Chapter 209 - 155: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Chapter 209: Chapter 155: The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Seeing Shen Yunjiao turn around and charge them, the four Blood Demon Dao Cultivators could no longer be bothered with hiding their identities and immediately took out a Communication Jade.

"Boss, we’ve been discovered. She’s turned back to attack us."

A few seconds later, the low, hoarse voice replied.

"Hold her off. Two minutes."

"Got it."

By now, Shen Yunjiao had already burst into their encirclement. She swung her sword with her right hand, unleashing a blood-red slash, while her left hand, shaped like a claw, emitted a terrifying gravitational force, reaching through the air for one of the men.

The next second, all four men drew their magical artifacts—Middle Grade Defiled Blood Sabers.

"Stall as long as you can! The boss will be here any second. Be careful!" A series of loud cracks erupted from the burly, middle-aged man’s skeleton as his body and appearance rapidly changed. He grew slightly shorter, but his arms became much thicker, and his features twisted with ferocity.

His name was Chen Wenjie, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Blood River Sect. The others were disciples of the same sect.

Shen Yunjiao unleashed her full power, generating a terrifying Spiritual Pressure that rivaled a Cultivator at Qi Cultivation Perfection. The very air seemed to grow heavy. At the same time, the Devouring Power from her left hand intensified, yanking the Demon Path Cultivator with the weakest aura toward her.

Her blade sliced sideways, aiming to take his life in a single blow.

DING.

As a piece of talisman paper burned away, a Blood Shield materialized around his body, but the energy within the barrier wavered precariously under Shen Yunjiao’s devouring assault.

The next second, it shattered into nothing.

Shen Yunjiao was now in her strongest state, wielding a power that could utterly crush an ordinary Cultivator in the Late Period of the Qi Cultivation Stage. The man intended to resist, but as his gaze met her blood-red eyes, he saw a vision of a vast and boundless Sea of Blood.

At the center of this ocean, an immense scarlet behemoth roared at the gloomy sky.

"BEGONE!"

His mind reeling from the shock, the man completely forgot to defend himself. In the nick of time, Chen Wenjie swung his Defiled Blood Saber to block the fatal blow and dragged the man back by the collar of his Taoist Robe.

"Thank you, Senior Brother," the man immediately said, grateful.

Behind them, Zhao Zuo injected Mana into his Breath-Concealing Ring, activating its ability to diminish his presence. An icy aura seemed to envelop him, and his movements no longer disturbed the air currents. He stood there silently, like a ghost that didn’t belong in this time or space.

Zhao Zuo began to advance, but the four Demon Path Cultivators were completely focused on Shen Yunjiao. They didn’t notice his approach at all. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say the Breath-Concealing Ring was working perfectly, causing their subconscious to instinctively ignore Zhao Zuo’s nearly nonexistent presence.

In the blink of an eye, the Sky-Breaking Saber was unsheathed. It moved with incredible speed, becoming a blur of azure light.

SWISH.

The Sky-Breaking Saber reached its target, piercing straight through Chen Wenjie’s back and into his heart. He hadn’t sensed the lethal attack at all, and thus had mounted no defense.

After all, according to their intelligence, the enemy’s accomplice was still inside Red Rock City.

Zhao Zuo seized the opportunity. His hands clamped onto the head of the Demon Path Cultivator who had just escaped death. His muscles suddenly bulged with explosive power, his Meridians standing out like gnarled tree roots as a golden light, too brilliant for the sun to conceal, spread across his skin.

CRACK! The sound of breaking bone was sickeningly crisp.

Shen Yunjiao brandished her sword and charged the last two men, while Zhao Zuo took less than three seconds to find the two corpses’ Storage Bags and toss the bodies into his own.

The ground beneath his feet exploded, leaving a fifty-centimeter crater. He pounced on the remaining two like a stalking tiger. He drew Black Flame, its terrifying heat instantly distorting the surrounding air, while the Sky-Breaking Saber struck like a viper from the shadows.

"Hit!"

Zhao Zuo growled. The Sky-Breaking Saber targeted one of the men, drawing his full attention. But then, Zhao Zuo activated the Soul-Shaking Bell at his waist.

DONG!

A sound like a thunderclap spread out, an invisible storm that tore into the depths of their souls. The two Demon Cultivators’ bodies went rigid for a moment, their actions halting mid-motion.

The entire process... lasted less than a second.

But in a battle like this, a single second was the difference between life and death.

The Sky-Breaking Saber pierced through the solid, blood-red barrier. Even though the Demon Cultivator had burned a portion of his own Essence Blood to create that defense, it still failed to save his life.

Immediately after, the long saber wreathed in roaring Black Flame slit the other enemy’s throat. As blood sprayed through the air, before the body even hit the ground, Zhao Zuo had snatched the Storage Bag and collected the corpse.

"Should we still retreat?" Shen Yunjiao turned to look at Zhao Zuo. She, too, had seized the opportunity created by the Soul-Shaking Bell. The soul-piercing ring seemed to have no effect on her, partly because Zhao Zuo hadn’t aimed the magical artifact at her, and partly because her own soul was exceptionally strong.

The two of them had eliminated the bulk of the enemy forces in a flash. ’Is it really necessary to retreat from a potential pursuit?’ she thought. ’Or should we turn back and finish them off ourselves?’

Their all-out assault had just proven that, within the Qi Cultivation Stage, they were virtually unrivaled.

Zhao Zuo was unnerved by her blood-red eyes. He glanced back toward Red Rock City, then said with firm resolve.

"We retreat!"

This decision was born of caution. Even though they could handle four cultivators from the Late Period of the Qi Cultivation Stage—and even win quickly—if the number of opponents doubled to eight, their only option would be to flee for their lives.

"Alright." Shen Yunjiao raised no objection and immediately turned away.

Less than a minute after they left, a thin man in a blood-red Taoist Robe appeared on the battlefield. He surveyed the bloodstains and other traces left by the fight, his eyes landing on the Communication Jade on the ground.

"Boss, are we still going after them?"

Three figures stood behind him. Aside from the Soul Path Demon Cultivator responsible for tracking, the others were all disciples of the Blood River Sect. Their leader, named Su Ying, was ranked tenth among the sect’s Inner Sect Disciples.

"We pursue! Useless or not, they were my men. We will have our revenge!"

Su Ying said angrily. He believed that for the pair to have finished off four of his men in such a short time, they must have paid a considerable price to achieve such an unbelievable feat.

The others began to echo the call for revenge, but a corner of the black-robed Soul Path Demon Cultivator’s mouth curled into a disdainful smile.

’He’s clearly just greedy for whatever resources that pair is carrying, but he makes it sound so noble.’

Of course, he only complained internally. After all, they were partners at the moment, so he naturally wouldn’t say something so tactless out loud.

"We’ll be relying on you now, Taoist Friend Wang," Su Ying said to the man in black with a measure of politeness. The reason for his courtesy was simple: this man was stronger than him.

’With two experts at Qi Cultivation Perfection leading the team, plus two at the Qi Cultivation Seventh Layer for support,’ Su Ying thought, ’there’s no way I’m returning empty-handed. We’re bound to make a haul.’

The environment was another factor. The Yunlan Mountain Range was better suited for Demon Path Cultivators. Their cultivation techniques passively tempered their bodies, and they could use the terrain to set traps and lay ambushes.

There were other disparities as well, such as the vast difference in their overall strength, not to mention the fact that their enemies were already weakened and no longer at their peak.

’With the terrain and our numbers on our side, how could we possibly lose?’ Su Ying thought.

The man in black took out a disc-shaped magical artifact and began to activate it. A moving red dot of light appeared on its surface. Another dot of light was located within the borders of Red Rock City on the disc.

’Wait, why is her accomplice still in the city?’

’No, that can’t be right. The two of them must have already rendezvoused.’

The man in black surmised, immediately convincing himself that this had to be the truth.

’It’s reasonable for two people working together to take down several Late Period Qi Cultivation cultivators in a short time,’ he thought. ’But if it were just one person... that would be truly terrifying.’

With that, he dismissed the red dot in the city and focused all his efforts on tracking the target in the Yunlan Mountain Range.

Meanwhile, Shen Yunjiao and Zhao Zuo were sprinting for their lives. This time, the forest would be their battlefield.

...