Chapter 98: Hunter and Prey (2)

Chapter 98: Hunter and Prey (2)

Finally, with that sword, I will be able to fly and get quickly to my destination.

Han Lingyun breathed a sigh of relief and observed fine craftmanship of the weapon. The sword hilt was dark red while the blade was deep black, giving a menacing air. It actually did not lack in quality compared to his own dark blue flying sword and was probably of higher value! Han Lingyun slightly relaxed and deactivated his blackbird art. The scene was still filled with the bizarre odor of the pill to ward off magic beasts.

Looking back at the corpses of the young disciples he had just killed, Han Lingyuns expression contorted slightly. When circulating this blackbird art, I really dont feel any emotions

I guess this is my first time killing without the moral justification.

But there is no pity for those dead fellows, I just regret losing the right to try to believe Im a good person deep down. Heh, the terror of this forest was the only light nudge I needed. I hope those elders at the School are proud.

After everything was said, the objective was simply the flying sword. The prize was well deserved after all Han Lingyun had to go through since he had been dropped in the middle of the forest more than 24 hours ago.

Han Lingyun had underestimated the time it took to advance on foot. He couldnt move fast because he had to constantly be on his guard against magic beasts. His greatest fear was to step inside the territory of a rank 3 magic beast, which could even kill foundation establishment cultivators.Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

The peace of the night was constantly being broken by beast cries and fights. Rather than being frightened by the activity, Han Lingyun was glad to be able to estimate the locations and levels of the wild and magic beast roaming around.

This phenomenon was much more prevalent at nighttime than during the day, due to 2 reasons. Firstly, a greater number of magic beasts were out hunting at night. And secondly, sound could be heard much more clearly over longer distances in the forest at night than during the day because of temperature inversion.

But avoiding all magic beast proved to be an impossible task and Han Lingyun would have an encounter every so often. Those at rank 1 were easily dispatched with a qi blade but Han Lingyun had also come face to face with rank 2 Magic Beasts on several occasions.

On those occasions, Han Lingyun would release his Black Fog around the beast and flee, hide and use his merger art.

Fighting a rank 2 beast would only come as a last resort. Even by being quite powerful for his mid qi condensation cultivation, he didnt have absolute confidence to win against a rank 2 beasts. This was mainly because he currently had no weapon to properly utilize his black bird art, lacked attack power and had no defensive measure. Magic beast had extremely tough bodies in general. Clashing head on was a sure win for those magic beasts with greater brute strength. In addition, they had all kind of abilities, with some unpredictable variations.

With all that considered, fleeing and hiding was the best solution for Han Lingyun. He couldnt burden himself with precious beast parts as well, considering the rest of his journey. All in all, Han Lingyun didnt have anything to gain from killing Magic Beasts.

As a consequence of this highly stressful environment, his application of the Blackbird art was actually improving at a surprising pace, especially the movement and merger skills.

Han Lingyun tried to follow the right direction as precisely as possible. The map he was given was basically completely useless as he had no visual landmarks to determine his precise position. Everything around was covered by the forest anyway.

During the night, Han Lingyun would find his direction thanks to the blue star and during day time, he had to rely on the sun. Needless to say, it was already quite approximate. But what made Han Lingyun veer of his route further were the numerous detours he had to make.

At this close proximity, the snake didnt have time to dodge and its head was instantly severed.

Han Lingyun breathed a huge sigh of relief. He picked up the box he had frown to the side and immediately ran away before other beasts arrived, attracted by the commotion.

He couldnt find a suitable hiding place to rest so he just climbed a tall tree. At this point, his body was aching all over with many soar points. At the same time, Han Lingyun felt a strange sense of satisfaction. He had never fought in this raw fashion before and would continue to avoid this scenario at all cost, but releasing all his power in an incomparably brutal fight against a terrifyingly strong magic beast and managing to prevail! Now that it was over and that the death threat had passed, he wanted to roar in a mixture of ecstasy and rage.

When Han Lingyun calmed back down, he realized bitterly that he wouldnt make it on time without a flying treasure. There were too many obstacles on the way. Between the detours and fights, he was advancing 3 times slower than what he had originally predicted.

He could still make it in time, but that would require him charging headfirst into unknown territory and his cautious nature rejected that approach. Just at this time, Han Lingyun noticed behind the leaves 2 cultivators flying above the forest on their flying sword.

This was his second night and these cultivators were the second group he had spotted since he had been left alone on the forest. Han Lingyun surmised that there should be cultivation sects around. As the two cultivators disappeared in the distance, Han Lingyun squinted his eyes as dark plans surfaced in his mind.

It was only later during the night that Han Lingyun woke up. Cultivators typically dont require to sleep every night, but Han Lingyun had been physically and mentally exhausted by his last 24 hours of struggle. His pain had greatly diminished thanks to his strong constitution, and yet, his form still wasnt ideal. Because Han Lingyun had abandoned his plans of traversing the forest on foot. He didnt rush to leave and instead decided to recuperate further.

Once again, he saw three disciples passing above the forest on their flying swords but Han Lingyun paid them no head. He had to find the right occasion before making a move. Alone and without any tools or weapons, he was at the mercy of an average small group of qi condensation disciples.

However, this time he spotted the same disciples passing by once again a dozen minutes later and a third time after half an hour. A bright smile crept on Han Lingyuns face as he suddenly thought of a plan.

These disciples were obviously searching for something. And in this forest, there wasnt much to look for except hunting magic beast. Han Lingyun was 80% confident that he had stumbled on a group of disciples searching for magic beasts in the area.

Without further ado, Han Lingyun headed in the direction of a Crazed Warthog he had spotted earlier in the night. After a bit of searching, he found it sleeping next to a large rock. Han Lingyun slashed the air with his qi blade.

The blade managed to cut a tiny portion of one of the Crazed Warthogs horns. After awakening in shock, the beast was engulfed in fury when it realized what had happened.

It immediately charged at Han Lingyun with all its might, uprooting trees in its wake. Even with his remarkable speed, Han Lingyun couldnt outrun the powerful beast once again. However, the Crazed Warthogs agility paled in comparison to the snake Han Lingyun had thought earlier. As soon as the colossus was about to collide with its attacker, Han Lingyun would swiftly change direction.

Little by little, Han Lingyun headed towards the territory of another beast. This beast roars had awoken him on multiple occasions during the night which had somewhat annoyed him. Han Lingyun couldnt recognize the beast, but he could estimate its strength to the second level.

It didnt take long for the young man and the Crazed Warthog to rampage their way to this unknow beasts territory.

Han Lingyun found a beast that he could only described as a large, red-furred panther. The eyes of the red panther only showed deep bloodlust.