Chapter 128: Pursuit

Su Chen was in a great mood as he flew rapidly through the sky.

This trip to the Thousand Poisons Mountain had greatly profited Su Chen. Not only had he managed to clear out the Spiritual Light Institute's library, but he was even able to freely plunder Fate's Hands' headquarters.

They were worthy of their reputation as Sky Country's most powerful terrorist organization. Their pockets were surprisingly deep, and they had all kinds of Origin Tools in their stores, including some top-tier ones.

Even though Su Chen wasn't able to use all of these items, the Boundless Sect would definitely benefit from them.

Su Chen was already mentally divvying up his spoils of war so that each Boundless Sect disciple would receive an exceptional Origin Tool.

Apart from Origin Tools, this place also contained a large quantity of spiritual herbs.

Su Chen might not have been able to every Origin Tool, but he was definitely able to find a use for most of these spiritual herbs and ingredients.

Given Su Chen’s current abilities as an alchemist, there weren’t many people on the entire continent who could compare with him. He was totally justified to take these items for himself.

All those years of bitter practice had finally paid off in spades, both in terms of his personal strength and in his alchemical skills.

However, he wasn’t able to ponder this for very long before he noticed a cloud of drifting smoke off in the distance.

A powerful wave of fear suddenly washed over him.

“This is……” Su Chen turned around and saw a black cloud rumbling through the sky in his direction.

“Damn!” Su Chen immediately realized that something was off. This wasn’t a freak occurrence of nature — there was definitely an incredibly powerful individual headed right in his direction.

Su Chen didn’t even need to guess to know who that person was, given his actions just a few moments ago.

This was Fate’s Hands’ leader, a legendary Arcana Master.

Su Chen didn't hesitate for a single moment. He unfurled his Wind and Thunder Wings and shot off into the distance at full speed.

By relying on the element of wind, Su Chen was able to significantly boost his flying speed. Earlier, while on the carriage, there had been no way for him to demonstrate this strength. But now it was proving useful for him.

Even so, not every one of Su Chen’s trump cards would be effective.

Even though Su Chen’s speed had greatly increased after he activated his wings, he found that the black cloud was still closing in on him.

The cloud was slowly but surely approaching him.

Su Chen was badly shocked by the cloud’s speed, and he flapped his wings as hard as he could. As the wind howled and lightning crackled all around him, Su Chen’s speed was raised to its absolute limit.

Under normal circumstances, even a Thought Manifestation Realm cultivator would have a hard time catching up to him.

However, legendary Arcana Masters were legendary for a reason — they were strong enough to fight an Ultimate Emperor Realm cultivator with an Origin Beast Bloodline. There was no chance of Su Chen shaking him off.

This Fate’s Hands’ leader had used some kind of technique to locate Su Chen and had followed him all the way over here.

Su Chen knew that he was in deep trouble, as everything before had gone much too smoothly for him, leading him to underestimate the power of a legendary Arcana Master. Of course, it was also possible that Inigo had set him up on purpose…...

Su Chen didn’t know if Inigo had played a role in bringing about this situation, but at the moment, it didn’t really matter. He needed to find a way to disappear from his pursuer’s line of sight first.

But the black cloud only drew closer and closer. Where was he to run to?

Su Chen’s brain buzzed frenetically with activity as the consciousness crystal analyzed countless possibilities before finally selecting the one that would be the most likely to succeed.

Su Chen stopped trying to run forwards; instead, he began to descend to the surface of the Thousand Poisons Mountain.

Su Chen’s pursuer obviously didn’t expect this sudden change in direction from Su Chen and was also taken aback. But after a moment, they also followed Su Chen down.

If Su Chen had chosen to not leave the Thousand Poisons Mountain, that would actually save him quite a bit of energy.

In the next moment, however, the leader’s expression drastically changed. “Not good!”

He realized that Su Chen was heading for a very specific location.

To be more precise, he was headed towards one of the forbidden areas of Thousand Poisons Mountain.

Fate’s Hands might have been able to salvage a recipe for a general antidote from that one Arcana Master, but it was not a universal cure yet. There were a few poisons that were so powerful that even this general antidote was powerless against. As such, these areas had been labeled as off-limits by Fate’s Hands.

At this moment, the leader’s target was headed for exactly one such location.

The leader didn’t know why his target had changed directions towards a forbidden area, but he knew that if he didn’t stop his target now, he would probably never see those treasures of his ever again.

Rumble!

A pitch-black hand began to descend from the black cloud, reaching out to grab Su Chen.

The shocking amount of power behind the grab made Su Chen feel as if the entire sky around him was falling down.

Of course, this hand was not actually immeasurable. Rather, its area of effect was so great and the pressure coming off of it so strong that Su Chen couldn’t help but feel this way.

No wonder Arcana Techniques had dominated the cultivation system for millenia.

Unfortunately, Su Chen had no interest in admiring the strength of a legendary Arcana Technique. When he saw the domineering hand descend from the sky, his figure suddenly flickered and reappeared ten thousand feet away, dodging the legendary Arcana Master’s attempts to grab him.

The legendary Arcana Master never expected this thief to possess such far-reaching teleportation abilities. Even he wasn’t able to teleport that far in one jump.

His desire to capture Su Chen intensified even more. If he was able to squeeze some secret techniques out of Su Chen, that would be quite a big blessing. As such, he gritted his teeth and activated another secret technique. Su Chen suddenly felt like the space around him had congealed.

“My goodness…...” Su Chen was dazed.

This skill was somewhat similar to his Sumeru Void in that it also sealed space, but wasn’t it covering too big of a region? It had actually affected an area equivalent to at least a hundred Sumeru Voids.

Su Chen found himself unable to move, and even teleporting…...

Hm? He could still use it.

Su Chen activated Whitetower Teleportation. Even though the teleportation distance was much smaller than usual, he could still use it.

This meant that his opponent wasn’t actually using spatial lockdown and was instead using brute force to hinder the Origin Energy surrounding Su Chen. But because Su Chen’s Whitetower Teleportation was a purely spatial technique, it was able to easily overpower the opponent’s technique despite the fact that the opponent was much stronger than him.

Upon realizing this, Su Chen was delighted. He continued to descend as he tossed out a few droplets of blood, which scattered towards the ground.

When the legendary Arcana Master saw that his attempt to stop his opponent’s descent had failed, he immediately realized that Su Chen’s teleportation abilities were spatial-oriented rather than purely Origin Energy-oriented. This explained why Su Chen had been able to teleport so far. As such, the legendary Arcana Master’s desire to capture Su Chen only grew further.

When he saw his opponent about to enter the forbidden area, the legendary Arcana Master yelled, “Don’t go down there! You’ll die!”

Oh? You’re concerned about me?

Su Chen laughed as he shouted back, “Thanks for your concern!”

However, he continued to descend.

But just moments after he said that, he suddenly came to a halt, as if something was blocking him and preventing him from descending any further.

Su Chen was stunned. He glanced around him but couldn’t find anything blocking his path. What was stopping him from descending further?

Just as he was looking around in surprise, he suddenly saw four words appear in the sky. Thin strands were attached to the words floating in the sky, anchoring Su Chen to them.

This is…...

“Thanks for your concern?” Su Chen read out these four words suspended in the air, which he had just uttered. However, the words hadn’t dissipated and had actually taken on a physical form.

His words should have been transmitted via sound waves through the air, making them an invisible existence. However, the strength of the legendary Arcana Master was able to give these words physical substance.

What kind of Arcana Technique was this?

That was simply too shocking, wasn’t it?

Because these four words had taken on real physical substance, Su Chen was now stopped in his tracks and couldn’t continue to descend.

The pitch-black hand descended from the sky yet again, grabbing at Su Chen.

Su Chen knew that he was in a tight spot. His wings spread open as a wave of lightning, wind, and fire burst forth from him.

Boom!

The three elements merged together and collided with the four words.

These words were merely formed from the power of a legendary Arcana Master. Even though they were sturdy, they were not linked to the Arcana Master himself. As such, the words quickly began to show signs of shattering under the heavy bombardment unleashed by Su Chen.

The legendary Arcana Master was greatly agitated. He was really going all out in his attempt to catch Su Chen, bringing out all of the trump cards that he possessed.

Three of the words exploded, but just as “concern” was about to shatter, it suddenly began to glow with a golden light.

A powerful surge of energy suddenly stabilized the word “concern,” simultaneously sending a boundless aura through the sky.

“What is this?” Even Su Chen was taken aback.

He knew that this legendary Arcana Master definitely wasn’t simple, but he had no idea that his abilities had reached this extent. Not only could he solidify the words that Su Chen spoke, but he could even “gild” Su Chen’s words?

What kind of mysterious power was that?

Legendary Arcana Masters weren't just more powerful, faster, or more flexible. They possessed skills that other people simply couldn't even begin to comprehend.

The aura emanating from the word "concern" was incredibly powerful and almost inconceivably so. It was obvious that this was not achievable through just Origin Energy alone.

So was there a kind of energy in this world besides Origin Energy?

Su Chen wondered.

However, there was not much point in him thinking about this much longer. The hand in the sky was already descending towards him again.

Su Chen, however, merely chuckled when faced with this hand.

After all, he had also picked up some new tricks along the way.

As he smiled and looked up at the sky, a profound, mystical aura suddenly began to explode forth from his body.

This aura didn't come from Origin Energy alone.

This aura was so great and profound that the legendary Arcana Master immediately sensed it as soon as it appeared. He was greatly shocked. "How is this possible? How can he......"

An explosion of thunder and lightning burst forth from the sky and actually blocked the hand in the sky from descending further. This mysterious power of Su Chen’s was manifested differently from the legendary Arcana Master’s, but it was similar in terms of its intrinsic properties.

Even the power of a legendary Arcana Master wasn't able to subjugate this wave of thunder and wind energy, and the word "concern" eventually crumbled under its pressure.

One of the fragments shot in Su Chen's direction. He surreptitiously grabbed it before his figure flickered and disappeared without a trace. When he reappeared, he was much further down than before.

He had used his clone teleportation skill. This allowed him to teleport much further than with his Whitetower Teleportation, and the restrictions on its usage were less as well. As such, he was able to finally escape from the clutches of the legendary Arcana Master and reappear near the surface of the Thousand Poisons Mountain.

“NO!” The legendary Arcana Master howled angrily in frustration.

Su Chen’s figure flickered once again as he reappeared on the surface of the Thousand Poisons Mountain.

Su Chen felt his legs wobble before giving out, a side effect from forcibly teleporting twice in rapid succession. As his legs gave out, he fell to his knees.

However, he still laughed.

Because he had won.

The legendary Arcana Master didn’t dare follow him down here.

Even though he was powerful, he wasn’t invincible. He didn’t dare take on the poison in this area either.

“Well then…… Goodbye.” Su Chen smiled up at the sky one last time as his figure darted into the forest, disappearing without a trace.