The distance opened behind him with each stride, but Huo Chen caught the shout from the Mu Family cultivator still pursuing.
"Brat! How dare you! How dare you!"
He turned his head back while still moving, his voice carrying over his shoulder.
"Shouting for what?! If you had the ability, you should have taken it yourself!"
The words hit like a slap. The Mu Family cultivator's face twisted with rage, his spiritual pressure spiking wildly.
"You just signed your death warrant, you little bastard! You're dead! Really dead!"
Huo Chen stopped running and turned to face his pursuer fully.
When the threats reached his ears again, he sneered openly and dismissed the words with barely concealed contempt.
His gaze shifted forward to survey the broader battlefield and the scene that met his eyes confirmed the chaos he'd expected.
The Mu Family's leader, the man in his forties who'd secured one of the Void Spirit Marrow, had erected a shimmering defensive barrier around himself and was fighting to break through the ring of cultivators surrounding him.
Techniques hammered against his defense from every angle as he pushed toward an escape route.
The Mu Family woman who'd claimed another piece was in better shape—a second Mu Family cultivator had arrived to support her and the two of them fought back-to-back against their attackers with coordinated strikes.
The independent cultivator who'd grabbed the third marrow wasn't as fortunate and struggled alone against multiple opponents who sensed his vulnerability and pressed their advantage ruthlessly.
Ahead of Huo Chen's position, more cultivators were closing in rapidly. Their eyes fixed on him with predatory focus and their intentions were clear—they wanted the Void Spirit Marrow in his storage ring.
A flash of green light cut through his observation.
Another figure materialized beside the younger Mu Family cultivator, appearing from nothing in a blur of movement.
This one was older, a man in his fifties with sharp features and the bearing of someone accustomed to authority. He stood shoulder to shoulder with the furious youth, his eyes sweeping over the scene before settling on the young man.
"Mu Xiang," the man said, his voice carrying an edge of displeasure. "What's going on here? You weren't able to secure the marrow?"
Mu Xiang's jaw clenched, his hand tightening around his saber. "It's this thief, Uncle Tian! He took both of them!"
Mu Tian's gaze shifted to Huo Chen, cold and assessing. His spiritual pressure rolled outward, heavy with the weight of someone at the peak of ninth layer Qi Refining.
"Boy, if you know what's good for you, hand over the Void Spirit Marrow. Otherwise, you're inviting calamity upon yourself."
Huo Chen met the elder's stare without flinching.
"Old man, are you senile? Coming here to spout threats at me? You'd better crawl back to wherever you came from before you embarrass yourself further."
The air went still. Mu Tian's expression darkened, his spiritual pressure intensifying until the water around them rippled.
"Junior, you don't know what's good for you. You dare to offend my Mu Family? I'll give you one more chance. Hand over what you stole, or face the consequences."
"Offending your Mu Family?" Huo Chen's voice carried a note of mockery. "Did the Void Spirit Marrow have your clan's name carved on it? Since when did unclaimed treasures in the Emerald Void Realm belong to the Mu Family?"
Spiritual pressure exploded from both Mu Tian and Mu Xiang simultaneously, and their eyes burned with murderous intent.
"Insolent junior!" Mu Tian's voice shook with fury.
"Brat, I'll make sure you won't even have a corpse left!" Mu Xiang added, his killing intent flooding outward.
When Huo Chen heard those words, his gaze shifted to Mu Xiang and his eyes went cold. This one has been marked for death.
Both Mu Family cultivators moved in the same instant and their voices rang out as they called their techniques.
"Verdant Gale Palm!"
"Cutting Wind Blade!"
Green spiritual energy blazed around Mu Tian's hand as a massive palm construct formed in the air above him. Mu Xiang's saber flashed with wind-element Qi and released a crescent blade of compressed energy that shot forward.
The attacks crossed the distance toward Huo Chen with deadly speed.
BANG! BANG!
Two intercept strikes came from behind the Mu Family cultivators and collided with their techniques mid-flight. The impacts created explosions of spiritual energy that scattered both attacks before they could reach their target.
Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.
Three figures moved past Mu Tian and Mu Xiang with speed that left afterimages and positioned themselves in front of Huo Chen.
Elder Huo Shun stood at the center with Huo Lan to his left and Huo Ming to his right.
Their combined presence created a wall of spiritual pressure that pushed back against the Mu Family's killing intent.
Elder Huo Shun's voice carried across the space between them with sharp authority.
"Do you think the Huo Clan has no one? That you can bully our members freely?"
Mu Xiang's lip curled in contempt. "The Huo Clan? What kind of trash organization is that? I've never even heard of you!"
Mu Tian raised a hand to silence the younger man and his eyes narrowed as he assessed the three newcomers.
"There's no point wasting words with them. They'll pay the price for their foolishness soon enough, and they'll learn what it means to offend the Mu Family."
Green light flared around Mu Tian's body and he vanished from his position in a burst of speed.
He reappeared directly in front of Elder Huo Shun with his palm already descending in a devastating strike.
The technique manifested as an enormous hand wreathed in verdant spiritual energy, each finger clearly defined and radiating power that distorted the air around it.
"Emerald Crushing Palm!"
Elder Huo Shun's eyes tracked the movement and his body was already shifting to intercept as the massive green palm descended toward him.