After the jade pendant was used, all the high-ranking members of the Six Great Families, or those in the top thirty of the Dragon Ranking, received a message from Zhuge Wangyue: Gu Chen is actually going to the Heaven and Earth Forest?!
Several powerful members of the Luo Family were about to leave, but upon hearing this news, they immediately changed direction and sped towards the Heaven and Earth Forest. Similarly, Yin Linquan also received the news. He was originally sitting in the family hall, as steady as Mount Tai, but when Zhuge Wangyue's message arrived, he suddenly stood up.
"Brother, could this be a trap?"
"You watch the family, I'll go check on them," Yin Linquan said coldly. "Also, tell the others to come quickly!"
"Yes!" Seeing that Yin Linquan had made a decision, Yin Binxuan dared not say anything more and could only give the order.
At this very moment, the same thing was happening to the powerful members of the top thirty families on the Dragon Ranking. Before, they didn't know where Gu Chen was going, but now that they had a goal and direction, they immediately went all out.
This time, unlike the scouts and pursuers before, they were almost all renowned experts from the Land of Heaven and Earth! They themselves, along with the people they brought, surged towards the Heaven and Earth Forest like dark streams of water.
In fact, the Shangguan Family was the first to guess Gu Chen's whereabouts, but unfortunately, they were not strong enough, and even after using so-called formations, they still failed to capture Gu Chen.
In the midst of his frantic run, Gu Chen suddenly felt something moving at his waist. He instinctively reached down and pulled out a jade pendant. This jade pendant had been given to him by Zhuge Kun before he entered the Land of Heaven and Earth, but for some reason, it was now shimmering. The entire pendant was vastly different from its previous dull appearance; it was now radiant and sparkling.
"What's going on?" Gu Chen held it in his hand and felt as if there were streams of energy surging inside. He instinctively poured in some Yuan Power and heard a loud roar coming from inside.
"I am Zhuge Wangyue. Go to the Heaven and Earth Forest and intercept him! Gu Chen is about to enter the Heaven and Earth Forest. I'm following him right now. Once we receive the message, everyone go!"
Gu Chen was startled, but he quickly realized that it was indeed Zhuge Wangyue's voice!
"Could this jade pendant be like the sound transmission talisman I used in the cultivation world? Can it transmit sound over long distances?" Gu Chen rubbed the jade pendant with his fingers. After that roar, there was no more communication, which made him even more puzzled.
However, he quickly realized that there might be more than one jade pendant, capable of receiving messages within a certain range!
At this moment, Gu Chen finally understood that the reason why the Shangguan Family was able to find his trail was definitely related to this!
Although Shangguan Yijun never said it in the end, Gu Chen still found out at this moment!
At this moment, Gu Chen was actually quite far from where he had been. According to the map Zhuge Kun had given him, he was not far from the Heaven and Earth Forest. If no one blocked his way, he could easily enter the Heaven and Earth Forest.
"Zhuge Wangyue, is he behind me?"
However, after receiving the message from the jade pendant, Gu Chen suddenly stopped, and after several changes in his expression, he finally made up his mind.
"Zhuge Wangyue is unaware that I have already received the news; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"
With a determined heart, Gu Chen advanced a little further and chose a hilly area, then hid himself in the earthen slope. Using his Breath Concealment Technique, Gu Chen blended into the surrounding scenery like a sand worm.
Gu Chen's Divine Sense covered an area of one thousand meters in radius. This ability of Divine Sense was like an infrared detector; when an external object intruded, Gu Chen would sense it. After an unknown amount of time, Gu Chen's Divine Sense suddenly reacted!
"They're here!"
"Zhuge Wangyue is here!"
In the distance, Zhuge Wangyue approached on foot, his body rising and falling with incredible speed. There was no one else beside him, only him frantically making his way, seemingly trying to catch up with Gu Chen and prevent him from entering the Heaven and Earth Forest.
Therefore, it was precisely for this reason that Zhuge Wangyue did not react at all when Gu Chen suddenly sprang up from the sand!
Boom!
Just as Zhuge Wangyue crossed a hill and was about to continue running at full speed, a wave of earth suddenly shot up from the ground and slammed heavily into Zhuge Wangyue!
Gu Chen had been waiting for this moment for a long time!
Immediately afterwards, in Zhuge Wangyue's horrified pupils, appeared Gu Chen's expressionless face, and his long-planned punch imbued with True Essence Power!
Bang!
Zhuge Wangyue was instantly sent flying!
Zhuge Wangyue felt as if his internal organs were being churned and displaced. He was in excruciating pain, and as he tried to deflect Gu Chen's force, his body left a long trail on the sand dune. Gu Chen's eyes were cold as he stepped forward again, and before Zhuge Wangyue could get up, he threw another punch, attempting to strike his chest.
Zhuge Wangyue was still Zhuge Wangyue, a figure ranked sixteenth on the Dragon Ranking. Although he was caught off guard and attacked by Gu Chen earlier, he still managed to dodge Gu Chen's punch to the chest thanks to his extremely strong reflexes.
Although he dodged the punch to the chest, the force still invaded his shoulder. Coupled with the internal injuries from the earlier sneak attack, Zhuge Wangyue grimaced and gasped for breath.
"That's some serious skin."
Gu Chen thought his punch would seriously injure Zhuge Wangyue, but he didn't expect Zhuge Wangyue to be able to react. He cursed under his breath and then swept his leg out.
"You brat, you're asking for death!" Zhuge Wangyue roared in fury. "First it, then it—is there going to be a third?"
He couldn't afford to suffer losses at Gu Chen's hands again, so he immediately gathered his Inner Breath, stretched out his arm, and directly met Gu Chen's whip kick. Bang! Dust billowed up, and Gu Chen and Zhuge Wangyue were separated at the same time.
Using the force of the impact, Zhuge Wangyue finally caught his breath. He felt that his dantian had been damaged by Gu Chen's sneak attack, and now he could only gather less than 70% of his peak Inner Breath.
"Puff!"
However, as soon as he regained his footing, Zhuge Wangyue felt a surge of blood in his throat and then coughed up blood. It was a stagnant blood clot that he had forced out with his Inner Breath. If it remained stuck in his body, it would be detrimental to his combat later.
After spitting out blood, Zhuge Wangyue looked at Gu Chen, her eyes filled with malice.
"You brat, you actually resorted to sneak attacks!" Zhuge Wangyue said.
"A sneak attack?" Gu Chen said calmly, "It's better than you notifying others to ambush me openly."
"How do you know?" Zhuge Wangyue was startled again, and a thought arose in her mind: Could it be that a powerful family in the Land of Heaven and Earth had betrayed them? Yes, it's possible! That damned Gu Family!
Perhaps once the Gu Family learns about Gu Chen, they will actually want to take back this former abandoned son!
Thinking of this, Zhuge Wangyue's face grew even more gloomy.
"Zhuge Wangyue, it's time to settle our score at Starfall Cliff," Gu Chen said. "Do you remember what I said back then?"
Upon hearing Gu Chen's words, Zhuge Wangyue's eyes narrowed.
How could he forget Gu Chen's words. "Today's humiliation will be avenged tomorrow!"
However, Gu Chen's desire for revenge was a gross underestimation of Zhuge Wangyue! Zhuge Wangyue sneered, "Settle accounts? What right do you have to settle accounts with me? You actually chose to ambush me here, how laughable! Did you really think those few moves you made could injure me? Let me tell you, even if you're ranked thirty-fifth on the Dragon Ranking, I can still easily kill you with just half my power!"
"Is that so?" Gu Chen's lips curled into a mocking smile.
Enraged, Zhuge Wangyue coldly said, "Gu Chen, you have a path to heaven but choose not to, and you insist on venturing into hell. Today, this place will be your burial ground!"