"Crimes caused by heaven's will can be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be pardoned..." Yan Shengjing shook his head slightly, as if lamenting. A massive red fire lotus emerged, and the two of them closed in on Li Sheng from both sides.

"To provoke two decades-old supreme masters working together, this person is too arrogant..."

"I've seen arrogant ones, but never foolish ones. After all, he's just a rogue cultivator. Does he really think he's one of the few ascended beings?"

"This is going to be troublesome!"

Yan Yunfei and Wang Ye exchanged glances, confused about why Li Sheng wasn't escaping but was instead provoking Zhou Tianyi. Ling Ke's fox-like beautiful eyes flickered with thought, recalling the looks in the eyes of the two men earlier, and she began to understand something.

Li Sheng merged with the raging thunder and lightning, dodging the strikes of the red fire pillars. Zhou Tianyi, transformed into a peacock, flapped its wings, creating seven colored winds that coalesced into seven massive tornadoes, chasing after him with an overwhelming force.

Li Sheng felt a sinking sensation in his heart, continuously changing his position to avoid the attacks, with no intention of counterattacking. For a moment, he danced on the edge of a blade, facing numerous dangers.

After a short while, the surrounding dark clouds were torn apart by the seven tornadoes. The heavy downpour stopped, turning into a light drizzle. Meanwhile, the power of the thunder also weakened, causing Li Sheng's lightning form to falter.

Yan Shengjing seized the opportunity, and two red beams of light shot toward him, arriving in the blink of an eye. Feeling the urgency, Li Sheng transformed the lightning into a massive shell to shield himself.

"Bang!"

The gigantic shell was instantly blown away, covered in cracks. The three tornadoes surrounded him, and their powerful suction tore the shell to shreds, causing Li Sheng to spit out a mouthful of blood as his situation took a turn for the worse.

Exclamations erupted from below, mixed with sighs and glee. Li Sheng had reached a dead end, but he remained calm. In a moment of desperation, his figure suddenly vanished, a faint sword hum echoing through the chaos.

"Intangible substance... mental secret technique?" Zhou Tianyi exclaimed, surprised.

In everyone's eyes, Li Sheng had disappeared without a trace, but a clear blade-like ripple could be sensed within the winds. Having escaped a deadly predicament, Li Sheng let out a sigh of relief.

"This Virtual Sword Technique is truly extraordinary. After all this time, my sister should have gone far by now. It's time to retreat..."

"Mental secret techniques are exceedingly rare. I didn't expect to find such a pleasant surprise!"

From the massive red fire lotus, Yan Shengjing's voice of admiration came forth. Li Sheng smiled coldly, "You forced my hand. This move is forbidden, derived from an ancient sect's foundation, powerful enough to contend with great masters. Though much energy has been lost over time, it's more than sufficient to deal with master-level cultivators. Yan Shengjing, Zhou Tianyi, be prepared for death!"

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Li Sheng revealed himself in the sky, his face pale, but his determined demeanor made both men hesitate.

"You really found the ruins of an ancient sect!"

"Is that legendary Divine Eye from the ancient sect?!" Zhou Tianyi and Yan Shengjing exclaimed in unison, fully alert.

Li Sheng was taken aback, wondering what the Divine Eye was. Maintaining a calm facade, he activated the azure scroll in his hand and laughed coldly, "Want to know? Then allow me to satisfy your curiosity!"

Mist instantly enveloped the area, dyeing half the sky a shade of blue.

"Be careful!"

"Retreat!"

Yan Shengjing and Zhou Tianyi shouted in unison, rapidly retreating, while the other young talents below fled as if being pursued by a ferocious beast.

In the azure mist, Li Sheng felt a surge of delight. Initially intending to scare them off, he activated the illusion-type spell scroll obtained from Feng Xiao to cover his escape. To his surprise, the old monster had conjured up a fear of the Divine Eye, aiding his retreat.

A flicker of lightning flashed silently as Li Sheng merged with the elements of heaven and earth, quietly slipping away to the northwest.

After several breaths, Zhou and Yan stopped their frantic retreat.

"That Divine Eye must be a powerful treasure to make you so fearful?" Zhou Tianyi asked, puzzled.

"I've seen descriptions of this item in ancient texts. During the ancient era, the passage between the heavens and the upper realm was still open. At that time, beings from the upper realm could descend freely, leading to chaos and countless divine wars! The closure of that passage was a consequence of those battles, and the Divine Eye was created from the bodies of powerful beings from the upper realm. It was said that even a first-grade martial artist would perish upon contact with it, with no chance of survival!" Yan Shengjing recounted, filled with trepidation.

"Uh... but that azure mist didn't seem dangerous to me..." Yan Shengjing had been caught up in his own thoughts and hadn't examined it closely.

After Zhou Tianyi's reminder, he focused and suddenly turned pale, his face twitching and veins bulging on his forehead. Having built a vast kingdom from scratch and experienced countless schemes and betrayals throughout his life, he now realized he had been deceived by a mere kid.

Seeing Yan Shengjing's expression, Zhou Tianyi couldn't help but chuckle, comforting him, "Don't be upset, Brother Yan. This kid, as a rogue cultivator, was able to condense a heavenly-grade divine technique seed. It's clear he has uncovered an ancient ruin. We were too quick to judge."

"Hmph!" Yan Shengjing scoffed, moving towards the battlefield. Zhou Tianyi shook his head with a laugh and followed.

In front of the azure mist, Zhou Tianyi summoned a purple wind. Moments later, the mist dissipated, revealing nothing but empty air Li Sheng had long since vanished.

Yan Shengjing extended his spiritual sense to search the area for miles. After a moment, he opened his eyes and shook his head slightly.

"He escaped!"

"This is a problem. That kid is seriously injured. He'll surely focus on healing now and likely won't show up for a while. It's a shame that the legacy of the heavenly-grade divine technique has slipped away."

Zhou Tianyi's tone was filled with regret.

Yan Shengjing frowned in thought. "This news may have already spread. Soon, some long-hidden old masters will likely make their appearance..."

Zhou Tianyi agreed, "Naturally, the temptation of the heavenly-grade divine technique legacy is not trivial. Your Lingchuan Prefecture is about to become very lively."

Yan Shengjing frowned slightly. "We need to hurry and take care of that matter. As for the legacy, let the disciples search. I'm sure the other five major factions will be happy to cooperate..."

"You lead the way, Brother Yan. You're the organizer of this matter, and those guys have been pushing for it for days."

The two exchanged glances and disappeared into thin air.