The icy gaze locked onto Xuan Fu's true form like a bone-burrowing parasite. The fear that rose from the depths of his soul made his runic patterns contract violently. This aura was too strange. It lacked a Demon God's ferocity and the brutality of the sky-opening, yet carried an indifference that looked down on everything and controlled life and death—as if, in the other party's eyes, he were nothing more than an ant that could be crushed at any moment.
Xuan Fu did not dare make the slightest movement, nor did he dare casually turn his Spiritual Sense. He could only compress his aura to the extreme and merge perfectly with the surrounding Chaos Qi Masses. Xuan Fu could feel that the gaze came from deep within the Chaos Space. Though the distance was incredibly far, it could accurately detect his trail. Clearly, the other party's strength was far beyond that of the owner of the mysterious claw from before.
"Was it Hongjun? Or some even more ancient existence?"
Thoughts flashed through his Spiritual Sense one after another, but he quickly suppressed them. Now was not the time to guess the other party's identity. Escaping the lock-on was the priority. He secretly activated his Space Runes, adjusting his escape route to perfectly match the flow of the Chaos Stream. Like dust drifting with the wind, it left no trace of deliberate movement.
At the same time, Kongming Demon God and the Yellow Earth Demon God, tens of thousands of miles away, seemed to have sensed this Mysterious Aura as well. Their battle abruptly stopped, and they simultaneously looked toward the depths of the Chaos Space, their eyes filled with wariness and fear. The Yellow Earth Demon God rasped, "What... is this aura?"
Kongming Demon God's sinister gaze flickered uncertainly. He shook his head. "I don't know, but it's definitely not an existence we can afford to provoke. This place is no longer safe. Let's go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kongming Demon God stopped tangling with his opponent. He turned and transformed into a streak of black light, fleeing toward the edge of the Chaos Space. The Yellow Earth Demon God did not dare stay either and followed close behind. The two Demon Gods vanished into the turbulence in an instant.
Xuan Fu's heart stirred. It seemed that even a Demon God like Kongming could not withstand the deterrence of this mysterious existence. He did not take advantage of the opportunity to follow them and scavenge the spoils. Instead, he hid even more carefully. The departure of the two Demon Gods might cause the mysterious existence to focus its attention even more on him, this "little ant."
Sure enough, not long after the two Demon Gods fled, the icy gaze seemed to grow sharper, piercing straight toward his true form through the obstruction of the Chaos Qi Masses. Xuan Fu could feel the other party slowly approaching. Although its speed was not fast, every movement caused minute fluctuations in the surrounding Chaos Space. That was the rhythm of the Great Dao's operation, something no ordinary Demon God could accomplish.
He could not wait any longer!
Xuan Fu acted decisively. He activated Space Folding and his escape power while fusing the Origin Powers of fire, wood, and space. A Tri-Color Barrier condensed over his body, and he fled toward the direction where he had previously discovered the Innate Spiritual Root. He knew there were Chaos Crystals and the Hidden Void Burning Array he had set up there. Perhaps he could temporarily break free of the other party's lock-on with the power of the talisman array and the crystals.
His figure shot through the turbulence at tremendous speed, his Spiritual Sense locked tightly onto the Chaos Crystals ahead. The icy gaze remained close behind, impossible to shake off like a shadow. The other party's speed seemed slow, yet it could always predict his escape route. No matter how he changed direction, he could not widen the distance.
When he was only a thousand zhang from the Chaos Crystals, Xuan Fu suddenly felt a violent fluctuation in the space behind him. That mysterious existence seemed to have lost patience and launched an attack!
An invisible pressure descended in an instant. Xuan Fu's Tri-Color Barrier shook violently, as if it were about to be crushed by that pressure. His Spiritual Sense became chaotic, and his escape speed involuntarily slowed.
"Let's risk it!"
Xuan Fu gritted his teeth (his runes tightening), then abruptly activated all the Origin Power within him. The Tri-Color Barrier swelled instantly. At the same time, he changed his escape direction. Instead of rushing toward the Chaos Crystals, he charged into an even more violent stretch of Chaos Turbulence nearby. He was betting that the other party would fear the aftershocks of the Sky-Opening Axe Light and would not dare enter this region too deeply.
He won the gamble.
The moment he plunged into the turbulence, the invisible pressure behind him vanished abruptly, and the icy gaze receded with it, as though it had never appeared. Xuan Fu let out a sigh of relief, but he did not dare relax in the slightest. He continued weaving through the turbulence until he confirmed that the other party was not pursuing him. Only then did he slow down and fly toward the Chaos Crystals.
After returning to the Chaos Crystals, Xuan Fu entered the Hidden Void Burning Array and began meditating to recover. The life-or-death pursuit had nearly exhausted all his Origin Power, and even his runic patterns had dimmed somewhat. He took out the Life Origin he had previously extracted from the Innate Spiritual Root and slowly merged it into himself. The emerald Energy Flow spread along his runic patterns, bringing a gentle vitality with it. His damaged runes began rapidly repairing themselves.
After finishing his meditation, Xuan Fu's gaze fell on the Innate Spiritual Root not far away. After what had just happened, the root's aura had grown even weaker. Its three leaves had already turned yellow, clearly suffering considerable damage. Yet it continued to grow tenaciously, radiating a faint vitality like a firefly in the darkness.
A trace of pity rose in Xuan Fu's heart, but he quickly suppressed it. In the Chaos Space, the strong preyed on the weak—that was iron law. If he did not take this root's Origin, it would sooner or later be seized by another Demon God, and even the root itself might be destroyed. The best he could do was preserve as much of its vitality as possible, taking only part of its Origin and allowing it a chance to continue growing.
He set up another layer of Stealth Talisman Array, isolating the root from the outside world, then carefully approached. This time, with no mysterious powerhouse interfering and no Demon God spying on him, he could finally collect the Origin in peace.
He extended an invisible hand condensed from runes and gently touched the root's leaves. His runic patterns slowly circulated, gently guiding the Life Origin within the root outward. Unlike the forceful extraction before, this time he used a method of "guidance." It preserved the Origin's purity while avoiding excessive damage to the root.
The emerald Life Origin flowed continuously into Xuan Fu's true form like a trickling stream. Xuan Fu could feel subtle changes taking place in his runes. The originally sharp patterns of space and fire had gained a trace of gentle vitality. The three types of Origin Power intertwined and nourished one another, forming a wondrous balance.
The volume of his runes expanded again, reaching the size of a forefinger. The blue-gold surface shimmered brilliantly, giving off a faint spiritual light. His Spiritual Sense surged as well, expanding from a thousand miles to more than three thousand. His perception of the surrounding environment became far sharper.
More importantly, the framework of Wood Attribute Runes in his Talisman Arts had officially taken shape. He could clearly sense that, by relying on the Wood Attribute Origin, he could condense auxiliary talismans such as a "Life Talisman" and a "Healing Talisman." In the perilous Chaos Space, this was undoubtedly another life-saving trump card.
Just as he had collected roughly one-third of the Life Origin and was preparing to stop, the spiritual root suddenly began to tremble violently. Its three leaves spun rapidly, releasing an intense green light that wrapped around Xuan Fu's runes.
Xuan Fu's heart jolted. Thinking that the root was about to launch a counterattack, he prepared to flee. Yet he discovered that the green light held no malice. Instead, it carried a pure strand of intent that surged into his Spiritual Sense.
It was an insight into the Great Dao of Life, originating from the Innate Spiritual Root's instinctive inheritance. Though incomplete, it contained the core mysteries of the birth, growth, and reproduction of life. It was far more precious than mere Life Origin.
Xuan Fu was overjoyed. He immediately stopped collecting the Origin and focused all his attention on digesting the insight. The mysteries of the Great Dao of Life reflected one another with his Talisman Arts, raising his understanding of Wood Attribute Runes to a new level. He understood that vitality could be used not only to heal and recover, but also to stimulate growth and evolution. It could even be combined with runes of other attributes to create even more powerful Talisman Arts.
After digesting the insight, Xuan Fu gave the Innate Spiritual Root a slight bow as an expression of gratitude. He did not collect any more Origin. Instead, he activated his runic power and laid down a protective talisman array around the root, isolating it from the Chaos Turbulence and providing it with a relatively safe environment in which to grow.
After doing all this, Xuan Fu finally turned and left.
At this time, the influence of the Sky-Opening Axe Light on the Chaos Space had gradually weakened. The Pure and Turbid Energies began to separate, and the embryonic form of heaven and earth first appeared. The Chaos Stream became relatively stable and was no longer as violent as before. In its place came the appearance of more Demon Gods. Those who had survived the sky-opening calamity began wandering through the Chaos Space, fighting over the remaining Origin and Innate Spiritual Treasures.
Xuan Fu knew that the Chaos Era was about to end and the Primordial Wilderness Era was about to begin. Before the Primordial Wilderness took shape, he had to raise his strength and accumulate enough Origin and resources as much as possible. Otherwise, when the coming Three Clans Hegemony and Tribulation disputes arrived, it would be difficult for him to establish a foothold.
He identified the direction and flew toward the region of the Chaos Space with the densest Origin Aura. There would certainly be plenty of Innate Spiritual Treasure fragments and Origin Fragments left behind by fallen Demon Gods there. It was an excellent place to increase his strength.
As he flew, Xuan Fu continuously spread out his Spiritual Sense, staying alert to his surroundings. He encountered quite a few low-level Demon Gods. Most were heavily injured and had chaotic auras. When they saw Xuan Fu, they either ignored him or tried to ambush him, but he easily dealt with them using Talisman Arts and incidentally extracted a wisp of their Origin.
As he collected more and more Origin, Xuan Fu's Talisman Arts rapidly became more complete. He refined Origin Powers of different attributes separately and merged them into their corresponding runic patterns. The radiance of his runic body grew brighter and brighter, and his Spiritual Sense grew increasingly powerful.
Just as he was about to reach the region rich in Origin, his Spiritual Sense suddenly detected a familiar aura.
It was the aura of Yanhuang Demon God!
Xuan Fu's heart jolted. Hadn't Yanhuang Demon God already disintegrated beneath the Sky-Opening Axe Light? How could his aura still be present? He followed the aura and investigated. In a layer of Chaos Qi not far ahead, a mass of fiery-red Origin Power was slowly condensing, faintly forming the phantom of Yanhuang Demon God.
Clearly, Yanhuang Demon God had not completely perished. Relying on a wisp of his remnant soul, he had barely condensed part of his Origin and was attempting to recover.
Xuan Fu's gaze (his Spiritual Sense fluctuating) grew complicated. Yanhuang Demon God was the source of the first wisp of Fire Origin he had collected, giving him special significance. Yet in the Chaos Space, there were no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. Though Yanhuang Demon God was heavily injured, a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. If he recovered, he might not feel grateful to Xuan Fu. Instead, he might take revenge over the matter of having his Origin extracted.
Just as Xuan Fu hesitated over whether to attack and completely erase Yanhuang Demon God's remnant soul, the phantom of Yanhuang Demon God suddenly opened its eyes, its fiery-red gaze precisely locking onto his position.
"It's you!"
A hoarse roar rang out. The phantom of Yanhuang Demon God trembled violently, radiating intense killing intent. Clearly, he had recognized the wisp of Fire Origin originating from him within Xuan Fu.
Xuan Fu's heart tightened. He knew a battle was unavoidable. He did not choose to flee. Instead, he activated all three types of Origin Power at once. Light shimmered across his runes, while the runic patterns of the Hidden Void Burning Array rapidly circulated over his body as he prepared for battle.
The phantom of Yanhuang Demon God let out an angry roar and transformed into a streak of fiery-red light, charging toward Xuan Fu. Though it was merely a phantom condensed from a remnant soul, the Fire Origin it contained remained violent. Everywhere it passed, the Chaos Stream was burned away, forming a long corridor of flames.
Xuan Fu took a deep breath (his runes expanding). He did not clash head-on. Instead, he activated the power of Space Folding, causing his figure to flicker constantly within the corridor of flames. At the same time, he pushed the Fire Origin to its limit, condensing a fiery-red barrier over his body that negated part of the flame damage.
He was waiting for an opportunity—the moment Yanhuang Demon God's Origin Power was exhausted.
Just as the two were locked in fierce battle and the aura of Yanhuang Demon God's phantom gradually weakened, Xuan Fu suddenly felt the surrounding Chaos Space twist once more.
A cold, familiar aura surged from all directions, enveloping both him and Yanhuang Demon God's phantom.
It was Kongming Demon God!
Xuan Fu's heart jolted. He had not expected Kongming Demon God to return after leaving, much less appear at precisely this moment.
Kongming Demon God's figure emerged from the Chaos Stream. His sinister gaze swept over Xuan Fu and Yanhuang Demon God's phantom, and the corner of his mouth (an energy gap) curled into a cruel smile. "Two heavily injured ants. Perfect—I'll collect you both!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Kongming Demon God activated his Power of Space. Countless tiny Space Blades shot toward Xuan Fu and Yanhuang Demon God's phantom.
Attacked from both sides, with Yanhuang Demon God's frenzied counterattack in front and Kongming Demon God's deadly ambush behind, Xuan Fu's situation instantly became perilous.
Just then, at the edge of his Spiritual Sense, he once again detected that icy gaze.
That mysterious aura from deep within the Chaos Space had actually followed them here!
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