Chapter 82: Tactical Maneuvers

Over the Abyssal Sea, Lin Fanyun flew at breakneck speed toward the unexplored regions, pushing his velocity to nine-tenths of his maximum.

“Are you flying to the unexplored area in such a hurry because you’ve discovered me?” a voice, tinged with surprise and suspicion, rang in Lin Fanyun’s ears.

Instantly, Lin Fanyun accelerated even more, streaking like a meteor toward the unexplored area.

However, a figure even faster than him intercepted his path in a few blinks of an eye.

“So, you really did notice my presence. You’ve got some skills. Luckily, I realized something was off in time. If you had reached the unexplored area, it would’ve been much harder for me to pursue you.”

Lin Fanyun looked grimly at the man in front of him, whose head bore a pair of curved horns. 

His heart was filled with anger. He had originally planned to find a place to hide and cultivate in seclusion for a while. But as he was about to do so, he suddenly had a premonition of impending doom.

The feeling was fleeting, but Lin Fanyun didn’t ignore it. A cultivator’s premonition was never baseless.

This realization made him aware that he was being targeted. The explored regions of the Abyssal Sea were no longer safe. Hiding there would be futile.

Immediately, he set off for the unexplored areas.

The unexplored regions of the Abyssal Sea differed vastly from the explored ones. They were fraught with dangers that posed lethal risks, even to the most powerful beings.

Yet, for Lin Fanyun, given his premonition of danger, these regions felt safer than the explored areas.

“Whew.” Lin Fanyun calmed himself.

“That premonition wasn’t about a future danger but an imminent one,” he thought, realizing the threat had already arrived.

Lin Fanyun locked eyes with Yang Hao, his heart boiling with killing intent.

“A premonition, huh? No wonder,” Yang Hao said, sensing Lin Fanyun’s murderous intent but remaining indifferent. 

Why bother getting too worked up over prey that would barely put up a fight before dying?

“I’ve been watching you for months. I planned to wait a bit longer until you gathered more resources before killing you, but you decided to hide. It seems you noticed my fleeting killing intent back then, triggering your premonition and making you want to run. What’s the point, really? A fat pig is still a fat pig. Thrash around all you want, you’ll still die,” Yang Hao said with utter disdain, completely underestimating Lin Fanyun.

Yang Hao pointed, creating a whirlwind and said, “Already thinking of using poison before the fight even begins? How despicable.”

Lin Fanyun dodged the cyclone. 

Seeing that Yang Hao had seen through his tactics, he pulled out a jade bottle between his fingers.

“If we’re talking despicable, you’re worse, spying on me for months. That’s quite a disgusting habit. Still, it’s impressive you saw through this colorless and odorless mind-numbing incense. You must have quite the experience with such things.”

“Sharp-tongued,” Yang Hao sneered, lunging forward and throwing a punch.

Lin Fanyun met his attack head-on but was sent flying by the force of the punch.

Several of his finger bones broke. Although they healed instantly, the disparity in strength was clear.

“As expected, your physical body far surpasses that of ordinary body-refining cultivators of the same level. You must have cultivated an extremely advanced body-refining technique.” 

Yang Hao’s eyes burned with greed. He had targeted Lin Fanyun not only because of his swift resource accumulation but also because of the advanced body-refining technique that had forged such a formidable physique.

Yang Hao already considered the body-refining technique Lin Fanyun practiced as something in his grasp.

“You want it? Let’s see if you’ve got the skill to take it,” Lin Fanyun retorted, standing firm and unyielding.

With that, he assumed a fighting stance, unleashing the full power of his physical body.

Yang Hao sneered, his power at the fifth level of the Law Manifestation stage surged forth, subtly enveloping the area with an invisible domain.

After reaching a certain level of mastery, Law Manifestation stage experts gained an understanding of the world that allowed them to create a domain of their own. Within this domain, their control over the forces of nature was enhanced, along with other special abilities.

Though Yang Hao’s domain was not yet fully developed, he had the beginnings of one.

Lin Fanyun, on the other hand, had not even glimpsed the shadow of such a domain.

“Come, fight!” Lin Fanyun roared, his fists striking out in rapid succession, distorting the air and even repelling Yang Hao’s spiritual sense with his violent aura.

Yang Hao squinted, unfazed by the ferocious fists. With great force, he swatted them away with a single palm.

“Die!”

Lin Fanyun’s intense battle spirit excited Yang Hao. He now only wanted to kill Lin Fanyun and savor the thrill of crushing a somewhat strong opponent.

However, Lin Fanyun had vanished without a trace.

Yang Hao paused. He sweeped the area with his spiritual sense, preparing for a sneak attack.

But he found nothing, here or there.

After a moment, Yang Hao roared in frustration.

“Damn it! He actually slipped away!”

In the distance, Lin Fanyun, his figure completely transparent and his aura hidden, was swiftly fleeing. He needed to get as far away as possible before Yang Hao could catch up.

A head-on battle?

Hell no!

Though Lin Fanyun’s path of physical cultivation, aided by the system, allowed him to achieve perfection at each step before breaking through, giving him a solid foundation to fight even a shaky third-level Law Manifestation stage opponent, it only meant he could handle those with unstable foundations.

His strong foundation allowed him to maximize each step, but that didn’t mean others couldn’t do the same. Disciples of powerful sects might not have system assistance, but they had strong elders backing them.

These individuals also progressed steadily, and until he reached the highest levels of their inheritance, Lin Fanyun could at best be on par with them.

That first punch confirmed for Lin Fanyun that Yang Hao’s foundation was flawless. 

Yang Hao had undoubtedly comprehended two innate divine abilities upon breaking through, just like his true body. Additionally, he had a higher minor level by three stages and an embryonic domain.

Fighting him head-on was futile.

Even if Lin Fanyun channeled power from his true body in secret to prolong his stamina, he would eventually be worn down.

What could he do? Running was the only option.

Running away when outmatched wasn’t disgraceful.

As the saying goes, when the enemy is strong and we are weak, employ tactical retreats.

Return for revenge when stronger. 

Lin Fanyun was always clear about his strengths. Being unbeatable at the same level was unlikely, but his rapid advancement in physical cultivation was unparalleled. 

Thus, his strategy was to outpace his opponents in cultivation.

With his rate of improvement, enemies could finish a meal, take a nap, or enter seclusion, only to find themselves facing death upon emerging. 

Lin Fanyun fled with all his might, Yang Hao relentlessly pursuing him.

Several times, Yang Hao almost caught up. This time, he wasn’t falling for any tricks.

Lin Fanyun’s physical resilience and astonishing regenerative abilities, combined with his true body acting as a power bank to replenish his strength, made him difficult to kill.

He didn’t engage in prolonged fights with Yang Hao. Each time Yang Hao caught up, Lin Fanyun would quickly disengage from the fight, even if it meant sustaining injuries, never giving Yang Hao the chance to use techniques to restrain him.

“Damn it, he’s as slippery as an eel!” Yang Hao raged.

As a proud descendant of the Ram God, it was humiliating to let a mere second-level Law Manifestation stage cultivator escape repeatedly.

He activated his divine eyes, scanning all directions.

This was the Observing Microcosm Divine Eyes technique Yang Hao had cultivated. It allowed him to see the minute details of the world, observe cosmic changes, and detect even the smallest clues.

Although Yang Hao had only just started mastering this technique, not even reaching a minor level of proficiency, it was already invaluable in fights at the Law Manifestation stage.

This technique was the reason he kept finding the fleeing Lin Fanyun.

“There he is!” Yang Hao spotted traces left by Lin Fanyun and pursued him.

“Don’t think you can escape to the unexplored regions. I will kill you.”

From a distance, Lin Fanyun sensed the powerful aura rapidly closing in behind him.

“He’s caught up again. Truly relentless.”

Lin Fanyun’s eyes were cold. After several encounters, it was clear that there was no possibility of reconciliation between him and Yang Hao. One of them would have to die.

“It seems he has some special method. Otherwise, he couldn’t find me every time. For now, I don’t have a good way to counter it. But since he always finds me after some delay, rather than immediately, it shows my concealment techniques are not entirely ineffective.” 

Within Lin Fanyun’s physical body were two innate divine abilities, Body Manipulation and Tenfold Burst.

His current concealment technique was developed by combining the essential insights of various stealth martial techniques, perfected by his true body, with the Body Manipulation divine ability.

This technique allowed him to seal all his aura within his flawless body, severing any connection between his physical form and the outside world, leaving no traces.

It could even refract light and evade detection by others’ spiritual senses.

The only drawback was that he couldn’t completely eliminate the disturbance of air caused by his movement.

Despite his efforts to minimize this effect, he still couldn’t fully achieve it.

“This limitation is partly due to my reliance on physical strength alone. In my true body’s cultivation, there’s a wind attribute technique that addresses this issue. Using this technique to move in harmony with the air, combined with concealment techniques, would result in perfect stealth. Unfortunately, my physical strength can’t properly utilize those True Core-level techniques.”

Hovering in mid-air, Lin Fanyun pondered. With his attunement to the world, developing martial techniques tailored for his physical body wouldn’t be difficult.

In past years, he had been too busy to find the time.

“It seems I need to spend some time working on this.”

These encounters continuously served as nourishment for Lin Fanyun, helping him to constantly address and improve his weaknesses.

At that moment, Yang Hao had already caught up.

This time, Yang Hao went all out from the start.

A terrifying giant ram, over a hundred feet tall, materialized in the sky.

The previously faint domain had now been amplified many times over by the giant ram’s Manifestation. Its power and range far exceeded what Yang Hao had used before.

“Lin Fanyun, forcing me to use the Desolate God Ram’s form—your death will be an honor!”

Yang Hao scanned the area with his Observing Microcosm Divine Eyes but still couldn’t spot Lin Fanyun. He knew he was here. 

Suddenly, the kilometer-wide domain exerted its power, constraining the forces of heaven and earth and sealing everything within it.

Inside the domain, the Law Manifestation stage was supreme.

Everything was under Yang Hao’s control.

“Found you!” Yang Hao sneered, clenching his fist. 

The domain trembled, forcing Lin Fanyun out of his concealed state.

“Still trying to hide? Within my domain, everything is under my control. Every slight movement will be known to me. How could you possibly evade me?”

Lin Fanyun remained silent for a moment.

“Indeed, I knew of the existence of domains but had never seen or experienced one. I underestimated it. The domain is far more formidable than I anticipated.”

“Die!” Yang Hao struck with a deadly blow, sending Lin Fanyun flying.

Hampered by the domain, Lin Fanyun’s movements were slow. He struggled to defend himself but was hit directly in the heart, spewing a large mouthful of blood.

Yet, a smile curled at the corner of Lin Fanyun’s mouth.

“Explode!”