CHAPTER 428: ANOTHER POWER BOOST

"His combat power only flared up for a moment—he definitely used some kind of power-boosting secret art," Sun Tianhan said, narrowing his eyes. "That upper-grade Nirvana Peering-level sword must’ve been something Lu Tingyun left him."

"Human-demon hybrids are always stuck with low-grade aptitude. Even the ones who made it onto the frontlines for whatever reason aren’t any better," he went on, a trace of disdain creeping in. "Sure, Lu Yi’s got access to plenty of resources and secret arts through his mother, but that burst of strength? That’s probably as far as he can go."

"Now that he’s burned through his secret art and hit a weak point, four Nirvana Peering realm experts should be more than enough to finish the job." A flicker of envy passed through his gaze.

An upper-grade Nirvana Peering level weapon—wasted on a half-blood like him. What a waste of heavenly treasure.

How much better off would that weapon be in his hands instead of Lu Yi’s? Just thinking about it made Sun Tianhan grit his teeth.

"Yeah. With four Nirvana Peering realm experts heading out—especially ones from the Northern Dipper and Southern Dipper Immortal Sects—and one of them already at Late-stage Nirvana Peering realm, they should have no trouble dealing with Lu Yi," said Lu Qinglin, another Nirvana Peering realm cultivator from the Lu Clan. "What I’m curious about is Jiang Chen. Will that dragon-blooded freak actually step in to help?"

"He won’t." Sun Tianhan shook his head, barely holding back his fury. Just hearing Jiang Chen’s name lit a fire in his chest. "Someone saw him split up with Lu Yi. They went separate ways."

"Things should go smoothly. Once Lu Yi’s dead, we go after Jiang Chen next."

His jaw clenched as he practically growled the words. "That bastard dared to kill so many of our people from the Purple Crest Immortal Sect... I’ll rip him to pieces and scatter what’s left."

Lu Qinglin glanced around the room before speaking again, more carefully this time. "There shouldn’t be any surprises with Lu Yi."

"But we can’t take any risks. This is too important. Aside from the sects we’ve already alerted, we need to send out even more people—just in case. And we can’t stay cooped up in the Purple Crest Immortal Sect either. We need to hunt him down ourselves."

"As for that dragon-blooded cultivator, Jiang Chen—he’s already pissed off both us and the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace. He’s basically asking to die. We can ignore him for now."

Sun Tianhan nodded, eyes sharp with resolve. "In that case, we go all in. No holding back—we’re taking Lu Yi down. Let’s move!"

Whoosh!

Lu Qinglin, Yuan Liangjun, and the rest shot to their feet. In a blink, eight figures turned into streaks of light, tearing across the sky straight toward Lu Yi.

At the same time, other Nirvana Peering-level factions tied to the Purple Crest Immortal Sect were on the move. They sent out their top cultivators and activated their intelligence networks, all joining the carefully planned hunt for Lu Yi.

Half of the Prosperous Stone Immortal Star—everything under Purple Crest Immortal Sect control—was now part of a full-scale manhunt aimed straight at him.

With that kind of force closing in, any ordinary cultivator would’ve been dead already.

And within the Purple Crest Immortal Sect, that was exactly what everyone expected to happen.

...

Meanwhile, Lu Yi hovered in the distance, eyes fixed on a massive city. His brows knit together as he hesitated. Damn it. I’m in a tough spot. Every city around here is under the Purple Crest Immortal Sect—and they’ve all got teleportation arrays. If I try to raid one, I could walk right into a trap.

He paused, took a deep breath, and clenched his fists. Time’s probably running out. Screw it—big moves need big risks. If I hit the teleportation array hard and fast, then raid the City Lord’s Mansion right after, I might actually pull this off.

Without wasting another second, he shifted direction and shot straight toward the city.

Jiang Chen watched from afar, deep in thought. So, Lu Yi’s finally making a move? Looks like he’s planning to raid that city.

Judging by his actions, he probably needs spirit stones or spirit jades to power up—maybe both. Especially since he tried to borrow money from me earlier, he thought, then shot into the air without another moment’s delay, heading straight toward the city Lu Yi had picked.

At that same moment, the last of the Nether Soul Crystals disappeared.

Nangong Wan and Shangguan Ning’s souls had further recovered, both now back at the Middle-stage Nirvana Peering realm.

"It’s time. Wan’er, Ning’er, get ready—I’m going to use the rest of the pure cultivation energy," Jiang Chen said with a small smile, sending a divine sense transmission to both of them.

"Got it, we’re ready!" the two women replied in unison.

Jiang Chen took a deep breath and sent out his will. In an instant, the pure cultivation energy stored in his bloodlines and the Death Calamity Dark Star Moon Dao Embryo surged into Nangong Wan and Shangguan Ning’s souls.

A wave of warmth and power flooded through them as they absorbed the energy.

"I feel completely full—my soul’s recovering so fast!" Shangguan Ning gasped, a mix of awe and excitement in her eyes.

"This is unreal... I’ve never felt anything work this quickly!" Nangong Wan added, clearly amazed.

Neither of them had ever experienced anything like it.

With their souls rapidly restoring and that powerful sense of fullness surrounding them, their spirits lifted even higher.

In just a blink, Nangong Wan and Shangguan Ning had fully absorbed the pure cultivation energy into their souls.

Their realms jumped again—both now stood at the peak of the Late-stage Nirvana Peering realm.

The benefits for Jiang Chen were just as clear.

First, his divine sense expanded even further, now covering a range of 140 million kilometers.

Second, his combat strength while using the Void Tribulation Soulring had gotten a noticeable boost. On top of that, the secret arts that Nangong Wan and Shangguan Ning could use had grown even stronger.

"Perfect," Jiang Chen said, eyes gleaming with satisfaction. "Alright, next up—we haven’t touched the power of qi and blood yet. Wan’er, Ning’er, help me pick a Nirvana Cleansing-level cultivation method."

Shangguan Ning jumped in right away. "Of course! I’ve got access to a whole collection of powerful cultivation methods. Don’t worry—I’ll pick the best ones for you."

She materialized a manual with a flash of divine sense. "How about this—Azure Hollow Illusion Divine Chart? It’s the top technique from our Azure Hollow Heavenly Fox Clan. If you master it, you’ll gain deep insight into the Dao of Illusion. It’s almost on par with a Void Tribulation-level technique."

Nangong Wan followed up without missing a beat, also bringing forth a manual. "Jiang Chen, I think you should start with something focused on the Dao of Space. This one’s called Deadly Void Prison Secret Art. I used it myself when I was in the Nirvana Cleansing realm."

"Both of these are amazing," Jiang Chen said, clearly pleased. "If the Wordless Heavenly Jade has enough qi and blood energy, I’d love to train in both."

He paused for a moment, thoughtful. "But right now, the energy just isn’t quite enough. I can only focus on one true Nirvana Cleansing-level method."

After a moment of consideration, he gave a nod. "For now, the Dao of Space fits better with what I need. I’ll start with Deadly Void Prison Secret Art—I can come back to the Azure Hollow Illusion Divine Chart later."

With that, his choice was made.