"Ten breaths have passed. Next, I will search your soul." The tone of the Supreme Saint carried no emotion.

Ye Qiu felt all the hair on his body stand on end, a sensation wrapped in impending crisis.

This was an extreme danger signal, a warning from the body. Anyone who has practiced martial arts to a certain extent has this ability to anticipate danger. The stronger one’s power, the earlier one can detect it.

Clearly, the Supreme Saint was about to make a move. Although Ye Qiu still had undisclosed cards, he felt that even if he used them, he might not be able to defeat the Supreme Saint, who was already infinitely close to the Heavenly level.

Ye Qiu even had the illusion that the opponent had already stepped halfway into that realm, but he lacked the ability needed to threaten the opponent enough to unleash that power.

Ye Qiu’s mind raced: should he stay and fight, or leave immediately?

If he continued fighting, he could hide inside the Grand Sovereign Bell for an ambush. However, such an attack had a high possibility of failure. He had noted the speed of the Supreme Saint, and it wouldn’t be easy to catch him off guard.

If he cooperated with the Six Paths Gate, there might be a chance to defeat the Supreme Saint, but for some reason, Ye Qiu felt that even the Six Paths Gate might not work. Only when the opponent could not resist or was exhausted was the Six Paths Gate particularly effective. If the opponent was at peak form, it was difficult to say.

Failure would have unimaginable consequences.

At that time, the Grand Sovereign Bell and the Six Paths Gate would all be exposed, potentially collapsing his persona as Ye Fentian, revealing to the entire Ancestral Land that Ye Fentian was Ye Qiu. If that happened, he wouldn’t be able to stay in the Ancestral Land, and he would be surrounded by enemies.

He could imagine how frantic the Taiyi Divine Sect and the Demon God Sect would become upon learning this news. Many experts, even Heavenly-level powerhouses, would make appearances.

There was another method, worth a try, though with slim hope: by advancing to the Saint Realm, he could summon the Heavenly Tribulation. As long as he entered the Saint Realm, he would directly reach the Supreme Saint level. Even during the tribulation, he could use the lightning to kill the Supreme Saint. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

But the problem was, he had just barely reached the late peak of the Return to Void stage, which was far from enough to trigger the Saintly Tribulation. Moreover, Ye Qiu wasn’t prepared for the tribulation. Based on his previous tribulation experiences, the Saintly Tribulation would be extremely terrifying; he might not be able to kill the Supreme Saint first before perishing in the tribulation himself.

The Saintly Tribulation was of great importance; Ye Qiu didn’t want to go about it haphazardly.

He couldn’t gamble—this was not yet the end of the road. Ye Qiu decided that stability was paramount.

Once he made up his mind, Ye Qiu didn’t hesitate at all. He cast a formation to trap the Supreme Saint, then swiftly dashed toward a mountain peak beneath which lay a teleportation formation that could take him away from here.

"A gentleman takes revenge, even after ten years. There’s no need to wait that long." Ye Qiu believed within a year he could enter the Saint Realm. By then, with the power of a Supreme Saint, defeating the Supreme Saint would be easy.

There was no need to take such a big risk now.

Ye Qiu continued to dash while behind him, the Supreme Saint broke through the formation with sheer force. He saw that Ye Qiu intended to escape, and he shattered the formation at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, the formation in front of him dissipated.

"I will not let you escape," the voice of the Supreme Saint came from behind.

There was the teleportation formation right ahead. From a hundred meters away, Ye Qiu threw a Spirit Stone to activate the formation.

He planned to step in at the last moment before the teleportation formation disappeared, ensuring the Supreme Saint wouldn’t know where he went.

Whoosh!

To hold back the Supreme Saint, Ye Qiu repeatedly cast formation seals, creating multiple formations behind him in succession.

The Supreme Saint grew slightly angry, somewhat annoyed. These formations weren’t very powerful but breaking them took time.

When Ye Qiu activated the teleportation formation, he realized Ye Qiu intended to escape through it.

The sound of formations breaking behind him echoed frequently. Ye Qiu sprinted with all his might. Finally, he reached the location of the teleportation formation and immediately jumped in.

While the Supreme Saint was continuously demolishing formation after formation, only one was left.

Boom!

The Supreme Saint obliterated all the formations; but by this time, Ye Qiu was already standing inside the teleportation formation. He waved to the Supreme Saint, acknowledging that it was not shameful to flee when facing a Supreme Saint.

"Next time, I won’t let myself flee in such a sorry state." Ye Qiu silently vowed that when they met again, he would certainly kill Jiu Jue.

Seeing that he couldn’t catch up, the Supreme Saint launched a distant strike at the teleportation formation.

Boom!

As the attack hit the teleportation formation, Ye Qiu’s figure had already begun to blur and then disappeared completely.

The teleportation succeeded!

Damn it!

The Supreme Saint’s face was frosty, Ye Qiu had just slipped away right in front of him.

The teleportation formation activated, and Ye Qiu once again felt the sensation of traversing time and space. Each time he used a teleportation formation, he experienced this intersection of space and time.

In the void, a stream of light enveloped Ye Qiu, tracing an arc, proceeding with long-distance teleportation, moving faster than the eye could see.

Suddenly, a giant hand emerged from the void, grabbing the light-enveloped Ye Qiu, and then vanished from the void.

When Ye Qiu realized he was caught, he knew things weren’t good, but against the giant hand, he could do nothing but submissively allow himself to be grabbed.

When the rapid sensation vanished, Ye Qiu opened his eyes and saw himself floating in midair, held immobilized by an invisible giant hand.

"Almost let him escape. Luckily I acted in time to interrupt the teleportation formation." A voice slowly emerged, one Ye Qiu couldn’t discern whether male or female. However, the words chilled Ye Qiu’s heart. The person had deliberately captured him.

Could it be that Ye Qiu’s identity had been discovered?

That would explain a great power stepping in to pull him from the teleportation formation. Was it the Celestial Palace or another power?

Ye Qiu didn’t know.

All he knew was that at present, he could not resist. The one who acted was certainly a celestial power-level figure, a god-like character with whom he had no means to contend.

"I thought Jiu Jue, that little brat, might kill him. Unexpectedly, this kid is so slippery, using the teleportation formation as a backup, employing formations to such an extent. Truly a prodigious individual, versed in both formation and alchemy. To let him grow, such... unthinkable." Another voice spoke.

Ye Qiu was in despair. Were there two celestial powers?

It was over!

Completely over!

Upon hearing the conversation between the two celestial powers, Ye Qiu knew that his chance to escape was gone. One celestial power was already enough to induce despair; with two, even sprouting wings wouldn’t help him escape.