The frantic chase continued.

Piloting the Ghostly Flood Dragon, Su Ye was on the verge of reaching the Mist Sea and returning to the Yaoguang Islands! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

This placed the Eternal Hunter Incarnation in a rather awkward position.

’Cross the border?’

It didn’t dare.

Given the current power disparity between the two realms, there was a high chance it would never return.

’But give up?’

It couldn’t accept that.

The reserves it had consumed to manifest its divine kingdom and empower its body were staggering!

If it gave up now with nothing to show for it, the Eternal Hunting God would never accept it!

So...

Its only choice was to kill Su Ye before he reached the Mist Sea!

In other words—it had to raise the stakes!

"Hah..."

High in the sky, the Eternal Hunter Incarnation suddenly froze, halting its pursuit.

’What is it trying to do?’

Su Ye was startled, a little astonished.

Such an obvious and unusual maneuver sparked an ominous premonition in his heart.

’Faster!’

Su Ye frowned.

He urged the Ghostly Flood Dragon to get away faster!

No matter what that monster was planning, he would be safe as long as he escaped back to the Yaoguang Islands!

At that moment, the Eternal Hunter Incarnation spread its arms wide!

RRRRIP.

The spatial fissure behind it—or rather, the passage to its divine kingdom—began to expand, waves of pitch-black spiritual light surging outward!

The passage, originally about three feet wide, was torn open as if by an invisible pair of hands, expanding to several dozen feet in width within moments.

And now, for the first time, a physical object emerged from the passage, not just pure Spiritual Power.

An iron-gray, broken spear!

The Eternal Hunter Incarnation grasped the broken spear, divine light swirling in its eyes.

Then, it aimed the broken spear at the fleeing Ghostly Flood Dragon and declared with utmost solemnity,

"In my divine name, I bestow upon you—[Death Foreordained]!"

VMMMM!

Incredibly complex runes surged to life on the broken spear’s surface!

A gray light flared, forming an energy construct that completed the missing spearhead.

As the spearhead formed, the spiritual light surrounding the Eternal Hunter Incarnation dissipated by more than seventy percent!

This was a strike that required the full power of the Divine Incarnation!

And then, it hurled the iron-gray broken spear!

SSHHHK!

The iron-gray broken spear left a gray streak across the void!

But it quickly contracted, condensing into a point the size of a needle’s tip. It became a seemingly inconspicuous speck of gray spiritual light!

「Dozens of miles away.」

An indescribable, bone-chilling terror flooded Su Ye’s heart!

THUMP!

The hull of the Ghostly Flood Dragon shuddered violently!

Through his state of [Harmony], Su Ye clearly saw a gray beam, thick with the aura of death, strike the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s hull.

’A death-aspected Divine Technique?!’

Su Ye’s heart leaped in shock. The Far South Continent didn’t have a concept known as ’Divine Techniques.’

But as the very source of ’divinity,’ the methods of high-level gods were in no way inferior.

TZZZZT.

The gray light flared, and the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s defenses were pierced as easily as butter.

Immediately after, Su Ye’s pupils constricted. He ’saw’—with perfect clarity—the speck of gray light heading straight for him!

’At the speed of this gray light, the time I have left is probably only...’

’One second?!’

Su Ye instinctively tried to activate Water Escape.

However, in that tense, split-second moment, he inexplicably spaced out for a fraction of a second, failing to activate his Water Escape technique in time.

By the time he came to his senses...

...he saw that the gray speck of light was already upon him!

’This is bad!’

A chill shot through Su Ye’s heart!

He was utterly helpless!

Because... it was too late!

It seemed like he had time to think, but that was only because he was using his Divine Sense to accelerate his thought processes dozens of times over.

He had achieved a state akin to ’bullet time’.

And yet, the gray speck of light had already made contact with his body.

TSS.

Su Ye could already feel the bone-chilling deathly power—a force that felt like the world’s very end—seeping through his skin.

He had already been ’hit’!

It was far too late for any evasive maneuvers!

To put it in gaming terms—the hit had been confirmed, but the damage numbers hadn’t popped up yet.

’Damn it!’

Su Ye could only watch helplessly as the gray speck, in a world slowed countless times, moved at a visible speed toward his heart.

A life-or-death moment!

However, at that very moment, the gray speck of light seemed to be affected by a trivial amount of force, causing it to shift its trajectory!

THUD!

The gray light veered off course, piercing straight through Su Ye’s lung!

SSSHK!

In the blink of an eye, a fist-sized, cylindrical hole was bored straight through where the gray light had passed.

The flesh, blood, and bone in its path were completely vaporized, reduced to nothing.

At the same time, a deathly aura spread, corroding Su Ye’s body.

Even his ’Jade Bones’ groaned under the corrosion of the deathly aura!

Such terrifying lethality!

"Phew..."

"Luckily... it didn’t hit my heart."

Cold sweat dripped down Su Ye’s face, a wave of lingering fear washing over him.

This was the closest he had come to death since he had transmigrated!

If his [Evasion] attribute hadn’t kicked in at the critical moment, causing the gray light to deflect ever so slightly...

...he was afraid he would have...

At this thought, Su Ye’s expression turned grim. "That trance from before..."

With his keen spiritual perception, he quickly pinpointed the cause—the World Rejection Level!

The Far South Continent’s Celestial Dao might not be able to strike him down directly with overwhelming force, but it could subtly influence him at a critical moment, inducing a brief trance!

"It almost got me killed..." Su Ye’s expression turned savage, his eyes flashing with killing intent.

"Master, are you alright?!"

Jiaojiao’s voice was filled with anxiety.

"I’m fine. It’s not fatal."

Su Ye’s level of Body Refining and the expensive Spirit Pills he carried were now playing their part.

—A huge health bar and plenty of potions!

With his heart undamaged and his Magical Power reserves full, he couldn’t claim to be healed, but he could at least prevent the wound from rapidly worsening.

However... Jiaojiao’s—or rather, the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s—situation was far from optimistic.

"Heavy damage to the aft hull, the plasma propulsion engine is busted..."

"Energy furnaces one, two, and four are destroyed..."

Jiaojiao’s face was pale. "Master, the Magnetic Reversal is about to fail, we are going to..."

"...go down!"

The words had barely left her mouth!

The entire Ghostly Flood Dragon lost its balance and hurtled towards the ground!

VMMMM.

Wings extended from the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s two levels, allowing it to glide.

CRUNCH... CRACK...

The Ghostly Flood Dragon plunged into a dense forest.

The continuous sound of snapping trees echoed through the air.

Using the impact with the trees to decelerate, the Ghostly Flood Dragon skidded for several miles before finally grinding to a halt.

"Hah... If only pilots could cultivate, there’d be no more crash fatalities, right?"

Su Ye pushed himself to his feet, a pained grin stretching his lips.

A moment later, the grin vanished, and he looked up.

He was still thirty miles from the Fog Sea Gray Wall.

And those thirty miles now seemed like an insurmountable chasm.

Because just as the Ghostly Flood Dragon ground to a halt...

The pitch-black Eternal Hunter Incarnation appeared in the sky above the Ghostly Flood Dragon!

Its eyes were cold. "Mortal, face your judgment!"

But after speaking, the Eternal Hunter Incarnation froze.

It discovered that Su Ye’s eyes did not hold the panic, fear, or pleading it had expected...

Instead, they held a hint of surprise.

And—ecstatic joy!