Chapter 4513 — Into the Sea

His soul-snaring hand was a spirit-sense art of exquisite refinement and profundity. Once he caught a moment when his target's mind slipped, he would slip in through the gap—and then let alone a mere Golden Core expert, even a Nascent Soul or an Arcane Ascension cultivator would have no choice but to lie still beneath his blade!

This was not something that could be withstood by sheer force of will alone; one needed the corresponding spirit-sense techniques, or all was futile.

Wei Zhao's earlier performance had indeed been astonishing—the top-grade bomb in particular had given even the Xishan Old Sect a start—but a man's level was a man's level. If anyone had told the Xishan Old Sect that Wei Zhao could already employ spirit-sense techniques, he would sooner have beaten them to death than believe it.

And so it was. As matters stood, Wei Zhao's grasp of spirit sense extended only to the most basic spirit-sense perception. To speak of exquisite, profound spirit-sense arts was absurd; he could not even command some of the most elementary small tricks.

What a pity—the Xishan Old Sect had guessed only the first point right, and would never guess the second. He would likely never know in this life that another entity was hidden within Wei Zhao's body: this thing was a grandmaster of the primordial spirit, and its attainment and mastery in matters of spirit sense far surpassed his own...

True, the infernal creature was still in a broken primordial-spirit state, and a frontal confrontation with the Xishan Old Sect was hardly realistic. But if all that was needed was to save Wei Zhao, it was as easy as turning over his hand.

"Still has strength left to resist? Heh heh, a rare genius indeed—a born ace puppet!" The Xishan Old Sect had not yet grasped the situation and assumed Wei Zhao was merely straining to hold on by his own willpower. Rather than alarm, it felt delight, and at once increased the power of its soul-snaring hand.

Wei Zhao, who had just been jolted awake by the infernal creature's shout, had no time to collect himself before he began to totter once more. He felt an incomparable suction force bearing down upon the crown of his head, frantically tugging at his soul and spirit sense, as though it would not rest until he was dead.

"Hmph, a third-rate crooked art dares to show itself before me!" The infernal creature gave another cold snort, and by some means unknown, the invisible soul-snaring hand the Xishan Old Sect had clamped over Wei Zhao's head was in an instant shattered to pieces by a mysterious force. The Xishan Old Sect staggered, and with a retch spat out a mouthful of fresh blood—shaken into internal injury outright!

The Xishan Old Sect was stunned senseless. It was a heretic-cultivator titan comparable to a Mountain-Opening expert—and now it had been wounded in return by a mere Golden Core cultivator! When in all the world had such an outrageous thing ever happened...

Its earlier failure to save Cheng Haonan in time could be chalked up to taking a silent loss from Wei Zhao while caught off guard. But now it had genuinely suffered internal injury—and that was no simple silent loss.

Though the injury was not severe, the Xishan Old Sect's expression visibly turned far more grave. As a heretic-cultivator titan whose very name made men pale, it could not possibly fail to understand that a cautious ship sails ten thousand years—otherwise it would never have lived to this day. It would not go so far as to feel dread of Wei Zhao on this account, but at the very least it would no longer act as offhandedly as before.

At the same moment the Xishan Old Sect was shaken and wounded by the backlash from the infernal creature, Wei Zhao seized the chance to break free of the soul-snaring hand's sucking entanglement and finally regained his clarity, breaking out at once in a cold sweat. Had the infernal creature not come to his aid, this time he truly would have died with no place to be buried.

"Many thanks, Senior!" Wei Zhao hurriedly expressed his gratitude, then, while the Xishan Old Sect had yet to react and strike again, hastily re-invoked the Super Butterfly Microstep and fled. Even though he knew full well it was useless—that his opponent would surely catch up in an instant just as before—he still could not but flee, treating a dead horse as a live one; he could not simply fold his hands and await capture.

Sure enough, though the Xishan Old Sect, still shaken by the backlash, was somewhat dazed and bewildered, it could never simply let Wei Zhao go. Wei Zhao had fled but a short while when that signature black mist arrived as expected, appearing once more above his head.

But perhaps because it had just learned its lesson, the Xishan Old Sect did not strike at once. Instead, it calmly reassessed and scrutinized Wei Zhao. This was prime material for an ace puppet; it did not wish rashly to kill Wei Zhao even despite its slight internal injury, for that would easily damage the physical body—and if the ace puppet could not be refined because of it, the loss would be enormous.

The best method remained what it had just attempted: use the soul-snaring hand to wipe away Wei Zhao's consciousness directly. That was the ideal way to capture the material. But before that, it would first have to observe and find the right opening—otherwise, if it suffered another inexplicable spirit-sense backlash, the Xishan Old Sect would not be able to bear it!

What a pity that for a man of Wei Zhao's stubborn will, once his mind had slipped, breaking through his mental defenses a second time within a short span was far from easy. It required immense patience and intimidation.

Fortunately, the Xishan Old Sect lacked neither. So long as an ace puppet could be successfully refined, it would not mind harrying Wei Zhao for another half day—not even if it took a year or half a year. Cultivators, after all, were never short of time.

Wei Zhao fled madly with all his strength, yet from first to last could not shake the Xishan Old Sect's grip. And now, before his eyes, the southern shore was already at hand—and beyond it, the boundless sea.

"No other choice!" Wei Zhao gritted his teeth and at once prepared to veer west. While the Xishan Old Sect was still playing its game of cat and mouse and had not yet made its true killing move, he could only try to lure the thing toward the territory of that bunch at the center and let the two sides tear at each other like dogs.

Yet just as Wei Zhao was about to turn, a deep shout suddenly rang out in his mind: "Jump!"

"What?!" Wei Zhao was startled, but before he could properly weigh the pros and cons of leaping into the sea, his body had already reacted on instinct, obeying the infernal creature's command and plunging without hesitation into the ocean.

"Heh heh, you think jumping into the sea will free you from this sect's spirit-sense lock? How naive!" At the sight, the Xishan Old Sect arched a pair of green brows, the corner of its mouth steeped in a mocking, jeering curve.

To be sure, the sea mist did have the effect of isolating spirit sense. But first, the mist was not thick at present, and its isolating effect was nowhere near strong enough to leave even the Xishan Old Sect at a loss. Second, even when the mist was at its thickest, given the strength of the Xishan Old Sect's spirit sense, so long as the distance between them did not exceed five li, Wei Zhao still could not escape its palm.

Though it was early summer, the seawater was still piercingly cold; even with true qi deliberately shielding his body, Wei Zhao could not suppress a shiver. Goosebumps erupted over his whole body again and again in frantic waves. Had an ordinary person dared to jump in like this, no matter how good a swimmer, he would have frozen to death outright. R1152