Kuang Han employed his secret techniques and divine abilities, ceaselessly harassing Jiang Chen.
He could clearly sense that they were closing in on their prey. Even if this harassment couldn't deliver a lethal blow, it had to keep the target on edge at the very least.
"Friends, Kuang can say with near certainty now that this fellow is the killer," Kuang Han called out as he gave chase.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Why are you so confident, Brother Kuang?"
"It's simple. This fellow managed to maintain a constant speed under my spiritual sense pressure, completely unaffected. Have either of you ever seen an Emperor-realm genius like that?"
Kuang Han's counterquestion gave both of them pause. They exchanged thoughtful glances.
"True enough. This kid is freakishly powerful — unafraid of your spiritual sense intrusion? Even geniuses at Xuan Rui and Kuang Rong's level couldn't withstand a direct spiritual sense attack from us, even from hundreds of li away."
"Could this Dongyan Island really produce such a monster? Is it possible he's not a Dongyan Island challenger at all, but some other Heavenly Domain powerhouse who infiltrated the trials?" Xue Yi's imagination began running wild.
However, his speculation sent a small tremor through both Kuang Han and Xuan Zan.
No wonder so many of their geniuses had fallen. If they really had encountered an opponent like this, their deaths were hardly unjust.
"No matter — even if he's a once-in-a-generation talent, he won't escape death today!"
Kuang Han's tone was ironclad. If it were anything else, he might have considered it — recruiting such talent for his own use. But with blood debts involved, there would be no wavering whatsoever.
Jiang Chen felt the danger pressing against his back like needles. He had already pushed his speed to its absolute limit, yet he still couldn't shake the pursuers. If anything, the gap was steadily shrinking.
"Damn it. At this rate, they'll corner me sooner or later. Do I really have to use the Spacetime Talisman and return to the Human Domain?"
Jiang Chen was deeply reluctant. If he went back to the Human Domain, all his efforts these past days would be completely wasted.
And even if he returned from the Human Domain, there was no guarantee he wouldn't end up right back on this Dongyan Island. Who knew what was going on with that teleportation array?
Until the very last moment, Jiang Chen refused to use that Spacetime Talisman under any circumstances.
"At this rate, within a day the distance will close to within a hundred li. When that happens, their spiritual sense coverage will encompass everything about me."
Jiang Chen had no choice but to think seriously about a countermeasure.
Suddenly, his steps lurched to a halt. He sensed an enormous barrier of resistance looming ahead, forcing him to decelerate sharply despite his headlong pace.
He gazed forward with his Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil and spotted a dense cluster of dark forest ahead. Strange runes were carved all around the perimeter of the woodland, and deep within it, a set of ancient structures seemed to be hidden — an air of profound mystery about them.
Outside the forest, formation arrays stood in dense formation and countless mechanisms lined every approach, completely sealing off Jiang Chen's path. He looked in every direction; the formations stretched on endlessly, with no end in sight.
"What kind of place is this?" Jiang Chen was thoroughly stunned.
His path was blocked ahead, and relentless pursuers pressed in from behind. He felt as though he had stumbled into a dead end.
"Are you trying to force me to use the Spacetime Talisman?" Jiang Chen smiled bitterly, staring at the mysterious cluster of formations barring his way, a surge of helpless exasperation flooding through him.
"Haha, boy — why did you stop running?" The pursuers behind him had clearly sensed the formations blocking the road and detected that Jiang Chen had halted.
"Nowhere left to run, is there? Accept your fate, kid!"
"You dared kill a genius of the Duowen Divine Kingdom — you've got some nerve, I'll give you that!"
Commanding voices boomed like thunderclaps directly above Jiang Chen's head, pouring ceaselessly into his sea of consciousness.
Clearly, these three Mid Heavenly Domain powerhouses were all attempting to use this spiritual sense pressure to crush Jiang Chen's mind.
Jiang Chen felt the force advancing relentlessly — four hundred li, three hundred li, two hundred li — all within the span of a few breaths.
Yet in this moment, Jiang Chen's mind slowly steadied itself.
His Heavenly Eye Divine Pupil locked onto the cluster of formations, searching for a flaw. Every formation had blind spots; every formation had weaknesses.
A flawless formation might exist in theory, but Jiang Chen refused to believe this particular one had no opening at all. By pure instinct alone, he could sense that this formation cluster was ancient.
Though the formations were immensely powerful, Jiang Chen felt he still had — perhaps — a sliver of hope.
The catch was, finding the flaw within this formation cluster in such a short window would be no easy task.
If he failed to locate the weakness and blindly charged in, triggering the full force of the formation's restrictions, even an iron body would be reduced to ash.
Jiang Chen had no intention of rushing in blindly. He focused every ounce of his concentration on observing the formations.
But studying a formation network of this scale was naturally not something that could be done in a matter of moments. Meanwhile, the three Mid Heavenly Domain powerhouses were already dangerously close, having entered the two-hundred-li zone.
Jiang Chen hesitated no longer. Making an instantaneous decision, he opened his palm and produced a talisman. It was one of the talismans he had obtained from Shu Wanqing's Storage Ring.