Sunlight was sometimes hidden by dark clouds, sometimes spilling through the gaps. Waves stubbornly battered the shore, churning up countless white bubbles and leaving a wet sheen across the sand.
Fan Dazhi fled with all his might. Behind him, Mist Concealment skimmed through the air like a black eagle sweeping low over the sea, his fluttering robes trailing a billowing wake of black mist as he stayed close on Fan Dazhi's heels.
That mass of black mist drew closer and closer.
Fan Dazhi could even feel Mist Concealment's gaze nailed to his back. The man toyed with him in the palm of his hand, like a cat catching a mouse-deliberately loosening its claws to let the mouse run a few steps, then pinning it to the ground again. The cat wasn't hungry. It simply enjoyed the process.
It was utterly humiliating.
Fan Dazhi gritted his teeth, true qi boiling through his meridians. He ran harder than ever, but his speed depended entirely on forcing that last reserve of true qi to hold out. It wouldn't last long.
Never had he hated himself as much as he did now-hated how he had always indulged his appetite and shirked hard work at the Knowledge and Practice Institute, how he had refused to put real effort into cultivation and only practiced things he found amusing.
The path of martial arts was as deep and unfathomable as the sea. He had greedily pursued more and more, and although he had broken through three realms in a single night, he had truly mastered very little.
*I'm stuffed full of half-baked skills, yet when it comes to fighting for my life, I can't put a single one to use. Just one expert has sent me fleeing in disgrace. Even if I find Jiu Shan, can I