's fate. Ever since entering the mountain, this Fire Demon had not appeared to have any helpers. Did that not mean he possessed the strength to slay a Great Cultivator single-handedly? From what the Poison King knew of the scar-faced man, the man had tamed the Gu King, and his mastery of poison techniques and Wood-element divine abilities had reached the pinnacle; among all Great Cultivators, he was by no means weak. He did not know whether Cave Master Qiling had been present at the time, but if it had been one against two... The Poison King felt a chill in his heart. He shook his head inwardly, deeming it impossible, yet his wariness toward Qin Sang did not diminish in the slightest. Naturally, with Myriad Poison Mountain's sacred relic—this Fifth-Transformation insect Gu—by his side, the Poison King did not necessarily fear Qin Sang. His thoughts churning, the Poison King actually gave up on the spirit herbs in the garden as well. With a flicker, he turned into a streak of seven-colored escape light, tracking the trail in the direction Qin Sang had gone. The Poison King's departure drew the gazes of the remaining three. Both Mo Xingdao and Su Zinan were greatly surprised; they had never heard of any grudge between the Poison King and the Fire Demon. Mo Xingdao pondered in secret. He had originally wanted to join hands with the Fire Demon to teach Su Zinan a lesson, never expecting the man to retreat so decisively, appearing completely unwilling to be dragged into the vortex of chaos. It was a wise move. Yet the way he had turned a blind eye to the spirit herbs in the medicine garden, showing zero inclination to vie for them, was quite intriguing. When all was said and done, they still had to find out what had happened at the mountain summit. Su Zinan knew more, and thus considered far more. By now, he had provoked two formidable enemies and had been warned by the Daoist sects. His situation was dire—scarcely better than Zhu Wudao's—and his hope of claiming a third primary soul was slim. If he could not attain completion, he would have to think carefully about where he would stand once he departed. Fortunately, Bajing Abbey drew the eyes of the realm, acting as a shield in front to buy him time. The most pressing matter was what lay right before him. Su Zinan's gaze followed the movement of the Poison King's escape light, yet his thoughts lingered on the Fire Demon. Had this person been drawn away by whatever had transpired with Daoist Zilei, or had he set his sights on the Daoist nun? The Bingyi Divine Plate was undeniably in his hands. Earlier, that man had waited until the Daoist nun revealed herself before striking, which indicated he was determined to obtain the Fire Rhinoceros Pendant. A look of doubt crossed Su Zinan's face. In Old Man Yanshan's memories, the purpose of the Bingyi Divine Plate and the Fire Rhinoceros Pendant was to suppress the yin and yang apertures of the tribulation-crossing array; there was no connection between them, nor should they resonate with each other. And then there was the Poison King's action... Su Zinan was on the verge of moving by instinct when, to his surprise, he saw that Daoist Hegao had not followed Daoist Zilei. Casting merely a glance toward the mountain summit, Daoist Hegao swept straight into the depths of the medicine garden. Daoist Hegao's move once again tugged at the minds of Mo Xingdao and Su Zinan. Bajing Abbey was the preeminent leader of the Daoist sects and surely lacked no spirit herbs. If Daoist Hegao was unwilling to leave, had he discerned something special? Whatever thoughts ran through their minds, Qin Sang had already detached himself from the situation and was pursuing the Daoist nun. By now, he no longer concealed himself—nor could he do so any longer. Firmly locked onto the Daoist nun's position and hugging the very edge of the boundary restriction, he beat his phoenix wings furiously, turning into a bolt of lightning in relentless pursuit. The Daoist nun had already sensed him and constantly changed direction. Yet even while merged into the boundary restriction, her speed was slower than before, and there was a noticeable sluggishness in her maneuvers, proving her injuries were far from light. He had Daoist Zilei to thank as well. The divine ability of channeling sword art through thunder techniques was truly formidable; the Daoist nun had been struck simultaneously by the Seven Souls Slaying Array and the Six Pitches of Slaughter. Two extremely powerful yet completely distinct sword intents had penetrated her body, wreaking rampant destruction and violently clashing against one another. Though their sword intents did not share the same origin, both were peerlessly domineering, unyielding and incapable of compromise. The battlefield was the Daoist nun's body. This had also been deliberate on the part of Qin Sang and Daoist Zilei. Given time, it would not be hard for the Daoist nun to expel the sword intents, but with Qin Sang pressing hard on her heels, how could he give her any chance to heal? A streak of lightning wove through the fiend-winds. The space ahead of the lightning was empty, yet Qin Sang could feel the Daoist nun hiding within the boundary restriction, the distance between them steadily closing. Having failed repeatedly and ended up in such a wretched state, a nameless fury flared in the Daoist nun's heart. Even now, she did not know how Qin Sang was tracking her; her reasoning had gone astray, assuming he was merely sensing the residual sword intent inside her body. It was not that she hadn't considered stopping Qin Sang. But this was not the Five Elements Divine Restriction; she could not control the spiritual arrays and restrictions here. Stirring up the magnificent anomalies on the mountain had only been possible because she utilized the power of the wind array's fiend-winds, channeling them through the boundary restriction to impact various locations and forcibly trigger all the restrictive arrays. That did not mean she could command them. Using the spiritual array guarding the medicine garden to set a trap had taken considerable effort and was actually quite a strain; at the final moment, she had nearly bungled it. Had she known it would turn out like this, she would rather have failed! Once activated, the restrictive arrays throughout the mountain recognized neither friend nor foe, and the Daoist nun could no longer traverse them at will. Naturally, relying on the boundary restriction gave her a slight edge over Qin Sang, allowing her to easily manipulate a fraction of them to create obstacles for him. The problem was that Qin Sang also had the Heavenly Eye Butterfly's assistance. Because the Daoist nun acted in haste, her methods lacked precision, which amounted to laying flaws out in plain sight before the Heavenly Eye Butterfly. How could that hope to halt Qin Sang? Seeing her efforts bear little fruit, the Daoist nun understood the root of the problem. Her only options now were to flee back to the Five Elements Divine Restriction, or to expel the sword intents from her body to shake Qin Sang off. At this thought, the Daoist nun buried her head and charged straight toward the Five Elements Divine Restriction, exerting all her strength to suppress the sword intents within her and expel those belonging to Qin Sang. Unless pushed to the absolute brink, she did not want to abandon this physical body. Pursuing closely from behind, Qin Sang gradually sensed the Daoist nun's predicament. Everything was proceeding just as he had anticipated. As he chased her, aided by the Heavenly Eye divine ability, Qin Sang finally captured genuine traces of the Daoist nun's movements! Wherever she passed, faint ripples appeared along the edge of the boundary restriction. The ripples were very faint, perceptible only to the Heavenly Eye divine ability, further proving that she could not merge flawlessly into the boundary restriction. The direction of the Daoist nun's flight laid bare her intentions. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; how could Qin Sang let her escape back to the Five Elements Divine Restriction? He snapped his fingers together and jabbed forward. Crack! Thunder illuminated the fiend-winds. A bolt of lightning struck the ripples upon the boundary restriction. This was already the third time Qin Sang had used the Lightning Command Technique against the Daoist nun, and its effect remained formidable. Because this divine ability was wielded purely at will, the thunder arrived in an instant; even an enemy prepared to defend against it would have to exert great effort. Not to mention that the Daoist nun was severely injured. Sizzle! Threads of lightning spread across the boundary restriction like a spiderweb. A section of the boundary restriction suddenly bulged, faintly outlining the silhouette of a human figure, as if a portrait were pasted against it. The Daoist nun had been on guard after all, so she had not been struck directly. By the time her form emerged, she was already at the edge of the lightning net. The bulging area flattened in a blink, and the Daoist nun vanished once more. Right at that moment, a stream of white profound qi surged upward with majestic momentum. A figure had appeared beside Qin Sang at an unknown moment, the white qi billowing from the crown of his head. It was none other than the incarnation unleashing the Great Profound Heaven Primordial Qi Grasping Hand, a divine ability specialized in seizing and capturing foes. The white qi surged up and manifested into a giant hand. Though it had not yet arrived, its binding power had already sealed the space around the target. Boom! With another thunderous roar, the giant hand of profound qi clamped onto the boundary restriction. The strike was sudden and unexpected, yet since the Daoist nun could borrow the power of the boundary restriction, how could she be caught so easily? The boundary restriction trembled slightly, hanging down myriad ribbons of light. Each ribbon was like a cord, swiftly coiling around the five fingers of the profound qi hand and wrapping the entire palm, shattering the binding force. The giant hand indeed faltered, returning empty-handed. Free of constraint, ripples surged across the boundary restriction as the Daoist nun moved to flee, but the clear ring of a sword had already sounded from below. The Jinchen Sword tore through the air, and as the sword-light closed in, the sword array unfurled, instantly plunging the area into twilight. The sword array sealed the entire area, yet it could not breach the boundary restriction's limits—and that was precisely where the Daoist nun was concealed. Under these circumstances, trapping her would prove difficult. No sooner had the thought crossed Qin Sang's mind than he heard the Daoist nun shriek. Sword intent had forced its way into the boundary restriction, dredging up bitter, painful memories. Her cry was rife with malice, yet she did not act rashly. Hovering between reality and illusion, she opened her arms, straining to summon every shred of power within the boundary restriction that she could control, gathering it at her chest. Qin Sang saw no obvious abnormality, yet an inexplicable sense of danger welled up, making him frown. Rumble! Turbid waves roiled the heavens. An astonishing surge of power crashed down like the wrath of heaven itself. Ripples stirred violently across the sword array, and the fiend-winds around Qin Sang were swept clean away. The fiend-winds dared only linger along the periphery. The power the Daoist nun unleashed by manipulating the boundary restriction was terrifying indeed, yet it remained within Qin Sang's expectations. Through successive probes, Qin Sang had realized that her strength did not lie within herself, but came from external forces. Severely injured though she was, so long as her ability to manipulate the boundary restriction remained, her power remained. Back at the medicine garden, she had voluntarily emerged from the boundary restriction to launch a sneak attack on Mo Xingdao. Now, hiding within it and refusing to come out, she was like a turtle retracted into its shell. Unless he could break the boundary restriction or force her out, all his attacks would be like striking an ox from behind a mountain—blunted by the obstacle in between. With a cold snort, the Astral Fire Shield suddenly flared around his body. The colossal wave crashed down from above, slamming into the shield. It caused Qin Sang's form merely to sway slightly, unable to check his upward momentum. Qin Sang looked up, his gaze fixed on the minuscule ripples in the boundary restriction. In his palm, the Sun God Tree suddenly appeared. Guided by his intent, three firebirds spread their wings and soared high, instantly melding into a fireball that collided with the boundary restriction! Boom! Scarlet flames drifted and scattered, dyeing a vast swath of the boundary restriction red. If someone had looked down from the sky, they would have seen an immense sea of fire surge into existence over Dishou Mountain, resembling a subterranean fire vein erupting from the earth to blast a crater through the mountain. In fact, every cultivator outside Dishou Mountain on its southern side could see it clearly. Their minds churned; phenomenal spectacles were bursting forth one after another on Dishou Mountain, suggesting an earth-shattering battle was underway. Yet the spectacle was far from over. Beside the realm of fire, mystic ice suddenly spread outward, its deep blue radiance shining just as dazzlingly as the flames. Even from such a distance, it sent a chill through one's heart, clearly possessing immense power. This was Qin Sang commanding his incarnation to coordinate with him, striking with the Fourfold Tengshe Seal. Two attacks of spirit treasure caliber packed terrifying might; even striking through an intermediary barrier, the shockwave was enough to rattle and wound the Daoist nun, worsening her already dire state. Just as Qin Sang was about to press his advantage and run the Daoist nun down in one fell swoop, a voice suddenly called out from behind: "Fellow Daoist, hold your hand..."