Chapter 991: Hunting Time

Forbidden Sea. Underwater!

In the pitch-black currents, Fuxie's expression was grim, his anxiety and unease spiraling uncontrollably. He had pushed his speed to the absolute limit, dashing full-tilt into the distance.

He dared not stop for an instant, nor delay for a moment. Just now, he had vaguely sensed a mysterious and ancient power descend, locking onto his position. He tried to erase this sensation but failed. This sent a jolt through him, accompanied by an incredibly strong feeling of impending disaster. Thus, at this moment, he moved at blinding speed, becoming a blur as he vanished into the underwater depths.

As he formed hand seals, he began to brew an immortal art. This art was similar to teleportation, but its manifestation was far more unusual. Moreover, it exacted a price. When he was in the Sovereign realm, this art would have taken mere breaths to complete, and though the cost was significant, it was manageable. Now, he needed time to prepare, and the price had grown much steeper.

But he had no other choice. As the seed of the immortal art rapidly condensed in his sea of consciousness, his thoughts began to churn.

"The Ancestor has fallen... The Holy Land will undoubtedly plunge into cataclysm..."

Fuxie felt a bitter taste, memories of his years in the Holy Land flashing through his mind. A touch of regret welled up in his heart. He did indeed feel some regret, but he knew that with things having reached this point, regret was meaningless.

He did not possess the deep affection for his clan that the Ancestor had. What he had always desired was his own formidable power; to become stronger, he would stop at nothing. So, he knew that even if he could relive everything, he would most likely make the same choice.

Faced with the allure of achieving Xian Immortalhood, he could not have resisted, even if it was fraught with extreme peril. Even if there was only a sliver of a chance of success. But that was the creation of a Xian Immortal! Throughout history, only a handful of individuals on the entire Wanggu Continent had ever reached that realm. Once he succeeded... with terrifying power akin to a true god, he would carve out a place for himself even in this very starfield. He might even, like that formidable figure, embark on a path to higher realms, unprecedented in history!

"Xian Immortal..."

"What a pity... what a pity..."

A profound unwillingness surged in Fuxie's heart. This unwillingness transformed into a frenzy that flickered in his eyes, just as a terrifying pressure descending from above suddenly arrived!

Accompanied by a deafening roar, his thoughts were interrupted. Fuxie's expression changed, and he abruptly looked up! What he saw was an astonishing sea of fire! The seawater was burning, red flames enveloped everything, incinerating all anomalous substances in the area and restoring the water to its original color. High temperatures rapidly spread across the seabed.

And at the center of this sea of fire, a massive vortex appeared, constantly rotating, and from within, two figures emerged! Upon seeing one of them, Fuxie's unwillingness intensified even further! But before his emotions could fully fluctuate, in the very next instant, behind these two figures, the ethereal form of Yanhuang rapidly spread out across the seabed as a third figure stepped forth!

With a sharp shriek, Huang Yan stepped out of the vortex, his eyes brimming with killing intent, and took a step towards Fuxie! As his foot landed, the seabed churned, and the water burned even more fiercely. Fuxie's body shook violently, and he immediately spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood! After his revival by relying on the memory transfer of an immortal art, he had lost his Sovereign realm cultivation, plummeting to the Spirit-Nourishing realm. Now, facing Yanhuang's wrath, his current state rendered him utterly incapable of resistance! In an instant, he was severely wounded by Yanhuang's might!

As he spat out blood, his cultivation became unstable once more, his escape speed was forcibly interrupted, and even the immortal art seed brewing in his sea of consciousness began to tremble! And Huang Yan was already in front of Fuxie!

He simply raised a hand and waved!

The terrifying power from Yanhuang erupted with a roar! It gathered the flames in the seabed, forming a fiery storm that swept towards Fuxie! Against such an absolute disparity in power, any resistance was futile!

In an instant, Fuxie's body violently shook. He spat out over ten mouthfuls of blood, his cultivation collapsing from its unstable state, plummeting further! He fell all the way from Spirit-Nourishing Grand Perfection to the fifth level of Spirit-Nourishing.

At this life-or-death juncture, Fuxie ignored the fact that the immortal art seed in his sea of consciousness was not yet fully formed. His expression twisted, his mind churning, enveloped by the aura of death, he activated it forcefully, regardless of the cost! The next instant, his figure roared, suddenly collapsing into countless brilliant threads that vanished from sight!

Huang Yan stood there, gazing coldly into the distance! At this moment, Xu Qing and Er Niu also descended from the fiery vortex!

"Xu Qing, I know you wish to hunt him yourself, so his current cultivation poses no threat to you. As for his secret art, it has been disturbed, so he cannot escape too far!" Huang Yan looked at Xu Qing; his previous strike was clearly a result of his deliberate control!

Xu Qing nodded. His relationship with Huang Yan was second only to the Captain, so there was no need for many words. At this moment, a cold glint flashed in his eyes!

In an instant, his divine sense spread, and countless sounds emanated from the seabed! There was the sound of flowing water, the flick of fish tails, the low growl of sea beasts, and the shifting of sand on the seabed... all these sounds converged, forming the very breath of the Forbidden Sea! Within this breath, Xu Qing sensed Fuxie's heartbeat!

"Found him!" he said calmly, his body swaying as he took a step forward!

As for Huang Yan, he did not follow. He sat down cross-legged, glancing up at Er Niu, who seemed eager to join. "Sit down. He can handle the rest himself!"

The Captain hesitated, initially wanting to watch the spectacle, but after looking at Huang Yan, he chose to sit down beside him, then cleared his throat.

"Brother-in-law..."

"Er Niu, I recall you once saying you wanted to train at my place, and that you've prepared for a long time, even devising ways to open my front door!" Huang Yan wore a half-smile.

The Captain blinked, immediately shook his head, then suddenly spoke! "Something's off with Junior Brother, no, I must go see!" As he said this, he instinctively rose to leave, but Huang Yan wrapped an arm around his neck!

"It's fine, I'm watching. Let's talk about how you plan to open my door while I'm sleeping. Come, tell me in detail..."

While Huang Yan and the Captain engaged in their friendly discussion, in an underwater area some distance away, bright threads shimmered out of thin air in the seawater, rapidly converging to form Fuxie's figure! The moment he materialized, he spat out blood again, his body weak and his face pale. He quickly scanned his surroundings, realizing he hadn't escaped far, and his sense of inner oppression intensified boundlessly!

But he did not hesitate. Gritting his teeth firmly, he sped forward while continuing to brew the immortal art seed in his sea of consciousness!

"A complete immortal art seed needs about an incense stick's time..." Fuxie was anxious, but there was nothing he could do. His heart pounded, and he muttered as he broke through the water ahead. But just as his body burst out, he heard the sounds of the ocean!

First, the sound of flowing water reached his ears! This sound came from all directions, transforming into invisible ripples that, upon touching Fuxie, caused his face to change dramatically. "Not good." He was about to block it... but he could no longer do so. In an instant, the sounds of flowing water exploded around him with a thunderous roar, forming an astonishing surge of destructive power that erupted directly!

It was the might of sound authority! Amidst the roar, Fuxie's body shook violently. If he were still in the Sovereign realm, he could naturally ignore Xu Qing's sound authority, but he was not... His cultivation, having plummeted to the fifth level of Spirit-Nourishing, became unstable at this moment. His body was instantly drenched in blood, and his insides churned. In this critical moment, Fuxie formed hand seals, unleashed a divine ability, and barely managed to activate the power to erase authority, only then forcibly breaking out of that sonic blast zone. Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth...

The sounds imbued with Xu Qing's killing intent continued to come! His heartbeat sound abruptly became a celestial thunder, constantly surging in Fuxie's chest, as if controlled by someone, directly bursting apart in the next instant!

A booming sound echoed directly! Fuxie's chest exploded! As blood splattered widely, his whole body shook, and everything before his eyes seemed to twist! Only an indescribable agony spread throughout his entire body!

At the same time, countless other sounds arrived at this moment... He heard the flick of fish tails, the roars of sea beasts, the shifting of sand on the seabed, until he heard the very breath of the Forbidden Sea! All these sounds converged, unleashing an earth-shattering wave of lethal force! Furthermore, the previous roars all exploded at this moment!

The constant booming echoes transformed into a storm, into killing intent, arriving in a strange way, affecting Fuxie's body and soul! Fuxie, covered in blood, endured the severe pain in his body and soul, his eyes filled with madness. He charged forward wildly, repeatedly unleashing the power of erasure, attempting to counteract it again and again!

But the effect was far from perfect! He spat out even more blood, and his physical injuries became more severe! In the end, just as he was on the verge of shattering, he finally burst out of that roaring area and entered a world devoid of sound!

But Fuxie's face changed dramatically again, and a sense of mortal danger immediately followed! Because he knew that silence did not mean safety; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Silence... meant the sound had been seized. And once sound was seized, it was akin to omniscience!

So, he did not hesitate in the slightest. He had no choice but to activate the immortal art seed, which was not yet fully formed, once again, exchanging a greater price for the power to escape! Amidst the roar, his figure transformed into countless brilliant threads, about to vanish into the seawater, but in the next instant, countless sounds erupted from the silence, forming a vast power that fiercely suppressed the threads Fuxie had become!

Booming sounds echoed, and many of the threads collapsed outright, while the remaining ones vanished without a trace!

A few breaths later, Xu Qing's figure appeared in this area. His face was expressionless as he looked in Fuxie's escape direction.

"You cannot escape!"

With a calm voice, Xu Qing lifted his foot and began walking forward unhurriedly, just as Fuxie had once pursued him.