Pursuit and Counter-Pursuit

"Nightfall is almost here. Should we launch a sneak attack under cover of darkness, or rest for the night and act tomorrow morning?"

Fu Yinghao shifted awkwardly and spoke.

They were both in the middle ranks now and possessed night vision. A nighttime sneak attack would not leave them unable to see.

After thinking for a moment, Su Yi said, "We'll attack tonight. Let's adjust our condition first. Later, we'll make some noise to lure out some of their warriors, then pick them off one by one."

The strongest warrior in the village was only Fifth-Rank High Stage. If they could kill some middle-rank warriors first, then as long as they were not surrounded, there would not be much danger.

"Pick them off one by one? Are you planning to swallow the entire village in one go?"

Fu Yinghao was rather surprised. His original plan had been for the two of them to split up and seize resources. With enemies attacking from both sides, the village's strong warriors would surely split up to pursue them. That way, they would face fewer enemies, and their chances of escape would be greater.

But from what Su Yi meant, he intended to swallow the whole village.

"Of course. Isn't that what you meant?"

Su Yi was somewhat taken aback. If they did not swallow the entire village, where would they get enough resources to divide up?

Fu Yinghao explained his plan to Su Yi.

"Splitting up isn't impossible. Let's seize the resources first, then decide what to do next based on how many enemies we kill."

After considering it for a while, Su Yi agreed to Fu Yinghao's plan. It was steadier. After all, only resources in hand were truly theirs. If they killed too many, and the Abyss powerhouses contaminated all the Energy Stones, that would be a bloody loss.

They merely had different ideas; their goal was ultimately the same.

Very soon, the Underground Cave plunged into darkness.

After another four or five hours or so, Fu Yinghao and Su Yi crawled out of the cave one after the other.

They had long since discussed their route and entered separately from the eastern and western sides.

Su Yi bypassed the sentry Abyss Warriors and entered the village from the east.

The village was exceptionally quiet. Aside from faint sounds coming from a very small number of houses, most people had already gone to sleep.

Su Yi concealed his Blood Qi, controlled the sound of his footsteps, and spread out his Spiritual Power to investigate.

Under the perception of his Spiritual Power, Su Yi sensed the surrounding Energy Stones and Underground Cave Humans.

He first entered several unoccupied rooms and tossed all the valuable supplies into his storage space.

Su Yi came to a slightly larger house. Inside was a Fourth Grade Initial Abyss Warrior.

He swiftly flipped inside. The moment the Fourth Grade Initial warrior awoke, Su Yi did not hesitate in the slightest. He used his Spiritual Power to intimidate him, then slashed his sword at the Abyss Warrior's head.

The Blood Qi contained within the sword did not damage the outer skin. Instead, it seeped into the skull and shredded the brain.

To avoid being discovered, Su Yi used very little Blood Qi and concealed its fluctuations with his Spiritual Power.

After killing the Fourth Grade warrior, he quickly dug out his heart and collected the Energy Stones he had sensed.

Just as he finished gathering the resources, he heard a tremendous commotion from the west, followed by an angry roar.

"Kagu!"

"There are thieves from Rebirth Land!"

"..."

Su Yi knew that Fu Yinghao had been discovered. Though he could not understand the words that followed, they were probably calling for reinforcements.

Many warriors immediately rushed out from the surrounding houses, all running toward the western side of the village.

One Fifth-Rank Mid, two Fifth-Rank Initial Stage, and thirteen Fourth Grade warriors.

Su Yi concealed his Blood Qi. After the Abyss powerhouses had been gone for nearly a minute, he stopped hiding it and erupted with Blood Qi, charging into the home of a Fifth-Rank Mid warrior.

With a casual sweep, he killed the remaining several Fourth Grade Abyss Warriors inside and hurriedly began collecting resources.

Once he was done, he continued charging toward the residences of the Fifth-Rank warriors. Su Yi knew that the most valuable things would definitely be with the Fifth-Rank powerhouses.

Over on Fu Yinghao's side, he was almost going mad.

His luck had been terrible. He had just killed a Third Rank warrior and collected the resources when a Fourth Grade Mid warrior spotted him.

Though he reacted quickly and killed him, the violent Blood Qi fluctuations still alerted a Fifth-Rank powerhouse.

At the Fifth-Rank powerhouse's roar, many warriors came running out at once.

Fu Yinghao instantly burst forth at top speed and fled out of the village, with the Abyss Warriors pursuing him.

"Kagu!"

"Don't run!"

Fu Yinghao ignored the roars of the Abyss Warriors behind him and kept fleeing. He was incredibly fast, and the Abyss Warriors were already struggling to keep up.

Only one Fifth-Rank Mid Abyss Warrior was pursuing at the front. The three Fifth-Rank Initial Stage warriors behind had already begun to fall behind.

"Damn it. If Su Yi were here, we should be able to deal with these warriors."

He felt utterly speechless. He had barely obtained any resources before being discovered, and now he was being hunted down.

Chase him. Once you're alone, I'll kill you.

But hadn't Su Yi been discovered yet?

While most of the warriors rushed west, Su Yi raided the homes of five Fifth-Rank Abyss Warriors in succession.

At the sixth building—the central one—he encountered resistance from a Fifth-Rank Initial Stage warrior.

Su Yi sensed numerous warriors rushing this way with his Spiritual Power. He unleashed a Spiritual Power shockwave, swiftly killing the Fifth-Rank Initial Stage warrior before him.

After digging out the Energy Heart, Su Yi had no time to keep looting resources. He fully activated Skywalk Step, turned, and fled.

Four Fifth-Ranks, with more than a dozen Fourth Grades behind them.

"Kagu!"

An enraged roar from a Fifth-Rank High Stage rang out from the village. He had initially believed there was only one human warrior from the Rebirth Land—and that he was merely a Fourth Grade warrior.

He had only chased a short distance out of the village when he heard fighting within. By the time he hurried back, he saw a human warrior swinging his blade at his younger brother.

His younger brother had also attacked the human warrior, yet failed to evade the human's strike. His head had been hit by the blade!

"Mukai!"

The Fifth-Rank High Stage warrior sprinted over. Seeing the corpse on the ground with its heart gouged out, as well as the burst-open head, he widened his eyes and let out a trembling, hoarse cry.

"Village Chief, that thief from the Rebirth Land got away."

Seeing Mukai dead, a Fifth-Rank Initial Stage warrior beside him felt cold sweat trickling down his back as he spoke cautiously.

"Shut up! Go after him and kill him!"

Veins bulging and face flushed red, the Village Chief roared in fury.

"Yes!"

The Fifth-Rank Initial Stage warrior hurriedly pursued in the direction Su Yi had fled, while the warriors arriving behind him followed suit.

The Fifth-Rank High Stage Village Chief did not move. Instead, trembling all over, he crouched down and gently gathered the corpse into his arms.

His gaze fixed viciously on the direction Su Yi had escaped.

After leaving the village, Su Yi slowed slightly. He found it rather strange: three Fifth-Ranks and more than twenty Fourth Grades were pursuing him.

Of the Fifth-Ranks, only two were Mid stage. That Fifth-Rank High Stage Abyss Warrior had actually not come after him.

He had just killed a Fifth-Rank Initial Stage warrior. Seeing how furious that Fifth-Rank High Stage warrior had been, he had thought a fierce battle was inevitable. Yet the man had not chased after him?

All the better if he didn't come. Once these warriors were killed, this village would no longer pose any threat.

Su Yi erupted with Blood Qi and accelerated. After running some distance, he stopped and concealed himself within the woods.

This was what he and Fu Yinghao had agreed on: lure the Abyss Warriors to the eastern mountain peak. The trees around the outskirts were ideal for ambushing and killing them. So long as they did not enter the central area or provoke the monkey troop, they would be fine.

Su Yi swiftly dug a hole and hid underground.

Throughout his escape, he had been absorbing Energy Stones to replenish his Blood Qi. Combined with constantly capturing Energy Particles to recover, his Blood Qi remained at its peak.

With his Spiritual Power, he clearly sensed the Abyss Warriors entering the woods.

The three Fifth-Rank warriors split into three groups, each leading seven or eight Fourth Grades as they began their search.

"One Fifth-Rank Mid, one Fourth Grade Peak, two Fourth Grade Mid, and five Fourth Grade Initials."

Su Yi silently counted the Abyss Warriors approaching his direction, using his Spiritual Power to conceal the fluctuations of his Blood Qi.

"I can kill them!"

As long as he killed that Fifth-Rank Mid, the remaining eight Fourth Grades would pose little threat to him.

Five hundred meters... one hundred meters... thirty meters...

"Die!"

Su Yi gave a low shout, his Spiritual Power fully crashing down upon the Fifth-Rank Mid warrior. Nearly eight hundred calories of Blood Qi surged from his sword. Blood Light flashed and vanished, hurtling straight toward the Fifth-Rank warrior.

"Pfft!"

The assaulted Fifth-Rank Mid warrior's vision went black in an instant. He barely had time to react before the sword strike shattered his defenses and struck his head. Half his skull was sliced away in an instant, blood spraying outward!

Bang!

As blood sprayed through the air, the Abyss Warrior flew backward and crashed heavily to the ground.

Having delivered that strike, Su Yi did not spare the Fifth-Rank Mid warrior another glance. Instead, he charged at the Fourth Grade Peak Abyss Warrior. With his head struck, the Fifth-Rank warrior was as good as dead.

A sword shadow flashed past, and another stroke beheaded the Fourth Grade warrior.

Only then did the Abyss Warriors react, scattering in terrified flight.

"Do you think you can escape?"

With a single step, Su Yi soared into the air and began hunting down the Abyss Warriors.

These ordinary Fourth Grades were far easier to kill than those in the Meat Grinder. It was not merely because Su Yi had broken through; their combat experience was also vastly inferior to that of warriors of the same rank who had survived in the Meat Grinder.

Perhaps because they were behind Heaven's Gate City, both their fighting will and combat experience were more than a notch lacking.

A Fifth-Rank Mid from the Meat Grinder would definitely have withstood Su Yi's burst of Spiritual Power, rather than standing there dazed and going meekly to death without resistance.

In less than a few minutes, Su Yi had slain all the Fourth Grade Abyss Warriors. He could now project his Blood Qi beyond his body, and coupled with his own speed, killing these Fourth Grades was one sword stroke each.

After hurriedly gathering the spoils, Su Yi began withdrawing while recovering his Blood Qi.

Although the battle had lasted only a few minutes, there was still a chance it had been noticed. With little Blood Qi left, he needed to recover before continuing the hunt.

Half an hour later, Su Yi found the team led by a Fifth-Rank Initial Stage.

Having recovered his Blood Qi, Su Yi first forcefully killed the Fifth-Rank Initial Stage, then slew two Fourth Grade Peaks.

Five minutes later, all six remaining Fourth Grade warriors of the second team had been slain!

Su Yi pulled up the corner of his shirt and casually wiped the blood from his face. His clothes had long been splashed and soaked through with blood.

Now, only the final team remained!