Chapter 298: Annihilation of the Infant (Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!)_2
The Nascent Soul Ancestors of the Shushan Sect spent the vast majority of their time in secluded meditation, and it would take a matter pertaining to the life and death of the sect to disturb them into action.
Li Shiming might be important, but to request the aid of a Nascent Soul Ancestor from the Shushan Sect to save him would require one to be idle, or else they simply would not have the time to rush to his rescue.
Li Shiming was still managing to hold on, thinking that perhaps if the pursuit behind him dragged on for an extended period without catching up, they might give up and leave on their own.
This chase had been ongoing for six hours, with Supervisor Feng Yi ignoring all else, determined to kill Li Shiming before the False Infant perished.
Li Shiming had harnessed the computing power of the IBM z15 to calculate an escape route for him, as he did not want to be impeded by a formation due to an ill-chosen path.
The Cultivation World harbored many forces, each with its own Mountain Gate Formation.
For the most part, breaking through these Mountain Gate Formations was not much of a challenge for Li Shiming, but if he encountered one on his path, he would have no time to stop and decipher it.
He didn't even need to bother calculating how to break through; even a momentary delay by a formation could allow the pursing False Infant to draw near.
The entry-level Divine Foot Skill "Step by Step Lotus" was still incapable of utterly overwhelming the speed of the False Infant. Though he had an advantage, it was not significant enough to entirely shake off the False Infant.
Thus, the escape route he chose took him away from the domain of various sects' mountain gates, and he moved in circles within a broad range.
If Supervisor Feng Yi had any sense, he would notice that the pursuit path formed a circle with a radius of hundreds of miles.
Li Shiming did not venture outside the monitoring range of the high-altitude drones. By pinpointing his position and enlarging the image behind him, he managed to keep track of the pursuing False Infant through the drone's surveillance.
After being chased by the False Infant for two hours, he noticed something was off about it.
Having pursued for so long, the False Infant should have realized that it had no advantage in speed and that catching up with him was nearly an unrealistic prospect.
So why did the False Infant persist in its relentless chase instead of choosing to leave?
With dawn approaching, Li Shiming felt a sinking feeling. Once the day broke, the "Charming Soul Concealing Secret Technique" wouldn't be able to provide invisibility in daylight.
And under such pursuit, he had no chance to find shadows to maintain the invisibility conferred by the "Charming Soul Concealing Secret Technique," as that would drastically reduce his speed.
The high-altitude drones were unable to display the face of the False Infant, or he would have been able to see its condition clearly.
At this moment, the False Infant was glowing red all over, its clear eyes also turned red, its face was utterly crazed, and it had long been devoid of any sanity.
After six hours of pursuit, Supervisor Feng Yi's desire for revenge had transformed into his final obsession.
He had forgotten the time, his identity, and all other affairs, fixating only on slaughtering the enemy before him.
For in his last moment of clarity, he understood that his death was certain. Without a physical body and not being a true Nascent Soul Ancestor, he couldn't resort to Body Seizing with a False Infant.
Over four hundred years, he had put in so much effort, advancing step by step to reach today, only for the enemy before him to end his cultivation journey, to end his life.
He was unwilling to accept this, overwhelmingly so, and this unwillingness turned into resentment, breeding demons in the heart and extinguishing the last bit of rationale, leading the False Infant into madness.
Otherwise, with his shrewdness, he would have ceased the pursuit long ago upon realizing the futility of catching up.
Li Shiming looked toward the east, where the sky was exceptionally dark at that moment, but he knew that any second now, the big sun would rise, rendering his "Charming Soul Concealing Secret Technique" ineffective, and revealing his figure deploying "Step by Step Lotus" to the world.
He was aware of the consequences should other cultivators discover his use of "Step by Step Lotus." Thinking of his other self Li Yuanba, it was precisely because he possessed "Step by Step Lotus" that he was captured by Qianye Temple.
Given Qianye Temple's obstinacy, it was likely that he would become another target just like Li Yuanba had been.
Perhaps Qianye Temple would regard him as a reincarnated Buddha's son, thinking of taking him back to Qianye Temple.
Despite knowing the potential risks, he couldn't afford to stop, for even the briefest moment's pause would allow the pursuing False Infant to catch up and kill him.
With a sigh in his heart, he was already considering his next moves.
As he pondered, at the line where heaven and earth met, a spot of red light emerged, followed by the sudden leap of the great sun.
The "Charming Soul Concealing Secret Technique" deployed by Li Shiming instantly became ineffective, and he stood upon the white lotus like a Buddha's son descending to the mortal world.
Meanwhile, the False Infant in hot pursuit behind him was shone upon by the first ray of sunlight between heaven and earth, causing its entire body's red glow to ascend and form a red mist that towered dozens of meters above it.
Even the demon-possessed False Infant could not withstand the irradiation of this first ray of sunlight from the world.
Within the world's first ray of sunlight was the Innate Violet Aura, an energy of the utmost yang from between heaven and earth.
The False Infant, like ice before a great fire, had its energy dispersed by the utmost yang Violet Aura into an ascending red mist that reached dozens of meters high.
The sun's rays continued to shine upon the False Infant, and although no longer imbued with the Innate Violet Aura, the great sun itself is the utmost yang existence of the world, an energy feared by the False Infant.
The demon-possessed False Infant let out piercing screams while still in pursuit of Li Shiming.
Because of its flight, the red mist above the False Infant formed a splendid red glow.
This red glow was extremely beautiful, yet profoundly deadly. Everything it touched, including trees, rocks, and so on, turned into dust.
This was the False Infant's final splendor, as it quickly weakened.
Li Shiming, of course, noticed this; during day time, the ten thousand-meter unmanned zone made it easier to discern the condition of the False Infant.
He finally understood what had happened. The legends had always stated that 'Nascent Soul Emergence' was dangerous, so if that held risks, then the emergence of a lesser being like the False Infant must surely be even more perilous.
Before long, merely after ten breaths' time, the False Infant stopped.
Li Shiming also ceased using "Step by Step Lotus". During such a short period in an uninhabited area, he had not been discovered by other cultivators using "Step by Step Lotus", but the red glow here was bound to draw attention eventually.
Since the False Infant had stopped, he no longer needed to use "Step by Step Lotus". As long as he maintained a distance of ten li, he did not have to worry about being attacked by the False Infant.
The white lotus beneath him vanished, and he stood midair, looking at the False Infant ten li away.
Now, he no longer needed the aid of a regular telescope; at a distance of ten li, his eyesight was clearer than through an ordinary telescope.
He saw the False Infant's blood-red eyes and its face like a fierce ghost. At that moment, the False Infant was only half an inch in size, its vestment robe clinging closely to its shrinking body.
Because red mist was still rising from the False Infant, it was like a cracked water jar, no longer being filled, while its contents kept flowing out, soon to be completely drained of its energy.
The False Infant did not stop pursuing him because it wanted to, but because it could no longer move.
Finally, the eyes of the False Infant no longer glowed red, and Supervisor Feng Yi regained control over the False Infant.
"You're merely a Foundation Establishment Cultivator!" Supervisor Feng Yi saw his enemy clearly and let out the most unwilling voice of his life.
He, a formidable False Infant Cultivator, had fallen at the hands of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, fallen to the hands of an existence he once saw as insignificant, which he could not accept.
With lingering resentment towards Li Shiming, the last half-inch figure also dissipated into red mist under the sunlight.
A delicate robe fluttered in the air as it fell with the disappearance of the False Infant.
Before the robe could hit the ground, Li Shiming reached out and caught it in his hand.
He looked at the robe in his hands with disbelief, as well as the spot where the False Infant had vanished. There had once been a powerful cultivator of the Beishu Continent.
And he had actually killed a False Infant Cultivator. If it weren't for the tactile sensation from the magical artifacts in the robe, if it weren't for the absence of spiritual imprints within the robe, he would hardly believe that Supervisor Feng Yi had really perished.
Even if he had employed cunning, even if good fortune had played its part, he truly relied on himself to resolve a great trouble.