Chapter 442: Each Fights for Their Own Life in the Face of Disaster; the Slowest Runners End Up in the Front Row

Mu Yong now deeply regretted not having redeemed himself earlier.

As a result, he was sent to "pursue and kill" this group of absurdly powerful Soul Transformation cultivators.

Foundation Establishment chasing Soul Transformation…

Is this even pursuit?!

This is clearly sending them to die!

But as seedling-level disciples, who were essentially the sect's property, they had zero autonomy and had to fully obey the sect's orders.

This was extremely frustrating.

"Where the hell did this group come from?!"

This was the one thing Mu Yong simply could not understand—clearly, in his past-life memories, nothing like this had ever happened.

In fact, cultivators across the entire Xuanxiang Realm had long been like stagnant water, suppressed by the major sects and the "Heavenly Orb Absorbing Qi" system, with almost no change.

Until seven hundred years later, when numerous Return-to-Emptiness Immortal Elders, led by Xuanxing Xianzun, joined forces to break through the Heavenly Orb and seize the cultivation essence within to advance further—only to be consumed by the Heavenly Orb itself…

All Return-to-Emptiness Immortal Elders in the world perished; the remaining cultivators rose up, establishing countless "Cultivation Black Markets," studying the inscribed ritual glyphs on the Nine Six-Stage Bronze Celestial Instruments.

He was one of those who rose with the tide—after all the major sects' Return-to-Emptiness Immortal Elders perished, he endured countless trials and finally succeeded in attaining the title of "Xianzun."

After three hundred years of painstaking research into the ritual glyphs on the Xuanxiang Heavenly Orb, he finally comprehended the "Mu Ling Yang Wu Hua Cang Zhen Jing."

It was then that he finally uncovered the truth of the Xuanxiang Heavenly Orb—and triggered its origin, twisting space-time and returning to the past…

All that had happened in the past, though some details might be forgotten due to his current low realm, the major events were absolutely etched in his memory!

He was certain that during those seven hundred years, no such absurdly powerful Soul Transformation cultivators had ever appeared!

Could it be that his rebirth had caused the world's trajectory to shift slightly?

But he had only just entered the Dao—not long at all—and the emergence of a single minor Foundation Establishment cultivator shouldn't have skewed the world's progress this far, right?

Mu Yong's expression was extremely grim.

Of course, the other Tianling Sect seedling-level disciples, also tied up like dumplings and hung upside down, had equally miserable expressions.

"Just leave them hanging. If they come bothering us again next time, we can deal with them then," Ye Zhiwei said coolly.

On these Foundation Establishment cultivators, he saw no heavy sins.

Clearly, in this twisted, malformed world, they were still among the oppressed.

In this world, too many people lived in constant peril, powerless over their own fates—Ye Zhiwei was willing to give them one chance.

Of course, only one chance.

"Tsk tsk! You're surprisingly kind-hearted," Chi Jiuyu gracefully spun his sword.

"If you want to kill them, I have no objections."

After all, they had come to "pursue and kill" the two of them—she could ignore it, but she couldn't decide for Chi Jiuyu.

Hearing this, the Tianling Sect seedling-level disciples hanging upside down panicked and immediately tried to beg for mercy.

But since they were bound too tightly by the vines, they could only emit "wuu wuu" sounds, swaying like silkworm cocoons.

Mu Yong was also anxious inside.

Facing two Soul Transformation cultivators—ones who could effortlessly kill peers—he had no existing cards to counter them.

When he saw Chi Jiuyu's gaze sweep over him, his heart turned colder.

Done for!

He had just gained the immense fortune of rebirth, glimpsed the truth of the Heavenly Orb—his path to heaven lay right before him…

And now he was going to die here?

As despair slowly crept into his heart…

"Forget it. As long as they don't keep courting death, I'm too lazy to care."

Huh?!

With a flick of his sword, fine green light particles scattered—Chi Jiuyu sheathed his soul blade.

"Time's about up. Shall we go?"

"Mm," Ye Zhiwei nodded lightly.

After cooperating in the Soul-Energy Fruit Domain, both had decided the other was a viable partner.

So they prepared to continue cooperating—to meet the approaching pursuers!

They simply didn't believe it!

He was the number one prodigy of all countless realms; Xiao Ye might not match him, but she was still among the elite of the Xian Sect.

Who could possibly pursue and kill the two of them at the same realm?

What nonsense!

Soon, two streaks of light shot out from the city—one golden-green, the other interwoven with green and red.

"Here, take this cultivation technique."

The voice drifted down from the sky; several small booklets fell, disintegrating before they touched the ground, transforming into rows of drifting characters.

Finally, they slowly unfurled across the entire Soul-Energy Fruit Domain—

"Tianling Foundation Establishment Technique," "Tianling Foundation Establishment Art," all the way to "Tianling Soul Transformation Secret Record."

Gilded miniature characters lined up neatly, radiating brilliance across thousands of miles.

From Foundation Establishment to Soul Transformation—the complete Tianling Sect lineage, with not a single missing piece!

This was found by Chi Jiuyu and Ye Zhiwei when they slaughtered the Tianling Sect Soul Transformation guardian of the Soul-Energy Fruit Domain and looted the treasure vault.

But neither of them cared for it.

Chi Jiuyu had just thought, "Might as well toss it on the way out—looks cool."

Clearly, the effect was excellent!

Whoosh!

Amid a wave of uproar, countless excited voices merged together, uncontrollable.

"Immortal Art! It's Immortal Art!"

"I can become an immortal too!"

"Write it down quickly, write it down!"

"Paper! Pen! Where are they?!"

No one knew how long this revealed technique would last, but everyone understood this was their chance to change their fate!

To see more clearly, the crowd pressed forward, jostling violently and shaking the Tianling Sect's Miao-level disciples, who hung upside down like rice dumplings.

"The complete inheritance of Tianling Sect..."

Mu Yong's eyes reflected the glow of the gilded miniature characters, staring blankly at the technique unfurling in the sky.

This was something he had never obtained in either of his two lives.

In his previous life, before the Heavenly Track upheaval, he was merely a Soul Transformation cultivator constantly exploited—how could he ever have seen Tianling Sect's inheritance?

Later, he attained the Return to Void Noble Position, but Tianling Sect was already destroyed, its inheritance shattered.

Yet his focus shifted to the ritual inscriptions of the Xuanxiang Heavenly Track, so he never actively sought to collect them.

After two lifetimes, he had finally seen Tianling Sect's inheritance...

Mu Yong felt deeply moved.

Soon, a faint, excited whimpering interrupted his reflection.

"Woo~!"

It was the 'senior brother' hanging beside him, whose realm was one level higher than his apparent one, now struggling violently.

"This is Tianling Sect's property!"

"Commoners! You filthy masses, stop at once!"

His body twisted incessantly, screaming inwardly, eyes filled with bloodshot veins, utterly frenzied.

Mu Yong: "..."

Undoubtedly, this was a person completely brainwashed by Tianling Sect.

Even though he himself was exploited like livestock, his sect nearly crushing his bones to extract every last drop, he still constantly clung to defending the 'sect's interests.'

Sigh~

Tragically, such people were not few.

On another side, near a desolate desert.

The scorching sun baked the cracked, saline-alkaline earth; ochre-brown gravel spun in the wind, sweeping past jagged, twisted rocks.

At the horizon, the wind-eroded rock layers cracked with countless fine fissures, like a riverbed dried for a thousand years, their honeycombed Kong Dong holes occasionally emitting hollow, mournful wails.

The spiritual energy in the air was extremely thin, carrying a withered, dead aura—difficult to use directly without special processing.

Two beams of light suddenly appeared on the horizon, then descended directly.

Hu~!

A wave of dust rose, within which two blurred silhouettes could faintly be seen.

"Little Ye, why did you pick such a godforsaken place?"

As the voice emerged, the swirling dust wave seemed suddenly crushed, instantly settling.

"This place is suitable. I can prepare some things."

"Tsk tsk! You alchemists are really sneaky—only slightly worse than those old bastards from Taishang Dao Sect."

Ye Zhiwei: "..."

Chi Jiuyu was unexpectedly familiar, yet wasn't she rumored to be solitary, avoiding social interaction?

And...

Though her speech was casual, she rarely made others feel offended.

Sigh~

If only my younger sister had a personality like hers.

"Here! You prepare. I'll rest over there." Chi Jiuyu asked no more, turning toward a half-dead log nearby.

Sword cultivators!

They value directness and efficiency.

When encountering someone, they either draw their sword and stab them dead, or flee if outmatched—why bother with all this nonsense?

Walking to the log, she considered how to pose elegantly as a 'wilderness swordmaster' using the half-dead trunk.

But the moment she leaned against it...

Squeak squeak squeak~

The outer wood had weathered into powder; the inner structure was incredibly fragile, snapping instantly and collapsing.

Bang!

A cloud of dried wood dust and sand burst upward.

"..."

Should've observed first.

Staring at the fallen log, Chi Jiuyu felt bored.

But soon, her peripheral vision caught a nearby flat stone—she had a new idea.

So he took out his life-sword and sprinted over, leaping onto the large rock.

After sitting down, he adjusted his posture, hugging the long sword to his chest, gazing into the distance with a look of "world-weariness," embodying the pose of a "lonely master."

I'm definitely badass right now!

"…"

Ye Zhiwei had no reply; fortunately, she had gradually grown accustomed to Chi Jiuyu's bizarre train of thought, so she no longer found it as strange as when they first met.

Just like when they previously attacked the Soul-Power Fruit Zone—she insisted on climbing to the highest point of the City Lord's mansion under the full moon.

She stopped paying attention to him, slowly extending her hand; a strange emerald-green energy current swirled around her palm, and her green eyes lit up in response.

"Come."

A soft whisper, yet it carried immense authority, like a celestial decree!

Boom—boom—boom!

The barren, desolate earth trembled continuously; vine-like tendrils, thick as azure dragons, burst from the ground, kicking up vast clouds of dirt and stones.

A vast stretch of desert was instantly plunged into shadow.

Huh?

Chi Jiuyu looked over in confusion, scratched his head, and finally recognized what she was doing.

'Is this… the Furnace Formation?'

"Condense!"

Ye Zhiwei spoke again.

In an instant, the dirt and rocks on the ground were drawn upward as if pulled by an invisible force, coalescing into the shapes of "four-legged alchemical furnaces."

From the main trunks of the vines, thinner tendrils branched out, winding around those "furnaces" to stabilize their structure.

It looked as if the vines had grown dozens of furnaces from their own bodies.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

As Ye Zhiwei gestured with her hand, those casually shaped furnaces rained down like drops of rain.

Meanwhile, the vines that had erupted from the earth withered one by one, crumbling into dust and vanishing.

"Go."

She flicked a tiny speck of crimson fire; mid-air, it split and surged into each furnace.

Xiong Xiong!

As the crimson fire danced within the furnaces, the vines entwining them grew even more lush and vibrant under the flames' heat.

The spiritual energy in the air, mixed with decaying qi, was drawn out and poured into the furnaces.

Shaping stone into furnaces, drawing in the qi of heaven and earth, refining pills with true fire…

This was one of the most nauseating methods a pill alchemist had—besides the Pill Array—the Low-Cost Furnace Explosion Technique!

No need to consider herb compatibility, no need to control flame intensity, and you could even toss in specific spirit herbs to enhance the explosion's power.

"For an initial probe, this should be sufficient…"

Immediately, Ye Zhiwei pulled out more pills and began arranging the Pill Array.

Each pill was embedded into the void, linked by threads of true fire, so that tugging one moved them all, mutually amplifying each other…

'This is fucking disgusting.'

We're all cultivators—can't we just fight fairly? Why all this nonsense?

Chi Jiuyu muttered to himself.

【Name: Chi Jiuyu】

【Age: 23】

【Realm: Soul Transformation Early Stage】

【Current System Loaded: Scale of Ages】

【Current Points: 1】

【Current Rank: 2】

【Remaining Time: 00:32:17】

Someone must have collected two points—her rank dropped to second.

【WARNING!】

【Detected: You are not within a Safe Zone. Proceed to a Safe Zone immediately, or you will be attacked by pursuers of the same realm!】

Two lines of blood-red text, as if foretelling imminent danger.

Too bad…

We're exactly here to test the pursuers' strength!

"Hey! Only half an hour left—can you finish?"

What if the pursuers arrive and your furnaces aren't even warm yet?

"I know what I'm doing."

"Just so we're clear—if things go south, I'm running!"

What if they're evenly matched but have some annoying "cannot be injured" rule? Then what's the point of fighting?

Ye Zhiwei paused: "Same here."

If this probe into the pursuers truly goes wrong…

Then it's every man for himself—the slowest one gets left behind!

They're rivals!

This is the edge of the Safe Zone—this is why we chose it: for easier escape.

In this way, half an hour slipped away in a flash.

The pill array was complete; the pill furnace had been heated until glowing red, sealed by Ye Zhiwei with a special technique, ready to explode the moment thrown.

The countdown reached its final moment.

3, 2, 1!

【WARNING! You will be attacked by a same-rank pursuer!】

Huh~!

A gentle breeze swept by, and two figures appeared in view.

One of them wore a white veil over her eyes, yet she was an exceptionally graceful woman.

The other wore a white lab coat, appearing highly efficient—also a woman.

Above both their heads blazed three bright crimson characters—Pursuer.

'So these are the Pursuers?'

There were two of them.

Ye Zhiwei's spirit was fixed on the thread of true flame within the pill array, watching them with utmost vigilance.

'Attack!'

The glowing red pill furnace was hurled toward them.

The expected blade light did not follow.

Ye Zhiwei realized that Chi Jiuyu, who had just been sitting on the large rock, had vanished without a trace.

Hm?

Where did he go?

Boom!

The pill furnace exploded midair; terrifying heat, infused with withered, lifeless death, swept in all directions, obliterating everything it touched.

In an instant, it seemed as if a sun had fallen upon the desolate desert.

Only then did Chi Jiuyu's voice reach her ear.

'Run! It's Xiang Yuanjun and Ling Zu!'

Hm?! (End of Chapter)