Red Rock Cave

One must know that the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had disguised himself several times; once, he even fled into a crowded marketplace. A less courageous pursuer might have assumed that with so many people around, Yan Chihuo would be unable to track him. Yet, the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon acted as he always did, fleeing at an even faster pace than before.

Yan Chihuo had been so terrified of losing his target over the past few days that he had not slept, doing nothing but meditating to restore his mana, leaving him utterly exhausted. The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's situation was even worse; he was suffering from a sword wound. Had he been able to rest for a few days, he would have been fine, but Yan Chihuo's relentless pursuit had caused the injury to worsen rather than heal, and he had cursed Yan Chihuo tens of thousands of times in his heart.

On this day, Yan Chihuo arrived at a mountain where a cave entrance sat in an open clearing, surrounded by red stones. Before reaching the cave, he had inquired at a village thirty miles away. According to the villagers, this place was called Red Rock Cave, and it was considered quite ominous; no one dared to approach it.

Yan Chihuo had tracked the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon for three days, only for the lingering mana of his God-Speed Talisman to vanish upon reaching this spot. He did not know if the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon had fled elsewhere after arriving here or if he had entered the cave. Because the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon possessed the God-Speed Talisman, his speed was far superior, and given enough time, he would eventually shake off his pursuer.

He rested for a full day in a small town to replenish his mana before returning to Red Rock Cave. A faint red glow shrouded the area for a hundred paces around the entrance; it was only thanks to his exceptional eyesight that he could perceive it at all, as an ordinary person would have seen nothing.

More importantly, there was a faint flow of mana within this red light. Yan Chihuo did not know what kind of spell this was, but the flow of mana seemed to follow a pattern. Although he had not yet grasped the logic behind it, his eyes allowed him to clearly see the gaps within the flow.

He followed these gaps into Red Rock Cave. The interior was pitch black, but this posed no difficulty for Yan Chihuo. To his eyes, it was no different from broad daylight. The cave walls were lined with strange, dark brown rocks that looked as hard as iron and felt exceptionally cold.

The path inside led straight down into the depths of the earth, though it was unclear if this was natural or man-made. Yan Chihuo walked for a while, descending deep underground, yet the surroundings remained deathly silent, showing no signs of any living creatures.

Suddenly, a cliff appeared before him. Below it lay a void of darkness. Yan Chihuo strained his eyes to look down, seeing only a few flickering lights deep in the abyss, like ghost fires. As far as his sight could reach, there were only stone walls; clearly, the cliff was extremely deep.

Fortunately, the cliff was not a sheer vertical drop; there were protrusions and slopes he could use for leverage. Yan Chihuo hesitated for a moment, drew his long sword, chose a relatively gentle spot, and leaped down.

A moment later, a black shadow flew out from the side, pouncing directly at Yan Chihuo. His reaction was lightning-fast; without even needing to brace himself, he met the attack with his long sword, trailing a burst of Sword Qi. The black shadow was struck as if by a heavy hammer, letting out a shrill screech as it tumbled backward, a spray of blood erupting from its body.

In that instant, Yan Chihuo saw that it was a crow, though it was more than three times the size of an ordinary one. It possessed mana, clearly making it a Demon or Monster that had attained some level of cultivation.

However, although he had slain the crow, its dying shriek brought him great trouble. Following the cry, a loud flapping of wings erupted, and dozens of crows flew toward him, none of them smaller than the one he had just killed.

Yan Chihuo was startled. He flourished his long sword and struck down another. Just then, a bird's cry echoed through the air, and a massive crow emerged from the flock. It was significantly larger than the others, and with a single spread of its wings, it dove straight at him.

Yan Chihuo blocked with his sword, but the bird's talons gripped the spine of the blade. With a loud bang, his body swayed twice. This crow was clearly much stronger than the previous ones, its raw strength incomparable. Had he been on flat ground, Yan Chihuo would not have been afraid, but the terrain here was incredibly steep, and his footing was precarious; a single misstep would send him plummeting.

Before he could make another move, a dozen more crows swarmed him. He shook his sword, and hearing another loud cry, the first giant crow attacked again, its talons once more striking the spine of his blade.

This time, he lost his footing and fell straight down the cliff. One crow seized the opportunity to dive at him. Yan Chihuo performed a somersault in mid-air and thrust his sword, slicing into the crow's neck; with a crack, he severed its head.

In that split second, he spotted a cave entrance not far below. With no time to think, he rotated his body in the air and leaped into the opening.

With a thud, he crashed heavily to the ground. Feeling intense pain throughout his body, he dared not linger. Seeing that the cave was quite deep, he scrambled further inside, the angry cries of the crows still echoing behind him.

Yan Chihuo panted heavily, watching as the crows circled outside the cave entrance, not daring to follow. Only then did he look back. The cave twisted and turned, and even with his piercing vision, he could not see clearly into the depths.

He cast one last glance at the crows at the entrance before turning to head deeper into the cave, hoping to find another way out. Although the path fluctuated between ascending and descending, the general direction remained downward.

After walking for about half an hour, he estimated he had descended another one or two hundred feet into the earth, when a clearing appeared before him, with five or six cave entrances branching off.

He pondered for a moment, channeling his mana to the acupoints behind his ears, and heard a voice say, "Senior Brother, you have finally emerged from seclusion. I have waited for you for a day and a night." The voice belonged to the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon.

Yan Chihuo was both shocked and delighted. He was delighted because this was indeed the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's hideout; he was shocked because there was another person in the cave—the Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's senior brother. The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon's cultivation was already at the Body Tempering Middle Stage, so his senior brother's cultivation would surely be no lower.

He dared not move forward, hiding in a corner to listen carefully. He heard another voice reply, "You are injured. Who did this to you?"

The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon said, "Three days ago, I intended to ambush a junior from underground, but I never expected him to detect me. He struck first with his sword; had I not been protected by my array flags, I fear I would have perished on the spot."

The other voice continued, "This person was able to see through the Earth-Traveling Illusion Array? Could it be that he possesses the Spiritual Eye ability? Even so, it is difficult to discover someone hiding underground."

The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon replied, "This person is indeed capable of seeing through the illusion array. I suppose it was my bad luck that he discovered me by chance, but he possesses another skill that is truly troublesome."

The other man asked, "What skill is that?"

The Heavenly Evil Blood Demon said, "He is adept at tracking. I have used the God-Speed Talisman to shake him off repeatedly, yet he manages to catch up every time. I suspect he is still outside Red Rock Cave now. Therefore, I wish to ask you, Senior Brother, to take action and kill him."