Although Wang Yu was fleeing, he was acutely aware that his speed was a weakness, one he had no short-term means to remedy. It was only a matter of time before he was caught.
Because of this, he paid close attention to the Foundation Establishment cultivator pursuing him. His escape depended on it.
His reason for fleeing towards Spider Mountain was partly its proximity. If he proved no match for the Foundation Establishment cultivator, he could still use the mountain's protective formation to save his life. By then, he could summon the late-Foundation Establishment female cultivator in the light veil, and the crisis would be resolved.
However, doing so might mean he couldn't keep the Flood Dragon inner core.
"Fight first. Run if I can't win."
"Drag this out as long as possible. He's just been through a major battle; his True Qi reserves must be nearly depleted. Consumables like talismans are almost certainly used up."
The reality matched Wang Yu's thoughts perfectly, even leaning more in his favor.
He used the Black Scale Shield to block the energy spears periodically shot from behind, cleverly using the impact force to add a fraction to his speed. The downside was that the high-grade artifact couldn't withstand many attacks from a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
The distance between them steadily closed.
After delaying for nearly half an hour, he finally couldn't hold out. The Black Scale Shield, twisted and deformed like a piece of scrap iron, shattered completely during one last block. Wang Yu felt no heartache over it; he hadn't even wanted to buy such things, they were all loot from his victories. Broken was broken.
Soon, during the next attack, Wang Yu stowed his flying sword and dropped from the sky into a dense forest below. The pursuer behind him finally breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his brow, and plunged in after him.
But once inside the forest, the lush canopy blocked most of the sunlight, leaving only scattered, dappled patches of light on the forest floor. Wang Yu's figure had already vanished.
"Hmph, petty tricks? Don't you know a Foundation Establishment cultivator's spiritual sense can—"
He abruptly stopped speaking because he actually couldn't detect Wang Yu's presence. This mental fluctuation created a momentary flaw in his defenses.
Right at that instant, terrifyingly cold flames descended from above. The air temperature plummeted rapidly, yet the core temperature was bizarrely high, creating a low-temperature zone ideal for Wang Yu's combat style.
The pursuer instinctively created a small patch of protective True Qi above his head—a sign that his True Qi was insufficient.
Upon reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, cultivators gained two instinctual marvels, or traits, as innate as the limbs they were born with.
Bodily flight was the first.
The second was the instinct for **〈True Qi Armor〉**. A single thought could manifest it, and it could even activate subconsciously, faster than conscious control. This was a Foundation Establishment marvel, providing significant security against various ambushes.
Correspondingly, Core Formation and Nascent Soul stages each had their own distinct marvels, like new talents or organs acquired at different stages of life's evolution.
Generally speaking, a Qi Refining cultivator stood almost no chance of defeating a Foundation Establishment expert.
But when one party was at their lowest ebb, and the other was at their peak, possessing uncommon strength and means that transcended their level, then challenging and defeating a higher realm opponent...
Didn't seem so impossible?
From within the blue flames, a dark, bluish-black arm shot out. A fierce punch actually shattered the True Qi Armor and slammed squarely into the man's jaw.
*CRACK—*
The sound of dislocating bone was unmistakable. His body was sent flying sideways like a ragdoll, plowing a long furrow in the ground before finally smashing against an ancient tree and coming to a stop.
He coughed up blood incessantly.
"Y-you... who are you?!"
Clearly, he was dazed by Wang Yu's monstrous strength. He had never seen a Qi Refining cultivator hit so hard.
Wang Yu, however, had no intention of answering.
Phantom Steps created ten afterimages attacking from different angles. The man swung his large spear again while forming seals with his other hand. Three breaths later, a ring of golden light expanded outward from him.
Wang Yu's Black Evil Armor instantly materialized on his body, wrapping him securely.
With a sweep of his hand...
The Ice Coffin Curse and the modified Ice Sword Art were cast simultaneously. Thick icicles, like the bars of a cage, fell from the sky. With a slight adjustment of their angle, they pinned the man in place.
Wang Yu's foot stamped violently on the ground, cracking the earth for meters around. The moment he leaped into the air, he twisted his waist and hips, delivering a perfectly executed flying kick that nearly severed his enemy in two.
Amidst the shattering icicles, the younger brother—his upper body bent back at a grotesque obtuse angle—slumped to the ground, blood gushing from his mouth and nose. His life force was rapidly fading.
His eyes, filled with venomous hatred, stared fixedly at Wang Yu, but he could no longer speak.
In the silence, he breathed his last.
"Devour Souls!"
Without hesitation, Wang Yu immediately cast the art. He currently lacked means to destroy souls directly, but the Soul-Devouring Evil Armor Art could consume spirits outright. The soul of a freshly deceased person naturally fell within its scope.
Black smoke, like serpents, extended from the Black Evil Armor, piercing into the target's body and pulling out a semi-transparent Foundation Establishment soul. The soul was already slowly dissipating, shedding grey-white specks of light. Without the aid of a Yin earth environment, it would soon vanish entirely.
He wouldn't get the chance.
Ignoring the soul's malevolent expression, Wang Yu directly pulled it into the Black Evil Armor. Following the initial Supervisor Xu, a second face contorted with bitter resentment now appeared on the armor's surface.
The power of this strange art received a noticeable boost immediately.
"Demonic Path strange arts are indeed sinister."
As for the future side effects of soul devouring, he was consuming very few for now, so the impact was almost negligible. He just needed to control the quantity. Managed well, it could even be used to temper his own spiritual sense.
This time, it was a close shave. Gathering the corpse and the storage pouch, Wang Yu continued towards Spider Mountain, this time pushing the Night Concealment Charm to its absolute limit.
The Five Yin Peak deacon, suffering from backlash, couldn't possibly have survived the older brother's retaliation. And that older brother, at the critical moment of near-asphyxiation when the illusion broke, had been desperately gasping for air and hadn't seen Wang Yu at all.
With so many troubles already, one more didn't matter. He refused to believe they could track him through thin air.
The real gain from this trip was the harvest.
He had lost at the start but gained in the end. The only slight complication was the third-rank Flood Dragon inner core; it was more suitable for a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator attempting to break through to Core Formation, used as a substitute for a Core Formation spiritual treasure.
He didn't know what technique that person had been planning to cultivate by swallowing the core directly. It was a pity he couldn't get the Five Yin Peak Foundation Establishment cultivator's storage pouch; it certainly contained opportunities and secrets.
On the return journey, Wang Yu traveled at full speed.
He barely managed to reach Spider Mountain by sunset. Changing back into his Outer Sect disciple attire, he calmly used his token to verify his identity, attracting no one's attention.
Only after entering the stone house at the edge of the spirit fields and re-activating the Blood Mist Spirit Concealment Array did he finally relax.
He lit a Mind-Calming Incense, bathed, and changed clothes.
Sitting cross-legged on his meditation cushion, he rubbed his hands together.
"Let's see what the net worth of a rogue Foundation Establishment cultivator is~"
"Spirit stones... only eight thousand? That's a bit low, less than a wealthy Qi Refining cultivator."
The low-grade second-tier artifact **[Hundred Strike Spear]** was of very ordinary quality, practically the lowest tier among low-grade second-tier artifacts. Its effect was to inject spiritual power to分化 (differentiate) into a hundred energy spears for attack.
There wasn't a single talisman left. There were a few bottles of pills and some miscellaneous items.
However, surprising Wang Yu, it actually contained cultivation manuals, spell arts, and secret techniques.
**(End of Chapter)**