Chapter 784 - 306: Demon Bull

Chu Nan found himself completely unable to defend his actions. Cornered by the pincer attack of two Cloud Water Upper Sect Elders, he was so frustrated he could almost spit blood.

"It really wasn’t me!"

Chu Nan shouted, desperately trying to explain, but the surging onslaught gave him no room to breathe.

"Hand over the Golden Lotus, and we’ll spare your life!"

Zhao Songtao’s eyes were wide with rage. As his palms flew, he pushed the Cloud Water Sect’s ultimate technique, the Thunderous Wave Cloud-Splitting Palm, to its absolute limit.

The Palm Wind howled, stirring the surrounding water vapor and transforming it into layers of blue palm phantoms. Like the thunderous waves of a tsunami, they crashed toward Chu Nan, one higher than the next, sealing off all avenues of escape to his left or right.

Each phantom contained enough force to shatter mountains and split stone, and they also carried a unique, dense, and penetrating Power.

Although Sun Jingyi was internally injured, her heart was now filled with killing intent. Forcibly suppressing her roiling qi and blood, she held her lightly trembling Long Sword as its blade rippled with rings of condensed, jade-green light.

With a sharp cry, she unleashed her attack. Instead of a direct thrust, her sword light transformed into countless strands of Sword Qi, fine as threads of rain. They wove together into a vast, inescapable net that descended upon Chu Nan from the side.

Not to be outdone, Chen Qing made his move. The Profound Dragon Spear let out a low dragon’s roar as his True Martial Demon-Vanquishing Spear Intent locked onto Chu Nan. The spear struck like a dragon, fearlessly aiming for the back of Chu Nan’s heart.

Although he wasn’t using his full strength, the Momentum was astonishing. It forced Chu Nan to divert his attention to the threat from behind. Chen Qing roared, "Chu Nan! Hand over the Golden Lotus at once, or this will be your grave!"

The three-pronged encirclement reeked of chilling killing intent!

Chu Nan stood at the center of the storm, his expression utterly grim.

’He knew that any attempt to explain himself now would be futile. His only option is to escape first.’

The True Essence in his body began to circulate at an unprecedented, frantic pace. The profound power from his foundation of Four Times of Tempering erupted in its entirety, and the aura around him skyrocketed.

Chu Nan slammed his palms together and then pulled them apart. In an instant, an earthen-hued Escape Armor materialized before him.

It was clearly an extremely powerful defensive Earth Attribute Divine Technique. The phantom armor was solid and imposing, its surface covered in flowing runes that exuded an aura as Immovable as a mountain.

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

Zhao Songtao’s Shockwave Palm Power was the first to slam into the phantom armor, producing a series of dull, thunderous booms.

The Escape Armor trembled violently, its light flickering erratically, but it managed to withstand the ferocious assault.

Immediately after, Sun Jingyi’s sword net wrapped around it. Ripples spread across the surface of the phantom armor as it was cut by countless strands of Sword Qi, and its light dimmed rapidly.

At almost the same instant, Chen Qing’s Spear Force viciously struck the rear of the phantom armor.

"CRACK!"

After taking the combined blow from three experts, the phantom armor was finally overwhelmed. It let out a mournful cry before shattering with a deafening crash, dissolving into countless motes of light.

With his Divine Technique broken, Chu Nan let out a muffled grunt as a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

However, he used the force of the impact to drift back several yards, light as a willow catkin, momentarily putting some distance between them.

"Don’t let him get away!"

Zhao Songtao roared. He and Sun Jingyi shot forward in pursuit, sticking to him like shadows as another storm of palm strikes and sword shadows enveloped him.

Chen Qing was half a beat behind. He aimed his Long Spear from afar, his aura locked firmly onto Chu Nan.

Chu Nan watched the trio close in on him again. Seeing the relentless, to-the-death determination in Zhao Songtao and Sun Jingyi’s eyes, he knew this encounter would not end peacefully.

A flicker of resolve crossed his eyes. The True Essence in his body began surging wildly toward his feet, following a peculiar path.

His whole person seemed to transform into an illusory shadow, and the air around him began to distort.

"SWISH!"

In the next instant, Chu Nan’s figure blurred, as if he had melted into the wind. His speed increased by several magnitudes in a flash!

Zhao Songtao and Sun Jingyi unleashed a flurry of attacks. Their Palm Wind Sword Qi crisscrossed through the air, but they were always a step too slow. All they managed to do was shred the afterimages Chu Nan left behind or blast empty space, sending shattered reef rock flying.

Chu Nan’s figure became a nearly transparent streak of light. No longer engaging them, he shot straight toward the southeast, where the fog was thickest!

He moved as fast as a bolt of lightning, almost beyond the limits of what the eye could follow!

"Where do you think you’re going!"

Enraged, Zhao Songtao threw a palm strike from a distance. The mighty Palm Power shot into the thick fog like an angry dragon emerging from the sea, but it only made the mist churn. Chu Nan was long gone.

Sun Jingyi’s face was pale with anger. She stood with her sword drawn, her Divine Sense extended as far as it could go. But it was like a stone dropped into the ocean; in the Smoke Wave Marsh, it was impossible to track an aura that had already fled so far.

...

Chu Nan sped onward, pushing his Escape Technique to its absolute limit. Only when he could no longer sense any pursuers and had changed directions several times to confirm he wasn’t being followed did he finally stop.

His face was pale and his breathing was ragged. Clearly, that Divine Escape Technique had consumed an enormous amount of energy.

Recalling the recent events, his brows furrowed. The more he thought about it, the more something felt wrong.

’I’m absolutely certain I never touched the Seven-leaf Golden Lotus!’

Chu Nan was certain. ’Before my fingertips even touched it, the Golden Lotus just... vanished.’

’The scene was chaotic. Chen Qing, Sun Jingyi, and several other experts were all nearby. Any one of them could have taken it.’

’But Sun Jingyi had been stopped by my Bone-Piercing Needle, and then she’d taken a direct hit from Chen Qing’s Mountain and River Seal. She was injured and spitting up blood; she shouldn’t have had the strength to snatch the Golden Lotus without anyone noticing.’

’The other rogue cultivators were even weaker, so the chance of them doing it was even lower.’

’That leaves the most likely suspect: Chen Qing, who was closest to it!’

"Chen Qing..."

Chu Nan muttered to himself, "A True Inheritance disciple of the Celestial Treasure Upper Sect... If it really was you... that was a beautiful little ’Transplantation’ trick you pulled off!"

’The Golden Lotus vanished too bizarrely. There’s no way it escaped on its own.’

At this thought, Chu Nan couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh.