Xuan Zan was taken aback. "How do we root him out?"
Xue Yi's face also showed a trace of doubt as he looked toward Kuang Han, somewhat puzzled.
Kuang Han snorted coldly. "The Stealth Talisman can conceal him within the void, but it cannot let him leave this pocket of space. If we launch a seamless attack on every inch of this void, he'll have no choice but to reveal himself!"
Xuan Zan and Xue Yi were delighted upon hearing this. The method didn't sound complicated—they had simply failed to think of it in their haste.
"Then it's settled," Xuan Zan said, a cold smile forming on his face. "Each of us takes charge of one section."
Kuang Han replied mildly, "There's no rush. Our reinforcements are almost here. Have them seal off everything within a hundred li in every direction. Based on my estimate, in the time we've spent, if he doesn't use the teleportation rune and can't fly, he absolutely cannot have gotten beyond a hundred li!"
"Heh heh, gentlemen, allow me to take a crack at this first," Xue Yi suddenly cackled. "My Xue family has a particular technique that should be perfectly suited for this situation."
Kuang Han's eyes lit up abruptly. "You mean the Ghost Howl Demon Zither?"
"Precisely."
Xue Yi's smile grew increasingly eerie. He pulled at the air with both hands, and before him materialized an ancient zither of sinister aura. Ghoulish patterns and engravings covered its surface, and each string radiated a frigid gleam, like spectral light spilling from the depths of hell.
"Gentlemen, with your cultivation, you should be able to withstand it, yes?" Xue Yi asked with a grin.
"Go ahead, do as you please. We're out in the open while that brat lurks in the shadows. As long as his Ghost Howl Demon Zither can create even the slightest disturbance, he'll have nowhere to hide!"
"Indeed, just let loose."
Xue Yi nodded. "Then this humble one shall make a fool of himself."
He gave a firm nod, placed the demon zither in the air before him, rested both hands upon it, and began to play.
The very first note that emerged from the zither carried a sound like a gate to hell swinging open, unleashing an endless chorus of ghostly wails and demon screams.
Jiang Chen's current position was actually less than five hundred meters from the three of them. The moment the zither's music began, it sounded as though it were right beside his ear.
Yet a faint smile crept across Jiang Chen's lips. "Not a bad trick. It's a pity they were a bit slow to think of it. If they had used this the moment they arrived, they might have flushed me out. But by now, I've already found the threads of this formation array. What can they do to me?"
At that thought, his figure morphed into a bolt of lightning and shot skyward.
Ripples in the void immediately churned up torrents of raging air currents. Jiang Chen rode these currents and waved his hand casually, sending vast quantities of Windcloud Soul-Scattering Powder swirling into the turbulent void.
"He's come out! After him!" Kuang Han was the fastest to react. The instant Jiang Chen moved, he sensed the disturbance in the air currents and lunged like a hawk diving on its prey.
Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh!
Three figures converged on that location almost simultaneously.
The churning air currents sent countless fallen leaves and clouds of dust spiraling into a massive wave that surged toward the three pursuers.
"Hmph, mere Emperor Realm ants—how dare they be so brazen?"
In a situation like this, Kuang Han naturally wouldn't deign to take a mere Emperor Realm prodigy seriously. In his view, once the killer had revealed his position, death was certain.
However, when the great wave came rolling toward him, a flash of crisis alarm shot through Kuang Han. He halted abruptly, thrust both palms forward, and unleashed a far more formidable and domineering blast of air that forcibly shoved the incoming wave back.
BOOM!
The two forces collided, sending the surrounding void into complete chaos. Every blade of grass and every tree was flattened, and the area was leveled to bare ground.
"Hold! Don't go in yet!" Kuang Han threw out an arm to stop the other two from advancing. His eyes gleamed with a sharp light. "This brat is cunning indeed—he's laced the void with poison powder as well."
"What? Poison powder?" The other two blanched at the news and obediently halted in their tracks, warily holding their breath and sealing every pore on their bodies in an instant.
"Mm. This poison is colorless and odorless, but I have a feeling it's extremely potent. I'd wager this poison played no small part in how he managed to kill Kuang Rong and the others during the trial."
As he spoke, Kuang Han's gaze remained locked on the interior of the formation. "This brat is nothing if not resolute—he actually charged straight into this formation array. And he used the poison powder to cover his retreat."
"Hmph, does he really think that once he's inside the formation, we can't touch him?" Xuan Zan was seething with anger—having been thwarted time and again had put him in a foul temper.
"No rush. This formation is exceedingly complex. Even if he's inside, it won't be easy for him to extricate himself anytime soon." Kuang Han, paradoxically, had grown calmer.
An opponent like this had made him keenly aware that even as mid-heaven position powerhouses, they absolutely could not afford to underestimate their quarry.
This opponent might not pose a lethal threat to them, but as far as slipping away with his life from under their noses went—it was not outside the realm of possibility.