Great Villain: Starting by Humiliating the Son of the Heavenly Fate-Chapter 462: Drawing the Hunters In

My strength's gone up by at least a third. That'll do. Next step—pill fusion to raise my cultivation! Excitement flickered in Lu Yi's eyes as he threw himself into the process.

He burned through all four of his remaining fusion chances, combining pill after pill until a single result emerged: a top-grade Nirvana Cleansing-level pill.

Aptitude: Peerless Grade

Innate Talent: Saint Demon Heart

Heaven-defying Trump Card: All Things Infinite Fusion System (Level 6)

Realm: Late-stage Nirvana Peering

True Combat Power: Early-stage Nirvana Cleansing

Cultivation Methods: Purple Crest Immortal Gold Record (Void Tribulation, Core Technique), Limitless Nirvana Mysterious Sun Scripture (Nirvana Peering, Great Accomplishment)

Main Equipment: Golden Coiling Dragon Blade (Lower-grade Nirvana Peering)

Trust Level: 70]

So it's true… his strength has already broken into Early-stage Nirvana Cleansing. Jiang Chen's thoughts hardened as he confirmed the readout.

"Hah!" Lu Yi let out an awkward laugh. "To be honest, I almost broke through to the Nirvana Cleansing realm before. That failed attempt is what caused my cultivation to drop. But I'm confident—I won't be stuck here much longer." He quickly threw out the explanation, hoping to head off any jealousy Jiang Chen might feel over his sudden progress.

"There's more to you than I thought. Daring to push for Nirvana Cleansing realm already… that takes guts." Jiang Chen kept up his act, looking at Lu Yi as though in newfound respect.

Lu Yi nodded, face full of satisfaction.

Then Jiang Chen's expression turned grim. "Not good. My concealment art is about to collapse. If the people from the Purple Crest Immortal Sect and the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace catch up, we'll be in serious trouble."

In truth, he'd been keeping watch all along. The thirteen Nirvana Cleansing realm cultivators from those sects were still stationed at the original site.

"What? They're on us again?" Lu Yi's face darkened. Even with his boosted strength at Early-stage Nirvana Cleansing realm, he had no chance against the combined might of those powerhouses.

"If we're cornered, we won't walk away from this," Jiang Chen said. "But now that your cultivation's back at Late-stage Nirvana Peering realm—and you've got a shot at breaking through further—there's one path left."

He drew a sharp breath. "We split up. I'll drag the pursuers onto me. You slip away and look for your breakthrough. If we can both reach Nirvana Cleansing realm, they won't be able to suppress us so easily."

"You're going to draw them off again?" Lu Yi's expression softened, a hint of gratitude slipping through. "That's a big risk."

"Heh." Jiang Chen grinned. "Better than being dragged down by you."

"Fine, just don't get yourself killed." Lu Yi snorted, though his eyes carried real concern. "If you do, I'll avenge you."

"You're the one more likely to die." Jiang Chen shot him a sharp look, then pulled out a jade token and poured concealment power into it using his Underworld Calamity Indestructible Dao Embryo.

It wasn't anything amazing—Nangong Wan and Shangguan Ning had both mastered similar tricks. Jiang Chen had picked it up with little effort.

Before long, the jade token glimmered faintly, carrying a temporary concealment effect.

"This will last about two hours. With your breath-hiding art, it should work even better. No time to waste—I'm going." He tossed the token to Lu Yi, then tapped into the Earth Dao and shot up from the ground.

"Thank you." Lu Yi clasped his hands in salute toward the direction Jiang Chen had vanished, then rose from underground and shot off into the distance.

Not long after, a transmission reached him—Jiang Chen's concealment had unraveled, and both the Purple Crest Immortal Sect and the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace were chasing him down.

"Don't you dare die on me," Lu Yi muttered, pushing himself faster.

His feelings toward Jiang Chen were tangled.

Danger seemed to follow the man wherever he went.

But as a half-human, half-demon outcast scorned by everyone, Lu Yi had found in him an unlikely companion—someone just as unwanted by the world, yet still willing to lend a hand.

That ever-present aura of danger around Jiang Chen… Lu Yi chalked it up to his nature, not any true malice.

...

At that moment, far from where Lu Yi was flying, Jiang Chen deliberately dropped the concealment of his Underworld Calamity Indestructible Dao Embryo. In an instant, the cultivators of the Purple Crest Immortal Sect and the Compassionate Sword Immortal Palace locked onto him.

"He's shown himself!" Sun Xiangyuan's eyes lit up. "The aura of that wretch Jiang Chen—it's on the tracker again!"

"Just where we expected." Lu Tingze's lips curled, sharp with anticipation. "That bastard isn't far."

"He's done for." You Shaojun gave a cold sneer.

Around them, the rest of the group wore matching grins, their excitement plain. The tracking imprint was glowing once more—they were back on Jiang Chen's trail.