With the incessant howl of the northern wind, the thick smoke continuously billowing from every volcano was accelerated in its outward surge by the powerful gusts, though in a direction exactly opposite to its usual flow... The winds rose and clouds gathered; the majestic power of nature itself was driving the endless plumes of smoke progressively away. Jun Mo Xie could finally see the status of the dozens of volcanoes with relative clarity. While the lingering poison of the toxic haze had dissipated, the score of craters were still ceaselessly erupting lava, spewing it hundreds of feet straight into the sky, only for it to then rain down with a sizzling pili-pala...
No matter where it landed, it was scorched earth...
It was obvious that these dozens of volcanoes needed to vent an immense amount of energy due to this sudden upheaval!
A thousand li of scorched earth!
This phrase was utterly and truly deserved here!
Under the intensely rising temperatures, all water sources within the ten thousand li radius were diminishing at a rate almost visible to the naked eye. Cracks were already appearing on the earth in many places, and this condition continued to worsen... Facing this dire situation caused by the very might of Heaven and Earth, everyone could only watch helplessly, as if experiencing the transformation of ages in the blink of an eye!
Such an incredibly bizarre and terrifying spectacle was unfolding in stark reality, and the visual impact on the bystanders was unimaginable—unparalleled, breathtaking, and chilling!
The Three Great Sacred Lands probably wouldn't be able to escape this catastrophe! Jun Mo Xie thought silently. The scope of the volcanic disaster practically encompassed all the regions surrounding Mount Tiansheng!
And the Three Great Sacred Lands were situated right in the most central area among the cluster of volcanoes!
Such a cataclysm might very well have flattened the entire Mount Tiansheng...
Even if there were survivors, how many could there be?
Jun Mo Xie sighed inwardly, then suddenly recalled something: It seemed his own forces had deployed too early! He hadn't anticipated that this chain eruption would be so intensely hot and possess such terrifying destructive power. While the people of the Three Great Sacred Lands on Mount Tiansheng were certainly doomed, surely the allied tribes weren't having an easy time either?
There was no reason for the natural volcanic eruption to only strike the Xuanxuan side. He was certain the disaster on the other side must also be severe!
And given how vast the eruption zone was, while his side might be unable to cross over, it was equally likely that the other side couldn't cross over either.
Jun Mo Xie secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps the massive casualties he anticipated could be greatly reduced. And by arriving first with Mei Xueyan and the Eagle-Bear Allied Forces, he might spare that coalition many unnecessary losses!
Even judging purely by the current situation, his side might not be at a disadvantage. While his forces would be forced into a situation of isolated warfare, they were simultaneously spared the restraints of the Three Great Sacred Lands. Often, an untrustworthy ally was far more dangerous than a powerful enemy. In this immediate context, losing the military strength of the Three Great Sacred Lands would certainly diminish their own power, but it would also eliminate many future worries!
As he was congratulating himself on this turn of events, Jun Mo Xie suddenly saw a disturbance within the clouds of smoke ahead. A black speck shot out rapidly from the haze with a sharp whoosh, emitting an exceptionally piercing sound as it flew against the raging northern wind!
Jun Mo Xie’s pupils contracted; he had already swiftly identified the black speck as a person!
A person!
In the current age, if judging purely by innate cultivation, Miao Qingcheng, the personal disciple of the First Young Master of Jiuyou, would naturally rank highest. But Old Man Miao was currently in hiding due to the threat of heavenly tribulation. Excluding Miao Qingcheng, who else possessed such divine ability?
The so-called foremost expert, the Fourteenth Young Master of Jiuyou, might barely qualify, but this person was clearly not the Fourteenth Young Master of Jiuyou! Moreover, this person’s strength might not be weaker than the Fourteenth Young Master of Jiuyou!
Perhaps even stronger!
Since these two possibilities had been ruled out, only one candidate remained in Jun Mo Xie's mind!
The sole candidate: Zhan Lunhui!
Immediately following that silhouette, dozens of other figures flew out in succession, chasing desperately behind the first!
Even though they were still an immense distance away, their faces completely indiscernible, the atmosphere of sheer desperation and carnage between them was perfectly clear! Those behind felt that if they could just catch the person in front—even if it meant biting him once, spitting on him once, and then immediately dying—they would have no further regrets!
This was pure, irreconcilable hatred!
The figures flew closer and closer. In the blink of an eye, the face of the leading person could be vaguely discerned. Jun Mo Xie narrowed his eyes and watched intently.
Zhan Lunhui, it was indeed him!
And the group chasing him, Jun Mo Xie also recognized well.
They were none other than the venerable masters from the Tiansheng Palace.
The leader was none other than the chief of the Tiansheng Palace, that ancient monster who had lived for over three thousand years—Gu Han!
And Gu Han was merely the name he held for the last three millennia; his identity from three thousand years prior was Wu Shanyun!
At this moment, Gu Han’s face was icy cold, clearly seething with uncontrollable rage. His robes were tattered in many places, and he appeared quite wretched, completely devoid of the immortal grace he displayed when Jun Mo Xie had last seen him. Yet, his eyes were like lightning, showing no reduction in speed; in fact, it was evident he was employing some self-damaging technique that burned his potential to maximize his speed to the greatest extent, determined to catch the desperately fleeing Zhan Lunhui in the shortest possible time!
Beyond that, it seemed Gu Han wasn't even considering his own life...
Jun Mo Xie's thoughts raced: This Zhan Lunhui must be deeply connected to the collapse of Mount Tianzhu! Otherwise, a person like Gu Han would never be enraged to this degree!
Zhan Lunhui continued to fly at extreme speed ahead, without looking back.
Suddenly, Gu Han roared out, "Zhan Kuang! By constantly fleeing like this, do you think this venerable one wouldn't recognize your origins? You, a senior of the Xuanxuan world, are acting with such heinous madness, destroying Mount Tianzhu and shaking the very foundation of the Xuanxuan Continent! You—you... you deserve death a thousand times over!"
This furious shout was like a thunderclap splitting the tongue, causing the space spanning several thousand li to hum and vibrate. The echoes persisted, and it seemed even the air trembled and undulated from the immense sound. In the space between Heaven and Earth, wavy patterns resembling water ripples appeared and then vanished.
Zhan Lunhui remained deaf to the cries, maintaining full speed, his pace actually increasing rather than decreasing!
"Zhan Kuang! You cannot escape! Even if you manage to flee, where can the Zhan family go?! You have committed such an egregious crime that you are an enemy to the entire Xuanxuan Continent!" Gu Han roared in anger. "Stop immediately! Return to the ancestral altar to offer your death as atonement! Only then might the entire Zhan clan be spared the consequences of your singular actions..."
However, Zhan Lunhui only flew faster.
Jun Mo Xie rolled his eyes. Gu Han certainly knew how to talk—asking someone to obediently stop, surrender, and return with you to... offer death as atonement? If a person didn't flee even faster after hearing such a request, it would be the real miracle!
They say the older a person is, the richer their accumulated wisdom and experience become, so why would this old monster, who had lived for at least three thousand years, utter something so childish?!
As quick as words could be spoken, Zhan Lunhui's figure breached the zone within five hundred zhang ahead of Jun Mo Xie! The distance between Gu Han and the others behind Zhan Lunhui was almost the same—about five hundred zhang!
A thought stirred in Jun Mo Xie's mind; a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. Acting decisively, he suddenly flipped over, letting out a dragon's roar, and the Divine Sword Yanhuang’s Blood appeared instantly in his hand!
Zhan Lunhui, while fleeing wildly, was filled with immense frustration.
His reappearance this time had cost the Zhan family more than a hundred top-tier masters, sacrificed merely to recover more than half of his cultivation. He had come out this time specifically to seek an ultimate secret within the Tiansheng Palace.
That ultimate secret was the very place where the miraculous substance that sustained the operation of the Illusionary Mansion was generated.
His objective was simple: to acquire a large amount of this substance and use it as leverage to completely suppress the Miao family within the Illusionary Mansion, thus solidifying the Zhan family's leadership position.
His goal was arguably quite pure, even rudimentary.
He had even resolved that after successfully obtaining this substance from the Tiansheng Palace, he would conveniently stop by the Heavenly Punishment Forest and eliminate that unruly young brat. He only sought the object itself and had no intention of confronting the Three Great Sacred Lands head-on. Since that brat was someone the Three Great Sacred Lands were determined to remove, eliminating him might help smooth over the conflict he had created with the Sacred Lands!
As for the so-called Monarch of Evil? The Young Holy Venerable expert? In the eyes of Zhan Lunhui, they were all utter nonsense!
But he never imagined that by taking too much of that miraculous substance this time, he would upset the balance of the seal previously laid by the First Young Master of Jiuyou, causing Mount Tianzhu to collapse!
Zhan Lunhui knew he had brought immense disaster upon himself and fled hastily. As long as he wasn't caught on the spot, he believed there would be room for maneuver.
Little did he know that with such a massive accident occurring, Gu Han and the others were ready to commit suicide, so how could they possibly let him go? After repeated fierce battles, Zhan Lunhui finally escaped, but the people of Tiansheng Palace relentlessly pursued him, unwilling to give up even if it meant resorting to self-damaging tactics!
However, Zhan Lunhui was, after all, an established supreme expert. His strength was truly beyond comparison. His understanding, mastery, utilization, and deployment of the elemental vital energy were far superior to those of Gu Han and the others. Even with Gu Han using his speed-boosting, self-injuring methods, the distance between them could not be closed!
Seeing the distance between them widening, as long as he could escape safely, everything would be fine! Calling him Zhan Kuang—fine, he’d be Zhan Kuang. If he vehemently denied it, what could they possibly do to him?!
Zhan Lunhui knew this incident was extraordinarily serious, and he had already decided on the strategy of outright denial.
Otherwise, even his master, Miao Qingcheng—the sole remaining figure in the entire Xuanxuan Continent—could not possibly bear the responsibility for this major incident!
Then again, this catastrophe occurred on the Xuanxuan Continent, which had little direct connection to the Illusionary Mansion. The amount of necessary materials he had acquired this time was considerable, enough for ten thousand years of use by the Illusionary Mansion. Even if the Xuanxuan Continent truly fell, what did it matter!
He could see Mount Renjian ahead. Once he crossed this mountain, he could enter the Illusionary Mansion anytime, anywhere!
At that point, no matter how heaven-defying their abilities, they could do nothing to him!
At the subtle moment when Zhan Lunhui was beginning to relax mentally, the air about a hundred zhang ahead suddenly vibrated sharply, and a chilling, resolute aura seemed to connect Heaven and Earth.