CHAPTER 497

Lu Qing piloted the golden flying boat, speeding northward without pause.

Before long, they entered the polar region, where the surrounding temperature dropped sharply.

As he led his group forward...

In a certain frost-covered cave dwelling, an elder clad in a black robe was staring in shock and fury at a shattered jade token in his hand.

"Heng'er’s life token has shattered… He’s dead? Who killed him?!"

In his shock and rage, the black-robed elder immediately activated a secret technique to divine the truth with his mind.

However, the result was utter chaos—nothing could be discerned. He had no way of knowing who had killed his beloved disciple.

Seeing this, the elder’s expression turned grave.

There were only two possible explanations for such an outcome.

The first was that someone had used an extraordinary artifact to obscure the heavenly secrets at the moment of Mo Heng’s death.

The second possibility was even more terrifying—the one who had killed Mo Heng had a cultivation far superior to his own.

Either possibility was bad news for the black-robed elder.

The first meant that the enemy possessed powerful backing and extensive knowledge, knowing how to use a rare treasure to block divinations before making a move.

The second was even worse. If the killer was truly stronger than him—a newly advanced Golden Core Realm demonic cultivator—then they were likely among the top-tier righteous cultivators.

"What exactly did Heng’er do outside that led to such a calamity?!

I warned him time and again—nowadays, the righteous sects dominate the world. We should lie low and accumulate strength if we ever hope to contend with them in the future.

But after tasting the benefits of refining human essence and blood, he became addicted.

Now, he has finally reaped what he sowed."

At first, the elder still harbored thoughts of avenging his disciple.

But upon failing to divine any clues, his anger completely dissipated.

In its place was caution.

Because he didn’t know whether his foolish disciple had revealed his whereabouts before dying.

"No, I can’t stay in this cave any longer!"

Though he doubted that Mo Heng would have betrayed him, he wasn’t willing to take the risk.

At this moment, he had completely abandoned the idea of revenge. His only thought was to leave quickly and find a new hiding place.

He knew that because of the presence of Sacred Mountain, the righteous sects were fervent in their efforts to hunt down and eradicate demonic cultivators like him.

Even though his cave dwelling was protected by multiple layers of formations, he didn’t dare to take any chances.

"I’ll pack up and leave at once!"

The black-robed elder was decisive. The moment he made up his mind, he began collecting his belongings.

His priority was gathering the formation materials from the cave.

He had spent many years setting up this secluded hideout.

The surroundings were fortified with five layers of formations, both inside and out.

Most of the resources he had accumulated over the years had been invested in these formations.

As long as he took these materials with him, he could easily establish a new retreat elsewhere.

The elder believed himself to be acting swiftly. The moment he confirmed his disciple’s death, he immediately decided to leave.

However, just as he had finished dismantling the first layer of formation materials, his body suddenly froze.

Because he sensed the presence of several figures appearing in the sky above.

The elder remained utterly still, not daring to make a move.

Though the auras in the sky weren’t particularly powerful—merely at the Innate Realm—he could easily crush them with a flick of his hand.

However, the fact that mere Innate Realm cultivators could appear in the sky at all was already highly unusual.

And coupled with the fact that these figures arrived right after Mo Heng’s death, the situation became even more suspicious.

His cave dwelling was hidden by formations, rendering it extremely concealed.

Under normal circumstances, no one below the Golden Core Realm should have been able to detect it.

For a moment, the black-robed elder dared not act rashly.

He simply remained alert, silently observing the activity above while hoping that these people were just passing by.

He also refrained from continuing to dismantle the formations.

If the intruders were truly after him, then these formations would be his greatest defense.

…

"Brother, are you sure he's down there?"

In the sky, Xiao Yan looked down at the vast expanse of ice below, puzzled.

From her senses, the icefield below appeared completely ordinary, without anything special about it.

"There’s no mistake."

Lu Qing gazed at the Bagua Compass, which revealed a red thread of causality leading straight downward.

He could also clearly sense the fluctuations of formation energy below.

"The enemy has set up formations to conceal his cave dwelling."

Unfortunately for the enemy, their formations lacked any mechanism to obscure causality.

Moreover, their skill in formation arts was quite mediocre. Their setup might deceive cultivators below the Golden Core Realm, but to someone like Lu Qing—an expert in formations—the flaws were glaringly obvious. ℞ἈΝꝊ₿Ёṡ

Hearing this, Xiao Yan suddenly understood.

She knew that her brother was extraordinarily skilled in formations. If he said so, then it must be true.

Meanwhile, Mu Tian and the others listened to the siblings’ conversation and immediately focused their gazes downward, trying to spot anything unusual.

However, with their cultivation, there was no way they could see through a Golden Core Realm cultivator’s formation.

But they knew that Lu Qing wouldn’t speak lightly.

If they couldn’t discern anything, it only meant that the enemy’s formation was far superior to their perception.

After a fruitless search, Mu Tian asked, "Brother Chen, the enemy is hiding inside his cave. How do we force him out?"

"Simple," Lu Qing said indifferently.

As he spoke, he stretched out his hand, spreading his fingers before slowly making a grasping motion.

Mu Tian and the others were momentarily confused.

They wondered what Lu Qing’s gesture meant.

But in the next instant, their eyes widened in shock.

As Lu Qing’s hand closed, the heavens and earth within a radius of dozens of miles suddenly darkened.

The spiritual energy in the air surged violently.

The sheer magnitude of the gathering energy created a spiritual energy storm!

With such a terrifying concentration of power, a gigantic mystical palm formed visibly in the sky.

Within mere moments, a colossal palm, radiating a dazzling five-colored brilliance and spanning several miles in width, fully took shape above.

As the massive palm solidified, a vast, indescribable pressure descended.

The surrounding space was utterly suppressed.

"T-This…!"

Mu Tian and the others were so astounded that their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

They stared in utter disbelief, their mouths opening and closing without being able to form coherent words.

And right before their horrified gazes—

Lu Qing lowered his hand.

With this motion, the giant five-colored palm in the sky swept downward, carrying an overwhelming force akin to the heavens collapsing and the earth sinking, pressing down toward the icefield below!