Xu Chengan had traveled through time and departed, heading into the past to pursue Xu Yuan's whereabouts.
The matter was secret.
The powerful figures of the Mortal Realm did not know the whole story.
Apart from Xu Yuan, the Overseer, Xu Chengan, and the Old Gods, no one knew where Xu Yuan had gone.
At that moment,
just as Xu Chengan used the Old Gods' power to travel through time,
within Ninefold Nether,
in a muddy pit streaked with blood,
Qi Canghai struggled out of the muddy water, gasping for breath.
Ignoring the mud on his hands, with no time to wipe the grime from his face, he pulled out a Pill that replenished both Spiritual Power and blood, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed a few times, and forced it down his throat.
After that, he crawled a few more paces and lay on his back.
Gasping.
Gasping violently.
Unable to move at all.
He had pushed himself past his limits.
Both his physical strength and Spiritual Power were utterly spent.
In fact,
by the All Things Unity Society's and the major Aristocratic Clans' estimates, he could have held out for a month.
But everyone had overlooked one thing.
Xu Chengan was no longer the man he had once been.
Whatever had happened to him...
His Imago was different. His strength was different. His fighting skills were worlds apart from before.
The Old Gods were helping him from the shadows.
Others might not see it, but Qi Canghai knew it all too well.
On the surface, he had held firm, using his most closely guarded Mystic Arts and equipment without pause.
People had constantly been ready to receive him. There had even been Magic Arrays for teleportation, prepared Pills, and places to rest...
Even Xu Chengan had failed to