"What is it, Brother Tu? Are you still concerned about the being in that direction?" the middle-aged man asked.
"I am. The disk is reacting to that direction, but the intensity of the reaction is fluctuation drastically. At times, that being appears to be the most powerful of the lot, but at other times, the disk barely reacts to them at all. It really is quite strange," the elderly man replied with an indecisive look on his face.
"Looks like that being either possesses a treasure that can disrupt the Profound Heavenshifting Disk's detection or they truly possess immense magic power, allowing them to unleash an ability that can disguise their cultivation base," the middle-aged man mused after a short pause.
"Perhaps. If it's the former, then that would be fine, but if the latter proved to be true, then we can't afford to let them escape. I suggest we deploy two of the winged wyrms to investigate first. Once a verdict is reached, we can make our decision then," the elderly man proposed.
"I also believe that to be the wisest decision. If everything goes smoothly, then this matter should be taken care of within half a day," the middle-aged man chuckled in response, clearly of the opinion that taking some things from a bunch of Spatial Tempering Stage beings surely wouldn't be a difficult task.
The elderly man nodded upon hearing this, and the let loose loud cry. The two golden winged wyrms overhead immediately reacted and flew in the direction that the arrow on the disk was pointing in.
Moments later, they had disappeared into the distance.
The elderly man and the middle-aged man didn't delay any longer, either, as they shot forth as streaks of light, traveling toward different directions.
White light suddenly flashed from one of their bodies, and they slowly took on a transparent and virtually invisible form.
As for the other streak of light, after it had flown through the air for close to 10 kilometers, a cloud of purple mist erupted to conceal the streak of light.
After a while, the purple mist also vanished along with the streak of light within it.
…
In the air above a small hill, a foreign being with sallow cheeks and a pair of feelers growing from his head was riding atop a gecko-like spirit beast, flying through the air at an altitude of several tens of feet.
The gecko was only around 10 feet in length, and there was a faint layer of yellow light emanating from its body, allowing it to completely blend in with the soil down below. Under the disguise of this layer of yellow light, the foreign being and his gecko steed were extremely discreet, making it very difficult to detect their presence with the naked eye alone.
The foreign being appeared to be quite uneasy as he flew along atop his spirit beast steed, glancing behind himself regularly to check if any pursuers had appeared on the horizon.
This being was at the early-Spatial Tempering Stage, but he wasn't one of the beings who had fled the city with Han Li and big-headed being. It appeared that aside from those four beings, there were also other high-grade beings lurking within the city.
This being had somehow escaped the detection of the big-headed being and refrained from coming into contact with all of the other high-grade beings. Furthermore, he had concealed his cultivation base this entire time and didn't want to be lumped together with the other Spatial Tempering Stage beings as that would undoubtedly make him one of the main targets of the Jiao Chi Race.
Even after the city gates were opened, he had fled alongside all of the low-grade beings, posing as one himself.
At present, he was already close to 1,000 kilometers away from Green Light City, and this was already a safe distance away under most circumstances. However, the foreign still wore an uneasy look on his face.
For some reason, he had been struck by a sense of foreboding not long ago, and this feeling had only intensified thereafter.
He hailed from the Heart Charm Race, which was only a small race on the Thunder Continent, but they possessed a rare natural ability that allowed them to sense danger more acutely than other beings.
As such, he didn't dare to disregard this sense of uneasiness in his heart, and was inspecting his surroundings in an extremely cautious manner.
All of a sudden, his expression changed slightly, and he seemed to have detected something. He clamped his legs more tightly against the sides of his gecko steed, and the spirit beast immediately drew to a halt. At the same time, it also began to survey their surroundings with its large red eyes.
All of a sudden, a burst of white light erupted beside the foreign being, following which a humanoid figure emerged in a flash. The humanoid figure raised a hand, and a streak of powerful sword Qi flashed through the air.
The golden sword Qi was extremely dazzling to behold, and it reached the Heart Charm being in the flash.
The Heart Charm being's heart jolted with shock. If it hadn't received forewarning from its instincts, then it would most likely have been caught completely off guard and slain by that attack. Thankfully, he was alert and ready, and a small black shield abruptly appeared before him amid a flash of black light. At the same time, a buzzing sound rang out from his body, and three barriers of light, respectively crimson, yellow, and green in color, appeared around him.
The Heart Charm being's gecko steed also abruptly shook its body, and its remarkably long tail swept through the air as a black shadow. At the same time, it opened its mouth to blast forth a ball of putrid green liquid toward the humanoid figure within the white light.
As expected of a Spatial Tempering Stage being; the Heart Charm being was able to formulate a rapid sequence of defensive measures despite how abruptly it had been attacked.
However, the golden sword Qi unleashed by the humanoid figure was also quite devastatingly powerful, slicing through the black shield before crashing into the three light barriers.
The small black shield was sliced in half and plummeted down from above as a hint of shock appeared in the Heart Charm being's eyes.
The golden struck Qi then struck the three-colored light barrier amid a piercing flash of light, following which the four colors intertwined and clashed amid a string of incessant explosions.
The three-colored light barrier had managed to keep the attack at bay.
The ball of green liquid and the gecko's powerful tail also struck the white humanoid figures at the same time, but the humanoid figure merely swayed slightly, and the attacks passed through his body as if it were a mere illusion.
What kind of ability is this?! The Heart Charm being's heart jolted with shock as he stared intently at his opponent. At the same time, he quickly flipped over a hand, and spiritual light flashed from his palm as a silver talisman appeared. He then flicked his wrist as if he were about to hurl the talisman through the air, but right at this moment, a gentle breeze suddenly blew past in the air behind him, following which a barely visible humanoid figure appeared, seemingly out of thin air.
The humanoid figure was semi-transparent and emerged in a wraith-like manner without triggering any spiritual fluctuations.
As such, the Heart Charm being was completely oblivious to the fact that a second enemy had appeared behind him, and he abruptly raised his hand into the air. The talisman that he was holding instantly transformed into countless arcs of silver lightning that were sent hurtling toward the enemy up ahead.
Loud thunderclaps erupted and silver lightning exploded before inundating the white humanoid figure. As soon as the silver lightning was unleashed, a scorching aura filled the entire nearby space, creating quite a formidable attack.
Meanwhile, a sinister smile appeared on the face of the semi-transparent humanoid figure behind the Heart Charm being, following which he flew through the air as a streak of green light.
An incredible scene ensued.
The three-colored light barrier that was powerful enough to withstand the attack from the golden sword Qi proved to be completely ineffective in the face of the streak of green light.
The green light punctured the light barrier in flash before disappearing into the Heart Charm being's body, completely disregarding the defensive measures set up.
A bloodcurdling cry immediately rang out as the Heart Charm being instantly rose up into the air before desperately attempting to flee the scene. However, he only managed to fly for just over 100 feet before his body spasmed violently, and he plummed directly downward.
All of his flesh and blood were quickly withering away at a rate that was discernible to the naked eye, and even before he had landed on the ground, he had been reduced to an empty husk.
Even the Heart Charm being's soul had been completely destroyed during this process.
Without anyone to control it, the silver lightning in the air above instantly disappeared, thereby revealing the white humanoid figure again.
Golden light flashed in his hand, and the giant gecko beast was instantly dismembered into several chunks.
"Hehe." A smug chuckle escaped from within the wizened husk of the Heart Charm being's body, and it suddenly began to expand again, reverting back to its original form in the blink of an eye, as if the Heart Charm being had returned to life.
The Heart Charm being inspected his two hands as an unsettling smile appeared on his face. He then turned and waved a hand toward the humanoid figure within the white light.
The humanoid figure immediately approached him, and the white light around his body faded to reveal his true features. It was none other than that middle-aged Jiao Chi being!
However, his expression was completely wooden and lifeless, as if he'd been reduced to a puppet.
"This Blood Melting Technique really is quite powerful, It's a pity that I can't use it in quick succession. Otherwise, it would truly be an extremely useful offensive technique," the Heart Charm being mused in a rather forlorn manner as he appraised the middle-aged man before him.
After that, he flicked his wrist, and a storage bracelet shot forth, revolving around in the air before all of its contents were tipped out.
The Heart Charm being swept his spiritual sense toward this collection of items before making a grabbing motion, upon which several boxes flew toward him. He opened the boxes one by one and carefully inspected their contents, but his expression quickly darkened.
There were some rather precious items in this collection, but none of them were the items that he was looking for.
He pointed a finger at the storage bracelet, and a swath of azure light swept forth before stowing all of the items back into the bracelet.
A contemplative look then appeared on the Heart Charm being's face, and a thought suddenly seemed to have occurred to him as he hurriedly patted himself down in an unfamiliar manner. However, his search only yielded two talismans and a few other inconsequential items.
The Heart Charm being harrumphed coldly before shaking his head in a resigned manner. He then made a hand seal, and a streak of green light flew out from the top of his head before transforming into that semi-transparent humanoid figure again.
Meanwhile, the Heart Charm being sagged like a balloon before crumpling down onto the ground as an empty husk again.
The semi-transparent being disappeared into the middle-aged man's body, and the man shuddered before closing his eyes as a layer of green light surfaced over his body.
After a long while, the middle-aged man heaved a long sigh before opening his eyes again.
His wooden and lusterless eyes had come alive again, and a soul seemed to have been injected back into his body.
