Found

"You really can run."

Lou Feng reached the lakeside and looked at the Demonfolk corpses nearby. He had spent days searching for Jiang Hao.

He had never expected him to run this far.

Fortunately, he had come prepared, bringing a tracking Magical Treasure.

Now that he had found a trail, he could find him within a day.

He then took out a Magical Treasure compass and began searching the surroundings for traces.

Before long, he found something and followed the trail ahead.

Behind him, Qing Xue of the Heavenly Joy Pavilion followed.

Jiang Hao's deliberate flight this far had surprised them.

He knew they were watching him, yet he kept killing Demonfolk. There had to be a reason.

They simply did not know what it was.

That was why Lou Feng had stolen his kills, preventing Jiang Hao from achieving his goal.

Unless his goal was to wear Lou Feng down.

Some time passed, yet they still saw no sign of Jiang Hao. That meant he was quite far from here.

In particular, the Demonfolk corpses around them seemed to be a day or two old.

"Something's wrong." Lou Feng frowned.

"At this speed, he could keep evading us indefinitely. Why kill Demonfolk?

"To lure someone over, or does he want something from the Demonfolk?

"He's killing them even at the risk of being found. Is he trying to obtain something that can deal with us?"

At that thought, Lou Feng knew he had to find Jiang Hao as soon as possible, or something unexpected might happen.

Since he had already made his move, he had to cut off all future trouble.

That night.

Jiang Hao sat cross-legged inside an enormous tree, a temporary hiding place he had found.

Mountains were rare in the Devil's Den, so caves were naturally out of the question.

The best hiding places were inside trees.

He was attempting to break through to Foundation Establishment perfection.

If even accumulating a hundred points was not enough for a breakthrough, things would become dangerous.

As long as the Heavenly Joy Pavilion disciples came prepared and were not foolish, they would find him within a day or two.

Once they did, he would have to face one opponent at Foundation Establishment late stage and another at Foundation Establishment perfection.

His chances of escaping would not be very high.

He could only gamble on reaching Foundation Establishment perfection.

In truth, his chances of breaking through were very high. On his previous attempts, he had never exhausted all hundred points of cultivation and blood essence.

At that moment, purple qi was guiding his spiritual energy and blood essence. He stood at the threshold of perfection, battering its barrier.

Jiang Hao remained calm, letting the power settle into his dantian.

He intended to enter Foundation Establishment perfection in one decisive push.

The cultivation and blood essence values on his panel kept changing. They had already fallen from a hundred to twenty-seven. If he still failed to break through when they reached zero,

then he would not be able to break through.

Just then, he suddenly heard movement outside. This unexpected change did not make Jiang Hao stop his advancement.

He had to finish advancing before he was discovered.

Outside.

Lou Feng walked through the woods.

He had pushed himself to the limit to reach this place, yet found little.

"Was the direction wrong?"

He could not help questioning it.

He then tried various other tracking methods, and all of them pointed here.

That meant the direction was correct. So where was Jiang Hao?

He continued forward, keeping watch over his surroundings.

Qing Xue followed behind him, so they would not both fall into an ambush.

They had both noticed Jiang Hao's unusual behavior, so they could not give him a chance to attack them both at once.

"Where could someone hide in these woods? Underground, or inside a tree?"

"A tree?"

Lou Feng paused, then began examining the large trees around him.

Then he spotted one with a faint trace of spiritual energy. Normally, it would have been nothing more than an ordinary spirit tree, but with this possibility in mind, Lou Feng immediately probed its interior. Joy lit up his face.

But his confusion only deepened.

The man was actually... breaking through.

Whatever the case, he had to interrupt him.

Clang!

A large saber appeared, power gathering around it.

Lou Feng leaped up and slashed downward.

"Still trying to hide?"

Bang!

The tree split in two beneath his saber, wood scattering everywhere.

The figure inside came into Lou Feng's view. It was Jiang Hao, immersed in secluded cultivation.

At the sight, Lou Feng was overjoyed and poured even more power into his strike.

The saber plunged straight down toward Jiang Hao's forehead.

He meant to cleave him in two.

But just as the blade was about to touch Jiang Hao,

a phantom suit of Protective Armor blocked it.

Clang!

The saber's power collided with the Protective Armor's, neither gaining the upper hand.

"A defensive Magical Treasure?" Lou Feng was shocked.

Without hesitation, he prepared to add more force and break through the defense.

But at that very instant, Jiang Hao's closed eyes suddenly opened.

Lou Feng met Jiang Hao's gaze and saw golden light blazing in his cold eyes.

Then a powerful aura erupted from Jiang Hao.

Foundation Establishment perfection.

"How is that possible?" The instant he sensed Jiang Hao's cultivation, Lou Feng's expression changed drastically in disbelief.

Jiang Hao gave him no chance to make sense of it. He reached out, the Shadow Saber appeared, and he instantly unleashed a slash.

Demonic Sound Slash.

Boom!

The slash swept past. Though Lou Feng had already moved to defend himself, he was still sent flying far away.

Bang!

He slammed straight into a large tree.

His saber snapped, and the web between his thumb and forefinger was a bloody mess.

But he was not dead.

Jiang Hao did not mind. He had barely managed that strike just now; grievously wounding his opponent was already a good result.

He slowly rose and looked toward Qing Xue in the distance.

Both of them attacking together would be trouble.

He had to finish this quickly.

His opponent had the same thought. Holding a longsword, Qing Xue formed hand seals, conjuring Spell Arts around herself as she began attacking Jiang Hao.

An air of cold allure surged forth.

Jiang Hao ignored it outright. At a time like this, he had that Gu Poison to thank.

Otherwise, he would certainly have been distracted.

He swung the Shadow Saber and charged forward.

Clang!

Saber and sword collided, crossing again and again as powerful flashes of their blades darted in all directions.

In the dark of night, the two stood in midair trading attacks, saber answering sword, every move lethal.

Neither yielded as they pressed their fierce attacks.

Boom!

The tremendous force drove them apart. Qing Xue shouted to Lou Feng,

"Join forces! He just advanced. He can't hold out for long."

Indeed, she had discovered that she could not defeat him.

He had only just advanced, his foundation still unstable, yet he could already overpower her.

If they did not kill him now, the ones to die would surely be the two of them.