853 Turning the Tides

Not to mention these lowly human beings, even among the Mizobudapi nobles, he was of high status and greatly sought after by people. This time, he had deliberately picked a place close to the human base of operations as his training spot. It was a portrayal of his courage and also sort of a provocation to those cautious old guys of his kind. However, he didn't expect to be played by such a lowly creature! What surprised him even more was that the human didn't even bother to run!

Slight shock appeared on his angry face, but it soon turned into a twisted smile.

"I will add your skull to my collection, for your idiotic bravery!"

Mizobudapi soldiers had the habit of collecting and making the heads of their enemies into specimens, and Wang Zhong knew that. Whether it was those mines that were previously taken over by other exploration teams or the places of assembly for the Mizobudapi soldiers, a large number of various skull specimens were found. For Heinrich, although Wang Zhong might not be worthy enough to be made into a specimen, the things that he did were. His skull would serve as a reminder for Heinrich to never underestimate any enemy even if they were to seem weak!

However, Wang Zhong waved his hand in dismissal, and a funny, ridiculous smile appeared on his funny clown mask. "That's what you said before too."

Heinrich clenched his sword tightly. When he had just burst out of the rubble, he was too uptight, so he didn't notice his own state. It wasn't until he saw the mocking face of the other party that he realized his arm was missing and that half of his foot had broken off. As a representative of the perfect Mizobudapi male specimen, how could he have turned into such an ugly mess?

His originally twisted face became even more twisted as his shame slowly became plastered all over his face. His face turned red, and the broken tentacles above his head were filled with electric light and energy, but he could never again regain his sacred glory.

Roar roar roar~~~

Heinrich began roaring like a madman.

His roars were as loud as thunder; thus, Wang Zhong couldn't help but cover his ears. However, based on these few words and the reaction of the other party, as well as his interactions with the guy over the past two days, he was able to determine that the other party should have come from a Mizobudapi aristocratic family. He was proud, talented, and cared about his image. Although neither Wang Zhong nor Simba felt that the other party looked good, it was obvious that the Mizobudapi people didn't share the same thoughts as them; the tentacles on his head could actually trigger someone's trypophobia[1]. However, for the Mizobudapi people, he was probably considered a handsome hunk.

Whoosh!

As Heinrich roared in anger, he flew up to the sky, and golden light struck towards Wang Zhong!

"I want you to get a taste of what hell is like!"

His voice and attack arrived at the same time, but Henrich was a left-hander; therefore, he was not used to wielding his sword with his right hand.

As such, his sword missed its target. Although his attack was swift, the other party was quick in dodging as well. When Wang Zhong noticed the Sword Saint's intention to attack, he immediately activated his Speed Circuit and ran away. It seemed that he had no intention to fight with him.

"What the f*ck! Lao Wang, you sneaky boy. Weren't you going to put on a strong front and fight one-on-one with that guy? Why are you running again?" Simba immediately began to flame him. He had asked Wang Zhong to start running just now, but he didn't heed his advice. Now, look at what he was doing! A crippled Sword Saint was still a Sword Saint!

"Stop panicking! This is a battle tactic. I'll tire him out first." As he spoke, he swiftly turned to the left side. Although there was no complicated terrain near here, the rocks that were blasted all over during the explosion were large and numerous. At this time, instead of running far away, he ran into the huge rock piles and used them to cover his position.

In terms of battle tactics, Wang Zhong was definitely a professional. It was necessary to distinguish clearly between putting up a strong front and actively seeking death as there was only a thin line between them. It was only because his opponent was greatly injured, particularly in the right foot, that gave Wang Zhong the time to dodge. Even so, if he wasn't careful enough, he might still be killed instantly. Now, it still wasn't the right time to fight the Sword Saint head-on. Guerrilla warfare was his first choice to handle this guy. He wanted this guy to bleed to death, and keeping up a pretense was just to agitate the guy on purpose.

Sure enough, this technique often had a deadly effect. The enemy had already lost his clarity and began to chase after him like a madman. A wave of suppression could be felt from behind. The Sword Saint wanted to suppress Wang Zhong so that he could not move, but with the clown mask, Wang Zhong always found a way to escape it. Furthermore, this suppression was not really that strong anymore due to his injuries; thus, it was not able to affect Wang Zhong's speed at all.

"Simba, start mocking him!"

"Turn around!" shouted Simba in excitement. This was his forte.

With that, Wang Zhong instantly turned around. With a chime from the clown mask, his red nose elongated and swelled up. With a mocking and exaggerated expression, he didn't even need to talk. Even an alien would know that it didn't mean anything good, not to mention a 'high-class race' who was proficient in human language.

"Catch me if you can, idiot! You're really ugly! Look at your broken octopus head. Do you think it will be delicious if we grill it?" This was Simba's voice.

However, it was apparent that Heinrich couldn't tell the difference as he was furious.

It was undeniable that it was a good thing that they came from similar civilizations. Heinrich could understand them easily, and especially since he was also familiar with human civilization, he could feel the strong contempt from the other party.

How could he be played, trampled on, and mocked by such a lowly creature?!

Most of the Mizobudapi people placed honor above all things. Now, Heinrich wanted to die of shame. As his anger was fueled, his speed increased, but his reaction got worse, and his mind grew hazy. As Wang Zhong changed directions and leaped from side to side, Heinrich couldn't keep up with his sudden movements and would often overshoot, unable to stop himself in time. He was clearly running at a faster speed, but he just couldn't catch up with Wang Zhong.

Having experienced this several times, Heinrich forced himself to calm down and slowed down a little. He began to use his divine sense to lock onto Wang Zhong's position before he started to chase after him.

"With Will Comes Power — Zoom Shadow!"

Wang Zhong was clear that the goading method would not be able to work forever; thus, he didn't make Simba provoke him anymore. He focused on making the Sword Saint run after him in circles around this pile of rocks, and it continued for three hours. Now, it was already the twelfth time he activated the Speed Circuit, and he was also constantly adjusting and refining it under the pressure of actual combat.

On the one hand, he could feel that his Circuits were becoming more and more proficient, but on the other hand, during high-speed consumption and operation, he constantly found small defects in the Circuits, which were almost impossible to find during training. It was all thanks to his strained nerves and more acute consciousness under high pressure, as well as the extreme pressure stemming from his desire to live. Regardless of who it was, to have undergone a life-and-death experience, followed by this kind of high-speed chase, the experience gained and the change in one's perspective would simply be inconceivable to ordinary people.

Wang Zhong's control of his Soul Circuits had unknowingly improved in every manner. His speed was currently extremely fast, and each time he activated a new Speed Circuit, his speed would always be faster than before. This truly surprised him — in a good way — and he felt that the gap between himself and the Sword Saint had slowly reached a balance.

This was incredible. Even though the Sword Saint was injured in the foot, he was still one whole level above Wang Zhong. Heinrich had never seen a weakling with such a high energy level. To him, it was definitely unfathomable that this weakling could run so fast.

Simply put, the injured Sword Saint could be considered a flat-eight engine, while Heroic Souls had the maximum limit of a flat-six engine. It was true of Wang Zhong, but the difference was that he also had a twin turbocharger… That explained his speed.

In addition, the Sword Saint did not get a chance to recuperate from his injuries. In this situation, Wang Zhong definitely had the upper hand. It was so much so that Wang Zhong felt that his speed had exceeded the Sword Saint behind him when he activated his latest Speed Circuit. This was like taking a reassurance pill: as long as he remained faster than the other party, he could take control of the situation, and the tides would eventually turn.

Of course, if the other party could calm himself down completely, he would retreat in the face of such an unfavorable situation. If so, Wang Zhong wouldn't be able to do anything about it. However, Heinrich was already enraged; he wouldn't allow himself to go back home as a loser. He would become the laughing stock of his people. He was the one who volunteered to guard this place, and he wanted to teach their enemies a lesson. How could he go back without doing so?

Whoosh!

A streak of Sword Qi flew over Wang Zhong's head.

He finally took a shot!

Wang Zhong, who was wearing the clown mask, was extremely agile. It was as though he had eyes behind his head, and he dodged it instantly. However, he still felt a blast of hotness on his scalp. It seemed that the edge of the Sword Qi had grazed his head, giving his hair a center parting.

Damn it. Although he knew where it was going and even though this Sword Qi was not as fast or as powerful as it was two days ago, it was still difficult to dodge it completely.

This attack was definitely very power-consuming. The other party probably wanted to conserve his energy, so he did not attack Wang Zhong directly until now. However, it actually turned out to be a good thing for Wang Zhong. If he didn't have time to improve on his Speed Circuit, he would most likely be dead now. Even though there were legends which mentioned otherwise, a Heroic Soul should never try to fight a Heavenly Soul head-on, regardless of the situation.

Wang Zhong had to wait for the right opportunity. Given the current situation of the Sword Saint, his stamina and Soul Power consumptions would certainly be faster. Furthermore, the longer he was stalled, the worse his injuries would become. With that, the opportunity would become more and more obvious.

From young, Wang Zhong's best quality was his patience. He was like a veteran hunter, and the other party was like a prey, an enraged one too… Emotions had always been the advantage of high-level creatures over low-level ones, but it was also their biggest flaw.

Although Wang Zhong only came into contact with the Mizobudapi people for a short time, he already had a considerable degree of understanding of them.

The two figures continued to run around the heaps of rubble and unknowingly arrived at the mountain range on the left side of the mining area. There, a dense forest appeared before Wang Zhong's eyes.

It hadn't been easy for Heinrich to calm himself down, yet he grew anxious once again. Although his speed was a little bit faster, the other party was more nimble than himself. If he really let the other party enter the woods, it would probably be even more difficult to kill this human. His ordinary Sword Qi was now rendered useless as its power and speed were not even 30% of his usual attacks. The worst thing was that the human suddenly became faster and stronger than before, which was also another reason for his frequent misses.

Now, he only had two choices — give up hunting, or…

Heinrich did not think twice before he raised his sword.

Frankly speaking, to deal with such a weakling and small fry, it was definitely a shame to use his trump card. It would definitely not be worth it either as he might not be able to wield the technique properly and eventually have to suffer from the backlash. The other party was just a human Heroic Soul; hence, the value of what he had to give and what he would receive in return was not proportional. However, if his self-esteem was added to this scale, things were entirely different.

He couldn't let that human go into the woods! No matter what, he had to die!

Sword Faction's Ultimate Art — Man And Sword Become One!

His body began to flash with numerous light streaks, and with this powerful energy surge, the broken tentacles on his head actually began to heal a little. Although it did not re-generate immediately, new flesh had grown out at the fractures, radiating with vitality.

However, just as he raised his sword, the human in front seemed to have been long prepared for his attack. He leaped into the air and twirled backwards. At the same time, his hands were already brimming with white light, and a fiery phoenix was released from his palms!

The phoenix came fast and furiously at him, but Heinrich ignored it as he activated his Sword Defense! With severe injuries, the invincible Sword Defense was no longer impenetrable. As he was hit by the fiery phoenix, the impact caused him to lean backwards, disrupting the momentum of his attack. On the other hand, Wang Zhong slid into the jungle behind him. It was apparent that Wang Zhong had carefully calculated the distance and planned his position. With the cover of the jungle, he instantly disappeared into it, leaving Heinrich hanging before he could launch his attack.

This—this lowly, despicable and scheming…!

It was just that Heinrich didn't know how to properly curse, or else he would have cursed Wang Zhong's entire family.

He gritted his teeth in fury. Give up on chasing him?

To be honest, Heinrich was not one to take this lying down, but he no longer had the capital to continue.

After the past two days of chasing this abominable human, other than having cursed the human tens of thousands of times in his heart, he noticed that the human was extremely cunning and very good at long-distance fleeing and hiding. It would be extremely difficult to catch him in this dense jungle.

What's more was that the injuries he had suffered were actually extremely severe. The broken tentacles on his head would affect his energy transmission, exploration abilities, and other senses. His left arm and right foot were also broken off. The Mizobudapi people actually had strong regenerative abilities. As a Sword Saint, his regeneration ability was even stronger than others, but it would require regulating his breathing and calming his mind. Continuous running and energy consumption not only would not help in the regeneration of his body, it would also make his injuries deteriorate even further. He had to stop now.

Heinrich stopped right before the jungle and began to take deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

"Eh! Ehh! Ehhh! That guy isn't chasing us anymore! Did he finally give up?" asked Simba.

Wang Zhong also noticed it. Originally, his plan was to lead the Sword Saint into the jungle, but the other party surprisingly stopped. He looked over and saw that Heinrich had already sat down cross-legged on the ground and begun to regulate his breathing. There was energy and light surrounding him, and the wounds at his severed parts began to heal. Was this f*cking dude really an octopus monster?

[1] trypophobia - an aversion to the sight of irregular patterns or clusters of small holes or bumps