Inside the black flying vessel.

With a single thought, Luo Feng erased the karma mark on the vessel’s surface. Di Qing sensed it and asked, puzzled, “Brother Luo Feng, why did you suddenly erase the mark?”

“I kept the mark there earlier to track the pursuer through karma,” Luo Feng replied with a smile. “My clone just found and eliminated them.”

“Who was tracking us?” Di Qing inquired.

“God-Emperor Wu Ya from the Ghostly Den,” Luo Feng shook his head. “The moment I detected him, I crushed him. He probably didn’t discover my identity. It’s a pity he’s a practitioner from the Source World; I only destroyed one of his clones.”

Luo Feng estimated the spoils of war to be worth about 12 million Origin Crystals, which was far less than what he got from God-Emperor Ku Mo!

There was nothing to be done; God-Emperor Ku Mo had no clones and carried all his treasures with him, so he was naturally richer. “God-Emperor Wu Ya is notoriously difficult to deal with!” Di Qing couldn’t help but exclaim, “You crushed him immediately?”

“One move,” Luo Feng smiled faintly. “He might have even thought it was an ambush by a low-level Origin Being!”

Di Qing’s heart trembled. Crushed in one move…

God-Emperor Wu Ya, an “Enlightened God-Emperor at the Mid-Stage” whose cultivation was deeper than Di Qing’s, was simply killed just like that.

At that moment, Di Qing realized even more clearly the gap in strength between himself and Luo Feng. “Eliminating him in one move helps conceal my information as much as possible,” Luo Feng said seriously. “Before confronting Elder Tian He, the more hidden my abilities are, the better.”

After all, Elder Tian He had been at that level for a long time. Although Luo Feng felt confident, he didn’t dare underestimate him.

“We know a lot about Elder Tian He, but he knows very little about you,” Di Qing nodded. “In terms of intelligence, Brother Luo Feng, you have the advantage.” Luo Feng nodded.

After a brief chat, a bloody phantom finally returned to the flying vessel and merged back into Luo Feng’s body.

Luo Feng had just separated half of his energy reserves to ambush the pursuer. “We can speed up now,” Luo Feng urged. “With no one tracking us, we can focus on hunting. As for Elder Tian He… we’ll deal with him slowly after we return.”

“Understood.” Di Qing immediately accelerated the black flying vessel.

Rainmist City. A pure white flying creature hovered in the air. This was a flying secret treasure refined from the complete corpse of a low-level Origin Being, and it was Elder Tian He’s favorite: the ‘Soul Plume White Sparrow’.

Inside the Soul Plume White Sparrow, there was ample space, and God-Emperor Wu Ya flew into it.

Inside the flying creature, Elder Tian He sat, clad in white robes, his gaze calmly fixed on God-Emperor Wu Ya. “Wu Ya, what exactly happened?”

“Reporting, Deputy Master,” God-Emperor Wu Ya began, “I was tracking Luo Feng and Di Qing earlier. Not long after leaving the city, the surrounding area should have been relatively safe.”

God-Emperor Wu Ya sounded somewhat confused. “But I was suddenly ambushed by a low-level Origin Being. I couldn’t even withstand a single move from it.”

God-Emperor Wu Ya seemed incredulous. “It felt like a low-level Origin Being at the Peak God-Emperor level.”

“Peak God-Emperor level?” Elder Tian He frowned in confusion. “A low-level Origin Being at that level should be an absolute high-ranking member of some race. How could it be so close to Rainmist City?”
God-Emperor Wu Ya explained, “I’m confident that even if I encountered a low-level Origin Being at the Late God-Emperor stage, I could still escape. In a head-on fight, I could exchange a few moves. But this time, I couldn’t even withstand a single blow! I truly believe it was a ‘Peak God-Emperor level’ low-level Origin Being.”

“The entire battle process,” Elder Tian He frowned.
“Yes, sir.”

With a wave of his hand, God-Emperor Wu Ya projected the entire battle he experienced from his memory into the air.

In the projected memory, he was piloting his flying vessel when suddenly, a gigantic furry claw extended from deep within the sky, enveloping the entire heavens. “This giant claw…” Elder Tian He observed carefully.

The gigantic furry claw had soft fur and five sharp, black-and-yellow talons. Its surface was mottled, faintly exuding a terrifying aura.

The instant the claw descended, it had already sliced through space, forming a spatial cage that trapped God-Emperor Wu Ya’s flying vessel.

And then the claw clenched!

All of God-Emperor Wu Ya’s life-saving techniques were useless, and he died completely.
“Although low-level Origin Beings are powerful, their techniques are usually quite crude,” Wu Ya remarked. “But this furry claw imprisoned me in one move; the technique was too refined. I couldn’t even resist. Only a ‘Peak God-Emperor level’ low-level Origin Being could utilize its talent to such a terrifying degree.”

Elder Tian He nodded as he watched. A low-level Origin Being at the Peak God-Emperor level possesses formidable and terrifying physical strength, and any of their casual moves are incredibly refined. Crushing God-Emperor Wu Ya with a single claw would certainly be possible.

“It certainly seems like a Peak God-Emperor level low-level Origin Being made the move,” Elder Tian He said, frowning. “But it’s too coincidental!

“You were tracking Luo Feng and Di Qing, and you were attacked just after leaving the city. That’s too much of a coincidence. Furthermore, the place where you were attacked is too close to Rainmist City! Would a Peak God-Emperor level low-level Origin Being risk infiltrating such a close proximity just to crush an Enlightened God-Emperor at the Mid-Stage like you?”

God-Emperor Wu Ya heard this and agreed it made sense.

A Peak God-Emperor level low-level Origin Being risking coming so close to Rainmist City usually indicates a major scheme! To just kill one of his clones… “I think there’s another possibility,” Elder Tian He said, narrowing his eyes.

Wu Ya looked at Elder Tian He.

“It might have been an Elder,” Elder Tian He said.
“An Elder?” Wu Ya’s heart jolted.

“Luo Feng and Di Qing are from the Source World and have some background. Luo Feng didn’t show me any respect and has now brazenly left the city.”

Elder Tian He smiled slightly. “I’ve long suspected he has some backing. So, they have an Elder behind them?”

Wu Ya was somewhat surprised.

“Interesting.”

A golden glint appeared in Elder Tian He’s eyes. “He’d rather pay the price to enlist an Elder’s help than bow to me and offer 50 million Origin Crystals. It seems this Luo Feng is quite arrogant.”
“Deputy Master,” Wu Ya worried, “this Elder clearly knows your identity yet dares to interfere in this matter. It’s likely they mean trouble!”

Elder Tian He softly said, “I’d like to see which Elder dares to interfere in my affairs.”

What if they’re an Elder? He’s never been afraid!

Having ventured through the Dark Saint Realm, where the ‘Enlightened God-Emperor at the Late-Stage’ is the minimum threshold, Elder Tian He had experienced countless battles and slaughters! As someone from the Source World, he never feared conflict or combat.

His combat experience at the Elder level was extensive! “Even if an Elder dares to interfere, I will tear one of your clones apart,” Elder Tian He’s eyes grew colder.

“Qiu Yike,” Elder Tian He suddenly called out.

“Deputy Master,” the golden-armored figure beside him respectfully responded.

“Dispatch four raiding teams and deploy the ‘Eerie Shadow Array’ outside each of Rainmist City’s four gates! As soon as Luo Feng and Di Qing return, make sure to seal and trap them.”

Elder Tian He ordered.

“Yes, sir.” The golden-armored figure immediately replied, then couldn’t help but add, “Deputy Master, to ensure their interception, our Eerie Shadow Array cannot be too far from the city gates. But if it’s too close, it’ll be difficult to pursue them once they escape inside the gates.” Entering the city gates meant entering Rainmist City’s jurisdiction, where its rules had to be observed.

“Don’t worry.”

Elder Tian He said calmly, “If there truly is an Elder behind them, a being of that level wouldn’t bother fleeing into the city. They would certainly want to contend with me.” Being at the Elder level, they were naturally extremely proud.

To retreat without a fight?

That would be too shameful!

“Yes, sir.” The golden-armored figure responded. “I will guard the East Gate. If they were confident enough to leave through a certain gate, they will likely return through that same gate.”

Elder Tian He immediately took up residence in a nearby cave dwelling near the East Gate, waiting patiently.

“Which Elder dares to disrespect me? I’m truly looking forward to it!” Elder Tian He was rather excited. Killing a junior was insignificant; clashing fiercely with another Elder and tearing them to shreds was what truly brought satisfaction!

Luo Feng, however, temporarily put the matter aside. He needed a good hunt, as he was relatively poor at the moment and needed to acquire enough prey to exchange for cultivation resources.

“It’s deep within the lake,” Luo Feng murmured. Inside the black flying vessel, his Eye of Annihilation at his brow was gazing far into the distance at a lake. He could already see a low-level Origin Being merged with the lake, its concealment method quite ingenious, yet it couldn’t escape his sight.

Whoosh.

A bloody phantom flew out from Luo Feng’s body, instantly merging with the surroundings. Subsequently, a massive bloody phantom enveloped the entire lake. The bloody phantom, merely by covering the area, was like a vast net, completely trapping the low-level Origin Being.

“What’s going on?”

An eight-armed creature, with dark skin and faint, icy flames burning on it, its triangular head ferocious and savage. After being enveloped and trapped by the bloody phantom, it struggled desperately, trying to escape. However, with the infiltration of the bloody phantom, in just one breath, it completely ceased to move.

Its body was completely intact, but the life core within it had fractured.

“An Eight-Armed Nether Luo, merely at the weakest level of its race, only at the Early God-Emperor stage,” Luo Feng gently shook his head. Prey at this level was too weak; Luo Feng didn’t even use any secret treasures. Simply by unfolding his ‘Indestructible Blood Sea Body’ slightly, covering that vast area with the blood sea, it was enough to imprison and eliminate the enemy.

After all, the Indestructible Blood Sea Body was Luo Feng’s strongest secret technique, devised based on the ‘Star Tower’s Bloody Scales’ and his own understanding, and it was also the technique he had spent the most time on.

This body was comparable to a ‘Late God-Emperor low-level Origin Being’. Combined with Luo Feng’s cultivation realm and some secret treasures, its power was naturally terrifying.

“We’ve been out hunting for five days now, and we’ve only hunted three ‘Early God-Emperor’ low-level Origin Beings,” Luo Feng said, frowning. “Brother Di Qing, we need to find some stronger prey.”

These three combined were only worth nearly 3 million Origin Crystals, a low value.

“Brother Luo Feng, this is how we usually hunt,” Di Qing said. “The prey consists mainly of ‘Early God-Emperor’ low-level Origin Beings. Occasionally, we might encounter stronger ones.”
“My point is, can we go deeper?”

Luo Feng asked, “According to the intelligence I purchased, our current hunting area is designated for Mid God-Emperor hunting teams.”

Hunting areas are ranges validated by generations of practitioners from Rainmist City through their lives. The stronger one’s power, the deeper one can hunt.

“This is the hunting area for the Elders,” Luo Feng said, waving his hand to display a map. The map recorded some areas where Elders occasionally went hunting. “We can try venturing into a portion of this area first.”

Elders of Rainmist City typically hunt alone. This is mainly because those at their level rarely leave the city, making it naturally difficult to assemble a team.

Moreover, with cloning techniques, they usually hunt alone when they occasionally leave the city.

Compared to the horrors of the Dark Saint Realm, the Nine Rivers Saint Realm is indeed much less dangerous.
“The Elders’ hunting area?” Di Qing was somewhat nervous. “I’ve never tried it; I have no experience.”

“Hunting experience is accumulated gradually,” Luo Feng said with a faint smile.

“Alright! If even you, Brother Luo Feng, aren’t afraid, what have I to fear?!” Di Qing’s heart grew eager. Venturing into the Elders’ hunting area would be a rare experience.

End of chapter.