The white light slowly spread out, and after a few breaths, it covered all of Sea-Sky City. At this moment, no one in Sea-Sky City dared to make a sound, because the light brought such a powerful pressure that it felt suffocating.
The Grand Elder's face looked a bit pale at this moment. It was obvious that using the Soul-Net Search Art had consumed a great deal of Divine Power. His expression kept shifting, showing both excitement and confusion.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and said, "I've detected one person's aura right here in Sea-Sky City. The other has vanished, but it seems this one has burrowed into the earth strata—the signal isn't very clear.
Being able to burrow into the earth means this person is quite capable and knows Earthshift. Catching him will be troublesome; we'll have to leave that to Protector Mi. We just need to wait for him to force the kid back up to the surface."
"Burrowed into the earth? He really knows how to hide. Looks like they realized we were coming—the other person probably entered a spatial artifact, which complicates things. We have to find this kid as soon as possible," another elder said.
Evan Chu, however, had no idea that his burrowing into the earth had been discovered by the elder. He hadn't expected such terrifying investigative arts. For safety, he had gone very deep—so deep that even a God-Venerable would have a hard time harming him.
"Grand Elder, where exactly is the kid? I'll go capture him right now. Using Earthshift in front of me is just showing off before a master craftsman. Today I'll show him what true power is," a middle-aged man said.
"Only Protector Mi can handle this. The kid is just ahead, not far from here—let's go. Also, set up a barrier outside the earth so he can't escape when he comes up," the Grand Elder said.
Then the Grand Elder led the group to the spot where Evan Chu had burrowed into the earth. Even though Evan was deep underground, he could still sense the powerful aura above—a God-Venerable's aura—which made him slightly uneasy.
"Could it be that they've found me? The Sea Regions' experts really are something else... Looks like I'll have to burrow even deeper," Evan Chu muttered to himself, then continued sinking down.
"Protector Mi, it's up to you! Hope you win easily!" the Grand Elder said to the middle-aged man.
"Don't worry, Grand Elder, I'll definitely get the job done! Just wait for my good news!" The middle-aged man replied, then his figure flickered and he dove into the earth, using a method almost identical to Evan Chu's.
When Evan Chu had burrowed down over sixty meters, he stopped—he sensed movement in the earth, as if someone else was tunneling in, and at a speed almost equal to his own.
A late-stage God-Venerable could burrow through the earth incredibly fast, quickly reaching dozens of meters deep. Evan Chu gave a faint smile. "Since you've come seeking death, I'll oblige you!" he said, then completely merged his body into the earth.
The deeper Protector Mi tunneled, the more unsettled he felt. The depth was already extreme and his speed had slowed a lot, but suddenly the kid's trail vanished. That could only mean one thing: his mastery of the earth element was no less than Protector Mi's own.
But remembering his own late-stage God-Venerable strength, he pushed aside his fear and kept diving deeper, his divine sense probing the earth for any movement, staying extremely cautious.
Evan Chu calmly watched as the figure drew closer and closer. This was the first time he'd seen anyone master the earth element to such a degree. If he hadn't broken Earthshift through to the fourth layer, descending to this depth would've been extremely difficult because of the immense pressure underground.
But now, he barely felt any pressure at all. Not only had his realm advanced, but his Ninth-Layer Starforge Body alone was enough to withstand the crushing force of the earth. At this moment, he was simply waiting for the opponent to get close so he could launch a surprise attack. Even if he couldn't cripple him, he could at least injure him severely.
Protector Mi drew ever closer to Evan Chu, who was fully prepared. In the earth strata, there were almost no gaps, so attacking was incredibly difficult for most people—but not for Evan Chu.
By merging his body into the earth, it was like a fish in water—he could move freely inside, even perform combat arts.
Finally, Protector Mi arrived right in front of Evan Chu. He seemed to sense Evan's presence and stopped moving, carefully watching for any sign of movement around him.
"Kid, I know you're here. Come out and let me send you off! Don't worry, I'll make sure you get a whole corpse. It's the first time I've seen someone master the earth element so well, but trying to show off in front of me is a huge mistake," Protector Mi said.
Evan Chu knew the opponent was trying to probe his location. Such a tired trick was easy to see through—there was no way he'd fall for it, so he simply ignored it.
After a while, Protector Mi didn't sense any movement, and a look of doubt appeared on his face. "Did that guy notice me and already leave? It seems this person really isn't simple."
He immediately moved off in another direction, turning his back to Evan Chu. For Evan, this was a golden opportunity, and he knew exactly how to seize it.
With a thought, he lunged and thrust his sword at Protector Mi. Evan Chu put his full strength into this attack—though he couldn't use Absolute Cleave, at such close range this strike was every bit as deadly.
Elder Mi sensed movement behind him and tried to dodge, but underground, dodging was slow and the pressure immense. Though he avoided a fatal blow, Evan Chu's Frostbane Divine Sword still pierced his body.
Evan Chu pressed his wrist down and yanked hard, splitting Protector Mi's body clean in two. But at that moment, his God Infant burst out and shot upward, fleeing toward the surface.
Seeing the God Infant escape, Evan Chu could only sigh. He knew there were even stronger enemies waiting above, and it wasn't worth risking himself just to chase down a God Infant.
Still, Protector Mi's physical body was dead, and injuring one of their number was a decent result. At least he'd given the East Sea Domain Palace a warning—they would know he wasn't someone to be trifled with.
Evan Chu glanced at Protector Mi's corpse and chuckled. "Leaving the body behind isn't bad. I bet your storage ring has plenty of good stuff!" He then took the ring off.
To destroy the opponent's body so easily was something Evan Chu hadn't expected. It took only a single move—simple and clean. But he knew that next, the East Sea Domain Palace would come after him with a vengeance...