A Life-Saving Escape Technique (Please Vote!)

Spiritual energy was the source of a cultivator's power. Without the ability to draw in and gather spiritual energy, cultivators would experience birth, aging, sickness, and death just like mortals.

Legends in the Cultivation World spoke of a heaven-defying drug that, upon contact, would sever every source of spiritual energy, causing cultivators to die rapidly from its depletion.

That drug was the heavenly decline of the five signs!

Although Sun Yanbo had taken precautions, he had never expected Lu Yangong to use this legendary drug against him. After fighting Lu Yangong head-on for so long, he had naturally consumed a tremendous amount of spiritual energy. Once the heavenly decline of the five signs took effect, he could no longer absorb spiritual energy to replenish what he had spent, and he quickly succumbed.

Now, just as Lu Yangong had said, Sun Yanbo's spiritual energy was so depleted that even sending a private voice transmission had become a burden.

Sun Yanbo inwardly shook his head. He still had not seen through this eldest senior brother whom he had known for hundreds of years. He had never imagined the man would be vicious enough to secretly refine the heavenly decline of the five signs and use it against his own fellow disciples.

Even if I die here today, I can only blame myself for failing to judge his character, can't I?

At that thought, defiance rose in Sun Yanbo's heart. Even if my soul is doomed to scatter into nothingness, I cannot let that scoundrel Lu Yangong gloat like this!

Sun Yanbo barely mustered his strength and lifted the Overlord Sword in his hand, pointing it shakily at Lu Yangong.

Lu Yangong shook his head. "Junior Brother Sun, why keep fighting like a cornered beast? If you must blame someone, blame Lu Yanzhen. If you weren't so blindly loyal to him, why would we brothers have to turn against one another? After you die, I'll take possession of this Overlord Sword. Rest assured, although my strength falls short of yours, I won't tarnish its fearsome reputation."

Faced with Lu Yangong's almost mocking words, Sun Yanbo's lips curled into a faint sneer.

The Heavenly Demon Overlord Sword Strike was unmatched in its ferocity, one of the Cultivation World's supreme offensive techniques. Throughout their acquaintance, Sun Yanbo's use of this technique had left Lu Yangong with the impression that he was a brute who knew only how to attack, attack, and attack again.

Given Sun Yanbo's cultivation, few people in the entire universe were qualified to be his opponents. Thus, no one knew that when the Heavenly Demon Overlord Sword Strike reached its pinnacle, it could also turn from strength to weakness, giving rise to powerful techniques for retreating and escaping with one's life.

Lu Yangong wanted to kill him and seize his sword, but he did not know that as long as Sun Yanbo held the Overlord Sword, he had at least a ninety percent chance of escaping this calamity. Had he not been afflicted with the heavenly decline of the five signs, his chances of escape would have risen to an absolute certainty!

Just as Lu Yangong was gloating inwardly, he sensed Sun Yanbo forcibly muster a thread of spiritual energy and pour it into the Overlord Sword.

Could Sun Yanbo still be trying to stake his life on one last attack in this condition? Lu Yangong dared not be careless and secretly circulated his power to guard against him.

The moment Sun Yanbo's thread of spiritual energy entered the Overlord Sword, its pitch-black blade blazed with light. Enveloped in that radiance, Sun Yanbo once again merged with his sword and became a streak of rainbow light.

Lu Yangong's expression changed in alarm. After being afflicted with the heavenly decline of the five signs, Sun Yanbo should have been utterly incapable of transforming into rainbow light. Could he have some secret art that lets him fight to the death even without enough spiritual energy?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the streak of rainbow light that Sun Yanbo had become flashed violently backward, vanishing into the universe at an inconceivable speed.

Even a true rainbow-light transformation could not match such speed. It was almost like teleportation or passing through a spatial wormhole. Had Lu Yangong not possessed Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, he might not even have discerned the direction in which the rainbow light escaped.

Naturally, Lu Yangong could not pursue such speed. After standing stunned for a long while, he could only turn and fly helplessly back to Connors Star.

Lu Yangong had never expected Sun Yanbo to possess such a life-saving technique. Still, once afflicted with the heavenly decline of the five signs, Sun Yanbo would not last long even if he escaped today. He would probably die from spiritual energy depletion before he could return to the Heavenly Demon Sect's gates.

Eliminating Sun Yanbo was tantamount to cutting off one of Lu Yanzhen's arms, and Lu Yangong still felt rather pleased with himself. Yet he was a deeply calculating man, and his face remained grave as he ordered Bai Hengqiu to launch the ships immediately and return to the Ice Phoenix System in batches.

From beginning to end, Lu Yangong said nothing about the details of his battle with Sun Yanbo, so neither Bai Hengqiu nor Lu Xuanqing knew what the final outcome of the fight had actually been.

Still, when Nascent Soul Realm experts clashed, deciding victory and defeat was easy, but completely destroying the opponent was extremely difficult. Even if Lu Yangong had won this time, there was no guarantee that the defeated party would not return for another battle.

Being marked by a Nascent Soul Realm expert would leave anyone uneasy, so Bai Hengqiu dared not delay and hurriedly commanded the fleet to soar away through the sky.

Lu Xuanqing naturally departed with the fleet. As for Lu Yangong's hopes of extracting the Spirit-Devouring Beast's whereabouts from her, there was no telling which of them would manage to deceive the other.

Only after the fleet had traveled far from Connors Star did Liu Xing slowly emerge from behind the hills. He gazed up at the sky with a complicated expression, his thoughts unreadable.

Had he possessed the ability, Liu Xing would never have stood by and watched Lu Xuanqing leave. But as he was now, what could he do besides watch the spaceship recede into the distance?

After entering outer space, the ship accelerated steadily and soon passed beyond the range of the Spirit-Devouring Beast's divine sense. The Spirit-Devouring Beast then naturally withdrew the thread of divine sense wrapped around Lu Yangong.

With that, Liu Xing's Eye of Divine Sense was effectively shut off, and he could no longer see Lu Xuanqing beside Lu Yangong.

However, another thread of the Spirit-Devouring Beast's divine sense remained locked onto a target: Sun Yanbo, who had used the Overlord Sword to transform into rainbow light and escape without a trace!

Although Sun Yanbo moved extremely quickly after transforming into rainbow light, he was afflicted with the heavenly decline of the five signs and could not sustain a long flight. As soon as he escaped Lu Yangong's sight, he changed direction, secretly passed through the atmosphere, and landed on Connors Star.

Lu Yangong had never expected Sun Yanbo to flee to Connors Star. It was just as the old saying went: the most dangerous place was the safest place!

However, none of Sun Yanbo's movements escaped the surveillance of the Spirit-Devouring Beast's divine sense. Liu Xing knew exactly where Sun Yanbo was hiding.

PS: Today's third update-please send recommendation votes! Brothers and sisters, we still need your strong support with recommendation votes to hold our place on the new book rankings! When I think of all those books with fewer bookmarks than ours but more votes, doesn't that mean you still have some firepower to spare? This is the crucial moment-vote with everything you've got for the final push!!!!