287: Chapter 281 Life-or-Death Pursuit

Rumble!

A massive explosion shook the clouds.

Two forces capable of destroying the heavens and the earth collided in the Void Realm without any artifice, and a terrifying shockwave instantly swept through the entire basin.

The originally lush Netherworld Grass was instantly turned to powder under this wave of Qi, and the ancient stone palace was shaken to the point of collapse, with countless rocks tumbling down.

As the dust cleared, the two men faced each other in mid-air.

Chen Zhiwen's green robes fluttered as he held the three-foot azure edge. At the tip of the sword, a flicker of green Chaos Sword Qi pulsed, as if it could slice through the Void Realm.

Opposite him, Daoist Tian Xuan was surrounded by a churning sea of blood, with countless resentful souls wailing within the bloody waves, forming a natural barrier of blood balefulness.

Only now, the Face of this once overbearing old Devil Head had turned extremely ugly.

"You... how is this possible?!"

Daoist Tian Xuan stared fixedly at Chen Zhiwen. In those crimson eyes, the original contempt had long since vanished, replaced by an unbelievable shock, even mixed with a trace of imperceptible fear.

That palm strike of his just now, though he only used fifty percent of his power, was at the Mid Nascent Soul Stage!

This wet-behind-the-ears brat in front of him actually took it head-on, and... was unscathed?

"What? Are you surprised?"

Chen Zhiwen lightly stroked the blade of his sword with a calm expression, as if that earth-shattering blow just now was as easy as swatting away a fly.

"Three years ago, when you were hunting me down in the Sky Severing Mountain Range, you probably didn't expect today would come."

Hearing this, Daoist Tian Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpricks.

Memories came flooding back like a tide.

Three years ago, that ant who was chased by him like a dog, that fake Golden Core waste who could only barely escape with his life by burning essence blood and using forbidden techniques...

It was actually him?

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Daoist Tian Xuan seemed to have suffered a huge shock, roaring hysterically as his withered fingers trembled while pointing at Chen Zhiwen.

"Only three years! Even if one started cultivating from the womb, it's impossible for someone to Breakthrough from a fake Golden Core to the Nascent Soul Stage in three years!"

"Who exactly are you? Which old monster are you, undergoing Rebirth through Possession? Or did you use some demonic art to conceal your Aura?!"

The iron law of the cultivation world was that the further one progressed, the harder it became.

From Golden Core to Nascent Soul, that was a celestial chasm!

Countless brilliant Geniuses spent their entire lives stuck at this threshold, eventually exhausting their Lifespan and turning into dust.

Crossing the celestial chasm in three years?

This was simply an insult to his common sense of the Dao!

"Who I am is not important."

Chen Zhiwen smiled coldly, the killing intent in his eyes surging.

"What is important is that the debt from that palm strike back then... shall be collected today with interest!"

Before his voice had even faded, Chen Zhiwen's figure instantly vanished.

Shrinking the Earth into Inches!

When he reappeared, he was already three feet above Daoist Tian Xuan's head!

"Slash!"

The green lotus sword carried the momentum of splitting the heavens and earth as it hacked down fiercely!

The sword light was like a waterfall, pouring down. The Chaos Sword Intent contained within directly locked onto Daoist Tian Xuan's Aura, leaving him with nowhere to hide.

"Arrogant child!"

Although Daoist Tian Xuan was shocked, he was, after all, an old Devil Head who had lived for hundreds of years, and his combat experience was extremely rich.

The moment he sensed the crisis, he instinctively reacted.

"Blood Shield!"

He shouted loudly, and the sea of blood around him instantly solidified, turning into a massive blood-colored shield that blocked above his head.

On the shield, countless ghostly Faces twisted and screamed, emitting a nauseating stench of blood.

Clang!

Sword and shield collided, producing a massive sound like metal striking metal.

Sparks flew in all directions, and spiritual power surged.

Crack!

They had only been at a stalemate for less than a breath's time.

That seemingly indestructible blood-colored shield actually developed a crack under Chen Zhiwen's sword!

Immediately after, the crack spread rapidly, covering the entire shield surface like a spiderweb.

"What?!"

Daoist Tian Xuan cried out in alarm, his Face instantly turning pale.

How was this possible?

This Blood Shield was refined using the essence blood of ninety-nine young boys and girls; its defensive power was astonishing, and even a full-strength strike from a Cultivator of the same rank might not necessarily break it.

The sword in this boy's hand... what grade was it exactly?

And that green spiritual power... why did it have such a terrifying suppressive force against his blood baleful Qi?

"Break for me!"

Chen Zhiwen gave a low shout, the Chaos Art within his body circulating wildly as spiritual power poured into the sword like a river breaching a dam.

Bang!

The Blood Shield shattered with a bang, turning into a rain of blood that filled the sky.

The remaining Sword Qi continued its momentum, fiercely slashing into Daoist Tian Xuan's Protective Aura.

Pfft!

Daoist Tian Xuan felt as if his chest had been struck by lightning. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing heavily into the Black Water Pool below.

Boom!

A massive splash of water rose dozens of feet high, and the Black Water Pool instantly boiled.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

A moment later, a wretched figure rushed out from the water.

Daoist Tian Xuan's originally neat blood-colored robes were now tattered. His hair was disheveled, and black blood stained the corners of his mouth, making him look like a madman who had just escaped from a water dungeon.

He clutched his chest, gasping for breath, his eyes staring at Chen Zhiwen in the sky with venomous madness.

But he was in no hurry to attack.

Instead, he was quickly weighing the pros and cons.

"This boy's spiritual power is extremely strange; it seems specifically designed to counter my Demonic Technique..."

"If I were at my Peak, I could crush him with a single finger."

"But now..."

Daoist Tian Xuan felt incredibly bitter in his heart.

In that battle three years ago, although he had repelled those few old fogies of the Righteous Path, his Foundation had been damaged, and he had even fallen from the Spirit Transformation Realm to the Mid Nascent Soul Stage.

For the past three years, he had been hiding in this sunless forbidden zone, barely surviving and using Death Qi to heal. He had just managed to stabilize his injuries.

But that sword strike just now had directly triggered his old wounds!

At this moment, he probably couldn't even exert ten percent of his Peak cultivation!

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Daoist Tian Xuan roared inwardly, filled with unwillingness and humiliation.

A dignified generation's Devil Head, who had dominated the Southern Wilderness for hundreds of years and struck terror into countless Sects.

Today, was he going to fall at the hands of a little ant he could have crushed at will back then?

"What? Is this all you've got?"

Chen Zhiwen did not give his opponent a chance to breathe.

He stepped through the Void Realm, approaching step by step. With every step he took, his Aura rose another level.

"Show me the Aura you had when you were hunting me down back then!"

"Or is it that your Demonic Technique can only bully the weak?"

Mockery, blatant mockery.

Chen Zhiwen wanted more than just to kill him; he wanted to destroy his heart and completely shatter this old devil's Dao Heart!

"Little beast! I will tear you into ten thousand pieces and extract your soul for refinement!"

Being humiliated like this, Daoist Tian Xuan finally lost his reason completely.

His eyes were blood-red, and he looked like a madman.

"You forced me into this!"

He suddenly bit the tip of his tongue and spat a mouthful of essence blood onto the skeleton staff in his hand.

Buzz!

That skeleton staff instantly came to life, and two clumps of green ghost fire ignited in its originally empty eye sockets.

An extremely sinister and terrifying Aura began to permeate the area.

"Ten Thousand Ghost Soul-Devouring Formation! Rise!"

Following Daoist Tian Xuan's shrill scream...

The Black Water Pool below suddenly began to churn violently.

Countless black shadows emerged from the water—grim-faced malicious ghosts, dense and blotting out the sun, numbering at least ten thousand!

These malicious ghosts were all living beings who had died around this forbidden zone over the past three years. Their souls had been captured by Daoist Tian Xuan and refined into this ultimate killing Formation.

"Go! Eat him for me! Don't leave even a scrap of bone!"

Daoist Tian Xuan waved his staff, pointing it at Chen Zhiwen.

Wooooo—

Ten thousand ghosts wailed together, and a gloomy wind howled.

That sky-covering mass of ghostly shadows was like a black torrent, carrying a desperate resentment as it surged toward Chen Zhiwen to submerge him.

Even a Cultivator at the Late Nascent Soul Stage would have to temporarily avoid the brunt of such an attack!

However...

Facing this certain-death situation...

Chen Zhiwen smiled.

A very brilliant smile.

"Playing with ghosts?"

He shook his head, a trace of pity appearing in his eyes.

"Don't you know that in the Face of absolute Pure Yang power, these things... are nothing more than supplements?"

Having said that...

Chen Zhiwen suddenly sheathed his sword.

His hands quickly formed seals, and he chanted under his breath.

A vast, righteous, and holy Aura erupted from within his body.

It was the Pure Yang True Fire—converted from the Chaos Art!

"Fire, come!"

Chen Zhiwen shouted, pushing his hands outward forcefully.

Boom!

A ball of golden flame appeared out of thin air in his palm.

This flame was only the size of a palm, but the moment it appeared, the surrounding space was scorched to the point of distortion.

That kind of ultimate Yang heat was like a small sun descending upon the world.

"Go!"

The golden flame surged with the wind, instantly transforming into a hundred-zhang-long golden fire Dragon, roaring as it charged into the Torrent of Ten Thousand Ghosts!

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

It was like boiling oil being poured into snow.

Wherever the fire Dragon passed, those malevolent ghosts didn't even have time to scream before being incinerated into green smoke, completely dissipating between heaven and earth.

The golden firelight illuminated the entire basin, sweeping away all the gloom and Death Qi.

The originally aggressive Ten Thousand Ghost Formation collapsed in an instant!

"Pfft!"

With his Natal Formation broken, Daoist Tian Xuan suffered a heavy blow once again.

This time, what he spat out was no longer black blood, but fresh blood mixed with fragments of internal organs.

He looked as if he had aged decades; his originally somewhat plump skin instantly shriveled up, truly turning into a skeleton of skin and bones.

"Impossible... What kind of fire is this?!"

Daoist Tian Xuan slumped in mid-air, watching the golden fire Dragon that was still rampaging, his eyes filled only with despair.

A complete counter!

A thorough and absolute counter!

His Demonic Technique and his Formations were like meeting a natural enemy before this kid's methods, completely unable to resist!

Flee!

He must flee!

As long as the green hills remain, one need not worry about firewood!

If the fight continued, he would truly perish here today!

Thinking of this, Daoist Tian Xuan no longer cared about dignity or Face.

The instinct for survival overrode everything.

"Kid, I will remember today's humiliation!"

"One day, I shall return it a hundredfold!"

Daoist Tian Xuan left a harsh word, then his body suddenly exploded, turning into dozens of streaks of blood light, frantically fleeing in all directions.

This was his life-saving ultimate skill—Blood Shadow Escape!

Every streak of blood light carried his Aura; as long as one escaped, he could use a body for Rebirth!

"Trying to run?"

Chen Zhiwen watched the blood light filling the sky, a cold sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

"I already said, today... you won't escape!"

Buzz!

A crack suddenly opened at the center of Chen Zhiwen's brow.

A vertical eye appeared out of thin air, emitting a mysterious and ancient Chaos Aura.

Eye of Reality-Piercing!

Under the gaze of this eye, all falsehoods in the world would have nowhere to hide.

Among those dozens of blood lights, the vast majority were illusory deceptions.

Only one, though its light was dim, contained true Divine Soul fluctuations, pressing against the ground as it bored toward a crack deeper in the forbidden zone.

"Found you."

Chen Zhiwen stepped down, his whole being turning into a streak of light, chasing after it.

His speed was so fast that it was even thirty percent faster than the Blood Shadow Escape!

...

Deep within the Netherworld Forbidden Zone.

This was a dead land where even Yao Beasts dared not set foot.

The terrain was extremely complex, with jagged rocks, heavy mist, and countless natural spatial cracks hidden within.

Two lights, one in front and one behind, staged a race of life and death in this desperate land.

"Damn it! Damn it! Why can't I shake him off!"

Daoist Tian Xuan was now on the verge of going mad.

This streak of blood light he had turned into was burning the last bit of his Origin Blood Essence, and his speed had reached its limit.

But the suffocating killing intent behind him was like a maggot on a bone, biting down firmly and not letting go.

Moreover, that madman's speed was still increasing!

"What kind of freak is this kid?!"

Daoist Tian Xuan wailed in his heart.

Panicked, he specifically dove into places with treacherous terrain and thick miasma, attempting to use the environment to block Chen Zhiwen's steps.

However.

No matter how he circled or hid.

Whenever he thought he had shaken the other off, he would look back, and that azure figure would always appear at the edge of his vision on time, and the distance was getting closer and closer!

Chen Zhiwen followed behind expressionlessly.

He was in no hurry to act.

He was waiting.

Waiting for this old devil's blood essence to burn out, waiting for his psychological defense to completely collapse.

Like a hunter chasing wounded prey, enjoying the pleasure of controlling life and death.

"Old ghost, how much further can you run?"

Chen Zhiwen's voice sounded clearly in Daoist Tian Xuan's mind through Divine Sense transmission.

"I see your blood Qi has already begun to decline."

"Ahead is the 'Dead Sea Cliff'; that is a dead end."

"Have you chosen your grave?"

Hearing the words "Dead Sea Cliff," Daoist Tian Xuan trembled violently.

He looked up.

At the end of the mist ahead, a massive cliff had indeed appeared.

Below the cliff was a bottomless abyss; what surged within was no longer ordinary Death Qi, but the "nirvana astral wind" that could instantly dissolve the Divine Soul of a Nascent Soul Cultivator!

No way forward, and pursuers behind.

A true dead end!

Daoist Tian Xuan stopped his movement, transforming back into human form and standing at the edge of the cliff.

At this moment, his Aura was weak to the extreme, like a lamp about to go out.

He turned around, looking at the slowly descending Chen Zhiwen; on that withered Face, a smile appeared that was uglier than crying.

It was the frenzy of being at the end of the road.

"Kid... must you really drive me to extinction?"

Daoist Tian Xuan's voice was hoarse, like two pieces of ragged cloth rubbing together.

Chen Zhiwen, holding the green lotus sword, walked over step by step, finally stopping ten zhang away from him.

The tip of the sword pointed to the ground, without a hint of hesitation.

"Evil must be eradicated completely."

Four words pronounced the death sentence.

"Hahahaha! What a 'evil must be eradicated completely'!"

Daoist Tian Xuan laughed towards the sky, the laughter desolate and shrill.

"Back then, I also stepped onto this Demonic Path to seek longevity."

"Killing, arson, slaughtering Sects and exterminating clans—what haven't I done?"

"I didn't expect that in the end, I would actually fall here..."

He lowered his head, looking at his own blood-stained hands, a complex look flashing in his eyes.

But soon, this complexity was replaced by madness.

"However, don't get ahead of yourself too soon!"

Daoist Tian Xuan suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with the ruthless light of mutual destruction.

"Although I am going to die, don't think you'll have it easy either!"

"Want to kill me? Then let's go to Hell together!"

Before his voice had even faded.

Daoist Tian Xuan's body suddenly swelled violently, like a balloon being blown full of air.

Violent and disordered spiritual power rampaged frantically within his body, and an extremely dangerous Aura of destruction instantly enveloped the surrounding hundred miles!

He was actually going to self-detonate his Nascent Soul!

The self-detonation of a former Spirit Transformation Realm expert, even if his Realm had fallen and he was heavily injured, would be powerful enough to level these hundred miles and even trigger the nirvana astral wind below the cliff!

"Not good!"

Chen Zhiwen's expression changed slightly.

He hadn't expected this old devil to be so decisive, truly daring to take him down together.

But his reaction was extremely fast.

Almost at the same instant Daoist Tian Xuan's body swelled.

The green lotus sword in Chen Zhiwen's hand moved.

This time, it wasn't a slash, nor was it a thrust.

But a throw!

"Go!"

Chen Zhiwen used all his strength to hurl the green lotus sword like a concealed weapon!

Whoosh!

The green lotus sword turned into a streak of polar light, its speed surpassing the limits of time.

Psch!

Just an instant before Daoist Tian Xuan was about to self-detonate.

That streak of azure light pierced through his Dantian with incomparable precision!

Not just the Physical Body.

But even the Nascent Soul inside that was preparing to self-detonate was pinned down!

"Ugh..."

Daoist Tian Xuan's swollen body instantly shriveled like a deflated balloon.

He widened his eyes, looking down at the long sword pierced through his Dantian, his eyes full of disbelief.

"How... how... so fast..."

The spiritual power in his body was leaking frantically, swallowed up by the Chaos power on that sword.

The self-detonation was interrupted.

His last trump card was gone.

Chen Zhiwen slowly walked forward and pulled out the green lotus sword, bringing out a spray of black blood.

Daoist Tian Xuan's body fell powerlessly, his gaze gradually dispersing.

"It's over."

Chen Zhiwen looked at the gradually cooling corpse, his tone calm.

The three years of enmity finally came to a close at this moment.

The wind gently blew across the cliff.

It kicked up a few wisps of dust, seemingly burying a legend of the Demonic Path belonging to the past.

Chen Zhiwen turned and looked at the way he had come.

In his eyes, there was a sense of clarity.