After escaping from the city, Ding Yan headed eastward, attempting to shake off the loose immortal's pursuit by using the terrain.
However, to his surprise, the loose immortal with the surname Hua pursued him relentlessly, like maggots sticking to bones, using every means to eventually catch up to him. There were even several close calls where Ding Yan almost fell into the hands of the old man.
Two days later...
In the eastern realm, a remote free city; an astonishing aura approached from a distance, stopping directly above the city. It then transformed into a person, who was none other than the middle-aged man with the surname Hua from the Huafu Gate.
In the eastern realm, there were tens of thousands of cities with a total population of several billion. However, the existence of loose immortals was less than a thousand. Every loose immortal was a prominent figure, and even the weakest of them could rule over nearly a dozen cities. As for the cities without a loose immortal presence, apart from parts controlled by sects, the rest were called free cities.
The appearance of a loose immortal quickly attracted the attention of the people in the city.
Inside the city, Ding Yan's complexion was slightly pale, his right hand supporting his chest area, coughing twice.
After several days of escape, Ding Yan had passed through nearly a dozen cities, narrowly escaping the old guy several times. If it weren't for his experience and knowledge from his previous life, he would've been devoured by the old man. Nevertheless, Ding Yan had also suffered serious injuries. If he didn't find a place to recover in time, it would likely have an impact on his future cultivation.
The middle-aged man with the surname Hua stood in the void above the city, his powerful divine sense sweeping unreservedly through the entire city.
This was a loose immortal!
He had no need to hold back, because they were the elevated existence, and ordinary cultivators were nothing more than ants in their eyes.
"A loose immortal?"
"It's actually a loose immortal..."
"I wonder why this esteemed guest has come?" murmured the cultivators in the city.
Behind a alley, Ding Yan felt the crazy divine sense sweeping over again, and coughed twice.
"I never expected that after becoming a loose immortal, my divine sense would transform into immortal sense... This time, I miscalculated," Ding Yan's eyes shimmered.
Originally, in Ding Yan's estimation, the strength of a loose immortal who had not crossed the Heavenly Tribulation was only slightly better than a Foundation Establishment cultivator. With his experience and knowledge, it should have been easy to escape. However, he never expected that in this world, after becoming a loose immortal, the divine sense would transform into immortal sense!
A small mistake nearly cost Ding Yan his life!
"I underestimated the cultivators of this world. I never thought I would be forced to use the Turtle Breath technique..."
The Turtle Breath technique was a supernatural power that Ding Yan practiced in his previous life. This power couldn't be used to attack enemies or to escape, but only as a means of healing injuries and prolonging one's lifespan. After using the Turtle Breath technique, the cultivator's consciousness would greatly weaken and enter a state of pseudo-death.
In Ding Yan's memory, the people who practiced this technique were mainly those eccentric old beings whose lifespans were nearing their end. Due to their limited lifespans, these old beings would generally be in a state of Turtle Breath. They would only appear when their sect faced a great crisis or when a great opportunity arose. This was also the reason why powerful sects had old beings who had survived for over five or six thousand years.
However, the Turtle Breath technique Ding Yan was using didn't put him in a state of pseudo-death. Instead, it weakened his cultivation and life force to almost that of an ordinary person.
By taking advantage of the bustling population in this city, Ding Yan believed that the elderly man surnamed Hua would definitely not sense his presence.
In the sky, the middle-aged man surnamed Hua retracted his divine sense, frowning in silence.
After two days of pursuit, Ding Yan had surprised him too many times. His several attempts to kill had all been evaded by the other party. Particularly since yesterday, his sense of Ding Yan had become weaker and weaker, to the point that now he couldn't feel any trace of the other party at all.
"That kid must have discovered some ancient immortal heritage and gained a lot of benefits from it! He can even evade my divine sense." Thinking of this, a malicious glint flashed in the eyes of the middle-aged man surnamed Hua.
"Since that's the case..."
After some hesitation, the middle-aged man surnamed Hua seemed to have made a decision. He reached into his sleeve and slowly took out an item.
It was a semi-transparent droplet. Holding it in his hand, it was about the size of an infant's fist, exuding a palpable breath of terror.
"You like to hide, don't you? Then I'll destroy this city along with you. When the time comes, let's see if you choose death or come out on your own!" Speaking directly, the middle-aged man surnamed Hua directly crushed the semi-transparent droplet in his hand.
Instantly, a terrifying aura surged.
A thick aura of immortality emanated from the middle-aged man surnamed Hua's body, intimidating the souls of others. In that moment, he seemed to have become an immortal, exuding a frightening aura.
"Immortal energy! That rogue cultivator actually used immortal energy..."
"Immortal energy, a legendary substance that not even all rogue cultivators can necessarily refine! Only those rogue cultivators with special techniques can refine a grain after ten years of effort, and he actually used it like this!"
Among the crowd, many extraordinary individuals recognized the origin of the semi-transparent droplet in the middle-aged man surnamed Hua's hand at a glance.
"What is he up to!"
Some alert cultivators sensed that something was wrong and immediately turned to flee out of the city.
"He's going to destroy the city... Run!"
"Who has offended this influential figure... Damn it!"
...
Although Ding Yan, hiding in the corner, didn't understand what immortal energy was, observing the reactions of the crowd, he got a general idea.
Looking at the middle-aged man surnamed Hua, who seemed like an immortal in the sky, a deep sense of shock appeared in Ding Yan's eyes.
"Is this the method of a rogue cultivator?! This is something that ordinary cultivators simply can't achieve..."
The middle-aged man surnamed Hua stood in the void, feeling the surging power within him. He seemed somewhat intoxicated as he said, "It's a pity for the immortal energy that the sect master gave me... But as long as I can catch that kid, it's worth it. An ancient heritage, I wonder what that kid has obtained from it..."
Having been repeatedly eluded by Ding Yan, the shapeshifting middle-aged man was completely certain of his speculation.
It had to be an ancient heritage, otherwise, a Qi Refining cultivator would never have been able to escape from his grasp.
If Ding Yan knew the middle-aged man surnamed Hua's suspicion, he wouldn't know what to make of it.
The middle-aged man surnamed Hua stood in the void, extending his right hand and forming it into a palm, then gently pressing down!
Boom!
A massive palm print appeared directly on the sturdy city wall, causing rubble to fly in all directions.
Immortal energy!
The power condensed by immortals.
Whether there were immortals in this world, Ding Yan didn't know. Even in his previous life, he had never seen one. His knowledge about immortals was merely gleaned from ancient literature. The hidden treasure he had stumbled upon back then was where he had learned about this.
The immortal energy in the hands of the middle-aged man surnamed Hua was obviously not refined by an immortal. Because the power within it was evidently mixed, although it contained some immortal energy, it was clearly interspersed with a large amount of elemental energy. This was why the immortal energy was not pure but semi-transparent.
In fact, that was the case.
The immortal energy in the hands of the middle-aged man surnamed Hua was refined from the extraterrestrial space by the Elder Supreme of the Formless Gate. The cultivation of the Elder Supreme of the Formless Gate, like the Elder in seclusion within the Lianhua Valley, had both overcome an Immortal Tribulation.
However, even so, the core essence of the immortal energy remained unchanged.
The middle-aged man surnamed Hua's strength had been raised to a level of near Immortal Tribulation by this grain of immortal energy.
Of course, immortal energy was not all-powerful, and the enhancement of strength was only temporary. After the time it took to have a cup of tea, this power would dissipate, and the middle-aged man surnamed Hua, due to using immortal energy, would enter a brief period of weakness.
Boom!
Another palm strike.
The middle-aged man surnamed Hua directly ruptured the city gate and caused most of the city wall to collapse, killing many ground-dwelling residents by shock. Virtually all the rogue cultivators who had escaped outside the city during the chaos were shattered by the middle-aged man surnamed Hua's palm.
The strength of a rogue cultivator was not enough to destroy a city. If the middle-aged man surnamed Hua had not used immortal energy, there might have been many cultivators who would have taken advantage of the chaos to flee. In such a situation, the middle-aged man surnamed Hua, as a rogue cultivator, also couldn't guarantee that Ding Yan wouldn't escape under his nose.
To be on the safe side, and for the sake of the divine spell in Ding Yan's hands, the middle-aged man surnamed Hua directly used immortal energy to prepare to slaughter all the people in the city without leaving a single one.
The ground shook and the bluestones rose.
Fear and despair filled the city.
Rogue cultivators, positioned high above, couldn't make a move even if they wanted to.
"Is this the rule of survival in this world?" Ding Yan silently murmured as he looked at the dispersed immortal in the sky.