Translator: CinderTL
"You won't escape!"
Seeing Ye Bing vanish underground, Du'e willed a two-foot-long Demon Subduing Pestle to materialize.
The pestle blazed with Buddha's Light, spinning rapidly before piercing the spot where Ye Bing had disappeared.
At that moment, Du'e's expression shifted as he turned toward Song Wen.
Miles above the island, Song Wen had finally been overtaken by the towering Buddha's Hand Seal.
The moment the seal touched him, Song Wen exploded into a shower of flesh and blood.
The fragments resembled weathered, decayed wood—dry, brittle, and utterly devoid of blood.
"A Substitute Puppet!"
Du'e's gaze sharpened. His divine sense rapidly expanded, instantly locating Song Wen's true form hovering over a thousand miles to the east.
"Go!"
With a soft command, Du'e summoned a foot-long Precept Blade.
The blade sliced through the air, hurtling after Song Wen.
Simultaneously, Du'e dispelled the Buddha's Hand Seal.
The Bodhi Spirit Core on Ice Ling Island was his target; the seal's impact would have destroyed both the island and the core.
As for the dozen or so low-level female cultivators on the island, Du'e annihilated them with a single strand of spiritual power, shattering their bodies and scattering their souls.
Du'e soon realized he faced a far more troublesome situation than he had anticipated.
The thick rock deep beneath the earth exerted a significant suppressive effect on divine sense, but fortunately, Du'e could still sense Ye Bing's presence.
The Demon Subduing Pestle pierced through over two hundred miles of sludge and then another two hundred miles of rock, reaching a depth of nearly five hundred miles underground.
At this depth, Ye Bing was rapidly moving westward.
As the Demon Subduing Pestle shattered through the rock layers, its power and speed were severely hampered. After finally catching up to Ye Bing, it was blocked by a deep azure ice shield she had conjured.
Currently, Du'e's best strategy was to closely follow Ye Bing and wait for the Earth Evasion Talisman's effect to wear off. At that point, Ye Bing would either have to surface or continue drilling through the rock, tunneling deeper underground.
If Ye Bing chose the former, she would be walking straight into a trap.
If she chose the latter, her speed would be further reduced, making her an easier target for Du'e to kill.
Meanwhile, on the other side...
After Song Wen was overtaken and slain by the Precept Blade, only a shattered Corpse Puppet remained. His true body had already appeared over twenty-eight hundred miles away from Du'e, nearing the extreme limit of Du'e's divine sense range.
This meant that no matter which target Du'e chose to pursue, the other could seize the opportunity to escape.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Du'e shifted his stance and moved eastward.
Song Wen carried a secret of the Divine Blood Gate, a secret known only to its inner circle. Killing him and delivering his corpse to the Veiled Moon Hall would undoubtedly earn a substantial reward. This was a win-win situation: eliminating Song Wen, the extortionist, while currying favor with both the Veiled Moon Hall and the Divine Blood Gate.
As for Ye Bing, she was fleeing deep underground. Du'e could sense her movements, but she couldn't detect his presence above ground. To maximize her distance from Du'e, Ye Bing would likely continue moving in a straight line.
Du'e was confident that after dealing with Song Wen, capturing Ye Bing would be as easy as reaching out and grabbing her.
While pursuing Song Wen, he once again activated the Precept Blade, slashing at him.
Sensing a sudden chill behind him, Song Wen thought grimly, "I've finally managed to draw Du'e away. Ye Bing should be able to escape now. This repays her kindness in refining the Void Union Primordial Breakthrough Pill and revealing the secrets of advancing to the Void Refinement Stage. If she still can't escape, it's not my fault."
With this thought, Song Wen turned to face Du'e.
"Du'e, you fool! How dare you chase this young master! Once I escape safely, I'll report you to my sect and have your Dry Zen Temple razed to the ground!"
"Hmph! Brat, don't think you can deceive this humble monk! Die!"
No sooner had Du'e spoken than the Precept Blade pierced through Song Wen's chest.
Song Wen's body instantly shattered into five pieces, yet not a drop of blood was spilled.
Another Substitute Puppet! How many does he have? Du'e wondered inwardly.
He then noticed that Song Wen had stopped fleeing eastward. His true form had reappeared fifteen hundred miles to the northeast.
Du'e was about to change direction to pursue him when he saw Song Wen suddenly self-destruct, smashing his own head with a palm strike.
This, too, was merely a Corpse Puppet.
Song Wen reappeared again, now three thousand miles to the northeast.
Yet the moment he materialized, he once more shattered his own head with a palm strike.
To Du'e's astonishment, he suddenly lost all sense of Song Wen's presence.
By using three Substitute Puppets in rapid succession, Song Wen had performed three consecutive teleportations, escaping beyond the range of Du'e's perception.
A sudden unease gripped Du'e's heart.
Song Wen had used five Substitute Puppets right under his nose, far exceeding anything he had ever witnessed.
Even cultivators who mastered life-substitution arts could typically only create one or two Substitute Puppets in their lifetime. Attempting more risked damaging their souls, leaving irreparable wounds.
Disciples from major sects often possessed spiritual objects capable of repairing their souls or primordial spirits, allowing them to craft more Substitute Puppets, typically three to five.
However, these puppets represented the total number they could create in their entire lives.
A cultivator's life was inevitably punctuated by life-threatening crises. Consequently, the higher a cultivator's cultivation level, the fewer Substitute Puppets they tended to possess, having long since exhausted their supply.
Many Divine Transformation and Void Refinement Stage cultivators had no Substitute Puppets left, having used them all. The scarcity of high-grade spiritual objects capable of repairing primordial spirits prevented them from crafting new ones.
Du'e began to doubt his earlier judgment.
He now suspected the man's claims might be true—that he was indeed a disciple of the Divine Blood Gate.
This realization didn't deter him from pursuing Song Wen; on the contrary, it strengthened his resolve to eliminate him.
If Song Wen returned alive to the Veiled Moon Hall or the Divine Blood Gate, Du'e would face certain death, and the Dry Zen Temple would be implicated as well.
Du'e pushed his escape speed to its limit, swiftly arriving at Song Wen's last known location.
The man couldn't possibly keep using Substitute Puppets indefinitely.
Whenever he reappeared and activated his escape speed, traces of spiritual power would inevitably linger.
By tracking these residual traces, Du'e could pinpoint Song Wen's location.
However, when he unleashed his divine sense without reservation, covering a radius of nearly three thousand miles, he detected no signs of living beings.
"How is this possible? Does he truly possess an inexhaustible supply of Substitute Puppets?"
Sensing impending danger, Du'e had no choice but to head northeast, continuing his search for Song Wen's trail.
(End of the Chapter)
Translator's Corner
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