To the people of the Sea Clan, venturing into the Abyss was an exceptionally grave matter.
Before setting out, the Sea Clan would even hold a grand prayer ceremony, beseeching the Sea Rhyme Power that permeated the heavens for protection in hopes of safe travels.
After Helick met a tragic death in the Abyss, the Sea Clan treated the Abyss with even greater caution. For them, every journey into the Abyss was a trip from which they might never return.
Understanding this makes it clear that Hai Liwei's refusal to let Yu Xian come along truly stemmed from goodwill.
However, Yu Xian had reasons he simply had to go. Saving Shui Yuetian was only one of them; the other was to stop Zhi'er from claiming Helick's trove and slaughter that bastard.
Zhi'er had already revealed his hostility.
According to the rules of engagement between Star-rank powerhouses, Yu Xian had no reason to spare him. Slaying him was the ultimate responsibility owed to himself and his loved ones.
Besides, that scum thoroughly deserved to die.
When Aska had brought up the Great Thief Ellis, Yu Xian had originally assumed Ellis was some master phantom thief. But once he looked him up on his Star Ring, it turned out Ellis truly was a bandit—a heinous criminal who broke into homes and committed murder.
After learning how many innocent lives the Great Thief Ellis had claimed, Yu Xian understood why he was branded a brigand rather than a phantom thief.
A vicious degenerate like this could never be spared. Whether for his own sake or the reputation of Earthlings, a dead Zhi'er was essential. That was why Yu Xian was so determined to track Zhi'er down.
The 25th floor, the 25th Floor Group.
Inside the CEO's office of the corporate headquarters, Aska was dancing with several young Emerald Spirit Clan women, celebrating the massive fortune he was about to rake in.
The money made this time wouldn't belong to the conglomerate; it was his private stash.
The 25th Floor Group did possess vast assets, but they did not belong to him alone. Many factions carved up the profits, and Dan Dinggui was even leeching off him from behind the scenes. Although he had entered into this arrangement willingly, the financial drain still stung.
By peddling the trackers this time, he was sure to haul in a boatload of Star Coins. It was utterly delightful.
Yet, just as he had his arm around a seductive Emerald Spirit beauty, leaning in for a kiss, the surrounding space rippled violently. The defensive array he had activated held out for merely five seconds before collapsing completely.
Golden light illuminated the entire office. The disheveled Emerald Spirit beauties screamed and scrambled to cover themselves with their clothes, while Aska managed an exceedingly strained smile as he watched Yu Xian step out from the spatial ripples.
"A tracker. Give me one, and I'll leave immediately," Yu Xian said, glancing at the Emerald Spirit women before fixing his eyes on Aska.
Aska forced an utterly hollow, rigid smirk onto his face and said, "My lord, that tracker was one of a kind. I truly don't have any left."
"Last chance. Hand over a tracker," Yu Xian said impassively.
He had already caught the foul stench of filthy lucre radiating from Aska. Even if Aska wore items shielding him from various divination and probing abilities, they still couldn't mask the scent of raw greed rolling off him.
Consequently, Yu Xian wouldn't believe a single word out of Aska's mouth—not even half a syllable.
Confronted by Yu Xian's threat, Aska snapped with a touch of irritation, "My lord, whatever you intend to do, you'd best consider Lord Dan Dinggui's opinion."
"Is that your answer?" Yu Xian asked, unperturbed.
Only at that moment did Aska sense real danger. Dan Dinggui clearly held zero deterrent power over the powerhouse before him.
His expression shifted several times before he finally capitulated. "I'll have my secretary bring it over right away. Please wait a moment, my lord."
Moments later, his secretary brought in a tracker. Aska promptly picked it up, presented it before Yu Xian, and said respectfully, "My lord, here is the tracker you requested."
"Wouldn't it have been easier if you'd just brought it out earlier?" Yu Xian grumbled as he took the tracker.
Yet just as he turned to leave, his footsteps halted. He looked down at the tracker in his hands, stared at it for a moment, and turned back to face Aska.
"Is there anything else, my lord?"
Aska's heart gave a slight tremor, but he pasted a smile on his face to ask.
In the next instant, he saw Yu Xian ruthlessly crush the tracker in his hand to pieces, and his own face turned deathly pale.
Yu Xian tossed the shattered remnants of the tracker onto the floor and let out a long sigh. "Aiding an evildoer—I could chalk that up to you fearing that mysterious figure. Holding cards close to your chest—I could assume you were just protecting yourself. Selling trackers at extortionate prices—I could dismiss that as your nature. But... handing me a tracker meant to send me to my death? That's where you crossed the line."
Fortunately, he possessed the Appliance Control ability. The moment he took hold of the tracker, he had instinctively channeled the ability into it, hoping to gain complete control over the device.
Instead, he discovered that there was something wrong with it.
Not only did the gadget house an internal signal transmitter that turned the tracker into a tracking beacon itself, but it also lacked any tracking functionality whatsoever. Instead, it had a feature designed to assess spatial hazard levels, rigged to permanently display the coordinates of the most perilous sector.
Without a doubt, had Yu Xian actually ventured into the Abyss with this tracker, he would have been lured to his doom within minutes.
"My lord, I don't understand what you mean. Perhaps my secretary made a mistake," Aska said with a forced smile, stepping back.
Then, gritting his teeth slightly, he quietly crushed a teleportation jade talisman.
The teleportation jade talisman he used was the exact same product as the one Hai Liwei had used. Each piece could be bound to a single spatial coordinate and was remarkably convenient to use, instantly whisking the user away to the designated coordinates the second it was shattered.
Since only spatial ability users could craft such teleportation jade talismans, they were astronomically expensive and generally reserved for life-or-death emergencies. This was also the basis on which Aska had deduced that Zhi'er had stolen the key to Helick's Great Trove.
Otherwise, who would be so extravagantly rich as to use a teleportation jade talisman just for travel?
The instant Aska crushed the talisman, he vanished in the blink of an eye—faster than the speed of light.
Yet the moment his feet touched the ground, before he could even steady himself, ripples immediately surged through space. Yu Xian's hand pierced through the void in pursuit, reaching straight for his throat. Horrified that Yu Xian could still track him across space, Aska cried out in sheer terror, "Lord Gui, save me!"
The spatial coordinates bound to his teleportation jade talisman led straight to Dan Dinggui's dwelling in the Abyss, a place known as the Outland Dao Arena.
Just as Yu Xian's hand was about to seize Aska, a gust of wind blew in, sending a flurry of leaves to intercept his palm. When Yu Xian's fingers collided with the leaves, the air detonated with a thunderous boom. The shockwave instantly shattered Aska's cheekbone, sending him hurtling backward with a shrill scream.
In the next moment, space trembled as golden light radiated from the ripples, and Yu Xian stepped out foot first.
Scrambling and crawling while clutching his mangled cheek, Aska fled toward Dan Dinggui. Dan Dinggui, who had originally maintained the form of a giant tree, rapidly shifted into a half-human, half-tree form, grimly watching Yu Xian emerge from the ripples.
Chapter 254