Chapter 2765: 变故

"You figured that out? Your vision is incredibly keen, kid!" Xue Jiu spoke with a tone of praise, yet his expression remained cold.

Lu Ye frowned slightly, momentarily unsure if things were as he suspected.

However, it was simple to confirm.

The next instant, spatial power surged around him, ripples appeared in the void, and with a single step, he vanished from his spot.

Tens of thousands of miles away, when Lu Ye reappeared, he immediately sensed behind him.

He was greatly surprised.

Xue Jiu's aura, like a persistent maggot clinging to bone, was still not far behind him.

The key was that Lu Ye hadn't sensed any trace of spatial power being activated from him earlier. In other words, this Blood Lord hadn't used any spatial techniques, yet he had still shifted along with Lu Ye.

This must be the doing of his secret art!

Lu Ye suddenly turned and struck, a massive saber glow, imbued with raging Dao power, like a crescent moon, appeared instantly and struck Xue Jiu.

Yet it only dispersed a layer of blood mist from his body.

Xue Jiu was unperturbed, neither dodging nor retaliating.

"Don't waste your effort. Under this secret art, no matter where you go, you won't escape me." Xue Jiu sneered softly, "Run with all your might. Eventually, you will exhaust your strength. When that time comes, I will personally show you what it means to wish for death!"

Lu Ye suddenly understood.

So this was his plan.

However, with this, he confirmed something: that in the state of this secret art, Xue Jiu truly couldn't attack freely, unless he deactivated the art.

It must be said, anyone facing such a situation would find it difficult to handle. A cultivator's power isn't endless; there's always a time when it runs out, especially since Lu Ye had just fought so many consecutive battles and activated the power of his supreme treasures numerous times.

In Xue Jiu's view, Lu Ye's reserve of Dao power shouldn't be much, so as long as he maintained the secret art, he would eventually succeed.

However, Lu Ye was an anomaly after all. Not only were his current Dao power reserves still ample, but even if they were truly insufficient, he could replenish them at any time, as long as he had enough Dao fish.

Lu Ye suddenly had a strange thought: what if he just led Xue Jiu to Dragon City like this?

But this was likely unrealistic. Xue Jiu wouldn't allow him to do that; the secret art could probably be deactivated at any time, so Lu Ye would have no chance of luring him to Dragon City.

As thoughts churned in his mind, Lu Ye again raised his hand and gripped the Pan Mountain Saber. The power of the spatial Dao seed and the Fruit of Time within him simultaneously surged forth, intertwining and merging like Yin and Yang, evolving into something profound.

The infusion of vast Dao power made the saber itself tremble uncontrollably.

After several full breaths, Lu Ye turned and struck again.

This strike was his full-strength burst. To prevent Xue Jiu from noticing anything unusual, he had intentionally used spatial-temporal power to isolate himself while gathering momentum.

Such a sudden burst indeed surprised Xue Jiu.

As the saber fell, Lu Ye clearly saw the astonishment flash in the Blood Lord's eyes.

Since the opponent couldn't attack at will, he would deliver a fierce blow, to let him know that shadowing him like this would come at a great cost.

Lu Ye didn't expect this strike to kill Xue Jiu, but under the premise that the opponent couldn't retaliate, it should be able to injure him!

Immediately, Lu Ye saw a corner of Xue Jiu's mouth curl up, revealing a sinister smile.

In front of him, a mirror suddenly appeared.

Lu Ye's heart sank, feeling a sense of unease.

His full-strength strike landed on the mirror's surface, only causing faint ripples. Immediately after, an almost identical attack reflected from the mirror, blasting towards Lu Ye.

In a split second, Lu Ye suddenly recalled something.

The supreme treasure, the Sky Mirror!

During the conflict in the Snowfield, Xue Jiu tore space to create a wormhole. When the armies of the Insect and Blood races crossed through, Skinny Bamboo had tried to stop them using the power of the city's grand array. However, his full-power strike was reflected by a mirror, not only failing to achieve his goal but also causing him severe injuries.

That mirror was the Sky Mirror!

This supreme treasure was in Xue Jiu's possession.

Given such a major drawback to Xue Jiu's secret art, how could he still dare to use it freely? It turned out he relied on the power of this supreme treasure. While he genuinely couldn't attack at will, he could use the treasure's power to reflect enemy attacks.

Lu Ye immediately understood Skinny Bamboo's plight back then.

The previous strike was his full-strength burst. Now, its power reflected back without the slightest reduction, and coincidentally, this was precisely when Lu Ye was at his weakest.

Lu Ye immediately felt the erosion of spatial-temporal power on himself. He quickly used the same power to dissolve and counteract it.

But that wasn't all. Boundless sharp power arrived with the strike, instantly breaking through all his defenses and cutting into his flesh.

By the time Lu Ye regained his footing, a large and hideous wound had appeared on his body.

His own furious attack was something even he found hard to withstand!

He fled into the distance without looking back, his mouth filled with a bitterness worse than Coptis root. Behind him, Xue Jiu's mocking laughter echoed.

"Run, keep running! Let's see how long you can last!"

Even in this situation, he wasn't prepared to attack personally. The Star Chessboard in Lu Ye's hand was not easy to deal with, so he decided to continue wearing Lu Ye down. In the current situation, the advantage was his; the longer it dragged on, the worse it would be for Lu Ye.

As his words fell, Xue Jiu suddenly frowned, turning his head to look around.

Just a moment ago, he felt some indescribable changes around him, but when he investigated carefully, he sensed nothing, momentarily wondering if it was his imagination.

Not only did he sense it, but Lu Ye, who was fleeing ahead, also felt it at the same time.

For a moment, both of them suspiciously diverted a sliver of their attention to scan their surroundings.

A few breaths later, just as both of them thought everything was normal, an anomaly suddenly occurred.

A vibration, like a heartbeat, emanated from the ethereal realm. As this sound rang out, the surrounding void suddenly twisted.

Lu Ye suddenly felt as if he were in water, involuntarily sinking.

But soon this sensation vanished, replaced by a feeling of rising.

The two sensations alternated incessantly, leaving him feeling disoriented for a moment.

Not only that, but the surrounding scenery was also changing. In Lu Ye's vision, it was as if another world was overlapping, at times ethereal and illusory, and at times real and tangible.

This other world seemed very far from him, yet also very close.

No, not one world, but two worlds...

Lu Ye, filled with surprise and uncertainty, looked back at Xue Jiu, only to see that the Blood Lord's expression was not much different from his own.

What a chance!

Although he didn't know what caused the changes around them, it was evident that some unknown major upheaval had occurred in the inner realm; otherwise, there wouldn't be such a massive phenomenon.

Whatever it was, he would eventually find out later.

For now, it was a perfect opportunity to get rid of Xue Jiu.

For Lu Ye, shaking off Xue Jiu wasn't difficult; the challenge was breaking his pursuit afterward.

Xue Jiu was able to follow him continuously because of his secret art. During their previous confrontation, Lu Ye had already detected a force silently invading his body.

Although this power was extremely mysterious, the Talent Tree could incinerate it.

The reason he had kept it was to lull Xue Jiu into a false sense of security.

With this thought, spatial power swirled around Lu Ye, and he was about to activate the Void Shift art. At the same time, the power of the Talent Tree was activated.

"Don't, kid!"

Xue Jiu's sharp shout suddenly came from behind. Whether it was an illusion or not, Lu Ye seemed to detect a hint of panic in Xue Jiu's voice.

But no sooner had his words fallen, Lu Ye's figure vanished, and Xue Jiu also followed, traversing the void.

The next instant, the invading power within Lu Ye dissipated completely, yet his expression turned utterly bewildered.

Because after taking this step, he hadn't shifted to his intended location. Instead, he felt as if he had been caught in a turbulent current.

His body was swept along by an unknown force, suddenly rising, then suddenly sinking, repeating endlessly. And during this process, everything around him was in constant flux.

Time, at this moment, seemed to lose all meaning.

Somewhere in the inner realm, in a lonely ruined city, as that massive change permeated, a majestic figure seated on a throne of bones slowly opened his eyes, raised a hand to grip the massive blade beside him, and his eyes gleamed like thunder and lightning.

A long-browed elder, sitting cross-legged nearby with a hunched back, turned to look at him and softly asked, "Are you preparing to take that step? No need to wait any longer?"

Ba Qiu smiled, "After waiting so many years, it's about time. The moment is just right."

Ba Xia opened his mouth, as if to say something to dissuade him, but ultimately sighed, "Since you've made your decision, so be it. I just hope you won't regret it."

Ba Qiu glanced sideways, "Old man, you've been muttering mysteriously all these years. Do you actually know something?"

Ba Xia slowly shook his head, "What I know may not be what you seek."

Ba Qiu pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Very well!" He lifted the massive blade in his hand, its mirror-smooth surface reflecting his resolute face. "Then let me see for myself what the truth truly is!"

In Dragon City, above the Dragon Palace, Dragon Venerable stood with his hands behind his back, frowning deeply as he sensed the changes in the surrounding environment.

A figure suddenly appeared beside him. It was none other than the Phoenix Lord.

"Junior Sister, you've sensed it too," Dragon Venerable's voice was low.

The Phoenix Lord's expression was solemn and cold: "With such a commotion, who wouldn't sense it?" Such a commotion was clearly not limited to a specific area but permeated the entire universe, inside and out; anyone could sense it.

As she spoke, her expression grew grave: "Are our ancestors' prophecies about to come true?"

Dragon Venerable slowly let out a breath: "The Three Realms merge, the Nine Evils appear, Karmic Fire burns the heart, and all laws return to ruin!"

This was a prophecy left by the Dragon and Phoenix ancestors, passed down for countless years. Until today, there were signs of it coming true, which filled both Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord with worry.

From the perspective of Dragon Venerable and Phoenix Lord, they could somewhat guess about "The Three Realms merge," which was clearly linked to the massive anomaly that just occurred, and vague signs had appeared in many places in recent years. But who were the "Nine Evils"? This left them completely bewildered, so even if they wanted to respond, they didn't know where to begin.