"Goodbye, Hong Yu."
Luo Zhen tossed the words over his shoulder, a finality in his tone that cut through the mountain air. In the same breath, a pair of translucent, ethereal wings erupted from his back. With a single, powerful beat, the air around him fractured, and he shot into the sky like a reverse meteor.
Behind him, a roar of fury shattered the silence. "You think you can run? Sword Control!"
The pursuer, a crimson-faced elder whose very aura seemed to burn, barked the command. His personal blade dissolved into a streak of scarlet luminescence, sliding beneath his feet to act as a platform. Riding the beam of light, he tore through the sky, closing the distance on Luo Zhen with terrifying speed.
On the ground, Hong Yu watched the two figures shrink against the canvas of the sky. She was helpless, her heart caught in a vice of anxiety. The man chasing Luo Zhen was a human powerhouse at the Nascent Soul Realm—an existence that stood at the pinnacle of power in this region. She could do nothing but offer a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening.
Moments after the sonic booms faded, a streak of azure light descended onto the mountain peak. The light coalesced into the imposing figure of the Green Wolf King.
Hong Yu started, immediately bowing low. "This junior greets the Wolf King."
"Mm," the Wolf King grunted, his attention not on her, but fixed intently on the horizon where the black specks of the chase were vanishing.
"A pity," the Wolf King murmured, his voice heavy with resignation. "Luo Zhen, you were too hasty. Had you remained within the boundaries of this peak, I would have had the justification to shield you. But now... You have fled my domain. I have no cause to intervene."
He watched until the sky was empty, the potential of a genius fading into the distance. "Alas. A waste of a fine seedling."
With a heavy sigh that seemed to echo the weight of his crown, the Green Wolf King turned and retreated into the mountain shadows.
High above the desolate wastelands, the wind screamed against Luo Zhen's defensive barriers. He was fast, pushing his wings to their limit, but the crimson-faced elder was faster. The gap was closing.
Luo Zhen abruptly killed his momentum, hovering in the air a silent, dead expanse of wilderness. He turned, his gaze cold and calculating, watching the streak of red light approach.
In truth, panic was nowhere near his mind. Sitting in his System inventory was a Demon Emperor-level Wind Escape Talisman, purchased with hard-earned points. Crushing it would teleport him to safety instantly. But Luo Zhen wasn't interested in merely surviving; he wanted to measure the weight of his own soul. He wanted to test his limits.
Two breaths later, the elder arrived, stopping a hundred yards away.
Luo Zhen narrowed his eyes, activating his internal scanning function. A translucent, holographic interface overlaid his vision, populating it with data:
[Target Analysis]
Name: Li Chi Huo
Alias: Old Monster Chi Huo
Race: Human
Realm: Mid-Nascent Soul (Hua Ying)
Skills: [Redacted - Power Disparity Too High]
Artifacts: [Redacted - Power Disparity Too High]
Affiliation: Kingdom of Lu, Sect Master of the Chi Huo Sect.
Sect Master of the Chi Huo Sect, Luo Zhen mused, the pieces falling into place. No wonder his skin looks like boiled lobster. He's a fire cultivator.
The "Redacted" warnings on the skill list didn't faze him. Mid-Nascent Soul Realm. It's a gap, certainly. But not an insurmountable one.
While Luo Zhen analyzed the data, Old Monster Chi Huo was busy scanning the environment with his spiritual sense. He was a cautious hunter, ensuring no traps lay in wait.
"Excellent," Chi Huo sneered, his confidence returning as he confirmed their isolation. "I've swept the area for fifty miles. There are no Demon Kings here to save you. Today, boy, you belong to the grave."
He reached into the void, fingers curling like claws. The sword beneath his feet obeyed the silent command, transforming back into a solid blade of fiery steel in his grip. He raised the weapon, the air around it shimmering with heat distortion.
But before the blade could fall, Luo Zhen's eyes flashed.
A psychedelic, blinding white light erupted from his pupils, washing over the world like a tidal wave. It was a mental assault, an illusory technique designed to shatter focus.
"What sorcery is—" Chi Huo began, but his words slurred. His movements hitched. His mind waded through molasses.
It was only a fraction of a second of hesitation, but for Luo Zhen, it was an eternity.
System. Summon the Nine-Infant Demon Shadow.
Luo Zhen was currently a Half-step Demon King. His conventional arsenal—the Thunder Cloud Knife, the Beast Fire—would be like throwing pebbles at a tank against a Mid-Nascent Soul expert. He needed the nuclear option.
The air behind Luo Zhen tore open.
From the rift, a shadow emerged. It was not merely large; it was comprehensive, blotting out the sun. The spectral form of a nine-headed serpent, the legendary Nine-Infant (Jiuying), manifested in the physical realm. The pressure it exerted was ancient and suffocating.
Under Luo Zhen's mental command, two of the leviathan's heads reared back. Their jaws unhinged, and a golden light began to coalesce in their throats, bright as twin suns.
Having advanced to the Half-step Demon King realm, Luo Zhen's control had evolved. He could now command two heads simultaneously. More importantly, the phantom he summoned wasn't weak—it possessed the raw power of a Peak Demon King.
It was this trump card that allowed him to stand his ground.
Opposite him, Chi Huo's body jerked. A veteran of countless battles, his mental fortitude was immense. He shattered the illusory hold, his eyes regaining clarity.
"Good kid! You actually mastered mental arts?" Chi Huo roared, half in anger, half in begrudging respect. "If my spiritual sense weren't so refined, I might have actually—"
His voice died in his throat. He looked up.
He saw the heads.
"What... what in the hells is that?" The arrogance evaporated from Chi Huo's face, replaced by the primal terror of a prey animal. "That pressure..."
The twin heads of the Nine-Infant snapped forward.
BOOM.
Two torrents of golden energy erupted, spiraling around each other in mid-air. They fused into a singular, catastrophic beam of destruction, thick as a millstone and roaring like a collapsing star.
There was no time to dodge.
Panic seizing him, Chi Huo swung his sword wildly, generating a red wave of sword-qi thirty meters long. Simultaneously, his left hand flicked, deploying a small blue artifact. It expanded instantly upon hitting the air, transforming into a house-sized shield of azure energy—the Blue Glint Shield.
Sword qi. Shield.
The golden torrent arrived.
The red sword qi evaporated on contact, offering as much resistance as a sheet of paper against a flamethrower. The golden beam didn't even slow down. It slammed into the Blue Glint Shield with the force of a divine judgment.
CRACK-BOOM!
The sound was not of this world. It was a deafening rupture, like a dozen cruise missiles detonating at a single point. A shockwave of compressed air and spiritual energy rippled outward, flattening the grass and pulverizing rocks. Within a ten-mile radius, the small fauna of the wasteland didn't stand a chance; the sonic pressure alone liquidated them.
Where Chi Huo stood, a blinding sphere of blue and gold light raged, obscuring everything.
Luo Zhen hovered above the destruction, his expression grim. "A direct hit from a Peak Demon King's attack. Even a Nascent Soul cultivator shouldn't survive that."
But as the dust swirled, a figure shot out of the smoke.
It was ragged, clothes shredded, trailing smoke, but it was moving fast.
"He's alive?" Luo Zhen's heart skipped a beat.
He immediately flapped his wings, diving in pursuit. But Chi Huo was burning his very life essence to fuel his flight. In seconds, he was a dot on the horizon; in another breath, he was gone.
Luo Zhen halted, frustrated. "Slippery old fox."
He was baffled. The math didn't add up. A Mid-Nascent Soul cultivator tanking a Peak Demon King attack? It should have been instant atomization.
"It was the shield," the System's voice echoed in his mind, cool and analytical. "That blue barrier was a Mid-Grade Magic Treasure focused entirely on defense. It absorbed ninety percent of the kinetic and spiritual impact. Chi Huo survived because his wallet took the hit for him."
"The shield..."
Luo Zhen looked down. Floating in the air amidst the smoke were glittering shards of blue metal.
Luo Zhen reached out, using his telekinesis to draw a shard into his palm.
Even broken, the fragment pulsed with a vibrant, rhythmic blue light. It hummed with residual power.
"Completely shattered, yet the scraps are this potent," Luo Zhen marveled.
"It is to be expected," the System replied. "It sacrificed its structural integrity to negate the damage. Without it, your opponent would be ash."
Behind him, the massive silhouette of the Nine-Infant began to fade. The summoning duration had expired. The monster dissolved into mist, returning to the void.
Luo Zhen fingered the shard, his mind racing. "When he ran, he looked terrified, but he wasn't limping. His aura was stable. That means the shield wasn't a Life-Bound Artifact."
In the world of cultivation, a Life-Bound Artifact was an extension of the soul. If it shattered, the owner's soul would fracture with it, leaving them incapacitated or dead. A standard artifact, however, was just a tool. If a tool breaks, the user is sad, but physically fine.
"He just lost money, not blood," Luo Zhen muttered. "Which means he's still dangerous."
He swept his hand through the air, collecting the remaining fragments. "Recycle these," he ordered the System. Even trash was worth points.
With the battlefield cleared, Luo Zhen turned toward the Black Water Lake. He couldn't stay here.
Miles away, Chi Huo was running for his life.
He looked like a beggar—robes torn, face soot-stained, hair wild. He kept glancing back, expecting the golden beam to erase him.
Suddenly, four distinct, powerful auras flared ahead of him. Chi Huo looked up, relief flooding his veins. Hovering in the sky were four figures, each radiating the power of the Nascent Soul realm.
His allies.
"Chi Huo?" One of the cultivators stepped forward, eyebrows raised in shock. "We thought you went to swat a fly. Why do you look like you crawled out of a volcano?"
"Don't... don't ask," Chi Huo gasped, slowing to a halt. He swallowed hard, trying to slow his racing heart. "That kid... he's a monster. He summoned a nine-headed serpent."
"A what?" The group exchanged glances. "Explain."
Chi Huo recounted the battle—the illusion, the massive shadow, the golden beam that felt like the wrath of heaven.
When he finished, silence hung heavy in the air.
"It was at the Peak Demon King level," Chi Huo stressed, his voice trembling. "If I didn't have the Blue Glint Shield, I'd be dead. My savings, my best artifact... gone in a second. But," he added, trying to salvage his dignity, "a treasure for a life is a fair trade."
The group remained contemplative. Finally, a cultivator in blue robes spoke up, his tone dismissive.
"Chi Huo, I think fear has clouded your judgment."
"What do you mean?"
"Think about it logically," the man said, stroking his beard. "Luo Zhen is a Half-step Demon King. The gap between him and a Peak Demon King is an ocean. To summon something that powerful... the cost must be astronomical."
He held up a finger. "Possibility one: He burned his own blood essence to cast it. He is likely crippled right now, barely able to fly."
He held up a second finger. "Possibility two: The cooldown is massive. It's a one-time trump card. If he could spam that attack, he wouldn't be running. He would rule Silver Flood Dragon Island. How many Peak Demon Kings even exist here? Three? Four?"
The logic pierced through Chi Huo's panic. His eyes widened. "You mean... he's bluffing?"
"He blew his load," the cultivator nodded. "The smart move would have been to wait five minutes for the phantom to fade, then kill him. But you panicked."
"Dammit!" Chi Huo slapped his forehead. "I was so focused on not dying, I stopped thinking!"
"It matters not," another cultivator interjected, his eyes gleaming with greed. "We know where he is. We go together. Five Nascent Soul cultivators against one exhausted boy? Even if he summons that snake again, we will crush it."
"The Secret Realm is closed anyway," another added sourly. "Only Luo Zhen made it out alive. He probably has all the loot. Let's go get it."
"Agreed."
With Chi Huo leading the charge, the five of them accelerated, tearing back toward the wasteland.
"By the way," one asked casually as they flew, "A nine-headed snake? Was it a Xiangliu? A Jiuying?"
"Who cares?" came the reply. "It's a dead snake walking. We are the apex predators here."
Luo Zhen was cruising, the Black Water Lake finally appearing on his mental map. He was beginning to relax.
Ding.
The System's voice cut through his calm like a siren.
[Critical Warning]
[Host, immediate threat detected. Target 'Li Chi Huo' is re-engaging.]
[Update: He is not alone. Four additional Nascent Soul entities detected in his proximity.]
Luo Zhen nearly stopped mid-air. "He brought friends?"
A cold sweat broke out on his back. His daily summons for the Nine-Infant was used. It was on cooldown. Without that, he was just a Half-step Demon King. He could maybe handle one Nascent Soul expert if he got lucky and used every trick in the book.
But five?
Five was a firing squad.
"I need to disappear. Now."
Luo Zhen began to fish out the Wind Escape Talisman. He was done testing himself. This was no longer a battle; it was an execution.
But he was too late.
The air pressure around him spiked. Five immense, heavy spiritual senses slammed into him, locking his position down like a spotlight in a prison yard.
He looked back. On the horizon, five figures grew rapidly, their sonic booms rolling over him like thunder. In the lead, looking revitalized and vindictive, was Old Monster Chi Huo.
"Hey, Luo!"
Chi Huo's voice, amplified by spiritual energy, boomed across the sky, filled with the glee of a man who knows he has won.
"Where do you think you're going?! Today, there is no earth to bury you in!"