บท 103: The Hunt for the mortal slave Part 1
Chapter 103
The sound of clashing swords reverberated through the Dark Forest, as three figures are being under siege by more than 50 people. Though their skills are superb it is still not enough to defeat their foes. So as part of their tactic, they started to hit and run.
"Young master Zen, I have a plan! But I need you two to escape this area or else my plan would not work." Shin Jiao suddenly said in a low voice.
The three is now breathing heavily as they have executed a lot of techniques and had sent many of their opponents to the Safe Zone. They didn't resort to using the rapier and kill anyone because there are many witnesses, it would be a hindrance and would be an annoyance to them once they return after the clan trials. At least when accused they still have a chance to defend themselves, but once they killed enough people to incite the anger of many elders and heads of the clan, then they would not be able to escape their fate.
"Okay, we trust you. Just keep yourself safe." Zen Nian said with a nod, he knows the capability of Shin Jiao and also right now he is already feeling his energy almost spent.
"Master Zen, before you go…" Shin Jiao interrupted Zen Nian and told him something.
...
The people around them now became weary by the weird techniques that the three were showing. So they all keep their distance from them but still maintain a circle formation so as to not let them escape. But then in front of everyone, Shin Jiao suddenly threw something high up in the air. Before they knew it, a blinding flash immediately devoid every one of their sights.
With this cue, Rat Ling who is still unwilling to leave was dragged by Zen Nian away as they immediately vanished from the area. When everyone came through they can only see a lone figure standing in the middle of them all.
"Hahaha... You are a brave fool. Do you think with your sacrifice your master will be saved?" Wei Qi Nian shouted upon seeing that only Shin Jiao was left.
In his heart he is very elated, he not only can get the carcass of the flood dragon he can also get the artifact on Shin Jiao's hands. So right now he is truly happy that he decided to turn back a while ago.
While he was escaping he heard the fighting and decided to hide and watch the show. Then when he saw how the demon beast was killed his heartfelt fear. Unknown to him someone actually approached him from behind and there he saw Hong Nian, he then tells him what had happened.
Hong Nian was shocked at Zen Nian and his servants' abilities, but what shocked him the most is the artifact on Shin Jiao's hands. His mind began to think where Shin Jiao got the artifact and began to plan on how to get it. Then they heard what Rat Ling said, and a light suddenly sparkles in his eyes.
"With that glove, I can create anything I want." A greedy thought bloomed from Hong Nian's mind at that time.
They also know the attitude of Zen Nian when it comes to fighting. As a young master of a clan, he is too soft-hearted just like his face. He might kill one or two who have offended him, but he would not dare to face killing many.
And so they decided to gang-up on them.
Then the voice of Shin Jiao calmly entered their ears.
"I know why you attacked us even knowing that we can defeat the flood dragon. You are thinking that my young master Zen Nian would not dare kill any of you right?"
"Well, yeah, I agree with you with that one. He is truly softhearted, but that's him. As for me, I also share his sentiments, so I'm not going to kill anyone. But I assure you that once you made your move, you will suffer terrible pain." Shin Jiao added with an amiable smile.
"Ha! What a braggart… you didn't even make a move when we were attacking your master and Rat Ling, you're just dodging and doing nothing." One of the servants shouted.
"Master, we will take care of this fool. Don't worry."
Then more than 30 people suddenly moved forward. These are the servants of the young masters standing beside Wei Qi Nian and Hong Nian.
Wei Qi Nian waved his hand nonchalantly as if he already knows that Shin Jiao is done for.
But then a bad premonition suddenly enters his mind as his complexion paled. Since Shin Jiao wasn't attacking and doing anything while they were being assaulted, he has already forgotten due to his excitement and confidence, that Shin Jiao has a hidden weapon. Meanwhile, Hog Nian is showing an expectant gaze. He actually remembers what Wei Qi Nian told him and wanted to see the power of the weapon.
And so, with that thought, they watched as the group began their assault.
Shin Jiao calmly analyses his situation and quickly plans his next move. The servants around him have the cultivation of late-stage spirit refining realm and the highest is a primary stage core-forming realm. With that strength, he didn't feel worried, with the boots he is faster than them, and with his gun, he can inflict them pain more than they can bear.
He didn't want to kill them, as his goal is to inflict fear on the young masters who are watching.
And so, with that signal, a figure suddenly rushed towards him followed by the rest of the group.
Shin Jiao calmly looks at the people closing in on him. As the first person drew close, he moved his leg and takes a step back dodging that person's blade going towards his neck. Before that person realized that he misses his target, he suddenly fell on the ground. One of his thighs now has a hole and is bleeding profusely.
Arrgghh!!!
His miserable cry echoed through the air, which made everyone stop in their tracks. But it didn't take a second before a burning desire to avenge their companion filled their hearts. The whole crowd continued to run towards Shin Jiao. With their crazy action, Shin Jiao couldn't help himself but smirk. He plans to delay the fighting here so that Zen Nian and Rat Ling could run as far as they could.
When a person gets close to Shin Jiao, he would just shot that person's leg to disable his movements. It didn't take too long for him to knock down all the people chasing.
The young masters who are watching the fight were dumbfounded as they didn't expect for Shin Jiao to be able to defeat the cultivators. Even Hong Nian was thunderstruck as he didn't expect the artifact on Shin Jiao's hand to be able to even hurt cultivators when used by mere mortal trash.
"I must know how he did it. To craft something like that, he must have some ancient knowledge." Hong Nian's desire to get the crafting method enters his mind.
"If I can learn it, then my status in the clan would grow more. I won't even have to stay in this clan and bootlick that idiot Wei Qi Nian. Hehehe…" He thought as his mind began to wander on things that he can gain and the future prospect he can have.
As an intelligent young man, Hong Nian's aspiration is truly high. At first, he thought that alchemy is the key to become famous and successful and for a long time he held to that belief. But now seeing the amazing artifact that the mere mortal servant wields his heart couldn't help but flutter. It's like falling in love at first sight as his gaze is glued at the sparkling glove on Shin Jiao's hand.
But then before he could fantasize more another incredulous thing happened. Shin Jiao suddenly moved like a specter and disappear leaving only his after image. Upon seeing this everyone became dumbfounded.
"How… how did he do that? He is just a mere mortal servant. This couldn't be!" Wei Qi Nian suddenly panicked.
"Everyone get him! Don't let him escape!" he shouted in anger.
"Don't worry young master Nian, I can know where he is." The calm voice of Hong Nian made Wei Qi Nian turn around.
"Really! Then go! We must catch that bastard!" Wei Qi Nian shouted.
With a nod, Hong Nian signaled the young masters to follow him. Although their servants were defeated they are confident to be able to stop Shin Jiao as on their person they carry a lot of defensive and offensive protective amulets. And so they followed Hong Nian who seems to know where Shin Jiao went.
Shin Jiao, on the other hand, began to traverse through the forest while turning his head from left to right as if trying to find something. Not long later, Shin Jiao suddenly stopped.
"There seems to be something wrong." He thought.
Shin Jiao always trusted his danger sense as they have always saved his life on many occasions. And right now he felt restless inside his heart, which means danger is near. And so with instead of running, he proceeds with caution. Shin Jiao slowly traverse the Dark Forest while trying to heighten up his senses to their limits. At this time he thought of using absolute sense but he cannot casually use it as it's still very taxing and puts a lot of stress on his brain.
He has already experienced using the absolute sense and also experienced the stress it gives after. So Shin Jiao would not casually do so, only in case of an emergency that he will use it to preserve his life. Prolong use of absolute sense can cause him to lose his concentration and even his consciousness which is fatal in this situation.
Right now as he was currently escaping from his pursuers, he can't fall like that as it would cause him to surely lose his life. But while escaping there is something deep inside him that tells him to use his absolute sense. Shin Jiao now weighs the pros and cons of this option.
Shin Jiao decided to follow his gut feeling and try using absolute sense. But this time he needed to learn how to control it so as to lessen the mental burden it gives. And so with that goal in mind, Shin Jiao closes his eyes and began to concentrate. Slowly Shin Jiao can feel the darkness within his mind becoming clearer, but that was not his goal. His goal is to spread his absolute sense as far as he could while controlling the mental burden it gives.
Not long later he began to detect blurry objects and things as his absolute sense spreads. As Shin Jiao was able to grasp the ability little by little he was shocked to discover that his absolute sense has already reached 500 meters. But before he could feel happy a frown suddenly appears on his face.
Not too far from where he stood, he can detect the blurry figures of a group of demon beasts approaching. From his count, they numbered around 30 beasts. The formations of the demon beasts are odd as they as closing in on him like a net that caught a fish. So if he wanted to escape its either fight one of the demon beasts and broke through the encirclement or he has to run back. Gritting his teeth Shin Jiao decided to bear some mental burden so that he could check each of the demon beast's levels. Upon doing so, he heaves a sigh of relief and a smile actually bloomed from his mouth.
"Whatever is happening, I'm thankful. At least now I can have 30 demon beast cores." He said as he immediately dashed towards the nearest one after opening his eyes.
His first target is a meter-sized spider-like creature, its long sharp legs and fangs were immediately revealed upon seeing a human. Shin Jiao didn't think twice and just released two shots directly to its head. The demon beast didn't expect something so fast and was not able to dodge or even defend itself as two holes suddenly appear, one on its head and the other on its abdomen.
When the demon beast fell lifeless on the ground Shin Jiao didn't hesitate to draw out his sword and take out the demon beast core. After doing that, he didn't stop but instead ran to his next target.
Not long later he found another demon beast, a red feathered raptor. This time the creature detected him while he approached and immediately pounced upon seeing his figure. Its sharp claws whished through the air towards Shin Jiao's torso, while its huge jaws are wide open intending to bite his head off.
Upon seeing this Shin Jiao was shocked, but still he was able to use Shadow steps to dodge and appear beside the red-feathered raptor with his gun already pointing at its head.
Two bloody holes which blasted its white brain particles on the ground appear. Just like his first target, Shin Jiao didn't do any unnecessary action and just quickly collected the demon beast core.
And just like that, he started to hunt the rest of the demon beasts.
It didn't take for Shin Jiao to finish them all and was able to gather at least 32 demon beast cores. This made him truly happy because now he has his supply of energy for his gun and crafting glove. He didn't know how long they would stay in this place, but preparation is the key to his survival and now that he is ready his confidence was in an all-time high.
Then Shin Jiao once again used his absolute sense to see if there are any more demon beasts in and area but frowns when he found none. When he opens his eyes a sudden feeling of dizziness assaulted his senses.
"Damn… I think this is my limit, I need to rest." Shin Jiao said as he looks for a direction and ran towards it.
He needed to rest his mind because if not, then he will surely lose his consciousness. And so he frantically ran at the same time roams his gaze around trying to look for something.
While Shin Jiao was running away, around 20 people suddenly arrive in the area where he hunted the demon beasts. When the people saw the ground, everyone was stupefied at the scene. The smell of blood is too strong in the area and a lot of demon beast's carcasses are all over the place.
"What the hell happened here?"
"I thought we are hunting a mere mortal. How come he doesn't act like one?"
"Hong Nian, what's the meaning of this? We just wasted a demon beast lure; the number of cores we could have collected this time could have been huge."
The people following Hong Nian suddenly voiced out their thoughts.
"Everyone listen!... Since he has already taken the beast cores means that we can get it from him without a hitch. I still know where he is going so let's go." Hong Nian said with an excited look on his face.
Now that he knows the true capability of the artifact that Shin Jiao's made, his greed to learn the crafting technique is now through the roof.
"It's your bad luck to have met me, lowly servant. Kekeke…" Hong Nian sinisterly grinned as he follows the traces of Shin Jiao's footsteps.
The mind of Hong Nian is already planning on how to capture Shin Jiao, while he goes through the content of his spatial pouch on the items he is going to use.
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