Chapter 686: Fierce Battle Against an Innate

‘Hm? Is there an old fox hiding in the shadows?’

Chen Cheng spun around, his gaze fixed on a stone mountain over a hundred zhang away.

The stone mountain was bare and didn’t seem suitable for hiding. At first glance, nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Chen Cheng had been preoccupied with chasing the Demon Cultivator, his attention focused entirely on him. Coupled with the distance to the stone mountain, he hadn’t sensed anything unusual.

But now, using the Gen Palace Array Flag Jade to mobilize the aura of the Gen Palace Array and carefully scan the nearby stone forest, he instantly discovered an extremely well-hidden presence concealed within a massive boulder atop the stone mountain.

This presence had almost completely merged with the rock, making them indistinguishable. If not for a subtle difference between the heavy pressure the boulder emanated and that of its surroundings, even the Gen Palace Array might not have detected it.

Even though he could sense the presence, his eyes saw only the same unremarkable, flawless boulder atop the stone mountain.

‘This guy isn’t just Concealing his Breath. He’s probably also using a Five Elements Earth Lineage Realm or an Eight Trigrams Mount Gen Lineage Realm to have hidden himself completely inside the rock.

‘Anyone with such an ability is definitely not to be underestimated!

‘It might really be that Innate Realm Expert!’

Chen Cheng was secretly alarmed.

Before Chen Cheng could make a move, the stone mountain shattered with a BOOM. A figure in blue shot out, speeding toward the outer edge of the stone forest.

It was none other than Mu Qingfeng!

He was using the Earth Element Escape Skill, one of the Five Elements Escape Skills.

Cultivating the First Layer of the Five Elements Earth Realm allowed one to reach Small Success in the Earth Element Escape Skill. At this level, one could merge their Earth Element Aura with the land to hide their tracks and perform rudimentary escape maneuvers.

However, in the terrain of the Gen Palace Stone Forest, where the rock was hard and heavy, a Small Success Level Earth Element Escape Skill was completely unusable.

Only after cultivating the Second Layer of the Five Elements Earth Realm could one achieve Great Success in the Earth Element Escape Skill, allowing them to barely merge into the rock of the stone forest.

But even then, it was impossible to leave no trace behind.

Only by further cultivating the True Intent of Heaven and Earth and combining it with the Second Layer of the Five Elements Earth Realm could one achieve Perfection in the Earth Element Escape Skill, enabling them to merge into the rocks of the stone forest and become almost one with them.

One could travel freely through this hard, heavy rock, but not very deep, and the speed was not fast.

Due to the existence of the Gen Palace Array, he was also unable to use the Earth Element Escape Skill to directly reach the Array Hub.

If Chen Cheng hadn’t controlled the Gen Palace Array, Mu Qingfeng could have naturally escaped with ease using his Earth Element Escape Skill.

But in the current situation, a direct and swift escape was the best course of action.

As for staying to fight Chen Cheng, that would be no different from suicide.

After all, Chen Cheng had already taken control of the Gen Palace Array Banner and could unleash a portion of the Gen Palace Array’s power. Mu Qingfeng was no match for him.

“Since you’re here, you might as well stay!”

Chen Cheng said lightly, then fully activated the Gen Palace Array Flag Jade.

The Gen Palace Array suddenly began to tremble, erupting with a heavy, tangible pressure that spread rapidly outward from the Array Hub in all directions.

VMMMM!

The entire stone forest trembled, and even the air itself vibrated under the heavy pressure, letting out a low hum.

Mu Qingfeng’s figure slowed abruptly. He could no longer even use his Primordial Gang True Force to ride the air currents and fly.

He could only use his full strength to deploy the True Intent of Heaven and Earth, combining it with his Second Layer of the Five Elements Earth Realm to counteract the heavy pressure from the Gen Palace Array’s control over the terrain as much as possible, using his Primordial Gang True Force to leap rapidly across the rock faces.

Chen Cheng, on the other hand, was almost completely unaffected by the terrain’s heavy pressure. He flew at full speed, even mobilizing the array’s aura to use the heavy pressure to propel himself forward.

Like a meteor chasing the moon, he tore through the air, creating a series of sonic booms!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

In just over ten breaths, Chen Cheng had covered several hundred zhang and was now only a few zhang behind Mu Qingfeng.

“Die!”

His voice was cold and detached.

Drawing on the aura of the Gen Palace Array, Chen Cheng instantly condensed a boulder several zhang wide and smashed it toward Mu Qingfeng with wild, violent force!

The might of this attack was equivalent to at least eight thousand units of Realm Power!

And that was only because they were several hundred zhang from the Array Hub, which had somewhat weakened the array’s power.

If they had been near the Array Hub, the attack’s power would have been close to nine thousand units.

This was the terrifying might of the Array Hub’s power. It was for this very reason that the Demon Cultivator Batulu had fled in panic after Chen Cheng took control of the Gen Palace Array Hub’s banner.

And now, Mu Qingfeng was also scared out of his wits.

He could no longer afford to flee. He spun around, condensed a zhang-long spear of Earth Element Aura, and thrust it fiercely at the giant boulder!

BOOM!

The giant boulder shattered instantly!

Mu Qingfeng used the recoil to fling himself more than ten zhang away. The long spear of Earth Element Aura in his hand was completely unharmed.

Chen Cheng’s eyes narrowed slightly.

He could clearly sense the power behind the old man’s attack. The blue-robed man had used his True Intent of Heaven and Earth—with a power of nearly seven thousand units—and combined it with the aura of his Second Layer of the Five Elements Earth Realm. The resulting strike had a Realm Power approaching ten thousand units!

The blue-robed old man’s attainments in the True Intent of Heaven and Earth were actually a cut above Chen Cheng’s!

‘And that doesn’t even seem to be the full extent of his strength!

‘Puncture Realm experts have a lifespan of up to 150 years. For this blue-robed old man to risk entering this grotto-heaven for an opportunity, he must be someone whose time is running out.

‘How could someone who has lived for nearly 150 years be an ordinary person?

‘If not for the suppression of the grotto-heaven’s Array, if this blue-robed old man could use his Innate True Qi, he could probably even hold his own against an expert like Situ Mu!’

After his brief shock, Chen Cheng didn’t dwell on it. With a few flashes of movement, he was right behind Mu Qingfeng again.

He mobilized the Gen Palace Array’s aura, instantly condensing several giant boulders that smashed toward Mu Qingfeng from all directions.