Chapter 974

Yan Buji seized the opportunity, knowing this palm could not possibly defeat so many Heaven-Unity cultivators, but gaining enough time for his escape was sufficient.

Whoosh!

Desire-thought condensed into a blade, combined with the Law-Breaking Eye, Yan Buji, having located the formation's eye, utterly shattered it!

"Crack!"

The great formation opened a gap, and Yan Buji rushed out without hesitation.

Zhao Wuyan roared, "Stop him!"

Several Void Refining cultivators rushed forward fearlessly, but were swept away by desire-thought, spitting blood as they flew back.

Yan Buji did not look back, fully activating his evasion technique, vanishing into the horizon in an instant.

Sun and Moon Palace, Hall of Deliberations.

Zhao Wuyan sat grim-faced in the chief seat, with dozens of Elders below.

"Convey my orders," he said coldly: "Effective immediately, the Sun and Moon Palace will fully pursue the culprit! Anyone providing clues will be rewarded one million Spiritual Stones; whoever takes his head may freely choose one technique from the Scripture Pavilion!"

"Palace Lord," an Elder hesitated, "this person's strength is overwhelming, even you......"

"Shut up!" Zhao Wuyan slammed the table and rose: "Mobilize all subsidiary forces, offer a bounty worldwide! Also, go ask Bu Yunsuanyuan to act, to calculate his whereabouts!"

Everyone's hearts jolted.

Bu Yunsuanyuan is a famed Void Refining cultivator in the Dongxing Sea Region these past years; hiring him to divine fortunes costs greatly, but the opposite is certain to yield gains, especially against a cultivator of astonishing combat power like Yan Buji.

Soon, orders were issued: the Zhao Family of Seven Star Island dispatched twelve warships to blockade the nearby sea; sects on good terms with the Sun and Moon Palace, such as the Profound Sword Sect and Azure Cloud Sect, responded in kind; on the black market, Yan Buji's bounty kept rising, drawing countless loose cultivators' envy.

In just three days, the entire East Sea cultivation world boiled over!

Inside a nameless mountain cave, Yan Buji sat cross-legged to heal his wounds.

"Damn you, Zhao Wuyan......" He examined his shoulder wound, finding the residual Sun and Moon Power extremely hard to dispel. What's worse, he sensed a wisp of Demonic Path aura within him—it was what exposed his location.

"Yellow Heaven Superior Person......" Yan Buji's eyes flashed with cold light.

That fellow surely tampered with it at parting; thinking back, the so-called Sea-viewing Disc was likely a trap too!

He tried to wrap that aura with desire-thought, but found it impossible to eradicate. This thing is like a bone-deep ulcer; any slack will cause it to spread anew.

"We must find a way to resolve it......"

In the midst of his thoughts, the Law-Breaking Eye suddenly sent a warning. Yan Buji jerked his head up, only to see the concealed formation at the cave mouth being deciphered!

"Found you!"

A fierce shout rang out, three sword lights broke through the formation and entered. Yan Buji flickered, and the spot he had just occupied was cleaved by sword qi into a deep pit.

Three Profound Sword Sect Elders stood with swords in hand; the leader sneered, "Traitor, today is your death!"

Yan Buji gave no reply, directly summoning the Swallow Desire Pot. A black light flashed from its mouth, and the three instantly felt their souls tremble, their greed surging.

"Not good! Guard your mind!"

Taking advantage of their distraction, Yan Buji turned his gray mist into blades, instantly beheading one. The remaining two were shocked and hastily formed a defensive formation.

"Lackeys of the Sun and Moon Palace..." Yan Buji sneered, golden light flashed in his Dharma-Breaking Eye, directly seeing through the flaw in the sword formation.

The gray mist drilled in like poisonous snakes, and the two instantly screamed and collapsed.

After dealing with the enemies, he dared not linger and left quickly. But as soon as he exited the cave, he heard a eagle's cry from the sky—it was the Azure Cloud Sect's scout spirit beast, the Thousand Mile Eye!

"Damn it!"

Yan Buji knew his whereabouts had been exposed again and must move quickly. He employed earth-escape technique to dive underground, racing northward.

Along the way, pursuers kept appearing:

There were cultivators of the Spirit Scent Sect skilled in tracking, accompanied by spirit hounds to block the way; disciples of the Heavenly Expansion Sect adept at formations, who had set up ambushes in advance; and even more terrifying were the assassins hidden in the darkness, ready at any moment to deliver a fatal blow.

In just seven days, Yan Buji endured thirteen battles.

Although relying on his Unity Dao cultivation and numerous trump cards he repeatedly escaped danger, he also suffered serious injuries.

The most dangerous time, he mistakenly entered the Zhao family's Nine Nether Yellow Spring Formation and was almost refined alive.

Fortunately, by promptly taking the Sevenfold Celestial Pill, he managed to forcefully break out of the formation.

On the eighth day, Yan Buji hid in an underwater cave.

"Escaping like this isn't a solution..." his eyes turned gloomy and vicious.

Zhao Wuyan's pursuit network grew ever tighter; if he continued to delay, he would eventually be worn to death.

He must take the initiative!

He took out all the materials from his storage bag and began frantically concocting pills. This time he was not making healing medicines, but poison pills!

"Since you relentlessly pursue me, don't blame me for being ruthless."

After three days without rest, Yan Buji refined three special poison pills.

Having prepared these, Yan Buji began to execute his plan.

First, he deliberately scattered Soul-Devouring Powder into several water sources, causing three pursuit squads to lose combat ability; then he left Soul-Burning Incense at a temporary camp, severely damaging the souls of over ten cultivators; finally, he ground the Blood Plague Pill into powder and sprinkled it in places he had previously stayed......

In just a few days, the pursuers suffered heavy casualties.

Even more terrifying, the blood plague began to spread among them, plunging the entire pursuit network into Chaos.

Zhao Wuyan flew into a rage and personally led the troops to encircle and annihilate.

But Yan Buji had long anticipated this, laying the Purple Sky Thunder Formation on the necessary route. When Zhao Wuyan stepped into the trap, myriad bolts of thunder crashed down!

"Despicable!" Zhao Wuyan roared, revolving Sun and Moon Wheel to shield his body, hardily withstanding the heavenly thunder.

As the smoke and dust cleared, although he was badly injured, his combat strength remained. About to pursue, he discovered Yan Buji had vanished without a trace, leaving only a line of large characters written in blood:

"Pursue further, and I will exterminate your entire clan!"

This pursuit lasted a full three years.

Yan Buji was like a ghost, appearing and disappearing without trace, making him hard to grasp. At times he lurked in the shadows, silent as a wraith; at others he erupted suddenly, killing with the force of thunder in an instant. His target was clear—he struck only at the subordinate forces of the Zhao family and the Sun and Moon Palace, and each attack inevitably produced a bloody scene.

Even more frightening, Yan Buji seemed to have begun deliberately spreading rumors. These rumors flowed like an undercurrent, quickly spreading through the cultivation world. People began to speculate wildly about the causes behind this series of events.

Someone said, all of this was a conspiracy meticulously plotted by the Yellow Heaven Supreme Person; he deliberately stirred up a dispute between the Zhao Family and the Sun Moon Palace in order to reap the benefits.

Even rumors claim that hidden within the mysterious Sea-watching Disc is an earth-shattering secret, and this secret is the true fuse of this series of events.

As these rumors continued to spread, the pressure on Zhao Wuyan grew ever greater. His affiliated sects complained bitterly, believing he could not protect their safety; the Elders of the clan also began to doubt him, feeling his decisions might be problematic. Faced with such immense pressure, Zhao Wuyan finally had no choice but to compromise, temporarily narrowing the scope of his pursuit of Yan Buji.

On that very day, Yan Buji stood quietly atop a lone peak, gazing in the direction of the Sun Moon Palace. His figure appeared somewhat lonely and silent in the afterglow of the setting sun, but his gaze was extraordinarily resolute.

"It's time to end...... Yellow Heaven Supreme Person, don't let me see you!" Yan Buji said softly, his eyes full of killing intent.

Before leaving, he definitely won't let the people of the Sun Moon Palace get off easy.