Cultivation begins in Qingfeng Market.

In that instant, Lin Zhao forcibly broke free from the suction of the gray vortex.

The Starry Sky Rift Sword carried him into a streak of silver-blue light, about to tear through space and disappear into the distance.

The gray-robed man snapped out of his daze. Seeing that he couldn't stop Lin Zhao from leaving, he grabbed again with all his might.

The vortex of spiritual energy in his palm was instantly compressed into a gray sphere of light the size of a human head—the turbulent spiritual energy inside was forcibly imprisoned within, and gray lightning surged on its surface.

He flung it out suddenly, and the gray ball of light shot towards Lin Zhao, who was about to disappear.

Lin Zhao immediately used his magic weapon.

The Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace shot out from it, instantly growing larger and blocking the gray light sphere.

The gray orb of light collided with the Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace, instantly cracking the outer walls of the palace, scattering bone fragments everywhere, and causing the blood-red pupils embedded in the walls to explode one after another.

Even a top-grade third-tier defensive magic weapon could only withstand a single breath of an enraged attack from a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The gray orb of light smashed through the Bone Fiend Palace, its momentum undiminished, and crashed into the silver-blue stream of light that Lin Zhao had transformed into, along with fragments of magical artifacts.

At that very moment, the Starry Sky Rift Sword completely tore through the void.

With a flash of silver-blue light, Lin Zhao and the shattered Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace disappeared into the void.

The gray-robed man watched helplessly as the spatial rift closed.

He let out a deep roar and was about to give chase when the Heavenly Vermilion Bird unleashed its full power.

The silvery-white light suddenly exploded, transforming into a massive sword aura that swept across an area of ​​dozens of miles.

The gray-robed man was also engulfed by the explosion.

A giant crater tens of miles in diameter was blasted into the sea, and the seawater was pushed outward by the sword energy, forming a ring-shaped tsunami hundreds of feet high.

The rocks at the bottom of the pit were flattened by the sword energy and were swallowed by the returning seawater after a long time.

The powerful force of the explosion vaporized the seawater, and white mist carrying sword energy flew everywhere.

A short while later, the gray-robed man reappeared in the air.

He had sustained some minor injuries; his gray robe was torn in several places, and half of his hood had been ripped off, revealing half of his pale face.

His face was expressionless, but his eyes were filled with a chilling rage.

Normally, the Heavenly Vermilion Bird cannot harm him.

But he couldn't swallow his anger.

He was tricked by a mere Core Formation cultivator—first he pretended to be willing to join, then he proposed a contest to stall for time, and finally he teleported away right under his nose.

For a Nascent Soul cultivator, this is an utter disgrace.

Don't think you can escape by teleporting.

He is a Nascent Soul True Monarch, and he can also teleport.

He closed his eyes, probed the void with his divine sense, and carefully discerned the spatial fluctuations nearby.

Extremely subtle traces of spiritual energy will be left where space has been torn apart. These traces are not in the outside world, but in the void.

He found the spatial rift through which Lin Zhao had left, and followed the traces of spiritual energy left behind by the rift into the void, chasing after the direction Lin Zhao had teleported in.

But teleportation and escape light are different.

The streak of light left a trail of spiritual energy in the outside world, making its direction easily discernible.

The direction of teleportation is not fixed, making it difficult to find, and the traces are all in the void, with nothing in the outside world.

He could only search bit by bit in the void, groping along the remaining spatial fluctuations.

It took an hour to find the exit where Lin Zhao had teleported for the first time, 1,300 miles away on the sea.

There remained a very faint spatial fluctuation there.

But next to it, there was another spatial fluctuation.

The gray-robed man remained silent for a long while.

An hour ago, Lin Zhao teleported away once again.

A full hour had passed, and ninety percent of the spiritual energy traces in the void had been obliterated by the void storm.

In the end, he entered the void again.

A fourth-tier magic weapon—he had his eye on the sword in Lin Zhao's hand.

Even he himself didn't possess many fourth-tier magic treasures.

If his avatar had a fourth-tier magic weapon, Lin Zhao wouldn't have been able to escape at all.

We must pursue them.

A day later, he found a second exit 1,800 miles away.

A faint spatial ripple remained on the sea surface, almost completely dissipated.

But there was a third spatial fluctuation nearby.

The gray-robed man stood before the spatial passage, his face grim.

Lin Zhao teleported away again.

He teleported three times, each time in a different direction, which took him a lot of time to find.

If he continues to pursue this and finds the third location, it will take at least half a month.

Half a month later, even if they found the location, Lin Zhao would have already run far away.

Do we still want the ruins he arranged?

Those Core Formation cultivators he lured there with the message of the Heavenly Wrath were still scrambling for spiritual treasures on the seabed.

If he doesn't go back to finish up, all the preparations he's made over the past few days will have been for nothing.

The man in the gray robe clenched his fists, his fingers cracking.

He stared at the disappearing spatial fluctuation for a long time, finally squeezing out a few words through gritted teeth:

"Azure Lotus Sword Immortal, is it? I'll remember you. Don't let me catch you, or I'll make you wish you were dead."

He turned and flew back to the sea where the Roar of the Sky had sunk.

The gray streak of light left a straight trail on the sea, and its powerful force cleaved a deep trench in the surface.

At this moment, Lin Zhao was already tens of thousands of miles away.

The three teleportations covered a total distance of over 5,000 miles.

But he didn't dare stop after the third teleport.

The gray-robed man was a Nascent Soul cultivator. Even without a fourth-tier magic weapon, the escape speed of a Nascent Soul cultivator far surpasses that of a Core Formation cultivator.

He sank into the deep sea, concealed all his aura, and used the burning of his essence and blood to activate his escape technique, fleeing tens of thousands of miles to the northwest.

He eventually dived into an underwater cave.

The entrance to the cave was an extremely narrow crack, allowing only one person to pass sideways.

After going inside and descending several hundred feet, a bright and open space suddenly appeared.

It is a hollow cave, with glowing moss growing on the walls, and a faint blue light illuminating the cave, making it half bright and half dark.

Lin Zhao leaned against the cave wall and finally stopped to catch his breath.

He is in very poor condition.

His green robe was mostly torn, half of his body was charred black, three ribs were broken, and his left arm was missing most of its length, leaving it empty and bare, with white bone showing at the broken point.

His left eye was gone, and there was a clump of blood in the eye socket. He had dozens of wounds of various sizes all over his body, some of which were so deep that the bone was visible.

Grayish nascent soul magic power still lingered at the edges of the wound, hindering its healing.

He used his spiritual power to wrap the wounds and forcibly stop the bleeding, but every wound was emitting a stinging pain.

Needless to say, fourth-tier magic weapons are even more so.

The Starry Sky Rift Sword forcibly teleported him three times.

The essence of the magic weapon has been damaged by 30%, and it will take decades to recover.

And then there was the final blow from the gray-robed Nascent Soul cultivator.

The Blood Essence Bone Fiend Palace blocked most of the gray light sphere's power, but the aftershocks still pierced through the magic weapon's defenses, instantly severely injuring him.

The Blood Essence Bone Demon Palace floated in the dantian, most of the palace was broken, the bone walls were full of cracks, and the blood pupils were completely destroyed.

This top-grade, third-tier palace magic treasure is now useless for a short time.

Lin Zhao leaned against the cave wall, his only remaining eye open, his chest heaving violently.

In my entire life, from the time I started practicing Qi cultivation until now, I have never suffered such a great loss.

He remembered that man in the gray robe.