The Primordial Void Divine Water streamed down Yuan Ru's body, its bone-chilling essence spreading in all directions. Yuan Ru had not anticipated Nie Kong's sudden move; his body was instantly frozen, and the despair reflected in his wide-open eyes was made all the more apparent against the backdrop of ice crystals.
Nie Kong gave a sharp tug, drawing the entire water dragon out of Yuan Ru's form and reabsorbing it into his own body, where it quickly merged with the large segment of the dragon body already contained within, coalescing into a complete manifestation.
"Old man, you can go in peace now!"
A flash of white light erupted as Nie Kong’s right palm, charged with overflowing Chaos Divine Power, struck the top of Yuan Ru's head. Instantly, the "Primordial Void Divine Water" retreated like a receding tide, converging into Nie Kong's palm, reforming into a round, crystalline sphere of water.
With a series of sharp "crack" sounds, Yuan Ru's body shattered like a dropped ceramic vase, dissolving into a pile of ice shards on the ground.
From that moment on, the man known as Yuan Ru ceased to exist in this world.
Nie Kong felt not a trace of pity. Since Yuan Ru dared to pursue and hunt him down alongside Marquis Wu and Zhuang Yu, he should have been prepared to be killed in return.
Reabsorbing the water sphere into his Pet Pack, Nie Kong retraced his path.
Several hundred meters later, Nie Kong’s movement hitched slightly, and he abruptly veered northeast, accelerating rapidly. In mere seconds, a short, thin figure came into his sight.
It was…
Marquis Wu!
Amidst the dense woods of Mao Wei, the newly ascended Spirit God of the Pill Immortal Sect flickered in and out of view, fleeing into the distance like a shooting star. Dozens of meters behind Marquis Wu, blood mist surged like a tide, and within the dense crimson color, Tai Yan, transformed into the "Hui Mou Hua," appeared intermittently, looking exceptionally alluring.
Tai Yan pursued, and Marquis Wu fled; in the blink of an eye, they had traversed over a thousand meters of space.
"Another one trying to run? Don't you think it's a bit late?" Nie Kong inwardly sneered at the sight. His figure vanished from his original spot, completely integrating with the heaven and earth.
"Whoosh!"
The sharp sound of piercing air startled the birds and beasts far off, sending them scattering. Marquis Wu made no attempt to hold back, pushing his speed to the absolute limit.
At this moment, Marquis Wu’s greatest desire was to shake off the Hua Spirit pursuing him as quickly as possible.
When Yuan Ru fled, he had already developed an ominous premonition. Therefore, upon forcing Tai Yan back, he decisively broke off the engagement and chose a direction north, diverging from Yuan Ru’s path. As for the remaining experts of the Pill Immortal Sect, Marquis Wu no longer had the capacity to care for them.
It was simply that Marquis Wu’s escape was proving far from smooth.
Although he had ascended to the Spirit God realm a few months before Tai Yan, Tai Yan’s strength was not only equal to his but actually surpassed him considerably. After barely fleeing a few thousand meters, Tai Yan caught up, and they were locked in combat once more. Repeatedly failing to shake off Tai Yan, Marquis Wu ended up exhausting a massive amount of Divine Power.
"I wonder how Yuan Ru is doing now. I hope he can hold out long enough to draw that bastard further away!"
Marquis Wu stared ahead, his gaze deep.
After borrowing the "Primordial Void Divine Water" from the Grand Mist Heavenly Abode, Marquis Wu had utilized the means of "Dao Root Tracing Source" to track them down with his comrades. At that time, Nie Kong and Tai Yan, in his mind, were nothing more than fish on a chopping block, easily shattered at his whim.
It was no wonder he possessed such confidence.
The opposing side had only one Spirit God, while they boasted a full three. The remaining ten-plus individuals were at least at the peak of the Ninth Rank. Once the "Chaos Heavenly Fire" was countered by the "Primordial Void Divine Water," Nie Kong would be reduced to an ordinary peak Ninth Rank expert, someone anyone could capture.
Upon engagement, the situation had taken an unexpected turn; Nie Kong surprisingly possessed several Spirit Objects that had reached a high degree of sentience.
However, this was a rare stroke of luck; he could capture all these Spirit Objects in one sweep. Initially, events unfolded smoothly: Yuan Ru struck first, using the "Primordial Void Divine Water" to seal Nie Kong, while he and Zhuang Yu engaged Tai Yan. The rest of the Pill Immortal Sect forces had forced the Spirit Objects into a desperate situation.
But soon, some meddling Sea Clan fellows showed up. And after Nie Kong broke the ice seal and collected the "Primordial Void Divine Water," the situation plummeted. First, Tai Shu Yan's manifestation was drawn out, helping Nie Kong survive the first Spiritual Tribulation; then, Zhuang Yu lost his manifestation, yet Nie Kong withstood Yuan Ru's assault and forcefully survived the second Spiritual Tribulation. In the end, Nie Kong even attempted to draw out Yuan Ru and his manifestation.
An operation that was once assured of victory had devolved into utter ruin.
Even Marquis Wu, being a Spirit God, was forced to flee!
"Once I am safe, I must report this matter to the Pill Ancestor! Then, merely having a few Pill Immortal Sect Patriarchs send their avatars into the Divine Void Realm will be enough to utterly destroy Nie Kong and the others!" Marquis Wu's eyes flickered. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth, channeling Divine Power into his Medicine Cauldron manifestation, causing it to burn fiercely.
"Whoosh!"
Marquis Wu’s speed suddenly surged, and in an instant, he widened the gap between himself and the trailing blood mist to a hundred meters. And this distance continued to increase.
"This way, I won't suffer any fundamental injury, though it will take at least half a year to recover. But as long as I can escape, it's all worth it." Sensing the aura behind him receding further, Marquis Wu finally breathed a slight sigh of relief, yet he dared not slow down for an instant.
"Senior Marquis Wu, why the rush? Not even pausing for a word before leaving!"
A strange cackle suddenly pierced Marquis Wu’s ears. Instantly, a smiling face rapidly magnified in his pupils—it was Nie Kong, the very person he desperately tried to avoid.
His movement arrested abruptly. Marquis Wu roared, and the immense, flame-wreathed Medicine Cauldron howled as he hurled it violently at the figure before him, while he himself spun around.
"Bang!"
Nie Kong shot out a punch, and the Medicine Cauldron manifestation, formed from condensed Divine Power, instantly shattered, scattering sparks of fire everywhere that dyed the void crimson like blood.
Almost simultaneously with the cauldron’s demise, another heavy impact sounded—bang. As Marquis Wu turned left, before he could even take a step, his body flew sideways, slamming straight towards Nie Kong. It was Tai Yan who had caught up, spitting out a trace of blood-red energy from the Hui Mou Hua that struck Marquis Wu’s shoulder like lightning.
Nie Kong flung his palm wide open and clamped it around Marquis Wu’s neck.
Marquis Wu didn't even have time to struggle before dense Chaos Divine Power enveloped his body. Nie Kong pressed his left palm against Marquis Wu's chest and snatched, pulling out his Medicine Cauldron manifestation, which was then absorbed into Nie Kong's body along with the Chaos Divine Power. Then, Nie Kong loosened his right hand, and Marquis Wu dropped to the ground with a soft thud.
"Uh… Nie Ru… my manifestation, you… you…" Marquis Wu clutched his neck with one hand, pointing a trembling finger at Nie Kong, his face ashen and defeated.
"I gladly accept your manifestation. Don't think about it anymore."
Nie Kong slammed his palm down. The Chaos Divine Power instantly radiated a ferocious heat, reducing Marquis Wu’s body to ash, which dissipated without a trace.
Hoo!
The blood mist gathered, melting back into the Hui Mou Hua, which then reformed into Tai Yan’s figure, drifting before Nie Kong.
Neither Yuan Ru nor Marquis Wu had escaped capture. Nie Kong’s expression was relaxed; he wasn't in a hurry to refine the spoils. He smiled, "Tai Yan, let’s go back and check on the situation over there. You worked hard today."
"..."