A killing intent immediately surfaced on Wei Qing's face as he gazed off into the distance.
"Elder Wuhen, the person who obtained that Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine must have gone in this direction. Why don't we chase after him…"
Wei Qing left the second half of his sentence unspoken, but anyone could guess what he was getting at.
Elder Wuhen was originally a cautious man. He knew that fighting to the death inside Illusory Wave Mountain was an extremely taboo act—if word ever got out, it would inevitably breed discord among the great sects and could even ignite a full-scale war between them.
However, the temptation of a Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine made his heart waver.
"Elder, if we let this one slip, there won't be another chance. Once he gets far enough ahead, even if we do find him, he'll simply deny everything."
Wei Qing pressed further: "If we obtain a single Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine, our Carefree Sect might be able to nurture an Imperial-realm powerhouse. When that happens, the entire Myriad Phenomena Domain will be at our mercy—our Carefree Sect calling the winds and rains, standing above all!"
Ever since the fall of the Myriad Phenomena Empire, the great sects had been locked in fierce rivalry. There wasn't a single one that didn't dream of dominating the Myriad Phenomena Domain, towering above all others as its undisputed ruler.
The Carefree Sect harbored no different ambition.
Elder Wuhen deliberated for a moment, then nodded: "We'll make our move, but it must be absolutely foolproof. In my estimation, whoever obtained this Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine is unlikely to be from the elder group. Those old foxes among the elders are far too cunning to ignore a spiritual energy surge of that magnitude. It must be a young genius."
Wei Qing broke into a sinister grin. "A young genius—perfect. All the easier to deal with."
Elder Wuhen nodded. "Regardless, we must keep this clean. If it is a young genius, you go first to stall him while I set up some measures to ensure he can't escape. Otherwise, if he makes a break for it and reaches a zone covered by a teleportation formation, he could leave at any time."
Inside Illusory Wave Mountain, the teleportation formations covered a vast area. If one ran at full speed, it was practically guaranteed that within two or three hours one would reach a covered zone. With good luck, one might stumble upon one in as little as fifteen minutes. The moment someone entered a teleportation zone and shattered a jade slip, they could be teleported out.
Once inside a teleportation zone, not even them—let alone an Imperial-realm powerhouse—could halt the teleportation.
Wei Qing chuckled and gave a thumbs-up. "Elder, your thinking is as thorough as ever. Ginger truly is spicier with age."
The old man and the young one picked up speed and gave chase ahead.
It had to be said that Elder Wuhen was truly formidable—his senses were sharper than a bloodhound's.
Jiang Chen had done his best along the way to rein in his aura and suppress his spiritual energy, but that surging pillar of spirit power from the Thousand Illusion Hidden Cloud Pine had still left a faint trace of spiritual energy on his body.
If Jiang Chen could have sat down for half a shi-chen, he could absolutely have refined away all those residual traces. But he knew full well that stopping for that long could put him in mortal danger.
Illusory Wave Mountain was vast, but with bad luck, being spotted by someone was entirely possible.
That towering column of spiritual energy would inevitably draw everyone nearby toward it.
Jiang Chen was already moving at considerable speed.
But Elder Wuhen, a Fourth-level Saint Realm Earth Saint powerhouse, flew through the air—naturally, his speed far outstripped Jiang Chen's.
Before long, Elder Wuhen's divine sense swept out and spotted Jiang Chen racing along the ground below. And that faint wisp of spiritual energy clinging to Jiang Chen was unmistakably identical to the aura by the lake.
"It's him!"
Elder Wuhen was startled. Wei Qing, carried by Elder Wuhen and aided by his own flight talisman, could barely keep pace with the old man's aerial speed.
The moment he realized the person below was Jiang Chen, Wei Qing's heart soared with elation.
Talk about searching high and low for something only to find it right under your nose without the slightest effort.
If he had to pick the single person he most wanted dead from this entire Illusory Wave Mountain Alchemy Tournament, Jiang Chen would rank first—unquestionably, without the shadow of a doubt.
It wasn't just about the wager. It wasn't just about losing the Genius Division championship of the Alchemy Tournament.
The root cause was Ling Bi'er. And the way Jiang Chen had looked at him—with such utter, dismissive contempt.
That attitude was something Wei Qing simply could not stomach.
In his view, if someone as aloof as Shen Qinghong had given him that kind of treatment, he might have grudgingly accepted it.
But Jiang Chen—a mere fifth-level Origin Realm nobody, an ant of the lowest order—putting on airs before him, even flaunting his relationship with Ling Bi'er? That was something Wei Qing could never accept under any circumstances.
Even if he told himself Ling Bi'er was only using Jiang Chen as a shield, a shield this brazen, with an attitude this infuriating—how could Wei Qing not be consumed by murderous fury?
"Elder Wuhen, wouldn't you say this counts as killing three birds with one stone?" Wei Qing suddenly sneered with a cold laugh.
"Three birds?"
"Heaven-grade Spiritual Medicine, the formula for the Ten Thousand Longevity Pill, and this kid's personal grudge against me—at the very least, that's already three birds."
Wei Qing's grin turned savage, his voice laced with venom as he stared down at Jiang Chen below, already regarding him as a dead man walking.
"Circle around him!" Elder Wuhen produced a talisman that concealed his aura, but instead of descending, he swept past Jiang Chen and landed Wei Qing several dozen li ahead.
"Wei Qing, this is the path he must take. Set up an ambush here. I'll make a few preparations. Don't let that kid slip away."
Elder Wuhen was exceedingly cautious. Even when facing what he considered a lion pouncing on a rabbit, he believed in using every ounce of his strength.
The opportunity was too rare. If Jiang Chen managed to escape, he would regret it for the rest of his life.