The Hunted

Chapter 755: A Name That Shakes the World – The Great Formation Battle (8)

A surge of joy welled up in Han Li’s heart as he saw this. The green-clothed woman’s face instantly drained of all color, turning ashen white, before a look of furious shock twisted her features. She flung both hands outward, and a vast expanse of white light swept forth, while at the same time, the white lotus beneath her spun wildly, sending countless lotus-petal shadows surging upward like a mountain.

But the purple cloud overhead flickered once. The white light passed through it harmlessly, and a hazy purple net descended instead.

In the next instant, the purple light and white glow collided violently with the onrushing lotus shadows. Silvermoon’s tinkling laugh echoed through the air once more.

Behind the purple net, the light converged, and Silvermoon’s tall, elegant figure appeared.

She was holding an ancient basket-treasure in her palm, a smile playing at her lips. Within the basket, white light shimmered, trapping the bronze ancient lamp, which could not move a fraction. Once she returned and erased the wisp of spiritual sense the green-clothed woman had left on the lamp, anyone could wield this ancient treasure.

Han Li felt an equal surge of elation. But before the excitement could fully register on his face, the stumbling figure who had just burst into the area finally got a clear look at both Han Li and the green-clothed woman locked in battle. He immediately twisted his head and shouted frantically at Han Li:

“Fellow Daoist Han, run! The Moulan Divine Master is coming! Fellow Daoist Lu has been killed. If we don’t leave now, it’ll be too late!”

This man was none other than the old man surnamed Ma. But now his hair was in disarray, one arm was missing, and his face was a mask of panic.

“Moulan Divine Master?” Han Li’s heart jolted at the words. Just as he was about to ask for details, the old man’s body was enveloped in white light. He intended to flee without delaying a single breath.

But at that moment, a calm male voice followed close behind.

“Too late! This Divine Master has already found this place. You barely escaped with your life before by sacrificing an arm. Let’s see what secret arts you have left this time. Unless you’ve refined your other arm into a substitute puppet as well. If that’s the case, I might actually have a sliver of respect for you. ‘Oh?’ Isn’t this our Moulan’s ‘Primordial Lamp’? Little fox, you have quite the nerve. To dare steal a heritage treasure of our Moulan people—this is not something a beast like you is qualified to touch.” The man’s voice was incredibly fast. His first words seemed to come from far away, but in the blink of an eye, they were as close as if he stood right beside them. And at the final, slightly surprised remark, he identified Silvermoon’s true form as a white fox with a single glance.

Immediately, a streak of silver light shot out from the sea of mist. It did not appear to move quickly, yet in an instant, it was right before Silvermoon.

Silvermoon’s pretty face went pale. She hurriedly waved her hand, summoning a purple net to appear before her, while her figure shot backward without a second thought.

But the silver rainbow only paused for a brief moment. It then transformed into a large silver hand, which forcefully snatched the Purple Cheng Net away. At the same time, from over thirty yards away, the silver hand clenched into a fist, and struck the void lightly in the direction of Silvermoon’s escape.

The yellow streak of light Silvermoon had become was struck from behind by a silver light mass that appeared out of thin air. With a sharp cry, her light scattered, and she plummeted downward.

But she was clever. With a grit of her teeth, she suppressed the searing pain and hurled the ancient treasure in her hand toward distant Han Li as a streak of white mist.

“You seek death!” The man’s voice from within the silver hand seemed to carry a hint of genuine anger now.

Light flashed. The silver hand split into two, forming another identical hand. One of them swept toward the basket-treasure, grabbing it in an instant. The other shot directly toward Silvermoon as she fell from the sky, intending to crush her into powder.

Both movements were as swift as lightning and flint.

Silvermoon was terrified. She hurriedly tried to circulate her spiritual power and escape using a movement technique.

But a flash of silver light passed over her body, and she found she could not mobilize a single bit of her energy. The fist strike from the void had not only gravely wounded her but had also sealed a simple restriction upon her.

Though it would be easy to break, she simply had no time to do so now.

Seeing the giant silver hand descending upon her like a small mountain, a chill ran through Silvermoon’s heart. She closed her beautiful eyes, resigned to death.

But at that moment, a crackle of thunder sounded from behind her. An arm reached out from behind her back and pulled her firmly into an embrace.

“Let’s go!” Han Li’s clear, cold voice rang out suddenly. The thunder roared again, and both Silvermoon and Han Li vanished.

The giant silver hand came up empty by the barest margin.

In the next instant, Han Li appeared at the edge of the thick mist, several hundred yards away. One arm held Silvermoon’s slender waist, while the other carried the massive, azure-and-violet dual-colored greatsword. His expression was grim.

“Oh? Lightning Evasion Technique!”

A voice of surprise came from within the silver hand. The other silver hand then flew back with the basket-treasure in the blink of an eye. The two giant hands crashed together, erupting in a blinding silver light.

When the light converged, a Dharma Warrior dressed like a middle-aged scholar appeared within the silver radiance. One hand held the Purple Cheng Net, the other clutched the basket-treasure. He surveyed Han Li from a distance with a neutral expression.

The old man surnamed Ma went pale as death upon seeing this person. Though spiritual light flickered around him, he dared not flee through the air.

Han Li’s gaze flickered as he carefully examined the first late-Nascent Soul cultivator he had ever encountered. Aside from those Deity Transformation cultivators who never walked among the mortal world, those with such cultivation could be considered the absolute pinnacle of the cultivation world.

The middle-aged Dharma Warrior swept his gaze across his surroundings. His eyes lingered for a moment on the woman surnamed Le before he raised a hand and tossed the basket-treasure, along with the bronze lamp inside, back to her.

“Thank you for your assistance, Divine Master Zhong. Brother Zhong, what brings you here?” the green-clothed woman said, her voice filled with immense relief. She had gotten her ancient lamp back and quickly offered her thanks.

As aloof as she was by nature, she dared not show the slightest negligence before one of the three great Divine Masters of her people.

“It’s nothing. I had heard that the Tiannan forces had sent another batch of cultivators to reinforce the various great formations. And that fellow called Tian Ku on your side had died rather mysteriously. I grew a bit worried, so I came to take a look. It would be best if you could give those cultivators from Great Jin a reasonable explanation. We cannot afford to lose them now. But since the enemy has someone capable of using lightning evasion, it’s no wonder even Master Le found them difficult to deal with.” The scholar spoke calmly, his expression unreadable.

He then turned his head and asked Han Li from afar, his tone level:

“That little fox—she’s your retainer? Quite bold, daring to touch our Moulan’s heritage treasure. Since you are her master, the two of you might as well be sent off together.”

“Hmph! Big words. Even if I hadn’t taken that lamp, would you have let me go? You want my life. I just wonder if you have the skill to take it.” Han Li’s pupils contracted. He took a deep breath and shot back coldly.

Upon hearing this, the scholar’s gaze swept across Han Li’s giant sword. Seeing the strange sight of both azure and violet flames coexisting, a flicker of surprise passed through his eyes. But he immediately dismissed it and said nonchalantly:

“Heh! It’s been many years since I’ve heard a cultivator speak so brashly before me. Master Le, that one-armed cultivator over there is yours. As for this young friend who knows lightning evasion, I’ll handle him myself. I wonder how long he can last?”

A cruel glint flashed across the scholar’s face. Without any visible use of a magic treasure, his form blurred. Silver light flickered on either side of him, and two figures identical to him suddenly appeared. The same robes. The same expression. The three of them looked at Han Li like men looking at a corpse.

Han Li drew a sharp breath. His spiritual sense swept over them, but he could not tell the difference between the doppelgangers and the original. Their cultivation levels, their auras—all were exactly the same.

Though his heart was shaken, Han Li gently patted Silvermoon on the shoulder. He whispered something quickly.

Silvermoon nodded obediently. Having already broken the restriction within her, a flash of white light enveloped her as she revealed her little fox form. With a soft whoosh, she deftly dove into Han Li’s sleeve.

At that moment, the three scholars across from him simultaneously waved their large sleeves and began to drift slowly toward Han Li.

Though their movements were unhurried and composed, in just two or three steps, they were suddenly only a hundred feet away.

Han Li’s expression changed drastically. Without a second thought, he spread the silver wings on his back, and his figure vanished.

“Thinking of running? Where do you think you can go?” The scholar in the middle chuckled. Then, along with the two beside him, silver light flashed, and they unhurriedly strode forward in pursuit. After two steps through the void, they, too, disappeared from the spot.

Seeing this, the old man with a deathly pale face moved with incredible speed. He rose into the air and, without another word, transformed into a streak of white rainbow, shooting off in the opposite direction.

The woman surnamed Le sneered at this. She formed a hand seal, turned into a wisp of light wind, and chased after him.

With a Divine Master pursuing Han Li, what did she have to worry about? And this Tiannan cultivator did not know lightning evasion—he could never escape her grasp.

As for the great formation, with no Nascent Soul cultivator left to guard it, breaking through it would naturally be a simple task.

…

The sky was gray and overcast. Amid a desolate, uninhabited wilderness, a crack of thunder rang out. Silver arcs of lightning flashed, and Han Li appeared, his face pale.

The moment he steadied himself, he hurriedly looked back in the direction he had come. His expression carried a hint of vexation.

“Silvermoon, how many days have we been running?”

“About four days and four nights. That man truly lives up to being a late-Nascent Soul cultivator. Every time you stop to rest for less than half an hour, he catches up. Is it really impossible to shake off his divine sense lock? This is far too dangerous. You still have the Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Liquid to sustain your spiritual power, but the Evil-Repelling Divine Thunder within you is almost depleted. Without the lightning evasion technique, you cannot escape his ‘Earth Shrinking Art.’ This profound technique is in no way inferior to teleportation. In some respects, it might even be superior. If you weren’t clever enough to avoid any direct confrontation with him and just kept your head down and fled, once he managed to close in and pin you down, I fear that even lightning evasion might not let you slip away,” Silvermoon’s worried voice sounded in his mind.

“The divine sense of a late-Nascent Soul cultivator is strong enough to lock onto the aura of a single target within several hundred miles. Though I pride myself on having a divine sense that far surpasses mid-Nascent Soul cultivators, there is still a gap between me and true late-stage cultivators. After all, I never fully mastered the Great Derivative Art—I’m still missing a few layers of the technique. Once this is over, I’m heading straight to the Extreme West to secure the remaining oral formulas. Back when my divine sense was always stronger than my opponents’, I never thought much of it. But now that I’m the weaker one, I can immediately feel my hands tied. There are many techniques I simply cannot use effectively.” Han Li let out a bitter laugh and spoke with a hint of anger.

(Finally finished writing this. A humble request for everyone’s monthly votes as well.)

(Chapter End)