He actually dared to use a Magic Treasure?
The thought had barely formed when the phantom of the Heaven-Piercing Giant Sword materialized before him.
In an instant, the Seven Stars Kunwu Sword and Guang Jinglong collided. At the last moment, Guang Jinglong managed to raise his broad black blade in defense.
Boom!
A tremendous explosion shook the void, its shockwave rocking the Immortal Boat hovering above.
High above, Han Yi was sent flying by the terrifying blast.
Whoosh!
The Seven Stars Kunwu Sword pierced through the heart of the explosion, intercepting Chao Tianzong's severed head as it plummeted to the ground. At that very moment, a hazy gray Soul Body emerged from the head.
Struggling to shake off its disorientation, the Soul Body angrily looked up, only to see a purple sword descending from the heavens. The sword radiated an aura that made even his Divine Soul tremble—an oppressive force that paralyzed his very essence.
"I..." Chao Tianzong's soul recoiled in terror.
Boom!
The earth trembled violently, and the ancient forest was utterly destroyed.
High above, Han Yi's expression darkened.
Even Han Yi was astonished by the power of the strike.
The Seven Stars Kunwu Sword was merely a Low-Grade Magic Treasure bestowed upon him by the Great Qian Emperor. Based on his calculations, its power should have been only half of what he had just witnessed. Yet it had proven far stronger than he anticipated.
The thought flashed through his mind and was immediately dismissed. The greater the sword's power, the more it would benefit him.
Han Yi turned, his gaze fixed on the Black-Robed Evil Witch impaled by the Blacklight Sword, his body tensed for battle.
With a gentle gesture, he summoned the Blacklight Sword embedded in the Immortal Boat above. The sword trembled but remained firmly lodged in place. The previous strike had been too swift and forceful, driving the blade deep into the vessel. Even his Divine Sense couldn't dislodge it.
This was partly due to his earlier activation of the Seven Stars Kunwu Sword's full power. His Mana and Divine Sense had been significantly depleted.
Reluctantly, Han Yi tossed the Fire Mist Sword into the air. The blade descended at a leisurely pace, easily severing the head of the slowly falling Black-Robed Evil Witch.
Han Yi retreated slightly, letting the witch's body and severed head tumble into the still-churning forest below.
A moment later...
Below, the dust settled, and the forest fell silent, revealing a scene of utter devastation. Yet, no soul body emerged from the corpse of the Black-Robed Evil Witch, leaving Han Yi puzzled.
Controlling the Fire Mist Sword, he peeled back the witch's black robe, his pupils constricting sharply.
Beneath the robe, the witch's head bore a grotesque face, undeniably inhuman in Han Yi's eyes.
The skin was ashen-gray, the eyes narrow and elongated, their unblinking crimson pupils like tiny bloodstains. There were no ears, not even earlobes, and the hair shared the same lifeless gray hue as the skin.
The sight filled Han Yi with primal terror. He hastily threw down an Exploding Talisman, incinerating the witch's head completely.
Then, he began gathering the scattered magic artifacts. The Bearded Man's broad black blade had been utterly destroyed by the Seven Stars Kunwu Sword, shattered into fragments strewn across the ground. His physical body, Divine Soul, and the storage pouch attached to his body had all been annihilated by the magic sword.
However, the Yinjiu Youth's whip and storage pouch remained intact.
As for the Evil Witch's belongings, Han Yi dared not touch a single item.
Han Yi soared into the sky on his sword, scanning the surroundings for any further anomalies. Finding none, he swooped down toward the Immortal Boat, intent on retrieving the Blacklight Sword embedded beneath it. To his surprise, the blade refused to budge on his first attempt.
He took a deep breath, unleashing his Divine Sense and channeling his Mana. With considerable effort, he slowly pried the Blacklight Sword free. Behind the Immortal Boat, the wound left by the sword writhed visibly, healing at a remarkable pace.
As he withdrew the sword, Han Yi felt an unusual pang of exhaustion, a testament to the near-full extent he had exerted himself in this battle. A Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator combined with a Black-Robed Evil Witch effectively amounted to facing two Late Foundation Establishment cultivators, with the witch possessing far more sinister abilities.
Clutching the Blacklight Sword, Han Yi's brow suddenly lit up with realization. Could this Immortal Boat be a Magic Treasure?
He flew onto the deck and flooded the vessel with his Divine Sense, a flicker of excitement crossing his face. Typically, Immortal Boats, like Magic Artifacts, retained Divine Soul Restrictions after being refined. Yet this higher-grade vessel was unclaimed, meaning any cultivator who boarded, inserted Spirit Stones into its control core, and possessed sufficient Divine Sense could commandeer it.
Han Yi's earlier attempt to pilot the Immortal Boat had been prompted by the bearded man's statement that it had been temporarily borrowed from a Hall Master of the Fragrant Teachings.
Since it was borrowed, it shouldn't have a Divine Soul Restriction.
Moreover, this high-grade Immortal Boat was indeed a Magic Treasure. As expected, only magic treasure immortal boats possessed an automatic repair function.
This discovery filled Han Yi with wild joy.
After his initial elation, Han Yi began to pilot the Immortal Boat, hurtling it forward.
This magic treasure-grade Immortal Boat had a control center with a full one hundred slots for Spirit Stones. The number of slots indirectly reflected the boat's quality, making it far superior to a Human Immortal-grade Immortal Boat.
Currently, fifty of these one hundred slots were already filled with Spirit Stones.
Although the immediate danger of pursuit had vanished, Han Yi remained wary of other potential threats. He particularly feared encountering the Fragrant Teachings Hall Master, the boat's owner—a Golden Core cultivator. If such a confrontation occurred, even with his Magic Treasure, escape would be nearly impossible.
Han Yi didn't hesitate with the Spirit Stones. He immediately retrieved fifty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and slotted them into the grooves.
Then, his Divine Sense surged, pushing the high-grade Immortal Boat to its maximum speed. Crashing through space, it traversed vast distances in the blink of an eye. Within three breaths, it had vanished completely.
Half an hour later, the Immortal Boat reappeared, now hurtling in the opposite direction toward Shu Capital.
Aboard the vessel, Han Yi's expression was grave.
He had experienced a sudden flash of inspiration, using the Yi Yao Secret Technique to obscure the Heavenly Secrets surrounding his recent killings, preventing pursuers from tracing the threads of causality. However, within the technique, he detected a faint but ominous sign.
No matter how he concealed the Heavenly Secrets, a persistent bloodlight materialized.
This revelation terrified him.
"The pursuit isn't over yet," Han Yi realized.
The moment the thought formed, he abruptly halted the Immortal Boat. Without hesitation, he spun it around and raced back toward Shu Capital.
Having already expended a Magic Treasure, his Spirit Sea's mana was severely depleted, and his Divine Soul's strength had significantly diminished. Encountering even a Late Foundation Establishment cultivator now would be perilous. Retreating to Shu Capital offered at least temporary security.
Continuing onward meant courting death beneath the ominous glow of the bloodlight.
Once he reached Shu Capital and recovered, he could seize another opportunity to return to the Profound Pill Sect via a different route.
This was Han Yi's new plan.
The Immortal Boat turned back, covering twenty li—a distance it could traverse in less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, given its speed.
Half an incense stick's time after Han Yi's departure, a figure emerged from the void. Without a single magic artifact beneath his feet, the man strolled effortlessly across the void.
A True Person.
A Golden Core True Person.
This middle-aged man carried a longsword strapped to his back, its hilt and sheath crafted from ancient bronze. Stepping out of the void and descending into the mountain forest, he quickly surveyed the scene and grasped what had transpired.
"Han Yi of the Heaven's Will Sect?" he murmured. "Daring to covet even my Immortal Boat? You're practically begging for death."
The longsword behind the man levitated into the air, its broad, blunt-edged bronze blade hovering horizontally in the void. He stepped onto the blade, activated Sword Flight, and soared into the sky with a speed thirty percent faster than Han Yi's high-quality Immortal Boat.
This was the full-throttle burst of a Golden Core True Person—naturally far surpassing the speed of an Immortal Boat.
Without hesitation, he pursued a direct course toward Shu Capital, as if certain of Han Yi's escape route.
Meanwhile, Han Yi, having already traveled ten li aboard the Immortal Boat, encountered another patrol of Great Qian's official cultivators. He invoked the name of the Profound Pill Sect to pass smoothly, but the brief delay cost him valuable time.
When Han Yi was still a kilometer from the Shu Capital Immortal Sect, a sudden sense of danger struck him. He whirled around to see a figure streaking across the sky, rapidly closing the ten-li distance from the path he had just flown.
The cultivator traveling the same route had also been stopped, but after presenting some kind of token, he was quickly allowed to pass.
From nine li away, Han Yi couldn't make out the details, but a surge of urgency exploded in his heart.
This cultivator was hunting him down.
A Late Foundation Establishment cultivator, or perhaps even a Golden Core True Person.
Remembering the words of the three Fragrant Teachings Preaching Envoys, he realized the Immortal Boat beneath him belonged to the Fragrant Church Master.
The answer was obvious.
His pursuer was the Fragrant Church Master himself, and the only reason he could catch up so quickly was this Immortal Boat.
I've been careless.
Han Yi's heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat broke out on his skin. He frantically poured his Divine Sense into the Immortal Boat, urging it onward. As soon as he entered the Immortal City, he leaped off the vessel, activated his Sword Flight, and descended into a bustling market district.
The Immortal Boat continued its rapid flight, but without his Divine Sense guiding it, its speed plummeted by at least half.
After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the unmanned Immortal Boat had automatically traveled to the central region of the Ninth Immortal Ring. The middle-aged man who had pursued it by sword flight finally caught up. Upon confirming that the boat was unoccupied, his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed deeply.
"To simply abandon a Magic Treasure-grade Immortal Boat..."
"This Han Yi of the Heaven's Will Sect is no ordinary individual."
With a casual wave of his hand, the flying Immortal Boat gradually shrank until it was no larger than his palm, which he then stored in his Storage Ring.
"However, daring to kill three Preaching Envoys of the Holy Church—including core members like Tang Yuexi and Guang Jinglong—this person must die by my hand."
"Even if he manages to evade me for a while, he can't hide forever. As long as he remains in Shu Capital, I will find him."
The middle-aged man resumed his sword flight, crossing the boundary between the Ninth and Eighth Immortal Rings, and landed within the sprawling compound of a major sect.
Any cultivator familiar with Shu Capital's layout would immediately recognize this as the headquarters of the Southern Dipper Divine Palace, one of the Three Great Sects of Great Qian.
Meanwhile, after escaping from the Immortal Boat in the Ninth Immortal Ring, Han Yi oriented himself using the map Zhou Su had provided. He flew for two hours by sword flight, avoiding random landings, and instead headed directly to a specific district marked on the map. There, he descended before the Ten Thousand Immortals Inn, a towering pavilion.
The Ten Thousand Immortals Inn, like the Flying Immortal Pavilion, was owned by the Myriad Immortals Pavilion.
As Great Qian's undisputed premier Merchant Guild, the Myriad Immortals Pavilion had holdings in virtually every sector. Backed by a formidable patron—rumored to be an Imperial Son—its unparalleled influence allowed it to expand virtually unopposed.
Within Great Qian, the Myriad Immortals Pavilion's brand reigned supreme.
Though its inns charged double the price of comparable establishments elsewhere, Han Yi rented a room for two months. After all, even a Golden Core cultivator wouldn't dare court death by provoking the Myriad Immortals Pavilion.
You get what you pay for, Han Yi conceded.
He locked the door, activated the inn's Meditation Chamber's protective Formation Arts, and then deployed his own Seven Stars Profound Origin Formation, enveloping the thirty-square-meter room. Only then did he finally exhale in relief.
A sudden thought struck him. He attempted to divine the future using the Yi Yao Secret Technique, but this time the Heavenly Secrets remained obscured, and the threads of Causality refused to reveal themselves.
That's right. This is Shu Capital, just like Jia Mountain City. The national fortune of Great Qian suppresses divination arts here. Techniques for discerning Heavenly Secrets and tracing Causality simply won't function.
Han Yi's brow furrowed briefly before relaxing. Resigned, he inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. A muffled thunder-like resonance filled the Meditation Chamber, lingering for a long time before fading into silence.
Clearing his mind of the swirling thoughts, Han Yi retrieved a Mid-Grade Spirit Stone and began cultivating.
Initially, his mind was restless, but through gradual self-suggestion, he slowly calmed down. He drew in Spirit Qi, circulating it according to the Great Sun Divine Gang Technique, and refined it into his body's Mana.
Seven days later, Han Yi opened his eyes. Beside him, where he sat cross-legged, lay dozens of Spirit Stone husks. A beam of golden light erupted from his eyes, momentarily illuminating the dim Meditation Chamber with blinding brilliance. The golden radiance slowly faded, and the chamber returned to normal.
Over the past week, he had fully recovered. His Spirit Sea overflowed with Mana, and his Sea of Consciousness held a stable Divine Soul.
"Fragrant Teachings," Han Yi murmured, his face grim.
He began to replay the battle from seven days ago.
"Based on what the Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator said, they must have tried to intercept me once before, back in Jia Mountain City, but they failed."
"Right. At that time, Zheng Hai was aboard my Immortal Boat. The boat wasn't traveling at its usual speed but at full throttle, and I was using my Divine Sense at full capacity. If their Immortal Boat wasn't as advanced as mine, they couldn't have kept up."
"That explains it."
"After that, they borrowed a more powerful Immortal Boat from a Hall Master of the Fragrant Teachings. This time, they were able to catch up to me after I left Shu Capital, taking full advantage of the boat's superior speed."
"But this raises a critical question."
"How did they track me down?"
A flicker of doubt crossed Han Yi's face. From Mengshan City to Shu Capital, his Immortal Boat had maintained a steady speed, and he hadn't been pursued along the way. This suggested that the Fragrant Teachings were unaware of his movements when he left Mengshan City.
However, after his departure from Shu Capital, they clearly knew his location, allowing them to close the distance. This revealed a glaring problem:
Han Yi's movements in Shu Capital had been leaked to the Fragrant Teachings.
"The Profound Immortal Pill Shop, the Fu Clan at twenty-seven locations, Great Qian's official cultivators, the Flying Immortal Pavilion—these were the factions I interacted with in Shu Capital. The leak must have come from one of them."
"As one of Great Qian's largest evil sects, the Fragrant Evil Cult likely has intelligence networks infiltrating these very organizations."
"Regardless, I should avoid contact with anyone from these groups as much as possible."
"After waiting a while, I'll leave Shu Capital through a different route and travel at full speed."
With his plan settled, Han Yi began to review the battle.
To be honest, it hadn't been easy, especially against those two exceptional Mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators.
The Black-Robed Evil Witch was a Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator.
Her initial shamanic art, targeting the Divine Soul, was particularly treacherous. Had it been anyone but Han Yi—even another Mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator or a Late Foundation Establishment expert—they would have undoubtedly fallen victim. Dazed and confused, they would have been coerced into swallowing the Soul-Severing Pill, shattering their Divine Soul and rendering them unconscious, making them easy prey.
Furthermore, even after Han Yi used the Ninefold Soul Tower to block the strange soul-targeting fluctuations, he had to kill the Black-Robed Evil Witch three times before finally eliminating her.
The stone and wooden figurines were both forms of the Substitute Death Art.
The materials required for this art were exceptionally malevolent, involving the capture and use of living souls in vast quantities. A single stone figurine might require the slaughter of thousands of mortals or dozens of cultivators of similar rank to create.
Of course, the Black-Robed Evil Witch's repertoire extended far beyond the Substitute Death Art. Had Han Yi not acted decisively, suppressing her with the Blacklight Sword's overwhelming force, who knew what other sinister shamanic arts she might have unleashed upon him?
The bearded man, a Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator, was no pushover either. His technique of trapping enemies with blade shadows was something Han Yi had never encountered before, leaving him genuinely astonished.
Had they engaged in a conventional fight, Han Yi suspected his Fire Mist Sword would have been shattered by the man's thick, broad blade.
Given the uncertain situation and Han Yi's fear that prolonging the battle might draw other Preaching Envoys or the mysterious Hall Master, he immediately drew his Seven Stars Kunwu Sword and blasted the bearded man apart with a single strike.
Dying beneath the Seven Stars Kunwu Sword was no injustice; it was Han Yi's most formidable weapon.
As for the Yinjiu Youth Han Yi had killed earlier, he was merely an ordinary Mid-Foundation Establishment cultivator. Just like the Li Clan Second Elder, Han Yi had dispatched him with effortless ease.
In short, this battle against two formidable Mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators—the Black-Robed Evil Witch and the Spirit-Body Dual Cultivator—was far from easy for Han Yi, marked by both peril and narrow escapes.
"And that Evil Witch... she was actually a Soulless One."
Another realization struck Han Yi. In the heat of battle, he hadn't had time to fully process everything. Now, reflecting on the events, this bizarre detail came to light.
"Could it be another Substitute Death Art?"
"But that corpse was truly terrifying... even I found it unnerving."
"Southern Border Evil Witches."
The four words filled Han Yi's heart with dread.
The Profound Pill Sect's Scripture Pavilion contained records of Qi Refining disciples and Foundation Establishment Elders who had occasionally ventured into the Southern Border.
Located beyond Great Qian's southwestern frontier, the Southern Border stretched across the landscape like a long, narrow mountain range. Though its area was less than one-tenth the size of Great Qian, the region was incredibly treacherous. Ancient trees pierced the sky, ancient demons and beasts roamed freely, and Evil Witch Tribes worshipped malevolent Evil Immortals and Evil Gods. Cultivators who dared to enter the Southern Border faced a nine-in-ten chance of death.
Rumor had it that the Southern Border concealed ancient secrets from a bygone era.
Despite its dangers, the region was rich in spirit herbs and spiritual objects, a mysterious and ancient land steeped in ancient inheritance and largely untouched by civilization.
"Finally, there was the cultivator who had been pursuing me along the path I had taken."
"That person is highly likely a Golden Core cultivator, the original owner of that magic treasure immortal boat."
Han Yi recalled the flicker of bloodlight he had glimpsed through his Change Hexagram Art. If his intuition was correct, that bloodlight should have manifested on his pursuer.
Ever the decisive one, he had abandoned the Immortal Boat.
It wasn't that he didn't want to destroy it; the Immortal Boat was a Magic Treasure, and with his mana completely depleted, he lacked the power to even damage it, let alone destroy it.
Abandoning it was his only option, and it might even draw his pursuer away.
"Enough, dwelling on it is pointless."
Han Yi shook his head, pushing aside his lingering thoughts about the Black-Robed Evil Witch's lack of a Divine Soul.
Next, he turned his attention to analyzing his performance in the recent battle.
"Not enough, still not enough. My Sword Control Technique needs to reach the next level."
He glanced at the Proficiency Panel for his Sword Control Technique:
Sword Control Technique (Peak Perfection 95/100)