Everyone's eyes turned involuntarily to the north. They all wondered the same thing: who was the person who had killed Zhang Hongxiu and drawn the personal pursuit of a Golden Core True Person?
Could he escape the furious Golden Core True Person?
Li Qingshan used the Earth Escape Technique, tearing wildly through the ground without daring to stop for even a moment.
He hadn't had time to examine the damaged Crimson Dragon Sword, the looted low-grade spirit sword, or even the two storage bags. He had devoted all his attention to escape.
But he had traveled less than a hundred miles when an indescribable, terrifying pressure, like the might of heaven itself, surged from the horizon behind him like a solid tsunami!
The pressure was so powerful that Li Qingshan instantly felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave. The blood in his body nearly froze, and even the Longevity True Essence within him began to circulate sluggishly!
It was as though an invisible giant eye watched him coldly from the highest heavens, leaving him nowhere to hide!
"A Golden Core True Person! Zhang Yuzhen!"
Li Qingshan was horrified, and understood at once!
Zhang Hongxiu must have sent word back before she died. The Spring Autumn Sect also had Zhang Hongxiu's life tablet, and the moment it shattered, Zhang Yuzhen would have learned of her death.
What Li Qingshan hadn't expected was for Zhang Yuzhen to arrive so quickly.
He could even feel a bone-chilling divine sense, filled with boundless fury and Killing Intent, locking onto him from afar!
It was far faster than his Earth Escape Technique!
He couldn't flee in a straight line! He'd definitely be caught!
Li Qingshan made his decision at once. He abruptly changed direction, no longer heading away from the sect, but veering toward the nearby area known as a forbidden zone for all living things—the core region of the Ancient Battlefield!
Space was unstable there, and the spiritual energy was chaotic and violent. The place was even suffused with the remnants of the ancient battlefield's Killing Intent and shattered laws, which severely interfered with and suppressed divine sense!
It was his only chance to survive!
"Little thief! Hand over your life!"
A piercing shriek brimming with boundless fury exploded behind him like thunder, sending Li Qingshan's blood and qi surging!
He could even feel a destructive golden light hurtling closer at high speed, warping space slightly as it passed!
His life hung by a thread!
Li Qingshan clenched his teeth and burned his True Essence without restraint, pushing the Five Elements Escape Technique: Earth Chapter to its limit. Like a startled earth dragon, he burrowed madly toward the depths of the Ancient Battlefield!
At last, he plunged into an area shrouded in gray mist, where the ground was dark red and the land was littered with broken weapons, bones, and spatial rifts!
As soon as he entered, the terrifying divine sense that had locked onto him faltered slightly and grew much more indistinct. Yet it still clung to him like a maggot in his bones, hot on his heels!
Li Qingshan steeled himself and kept burrowing toward the deeper, more chaotic regions.
Only when the pressure of that divine sense had weakened to its limit did he abruptly stop beneath the enormous bones of some unknown beast.
He immediately circulated the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art with all his might. His True Essence flowed through him in an arcane pattern, forming an extremely faint Heaven-Veiling Spirit Domain over his body—one that could distort perceptions and block prying eyes!
At the same time, he activated the Shadow-Hiding Cloak to its utmost. With the two layers of concealment, his aura instantly became faint and elusive, almost blending into the surrounding soil and Killing Intent!
He held his breath, nearly stopping his heartbeat as well, and reduced his presence to the bare minimum. Like a true unyielding stone, he lay hidden dozens of feet underground.
The next moment, the terrifying golden rainbow arrived above the Ancient Battlefield!
The rainbow light dissipated, revealing a middle-aged beauty in a luxurious palace gown. Her features were lovely, but twisted by extreme rage. She was none other than the Golden Core True Person Zhang Yuzhen!
She floated in midair, and her powerful Golden Core Realm divine sense swept down like a storm, searching inch by inch across the desolate, lifeless land below!
Rock, bones, broken weapons, warped space... She didn't miss a single abnormality!
"Come out!" Zhang Yuzhen shrieked. The pressure of her Golden Core cultivation made the ground tremble faintly. "You killed my descendant. No matter where you flee, I will drag you out, tear out your soul, refine it, and hang you beneath a sky lantern for ten thousand years!"
Her powerful divine sense swept over the area where Li Qingshan was hiding again and again.
Li Qingshan's heart leaped into his throat. He could clearly feel the terrifying divine sense pass over him like a searchlight. The concealment field formed by the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art and Shadow-Hiding Cloak wavered violently, as if it might be torn apart at any moment!
He gritted his teeth and forced down his fear, doing everything he could to maintain his concealment without daring to make the slightest movement.
His Longevity True Essence was draining faster than ever.
Time seemed to stretch endlessly.
Zhang Yuzhen's divine sense swept back and forth dozens of times. She even descended in a streak of light and, at several suspicious spots, waved her hand to unleash a few devastating spells, blasting several deep pits into the ground. Yet she found nothing.
"Impossible! That figure clearly vanished in this area!"
Zhang Yuzhen's face turned ashen, her eyes full of fury and unwillingness. "He must have used some kind of treasure or secret art to hide!"
She continued searching stubbornly for a long time, even risking probing with her divine sense near several spatial rifts, but still found nothing.
At last, she let out a shriek of utter frustration that made the whole Ancient Battlefield hum. "Little thief! Don't think you can hide forever! I've memorized your aura! The moment you show yourself, I'll find you!"
With that, she turned into a golden streak and left in frustration.
Though the terrifying pressure gradually receded and finally vanished, Li Qingshan didn't dare relax in the slightest.
Sure enough, two days later, that powerful, concealed divine sense returned and silently swept over the area once more, searching with even greater care and patience than before!
Li Qingshan broke into a cold sweat and inwardly thanked his luck. The old fox really was the craftiest! If he hadn't been cautious enough, he'd probably have been caught red-handed by now!
He continued to lie hidden like a fossil, as motionless as a mountain.
Over the next month, Zhang Yuzhen's divine sense suddenly descended like a ghost three more times!
It arrived without warning each time, and her searches grew more meticulous. There was even some kind of artifact's probing aura mixed in.
But with the wonders of the Lesser Heaven-Veiling Secret Art, the Shadow-Hiding Cloak, and the cover provided by the chaotic battlefield, Li Qingshan escaped detection time and again.
A month later, the Golden Core divine sense finally vanished completely and never returned.
Perhaps Zhang Yuzhen couldn't afford to spend so long searching outside, or perhaps she truly believed the killer had already fled far away.
But Li Qingshan still didn't move.
He knew how terrifying and patient a Golden Core True Person could be.
He remained hidden underground for another two whole months!
For those three months, he relied entirely on fasting pills and the True Essence within him to hold on. His mind remained taut at all times, and he didn't dare let down his guard for even a moment.
Only after three months, on a certain day, when he was sure Zhang Yuzhen had truly left, did he cautiously begin digging deeper into the earth at an exceedingly slow pace, carving out a cramped stone chamber just large enough for him to fit inside.
After setting up a few simple warning restrictions, Li Qingshan finally let out a long breath, an indescribable weariness washing over him.
But he quickly suppressed his fatigue, resolve gleaming in his eyes.
The danger hadn't passed!
Zhang Yuzhen would never let the matter rest. He had to improve his strength as quickly as possible!
He didn't regret killing Zhang Hongxiu.
He was cautious by nature, but he also believed in settling debts and repaying kindness. After killing Zhang Hongxiu, his mind felt clear, and even the flow of his spiritual power had become somewhat smoother.
For the coming year, Li Qingshan planned to cultivate in seclusion in this pitch-dark underground stone chamber.
He didn't know what methods a Golden Core True Person might use, so all he could do was be as cautious as possible.
First, he put Cultivator Feng's low-grade spirit sword into the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd.
The next day, after being enhanced by the Wish-Fulfilling Gourd, the low-grade spirit sword had actually become a supreme-grade spirit artifact.
"A supreme-grade spirit artifact, the Ice Sword? What a treasure! The Wish-Fulfilling Gourd really didn't disappoint me!"
Li Qingshan was incredibly excited. Once he refined the Ice Sword, it would surely cause his strength to surge.
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