As expected, once Li Xizhi entered the water, Dongfang Heyun's speed slowed slightly, though not significantly. Li Xizhi dived deeper, and the light before him quickly dimmed.
Following behind, Dongfang Heyun retrieved a luminous blue pearl from his sleeve, placing it between his palms before exhaling softly.
Poof!
Ahead, Li Xizhi's feathered robe flared with radiant light, emitting small wisps of gray mist. His face paled instantly as he spat out blood. The spell he had been forming in his hands reached completion. With his two fingers pressed together, he whispered, "Activate."
His figure instantly split into multiple shadows, yet instead of dispersing, they overlapped and merged together.
"An illusion technique? How could that possibly deceive me?" Dongfang Heyun frowned slightly as another jade pearl appeared in his palm. He flicked it forward with a slight movement of his fingers.
But Li Xizhi suddenly turned back, forming a spell seal in his hands. His middle and ring fingers bent into his palm while the others pointed outward which shaped the image of a cauldron. Layers upon layers of phantom shadows coalesced into a faintly visible, massive cauldron.
The jade pearl fell into the cauldron, erupting with a thunderous explosion. All of Li Xizhi’s phantom shadows shattered at once, his breath momentarily stalling. In the next instant, he flipped his palm and hurled a counterattack straight at Dongfang Heyun’s face.
The Rainbow Phantom Split technique was meant to confuse enemies, but Li Xizhi knew that Dongfang Heyun was a master of transformation and would never be fooled. Instead, he propelled himself away on his Heavenly Glow.
Yet the nature of techniques is ever-changing. Although his phantom split could not deceive Dongfang Heyun, it served as a medium to dissipate the backlash of his cauldron-dissolving technique, mitigating part of the force and shielding him from Dongfang Heyun’s spell.
Dongfang Heyun smiled gently and politely, watching as Li Xizhi reversed the spell upon him. His figure blurred and dissipated into a vast mist, vanishing completely.
Li Xizhi had barely flown several miles when frost suddenly began forming at his side, inch by inch. He carefully observed his surroundings and immediately halted. Before him, the mist thickened and Dongfang Heyun’s face reappeared once more.
Not even an hour...
This thought flashed through Li Xizhi’s mind as a round shield shot out from his sleeve, flying rapidly toward Dongfang Heyun.
Li Xizhi had cultivated both swordsmanship and spell arts to impressive levels, but he lacked a proper dharma artifact. During his years of cultivation on the peak, apart from refining the Dawn Colored Qi, he had never requested any treasures from his family.
Qingsui Peak had always been poor and the artifact he pulled from his sleeve turned out to be nothing more than a mid-grade Qi Cultivation item. Seeing this, Dongfang Heyun raised an eyebrow and said with a chuckle, "I thought you were an immortal descendant of the Purple Mansion!"
Clearly, Dongfang Heyun had finally discerned Li Xizhi’s background from this detail. Though he spoke casually, his hands did not slow. He extended his palm and the seawater instantly hardened into a steel-like wall. The water surged wildly and scattered Li Xizhi’s spell into disarray.
Then, he transformed his palm into a blade that was as smooth as jade, cleaving through the void. Li Xizhi had just enough time to execute half of Gold In Cloud, shifting his body sideways by a few feet.
Clang!
Li Xizhi’s feathered robe let out an ear-piercing wail as crimson blood erupted through the deep sea. His left arm was severed at the root, bursting into a brilliant cascade of multicolored radiance.
The feathered robe given to him by Yang Xiao’er was no ordinary garment. Golden light shimmered across its intricate patterns and responded instantly. Dazzling rays erupted and shot toward Dongfang Heyun, engulfing him completely.
A flicker of surprise flashed in Dongfang Heyun’s eyes. He raised a hand to shield his vision from the blinding light, yet fine, intricate holes appeared on his palm from the impact.
By the time he regained focus, only shimmering water remained before him, dyed with hues of rising colored mist, blood evaporating into radiant clouds. Li Xizhi was already gone, along with his severed arm.
The streak of light Li Xizhi left in his wake bore traces of red. Clearly, he had activated a secret technique. Doubt flickered across Dongfang Heyun’s face as he murmured, "Just where does he come from...?"
Dongfang Heyun understood his master’s intent well. If Li Xizhi truly were an immortal descendant of the Purple Mansion Realm, he should have possessed enough dharma relics, talismans, or other trump cards to last at least an hour in combat.
Yet this man was strange. His intelligence and tactics were first-class, yet his spell arts were a notch inferior. His feathered robe held mysterious power, yet his dharma artifacts were nothing but trash. The contradiction left Dongfang Heyun momentarily perplexed.
He paused for just a moment before a smile spread across his face. Adjusting his sleeves, he immediately took flight, transforming into a streak of white light as he pursued.
Ahead, Li Xizhi’s face was pale as the blood seeping from his wound transformed into multicolored clouds, fueling his escape technique.
His mastery of spell arts was far beyond that of ordinary cultivators. This Blood Harnessing Technique did not truly consume his essence blood but instead harnessed the natural flow of blood from his fresh wound to power the spell.
Once his leaking essence qi stabilized, he retrieved his severed arm from his embrace and carefully reattached it to his wound.
If things reach a desperate point, I may have no choice but to turn this arm into a spell itself...
The seawater here had turned a deep red-green hue. Li Xizhi calculated the distance, Zongquan Island was close. For some reason, Dongfang Heyun had hesitated in the water for a few moments, granting him a chance to accelerate. He could now vaguely see the defensive formations on the island.
Something’s wrong... Something’s off...
His complexion paled further as his mind raced. His thoughts flickered rapidly through his consciousness, but his trajectory was deviating more and more. He was drifting further from Zongquan Island.
Despite being in imminent danger, Li Xizhi's mind remained sharp. He kept replaying the words of the Purple Mansion's demonic dragon in his mind, Punishment... punishment... The cultivators of the Purple Mansion never go back on their word. If I hide within another sect’s formation, wouldn’t that make their punishment meaningless?
He struggled to deduce Muhai’s thoughts, formulating his conclusion in a flash, Muhai must despise how the Azure Pond Sect tried to use him as a weapon! But I trespassed into the Dragon Clan’s territory, which seems like a provocation... He can’t let me go easily...
Dongfang Heyun is far stronger than me. If this turns into a chase, I will die for sure... If he isn’t trying to kill me outright, then either he is restricted by time or I must pay a sufficient price to satisfy his authority!
No matter what, I absolutely cannot flee into my sect’s formation!
Gritting his teeth, he adjusted his escape path further southward, thinking to himself, If I embarrass Muhai, Dongfang Heyun will surely go on a rampage. I must not bring disaster upon my aunt!