Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 264: Escaping the Mingling Empire

Cold killing intent, like a tangible icy wind, instantly filled the entire dim alleyway.

Fang Hao’s pupils constricted abruptly, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand.

He had been discovered! And it was the Sun Family Old Ancestor leading the team personally, setting up a dragnet!

Escape? Golden Core Cultivators had locked onto him from all directions, and high above, a Nascent Soul Old Ancestor was watching like a tiger stalking its prey. Force his way through? It would be a narrow escape with nine deaths for every life!

"Surrender?" Fang Hao raised his head, the panic on his face vanishing in a flash, instantly replaced by a near-maniacal calmness.

If he surrendered and was thrown into the Sun Family dungeon, he would truly be in a place where heaven wouldn’t answer his pleas and the earth wouldn’t heed his calls; he wouldn’t even know how he died!

Fang Hao had been able to walk from being a mere servant to where he was today; it had never been by luck, but by the ruthless tenacity he had carved out through countless desperate situations!

"Surrender? Just because of you pack of old dogs?" Fang Hao grinned, his smile filled with coldness and mockery.

Before his words even faded, he moved! Not forward, not backward, but—upward!

Boom!

His cultivation, nearing Perfected Golden Core, erupted without reservation!

He pushed the Divine Spirit Steps to their limit, his figure like an arrow shooting across the ground, yet it weirdly carved an arc, soaring into the sky, targeting—the Sun Family Old Ancestor!

"Courting death!" A flash of surprise crossed the Sun Family Old Ancestor’s eyes, immediately followed by monstrous rage.

This brat wasn’t fleeing, but dared to charge at him proactively? It was truly a mayfly trying to shake a tree!

He let out a cold snort and casually struck out with his palm. It looked light and airy, but it stirred the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, transforming into a millstone-sized cyan handprint that descended upon Fang Hao with the power to suppress everything!

This strike was enough to flatten any Golden Core Cultivator into a pulp!

However, at the very instant the cyan handprint was about to make contact—

Hum!

A dazzling golden light erupted from Fang Hao’s body without warning!

Amidst the golden light, a tall, sturdy, formidable figure with a cold metallic sheen suddenly appeared, blocking in front of Fang Hao!

Its chest was covered in dark golden bones and crimson scales, with faint spatial fluctuations at the joints, and its eyes lit up with blinding red light; it was none other than the repaired Puppet "Old Jin"!

But at this moment, "Old Jin’s" aura had reached—Middle Nascent Soul Stage!

"What?!" The Sun Family Old Ancestor’s expression changed drastically, and his striking handprint faltered.

This Puppet’s aura was stronger than described in the intelligence! Not Early Nascent Soul Stage, but Middle!

In that split second of his astonishment, "Old Jin" moved! It didn’t have any flashy moves, just a simple, direct punch! The golden fist fearlessly met the cyan handprint!

Boom—!!!

An earth-shattering roar exploded above the alley!

Violent energy shockwaves swept in all directions like a tsunami, shaking the surrounding buildings until they trembled, tiles flying everywhere!

The Sun Family Golden Core Cultivators who had gathered below were caught off guard. Struck by the aftermath of this terrifying Nascent Soul Level clash, they were instantly sent tumbling, and those with weaker cultivation spewed blood and were sent flying backward!

Amidst the swirling dust, "Old Jin’s" golden body swayed and retreated half a step, the light flowing across its dark golden chest bones; it was completely unscathed!

However, the cyan handprint struck by the Sun Family Old Ancestor had been forcefully shattered, turning into specks of light filling the sky!

"Middle Nascent Soul Stage Puppet?! Impossible!" The Sun Family Old Ancestor was both shocked and angry. Although he hadn’t used his full strength in that palm strike, it was certainly not something an ordinary Early Nascent Soul Stage could easily receive, let alone crush!

This Puppet’s strength had absolutely reached the level of the Middle Nascent Soul Stage! This brat had actually hidden such a trump card!

"Old Jin, stop him!" Fang Hao shouted sharply. Using the impact and chaos generated by the collision, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He had already summoned the silver light shuttle, which transformed into a streak of silver light and shot away in the opposite direction of the Sun Family Old Ancestor—out of the Imperial Capital!

He knew that although "Old Jin" was strong, it was still a Puppet after all. Furthermore, it had just been repaired and its core spirit nucleus was unstable. Prolonged fighting would inevitably lead to failure; he must not linger in battle!

His goal was to use this precious moment gained by "Old Jin" to break out of the encirclement and flee a thousand miles away!

"Stop him!" The Sun Family Old Ancestor reacted instantly, roaring in frustration.

He flickered his figure, dodging another heavy punch that followed from "Old Jin," wanting to bypass the Puppet to pursue and kill Fang Hao.

However, the order "Old Jin" received was "stop him." It had no emotions, only absolute execution.

It stomped its feet hard against the void, emitting a dull, thunderous sound. Its massive body erupted with a terrifying speed that didn’t match its size, blocking the Sun Family Old Ancestor once again. Waving its double fists, it created streaks of golden afterimages, like two heavy hammers, sealing off all paths for the Sun Family Old Ancestor to pursue Fang Hao!

Every punch was heavy and powerful, enough to split mountains and crack stones, forcing the Sun Family Old Ancestor to focus on dealing with it.

With just that delay, Fang Hao, piloting the silver light shuttle, had already turned into a barely visible silver line on the horizon, about to break out of the Heavenly Capital’s city wall range!

"Trash! A bunch of trash! Chase him for me!" Seeing Fang Hao about to escape the city, the Sun Family Old Ancestor was so angry his seven orifices were smoking. He struck "Old Jin" back half a step with a palm and roared at the Sun Family Golden Core Cultivators below who had just crawled up.

Those Sun Family Golden Core Cultivators awoke as if from a dream. Ignoring their injuries, they hurriedly raised their escape lights and chased wildly in the direction of Fang Hao’s escape, while simultaneously sending out alerts, attempting to mobilize city defense forces to intercept him.

However, Fang Hao’s silver light shuttle was originally a high-tier Grade 3 Magical Artifact known for its speed. Now, being driven at full power and embedded with several Top-Grade Spirit Stones, its speed was astonishingly fast, nearly reaching the limit of a Golden Core Cultivator’s sword flight, or even exceeding it.

Of those Golden Core Cultivators, except for a few who were adept at speed, most were left further and further behind.

"Get lost!" The Sun Family Old Ancestor was burning with anxiety and could no longer worry about conserving his strength. His Peak Early Nascent Soul Stage cultivation erupted fully, his body glowing with intense cyan Spiritual Qi. A misty cyan Flying Sword appeared in his hand, its sword light surging, carrying an incomparably fierce Sword Intent as he slashed fiercely at the blocking "Old Jin"!

He needed a quick battle to resolve this!

"Old Jin" remained silent, crossing its arms to block. Runes lit up on its dark golden bones and crimson scales as it tanked this sword strike!

Clang—!!!

The deafening sound of metal clashing was ear-splitting!

"Old Jin" was slashed backward by this sword for dozens of zhang, deep sword marks appearing on its arms, its spiritual light flickering violently; it had clearly suffered significant damage.

After all, it was only initially repaired and its core spirit nucleus was unstable; facing a fully erupting Peak Early Nascent Soul Stage Sword Cultivator, it still fell at a disadvantage.

But its mission had been completed. With just that obstruction, the silver light piloted by Fang Hao had already vanished beyond the city walls, disappearing into the pitch-black night sky.

The Sun Family Old Ancestor didn’t even look at the damaged "Old Jin." He merged his body with his sword, transforming into a shocking cyan rainbow, and pursued Fang Hao in the direction of his escape at a speed faster than the silver light shuttle!

He absolutely could not let this little thief escape!

"Old Jin," seeing that Fang Hao had gone far away and the Sun Family Old Ancestor had also left, flashed its crimson eyes. Its massive body instantly turned into a streak of golden light, using a peculiar method similar to spatial blinking (the effect of the fused void crystal dust). With a few blinks, it shook off the Sun Family Golden Core Cultivators below who were trying to surround it, merged into the night, and disappeared.

The order it had received was to block; with the blocking complete, it naturally retreated.

In the night sky, a thrilling chase battle rapidly moved away from the Heavenly Capital under the gaze of countless startled onlookers in the Imperial Capital.

Fang Hao drove the silver light shuttle to its limit, moving like lightning, with only the howling wind in his ears.

He dared not stop for even a moment, constantly changing directions and specifically choosing to fly through areas with complex terrain and chaotic Spiritual Qi, attempting to break the lock.

At the same time, he unsparingly embedded Top-Grade Spirit Stones one after another into the silver light shuttle’s drive array, maintaining the highest speed.

Behind him, the Sun Family Old Ancestor’s cyan sword rainbow, like a maggot on a rotting bone, pursued relentlessly, and the distance was slowly but firmly closing.

The flight speed of a Nascent Soul Cultivator was, after all, not something a Golden Core Cultivator relying on a Magical Artifact could compare to.

If not for Fang Hao constantly changing directions, utilizing terrain interference, and the time won by "Old Jin’s" obstruction, he would likely have been caught long ago.

"Brat, you can’t escape! Behave and accept death, and this old man will give you a quick end!"

The Sun Family Old Ancestor’s voice transmission, like a maggot on a rotting bone, rang in Fang Hao’s ears, carrying cold killing intent and a hint of irritation.

He hadn’t expected that even with him personally taking action and setting up a dragnet, this brat had still managed to break out relying on that eerie Middle Nascent Soul Stage Puppet; it was simply a great humiliation!

Fang Hao turned a deaf ear, only desperately driving the silver light shuttle.

His face was pale; the continuous high-speed flight and constant direction changes were a huge drain on his spiritual power and mental energy.

But his eyes remained calm, constantly observing the terrain and Spiritual Qi flow below.

One day, two days...

Fang Hao could no longer remember how far he had flown or how many Top-Grade Spirit Stones he had replaced.

He had long left the range of the Heavenly Capital and had even crossed the borders of several prefectures of the Mingling Empire.

Below was no longer a familiar sight, but desolate mountains and wild ridges where human habitations were becoming sparse, and even the edges of forbidden zones and deadlands emitting dangerous auras began to appear.

But the cyan sword rainbow behind him was still biting tightly, and the distance had already closed to about a hundred zhang!

The Sun Family Old Ancestor’s patience seemed to be running out. Occasionally, he would slash out a few sharp sword auras, which, although dodged by Fang Hao in the nick of time, left him in an even more disheveled state, and the silver light of the silver light shuttle had dimmed significantly.

"I’m about to leave the territory of the Mingling Empire... Ahead should be the region of the ’Black Dragon Mountain Range.’ I’ve heard that it’s a lawless zone and extremely chaotic..."

Fang Hao looked at the continuous black mountain shadows appearing on the horizon ahead, a thought flashing through his mind.

Perhaps by entering that kind of chaotic place and utilizing the complex environment, he would have a glimmer of a chance to shake off this old dog!

Just at this moment, the Sun Family Old Ancestor’s sharp shout came from behind again. At the same time, a cyan sword aura, even sharper and more massive than before, tore through the sky and slashed furiously toward Fang Hao!

With this sword strike, the Sun Family Old Ancestor had clearly used even stronger power, determined to slash Fang Hao and the shuttle down with one blow!

Life and death hung by a thread.