Chapter 129 - 90 : Caught Up

Chapter 129: Chapter 90 : Caught Up

As he folded the map, his thoughts settled on the journey ahead, with only the mountain ridge standing between him and Lunar Echo territory. Ethan reached toward one of the storage rings on his finger and began putting the map away. It had barely disappeared into the ring when his hand stopped.

As he felt a strange sensation one unlike anything he had ever experienced, as it passed over his skin.

The hairs along his arms rose almost instinctively, and something deep within him tightened. It was the same kind of unease an animal might feel when something far more dangerous entered its surroundings, an instinct that came before thought and warned him that he was no longer alone.

The wind still moved through the trees, carrying the soft rustle of leaves through the clearing. A bird called somewhere in the distance, unaware that anything had changed. Ethan heard it all, yet his attention had already shifted, his body reacting to something he could not see.

Then the pressure descended.

It was heavy enough to make the air itself seem different, pressing against his body with a weight Ethan had never experienced before. His body seemed to scream danger, every instinct within him reacting to the overwhelming presence bearing down on him.

The sensation was overwhelming.

It felt like something from an entirely different level had suddenly entered his world.

It came from far away.

Ethan’s Blood Perception spread outward almost immediately, sweeping through the surrounding wilderness in search of whatever had triggered the sudden warning in his body. His perception had expanded considerably since reaching Late Qi Refining, yet no matter how far he pushed it, he could not find anything.

Nothing.

Not a fluctuation of blood he could identify. Not a presence hidden among the trees. Not even the trace of a cultivator moving through the area.

Yet the warning in his body only grew stronger.

The hairs along his arms rose, and a cold sensation crawled across his skin as every instinct he possessed urged him to leave. His muscles had already tightened before his mind could make sense of what he was sensing, the reaction so immediate that Ethan barely had time to question it.

He slowly lifted his head and looked across the wilderness.

The morning wind still moved through the trees, carrying the rustle of leaves across the slopes. Sunlight filtered through the branches, casting shifting patches of light over the ground, and somewhere in the distance a bird called through the quiet forest.

Everything looked normal.

His instincts disagreed.

Ethan had felt the pressure of powerful cultivators before. He had fought Mid Qi Refining cultivators, and he had only recently stepped into Late Qi Refining himself. He had a rough sense of what those realms felt like, and whatever was approaching did not fit within that understanding.

The pressure carried a weight that seemed to reach deeper than physical strength. It pressed against his body and settled somewhere beneath his awareness, making every instinct inside him urge him to get away.

His blood seemed to run cold in his veins.

Foundation Establishment.

The thought surfaced naturally.

He did not know exactly how he had reached that conclusion, but everything he was sensing pointed toward a realm far beyond Qi Refining. And if a Foundation Establishment cultivator was really approaching him, remaining here was not an option.

If that person reached him, he would die.

Ethan moved.

He shot forward through the trees, putting everything he had into his speed. The ground struck hard beneath his feet as he surged across the wilderness, loose stones scattering behind him while branches whipped past his shoulders. His body responded smoothly to the movement, his Qi flowing through him as he pushed himself harder.

He did not stop to question where he was going.

He only needed to get away from this place.

Perhaps the presence had nothing to do with him. Perhaps two powerful cultivators were fighting somewhere nearby, or some other event had drawn a Foundation Establishment cultivator into the area. Ethan knew better than to remain close enough to find out. At his level, simply being caught within the aftermath of a battle between stronger cultivators could be enough to kill him.

So he ran.

The trees blurred around him as his speed climbed higher, the wind tearing past his face and his footsteps becoming little more than rapid impacts against the earth. Yet the pressure remained.

And it was getting closer.

Ethan gritted his teeth and pushed his speed higher.

His body surged forward, carrying him deeper into the wilderness. The ground seemed to disappear beneath his feet as he crossed one stretch of forest after another, but the presence behind him did not fade.

Instead, the distance was slowly closing.

Whatever was coming for him was moving faster than he was.

Ethan’s chest tightened.

He had no intention of looking back. Every moment spent turning his attention away from his path could cost him precious distance, and there was no point in seeing something he already knew he could not fight.

Yet the presence behind him was still approaching.

Ethan’s breathing remained controlled, but his mind was working rapidly.

Why is he getting closer?

He had already changed direction twice. The first time, he had veered east, cutting through a stretch of dense woodland instead of following the path he had originally chosen, but the pressure behind him had followed without slowing. The second time, he had turned sharply south, using a rocky slope to break his movement before forcing his way through a narrow passage between two trees.

Yet the presence remained behind him, continuing its pursuit without the slightest hesitation or change in course. It did not matter where he went. It simply kept coming.

But after several more breaths, the pressure behind him became impossible to ignore.

Ethan’s gaze flicked toward the horizon.

At first, there was nothing.

Only the distant ridges, the pale morning sky, and the scattered trees stretching across the wilderness.

Then something caught his eye.

A tiny point appeared against the sky.

Ethan’s pace faltered for the briefest moment as his enhanced eyesight focused on it.

The point grew larger.

Something was moving through the sky.

Fast.

The air seemed to part around the approaching figure as it crossed the distance with a speed that made Ethan’s stomach sink. The shape was still too far away to make out clearly, but there was no mistaking the way it moved.

It was not flying with wings.

It was standing on something.

Ethan’s pupils widened as the figure drew closer, the details slowly resolving against the morning sky.

A sword.

Someone was standing on a sword and flying through the air. Ethan’s breath caught in his throat as the realization settled heavily in his mind.

Foundation Establishment.

The figure continued toward him, closing the distance with every passing moment, and Ethan knew that whatever was coming for him, had finally caught up with him .

Ethan’s eyes widened slightly.

He’s flying.

The realization came all at once.

Of course.

Why had he not thought of that sooner?

Ethan was moving quickly, but he was still bound to the ground. Every tree, every slope, every rock formation forced him to adjust his path. Even with his enhanced body and Late Qi Refining cultivation, the terrain was still something he had to move through.

The man above him had none of those problems.

The sky was open.

His path was almost completely unobstructed.

And he wasn’t merely flying with his own strength.

The sword beneath his feet was a magic weapon designed for it.

Ethan’s eyes followed the rapidly approaching figure.As the his thoughts on the distance that had seemed impossible for the man to close suddenly made perfect sense.

Damn.

The cultivator was already much closer than Ethan had realized.

The pressure Ethan had felt before had only been the outer edge of what the man was releasing. Now the distance had shortened enough for Ethan to see him clearly.

A young man stood upon a dark flying sword, his robes shifting gently in the wind despite the speed at which he traveled. His posture was straight, almost relaxed, as though flying through the sky while pursuing a Late Qi Refining cultivator was nothing more than an ordinary task.

Ethan’s gaze hardened. So Azure Cloud had finally sent someone who could actually catch him. For a brief moment, a strange thought crossed his mind.

’So this is karma? ’The thought lasted less than a second before he dismissed it.

’Bullshit. What karma?’

’What had he done?’

He had been experimenting with his cultivation, trying to understand his own blood and the strange changes happening within his body. He had not gone around searching for people to kill. Everything had simply gone wrong from the moment he began experimenting with blood. One unfortunate event had followed another. He had bought blood, secluded himself, been attacked, and been forced to run. The sect had decided he was a demonic cultivator, then placed a bounty on his head. And now, after everything that had happened at Wailing Mountain, they had finally decided to take him seriously.

Ethan looked up again. The man was almost directly above him now, and then the pressure changed. It was no longer something spreading through the surroundings. It focused entirely on him.

Ethan’s entire body suddenly sank under the weight, his knees bending slightly as the pressure descended. The air seemed to thicken around him, as though an invisible mountain had been dropped onto his shoulders. His muscles tightened, and his bones seemed to groan beneath the crushing force.

Yet Ethan refused to bend.

His body might be telling him to lower himself under the pressure, but he would not give it that satisfaction, not to someone from Azure Cloud. He gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, holding his ground through sheer will alone, even as the weight continued to bear down on him. He could still move, but barely.