Chapter 00424: The Chased Becomes the Chaser
# The Chased Becomes the Chaser
Chapter 424
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 424 – The Chased Becomes the Chaser
2022-05-06
Chapter 424 – The Chased Becomes the Chaser
“He's already gone.” As Lan Xiaobu’s Fengluan surged out of the Void Plaza, a man said in a calm tone.
Beside him, another man gave a slight smile and replied, “He won’t be able to escape.”
After speaking, the second man strolled out of the Void Plaza at a measured pace.
He then activated his flying artifact and gave chase in the direction of where Lan Xiaobu was headed.
It appeared that in his eyes, no matter how skilled Lan Xiaobu was at fleeing, escape was impossible.
“Master Bu, the flight speed just isn’t right,” noted Gong Yunqi, his senses alert.
He could tell that Lan Xiaobu’s Fengluan was moving at best at the pace of a top-grade flying immortal artifact—or perhaps just a bit faster than that.
But such a speed, in a chase situation like this, was clearly not enough to shake off pursuers.
Nie Xiangyu added in a low voice, “At that speed, it will be very hard to elude their pursuit.”
Lan Xiaobu let out a soft laugh. “After I summoned my Fengluan, someone marked it with an imprint. What kind of confidence is that? They must be daring to mark my flying artifact—owned by none other than a Ninth-Level Immortal Formation Emperor—with a divine sense imprint.”
Having worked together with Lan Xiaobu for a long time, Gong Yunqi immediately understood his meaning.
Lan Xiaobu was not the type who would simply take someone’s blows without striking back.
His choice not to fully unleash the power of his flying artifact was clearly intended as a lesson for the opponent.
While Fengluan continued its flight, Lan Xiaobu kept inscribing divine sense imprints in the void and sketching ethereal array patterns.
Half a month later, Lan Xiaobu suddenly halted his Fengluan and murmured, “This is rather strange…”
“What’s strange?” Gong Yunqi quickly asked.
Anticipating that someone might catch up, both Gong Yunqi and Nie Xiangyu had remained on the deck of the Fengluan.
Even Gong Yunqi felt cautious.
After all, anyone bold enough to pursue them was no ordinary person.
Lan Xiaobu explained, “There were three waves of people chasing our Fengluan. The second and third groups, upon seeing the first wave, willingly withdrew. In that foremost group, the leader appears to be Bai Xun—the Immortal Court King of the Weixing Immortal Domain. He likely was accompanied by a half-divine realm expert and four strong individuals at either the Immortal Pill Emperor peak or the Perfect stage.”
Nie Xiangyu drew a sharp breath.
With such formidable strength—even if there was only that one half-divine realm expert—it would be impossible to hold them off.
“Such powerful strength. Should we quickly set up our formation?” Gong Yunqi asked in urgency.
With one half-divine realm expert and five Perfect Immortal Pill Emperors behind, even a full-scale sneak attack would be futile without my Ninth-Level Void Entrapment Slaughter Immortal Formation, Lan Xiaobu thought.
“How did you know?” asked Nie Xiangyu, sensing that someone was closing in though she had no idea how many were pursuing or their true strength.
Yet Lan Xiaobu not only knew exactly who was chasing them, he also knew their exact strength.
In light of that, why stop now?
“No need to deploy our formation. What puzzles me is why Bai Xun suddenly withdrew. That’s not normal,” Lan Xiaobu said, his voice tinged with doubt.
It made sense that the two later groups would retreat after sensing Bai Xun’s overwhelming power, but why would Bai Xun himself retreat? That was beyond understanding.
This time, the Weixing Immortal Domain had not obtained a Heavenly Gang Formation Flag.
In the sale of the flag, Weixing Immortal Domain had no cultivators present.
With their might and arrogance, Weixing Immortal Domain would certainly snatch a Heavenly Gang Formation Flag for themselves rather than relying on another Immortal Domain’s support.
The likely idea behind Weixing Immortal Domain seizing a formation flag was to pick on someone they already had a grudge with—a person easy to bully.
The best target would naturally be the Five Universe Immortal Domain.
Although Lan Xiaobu’s array techniques were formidable, if one were constantly trailing behind, there would simply be no time to set up a grand formation.
After explaining this, Lan Xiaobu elaborated to Nie Xiangyu, “Because I had laid out many Void Surveillance Immortal Arrays on the way here, I know the exact situation. Bai Xun’s flying artifact is remarkably powerful. Even if fully activated, its speed wouldn’t be slower than Fengluan’s, so he isn’t worried about not catching us.”
“Then why are they so slow coming over, even after learning we seized Qianqiong’s territory?” Gong Yunqi asked.
Lan Xiaobu laughed softly, “I suspect that I may have helped Bai Xun this time. Qianqiong is so dominant that Bai Xun, as an Immortal Court King, harbors deep grievances with Qianqiong. I helped Bai Xun eliminate Qianqiong, which perfectly suits his wishes. How could he possibly expose his flying artifact and dash to the Void Stone at first light?”
“This fellow should really feel grateful. He actually dares to chase after us, as if he doesn’t know when to die,” Gong Yunqi said indignantly.
“After all, he is the Immortal Court King of Weixing Immortal Domain. On the surface, he has to vent his sect’s anger for Weixing Immortal Domain. By chasing us down, he not only secures a Heavenly Gang Formation Flag, but also cements his position as Immortal Court King, and provides a clear motive for his actions. It’s like being a scoundrel and still managing to put up a respectable front,” Lan Xiaobu replied.
“Regardless of his reasons, if he dares not catch up, can we finally get going?” Nie Xiangyu suggested.
Lan Xiaobu frowned once more. “No, that’s not it. The reason Bai Xun did not continue the chase is that he was intercepted—he’s still engaged in a life-and-death duel…”
At that moment, Lan Xiaobu sensed significant commotion from the Void Surveillance Immortal Array he had previously set up.
He was deducing which one dared to bar the path of someone as powerful as Bai Xun when his heart skipped a beat—the aura of the Heavenly Gang Formation Flag was present.
Because he had been overly cautious, when he sold the Heavenly Gang Formation Flag, the Void Array patterns were in a hidden state.
In such a condition, if the distance was slightly too far, he could not easily sense the flag’s presence or only catch a faint trace.
The advantage of this was that even if someone knowledgeable in the Void Array patterns were nearby, they wouldn’t immediately detect the imprint of the Void Array on his Heavenly Gang Formation Flag.
After half a month, once his imprint completely merged with the Heavenly Gang Formation Flag and the hidden array patterns dissipated, his sensing range would be greatly enhanced—by then he could also retrieve the flag at any time through the Heavenly Gang Formation Disk.
Now that he had sensed the flag, it indicated that either the flag was on Bai Xun or on the person intercepting him.
It was impossible for Bai Xun himself to have the flag, because Weixing Immortal Domain had not obtained a flag, and Bai Xun had started his pursuit immediately after leaving the Void Plaza—he hadn’t even had time to acquire one.
That meant the flag was on the person intercepting Bai Xun.
The acquisition of a Heavenly Gang Formation Flag among the thirty-six Immortal Domains was not something any Immortal Domain would risk carrying into a chase against a powerful foe like Weixing Immortal Domain, unless they were truly foolish.
Since it wasn’t a member of an Immortal Domain doing the chasing, there was only one possibility.
The Heavenly Gang Formation Flag of one Immortal Domain had been snatched away, and that person was now chasing the other Immortal Domain kings in search of a second flag.
They assumed that Bai Xun possessed the flag, so their target was set on him.
If it wasn’t an Immortal Domain doing the attack, and given their overwhelming strength, the only possibility was that they were Void Road Bandits.
Lan Xiaobu recalled that the Yongmao Immortal Domain, Qi Xun Immortal Domain, and Xingluan Immortal Domain arrived last—because they encountered the Void Road Bandits.
The Void Road Bandits had killed the Immortal Court King of Qi Xun Immortal Domain and left only one surviving cultivator, Mu Qi, from that domain.
That alone spoke volumes of their might.
“Such nerve… daring to act against Weixing Immortal Domain. Besides, doesn’t Weixing Immortal Domain lack a flag? What purpose is there in attacking Weixing Immortal Domain?” Gong Yunqi sighed. “It seems we truly can leave this matter to others.”
“We can’t leave yet,” Lan Xiaobu replied with a heavy sigh. “These people are Void Road Bandits. They have utterly no humanity. Their goal is to seize the Heavenly Gang Formation Flag. If we don’t eliminate these bandits, they will go on to snatch the formation flags of other Immortal Domains.”
As Lan Xiaobu spoke, he started drawing the patterns of the Void Entrapment Slaughter Immortal Formation.
At the same time, he retracted his Fengluan and then brought Qiao Xing into his small world.
“Let’s hide on the side and ambush them,” said Gong Yunqi, understanding that Lan Xiaobu was setting up the Void Entrapment Immortal Formation.
Lan Xiaobu had consecutively arranged two concealed Immortal Arrays and instructed Gong Yunqi and Nie Xiangyu, “You two hide within the Concealment Arrays. Once I lure them into my Entrapment Formation, seize the moment to strike.”
Upon hearing the mention of Void Road Bandits, both Gong Yunqi and Nie Xiangyu quickly readied their artifacts and waited within their Concealment Arrays for the right moment to attack.
The Void Road Bandits, hardened through years of slaughter, were nothing to take lightly.
Lan Xiaobu himself hurried to complete the Void Entrapment Slaughter Immortal Formation.
He was convinced that these bandits would show up sooner or later since they had already detected him.
Even if the bandits had not noticed him, Bai Xun would have revealed that he possessed the Heavenly Gang Formation Flag.
The bandits had not expected Bai Xun’s strength to be so overwhelming.
Out of the twelve Void Road Bandits, seven were slain, and in the end, Bai Xun was taken down despite one man being heavily injured.
Lan Xiaobu’s Void Entrapment Formation had long been in place.
He hadn’t expected the bandits to suffer such heavy losses.
Had there not been a sufficient number of them, this ambush against Bai Xun might have backfired.
Seeing that their losses were considerable, Lan Xiaobu worried that these bandits might no longer pursue him.
He decided to backtrack a little, and then his divine sense swept over a few bandits.
As soon as he detected several of them, he quickly turned and fled.
This created the impression that Lan Xiaobu, upon encountering a strong adversary, decided it was best not to provoke further trouble.
Back when he killed Kuang Qi, he had used a similar tactic.
However, as soon as Lan Xiaobu turned, he knew he had made a mistake.
He should not have looked back.
Those few bandits had no intention of letting him go.
Now that he had turned his divine sense back in their direction, it was a signal that he was already on guard.
Sure enough, though those few bandits trailed behind him, they did so slowly—merely keeping their divine sense fixed on Lan Xiaobu.
Immediately, Lan Xiaobu began to open up slight gaps in his two concealed Immortal Arrays.
With such gaps, if the bandits were a bit more observant, they could catch a glimpse of Nie Xiangyu and Gong Yunqi, who were hiding on the side ready to ambush.
However, these gaps only lasted for half a breath’s time before Lan Xiaobu once again concealed them with a few array flags.
He was certain that even in half a breath’s moment, the enemy would notice.
He chose to cover the gaps with array flags instead of hiding them with Void Array patterns—a clear signal that he specialized in array techniques and not the void method.
At the same time, Lan Xiaobu arranged two more brand-new Concealment Arrays, and then tossed two array flags to Gong Yunqi and Nie Xiangyu, saying, “These are Teleportation Array Flags. When we ambush later, activate the flags immediately so that they appear at a new location for the sneak attack.”
By now, several bandits had surrounded Lan Xiaobu.
(Today’s update ends here, friends.
Good night!)
(The end of this chapter)