Through mountains and over ridges, across rivers and through cities-once one's cultivation reached the level of a Refiner, one truly possessed inconceivable abilities. Nothing in the mortal world could stand in one's way anymore.
In mere moments, Heavenly Baleful strode like a shooting star. Though he seemed neither hurried nor slow, he had already covered two or three hundred li.
Suddenly, his brows creased slightly. Heavenly Baleful looked toward a barren hill seven or eight li ahead, where a man stood with his hands behind his back, seemingly waiting for him.
"Fellow Daoist Heavenly Baleful-"
Despite the distance between them, Hong Yuan's voice rang clearly beside Heavenly Baleful's ears. He spoke leisurely. "If I devoted myself entirely to fleeing, how confident would you be of catching me?"
Heavenly Baleful fell briefly silent and opened his broad right hand. A wisp of elusive aura slipped through his fingers.
His eyes locked onto the figure on the barren hill, his gaze flickering. Within his mental perception, Hong Yuan's aura seemed both illusory and real, present and absent, shifting beyond prediction.
It was as though he had merged with the heavens and existed everywhere, yet also as though he had vanished from this world, leaving only an empty illusion behind.
Earlier, Heavenly Baleful had seized the other man's aura. He had assumed that however slippery Hong Yuan might be, once he grew serious, the man could never escape his grasp.
Yet faced with this sight, he had to admit that he had underestimated him.
"Your strength isn't much, fellow Daoist, but your ability to flee for your life is truly impressive. I indeed have little confidence in capturing you."
Heavenly Baleful's tone was indifferent.
As though he could not hear the mockery in those words, Hong Yuan smiled faintly. "Since that's the case,