The location where the inn once stood was now utterly transformed into a ruin. In the area of the back courtyard, the ground had split open with jagged fissures, as if subjected to a violent earthquake, and the deep well had completely collapsed, completely filled in by shattered well casing, rock fragments, and soil!

"He jumped down the well to escape?"

The three Xiantian Jindan masters from the Yu Huang Sect who rushed over, along with Zhao Danchen, all paused in surprise at the sight.

No one had expected...

Teng Qingshan to jump down the well! The bottom of that well wouldn't be very large; it should have been easy for Zhao Danchen and the others to find him there.

"Hahaha, you dogs from Qinghu Island, you think you can capture me, Teng Qingshan?" That roar resonated from beneath the earth.

"Seeking death!"

Zhao Danchen's face darkened, and his entire body instantly transformed into a blur of golden light, leaping toward the deep well. Simultaneously, the treasure sword in his hand grew into a giant blade, stabbing toward the well buried under rocks and earth. With a resounding "Boom!", a passage nearly three zhang wide and reaching the very bottom of the well shaft was blasted open.

"We go down!" The thin, silver-haired elder frowned and commanded.

Immediately, the burly man and the pretty young married woman, along with the elder, plunged into the well bottom.

The well bottom!

"Whoosh~~~" The well water was now murky and turbid.

"Hmm, where did he escape to?" Zhao Danchen, enveloped in a shield of Xiantian True Essence, was submerged below the water level; the well bottom wasn't particularly deep. The surrounding well walls at the base were fractured, and behind them was thick earth, along with small fragments of broken rock.

Underground water was constantly seeping through the porous rock and soil.

"Break!" Zhao Danchen's face turned cold, and the light from his long sword flared intensely, transforming into massive arcs of sword light that stabbed toward the surroundings of the well bottom. In the face of a Xiantian Jindan expert, even layers of rock would shatter into pieces. Let alone this soil! Ordinary people digging a well usually only reach the soil layer, not the deeper strata of rock.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

The sword light instantly blasted open the surrounding earth, revealing a startlingly large, deep pit. Zhao Danchen immediately scanned the area around the pit, hoping to discover some clue. But immediately after, "Rumble~~" the soil that had been blasted away collapsed back down, burying most of the original pit. The subterranean water also began to flow slowly.

"Brother Zhao, have you found Teng Qingshan?" The three from the Yu Huang Sect had also arrived at Zhao Danchen's side.

"No!" Zhao Danchen frowned as he looked around.

"We were only a breath slower than Teng Qingshan. How can we see no trace of him around? In one breath, he could have moved at most ten or twenty zhang underground. Brother Zhao's sword light earlier should have revealed his trail," the pretty young woman murmured, also scanning the surroundings. "This well isn't deep enough either! It's all mud; a bit more commotion, and the soil collapses, covering the tracks. If it were rock... we would have found him already."

The thin elder lowered his voice: "Everyone, don't panic! This underground is all dense soil. If Teng Qingshan is trying to burrow away, he must be making noise."

"But we don't hear any distinct sound from underground, only the sound of this groundwater flowing through the cracks in the mud and rock," the burly elder muttered worriedly.

"Hmph!"

Zhao Danchen let out a low snort. "We were only delayed by a breath. He must be somewhere nearby underground. I'm just afraid that if we hear the sound of him breaking through the soil to escape, we'll pinpoint his location... Therefore, he must be completely motionless. Not letting out a single sound!"

"Brother Zhao is right. If we leave now, he will have fooled us!" The thin, silver-haired elder nodded.

At the bottom of the well, the four Xiantian Jindan experts held their breath, straining their ears, determined not to miss the slightest sound.

"To capture Teng Qingshan quickly, we'll have to trouble Brother Du and the two of you," Zhao Danchen whispered.

"Brother Zhao, just say the word. Of course, we will help," the thin, silver-haired elder, 'Du Xuan,' murmured. "Moreover, with this many people from the Yu Huang Sect and your Qinghu Island, heavily surrounding him, if we still let Teng Qingshan escape, I fear the entire world will mock us."

"Mmm!" Zhao Danchen nodded.

The thought of Teng Qingshan's shout earlier—'You dogs from Qinghu Island, you think you can capture me, Teng Qingshan?'—that sound had surely been heard by everyone in Wucheng.

"That Teng Qingshan is truly!" Zhao Danchen cursed inwardly. "With that shout, everyone in Wucheng knows! There's no hiding it now!"

Zhao Danchen immediately forced himself to calm down.

"Let's spread out," Zhao Danchen whispered. "The four of us—I'll take the front. Brother Du, the three of you take the rear and the two sides. We'll advance slowly in four directions, and you can also use your Xiantian True Essence to pierce the soil and search for Teng Qingshan's tracks! Also, keep the noise down! When piercing the soil with True Essence, you must restrain it! Don't let the resulting vibrations create loud noises."

"Agreed."

The three Xiantian Jindan masters from the Yu Huang Sect agreed instantly.

"He must be within a hundred zhang radius. The four of us need to be careful, searching all directions—around, above, and below. If he stays still, we will certainly find him. If he moves, he is bound to make a sound! Once he makes a sound, given our speed, we will definitely catch him!"

Zhao Danchen was supremely confident. "Let's go!"

Immediately, the forces of Qinghu Island and Yu Huang Sect united, and the four Xiantian Jindan experts spread out, their bodies encased in light shields, pushing aside the earth as they advanced inch by inch!

They dared not move fast, trying to be as quiet as possible!

"Teng Qingshan, you can't escape!" Zhao Danchen roared internally, sending beams of golden light shooting out like arrows—downward, upward, forward-side, and directly ahead! Because the True Essence was restrained, each sword light only carved a hole as thick as a baby's arm, and each beam could penetrate twenty to thirty zhang.

The four Xiantian Jindan experts clearly intended to sweep the area within a hundred zhang radius.

This was easy for them.

At this moment—

About thirty zhang to the left of the Yu Huang Sect expert 'Du Xuan', Teng Qingshan was completely enveloped in a fiery red light shield, being tightly squeezed by the soil. Because of the distance, Teng Qingshan hadn't heard the quiet conversation of the four above.

"Hmm?" Teng Qingshan frowned.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Very faint sounds occurred repeatedly.

"They are searching underground? Probably using Xiantian True Essence to pierce the soil! They are trying to find me," Teng Qingshan's expression showed a slight smile. "Zhao Danchen, oh Zhao Danchen, if it were just you, I might have played with you a bit longer! But judging by the speed of those three helpers, they are also Xiantian Jindan! It's highly likely they are from the Yu Huang Sect!"

"That makes sense! This Mountain-Splitting Divine Axe belongs to the Yu Emperor; it's natural for the Yu Huang Sect members to want to retrieve it."

Thump! Thump!

The sound of the soil being pierced grew closer.

"Looks like they are about to find me!"

"No more games with you!"

A smile appeared on Teng Qingshan's face. The fiery red light shield that had enveloped him instantly morphed into the shape of a bullet. The Xiantian True Essence changed form according to his will, easily becoming 'bullet-shaped.'

Simultaneously—

The surface of this bullet-shaped shield featured raised spiral structures.

It appeared as if the light shield around Teng Qingshan had transformed into the 'bit of an electric drill.' Outside the shield, Teng Qingshan's hands and feet were comparable to treasures like Xuan Tie (Mysterious Iron); for a moment, he resembled a reptile, using all four limbs.

Bang! Bang!

Teng Qingshan violently pushed off the ground with his legs, generating a powerful thrust. With this momentum, the bullet-shaped drill shot forward immediately.

"Whoosh!"

Teng Qingshan shot through the soil like a streak of light, instantly vanishing.

"Dream on if you want to chase me!" Teng Qingshan's speed while moving through the earth was astonishing.

In his previous life, the rotating bit of an electric drill could easily penetrate steel plates and rock. For this 'electric drill' formed by Teng Qingshan's Xiantian True Essence shield to burrow through soil, it was naturally even easier.

This giant electric drill formed by Teng Qingshan was streamlined like a bullet, minimizing resistance to the extreme.

The spiral threads could also leverage the soil's resistance to propel him forward rapidly.

Combined with the propulsion from his legs, the speed was terrifying!

And the most energy-consuming part, the tip of the drill, was made from the tip of the Samsara Spear. With a spear tip forged from ten-thousand-year-old Cold Iron piercing the soil, progress was naturally effortless.

"Beasts like pangolins, which can move rapidly underground, or other animals skilled at subterranean escape, rely on their body shape! A pangolin itself is somewhat cone-shaped! However... for darting through the earth, the streamlined electric drill shape is most suitable."

Teng Qingshan was incredibly fast in the soil now.

He didn't even feel any significant resistance.

...

"Teng Qingshan is here!" The thin, silver-haired elder suddenly shouted.

Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!

Immediately, Zhao Danchen and the other two Xiantian Jindan experts from the Yu Huang Sect rushed over at top speed. And at that moment, the thin, silver-haired elder, 'Du Xuan,' followed the sound and immediately gave chase.

Moments later, the four converged.

"Where is he?" Zhao Danchen and the other two looked at Du Xuan.

Du Xuan shook his head, unable to believe it. "Just now, the sound was very loud. I rushed over at my fastest speed. But... I realized the sound was moving farther away from me. I can't even hear that sound anymore."

"Impossible! How can his speed be that fast?" Zhao Danchen's face shifted dramatically.

"I heard the sound too, a very loud one!" the pretty young woman murmured, frowning. "But it disappeared almost immediately!"

On land, perhaps they could outpace Teng Qingshan.

But underground, the gap in ability was huge.

These people searched the earth unhappily for a while before choosing to give up.

The well bottom.

Zhao Danchen and the four returned here, Zhao Danchen's face gloomy.

Failing to capture Teng Qingshan! If this news got out, it would be too humiliating.

"Hahaha..." Suddenly, loud laughter rang out from above the well, echoing between heaven and earth. "Zhao Danchen, and the other three must be Enforcement Elders from the Yu Huang Sect... Hahaha, Zhao Danchen, if you want to capture me, go back and train for another fifty years."

Zhao Danchen and the four looked stunned.

"It's Teng Qingshan!" Zhao Danchen immediately rushed out of the well bottom.

"Where did this Teng Qingshan run off to?" Du Xuan and the other two were equally shocked, and they too rushed out of the well bottom in haste.

A moment after the four left the well bottom.

In the previously murky well water, a figure slowly materialized out of thin air. This figure was initially indistinct but quickly solidified. This person wore black robes and had long black hair, carrying a divine sword in a black scabbard on his back. Beneath his white eyebrows, his eyes held a look of astonishment: "This Teng Qingshan's skill in concealment and escape is truly formidable. Four Xiantian Jindan experts couldn't find him."

Then, the figure flashed and vanished into thin air.