Chapter 202: The chase [2]

Chapter 202: 202: The chase [2]

The flying sword tore through the snowy forest, sending a trail of loose snow swirling into the air behind it.

Lin Xuan stood at the front, controlling the sword while Zhaoyue and Zhaocao remained behind him.

Zhaocao continued holding the Xinyuan Luo with both hands, keeping her spiritual energy connected to the artifact.

Every time the compass needle shifted, she immediately adjusted the direction.

"Patriarch, he headed west now!" Zhaocao shouted.

Lin Xuan immediately turned the flying sword and followed the new direction.

The sword weaved between the towering trees, occasionally passing over frozen streams and snow-covered rocks.

Several cultivators hunting nearby looked up in surprise as the flying sword flashed past them.

"What was that?" one of them asked.

"I have no idea, but someone seems to be in a hurry."

Lin Xuan ignored them completely.

His divine sense spread through the surrounding forest, searching for any trace of Zhaofeng.

However, the deeper they went into Yew Woods, the more difficult the terrain became.

Meanwhile, Qin Xishu was carrying Zhaofeng through the forest at full speed.

She occasionally glanced behind her and then increased her speed. Carefully avoiding not to leave behind any obvious traces.

Zhaofeng remained unconscious in her arms, his injuries and her entrancement preventing him from waking despite the violent movement.

She continued running without slowing down.

Behind her, Lin Xuan’s flying sword kept chasing.

"Zhaocao, is the compass still pointing in the same direction?" he asked.

Zhaocao looked down at the artifact and nodded.

"Yes, Patriarch."

A few moments later, however, her expression changed.

Her hands began trembling and Lin Xuan noticed it immediately.

"What happened?"

Zhaocao gritted her teeth and continued holding onto the compass.

"I’m fine."

Her face had already turned pale.

The spiritual energy inside her body was rapidly being drained into the Xinyuan Luo.

She tried to maintain her connection with the artifact, but her arms were beginning to weaken.

Lin Xuan frowned.

"How long can you hold on?"

Zhaocao hesitated before answering honestly.

"I... I don’t think I can hold it much longer."

Lin Xuan’s heart sank at the sight of Zhaocao’s bloodless complexion.

"That’s enough," he said as he reached out and took the Xinyuan Luo from her hands.

He then turned toward Zhaoyue and said, "Look after her for me."

Zhaoyue immediately nodded and moved closer to Zhaocao, supporting her before she could lose her balance.

Lin Xuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

The next moment, his spiritual qi erupted from his body and spread outward like an invisible tide.

It continued expanding through the Yew Woods, passing over snow-covered trees, frozen streams, caves, and every cultivator within the forest.

Lin Xuan pushed his spiritual qi farther and farther until it eventually covered the entire Yew Woods.

The enormous range placed a tremendous burden on his body.

His spiritual qi began draining at an alarming rate, and even his breathing became slightly heavier.

However, the result was a near-perfect perception of every corner of the Yew Woods.

Every tree, cave, clearing, and movement within the forest appeared clearly within Lin Xuan’s perception, allowing him to observe the slightest disturbance as though he were standing beside it.

At the same time, Qin Xishu, who was carrying Zhaofeng, immediately sensed the vast divine sense sweeping across the Yew Woods.

Her expression remained calm as she stopped moving and concealed both herself and Zhaofeng with her aura.

The immense divine sense swept toward them.

Qin Xishu watched it approach without the slightest trace of panic.

"You’ve made a huge mistake, Shuxuan," she muttered with a faint smile. "You’ll never be able to find me."

The probing divine sense passed over her position without detecting anything unusual.

Qin Xishu remained perfectly still as she calmly watched it move farther away.

As a Nascent Soul expert herself, she understood the limitations of divine sense at this level.

More importantly, she knew exactly where its blind spots were and how to recreate them.

Lin Xuan might have covered the entire Yew Woods with his divine sense, but even such overwhelming perception was not truly flawless.

Divine sense was one of the greatest advantages of a cultivator.

Once released, it could spread over an enormous area and perceive everything within its range.

Unlike ordinary sight, it did not require a person to physically see something.

It could sense spiritual fluctuations, movements, living beings, and even subtle changes in the surrounding environment.

However, divine sense was not truly omniscient.

Every cultivator had a blind spot within their perception.

It was not a weakness in their cultivation, but a natural limitation of divine sense itself.

Normally, that blind spot was almost impossible to notice. A cultivator’s perception would naturally fill in the surrounding area, making it seem as though nothing could escape their awareness.

But Qin Xishu was not an ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator.

She had spent years studying divine sense and understood exactly how its perception worked.

By circulating her spiritual energy in a particular manner and matching her aura with the surrounding environment, she could recreate the natural blind spot of another Nascent Soul cultivator.

As long as she remained within that area, Lin Xuan’s divine sense would pass over her without recognizing her presence.

It was similar to looking directly at something while the mind itself refused to register that it was there.

The technique did not make Qin Xishu or Zhaofeng invisible, instead, it made them appear as though they were simply part of the surrounding environment.

Qin Xishu had also concealed Zhaofeng within her aura, ensuring that his spiritual fluctuations would not leak beyond her concealment.

That was why Lin Xuan’s seemingly perfect perception had failed to locate them.

He could perceive almost every corner of the Yew Woods, but he could not perceive something that had been deliberately placed within the very blind spot of his divine sense.

Qin Xishu watched the invisible wave of divine sense pass over her again, remaining completely relaxed.

"Even if you search this entire forest ten times, you still won’t find us," she murmured.