Evidently, Lu Yuan and the others were also caught in the blast, flung to the other side by the immense aftershock.

On Dilong Star itself, several figures whose strength did not reach the Hun Dong Realm were caught in the periphery of the shockwave. Massive amounts of earth and stone were piled upon them, reaching heights of tens or even hundreds of zhang. This left them severely wounded, yet simply surviving was a stroke of luck. Moreover, this accumulation of debris concealed them from Zhan Kuangtie’s sight, deterring him from focusing on them, effectively sparing them—thus, the very stones that injured them might have saved their lives.

Dilong Star, after this ordeal, had visibly shrunk in circumference. A significant number of Earth-tier Spirit Veins were ignited by a single sword strike from Lu Yuan. While an ordinary star would have completely detonated, Dilong Star was anything but ordinary, although the density of its internal Spirit Veins made it difficult for Lu Yuan’s She Tian sword strike to penetrate further.

Ji Qianyu, Su Yingxiu, Zhu Tianrong, Zhu Liefeng, Jian Yunzhongzu, and Qiu Qingshan watched with undisguised astonishment.

They hadn't expected Lu Yuan to actually achieve this feat.

For Lu Yuan, a mere World Realm Fourth Heaven master, to injure a World Shifting Sixth Heaven expert was a profound miracle.

"Hurry and summon the Arrow Sleeve Ship to flee!" Lu Yuan shouted urgently. He knew he couldn't truly defeat Zhan Kuangtie; he had only managed to wound him once.

Su Yingxiu reacted with extreme speed, immediately summoning the Arrow Sleeve Ship.

Her ship possessed an exceptionally sharp prow, making it a superior flying artifact. In terms of pure flight speed, it even surpassed Lu Yuan’s sword travel by a significant margin.

Immediately, Lu Yuan and the six others boarded the Arrow Sleeve Ship.

Su Yingxiu engaged the ship, sending them rocketing away.

Almost instantly, Zhan Kuangtie surged forth from the dissipating smoke of the explosion. He was also filled with horror. He genuinely had not anticipated Lu Yuan possessing such terrifying sword techniques, capable of wounding someone of his standing—World Realm Sixth Heaven. It was almost unbelievable, but letting his prey escape him? Impossible.

He must kill Lu Yuan, and simultaneously eliminate the others. To be wounded by a World Realm Fourth Heaven cultivator was a humiliation he could not tolerate; he absolutely could not allow Ji Qianyu and the rest to live. His nature was inherently bloodthirsty, and he intended to slaughter them all, leaving none alive, especially Zhu Tianrong, with whom he already held a grudge. He had planned to kill Zhu Tianrong immediately after dispatching Lu Yuan, but an unexpected complication arose during the confrontation with Lu Yuan.

Zhan Kuangtie immediately unleashed the Kuai Biao Su Fa (Surging Speed Technique), a technique from the Kuang Sect designed for rapid acceleration. However, since his legs were a bloody mess, his speed was inevitably reduced somewhat.

Meanwhile, aboard the Arrow Sleeve Ship, Lu Yuan spoke: "Su Yingxiu, Zhan Kuangtie is pursuing us. Push the ship to its absolute limit. And aim for areas with active stars, preferably ones brimming with energy. My previous strike required surrounding energy to unleash that power. If we have stars nearby, I can attempt that sword strike again to briefly stall Zhan Kuangtie."

Ji Qianyu and the others prepared to channel their spiritual power into Su Yingxiu, ensuring she wouldn't suffer any shortage of energy to maintain the ship's maximum velocity.

Lu Yuan himself did not need to contribute power; he was waiting for the perfect moment to engage Zhan Kuangtie. When the pursuer closed the distance sufficiently, he planned to use Sword Six: She Tian! This strike would detonate a nearby star to hold Zhan Kuangtie back momentarily.

All seven aboard the Arrow Sleeve Ship were exerting their utmost to escape with their lives from Zhan Kuangtie’s grasp.

The situation was incredibly perilous and thrilling, existing constantly on the edge of life and death.

The Unique Star! A public star.

The concept of a public star had been introduced earlier: a star not affiliated with any specific faction, accessible to anyone.

The Unique Star was the only celestial body visible to the naked eye nearby, hence its name. In essence, the Unique Star was just an ordinary star.

At this moment, the Unique Star was abuzz with discussion about recent events.

"Did you all hear? The Kuang Sect is attacking the Jian Sect." "Those two sects are locked in an endless feud, but this time the Kuang Sect clearly has the superior strength. The Jian Sect has been weakened by successive internal conflicts, so the Kuang Sect has a very high chance of winning."

"Yes, but that's not the hottest news. The most talked-about topic is Zhan Kuangtie hunting down Lu Yuan." "Zhan Kuangtie is pursuing Lu Yuan? Zhan Kuangtie is supposedly World Realm Sixth Heaven, and Lu Yuan is only World Realm Fourth Heaven. I heard Lu Yuan suffers from the Deficiency of Seven Emotions, making his breakthrough to World Realm Fifth Heaven extremely difficult. Under these circumstances, wouldn't killing Lu Yuan be incredibly simple for Zhan Kuangtie? Why bother with a protracted chase?"

"Logically, yes, but rumor has it that the explosion on Dilong Star not long ago was caused by Lu Yuan, and he even managed to wound Zhan Kuangtie."

"A World Realm Fourth Heaven injuring a World Realm Sixth Heaven? How is that possible? Even Lu Yuan, the Eighth Son of Fortune, couldn't do that."

"We find it impossible too, but they say it's fact."

"I don't believe it. No matter what, Lu Yuan shouldn't be able to hurt Zhan Kuangtie. The gap in power is too vast." As these people argued, a flying vessel shot towards them—it was, unmistakably, the Arrow Sleeve Ship.

At that precise moment, an immensely arrogant voice boomed out: "Lu Yuan, you won't escape this time! There are very few stars nearby, only this one inhabited star. I notice you haven't blown up any inhabited stars along the way. Perhaps your heart has softened a little? Now, if you don't destroy this star with your strange sword technique, you will be captured and killed by me, ha ha ha!" It was Zhan Kuangtie, who had caught up.

And the dreadful reality was that there were no other stars nearby; the single available celestial body held hundreds of thousands of inhabitants.

Soon, the people on the Unique Star understood the situation. They had just been discussing Zhan Kuangtie hunting Lu Yuan, and now they saw the two parties arrive. Zhan Kuangtie was indeed chasing Lu Yuan, and judging by his words, Lu Yuan had actually injured him before. This was utterly incredible.

Aboard the Arrow Sleeve Ship, Su Yingxiu pushed the vessel to its maximum capacity: "There's no way. Zhan Kuangtie's speed behind us is too fast; we can't shake him off by velocity alone." If the Arrow Sleeve Ship couldn't outrun him, then Lu Yuan had to use his sword.

But regarding Lu Yuan’s Sword Six: She Tian!, everyone understood that its immense power required borrowing surrounding energy to significantly impede Zhan Kuangtie. The only available source of power nearby was that star, which, unfortunately, hosted hundreds of thousands of people. These people were different from those on Dilong Star, where the cultivators were at least at the peak of the Hun Dong Realm, close to the World Realm, and there were only a few dozen, gathered together. Lu Yuan had even managed to control the previous blast slightly, burying those individuals under rock rather than killing them. But this star held hundreds of thousands; Lu Yuan couldn't control his strike with such minute precision. One blast from that sword would result in catastrophic casualties among the hundreds of thousands.

"For the sake of our lives, we have no other choice," stated Zhu Tianrong, a character known for his ruthlessness.

"No. There are some things I absolutely cannot do," Lu Yuan stated calmly. "I will not risk the lives of hundreds of thousands of people for a gamble."

"You shouldn't be swayed by soft-heartedness!" Zhu Liefeng interjected.

"This isn't soft-heartedness. Furthermore, I have another method to injure Zhan Kuangtie severely again, and I guarantee the injury will be worse than the first time," Lu Yuan declared. His statement caused everyone on the Arrow Sleeve Ship to pause. Most were World Realm Fourth Heaven masters, and any one of them would likely not survive three moves against Zhan Kuangtie, let alone injure him. Yet Lu Yuan intended to wound him again, and again. This was astonishingly bold.

Could Lu Yuan actually do it?

This was truly terrifying!

If a World Realm Fourth Heaven cultivator could manage to wound a World Realm Sixth Heaven expert repeatedly, it defied comprehension!

"Ha ha ha! Lu Yuan, you lack the resolve to strike. You truly are soft-hearted, and a person like you deserves to die by my hand!" Zhan Kuangtie laughed maniacally. His long saber transformed into a streak of blade light capable of cleaving through anything, slashing a thousand zhang towards Lu Yuan in a single blow—a strike possessing the aura of severing gods and Buddha.

"This isn't soft-heartedness; this is adhering to my principles. And Zhan Kuangtie, I will wound you again. Sword Eight: Wan Jian Gui Yi (Ten Thousand Swords Return to One)!" Lu Yuan's Yang Wu Immortal Sword sprang from its sheath, manifesting a dazzling sword light like a vast rainbow, within which countless sharp edges seemed to shimmer.

"Is this your ultimate move?" Zhan Kuangtie sneered, having sensed the peak energy of Lu Yuan's attack. The sword move was clever, but he was confident he could block it.

However, Zhan Kuangtie immediately sensed something was wrong!

While he easily shattered the first peak of Lu Yuan's sword strike, why were there subsequent peaks—a second, a third, a fourth?

Normally, a ultimate technique possesses only one peak, perhaps occasionally a few minor undulations. Zhan Kuangtie remained unhurried, patiently parrying Lu Yuan's strike, convinced that this single technique couldn't possess unlimited peaks.

But he was soon proven wrong.

Lu Yuan's sword strike! It was not limited to just four or five peaks.

This single sword manifestation continuously revealed different peaks of power.

Initially, there were twenty to thirty peaks, which quickly escalated to fifty or sixty, then instantly one hundred. Soon it reached two hundred, three hundred, and then four hundred peaks.

Damn it!

What kind of sword strike was this?

This wasn't one ultimate technique; it was hundreds of distinct ultimate techniques fused together, and fused perfectly at that.

How could such sword artistry exist?

A normal person's strike is just one strike! Even Lu Yuan’s sword felt like hundreds of strikes, embodying hundreds of completely different ultimate techniques within a single execution.

Caught completely off guard, Zhan Kuangtie was struck heavily once more, wounded by Lu Yuan for the second time.

How could this be! He had been wounded by Lu Yuan again!

He was World Realm Sixth Heaven; Lu Yuan was only World Realm Fourth Heaven.

As the sword finished its blow, wounding Zhan Kuangtie, the Arrow Sleeve Ship rapidly sped away. Lu Yuan had created another miracle, wounding Zhan Kuangtie twice.