Wei Zhao could not help a bitter smile as he recalled what the Southern Heaven Aurora had told him. The two of them had both projected their Primordial Spirits into some remote mountain forest, and yet his counterpart could comfortably hide away for a whole month consolidating his strength, while he, barely after arriving and not even through his period of weakness, was already being hunted. The disparity in treatment was simply too great.

Of course, if this were Cloud Terrace Island, the strength of the two men before him would be considered utterly ordinary—one late Foundation Establishment, one mid Foundation Establishment—and Wei Zhao could have swatted down a whole crowd of them with a casual slap. But this was the mortal realm, and his strength did not even match the peak of the Heaven Rank. What was he supposed to do?

Yet despite the vast gap in his mind, Wei Zhao had never been one to cling stubbornly to a single course. At a time like this, he would not concern himself with the pride of a Xuan Ascension expert. Run when you cannot win—that was his life's motto.

Wei Zhao had never regarded fleeing as a disgrace. It was so in the mortal realm, and it was so on Cloud Terrace Island. As long as the green hills remain, there is no need to worry about firewood. He could always come back and trample them once his strength was restored—after all, a gentleman's revenge is never too late, even ten years on.

Seeing Wei Zhao turn and bolt, Sun Baimei was instantly thrown into a panic. This was a stroke of fortune he had stumbled upon after enormous difficulty—how could he let it slip away so easily? That would be to invite the wrath of heaven.

"Where do you think you're going!" Sun Baimei bellowed, and immediately gave chase without a second thought, his movement technique pushed to its absolute limit. To an ordinary eye he was a human cannonball, swift beyond measure.

He was, after all, a late Foundation Establishment expert, the kind never normally seen in this mortal realm. This time, to capture Wei Zhao, he was going all out at any cost—so much so that even Fei Yangsheng, the mid Foundation Establishment cultivator behind him, could not keep pace for the moment.

Wei Zhao, by contrast, was still unfamiliar with his Primordial Spirit body, and only after great effort had he finally managed to flee with some fluency—but in that instant the distance between them was abruptly closed to within a single meter!

"Haha! No spirit creature has ever escaped once I set my eyes on it. Now, be gathered!" As Sun Baimei spoke, he suddenly flung up his broad sleeve. What method he used was unclear, but from the cuff surged an astonishing force of suction!

An ordinary cultivator might have been able to resist it somewhat, but this suction force was extraordinarily effective against Primordial Spirits—at least ten times stronger, in fact. To put it precisely, this move was designed specifically for capturing spirit creatures, and it was especially potent against beings like Primordial Spirits.

Wei Zhao staggered, nearly sucked in on the spot. Fortunately, his reflexes were quick enough, and in that split second he whipped back a bolt of lightning power.

Had it been Wei Zhao's true body, even the most careless lightning strike could have effortlessly obliterated a Nascent Soul expert, let alone a mere late Foundation Establishment cultivator like Sun Baimei. Unfortunately, he was now in a frail and feeble Primordial Spirit body, and this hastily flung bolt of lightning was pitifully weak—nothing more than a faint pale-blue arc.

Weak as it was, however, it came without warning. Sun Baimei had no chance to react before it struck him squarely, and his body went abruptly numb, a fleeting opening appearing in his movements.

Wei Zhao seized the chance to break free of the suction from his sleeve, and without another word fled for dear life, in the blink of an eye putting a good stretch of distance between them once more.

In truth, given Wei Zhao's temperament, if Sun Baimei had been alone, he might well have tried to turn the tables and kill him. Weak and vulnerable as he was now, he possessed rich combat experience and endless hidden tricks, and it was not impossible for him to turn the tide and take down a late Foundation Establishment expert.

Unfortunately, Sun Baimei was not alone—Fei Yangsheng was still chasing behind. Wei Zhao was hard-pressed just dealing with one of them. If the two of them joined forces against him, he would surely be undone. For a mighty expert comparable to the early Open Mountain stage to end up dying at the hands of mere Foundation Establishment cultivators—the very thought would leave a man unable to rest in peace even in death.

"Brother Sun, are you all right?" Fei Yangsheng caught up and asked.

"I'm fine. Just now, for some reason, I went numb for a moment, but there's no sign of injury. It must have been some bluffing trick of this Primordial Spirit. It seems I'll need your help this time, Brother Fei—whatever it takes, we absolutely cannot let it escape! I will reward you generously afterward!" Sun Baimei's face was full of determination to succeed.

"Good!" Fei Yangsheng nodded and immediately gave chase at full speed in the direction Wei Zhao had fled.

Sun Baimei, being faster, took a different direction. From their brief encounter he already knew this Primordial Spirit was not fast, and he could easily circle around and cut it off ahead. Then, with him and Fei Yangsheng closing in from front and back, where could it possibly run?

Through his spiritual sense, Wei Zhao perceived the movements of the two with perfect clarity, but there was nothing he could do. Theirs was an open stratagem: as long as he was slower than Sun Baimei, sooner or later the moment would come when he was hemmed in from both sides.

The only good news was that, through the activity of the past few moments, Wei Zhao had grown much more accustomed to his Primordial Spirit body. His movements were increasingly free and smooth, and his movement technique was recovering bit by bit. The problem was that it was not recovering fast enough—at this rate, he might really end up capsized in a ditch!

Carrying on like this was not the answer, but Wei Zhao could not simply stop either—that would only mean a faster death. If he wanted to survive, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep fleeing forward.

In fact, besides fleeing, Wei Zhao had another option at this moment: dissolve his Primordial Spirit body on his own before the enemy cut him off. That way he would become a formless Primordial Spirit, able to float into the sky and escape—or even cancel this journey altogether and flee straight back to Cloud Terrace Island along his Primordial Spirit connection.

But that would render this entire Primordial Spirit projection meaningless, and Wei Zhao would absolutely never do such a thing unless it was the very last resort.

Moreover, even setting aside fleeing straight back to Cloud Terrace Island, every transformation between his Primordial Spirit and its bodily form would inevitably consume a great deal of it. Originally, given the strength of Wei Zhao's Primordial Spirit, he might have been able to last half a year; but if he kept switching back and forth like that, a single month would likely be more than he could manage.

The present situation, though dire, had not yet reached such a dead end. A sharp light flashed in Wei Zhao's eyes. This crisis had indeed caught him somewhat off guard, but he was now fully roused. Cloud Terrace Island, crowded with experts, had failed to corner him—and now that he had returned to the mortal realm, was he really to be driven to his wit's end by others? Not a chance!

Moments later, Wei Zhao was moving faster and faster, but ahead Sun Baimei still cut him off, raising his hand to unleash that same Primordial Spirit-sucking move, and laughed triumphantly: "Now let's see where you think you're running!"