Chapter 227: Pursued by the Deity Transformation True Body

'It's him.' Nine Nether's heart went cold. The Heaven and Earth Ring's feedback was unmistakable. He could never misidentify that aura—it was that Deity Transformation Cultivator. And this did not feel like an avatar. The pressure was incredibly deep and heavy, far beyond the previous copy. It was highly likely his true body had arrived.

His mind raced. 'Why did he track me here of all places? I masked my trail perfectly; he couldn't have followed it. Most likely, the commotion from fighting that Nascent Soul Late Stage ghost king drew him over. But if he was just passing by, why stop exactly here? Does he already know I possess a Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure?'

Nine Nether had no time to dwell on it. His hands moved faster than his thoughts. With a faint flash of light in his palm, he wiped away all his residual spiritual qi fluctuations, changed direction, and darted deeper into the area.

The moment the golden light plunged into the fog, it receded. He suppressed the escape light itself until it grew dim, seamlessly blending into the surrounding yin energy without leaving a single trace to track.

A moment later, a streak of black light descended at the edge of the basin. The light abruptly retracted to reveal an elderly figure. His pitch-black pupils swept across the basin like a falcon scanning the ground, leaving not a single inch of scorched earth hidden from his sight.

"I clearly sensed a surge of pure yang sword qi just a moment ago, yet now there is nothing," the man muttered to himself, a hint of inquiry in his tone.

"It was the same when my avatar tracked that brat earlier. He shook me off halfway, leaving not even a sliver of spiritual qi fluctuations to sense."

He paused, his voice suddenly rising a notch. "To pacify the fluctuations of ambient spiritual qi—that is not a method the Nascent Soul Stage can achieve. The Five Elements Heaven and Earth Ring from Zhou Chengshan's memories must be on this person."

His words picked up speed, his pitch-black eyes gleaming faintly in the yin energy. "A Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure!"

He repeated the phrase, his voice carrying an uncontainable excitement. "I have lived for over a thousand years, and the only Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure I have ever seen was the Demon Purification Platform—and that was incomplete. Yet the one in this person's hands is whole. If I can seize this item..."

His voice trailed off as if unwilling to speak too absolutely, but his eyes already held the answer. "No one in all of Ganzhou will be able to oppose me. When that time comes, I might even glimpse the realm above Deity Transformation."

He suddenly stopped muttering. His gaze rapidly swept his surroundings, and his tone abruptly turned ice-cold. "Brat, you are definitely still here. I do not believe a mere Nascent Soul cultivator like you could flee very far in such a short time. Once I plow through this place inch by inch, I will eventually find you. After searching the soul and refining the po, that Heaven-grade Spiritual Treasure and all your fateful encounters will belong to me! Hahahaha!"

Before his laughter faded, his figure sank, transforming into a streak of black light that plunged into the thick fog. He swept deeper into the Ancient Battlefield. Those pitch-black eyes unhurriedly scanned every possible hiding spot in the darkness.

Meanwhile, an extremely hidden streak of golden light slipped silently across the ground, nearly one with the surrounding yin energy. Wherever the golden light passed, it left no trace behind; even the slightest disturbance of spiritual qi had been suppressed to the absolute minimum. In just a few breaths, that streak of light had moved far away from the basin, opening up a distance of ten thousand li.

"Brat, which direction do you plan to go?" Xuan Zhenzi's voice echoed from the Heaven and Earth Ring, carrying a hint of urgency. "This place is perilous. The deeper you go, the stronger the hidden entities become. You shouldn't charge in blindly."

"I know," Nine Nether replied briefly. He said nothing more, focusing his entire mind on maintaining the stability of his escape light. He only wanted to widen the gap between himself and that Deity Transformation Cultivator as quickly as possible. The sensation of being doggedly pursued left him unable to relax for even a moment.

Just as he flew past a stretch of low black hills, the Ember Moon Sword within his body suddenly gave a faint tremor, as if something from afar had lightly tapped its blade. That resonance was extremely weak, yet it was identical to the sensation he had felt when he first set foot on Ember Sword Peak. His heart stirred as he remembered the phantom projection Perfected Jinli had left behind. The senior had mentioned that as his lifespan neared its end, he had ultimately returned to this very place.

He slightly adjusted the direction of his escape light, darting toward the source of that resonance. He couldn't say for sure whether it was a way out or merely the lingering echo of an old tale, but he did not have much time to hesitate.

"Relax, Kid Qing. With our skills, that old bastard won't be able to find us anytime soon."

Xuan Zhenzi's voice echoed from the Heaven and Earth Ring, his tone a bit more relaxed than before. But as he spoke, he suddenly remembered something. His voice abruptly grew serious, tinged with a bit of pity. "However, I sensed a few familiar auras on that man... For him to track you here, I'm afraid the lineage I left behind in Southern Frost has most likely been wiped out by him. After searching their souls, he learned of the Heaven and Earth Ring's existence, which is why he traveled all this way to hunt you down with his true body."

"Brat, let me ask you one thing. From top to bottom, has my Daoyang Sect ever mistreated you?" Having swallowed Linghu's Nascent Soul and absorbed his memories, Xuan Zhenzi naturally knew everything, but he still asked the question anyway.

Nine Nether didn't answer, entirely focused on his flight. But the silence itself was an answer.

Indeed, the Daoyang Sect had treated him well.

He had plundered countless opportunities and treasures from the sect. And from top to bottom, aside from a bit of initial wariness, the Daoyang Sect had never once tried to truly harm him. Ever since he joined the sect under the identity of Qing You and they grew familiar with each other, the disciples, elders, and even the Supreme Elders had slowly dropped their guard, treating him with sincerity and genuinely accepting him into their ranks.

Yet for the sake of his own selfish desires, he had walked away exactly when the sect needed him most. He killed Linghu Shou, seized the Heaven and Earth Ring, and left without looking back.

As for whether doing so was right or wrong? Even he couldn't tell anymore.

"Rest assured, Ancestor," Nine Nether finally said. His tone was flat, but not dismissive. "I remember the kindness the Daoyang Sect showed me. This man has hunted me twice now; he and I already cannot wear the same sky. This disciple will personally slay him."

Xuan Zhenzi didn't speak again. After a long stretch of silence, his response finally culminated in a soft sigh.

After flying a while longer, the Ember Moon Sword's resonance grew increasingly clear. It ultimately guided him to an extremely well-hidden stone door. The door was half-open, its surface covered in cracks of varying depths and overgrown with dark gray moss, making it blend almost perfectly into the rock face. Without the Sword Intent pulling him along, it would be utterly impossible to tell from the outside that this was the entrance to a cave dwelling.

Xuan Zhenzi poked half his body out of the ring. He studied the area for a moment, a hint of surprise entering his voice. "To think someone would carve out a cave dwelling in a place like this. Since you were guided here by the Ember Moon Sword, could it be that junior named Jinli paid one last visit here before his death?"