185: The hunt resumes

Wang Xiaopang subconsciously smacked his lips, and a sense of gratitude for surviving the ordeal welled up within him.

This Formation was incredibly ingenious; it had clearly saved his life.

But the next second, his plump body shivered, and he suddenly reacted, "That's not right! Why am I grateful to him?!"

The nascent gratitude was instantly dispelled by an overwhelming sense of grievance.

"If it weren't for that cursed scoundrel, knocking me out, stripping me bare, and burying me in a pit, how would I have ended up in this predicament?!"

Wang Xiaopang lay sprawled in the dirt, clutching his still-pounding chest, feeling both lucky and depressed.

Time passed minute by minute, and the Liuli Pure Light swept over the area several times. Yu Jizi's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.

"Elder, no abnormal aura or hidden traces have been found," an Elder responsible for maintaining the Formation respectfully reported.

Yu Jizi's expression was grim, and his Divine Sense swept over the area carefully several more times, but he indeed found nothing.

He couldn't help but feel suspicious, "Could that kid really no longer be in the valley?"

"Take back the Formation."

Yu Jizi said coldly, "That scoundrel must have used some secret technique to escape far away. Let's go, expand the search area; he can't have run far!"

As soon as his voice fell, four streaks of light soared into the sky with Yu Jizi, instantly disappearing into the horizon. The valley returned to its deathly silence.

Underground, Wang Xiaopang held his breath and waited for another half an hour. Only after confirming that there was truly no more movement above, and even the birds and insects had resumed their calls, did he let out a long, careful sigh of relief.

"Hoo... Fat Master was scared to death! I really thought I was going to be finished this time!"

He wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead, still feeling lingering fear.

"That Restriction is really powerful; it even managed to fool the Holy Land's Formation? What exactly is the background of the guy who buried me?"

With the crisis resolved, the desire to escape became incredibly strong.

He began to struggle fiercely, mobilizing his limited recovered spiritual energy, coordinating with his body's twisting, slowly grinding and pushing against the surrounding soil and rocks.

After an immense effort, getting covered in dirt and feeling like his body was falling apart, he finally heard a muffled "thump," and his head broke through the loosened soil!

"Cough cough... Ptooey ptooey!"

He gasped for air, which carried the smell of gunpowder and blood, and struggled to "pull" his plump body out of the pit. He collapsed to the side, panting heavily from exhaustion.

After resting for a good while, he finally recovered his strength.

"Alas, my treasures..."

The sorrow of losing everything welled up in his heart again. He looked crestfallen, his gaze subconsciously sweeping over the pit he had just crawled out of.

With that glance, his small eyes instantly widened!

He saw several faint glimmers of light flickering in the broken soil at the bottom of the pit! He quickly pounced over, using both hands to frantically dig.

Soon, several items appeared before his eyes:

A seven star secret token, a Shadow Cloak, a Transformation Jade Pendant, and some miscellaneous treasures.

"These... aren't these my things? He didn't take them?!"

Wang Xiaopang was stunned at first, then his face showed incredible ecstasy and a very strange expression.

"That black-hearted thief... he, he actually doesn't recognize good stuff?!"

"This Shadow Cloak and Transformation Jade Pendant can conceal one's aura and change one's appearance. They are essential Divine Artifacts for deceiving... ah, ptooey, for traversing the cultivation world! Did he look down on them or simply not recognize their value?!"

Wang Xiaopang looked at these recovered, life-saving items that he regarded as treasures, his emotions extremely complex.

On one hand, he was ecstatically happy that his core assets were saved! On the other hand, he felt a deep sense of insult.

"Never mind, never mind!"

He shook his head, no longer thinking about that strange fellow, and happily and carefully put all the items into his Storage Ring.

"Although Fat Master suffered heavy losses, my true foundation is preserved! Hehe, it's good that he didn't recognize their value!"

Although his main wealth was gone, the recovery of his core treasures finally gave Wang Xiaopang some confidence and comfort.

He held his breath and waited for another half an hour. Only after confirming that there was truly no more movement above, and even the birds and insects had resumed their calls, did he let out a long, careful sigh of relief.

"Hoo... Fat Master was scared to death! They're finally all gone!"

With the crisis resolved, he decided to leave this cursed place immediately.

He first carefully circulated his spiritual energy, slowly shaking off the loose soil and rocks above his head, his movements extremely gentle, fearing to make even the slightest sound.

After a great deal of effort, he finally, without causing too much disturbance, dug a gap at the edge of the pit just wide enough for his head to poke out.

Like a cautious marmot, he first pressed his ear to the gap and listened carefully, confirming that the outside was utterly silent. Only then did he carefully, little by little, poke his head out, his small eyes darting around.

It was almost dusk, the light in the valley was dim, and the area was a mess, indeed empty.

"Hehe, it's safe!" Wang Xiaopang's heart swelled with joy, and he was about to climb out completely.

However, just as his head fully emerged from the ground and his gaze swept over a large rock to his front-side—

His eyes met a pair of eyes behind the rock, which were also filled with astonishment, then quickly turned to ecstasy and sharpness!

Behind that rock, hidden was none other than a Middle Stage Heavenly Human Realm Elder dressed in the Glazed Holy Land uniform!

He had been ordered to lie in wait here, originally thinking it would be a futile effort and was about to withdraw. He never expected the target to actually crawl out from underground himself!

Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze!

"Little thief! You are indeed here!!"

The Elder's reaction was astonishingly fast; his astonishment lasted only an instant, then transformed into a furious roar. His figure shot out from behind the rock like lightning, and at the same time, a communication Jade Slip in his hand was instantly crushed!

"Holy crap!" Wang Xiaopang's Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, he was so scared he almost jumped on the spot!

He had never imagined there was a living person hiding right under his nose!

The instinct for survival overrode everything!

Almost at the same moment the Elder roared, he abruptly retracted his head. The Small Void Teleportation Talisman, which he had already prepared in his right hand, was frantically activated!

"Buzz—!"

Silver light shone, and intense spatial fluctuations suddenly rippled out from the pit where he was located!

"Where do you think you're going?!" How could the Elder let him escape? Before he even arrived, a condensed Liuli finger-light had already pierced through the air, shooting directly towards the pit!

"Go!" Wang Xiaopang roared, his spiritual energy surging!

The finger-light arrived in an instant, slamming heavily into the edge of the pit!

"Bang!" Soil splattered, andbroken rocks flew!

But the silver light had already intensified, completely enveloping, stretching, and blurring Wang Xiaopang's figure... The finger-light was, after all, a split second too slow. It only shattered Wang Xiaopang's residual afterimage and the messy pit, failing to interrupt the teleportation.

"Target found! In the pit in the southeast corner of the valley! He escaped with a Teleportation Talisman! The spatial fluctuations point northeast!!"

The Elder's anxious and angry voice instantly spread with the Jade Slip message!

The news was like a thunderclap, instantly exploding in the minds of Yu Jizi and the others who had just left not far away!

Yu Jizi's eyes shot out cold light, and Killing Intent soared to the sky: "What a cunning little thief! How dare he play such tricks on this Venerable One! Chase him!"

His figure transformed into a startling streak of light tearing through the sky, instantly locking onto the faint but clear spatial trajectory to the northeast, and he pursued with a speed far exceeding before!

The other Elders also followed closely, brimming with Killing Intent!

And at this moment, dozens of miles away, as Wang Xiaopang's figure just stumbled out of the Void Realm, that familiar, bone-chilling Killing Intent once again latched onto him like a maggot on a corpse, and it was approaching at an even more terrifying speed!

"You're not done, are you?!" Wang Xiaopang shrieked, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and without even looking, he pulled out another Teleportation Talisman and frantically activated it!

A new, even more perilous, desperate chase suddenly escalated!