The Ten-Thousand-Foot Thread

A single, earth-shattering boom erupted from behind Han Li the moment his figure shot out of the hall’s entrance. Startled, he whipped his head around for a glance.

Behind him, the entire Jade Eaves Pavilion had abruptly burst apart. A golden sun, a full ten feet in diameter, rose eerily from the ruins. At its center, a blurry figure stirred—it seemed to be Nan Long Hou himself, having activated some unknown secret technique.

Han Li’s heart tightened.

The Jade Eaves Pavilion had not been an ordinary building; otherwise, he would have simply bored a hole through its walls and fled long ago. But Nan Long Hou had shattered it with a single blow.

It seemed that these Nascent Soul old monsters were all extraordinary when they went all out!

As this thought crossed his mind, he had already reached the middle of the entrance hall. He eyed the walls, which had now healed together, and without hesitation, raised a hand. With a flick of his finger, a streak of azure light several feet long shot out, striking the stone wall directly before him.

Pfft.

The wall was pierced through, leaving a bowl-sized hole. But then, with a flash of white light, the hole vanished.

Han Li’s brow furrowed. Just as he was about to try another method, his expression shifted, and he whirled around.

His movement was as swift as a ghost.

Standing there, a few yards behind him, was Nan Long Hou. He had appeared silently, his entire body radiating a dazzling golden light. But his face was ashen, and his spirit utterly exhausted.

Expressionless, Han Li glanced past him. Where the pavilion had stood, a giant golden bowl now floated, inverted, in the air. A hazy golden glow shone down from it, trapping something beneath. Within that glow, black light and white mist churned, and faint thunderclaps and explosive sounds could be heard.

A glimmer of surprise crossed Han Li’s face.

This Nan Long Hou had somehow, by using some heaven-defying divine ability, managed to temporarily trap Wang Tiang Gu, the Cloud-robed Elder, and the others, allowing himself to escape.

“This outer restriction must be opened with an Opening Mountain Banner to be as quick as possible. Fellow Daoist Han, I have only a single banner, so it will take some time. I must trouble you to hold them off for me for a moment. Though my ancient treasure is powerful, it cannot hold them for long. They will break free in the blink of an eye.” Nan Long Hou forced a faint smile. With a flip of his hand, a small yellow banner appeared, spinning rapidly. He began to chant an incantation, seemingly certain that Han Li would comply without question.

After a brief flicker of his gaze, Han Li made his decision. Without hesitation, he slapped his storage pouch. An emerald-green formation plate appeared in his palm.

It was the same magical artifact he had used to break the Supreme Miao Divine Restriction.

Without a word, he swiftly drew a few azure runes in the air. Parting his lips, he blew gently. The runes floated down and landed on the formation plate, which immediately began to emit a brilliant azure light.

“Rise!” Han Li formed a hand seal and intoned coldly.

The walls of blue crystal that had vanished reappeared, instantly sealing the door of the great hall once more—all except the wall directly in front of Nan Long Hou.

“You can command the Supreme Miao Divine Restriction?” Nan Long Hou’s chanting paused as a hint of pleasant surprise entered his voice.

“The power I can draw from this restriction is less than a tenth of its original might. It won’t hold them long either. Brother Nan Long, it would be best if you opened our path before they break through,” Han Li said, his face not showing the slightest hint of triumph. Instead, his tone was grave.

Only then did Nan Long Hou notice that the crystal walls were indeed much dimmer than before. His expression of joy immediately vanished. He flung the small banner, which transformed into a yellow streak that shot into the wall and disappeared. His chanting began once more.

At the same time, a thunderous crash rang out from within the great hall. The crystal wall Han Li had raised flickered with unstable blue light, and the sound of violent explosions echoed clearly from the other side.

It seemed that Wang Tiang Gu and the others had already broken Nan Long Hou’s ancient treasure and were now furiously assaulting the crystal wall.

Han Li cast a glance at the stone wall, which was beginning to emit a faint white light, then looked at the flickering, unstable blue crystal barrier. After a moment’s hesitation, he flung his hands out, sending a spirit beast pouch flying into the air.

Instantly, a torrent of three-colored Gold Devourer Beetles surged out. Han Li rapidly formed a hand seal, and the Beetle-Armor technique was cast in an instant. The beetle-cloud danced crazily around him for a moment, then formed a suit of three-colored beetle armor upon his body.

A flicker of surprise passed over Nan Long Hou’s face as he watched Han Li cast this spell.

But at this moment, survival was the only priority, so he naturally did not bother asking questions.

Soon, just as the crystal wall began to flicker violently, on the verge of collapse, rumbling sounds of shaking came from the stone wall opposite. Finally, the stone split apart amidst the white light, revealing a set of stone steps below.

Seeing this, Nan Long Hou’s form flashed with golden light, and he instantly transformed into a golden rainbow, shooting out from his spot.

At the same time, Han Li vanished from his place as a flash of lightning from the Wind Lightning Wings on his back.

The next moment, Han Li was ahead of Nan Long Hou, his figure appearing in the middle of the passage. But a crisp cracking sound came from below.

Han Li’s expression darkened. His Wind Lightning Wings flapped again, and an instant later, he was at the entrance to the stone steps. He then activated his Lightning Evasion Technique with full force, blinking in and out of sight as he fled far into the distance.

Just as Han Li had cleared several hundred yards, a piercing shriek rang out from within the passage. Following that, a blinding golden rainbow burst forth, flashing away in an instant.

After a brief pause at the exit, the golden rainbow emitted Nan Long Hou’s venomous, icy voice.

“Remember this. It’s best you never fall into my hands. If you do, I’ll make you suffer the fate of total annihilation.” As soon as this curse-like statement was finished, the golden rainbow blazed with intense light and then began to blur. By the time a silver streak of light shot out of the passage, the golden rainbow had transformed into a single, exceptionally fine thread. After a few flashes, it shot towards the distant horizon at a speed so great it vanished without a trace in the span of a single breath.

By this time, Han Li could also be seen on the distant horizon as a tiny, flickering black dot as he rapidly fled.

“What kind of escape techniques are those two using? How are they so fast?” Following the silver light, a streak of black light shot out. As the light converged, a figure appeared, Wang Tiang Gu, who asked with a grave tone.

“The ‘Ten-Thousand-Foot Thread’ that Nan Long Hou used was a unique secret art created by the noble Kun Shang in his later years. It allows instantaneous travel over vast distances at the cost of one’s true Qi and even their Essence Blood. It compresses the escape light into a thread-thin essence, perfectly concealing its aura, making pursuit impossible. He hasn’t actually gone far, but our spiritual sense simply cannot detect him. As for that Han fellow’s teleportation art… it seems to originate from those strange lightning-wings. It should be that Lightning Evasion Technique, a legendary kind of short-distance teleportation that moves like lightning,” the Cloud-robed Elder said as the silver light faded, his expression extremely gloomy.

At this point, the old woman and the dark-faced cultivator also flew out of the passage, just in time to hear what the Cloud-robed Elder had said.

“Those two have such bizarre escape techniques; they’ve managed to slip away! What do we do now?” a trace of unease in her voice, the old woman asked, her face pale.

“That Han kid is one thing. But if Nan Long Hou escapes alive, our troubles will be immense. Fellow Daoist Wang, Fellow Daoist Yun, you promised us you would ensure Nan Long Hou’s death on this trip. That’s the only reason we agreed to cooperate!” The dark-faced man’s expression was no better.

“Relax! Do you think fighting all of us without a disadvantage was his true skill? He forced his magical power up with a secret technique while already heavily wounded, and now he’s used the ‘Ten-Thousand-Foot Thread’ which similarly drains one’s vitality. Even if we don’t pursue him, he’ll be laid low by his injuries when he returns. Even if he spends a hundred years recovering his true Qi, he’ll never be able to maintain his mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivation again. Besides, when did I ever say we couldn’t track him?” The Cloud-robed Elder sneered, speaking eerily.

“Oh! Brother Yun, you mean…” The dark-faced man’s spirits lifted, and he couldn’t help but ask.

“Since I planned to eradicate him here, I naturally made some preparations beforehand. I can find him, as long as he can’t make it three hundred li in one go. Given his current condition, he absolutely cannot sustain the ‘Ten-Thousand-Foot Thread’ for long. We’ll just catch up to him then and finish him off,” the Cloud-robed Elder said with an air of confidence.

“That’s good to hear. I can finally stop worrying. If you hadn’t gifted me a piece of the ‘Black Jade Lotus’ beforehand, and promised to share the secrets of the Fallen Devil Valley with us afterward, I would never have taken such a risk. Making an enemy of a mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator is truly unwise.” The dark-faced man let out a huge sigh of relief, and the old woman’s expression also relaxed as she sighed.

“You’ve both certainly invested a lot of thought and effort for this Fallen Devil Valley expedition! But what surprised me was that you, Fellow Daoist Yun, are not a rogue cultivator but actually an elder of the Ghost Spirit Sect. That truly caught us off guard! Could it be that the Six Demonic Sects have many other such elders who are not publicly known?” The dark-faced cultivator’s face showed a complex expression as he finished speaking.

“Although I came from the Ghost Spirit Sect in my youth, I rarely involve myself in sect affairs. So not even many within the sect know my true identity. I didn’t intend to willfully deceive anyone. To be honest, this Fellow Daoist Nan Long, as a descendant of the noble Kun Shang and a friend of mine for many years, was not someone I originally wished to kill. However, I later learned that he had secretly formed friendships with several elders of the Righteous Path’s Heavenly Machine Sect, with the intention of joining them. When I subtly sounded him out, he showed no intention of changing his mind, even planning to use the Heavenly Machine Sect’s power to enter the Fallen Devil Valley to claim treasures. That being the case, I simply could not sit by and let the Righteous Path’s power increase so greatly. I had no choice but to take these ruthless measures,” the Cloud-robed Elder shook his head and said indifferently.