50: Chapter 50 Chase and Escape
Liu Cangsheng pursued Chen Yuanji for five days. During those five days, Chen Yuanji took out three more outposts. He did not engage Liu Cangsheng in a direct confrontation, instead utilizing the speed of the Wuzhui Horse and his familiarity with the terrain to quickly end battles and relocate before Liu Cangsheng could arrive. Every time, Liu Cangsheng was a step too late, seeing only corpses strewn across the ground and rooms that had been ransacked into a mess.
"This kid is slipperier than a loach." Liu Cangsheng stood amidst the ruins of the seventeenth outpost, leaning on his cane with a grim expression. Following behind him were five Tiandao Sect Disciples, all at the Peak of the Shentong Realm, responsible for running errands and relaying messages.
"Elder Liu, word has come from the next outpost that Chen Yuanji has already headed north," a Disciple said with a bow.
"North?" Liu Cangsheng frowned. "To the north are the Cangmang Mountains; once he enters the mountains, he will be hard to find."
"Should we split up to pursue him?"
"No need." Liu Cangsheng shook his head. "Splitting up would play right into his hands. He wants to disperse our strength so he can defeat us one by one. I will pursue him alone; you all follow behind and report his location at any time."
"Yes!"
Liu Cangsheng leaned on his cane and walked northward. His steps seemed slow, but each stride covered several yards, his speed surprisingly fast. His cultivation at the Late Stage of the Void-Piercing Realm allowed him to travel as if flying on land, even without taking to the air.
Chen Yuanji galloped along the edge of the Cangmang Mountains on his Wuzhui Horse. He had just cleared the seventeenth outpost and obtained many letters and ledgers. One of the letters mentioned the Martial Dao Divine Court ruins deep within Cangwu Mountain—not the Middle-layer Ruins he had visited before, but a core ruin even deeper inside, which supposedly hid the final secrets of the Martial Dao Divine Court.
"The final secrets of the Martial Dao Divine Court," Chen Yuanji thought as he felt the letter in his robe. Elder Xuan had once said that when the Martial Dao Divine Court fell, the last Martial God hid his life's learning deep within Cangwu Mountain, accessible only to those who passed the trials. Having obtained the martial gods heart in the Middle-layer Ruins, he had already passed part of the test. But the Core Ruins held even more important things, possibly the key to a Breakthrough to the God Realm.
"I must go there," he decided. But the prerequisite was to shake off Liu Cangsheng. Chen Yuanji reined in his horse and glanced back. The official road behind him was empty, but his perception told him that Liu Cangsheng was fifty miles away and closing fast.
"Fifty miles—he can catch up in less than an hour." He estimated the time. "Before entering the mountains, I must stall him for a bit longer." He turned his horse and veered onto a fork in the road leading west. The fork led to a small town where there was a minor Tiandao Sect outpost guarded by only one person at the Early Stage of the Shentong Realm. He spent the time it takes to drink a cup of tea to finish the battle, then continued westward.
When Liu Cangsheng reached the town, he saw yet another ground full of corpses. "Escaped again," he took a deep breath, suppressing the fury in his heart. "This kid is intentionally exhausting my patience."
"Elder Liu, he went west." A Disciple ran over. "To the west is the wasteland with no cover; he won't be able to run."
"Pursue!" Liu Cangsheng increased his speed and chased toward the west.
Chen Yuanji galloped across the wasteland, the Wuzhui Horse's speed pushed to its limit. The wasteland stretched endlessly with no cover, making his figure exceptionally conspicuous under the moonlight.
"It's about time," he estimated the distance; Liu Cangsheng had closed to within twenty miles.
He pulled the martial gods heart from his robe; the heart emitted a golden glow under the moonlight. He pressed the heart to his chest and activated his inner core, drawing the power of the blood and Qi from the heart into his body. Protective Aura condensed on his body's surface, forming a layer of golden light. The light shield was thirty percent thicker than usual, its color shifting from pale gold to deep gold.
"Come on."
He reined in his horse and turned to face the path he came from. Moments later, Liu Cangsheng's figure appeared on the horizon. Leaning on his cane, his steps were steady, each one treading between reality and illusion; in the blink of an eye, he was only a hundred yards away.
"Not running anymore?" Liu Cangsheng stopped and looked at Chen Yuanji, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes. "You have courage. I have lived for over a thousand years, and I have seen few young people like you."
"Less talk," Chen Yuanji dismounted and patted the Wuzhui Horse's neck, signaling it to retreat to the side. "If we're going to fight, then fight."
Liu Cangsheng smiled, a smile tinged with desolation. "I originally didn't want to kill you. The Grand Elder said he wanted you alive; your blood is useful. But you have killed so many people from the Tiandao Sect. If I don't kill you, I won't be able to give an account."
He raised his right hand, pointing his cane at Chen Yuanji. A vast amount of Yuan power surged from the cane, transforming into a massive black dragon that lunged at Chen Yuanji with claws and fangs bared. This strike from the Late Stage of the Void-Piercing Realm was more than a level higher than Zhou Xuanji's. Chen Yuanji did not dare to meet it head-on; his figure flashed, evading the black dragon's frontal impact. Simultaneously, he threw a right punch, his Crushing Fist wrapped in deep golden Protective Aura, striking the dragon's side.
"Boom!" The dragon's body trembled violently but did not shatter. It turned its head, opened its massive maw, and spat out a burst of black flames. The temperature of the flames was extremely high, the scorching heat felt even from several yards away. Chen Yuanji crossed his hands, and his Protective Aura condensed into a golden shield before him. The flames struck the shield with a piercing sizzle, and fine cracks appeared on the shield's surface.
"Break!" Chen Yuanji shouted, and Protective Aura erupted from the shield, dispersing the flames. At the same time, his figure retreated explosively, putting distance between himself and the dragon.
Liu Cangsheng frowned slightly. "A Half-Step Divine Realm being able to take two of my moves is not bad. But the third move, you won't be able to take."
He formed hand seals, and the black dragon swelled abruptly, growing from several yards long to dozens of yards long, completely sealing off Chen Yuanji's path of retreat. Chen Yuanji's eyes narrowed; he stopped evading. He took a deep breath, the inner core in his Dantian spinning frantically, condensing all his Protective Aura into his right fist. A layer of golden light emerged on his fist, growing brighter and brighter like a small sun.
"Gang Jin · Crushing Fist · Heaven Breaker!" He threw a punch, and the golden fist-force was like a meteor, colliding with the black dragon.
"Boom!" A thunderous roar shook the sky as airwaves rolled. The ground was blasted into a crater several yards deep, with debris flying hundreds of yards into the air. The Wuzhui Horse was startled and galloped away neighing. The black dragon shattered, dissipating into a sky full of black light motes. Chen Yuanji was sent flying, crashing heavily onto the ground, blood spraying from his mouth. His right arm was bent at a grotesque angle; the bone was broken.
Liu Cangsheng stood where he was, his expression unchanged, but the hand holding the cane trembled slightly. "What a punch," he said flatly. "I have lived for a thousand years, and I have never seen a punch like that."
Chen Yuanji scrambled up from the ground, his left arm propping him up while his right arm hung at his side. Blood stained the corners of his mouth, but his eyes remained calm. "And you've never seen a person like me."
Liu Cangsheng fell silent for a moment, then pulled the fengyuan bead from his robe. "I didn't want to use this thing, but your punch is too much trouble. Once I seal your Protective Aura, let's see how you fight."
He activated his Yuan power, injecting it into the fengyuan bead. The cracks on the bead's surface began to glow, and an invisible ripple spread out from the bead, expanding in all directions. Under the influence of this ripple, Chen Yuanji's Protective Aura began to grow sluggish. The rotation speed of his inner core slowed, and the condensation speed of his Protective Aura lagged.
"Not good." He was startled and turned to run.
Liu Cangsheng did not pursue, merely standing there watching him run away. "Run then. The range of the fengyuan bead is ten miles; you won't make it out of ten miles."
Chen Yuanji did not look back, running desperately toward the depths of the wasteland. His right arm was broken, and his left leg was injured by the dragon's shockwave, causing him to limp as he ran. The ripple from the fengyuan bead grew stronger, and his Protective Aura became increasingly sluggish. The inner core in his Dantian almost stopped spinning, his Protective Aura could not condense, and the golden light shield on his body's surface vanished.
"Ten miles." He gritted his teeth and kept running.
Seven miles! Eight miles! Nine miles! Ten miles! The ripple from the fengyuan bead suddenly vanished. Chen Yuanji stopped and looked back. Liu Cangsheng's figure on the horizon was just a small dot.
"The range of his fengyuan bead is only ten miles." Chen Yuanji panted heavily. "As long as I run past ten miles, I'm safe." But he knew Liu Cangsheng would not give him a second chance. Next time, Liu Cangsheng would use the fengyuan bead to seal his Protective Aura directly and then catch him.
"I must achieve a Breakthrough to the God Realm." He dragged his injured body toward the direction of the Cangmang Mountains.
Behind him, Liu Cangsheng's voice drifted from afar. "Chen Yuanji, you can't escape. The entire Zhongyuan Region is Tiandao Sect territory. Where can you possibly run?"
Chen Yuanji did not answer and continued to run, the moonlight spilling over the wasteland, stretching his shadow very, very long.