Song Chi was soon caught up with again.
He had not even had time to find a leaf to cover himself.
More people had come this time.
He recognized the blue-robed cultivator leading them at a glance: the Heavenly Balance Sect disciple who had pursued him most fiercely outside the Market earlier. His surname seemed to be Zhao.
Many other sect disciples followed behind him, along with all sorts of spectators.
Song Chi turned and ran.
Instinctively, he flew toward less populated places.
But no matter how far he flew, cultivators overhead would always stop and look in his direction with furrowed brows.
The aura coming off him was like a bonfire in the night.
There was no hiding it.
Song Chi landed behind a boulder and leaned against it, gasping for breath.
He looked down at the black mist churning around him, and for the first time, a powerful urge arose within him...
I have to suppress this stuff.
He closed his eyes and circulated his power to suppress it.
The black energy did not budge.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
Song Chi gritted his teeth and tried a different approach.
Sword intent.
A swordsman was upright and unyielding; he slew evil and made it flee.
Using sword intent to disperse demonic energy was perfectly fitting.
He mobilized that familiar sword intent within him, which he had brought all the way from the Lower Realm, and slowly pushed it toward the black mist coiling around him.
The black mist recoiled slightly.
Song Chi's eyes lit up.
It worked!
Then the tattoos on his chest lit up, all nine sword marks glowing faintly at once.
But the instant Nine Swords' aura awakened...
Boom!
The black energy exploded on the spot, gushing madly from every pore, at least three times thicker