Seconds later, it landed precisely where Nie Kong had vanished. The figure possessed the appearance of a youth with the hair of an old man, clad in billowing black robes—it was Elder Yan He, the Third Elder of the Danxian Sect.
Swish! Swish! Swish…
The sound of extremely faint silk robes parting the air followed in succession, as over a dozen figures materialized around Yan He in a radius of several hundred meters.
“He’s right here, search carefully!”
Yan He swept his sharp gaze around the area and commanded in a deep voice.
Before him, the phantom figure, bound by red threads, had ceased its movement, merely swaying from side to side, utterly lost.
The technique known as “Dao Ben Su Yuan” (Tracing the Origin of the Dao) was devised by the Grand Venerable Chongxu during the Spirit God War ten thousand years ago. Even if the target hid, as long as his aura remained, his whereabouts could be accurately traced. However, if the distance exceeded a few dozen or a few hundred meters, the method lost its efficacy.
This was considered the limitation of “Dao Ben Su Yuan.”
Generally speaking, when employing such a technique, this inherent limitation rarely posed any disadvantage. For a Spirit God, attempting to remain hidden within such close proximity without detection was nearly impossible, unless the power disparity was vast.
Yet, at this moment, their established understanding was completely overturned.
Their spiritual senses swept over the area within a thousand meters again and again, yet they found no trace of Nie Kong and his company—it was utterly baffling. The highest cultivation among the opposing side, Nie Kong, was only a Fifth-Rank Spirit God, whereas their group boasted one Eighth-Rank Spirit God, one Seventh-Rank Spirit God, four Sixth-Rank Spirit Gods, and nine Fifth-Rank Spirit Gods.
No one present was weaker than Nie Kong, yet they could not ascertain where he was hiding?
A flicker of astonishment involuntarily crossed everyone’s eyes. Such an astonishing ability to conceal one’s tracks explained why so many Spirit God avatars who descended to the Shenkong Realm could not subdue him! It also explained how they managed to escape the encirclement of numerous Spirit Gods from the Northern Domain!
“The Tianling Continent has produced such a monster?”
Were it not for his aura and the technique of “Dao Ben Su Yuan,” perhaps only a handful of Grand Venerables in the entire Taizun Spirit Realm could track his movements.
“Hmm?”
A moment later, Yan He sensed something and abruptly turned. As his falcon-like eyes swept across, a fierce roar drilled into everyone’s ears.
“Bang!”
Hundreds of meters away, a massive fist suddenly tore through the void and slammed violently towards the Fifth-Rank Spirit God standing ahead with lightning speed. This fist appeared without any warning; the Fifth-Rank Spirit God didn't even have time to react before his body was smashed forward.
The instant the fist struck its target, a faint silhouette also manifested in the void.
“Nie Kong!”
The surrounding Spirit Gods erupted in shock and fury. A massive blade manifestation, several tens of feet long, suddenly appeared and slashed down like lightning, but before the blade touched Nie Kong’s body, he had already vanished without a trace again, his speed astonishingly fast.
“Thud!”
The Fifth-Rank Spirit God who was ambushed by Nie Kong finally hit the ground. After stumbling forward a few steps, he spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed, motionless.
A middle-aged man’s figure flickered, instantly arriving before him. After a brief check, his expression turned extremely grim. “Third Elder, this Nie Kong is indeed ruthless. Lin Qi’s manifestation and soul have both suffered severe trauma; it will take at least a hundred years to recover.”
Although they had somewhat anticipated it, upon hearing the middle-aged man’s words, the surrounding crowd, especially the Fifth-Rank Spirit Gods, felt a sudden, heavy sinking in their hearts.
“It’s good enough that he isn’t dead,” Yan He’s once ruddy face turned ashen. “That Nie Kong is no longer a Fifth-Rank Spirit God; he is a Sixth-Rank Spirit God!”
“Ah?”
Everyone was startled. Nie Kong’s appearance had been too brief, and he had emitted no aura, so they hadn't managed to investigate. They hadn’t expected him to have already reached the Sixth-Rank Spirit God realm. For Lin Qi to be ambushed by a Sixth-Rank Spirit God and not have his soul instantly scatter was, indeed, quite fortunate.
In that instant, save for a select few, nearly all the Fifth-Rank and Sixth-Rank Spirit Gods felt a profound sense of crisis welling up within them.
“Don’t worry; he won't get a second chance!”
Yan He’s figure suddenly shifted horizontally over a hundred meters to the right, his withered claws grabbing fiercely forward. He roared coldly, “Nie Kong, show yourself to this old man!”
Instantly, that patch of empty void seemed to solidify. A harsh tearing sound, ‘Chira,’ suddenly spread out. A spatial rift, several meters wide and tens of meters long, burst open before Yan He. The onlookers gazed intently; faint white light occasionally flashed within that dark expanse.
Whoosh!
Yan He thrust a punch directly into the spatial rift. A fiery red vortex suddenly appeared in the darkness. As it spun, it expanded rapidly, seemingly tearing the spatial rift into shreds, accompanied by continuous cracking sounds, ‘Kacha, kacha.’ In moments, the several-meter-wide rift was stretched to over ten meters by the vortex.
“Swish!”
A split second later, a white figure suddenly separated from the void to Yan He’s left.
Nie Kong!
The others immediately identified the white figure. His form flickered repeatedly.
In the span of a finger snap, over a dozen Spirit Gods had completely surrounded Nie Kong, their immense spiritual might and auras sealing off the space within several tens of meters.
Yan He snatched the vortex in his palm from within the spatial rift, and the rift began to close.
The next moment, Yan He’s figure appeared within the encirclement. Two gazes, sharp as blades, scrutinized Nie Kong: “You are Nie Bi…”
“If I say I’m not Nie Kong, would you believe me?”
Nie Kong’s expression was calm and composed. His gaze swept over his surroundings, finally resting on the Fifth-Rank Spirit God held by the middle-aged man. He smiled faintly, “There really is a huge difference between a Spirit God’s main body and his avatar. If it were an avatar in the Shenkong Realm, a Fifth-Rank Spirit God avatar ambushed like that would certainly have had its soul scattered long ago. But for the main body of a Fifth-Rank Spirit God, sustaining only minor injuries, and capable of recovering in a hundred years…”
Saying this, Nie Kong shook his head with feigned regret, seemingly dissatisfied with the result of the sneak attack.
After a brief pause, Nie Kong seemed to recall something and chuckled again, “Oh, right, I just noticed there are quite a few old acquaintances here too. Back in the Shenkong Realm, you all sent me many gifts, and I couldn't refuse, so I accepted them with a smile. Now that I’ve just arrived in the Taizun Spirit Realm, you welcome me so warmly—do you think the gifts you sent in the Shenkong Realm were too few, so you’re preparing to give me a few more installments?”
“…”
Nie Kong’s teasing caused the dozen or so surrounding Spirit Gods to become quite enraged and ashamed. During the previous period in the Shenkong Realm, the Spirit God avatars of these individuals had been the main force hunting Nie Kong, yet, apart from a select few, their Spirit God avatars had almost all been captured and refined by Nie Kong.
But now, in Nie Kong’s words, everyone’s Spirit God avatars had become gifts for him!
Suddenly, everyone felt a flush of heat on their faces, and a long-absent sense of humiliation surged uncontrollably from the bottom of their hearts. They glared furiously at Nie Kong, some beside themselves with anger. Colossal manifestations continuously surged out of their bodies, and terrifying pressures rampaged through the void, as if intent on crushing Nie Kong into pieces.