"What a piece of work, Li Yun! That bastard slipped away while we weren't looking?"
Ye Xingjue's face turned ashen. Starlight stirred faintly around him, while anger and apprehension tangled in his chest, almost beyond his control.
He did not know why Li Yun had suddenly fled. But fleeing now, and doing it right under his nose, was something he could not accept.
The Plain-Robed Elder looked somewhat helpless too.
"That fellow is cunning. He may well have sensed our intent to kill him."
"If we let him get away now, finding him again won't be easy."
"However—"
"I'm certain that although he's fled, he hasn't left the Eternal Desolate Death Zone yet."
The Armored Elderly Woman's gaze shifted. "Why are you so certain?"
The Plain-Robed Elder said, "Isn't it obvious? The battle may be chaotic, but the three of us aren't pushovers. If he tried to leave the Eternal Desolate Death Zone with two women in tow, wouldn't he be afraid we'd notice?"
"Besides, look at Li Yun's cultivation."
"He's only one step from the Great Sage Realm. You could even call him a half-step Great Sage. At that level, wouldn't he want to push straight through and become a Great Sage?"
"And right now, where else on Silver Fox Star could he be sure of making a rapid breakthrough?"
"I wager he can't bear to give this place up!"
Ye Xingjue drew a deep breath. "That makes sense. He should still be somewhere in the Death Zone, perhaps hiding away and preparing to quietly break through to the Great Sage Realm."
"In that case, find him. We cannot give him the chance to break through."
Then—
He swept his gaze across the crowd and pointed, singling out five Upper Sages whose auras ran deep and powerful.
"You five,