Yun Che did not hesitate. With a single step, he immediately executed Earth Escape and sped toward the Ming God Temple. Along the way, he extended his divine sense and saw Fire Beasts covering the sky and land. The farther he went, the more alarmed he became.

  He instantly changed direction. He no longer sought Lin Tao, but instead followed Ma Liang’s memories and fled toward the border. The Fiery Nation could no longer be stayed in.

  However, before he had gone far, a vast divine sense descended from the heavens. It swept past him, then recoiled and locked onto him. Startled, Yun Che scanned upward with his own divine sense and saw that above the clouds, sixteen enormous Fire Beasts formed a circle. Within the circle floated a ring of fire.

  Threads of red light extended from the fire ring, connecting to the heads of the sixteen massive beasts.

  The overwhelming divine sense originated from that ring. Clearly, the sixteen Fire Beasts had joined together, using some innate ability to unleash a divine technique.

  The moment they discovered Yun Che, their eyes blazed with boundless killing intent. Roaring, they descended from the sky and charged at him.

  Without a word, Yun Che accelerated and fled at full speed. The sixteen beasts roared and spewed torrents of molten lava. The ground below turned crimson and cracked apart.

  Having suffered from this before, Yun Che would not repeat the mistake. The instant the molten streams were unleashed, he leapt from the ground and transformed into a streak of light, soaring away.

  The sixteen beasts pursued relentlessly. The reason they had emerged from hibernation was singular—to find the cultivator who had killed the Fire Spirit Ancestral Beast. That was the only thought in their minds.

  Because of Yun Che, they now hated all cultivators. They attacked any they encountered. Compared to the cultivators, they too had suffered heavy losses. Under the bombardment of powerful magical treasures, countless Fire Beasts had perished.

  Strictly speaking, these Fire Beasts possessed no true souls. They existed in a special form. Ordinary flying swords could not pierce their hardened bodies. The only way to kill them was through heavy strikes from powerful magical treasures.

  Yet there were simply too many of them. Even now, from volcanoes of all sizes, Fire Beasts continued to emerge endlessly. No one knew their true numbers—except perhaps the Fire Spirit Ancestral Beast that had been absorbed by the Heavenly Underworld Pearl.

  Yun Che flew faster and faster. In magma, the giant beasts would easily surpass him in speed, but away from lava, their speed decreased. They maintained a fixed distance behind him, unable to catch up.

  Still, Yun Che was suffering. The air was saturated with violent fire spiritual energy. Each breath scorched his insides with pain.

  Meanwhile, more Fire Beasts joined the pursuit. A sweep of his divine sense made his scalp tingle—behind him was a vast black mass. He couldn’t even count them.

  If he paused for a moment, he would be torn apart. But Yun Che was not one to be hunted passively. Back when he was at the Qi Condensation stage, he had dared resist and ambush Teng Li, a late Foundation Establishment cultivator.

  A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He took out a wooden barrel filled with origin-energy liquid and gulped it down while flying, replenishing his spiritual power.

  A streak of blood light shot from his storage bag, vanished, and reappeared before the Fire Beasts, stabbing toward one of normal size.

  A metallic clang rang out. A bloody mark appeared on the beast’s chest, and it was knocked back, tumbling before roaring and charging again.

  Yun Che’s expression remained calm, but his eyes darkened. Divine sense attacks were useless against these beasts, and even their physical bodies were so hard that his flying sword could only wound, not kill. The injury was minor at best.

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  Unwilling to give up, Yun Che continued launching sneak attacks. Utilizing the flying sword’s teleportation ability, he struck unpredictably. Finally, in one strike, the sword pierced a beast’s brow. The beast trembled, its head exploded, and a wave of heat surged outward.

  Yun Che’s hair curled from the heat, emitting a scorched smell, yet joy flashed in his eyes. So they did have a weakness.

  He continued ambushing, killing one Fire Beast after another. These normal-sized beasts were roughly equivalent to Qi Condensation cultivators. They were simply difficult to kill because they feared no divine sense and had hardened bodies.

  Still, Yun Che alone could only inflict limited damage. The Fire Beasts felt no fear. No matter how many died, the rest charged forward.

  Eventually, due to excessive teleportations and the fact that the sword spirit was merely residing within the blade rather than fully refined, the flying sword became warped and pitted. Parts had melted. Even its original owner likely would not recognize it.

  This could not continue. Though Yun Che had origin-energy liquid, it would run out. Once his spiritual power failed, death would be inevitable.

  Gritting his teeth, he changed direction—not toward Xuanwu Nation, but toward the Ming God Temple. He did not believe the Temple would be destroyed so easily. If he were its patriarch, he would choose to relocate the entire sect. Such a migration would take time.

  He had only been in seclusion for eight days. Even if the Fire Beasts had appeared on the first day, the Temple could not have left so quickly.

  More importantly, through the soul-blood connection within him, he sensed the general locations of Yang Xiong and Lin Tao.

  The moment he changed direction, the Fire Beasts closed in. Molten lava rained down repeatedly. He narrowly avoided being struck several times, pushing his speed to the limit.

  Before long, a majestic aura surged from afar. Sweeping with divine sense, Yun Che finally relaxed.

  A massive army of cultivators—over ten thousand strong—was flying toward him.

  The sight of ten thousand sword lights roaming the sky shook him deeply, but he quickly steadied himself and flew toward them.

  Within the ranks were countless war chariots radiating spiritual fluctuations.

  The Fire Beasts chasing him suddenly halted. The sixteen giant beasts roared and positioned themselves before the cultivator army.

  The army did not stop. Thousands of sword lights shot forward under the leadership of ten Nascent Soul cultivators. Without hesitation, they clashed with the Fire Beasts. Soon after, two additional groups of roughly two thousand cultivators joined the battle.

  Before Yun Che could merge into the army, over a dozen sword lights flew out and halted ten zhang before him. Among them was a young woman of plain appearance but sharp killing intent between her brows.

  After glancing at the Fire Beasts behind him, hatred flashed in her eyes. She spoke crisply:

  “Fellow Daoist, which sect do you belong to? State your name immediately.”

  Yun Che showed lingering fear and clasped his fists. “I am Ma Liang, disciple of the Ming God Temple.”

  She swept him with her gaze and said coldly, “Qingxuan, take him to the Ming God Temple ranks and verify his identity. If he is not one of them—kill him.”

  A young man stepped out, nodded to Yun Che, and turned into a streak of sword light. Yun Che bowed slightly to the woman and followed without complaint.

  They soon reached the army’s middle ranks. The closer he got, the more overwhelming the sight of ten thousand flying swords became. The spiritual fluctuations here were terrifying.

  Though volcanic black smoke blanketed the heavens, the army’s spiritual force cleaved the sky like a colossal sword, forcing open a path. The black mist rolled aside wherever they passed.

  Tens of thousands of swords radiated dazzling sword qi. Wind and clouds changed color; the heavens seemed ashamed.

  The grandeur of synchronized swords resembled heaven and earth collapsing, white rainbows piercing the sun. At dawn, as black mist retreated and battle raged ahead, it felt as though stars shifted and the world was reborn.

  Magical treasures flashed like fireworks in the sky. It was a sight Yun Che would never forget—one only seen in grand-scale wars.

  Compared to the collapse of the Nether Battlefield, this scene carried a unified, resolute momentum—the determination to break out of the Fiery Nation.

  Such power was beyond any individual. It was the force of an entire nation.

  Only the Fire Beast horde could rival it.

  Yun Che snapped back to awareness as he and Qingxuan reached the Ming God Temple ranks.

  “Scout Battalion disciple Qingxuan of the Luo River Sect has escorted Ma Liang of the Ming God Temple to rejoin. Please verify his identity so I may report back.”

  Yun Che remained calm. The Nascent Soul woman he had encountered previously had shown some intent to recruit him. Otherwise, he would not have come.

  Even so, this was his only option. Under pursuit by Fire Beasts, nowhere else offered survival.

  Still cautious by nature, Yun Che prepared to flee at any sign of danger. With battle raging ahead, few would spare effort to chase him. Nascent Soul cultivators certainly would not abandon the migration for him. Core Formation cultivators were the battle’s backbone. If anyone targeted him, it would likely be late Foundation Establishment cultivators.

  As for those—he feared none.