Xianxia: Big Brother of Tianyong City

Chapter 50: “Not Running Anymore? Smart Move”

The jade gourd hovered mid-air, spouting streams of black flames that roared and twisted like living entities. These were Infant Flames, a hallmark ability of Nascent Soul cultivators, incomparable in potency to the Pill Flames wielded by Golden Core practitioners.

Within the hidden void, Xiao Yu was rapidly nearing his limit. Sweat poured from his face, his robes began to smoulder, and his skin prickled with waves of searing pain. The suffocating heat was relentless.

Initially, Xiao Yu had hoped to bide his time within the void, believing that Shangguan Ce would eventually exhaust his patience. However, the raging flames proved an unyielding threat, turning the space into a furnace.

His strategy was failing.

Hovering above the charred ground, Shangguan Ce chuckled darkly.

“Do you feel it yet? Stop struggling and come out. Why prolong your suffering?”

Xiao Yu’s strained voice emerged from the void:

“Fine! I’ll come out! But only if you swear you won’t harm me!”

Shangguan Ce smirked, his disdain apparent.

“Who do you think you are to bargain with me?” he sneered, fanning the gourd’s flames further.

The fiery intensity surged anew, blackening the surrounding earth. Vegetation disintegrated into ash, and even the rocks themselves began to crack and melt.

“Alright, alright! I can’t take it anymore!” Xiao Yu’s voice rang out, accompanied by a ripple in the void.

Shangguan Ce’s eyes glinted with triumph as he summoned the Sky Net, an enchanted artifact renowned for its ability to ensnare even the most elusive targets. The net unfurled like a shadow, its vast expanse poised to capture Xiao Yu the moment he emerged.

[Sky Net (天罗地网): An enchanted artifact renowned for its expansive reach, capable of capturing and restraining even high-level cultivators or beasts.]

A figure clad in blue burst forth from the void and immediately bolted, sprinting frantically across the charred landscape.

“Run all you want!” Shangguan Ce snarled, the Sky Net descending like a tidal wave.

The fleeing figure, though swift, could not escape the artefact’s reach. The net enveloped him entirely, trapping him like a bird in a cage.

Shangguan Ce reeled in the net, his lips curling into a satisfied grin. Yet, upon closer inspection, his expression turned sour.

The “prey” within the net was not Xiao Yu but a lifelike puppet, painstakingly crafted to mimic his appearance.

With a flick of his wrist, Shangguan Ce discarded the puppet in disgust and turned his gaze back to the void, the gourd flames surging once more.

“Clever little rat!” he muttered, his voice laced with venom.

This time, the void offered no response.

Realizing Xiao Yu had already fled, Shangguan Ce expanded his Divine Sense, a powerful tool of spiritual perception, to scour the surrounding area. However, even after combing a hundred-mile radius, he found no trace of his quarry.

His eyes narrowed.

“If not in the skies, then you must be underground.”

Extending his Divine Sense into the earth, Shangguan Ce soon discovered a rapidly moving presence burrowing deep below the surface—a sure sign of Xiao Yu’s Earth Escape Technique.

“You can’t escape me!”

In a flash, Shangguan Ce descended into the ground, his path effortlessly cleared by his overwhelming spiritual energy. The rumble of collapsing soil echoed ominously, drawing closer to Xiao Yu with each passing moment.

Hearing the relentless pursuit, Xiao Yu clenched his jaw.@@novelbin@@

“The speed of a Nascent Soul cultivator is insane. He’ll catch up in no time.”

Realizing that further flight was futile, Xiao Yu ceased his retreat. Instead, he summoned every artefact in his possession from his storage pouch, preparing for a desperate stand.

Emerging from the shadows of the crumbling earth, Shangguan Ce halted, his eyes gleaming with triumph.

“Not running anymore? Smart move.”