They meant to leave Qin Tian unable to take a single step anywhere in the Eastern Wasteland, to deny him both life and death, to keep him steeped in despair every moment.
Through this, they would proclaim the majesty of the Yaoguang Holy Land and show the world the price of offending the Jade Light Holy Land.
The entire Northern Region was thrown into upheaval, its waves surging fiercely.
The Yaoguang Holy Land dispatched truly powerful cultivators. Using images extracted from cultivators' memories, they identified the array marks on the Mystic Light Platform beneath Qin Tian's feet and calculated how many tens of thousands of miles it could cross at its limit.
Combining that with the time Qin Tian's activated Mystic Light Platform had spent in the void, they actually managed to deduce the location of the paper Qin Tian.
That very day, the void split open and a Domain Gate appeared, banners fluttering as crowds surged.
More than a hundred cultivators emerged, including over twenty old men, while the rest were outstanding young talents.
All hundred-plus cultivators were formidable. Even setting aside the renowned elders, the younger cultivators had impressive backgrounds; nearly half of the Jade Light Holy Land's ten strongest young disciples had come.
"Paper scraps again! That vile beast isn't dead..." An old man ordered everyone to spread out and search, and to send word immediately if they found any clues.
This was only the first wave. More cultivators were still on their way.
Everyone was talking about it. The news spread throughout the region, leaving everyone incredulous-and, more than anything, shocked.
Holy land cultivators, independent cultivators, and great families all sent out their younger generations, treating the hunt for Qin Tian as a trial. After all, few people with such low cultivation dared offend a supreme power. One could almost say there were none.
With such a rare figure appearing, they might as well use him to temper the younger generation.
With a single command from the Yaoguang Holy Land, Qin Tian's life after leaving the Source Mine became considerably less pleasant.
The entire Northern Region was shaken into motion, and countless people began searching for traces of Qin Tian.
The Jin Kingdom enjoyed a certain reputation in the Southern Region. Cultivators knew of it solely because of a Fire Domain within its borders.
No one knew why the Fire Domain never went out. It had existed since Desolate Antiquity, burning through an unknown number of ages, and no one could say exactly how long it had endured.
There were no plants aboveground and no magma underground, nothing at all to sustain the burning-only flames. No one knew why they burned endlessly, utterly impossible to extinguish.
Ordinary cultivators dared not approach the Fire Domain, but when supreme cultivators refined artifacts, this place was invariably their first choice. Its flames possessed a mysterious power that could help an "artifact" take shape and imprint it with "Dao" and "principle."
Of course, the Fire Domain was no peaceful haven. It was manageable when calm, but when its flames surged and swept into the heavens, it became so dangerous that even Great Powers had to retreat.
Many records spoke of this place. The oldest histories even mentioned "immortals" and the Desolate Pagoda. However, there were only a few vague strokes, their words obscure and unclear.
"Finally, the Fire Domain!" Qin Tian raised his head and looked ahead. Flames danced not far away, their searing heat roasting the earth. The outer region was scorched, its ground riddled with dry cracks.
He had not truly reached the Fire Domain yet, but merely drawing near sent a wave of heat into his face and brought sweat to his skin.
"Brat, you're not getting away!"
Behind him, more than a dozen disciples of the Jade Light Holy Land were pursuing him desperately. Several were at the Dao Palace and Other Shore stages; not one of them was weaker than Qin Tian.
Qin Tian had spent these past days fleeing for his life, ever since he killed the Yaoguang Great Power and escaped the Source Mine.
The Yaoguang Holy Land had pursued him relentlessly. Wherever he went, its people would find him.
It was as though someone could pinpoint Qin Tian's location.
Had Qin Tian not grasped a sliver of spatial profundity through his right eye and applied it to his feet, granting his original footwork the marvelous ability to cross the void, he would long since have been caught, skinned, and stripped of his sinews.
"Gentlemen, why chase me so hard?" Qin Tian glanced back and saw how heavily they outnumbered him. Before he even finished speaking, he charged into the Fire Domain. Searing heat struck his face, and flames burned around him. Shielding his body with divine light, he ran swiftly, preparing to escape through another side.
Without looking back, Qin Tian shouted, "Go easy on me! Let's all get along!"
"Dream on!" someone in the crowd replied.
"You have nowhere left to run!"
As those words fell, three people suddenly leaped out ahead of Qin Tian, blocking his path.
"Seriously... how much does the Yaoguang Holy Land pay you a month? Why risk your lives over it?" Qin Tian stopped and sighed helplessly.
Then Qin Tian changed his tone. "Did you think I hadn't noticed your little tricks?"
"This is bad!" The leader seemed to remember something, and his face blanched. He shouted urgently, "Quick, attack together! Kill him!"
"Only making your move now? Too late!"
Qin Tian flicked a finger, completing the final array mark. The way of formations borrowed the power of heaven and earth for oneself, multiplying one's strength dozens or even a hundred times over. This was far stronger than the Divine Forbidden State.
With such an ideal environment as the Fire Domain, how could he possibly let it go to waste?
Array marks lit up in the void, piecing together and intertwining into a fragment of a formation. It enveloped the surrounding expanse, trapping every pursuer within it.
"Welcome to my domain!" Qin Tian spread his hands and smiled.
"Quick, kill him before the formation activates!" The Dao Palace expert leading them let out a piercing roar.
"He once killed a Great Power with a formation."
"If he actually activates it, we won't stand a chance!"
"I already said you're too late. Don't you understand human speech?!" Qin Tian sighed and snapped his fingers.
The next instant, a terrifying aura burst forth, changing the colors of heaven and earth. Like a sharp sword, it cleaved open the firmament, revealing the pitch-black void.
Threads of the aura of the saintly Dao emerged. This was power beyond the mortal world, belonging to an entirely different level. Even a trace was far beyond anything a group of Sea of Bitterness and Dao Palace cultivators could match.
Qin Tian clasped his hands behind his back, his hair thick and his gaze cold and merciless. He chuckled. "I was waiting for the formation to take shape. What were you waiting for?"
The next instant, boundless divine flames blazed, and the power of the Great Dao flowed. Then Qin Tian raised one foot and stamped down hard.
A wisp of flame appeared beneath Qin Tian's foot.
Rumble!
The flames spread outward like towering waves of fire sweeping over all things, burning Qin Tian's enemies. Their temperature was scarcely lower than that of the flames in the first five layers, and they immediately turned pale purple.
In an instant, light blazed in every direction as an unimaginably terrifying, oppressive sea of fire erupted and surged outward.
"Just you wait! The Yaoguang Holy Land will never let you go!"
A Yaoguang disciple, burned into a human torch, cursed him. "Now that you've offended the Yaoguang Holy Land, there's no place for you to survive anywhere in the Eastern Wasteland."
"The Yaoguang Holy Land has already issued a wanted notice and a bounty. It won't just be Yaoguang... the Ji Family, the Jiang Family, every power and every cultivator in the Eastern Wasteland will see you as an enemy. You'll have nowhere to retreat, and you'll only be able to wait for death in despair!"
"We'll be waiting for you!"
Qin Tian remained calm. "So what? Which Great Emperor didn't face a world full of enemies? Which one didn't sweep across the world without an equal? This is merely happening a little earlier."
"You're nothing but a despicable wretch who relies on formations, yet you dare aspire to the heavens!"
"What of the Formation Dao? Any Dao I command is an invincible Dao!" Qin Tian spoke softly, but his words held a certain confidence. Though still unpolished, his extraordinary bearing had already begun to take shape.
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