The Blood Sword shot skyward, Sword Light spraying down like rain.
The chaotic spiritual energy around it seemed to have found its backbone and rushed toward that towering Sword Light.
Within the Sword Light, which churned like a tornado, a white figure flickered in and out of sight, its features indistinct.
But someone immediately recognized that contemptuous, dismissive laugh from earlier.
"Desolate Rogue!"
Yu Xu cried out, her face deathly pale.
A figure appeared beside her and grabbed her arm without a word. It was Heavenly Mountain True Person.
He wasted no breath, uttering only one word.
"Go!"
A small beast resembling a pangolin flew from his body. A great mouth seemed to open, swallowing him and Yu Xu. It then snapped shut, flipped over, and burrowed into the earth in an instant.
Elsewhere.
Shi Ju, whom the others had quietly surrounded for secretly collecting Illusion Cores earlier, did not take the chance to escape through the gap in their encirclement. Instead, he looked up with keen interest.
Piercing Sword Light filled his view, but his eyes fixed only on the illusory figure flickering within its vast brilliance.
"So that's Desolate Rogue?"
Qi Xiongcheng, a large gourd tucked under his arm, nodded gravely. Wariness edged his voice.
"He's grown stronger again!"
Shi Ju shook his head. "He hasn't grown stronger. He's been gathering his strength for a long time and is now pouring out all his Mana to create this overwhelming display. But once this move is spent, he'll be drained of strength. That will be my best chance to seize him and take the Heavenly Secret Pill!"
Qi Xiongcheng paused, then looked closer. It was true!
In fact, everyone present had noticed it too.
A Nascent Soul True Person could not produce such a commotion with a casual strike.