Void Cultivation-Chapter 219- Chubby Fiend (4)

"Wait! Let’s just talk about this!" Bao shouted hurriedly, but Grey did not listen. In the next instant, Bao was flung backward at breakneck speed, his body tumbling through the air like a broken doll.

Blood spurted from his mouth, splattering across the ground as his face turned deathly pale.

’This can’t go on!’

With a reluctant and desperate expression, Bao began to perform a series of hand seals. At first glance, it appeared as though he was merely casting an ordinary technique. However, as the seconds passed, the movements of his hands grew increasingly erratic and complex, far beyond what a normal technique required.

In the end, Bao raised his index finger and stabbed it into his own forehead. Fresh blood flowed immediately, staining his finger crimson as he drew an inscription in mid-air.

This inscription was not the usual pale blue or yellow seen in most techniques.

It was red.

Bao’s blood traced a complicated hexagram through the air, each line trembling faintly as it formed. The moment the final stroke was completed, a strong sense of danger exploded in Grey’s mind. His scalp tingled violently, and every instinct within him screamed in warning.

Grey’s eyes sharpened. He was about to execute a killing strike.

However, Grey would not give Bao the chance to finish unopposed. He raised his hand, and a faint, illusory purple sword condensed within his grasp. At the same time, a massive heavenly sword, several meters in length, manifested above his head, radiating an overwhelming pressure that distorted the air itself.

Just as Grey was about to slash downward, Bao finished the final formation of the hexagram and let out a strained grunt.

"Hu!" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

In the next moment, the hexagram expanded violently, covering a circular radius of fifty meters. Everything within that area was dyed an unnatural crimson, as though the world itself had been submerged in blood. A thick, nauseating stench spread through the air.

Grey and Bao were both enveloped within the crimson field. As the light washed over his body, Grey felt his arm freeze in mid-air.

The heavenly sword above his head froze as well.

It was as if time itself had come to a halt.

When Bao saw this, he heaved a heavy sigh of relief. His shoulders sagged slightly, as though a crushing weight had finally been lifted. This was his last trump card, a technique he had painstakingly created for the sole purpose of surviving a life-and-death crisis.

This technique could only be used against cultivators within the Foundation Establishment realm. Against Spirit Core Formation experts, the hexagram would be shattered almost instantly.

A sharp glint flashed through Grey’s eyes. However, no matter how much will he exerted, he could not move his body. The heavenly sword above him remained completely still, frozen in place.

Grey attempted to move his fingers.

Nothing.

He tried to circulate his qi. For an instant, the flow responded, then abruptly vanished, as though it had been swallowed by something external and absolute.

Frozen in such a position and completely open to attack, Grey felt a chill creep down his spine.

’If necessary, I’ll tear this seal apart.’ He thought coldly. Consequences be damned.

Even with Grey sealed in place, Bao still didn’t feel safe. His expression remained tense as he hurriedly swallowed several healing pills, not daring to hesitate. He then retreated several meters, increasing the distance between them.

"I said I’m sorry," Bao said in a low, hoarse voice. "Here is your magic ship."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he threw out a storage bag. It flew through the air and landed at Grey’s feet.

In the very next instant, Bao’s body suddenly flattened as he fell toward the ground. The moment he made contact, his form was shredded into countless fragments that rapidly transformed into strips of paper.

Bao’s face twisted as the paper body collapsed. Despite his escape, his expression was still filled with lingering pain and fear.

As if losing the power sustaining it, the crimson hexagram trembled before rapidly fading away.

Grey slowly lowered his frozen arm as sensation returned to his body. The illusory sword dispersed into motes of light, and the oppressive pressure in the air vanished as though it had never existed.

The moment the hexagram fully disappeared, Grey retreated several steps backward, his gaze sharp and vigilant.

He stared at the storage bag warily, then swept his surroundings with his senses. No trace of Bao could be found.

After waiting for some time and confirming there was no ambush, Grey returned and picked up the storage bag. He did not open it. Instead, he placed it inside another storage bag before leaving the area entirely.

As he left the transportation department, Grey couldn’t help but think:

’I need to be more decisive.’

If Bao had chosen to attack instead of fleeing, I would have been forced to reveal my trump cards far earlier than planned.

Although the seal had not defeated him, it had delayed him.

’Delay.’

That single word echoed repeatedly in his mind.

In a real battle, delay was death. Maybe not today, but eventually. If Bao had been willing to pay a higher price, Grey would have been pushed into a corner.

That was unacceptable.

Strength that could not be applied immediately was no different from weakness. Techniques could be sealed. Movements could be frozen. Even killing intent could be restrained by external rules.

Grey exhaled slowly, his gaze sinking into stillness.

He stepped onto the city street, blending seamlessly into the flow of cultivators moving through the main city.

He did not need more explosive power. He already possessed enough methods to kill Foundation Establishment cultivators head-on. What he lacked was certainty, the ability to decide the outcome before the enemy even realized a battle had begun.

If he had possessed poison, the rhythm of the battle would have been entirely different. Poison did not announce itself. It did not clash or roar. It did not give the enemy time to activate trump cards or burn blood essence.

By the time they realized something was wrong, the battle was already over.

Grey’s lips curved slightly, not in a smile, but in quiet resolve.

Next time, there would be no delay.

Grey quickly returned to the main city. Even though killing intent threatened to spill from his eyes, he forcibly restrained it.

This battle had shown him exactly how he could be stopped.

After retracting his cultivation base to appear as a Qi Accumulation cultivator, Grey began searching for shops that sold medicinal pills and poisonous grasses.

Grey wanted to concoct poison.