Not uttering a single word, Qin Sang continued flying forward as though he had not noticed the stranger's movements.
The other party grew even more brazen, making no attempt to conceal his intentions as he trailed them from afar. Even so, he did not press in too closely, keeping a steady distance between them.
Qin Sang came to an abrupt halt, hovered above the water's surface, and turned to fix his gaze on him.
The stranger immediately checked his escape light as well. Facing them across the vast expanse of the sea, he showed not the slightest impatience, appearing instead quite pleased with how things were turning out.
"Go on ahead," Qin Sang instructed.
Then he suddenly moved. Merging man and sword as one, he actually turned back to chase after the stranger.
Without a moment's hesitation, the other party wheeled around and fled. His flight speed was not inferior to Qin Sang's in the least, proving that this man had to be at least a Core Formation stage cultivator.
Yet Qin Sang had no intention of letting the matter rest. His sword brilliance blazed with incomparable radiance, dazzling beyond measure. Amid rolling peals of thunder, it tore through the air like a bolt of lightning—he had unleashed the divine ability of Sword Qi Thunderclap.
The distance between the two closed with astonishing speed.
The stranger took fright. Finding that he could not outrun Qin Sang even at full tilt, he hastily fished an object from his mustard seed bag and slapped it onto himself. His speed surged instantly, matching the speed of Qin Sang's Sword Qi Thunderclap stride for stride.
Seeing this, Qin Sang did not press the pursuit. Instead, he drew to a stop, his eyes narrowing slightly in contemplation.
Just now, he had caught sight of the man frantically pulling out a spirit talisman and slapping it onto his body. Only with the aid of a spirit talisman could the man achieve an escape speed on par with Sword Qi Thunderclap, which meant the man's cultivation could not be particularly high.
Having formed a plan in his mind, Qin Sang feigned an inability to sustain the chase. He wheeled his sword light around and flew back to rejoin the elderly couple and their companions.
"Senior, he must be waiting for reinforcements to surround and slaughter us," the old man said, his voice trembling in terror as he saw Qin Sang return empty-handed and their pursuer wheel right back around to resume trailing them without the slightest scruple. Never in his life had he encountered someone so brazen as to attempt murder and pillage so close to Douyan Island.
Qin Sang did not need the old man's reminder to consider this.
However, his thoughts went deeper.
The island master of Douyan Island was a Nascent Soul Patriarch, the undisputed hegemon of the surrounding waters, and no one dared violate the rules he laid down. For something so abnormal to occur, there had to be a reason behind it.
*Could something have happened to Douyan Island or the Demon Sea during the few years I was away?* Qin Sang mused silently. He had devoted himself single-mindedly to his cultivation without returning to Douyan Island in the interim; even if something had gone wrong, Ran Luo would have had no way of contacting him.
Douyan Island had remained peaceful for so many years, and that island master was still far from the end of his lifespan. For trouble to arise at this juncture was completely beyond Qin Sang's expectations.
Under such circumstances, rushing blindly back to Douyan Island might plunge him straight into some chaotic vortex, an outcome he was unwilling to risk.
As the thought flitted through his mind, Qin Sang caught sight of the relentlessly pursuing figure from the corner of his eye. Perhaps he could pry the truth of what had happened from this man's mouth.
He had only five Foundation Establishment cultivators beside him; far from offering any help, they were a liability. Even with the Nine Dragons Heavenly Chariot Talisman, Qin Sang dared not let himself be trapped in a siege, lest he lose even the chance to flee.
The other party's companions were bound to be nearby. Dragging things out any longer would put them in an exceedingly precarious situation.
Since this man harbored ill intent, he could not blame Qin Sang for showing no mercy.
With his mind made up, Qin Sang kept his body motionless and sent a voice transmission: "Take my illusory image and keep moving forward. Do not show any unusual behavior; I will go meet him again. The moment you see us clash, either head straight back to Douyan Island for help or, once you are out of his sight, find a place to hide. Do not worry about me—I have my own ways of escaping."
After a few hurried words to finalize the plan, the group abruptly drove their escape lights with all their might. Seeing this, the pursuer instantly sped up as well.
Yet what the man failed to notice was that at that very moment, under the cover of the old man and the others' escape lights, Qin Sang channeled a Daoist art to conjure an illusory image lifelike enough to pass for the real thing, while he himself silently vanished, sinking into the depths of the sea.
Such an illusory image was of little use before cultivators of the same realm and could easily be seen through.
However, the pursuer was very far away, making the illusion sufficient to deceive his eyes.
The others flew off with Qin Sang's illusory image without looking back, while Qin Sang channeled the Spirit Concealment Art, lying in wait beneath the water's surface for the stranger to draw near.
Before long, the pursuer caught up. He wore a black robe of a peculiar style and appeared to be a young man in his twenties. His eyes were glued to the silhouettes of the elderly couple and their companions, seemingly oblivious to the trap beneath the water.
Just as the black-robed youth was about to pass over Qin Sang's hiding spot, the mirror-like calm of the sea's surface suddenly shattered, and a lightning-like sword brilliance shot out from amid the spraying shards.
In an instant, the thunder-clad spirit sword lunged before the black-robed youth, laying bare its murderous intent!
Qin Sang had just confirmed once more that the black-robed youth's cultivation was comparable to Du Han's, so he struck without hesitation.
Unexpectedly, not a hint of panic appeared on the black-robed youth's face. Instead, a sinister smirk suddenly surfaced, and he gave a cold sneer. "I saw you long ago!"
"Gold Glow Armor!"
With a low bark, the black-robed youth erupted in dazzling golden light that instantly coalesced into a suit of golden armor in the nick of time, enveloping his entire body within its protection.
The black-robed youth seemed extraordinarily confident in the golden armor. Facing the spirit sword, he neither dodged nor retreated, but instead let out a cold laugh. "Sword Qi Thunderclap... it seems you are an elite of the human race..."
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
The very moment the golden brilliance flared, the ebony sword had already struck.
Yet what flew faster than the ebony sword was an extraordinarily bewitching cluster of blood-colored light.
The golden armor proved utterly useless against the blood light, which penetrated straight through it and splashed over the black-robed youth's body.
"What is this?!" the black-robed youth cried out in horror.
The instant the blood light touched him, the inner armor he wore suffered severe damage to its spirituality, and the majestic golden armor formed from the golden light rapidly dimmed. Gripped by terror, the black-robed youth lost all his composure and tried to dodge, but his movements were far too slow before the ebony sword.
The closely following ebony sword shattered the golden armor, yet as it was about to impale the black-robed youth, it met an obstruction.
With a crisp snap, the black robe on the youth's body was shredded by sword qi, exposing a set of golden inner armor beneath.
At that moment, a crack conspicuously appeared upon the inner armor!
The resilience of the black-robed youth's inner armor took even Qin Sang by surprise. While the Blood Filth Divine Light could defile the spirituality of magic treasures, it had no effect on the physical substance of the treasures themselves.
This inner armor had to have been forged from an exceptionally durable spirit material.
Obstructed, the ebony sword hesitated for a fraction of an instant before lunging once more toward the crack in the gold armor. Furthermore, with a sway of its sword shadow, it split off another sword light so lifelike as to be indistinguishable from the original.
The black-robed youth took fright and retreated violently. At the same time, a surge of azure light erupted from his dantian, manifesting before him as the illusory image of a spirit insect as tall as a man.
The spirit insect possessed massive mouthparts bristling with sharp teeth. With a wide snap of its great jaws, it bit down on both the ebony sword and the sword light together.
Chapter 688