Translator: CinderTL
"Hmph!"
A powerful wave of mental power swept across the starry sky like a carpet.
Six figures, each wielding a Dao Artifact and trailing streams of light, followed closely behind.
It was the Aurora Special Forces.
But the expressions on their faces were grim.
"Where did he go?"
The team leader, his mental power constantly searching back and forth, found it hard to accept. "How could Li Chunjun just vanish like that?"
"Could we have blasted him to smithereens, leaving nothing behind?" one of the team members speculated.
But before he could finish, the others immediately dismissed his theory.
"Impossible! The fall of a Void Refining cultivator wouldn't be so quiet."
"If Li Chunjun were that easy to kill, the Wu Ji Sect wouldn't have lost so many Elders and Heavenly Prodigies to him a month ago."
As they spoke, each member unleashed their Mystical Powers.
The energy fluctuations from their Dao Artifacts and dao techniques rippled across the area in concentric waves.
The search even spread tens of thousands of miles and millions of miles outward.
Unfortunately...
Despite searching for most of the day and later expanding their search radius to over a hundred million miles, they still couldn't find a trace of Li Chunjun.
When the Aurora Special Forces regrouped, all six members wore grim expressions.
The Aurora Special Forces captain was especially mortified.
When he first arrived on the battlefield, he had boasted that Li Chunjun couldn't escape them no matter what. Yet in the blink of an eye, Li Chunjun had vanished without a trace.
This blatant slap in the face left the Aurora Special Forces, who had a nearly flawless mission record, utterly humiliated.
The silent scrutiny from nearby Wu Ji Sect and Heavenly Palace Void Refining cultivators who had rushed over to investigate, coupled with the grief of the team that had suffered heavy losses in Li Chunjun's surprise attack, made his face burn with a stinging heat.
"Li Chunjun!"
The Aurora Special Forces captain had finally managed to compose himself.
As if oblivious to the suspicious glances of the others, his Divine Sense pulsed with a chilling, soul-chilling intent. "Very well. You've successfully captured my attention! From now on, the Aurora Special Forces will no longer hold back. We won't bother trying to capture you alive to pry out your secrets. We will pour all our strength into killing you!"
A bone-chilling killing intent surged from his body.
"Struggle all you want! Flee as far as you can! Let me see how long you can endure!"
This unwavering resolve and conviction struck the Void Refining cultivators who had previously doubted the Aurora Special Forces' strength, instantly bolstering their confidence.
So that's it...
The Aurora Special Forces had been trying to capture Li Chunjun alive?
No wonder their previous attacks had failed!
Li Chunjun's power, proven by the deaths of over a hundred Void Refining cultivators before, clearly placed him among the very best of his rank.
The Aurora Special Forces had treated him like any other peak void refining cultivator, which naturally led to setbacks.
Fortunately, they had adjusted in time.
Moreover, Li Chunjun's actions had thoroughly enraged them. Now...
The real show was about to begin.
While the Aurora Special Forces searched everywhere for Li Chunjun to no avail, he was already lying in the Ever-Transforming Creation Pool, rapidly recovering from the damage caused by the True Spirit Incineration Secret Art.
Since the True Spirit Incineration Secret Art had only lasted for about a dozen breaths, and with the Ever-Transforming Creation Pool's profound properties, he had fully restored his lost Essence Qi in just one day.
"Truly worthy of being the Inheritance Hall left behind by the Dao Venerable," Li Chunjun murmured sincerely.
He quickly took out a portion of Dao-infused material for both the Great Dao of Creation and the Great Dao of Life.
Over a month ago, he had slain hundreds of Wu Ji Sect and Heavenly Palace Void Refining cultivators, accumulating far more than a hundred Dao-infused materials.
While the Great Dao of Creation and the Great Dao of Life weren't as popular among the forty-nine Great Daos as the Great Dao of Void or the Great Dao of Destruction, they still had a considerable number of practitioners.
As a result, he possessed three portions of Dao-infused material for the Great Dao of Creation and five portions for the Great Dao of Life—more than enough to replenish the Ever-Transforming Creation Pool's energy consumption.
After refilling the Ever-Transforming Creation Pool, Li Chunjun turned his attention to the Human Emperor Banner.
"Killed a level 32 creature: Experience +2755!"
"Killed a level 33 creature: Experience +8103!"
"Killed a level 33 creature: Experience +7517!"
[Life Level: 38 (581985/800000)]
"Almost there," he murmured.
He was less than 220,000 experience points away.
If they were all peak void refining cultivators at level 33, around thirty would be enough.
If they were veteran void refining cultivators at level 32, they would need over eighty.
Considering the proportion of peak void refining cultivators among the remaining void refining cultivators of the wu ji sect...
"About fifty!" Li Chunjun declared. "We'll launch another surprise attack, inflicting two-thirds casualties on their squad, and then... we'll engage in a head-on battle to completely annihilate a squad!"
A plan and tactics quickly formed in his mind.
His overwhelming strength ensured he was never the passive party in this battle.
Therefore, his plan didn't need to be flawless.
His ability to both attack and defend granted him a wide margin for error.
Even if the final tactics failed and the plan went awry, it would only delay his upgrade. The Aurora Special Forces, the remaining Void Refining cultivators of the Wu Ji Sect and Heavenly Palace—none of them could pose a fatal threat to him.
Lost in thought, he contacted Lan Jing.
"Supreme Elder."
Lan Jing's reply came quickly.
"Send me the coordinates of any Wu Ji Sect team that's separated from the main group."
He spoke directly.
"Supreme Elder," Lan Jing cautioned, "you slaughtered most of a team right in front of the Aurora Special Forces. You've thoroughly enraged this powerful force. They're now determined to kill you at any cost the moment you appear..."
"Then let them show me if they truly have the strength to kill me."
Li Chunjun replied calmly, "Send me the coordinates."
Lan Jing sensed the confidence in Li Chunjun's voice and felt a surge of excitement. She quickly sent the coordinates.
With the coordinates in hand, Li Chunjun took a step into the void and appeared outside the Ever-Transforming Creation Pool.
No sooner had he emerged from the pool than the figure of starlight materialized.
"We meet again," Li Chunjun greeted the spirit-type life with a smile.
Starlight seemed to have extraordinary monitoring capabilities over the entire Star Abyss, naturally knowing what Li Chunjun had done after leaving the Inheritance Hall.
Seeing him use the hall's token to summon back Li Chunjun, the spirit-type life couldn't help but feel somewhat helpless.
"Alright, continue sending me away," Li Chunjun said. "To this coordinate."
"This..." Starlight hesitated for a moment.
"Just tell me if it complies with the rules," Li Chunjun pressed.
"It does," Starlight replied.
"I'm currently at a critical stage in forging my Dharma Manifestation, requiring numerous materials for its creation. Since you can't provide me with enough resources to continue my cultivation, I naturally have to find my own way," Li Chunjun explained, pausing briefly. "You wouldn't want your inheritor to be chosen while their Dao Protector hasn't even forged their Dharma Manifestation, would you?"
Starlight clearly prioritized the inheritor.
Hearing Li Chunjun's words, it immediately nodded. "I will send you there at once."
In the next moment, Li Chunjun was once again enveloped in a stream of light, piercing through the starry sky and hurtling toward the designated coordinate.
As the light and Void Law Power dissipated, a massive group of over forty people suddenly appeared in Li Chunjun's Heart-Mind perception.
"Personnel adjustments? Five teams reduced to four? No! It's a deepening of cooperation with the Heavenly Palace, with the Heavenly Palace taking responsibility for searching for one side..."
Li Chunjun didn't hesitate for a moment despite the increased number of Void Refining cultivators in the opposing team.
He activated the True Spirit Incineration Secret Art.
Drawing on his previous experience, this time the True Spirit Incineration burned with even more intense Qi than before.
As the Scarlet Sky Sword, empowered by his Dharma Manifestation Armament, soared into the sky, it split into ten thousand, rapidly evolving into a sword qi storm. The forty-plus members of the Wu Ji Sect team reacted instantly.
"It's Li Chunjun! Li Chunjun has arrived!"
"Hahaha, excellent timing! Everyone, deploy the Eight Directions Solidification Formation to trap him until the Aurora Special Forces arrive!"
"Damn it, why did we have to run into him?!"
The Void Refining cultivators' hearts raced with mixed emotions.
Some were terrified, others thrilled, and still others filled with dread.
But regardless of their inner turmoil, they had no choice but to obey the sect's death order.
Forcing themselves to steel their resolve, they hastily set up the defensive formation to withstand the onslaught of the sword qi storm.
Meanwhile, the Aurora Special Forces, having received the news, immediately broke through the Star Abyss's blockade and raced to its outer perimeter.
Even this time, outside the Star Abyss, a supreme sage from the Wu Ji Sect took action. With a thunderous strike, they shattered the Star Abyss's rule constraints, allowing the Aurora Special Forces to enter more quickly.
Though it only shaved off two or three breaths—perhaps even just one—that slight advantage might be enough for the Aurora Special Forces to completely corner Li Chunjun and eliminate this Void Refining cultivator who had already shown signs of becoming a major threat.
Of course, this supreme sage's intervention also triggered a counterattack from the Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.
These three supreme sages, who considered themselves Li Chunjun's Dao Protectors, immediately turned their attacks on the Wu Ji Sect's supreme sage.
In an instant, a fierce battle erupted between supreme sages above the Star Abyss.
This outcome was something the Wu Ji Sect had never anticipated.
They had only intended to restrain the Profound Yellow Sect and control the intensity of the conflict, desperately trying to avoid a full-scale supreme sage war. Yet they hadn't expected the Three Sages of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity to be so resolute!
This turn of events caught the Wu Ji Sect completely off guard.
To prevent the situation from spiraling out of control and escalating into a full-scale war, the Wu Ji Sect sent reinforcements while also relaying messages to the Profound Yellow Sect through forces like the Heavenly Principles Sect and the Heavenly Palace. They urged both sides to exercise restraint, lest the Immortal Alliance erupt into civil war at this critical moment, just before their war with the Divine Race.
Li Chunjun remained unaware of the changes outside.
Riding the sword qi storm, he charged directly into the Eight Directions Solidification Formation laid down by over forty Void Refining cultivators from the Wu Ji Sect.
Though these Void Refining cultivators had adopted a defensive stance, their hasty alliance and lack of close coordination proved insufficient.
Moreover, each battle Li Chunjun fought, whether through the True Spirit Incineration Secret Art or the digestion of combat experience, subtly elevated his combat prowess.
By the time reinforcements from the Aurora Special Forces arrived, Li Chunjun had already slain more than half of the Void Refining cultivators.
When the Aurora Special Forces finally unleashed a divine punishment-like attack in a fit of rage, Li Chunjun, sensing the danger, had already activated his Token and escaped the battlefield.
After the Aurora Special Forces' full-power strike shattered the Void, the outcome remained unchanged from the previous day.
Li Chunjun had vanished completely.
"How could this be!?"
This result finally made the Aurora Special Forces realize that the situation had slipped out of their control.
Despite their utmost vigilance, their full arsenal of techniques, the Void Refining cultivators' defensive formation, and the full support of their sect's Supreme Sage, they...
still couldn't capture Li Chunjun!
(End of the Chapter)
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