Chapter 88: Escape

Yin Tianfang had only just stepped into the Foundation Establishment stage. Though he was no ordinary cultivator, he was still no match for several Foundation Establishment experts if he faced them alone. So he did not fight to the death, but chose to withdraw first.

Now, however, the Azure Cloud Sect’s elders had separated. That was a golden opportunity for him to pick them off one by one. As long as he was fast enough, even if they had some special means of keeping in contact with one another, it would not be enough to fear.

His divine sense spread outward, and Yin Tianfang moved beneath the water like a fish. The person he had locked onto was one of the first two to attack him earlier; one of those two had already died by Yin Tianfang’s hand.

Half an hour later, that man stood upon the surface of the water, his divine sense spreading outward as he searched for Yin Tianfang’s whereabouts. At this moment, he was not far from his companions. Since he had injuries on him, he had not gone too far, lest he encounter danger.

His divine sense fanned out, extending beneath the water and in all directions. A moment later, he frowned. He had not found a trace of Yin Tianfang.

“He must not be here,” he murmured to himself. Just as he was about to search in another direction, a face silently emerged beneath the surface.

A streak of crimson flashed into being. That icy aura instantly made his whole body go cold. Before he could even gather his wits, a bolt of purple light appeared before him, carrying an edge so sharp it seemed to split the air, as fast as lightning, stabbing straight toward the center of his brow.

A terrifying killing intent enveloped him. Although he had already been at Foundation Establishment for many years, his expression still changed dramatically under that dreadful murderous pressure. The killing intent was so intense it seemed almost tangible. In that instant, mountains of corpses and seas of blood appeared before his eyes, and the entire world he saw seemed drenched in red.

With a wet sound, the purple sword light pierced through his brow and shot out from the back of his head. His lifeless body splashed into the water.

With a rush of water, a figure burst upward. Reaching out with one hand, he drew the dead Azure Cloud Sect elder’s storage bag into his grasp. Yin Tianfang then controlled his purple sword and shot off like a streak of light toward the nearby forest.

“There he is! Chase him!” From a distance, the remaining Azure Cloud Sect elders reacted as well and came rushing in pursuit, all heading straight for Yin Tianfang. Passing the place where their companion had died, none of them even lingered for a single breath.

“You little bastard, I’ll tear you to pieces!” The old man at the middle Foundation Establishment stage wore a face dark as thunder. What had originally been, in his eyes, just a nobody had now slain his companions one after another. If word of this got out, he would become the laughingstock of all.

Spiritual power surged wildly within him as the old man pushed his speed to the limit, covering a thousand meters in an instant as he closed the distance to Yin Tianfang again and again.

Yin Tianfang’s expression remained calm, yet within his crimson eyes there was a trace of solemnity. The old man’s killing intent had locked onto him, sharp as a needle against his back. Sensing the distance between them shrinking little by little, Yin Tianfang’s heart also sank slowly.

With a boom, when he was still several li away from Yin Tianfang, the old man could no longer restrain himself and struck. Vast spiritual power from the middle Foundation Establishment stage erupted wildly, shaking the wind and clouds. He thrust out a palm, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth seemed to boil in that instant. A giant hand formed in the air, blotting out the sky and sun as it radiated a soul-stirring pressure.

Wherever it passed, every tree along the way instantly exploded into powder. Fierce winds swept through as the terrifying force closed in on Yin Tianfang like thunder.

A heavy pressure bore down on Yin Tianfang. He gave a muffled grunt, and under that tremendous force his forward speed actually slowed several degrees. Behind him, however, the old man’s speed did not diminish at all; if anything, it increased. Under the growing gap in speed, the distance between them shrank rapidly.

Yin Tianfang abruptly turned around and slapped his storage bag. A yellow talisman flew up into the sky. With a series of hand seals, he activated it, and the yellow paper talisman ignited spontaneously, forming a barrier. But that barrier had only just taken shape before the giant palm shattered it.

His mind tightened. From within his storage bag, one magical treasure after another flew out, setting up layer upon layer of defensive barriers before him.

Yet against a full-force strike from a middle Foundation Establishment expert, these treasures were clearly not enough.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Treasure after treasure shattered apart, bursting into countless fragments that flew in all directions. The enormous hand smashed down with a deafening roar, and its tremendous pressure felt like a mountain pressing onto Yin Tianfang’s body, forcing him downward toward the earth. Looking up at that colossal hand, Yin Tianfang’s expression grew grave to the extreme.

He raised a finger, and a streak of purple light shot forth. A massive purple sword cleaved fiercely into the sky.

Boom!

A thunderous detonation erupted, and a terrifying shockwave instantly swept across several li in every direction. Countless towering ancient trees were obliterated by the force, bursting into splinters. Gale winds raged, howling through the forest. Spiritual power surged wildly, and the whole stretch of heaven and earth turned blindingly white.

Puff!

Yin Tianfang’s face turned ashen, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. The purple giant sword was sent flying back by the giant hand’s strike, trembling with repeated metallic cries.

His pupils constricted. Looking up into the sky, Yin Tianfang clenched his teeth hard, and the small purple sword shot out again.

“Explode!” he shouted.

Light burst forth from the small purple sword with dazzling brilliance, like a purple sun. A terrifying wave of power radiated from the tiny blade, and the next instant, with another loud detonation, the purple sun exploded violently. The entire world seemed to tremble with it.

This small purple sword was the highest-grade magical treasure on Yin Tianfang’s person. More than that, it was a flying sword, a weapon designed purely for slaughter. Yet at this life-or-death moment, Yin Tianfang still chose without hesitation to detonate it. Its terrifying power swept across the heavens like a crushing tide. Under that dreadful impact, the giant palm shattered at once, dissolving into pale mist that drifted through the air.

The terrifying shockwave rolled across both sky and earth. Under that blast, Yin Tianfang himself was flung away like a lone skiff on a stormy sea.

Puff!

In midair, the middle Foundation Establishment elder also coughed up a mouthful of blood and was thrown rapidly backward. By then, the others had also arrived and hurriedly caught him. All of them stared solemnly at the center of the explosion, their eyes filled with shock.

“That boy really is decisive. But after such terrifying destruction, can he still survive?” one elder said in a low voice.

“He may not necessarily be dead,” the middle Foundation Establishment elder replied coldly, his face still somewhat pale. Yin Tianfang’s ruthlessness and decisiveness had shocked even him.

To detonate a magical treasure at such close range—under such horrifying force, one wrong move meant being blown to pieces. Yet Yin Tianfang had still done it without hesitation. Ruthless toward his enemies, and ruthless toward himself as well. If such an opponent were not dead, he would never know peace.

“Alive, I want to see him alive. Dead, I want to see his corpse!” With a flash, the old man shot straight toward the center of the explosion.