Boss Luo couldn’t be blamed for his misjudgement. Jiang Chen didn’t dress as extravagantly as the geniuses from major factions. He also didn’t act like he wanted the world to know of his superiority.
He looked just like any other wandering cultivator, and he frequented taverns that major faction geniuses considered beneath them.
That was why the Silversword Gang had picked him as their target, seeing him as a cash cow they could freely exploit.
This was their only ever critical mistake that would lead to their downfall.
“Aright, there’s no use talking about that now. No matter who he is, we’ve made him our enemy. There’s no turning back.” The white-browed old man sighed and waved a hand as he commanded, “Let’s keep going.”
Boss Luo sighed with relief. His biggest worry was the old man would tell them to give up. The Silversword Gang had suffered a great loss. If the Warmspring authorities weren’t going to do anything, he’d never be able to get back at the young man.
“Venerated Elder Lu, I can feel us getting close to him. We’ll be able to catch up with him if we hurry.”
“We’ve been increasing our speed, but haven’t caught up yet. Is he really capable of reaching such unusual speed?”
“He must have a unique skill set to be so bold as to stir up troubles on Warmspring Island. Perhaps he’s plotting against us now! Keep your guard up. He’s no easy pickings!”
Chasing someone through the turbulent ocean was dangerous. There were many threats in the water. Jiang Chen had been here before, but that didn’t make the trip any safer.
Natural phenomena such as tsunami and spatial storms were several of the many dangers. There were also powerful spirits lurking underwater. He was fortunate to have Starfate as his sanctuary, but the endless threats still slowed him down significantly.
Moreover, Jiang Chen was the one being pursued. Being in the lead, he took the brunt of the dangers. Thanks to him clearing away the obstacles, the path was much clearer for his pursuers.
Jiang Chen moved forward at maximum speed, but still couldn’t get rid of his tail. He fumed. Those bastards don’t know what’s good for them. They’re dead set on going against me. Does one of them have the means to track me down? Otherwise, I should’ve lost them already.
His wealth of experience quickly led him to this conclusion. There were many secret tracking methods in the martial dao world; Jiang Chen knew quite a few himself. What he didn’t know was how exactly his pursuers was tracking him.
The best way to render whatever method obsolete was to kill the tracker, completely eliminating the risks. The second best way was to put such a long distance between him and his pursuers that it’d difficult to get a lock on him.
Of course, the second option was no longer viable. There was only one solution: kill his pursuers!
Fury burned through Jiang Chen’s heart. A vicious thought took root in his mind.
I’ve already killed a couple groups from Warmspring. It won’t make a difference if I eliminate another! They must be the island’s elites. I won’t be able to fight them on my own. But I’m close to Hell King Island, heh...
Jiang Chen was glad he’d made the decision to visit the Vermilion Bird and Long Xiaoxuan.
Several years had passed since they last saw each other. Senior Vermilion had already completed its rebirth at the beginning. Perhaps it’d even ascended to the next level by now.
The bird had told him its cultivation had been that high in the ancient times. It was at most ninth-level empyrean, but it was able to rival a demigod.
Progressing half a level would place it at half-step divine realm, making it a demigod. If it ascended to the next level, the bird’s bloodline would enable it to take on a third-level divine cultivator.
Almost all beings in Myriad Abyss would tremble at its feet.
According to Jiang Chen’s knowledge of the Divine Abyss Continent, even the most powerful cultivators from the ancient times had failed to reach peak divine realm. The strongest figureheads had at most reached advanced divine realm, and that was back in the ancient times.
That wasn’t surprising. With the limited support from a regular material plane, cultivators wouldn’t be able to reach even divine realm, let alone ascend to advanced divine realm.
When a cultivator’s strength surpassed the capacity of the plane, the plane would collapse, which was what gave rise to the idea of ascension to heaven.
In some lower rank material plane, those who’d reached divine realm couldn’t even stay and would be thrust into a passage to a higher-ranking plane.
It was extraordinary enough for a material plane like the Divine Abyss Continent to accomodate an advanced divine cultivator in the ancient times. Besides, it was pure speculation that cultivators at that level existed at the time. There was no concrete evidence.
But one thing was certain: In the ancient times or even the primordial times, there had been a good number of divine realm masters. Those were the eras in which gods were commonplace.
The war against the demons also became the fall of the gods, the divine realm becoming nothing more than a myth. Even reaching empyrean realm was an improbable task now.
The closer Jiang Chen drew to Hell King Island, the calmer he became. There were a powerful group chasing after him, and they were getting closer. A fatal blow could land on him at anytime.
Fortunately, he was only a few thousand miles out, a distance that would take him only about half an hour. However, his pursuers would be able to catch up by then.
Jiang Chen took out a Vermilion feather and crushed it. The feather became a ball of red light that slowly vanished.
“I hope you aren’t so focused on your closed door cultivation that you didn’t notice, Senior Vermilion.”
The feather had been a parting gift from the divine creature itself. As soon as Jiang Chen crushed it, the bird would be able to locate him, no matter how far away it was, and would come to his aid as soon as possible.
Whether it made it in time would depend on the distance it had to travel, which wasn’t that long in this particular case. The bird would be able to reach him in fifteen minutes at full speed.
Jiang Chen threw a glance behind him. A few rays of light flashed through the air at amazing speed, chasing after him.
Help would be here soon. Since these people were so eager to die, they might as well die as supplements for the Vermilion Bird and Brother Long!
The life essence of these advanced empyrean experts would greatly benefit the bird and the dragon. With his mind made up, Jiang Chen deliberately slowed down, which didn’t escape his pursuers’ notice.
“He’s gotten slower,” Boss Luo said excitedly. “He’s probably run into some problems.”
The white-browed old man huffed. “Don’t let your guard down, in case this is part of his plan. There must be a reason for him to be so confident as to enter this area. Be careful.”
He was very cautious, even though they were all advanced empyrean and could easily defeat the young man. Caution was the key to survival.
The others stayed on their guard, in deference to the old man.
“Listen, young man, you can’t escape!” one of the senior executives hollered threateningly. “If you’re smart, you’ll stop running and have a civil conversation with us. If you insist on being stubborn, the ocean will be your coffin!”
Boss Luo scoffed. “Why waste our time talking to him? Let’s take care of him together. There’s no convincing this brat.”
Jiang Chen’s voice rang through the ocean. “You people from Warmspring don’t know when to quit. You’ve chased me all the way here. However, you have to be quick to catch up with me. If you can’t, there’s nothing you can do to me.”
His pursuers hid smiles.
“He doesn’t know the ocean ahead of him is too dangerous for him to cross. He still naively thinks that he can get rid of us with his speed!” Boss Luo’s smile was twisted. He was even more convinced they’d be able to kill the kid.
But the white-browed old man raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t make sense for him to boldly venture into an area without knowing anything. Can this be a trap?”
He hadn’t become the leader of the elders without being better than others in some way. He was at least more cautious and patient than his companions.
Boss Luo piped up, “Venerated Elder Lu, he may be able to play a trick on us on land, but what can he possibly do over the ocean without any support? He can’t do anything even if he wants to.”
The others agreed with the gang boss. There was nothing for the young man to use against them unless he planned to make a suicide attack. However, they wouldn’t be stupid enough to let that happen.
Even if there was danger ahead, he would be the one to die first.