Eternal Life from the Golden Needle Technique

An immense joy, like he had just narrowly escaped death, surged through Qiu Kunsheng.

It had to be said,

by developing the Gu-controlling Secret Technique, which neutralized a major asset for the Demonic Alliance and directly caused their defeat on the Broken Soul Mountain battlefield, Shen Changchuan had drawn an incredible amount of hatred from the Demon Path Faction!

The White Bone Sect, which had suffered the most devastating losses in the process,

had even issued a kill-on-sight order for Shen Changchuan.

The White Bone Old Demon had even declared that if anyone could bring him Shen Changchuan's head,

then in addition to the posted bounty, he would promise to do three favors for them!

Never mind the massive bounty posted by the Demonic Alliance,

just the three favors from a Divine Travel Realm Peak expert

were enough to send nearly the entire Demon Dao of the Nanyue Kingdom into a frenzy.

Anyone with even a shred of ambition had studied Shen Changchuan's portrait

and tried to gather intelligence on him.

But unfortunately,

Shen Changchuan remained in Barbaric City year-round, rarely venturing out. Even the most determined hunters had no opportunity.

But now,

the opportunity had arrived!

This brat had actually appeared right in front of him!

'As long as I can kill him and bring back his head, I, Qiu Kunsheng, will earn three favors from a great personage at the Peak of the Divine Travel Realm!'

At that time,

Hmph!

'What could that old ghost at the Mountain Gate, the one at the Soul Emergence Ninth Layer Peak, possibly do to me?'

'Then,'

'it wouldn't be that old ghost hiding at the Mountain Gate questioning me about this disastrous expedition.'

'Instead, I'll be the one questioning him, calling him a Sect parasite who's holding the Sect back!'

"Brat, get over here!"

In high spirits,

Qiu Kunsheng suddenly unleashed a peerlessly powerful aura. He thrust out his palm, reaching for Shen Changchuan from across the distance. Billowing Magical Power surged like a tidal wave, its terrifying might seeming to suppress the very heavens and void!

The intense pressure

made Shen Changchuan marvel, 'Truly worthy of the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer.'

He wasn't particularly panicked, however.

With the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu pushed into an overloaded state, his power had just barely reached the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer.

'It's not a huge problem.'

BOOM!!!

A majestic aura erupted from Shen Changchuan like a flood,

and with that powerful burst,

he broke free from the lock of Qiu Kunsheng's palm strike.

Immediately after,

he grabbed Wei Yuting, his figure transforming into a bolt of lightning as he retreated with incredible speed.

RUMBLE!!!

Qiu Kunsheng's palm hit nothing but air.

It blasted a massive crater, dozens of yards in diameter, into the ground, and the seething Magical Power washed over the area like a tsunami.

Qiu Kunsheng paid it no mind,

his gaze fixed on Shen Changchuan and Wei Yuting.

"Nowhere to run!"

At that very instant,

Qiu Kunsheng shot after them.

The immense reward that Shen Changchuan's appearance represented made him completely ignore any potential risks.

Or perhaps,

deep down, he didn't believe there was any risk at all.

'After all, according to my intel,'

'three years ago, that Shen Changchuan kid had only just entered the Soul Emergence Realm Fourth Layer. Even though he later killed Shadow, a Soul Emergence Sixth Layer cultivator...'

'that must have been because Shadow was careless, and Shen Changchuan used some kind of trick or scheme to win.'

'His Realm is what it is, after all.'

'Someone who just entered the Soul Emergence Fourth Layer being able to fight across a three-layer Realm gap—and not just fight, but slay Shadow, a foe that even Soul Emergence Seventh Layer Demon Cultivators couldn't catch?'

'How is that possible?'

'That battle record was probably faked.'

'The truth is that Master Wandering Dragon probably took care of Shadow secretly in Barbaric City, then gave the credit to his disciple just to boost the kid's reputation.'

Of course,

whether it was fake or not didn't really matter to Qiu Kunsheng.

What Qiu Kunsheng cared about was the intel stating that three years ago, the boy had only just broken through to the Soul Emergence Fourth Layer.

'In just three short years,'

'even if he's a genius, the best he could have done is reach the Soul Emergence Fifth Layer! That's his absolute limit!'

'The paltry power of the Soul Emergence Fifth Layer... I could crush him with a single finger!'

'He's not even worth my concern.'

As for the strange fact that the brat had just used some unknown technique to temporarily boost his aura and power to the Soul Emergence Eighth Layer and withstand one of his attacks...

...seeing this actually made Qiu Kunsheng feel even more relieved!

'This technique that skyrockets your power for a short time... that must be the life-saving trump card Master Wandering Dragon gave you, right?!'

'Hmph! How foolish, to waste your ultimate life-saving technique so recklessly!'

Qiu Kunsheng's heart swelled with confidence.

'To forcibly raise a Cultivator who's at most at the Soul Emergence Fifth Layer up to the Eighth Layer, even for a short time...'

'This has to be a failsafe prepared by a Divine Travel Realm expert! No doubt about it!'

And because of this,

Qiu Kunsheng could finally relax a little.

'An opponent who has already shown his hand isn't frightening.'

'What's frightening is the unknown trump card they keep hidden, the one you can never see coming!'

BOOM!!!

Under the pressure of Qiu Kunsheng's relentless assault,

Shen Changchuan was forced to turn and meet him head-on. Another violent collision erupted.

Hmph!

Shen Changchuan grunted, his body flying backward again as he pulled Wei Yuting with him.

Qiu Kunsheng was, after all, a powerhouse at the Eighth Layer Late Stage.

Even after overloading the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu to forcibly raise his own power to the Eighth Layer,

a considerable gap still remained between them!

"Just as I thought!"

The light in Qiu Kunsheng's eyes flared.

He was certain that the boy before him had been pushed into a corner!

'The heavens are truly smiling on me. Your life is mine for the taking!'

The Magical Power in Qiu Kunsheng's body surged wildly,

and his pursuit speed increased yet again.

In mid-air,

a black bolt of lightning seemed to streak across the sky, chasing the two streams of light ahead. The distance between them closed rapidly!

However,

just as Qiu Kunsheng shot forward another few hundred feet,

Shen Changchuan abruptly stopped.

"Yes! He's finally in the Array!"

Behind him,

Wei Yuting's face lit up with joy.

Before Qiu Kunsheng could even react,

he saw her holding a White Jade Array Plate. The dense, layered patterns on the plate suddenly glowed, their light spreading out in all directions before vanishing into the void.

Immediately after,

WHUM!

A tremendous force, as if Tai Mountain itself were crashing down, suddenly bore down on Qiu Kunsheng!

BANG!

Caught completely off guard, Qiu Kunsheng was abruptly slammed to the ground twenty or thirty yards in front of Shen Changchuan and Wei Yuting. The immense force of the impact smashed a deep crater into the earth!

"Damn it! Where did this Array come from?!"

A gravitational force like a collapsing mountain pinned him down, making his feet feel as though they were filled with lead. He could barely move.

What made his blood run cold was,

the broken Array Bases scattered around them—the very ones they had been dismantling on their way here—were now linked together by the power of the Array Dao, unleashing a brand new force!

Layer upon layer of light barriers rose up all around, like massive inverted bowls, trapping him completely inside!

'I've been set up!'

At that moment, it was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over Qiu Kunsheng's head.

His earlier fervent madness vanished,

and reason came rushing back.