In Yan Chihuo's eyes, most of the array's attacks were illusions and could be safely ignored. The woman in red, however, couldn't see through them. She had to fend off Yan Chihuo's swordplay while also splitting her attention to defend against the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's array. Even with the Soul-Severing Banner's considerable power, she was beginning to struggle.
Yan Chihuo wasn't in a hurry to kill the two women. He only wanted to draw out the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon. Another moment passed, and the woman in red found herself in mortal danger. Ru Shuang tried several times to ambush Yan Chihuo, but trapped by the array, she couldn't find his whereabouts. She could only fret helplessly, unable to intervene.
In the midst of the fierce battle, Yan Chihuo suddenly roared. He shot into the air and thrust his sword toward the ground. A scream rang out. The white mist dispersed, and sand and soil flew up from the ground as a figure burst out of the earth.
Yan Chihuo glanced over and recognized the Daoist from the tavern. Shi San cried, "That's the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon!"
Yan Chihuo was secretly astonished. The Cloud Soaring Sect said this man was in the early Body Tempering Stage, but he's clearly in the middle stage. Did Shi San mistake him, or was he just making things up? And how can someone in the middle stage sneak underground? No wonder I couldn't see where he was hiding.
To sneak underground, one had to master the mid-level earth-element spell Wall Passing Art. Mid-level spells could only be cast by Qi Condensation cultivators. Yan Chihuo had never imagined that his opponent might be hiding underground, so he hadn't spotted him. But Yan Chihuo had exceptionally sharp hearing, too. While fighting the woman in red, he'd heard something amiss and managed to wound the man.
The Daoist had a sword wound on his left leg, and in his hand he held the two broken halves of a small flagpole. His array was called the Earth-Traveling Illusion Array. It could be used to unleash illusions that trapped enemies, or to slip underground and ambush them. So even after realizing Yan Chihuo could see through the illusions, he hadn't been afraid and had planned to attack by surprise. He hadn't known that Yan Chihuo possessed not only a Spiritual Eye, but also supernatural hearing. His attempt to steal a chicken had only cost him the rice. If he hadn't blocked the blow with the array flag, he would have died on the spot.
Though he'd saved his life, the Earth-Traveling Illusion Array had been broken by Yan Chihuo. The Daoist looked at Shi San and said, "You've got a sharp eye. You even recognized me."
Yan Chihuo silently shook his head. The Cloud Soaring Sect's intelligence was far too outdated. The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had already reached the middle Body Tempering Stage, and they still didn't know. His aura was steady, too, clearly showing that his cultivation had stabilized. He had certainly not advanced just recently.
Though Yan Chihuo had found the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon and broken the Earth-Traveling Illusion Array, the situation was no better for him. He'd thought he could kill the man with one strike, but his opponent had only suffered a minor wound. With the woman in red and her companion as well, Yan Chihuo had no advantage at all.
The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon was in a bad position, too. He'd attacked both sides at once, and now his array was broken and he'd been wounded by a sword. Both Yan Chihuo and the woman in red wanted him dead. By the same token, the woman in red and Ru Shuang faced pressure from both Yan Chihuo and the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon.
For a moment, none of the three sides dared make the first move. Yan Chihuo reacted quickest. He knew the best course was to join forces with the two women and kill the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon. But he had a problem: both Ru Shuang and the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had been wounded by his sword. Of the three sides, he was clearly the strongest, so neither side was likely to want to join forces with him.
The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon reached into his robes, pulled out a Talisman, and slapped it onto himself. He instantly retreated more than thirty feet, then vanished in a few bounds.
"A God-Speed Talisman!" Yan Chihuo hadn't expected his opponent to have another trick up his sleeve. He wanted to pursue, but it was too late. The woman in red's expression changed. She grabbed Ru Shuang and retreated to the side, afraid Yan Chihuo would turn on them.
Yan Chihuo ignored them and said to Shi San, "Let's go. We'll find the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon." With that, he and Shi San set off in the direction the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had fled. The woman in red and Ru Shuang breathed a sigh of relief. They didn't dare follow, and turned to leave.
Shi San asked, "Young Master Yan, do you know where the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon went?"
"Just follow me. But the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon is skilled at changing his appearance, and I'm afraid I won't recognize him, so you'll have to come with me for a while longer." Shi San was secretly puzzled. The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had a God-Speed Talisman and had long since escaped. How could they possibly find him?
Yan Chihuo simply raced ahead, never stopping even when they came to a fork in the road. More than two hours later, the two arrived near a cave. Before they could do anything, a person suddenly shot out of the cave and sped away as if his feet never touched the ground.
Yan Chihuo gathered his breath and chased after him without a thought for whether Shi San might get lost. Shi San hadn't even gotten a good look at the man, and he was too far away to catch his scent. He couldn't tell if it was the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon. Seeing Yan Chihuo disappear into the distance, he stopped and slipped away in the opposite direction.
Yan Chihuo didn't know Shi San had fled, but Shi San was of no use to him anymore, so he couldn't care less. The God-Speed Talisman had left behind an extremely faint trace of magical energy in the air. He normally wouldn't have been able to detect it, but his eyesight was excellent now, so not even the tiniest remnant could escape him. That was how he was able to track the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon.
But the magical energy in the air wouldn't linger forever. Before long, Yan Chihuo could barely sense it at all, so he couldn't spare a thought for Shi San and pursued the trail at full speed.
The God-Speed Talisman could make its user faster, but its magical energy would eventually run out, and it also put a strain on the body. Normally that wouldn't matter much, but the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had been struck by Yan Chihuo's sword, right in the leg. Though Yan Chihuo had no God-Speed Talisman and was still much slower than his opponent, he couldn't possibly fail to catch up before the magical energy left by the talisman dispersed.
Yan Chihuo no longer worried about the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's ever-changing appearance, either. His eyes could see through disguises, and he'd already seen the man's true face. No matter how the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon altered his appearance afterward, it would be useless. He'd wanted Shi San along at first only because he wasn't sure he could recognize the man. The latest escape had confirmed it: the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had changed clothes and even taken on a new face, yet Yan Chihuo had seen through him at a glance.
Sure enough, about an hour later, Yan Chihuo spotted the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon in a forest. Just as before, the man turned and ran as soon as he saw him.
For three days straight, Yan Chihuo caught up with him more than ten times, but they never fought. Each time, the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon simply turned and fled. That fellow's sure cautious! Yan Chihuo cursed to himself.
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