"Motherfucker!" Chen Changgeng kicked over the medicine basin, spilling ten-thousand-year-old snow lotus juice across the floor.
He rushed to the Secret Chamber's doorway and roared down the corridor.
"New orders! Push the Immortal Boat to its maximum speed! Drain all the spiritual power from the shield formation and pour it into the propulsion formation!"
The Great Elder nearly jumped in alarm. "Sect Master! Without the shield, if we run into spatial turbulence along the way..."
"We'll fucking deal with it when it happens!"
Chen Changgeng snatched the Star Chart from the Deacon's hands and stared fixedly at the route marked on it.
His finger traced back and forth across the chart, his eyes darting furiously.
At their current speed, he was at least half a day farther away than Xie Chengyuan. Even if he drained all the shield's spiritual power, he could only catch up at best. He could not arrive first.
And besides.
Would a single damaged Immortal Artifact be enough?
Zhao Tu had offered the entire Supreme Force Immortal Vein along with fourteen heads.
Xie Chengyuan had lived for nine thousand years, and Falling Star Valley's reserves were at least as substantial as the Celestial River Sect's. What if he brought richer offerings? What if that Zhou Xuan only accepted the best...
Another sudden burst of agony shot through the festering sore on Chen Changgeng's chest. Murky fluid seeped through his robes and dripped onto the floor tiles with a hiss.
The pain doubled him over, and beads of sweat splattered from his forehead onto the Star Chart.
Not enough.
One sect-guarding Immortal Artifact wasn't enough. He had to bring more.
He slowly straightened, panting as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. An idea even crazier than the last surfaced in