A streak of light cut across the sky from south to north, shifting direction from time to time. These flight adjustments were done because streaks of light kept appearing from other directions. For instance, from the southeast, two identical men stepped out of the void. Each one held a massive flail and looked in surprise toward the direction Luo Chen had fled in.

"His divine consciousness is incredibly sharp. He actually detected us."

"It does not matter. He may be fast and keen, but he's still too close to Coldlight Island. He's not getting away."

"Mm. Let's go after him."

The Xiang brothers of the Tempered Edge Workshop were experts second only to their master. They were at the sixth stage of the Golden Core Realm, and they excelled in combined attacks. When they joined forces, even a late-stage Adept could end up on the losing end.

From another direction, several streams of light obviously produced by enchanted treasures suddenly flared and shot toward the fleeing streak. The fleeing man unleashed ring after ring of fire to block the long-range attacks Yet the attacks were too many, and the fire-element defensive spell could only block a few of them before being blasted apart. The Adepts who had launched the attack were just about to rejoice when Luo Hai used the residual power of the shockwaves to accelerate! With this speed boost, he broke straight out of their encirclement.

"Chase him!"

"He took our combined strike head-on. He's definitely injured."

"He won't get away. Our master has already moved ahead to cut him off. He's trapped like a fish in a boiling pot."

"Well, he brought this on himself. Shouldn't have fought the Hundred Craft Mountain for that batch of ore. He's ruined our crafting plans for the next ten years."

"What's ahead? Does anyone know?"

"I do. It's the Mo family's fishery."

"The Mo family? Good. They're related to the Wu family. They're nothing special, but they do have an Adept. With the Wu family taking such losses, they won't just sit by. Send word ahead and have them get ready."

***

Across the vast sea, no islands were in sight. Yet iron chains stretched across the waters.

Clang!

A figure dropped from the sky and landed on one of the chains. He swept his gaze around the surroundings. The iron chains stretched in all directions, and large water tanks hung from them, rising and falling with the waves. Inside the tanks, golden fish swam peacefully. As Luo Chen arrived, his immense spirit pressure spread without restraint. The fish stirred awake and started thrashing wildly.

"A fishery?" Luo Chen frowned. He had seen such places before. In the Flying Swallow Archipelago, Xu Muxian's family had enclosed a stretch of sea to raise spirit fish. The ones here were clearly Golden Dragonfish, the most popular in Northern Sea cities. Their tier was not high, but their flesh was tender and rich in spirit energy.

Luo Chen probed the surroundings with his divine consciousness and quickly locked onto his target.

"Senior, why did you choose a place like this?"

From beneath the deep sea, Han Zhan's voice drifted up faintly. "I'm only a remnant soul, I don't have much mana left. Heavenjade doesn't know formations either. We'll have to make do with this second-tier water vein and set one up here."

Understanding dawned at once. Golden dragon fish preferred clean and spirit-energy-rich environments. This meant there was a spirit vein beneath this patch of sea.

"Are you still in good condition?" Han Zhan asked.

Luo Chen quickly assessed himself. In the two battles earlier, aside from low-tier spells like Fireball that did not consume much mana, he had cast the Azure Yang Great Handprint five times, along with multiple Solar Flares and Landslides. He had also repeatedly activated his life-bound treasure, and Moonbreak Wings for Ninety Thousand Li. He'd also used up a lot of Blazing Fire Miasma. All in all, the consumption had been immense. An ordinary mid-stage Adept would have been drained dry by now. But Luo Chen's mana reserves were deep. He still had more than half remaining. He replied, "I can still fight."

Han Zhan felt reassured. "Good. There are quite a few hunting you, and many are stronger than you. Trying to break away in one go is just wishful thinking. In Jadecold City, I had to hold back because of the Sages. But now that we're outside, I don't need to restrain myself anymore. We'll settle this in one battle. Wipe out everyone on our tail, and you'll be free to go wherever you please. Are you ready?"

Luo Chen bared his teeth in a fierce grin. "You should be asking whether they are ready."

As he spoke, he slapped the Primordial Unity Cauldron. In the next moment, a several-zhang-long figure swam out. As soon as it appeared, it began to swell until it finally reached fifty zhang in length! By the time it stopped growing, its aura had surpassed the early stage and even reached the peak of the middle stage. The newcomer stood just a step away from a late-stage Demon King!

Luo Chen nodded in satisfaction. It seemed that the Cliff Serpent corpse had truly benefited his pet.

Black King growled, "Master, what should I do? Just give the order!"

He had been taking a post-meal nap inside the cauldron. During the past half year of travel, Luo Chen had not used the cauldron for alchemy, so he had slept peacefully. But before that, the cauldron had been used day and night, so he had an idea about where they'd been heading. Thus, the moment he was called out, he knew it was probably time for blood.

Luo Chen pointed at the water and gave a brief order. Black King did not hesitate. With a flick of his tail, he plunged into the sea. As he entered, the Golden Dragonfish that had been thrashing wildly fell silent at once. The pressure of a false dragon suppressed these low-tier demonic beasts with their thin dragon bloodlines.

Luo Chen's preparations did not stop there. "Heavenjade, go outside the formation. If anyone tries to get away, strike them. Kill if you can, but do not be greedy"

Heavenjade stepped forward with a plantain-leaf fan in hand. Luo Chen glanced at it. "If you haven't fully refined it, don't use it. You might suffer a backlash."

"Thank you for your concern, Master. I understand. I'll give it everything I have in this fight."

Heavenjade bowed, then soared into the sky, and vanished into the clouds.

With this, Luo Chen had done all he needed to do. What remained was to welcome his guests. He was an outsider with respect to Coldlight Island, but he had just chosen and prepared his own battlefield. He would now take the initiative and properly receive his enemies.

"What a pity the Mystic Flame Sword is gone... It would've been so much better with it," Luo Chen muttered. He clenched his hand, and the crimson chains extending from the cauldron fused into one and formed a long whip in his grasp. He stood quietly on the chain and let the sea wind brush past him. Within his body, the Golden Core spun without pause, drawing in the surrounding spirit energy to restore his mana. He even held a supreme-grade True Flame Pill in his mouth to replenish it.

It did not take long. Those pursuing him were all formidable Adepts, and their flight was not much slower than his. Luo Chen suddenly opened his eyes. "They are here!"

The whip snapped through the air.

From the void, a streak of black light flashed. It turned into a black flying saber and shot back into its owner's hand. Qian Ting floated in midair, staring at Luo Chen with a dark expression. "Why did you stop? Tired of running?"

Luo Chen remained calm. "You think I'd run away from someone like you?"

Before Qian Ting could reply, figures began to appear one after another. The twin brothers, each holding a flail; a burly shirtless man carrying a massive hammer; and a white-haired old woman fanning herself with a black palm fan. Finally, a mid-stage Adept arrived on a golden sword and came to stand beside Qian Ting. There were six of them in total, and their spirit pressure was no weaker than Luo Chen's! The weakest among them was the white-haired old woman, "only" at the fourth stage of the Golden Core Realm.

Luo Chen swept his gaze across them and quickly gauged their strength.

"The Qian family, the Tempered Edge Workshop, Hundred Craft Mountain... Huh, does the Wu family have no one left"

Qian Ting sneered. "The Wu family still has plenty. You killed Wu Di and the others, how could they let that go? But you can't even handle us. You won't live long enough to see them arrive."

Luo Chen's brows arched. "Is that so?"