Chapter 46: Counter-Pursuit

Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Counter-Pursuit

Qi Yue and his three companions followed the red-haired youth, swiftly heading in Yi Xiaoyao’s direction. They had no idea a "surprise" was waiting for them up ahead.

"Why haven’t we caught up to Yi Xiaoyao after all this time? Are you lying to us?"

Qi Yue shot the red-haired youth a dark look.

"How would I dare lie to you, Senior Brothers? Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come with you!" the red-haired youth said nervously.

Qi Yue found his reasoning sound and frowned. ’Could it be that they’ve already spotted us and fled again?’

Suddenly, a slight stir came from the dense forest ahead.

Startled, Qi Yue and the others quickly gave chase.

"The sound just now came from here."

A moment later, Qi Yue’s group arrived at a place that showed signs of a fierce battle and surveyed their surroundings.

"Look! I recognize this. These are Yi Xiaoyao’s clothes!"

Qi Yue walked over and picked up a robe caked in blood from the ground.

"Wait, there’s something inside. This is..."

The others crowded around, their faces immediately lighting up with joy.

"So many Demon Cores! And most of them are second-tier!"

Inside that Blood Robe were, to their astonishment, several hundred second-tier Demon Cores.

Even Qi Yue and his group didn’t have this many Demon Cores on them. How could they not be ecstatic?

"Judging from the signs of a fight and the blood on these clothes, Yi Xiaoyao must have run into some kind of danger. But why would he abandon so many Demon Cores?"

Qi Yue collected the Demon Cores, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the area, frowning in speculation.

Just then, two furious bestial roars suddenly echoed out. The earth trembled, and a large swath of ancient trees ahead snapped and fell.

"Not good! This commotion, this aura... It’s a second-tier, high-level Demon Beast!!!"

Demon Beasts of each tier are divided into low-level, mid-level, and high-level.

The Demon Beasts they had been hunting these past few days were all second-tier, low-level, equivalent to a human at the First Realm of Foundation Establishment.

A second-tier, high-level Demon Beast, however, was equivalent to a human at the Ninth Realm of Foundation Establishment!

The color instantly drained from the faces of Qi Yue and his men. They would have to flee for their lives if they encountered even a second-tier, mid-level Demon Beast, let alone a high-level one.

"Isn’t this area supposed to have second-tier, low-level Demon Beasts at most? Why would..."

Before they could finish their thought, two colossal beasts, dozens of zhang tall and like moving mountains, came stampeding toward them.

"It’s a Sleeping Tiger Elephant! Those things are even fiercer than a typical third-tier Demon Beast, but they like to stay asleep for years on end. Who woke it up?!"

"Damn it, the two Sleeping Tiger Elephants seem to be targeting us!"

"Run!!!"

Like mice seeing a cat, Qi Yue and his group completely forgot about hunting Yi Xiaoyao and began to scatter in a panic.

But the red-haired youth, whose Cultivation was weaker than Qi Yue’s group of four, was instantly left behind.

The two Sleeping Tiger Elephants were not only enormous but also astonishingly fast. Their giant feet trampled the earth, and in an instant, they were right behind the red-haired youth.

In this situation, the red-haired youth had already given up on escaping. He stared blankly as the giant elephant charged at him.

After a cloud of dust settled, the Sleeping Tiger Elephants thundered away.

The red-haired youth stood frozen in place, his face a mask of terror. He pinched himself in disbelief, realizing he was still alive.

"So, these two Demon Beasts weren’t chasing me, they were chasing Qi Yue and the others!"

The red-haired youth burst out laughing as if he’d been given a new lease on life. "I led Qi Yue to hunt down Yi Xiaoyao, but he abandoned me the moment we ran into danger. Now the four of them are being chased by Demon Beasts. Could it be that karma really exists?"

"Of course karma exists."

A faint voice answered from nearby.

The red-haired youth’s laughter cut off abruptly. He looked ahead in terror.

"Yi... Yi Xiaoyao?!"

Yi Xiaoyao emerged with a cold smile. He walked toward the red-haired youth and continued, "Just like how I saved you, and you betrayed me. That has its karma, too."

"And that karma is... I’m taking your life back!"

Blood splattered. Yi Xiaoyao didn’t even glance at the corpse behind him.

The red-haired youth had betrayed Yi Xiaoyao out of jealousy over a woman, but he never considered that if Yi Xiaoyao could save his life, he could just as easily take it away.

After killing the red-haired youth, Yi Xiaoyao immediately set off in hot pursuit of the two Sleeping Tiger Elephants.

A few days earlier, Yi Xiaoyao and his two companions had accidentally stumbled into the Sleeping Tiger Elephants’ lair. They were nearly scared out of their wits at the time, but thankfully, the beasts were asleep, allowing them to leave safely.

And the "surprise" Yi Xiaoyao had mentioned sharing with Qi Yue was, of course, these two second-tier, high-level Demon Beasts, comparable to the Ninth Realm of Foundation Establishment.

The reason the two Sleeping Tiger Elephants were relentlessly chasing Qi Yue and his group was that among the Demon Cores they had just picked up were several from Sleeping Tiger Elephant cubs.

Before this, Yi Xiaoyao had devised a plan to lure out and kill the Sleeping Tiger Elephant cubs, mix their Demon Cores with the others he had collected over the past few days, wrap them in the Blood Robe, and intentionally let Qi Yue find them.

Meanwhile, Jin Sanbao and Xuan Mo were responsible for using insects and ants to wake the Sleeping Tiger Elephants from a distance.

When the Sleeping Tiger Elephants woke up and discovered their cubs had been killed, they would inevitably follow the scent of the Demon Cores to seek revenge.

Now, Yi Xiaoyao was chasing after them to retrieve the Demon Cores he had used as bait and to reap the rewards of their conflict.

The smile on Yi Xiaoyao’s lips widened as he thought about the Sleeping Tiger Elephants helping him eliminate Qi Yue, who had been hunting him for days.

’And with their strength, they should have quite a few Demon Cores on them, too.’

’The roles in this game of cat and mouse have been reversed. Now it’s your turn to run for your lives, and my turn to hunt.’

...

At this moment, the two Sleeping Tiger Elephants were about to catch up to Qi Yue’s group of four. Their giant feet stomped the earth like siege cannons, the sound like the tolling of the Soul Summoning Bell, each boom striking terror into their already frayed nerves.

The four of them were no match for such behemoths in a race.

With a scream, one of them was sent flying sideways, vomiting blood, after being struck.

But the two Sleeping Tiger Elephants ignored him and continued their pursuit of Qi Yue and the others.

"Lin Mu! Your Immortal Soul inheritance is related to Demon Beasts. Do you know why these two brutes are chasing us to the death?"

Qi Yue shouted to his fastest companion running ahead of him.

Lin Mu’s face was filled with panic. He forced himself to calm down, and after a flash of insight, he suddenly understood.

"I know! Among those Demon Cores you picked up, there must be a Demon Core from a Sleeping Tiger Elephant cub!"

Hearing this, Qi Yue was both shocked and furious. He finally understood everything. He had been framed by Yi Xiaoyao.

"Yi Xiaoyao!!! If I get out of this alive, I’ll make sure you die without a burial place!"

After his furious roar, he suddenly heard a cry of alarm from the companion who had just been knocked away and seriously injured. He whipped his head around.

He saw Yi Xiaoyao’s figure flash out like a phantom and cut down their helpless companion with a single slash.

Yi Xiaoyao flashed a grin of pearly white teeth at the remaining three—Qi Yue and his companions—ahead.

"You want me to die without a burial place? Why don’t you worry about where you’ll be buried first."

Yi Xiaoyao’s appearance and his act of killing one of his companions thoroughly ignited Qi Yue’s rage.

But in the next moment, another scream rang out. The other companion behind Qi Yue was also sent flying and severely injured by a Sleeping Tiger Elephant.

At the same time, Yi Xiaoyao’s Death God-like figure swooped in and reaped the man’s life.

"You can’t get distracted when you’re running for your lives, my prey!"

Yi Xiaoyao taunted with a playful smile, watching Qi Yue’s furious and panicked expression.

Qi Yue was so angry he let out a series of low growls, but he was helpless against Yi Xiaoyao and could only focus all his energy on escaping.

Seeing another companion die, Lin Mu, at his side, stared wide-eyed and urged, "Qi Yue, hurry up and throw away those Demon Cores you picked up!"

Qi Yue’s face twitched. "I already put those Demon Cores away and mixed them with my own! If I throw them away, then my ten days of work will be all for nothing!"

"What’s more important, your life or the Demon Cores?!"

Lin Mu roared. Seeing Qi Yue’s hesitation, he had no choice but to say, "How about this: give me all the Demon Cores. I’ll use a Secret Technique to escape. Once I’m out, I’ll return them to you."

Hearing this, Qi Yue immediately tossed the Storage Pouch containing the Demon Cores to Lin Mu. "Brother, I owe you for this!"

Lin Mu caught the Storage Pouch, and a pair of Spiritual Power Wings erupted from his back. He shot into the air, his speed increasing dramatically as he fled in a different direction from Qi Yue.

Qi Yue shouted venomously at Yi Xiaoyao, "Yi Xiaoyao, you just wait!"

As his voice fell, he fled nonstop in another direction.

Yi Xiaoyao, who was in close pursuit, frowned when he saw Qi Yue and Lin Mu split up, and the Sleeping Tiger Elephants chasing after the airborne Lin Mu.

In the end, he resolutely chose to keep following the Sleeping Tiger Elephants, because all of his Demon Cores were now on Lin Mu, and he had to get them back.

As for Qi Yue, his companions were almost all dead. He was no longer a threat to Yi Xiaoyao. After retrieving the Demon Cores, Yi Xiaoyao would turn back and hunt him down.