Chapter 00487: Being Followed
# Being Followed**
Chapter 487
Novel: Abandon The Universe
**Chapter 487: Being Followed**
This desert wasn’t large, spanning less than a hundred miles in radius.
Within that hundred-mile range, everything lay within Luo Caisi and Gu Dao’s divine sense.
The desert took on an irregular shape, with a total of forty-seven corners.
Some of these corners were so indistinct that unless one paid extremely close attention, it would be hard to notice that this desert bore a resemblance to the swamp depicted in Jia Xinyu’s map.
Back then, Jia Xinyu had stumbled upon the entrance to the divine hall purely by chance.
He had been fleeing from pursuers when he entered a swamp from one of its corners in a desperate escape.
After crossing the swamp, he exited from another corner.
However, after emerging, Jia Xinyu thought that hiding inside the swamp might be safer.
So, he re-entered from a third corner and searched for a place to conceal himself.
Eventually, he chose to burrow into the ground at one of the swamp’s corners, setting up a concealment barrier around himself.
While hiding beneath the swamp, he discovered a stone stele with a protruding section.
Out of curiosity, Jia Xinyu pressed the protrusion—and immediately heard a rumbling noise.
Following the sound, his divine sense detected a passage that had abruptly appeared.
His hiding spot happened to be near an entrance to this passage.
After entering, he followed it to its end, where the divine hall stood.
Though Jia Xinyu had meticulously recorded his route—which corner he entered from, which he exited from, and which he returned through—Luo Caisi had no intention of retracing his steps.
Instead, she went directly to the spot where he had burrowed underground and descended into the depths of the sandy plain.
After over an hour, Luo Caisi and Gu Dao resurfaced.
According to Jia Xinyu, after descending for about half an hour, one would encounter a stone stele.
Yet, even after digging for a full hour, they found nothing but dirt—no stele, not even a pebble.
"Maybe we should follow his route exactly," Gu Dao mused, its eyes flickering with thought.
It figured that retracing Jia Xinyu’s path back and forth might trigger something.
Luo Caisi sighed.
"Let’s try it."
She wasn’t convinced that crossing the sandy plain once and then doubling back would achieve anything—like activating some hidden formation.
But with no other options left after months of searching, she was willing to give it a shot.
At worst, they’d waste a little more time.
So, Luo Caisi and Gu Dao entered the sandy plain from the same corner Jia Xinyu had, crossed it, then retraced their steps, returning through the third corner before descending underground at the exact spot Jia Xinyu had chosen…
"Master, do you feel like this spot isn’t the same as the one we picked earlier?" Gu Dao, now on the verge of becoming an eighth-level immortal beast, was the first to sense something amiss.
Luo Caisi paused, then murmured, "You’re right."
Though they had previously selected the same location, retracing Jia Xinyu’s route made the spot feel different.
Neither Luo Caisi nor Gu Dao could pinpoint exactly how, but this time, it seemed they had gotten it right.
Excitement surged in Luo Caisi as she immediately burrowed down.
Half an hour later, she stopped—her divine sense had detected a stone stele.
Gu Dao, following close behind, exclaimed, "So it really was like this! What kind of mechanism requires you to cross, double back, and then dig underground? That’s like taking off your pants to fart—utterly pointless!"
"This must be some kind of illusion formation. I don’t understand how it works, but your Master Bu would know."
Luo Caisi knew that Blue Xiaobu’s greatest strength wasn’t his cultivation but his mastery of formations.
While she didn’t grasp this one, he certainly would.
Pressing the protruding part of the stele, Luo Caisi immediately heard a deep rumble as a passageway appeared before them.
Without hesitation, she and Gu Dao entered, soon arriving at a broader corridor.
At its end stood a small platform with two doors at its edge.
Jia Xinyu had chosen the wrong door back then and was teleported out.
Even before stepping through, Luo Caisi and Gu Dao could sense a faint divine aura emanating from within.
"So it really is divine energy. But how did Jia Xinyu know this was a divine hall?"
As soon as Luo Caisi spoke, several floating characters materialized between the two doors: **Divine Source Hall**.
"No wonder he said there was divine energy inside. It’s literally called the Divine Source Hall, not just a divine hall," Luo Caisi remarked.
Gu Dao chuckled.
"Just standing here, I can already feel traces of divine energy. I can’t wait to get in and boost my cultivation. There must be piles of treasures waiting for us."
It rubbed its paws together eagerly.
"Too bad—you won’t be entering."
A cold voice cut through the air.
Luo Caisi and Gu Dao spun around.
Behind them stood a man in black, watching them calmly.
The space around them seemed to solidify under his presence.
"When did you get here?" Gu Dao blurted out, stunned.
Despite their focus on finding the hall, neither had let their guard down.
Yet this man had slipped behind them unnoticed.
Either he had been here all along, or his cultivation far surpassed theirs—enough to follow them undetected.
"I arrived when you did," the man replied, leisurely pulling on a pair of black gloves.
"You’ve got some nerve, punk."
Gu Dao bristled, ready to attack.
As a peak seventh-level immortal beast, just a step away from the eighth level, it wasn’t about to cower before a mere Immortal King.
Even if the man was stronger, Gu Dao and Luo Caisi outnumbered him.
"Wait."
Luo Caisi stopped Gu Dao.
"This man is likely an Immortal Sovereign."
The man nodded.
"Correct. I recently advanced to Immortal Sovereign after entering this place. Fighting me would be suicide."
Gu Dao scoffed.
"So what if you’re an Immortal Sovereign? My Master Bu could crush you with a finger."
Luo Caisi narrowed her eyes.
"You must know who we’re connected to. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have followed us here."
The man smiled faintly.
"Indeed. I’m aware that Blue Xiaobu stands behind you. But to me, it doesn’t matter who backs you."
"If you haven’t attacked yet, you must have something to say."
Luo Caisi subtly prepared the divine ability orb Blue Xiaobu had given her while keeping a wary eye on the man.
The man’s smile deepened.
"I like clever women. You’re both smart and beautiful. I’ll spare your lives—on one condition. You must each give me a trace of your divine soul imprint."
A divine soul imprint would place their lives entirely in his hands.
With a single thought, he could end them.
"Gu Dao, get ready to fight."
Luo Caisi summoned her treasure—the **Linglong Pagoda**.
This pagoda had been seized by Blue Xiaobu from Fu Hen of the Silent God Valley, a Half-God Realm expert.
The Linglong Pagoda was no ordinary treasure—it was a sentient artifact so powerful it had nearly broken Blue Xiaobu’s ninth-level trapping and killing immortal formation.
"Impressive."
The man’s eyes gleamed at the sight of the pagoda floating before Luo Caisi.
"You know I’m under Blue Xiaobu’s protection, yet you still dare to attack? You’ve got guts," Luo Caisi said coldly.
Though her cultivation had improved greatly, she was no sheltered flower.
From the moment she left Earth, she had fought for survival in the void alone.
The man smirked.
"You must realize that while I’ve only recently advanced to Immortal Sovereign, the real battle isn’t between us—it’s between those backing us. Let me introduce myself. I am Du Yi. First, behold my divine ability..."
With that, he raised a hand and unleashed a divine ability orb.
The temperature plummeted instantly, as if space itself were freezing solid.
Even Gu Dao, with its extraordinary constitution, felt its body stiffen under the unbearable cold.
It couldn’t move a muscle.
*We’re done for.* That was Gu Dao’s only thought.
If it couldn’t move, Luo Caisi stood no chance.
The cold intensified rapidly.
In moments, both Luo Caisi and Gu Dao—perhaps even the entire space—would be frozen into nothingness.
Without the Linglong Pagoda, Luo Caisi wouldn’t have been able to activate her divine ability orb even if her divine sense had reached it.
But as the frigid assault came, the pagoda instinctively shielded her.
Seizing the moment, Luo Caisi didn’t hesitate.
Grateful that her divine sense had already connected with the orb, she unleashed it without a second thought.
A storm of halberd-light erupted, tearing through the frozen space with explosive force.
The air cracked like shattering ice as the halberd’s phantom strikes multiplied, their resonance like the thunderous charge of an army.
**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!**
Primordial energy detonated in the confined space, the violent shockwaves hurling Luo Caisi and Gu Dao against the wall.
**CRACK!**
The assault dissipated.
Though the ground appeared untouched, Luo Caisi could almost imagine it littered with frozen shards.
Du Yi frowned.
He hadn’t expected anyone’s divine ability orb to rival his uncle’s.
"No wonder even the Great Kun Immortal Palace dares not oppose him. Very well, let’s try this—**Tidal Surge!**"
Before he could strike, Luo Caisi hurled another divine ability orb.
But her movements were slower—even though she acted first, her orb activated later.
The bone-chilling cold vanished, replaced by endless waves of sword-light and blade-energy, surging forward like an unstoppable tide, ready to swallow Luo Caisi and Gu Dao whole.
*(That’s all for today’s update.
Goodnight, friends!)*
**(End of Chapter)**