After entering the Mana realms, Seth senses had gotten sharper. He activated his reworked sense, an ability that every cultivator acquires after their first contact with Qi. The difference now is that, instead of just locking his sense on the aura emitted from a person, with the help of the Mana present in the environment he could sense everything that was happening in a large area.
Seth concentrated on scanning the area and his sense passed through the barrier they were in, extending for five thousand meters around him.
'What an incredible technique!'
He kept testing with it until he suddenly picked three different auras that were stronger than his, approaching from the edge of his technique. He instinctively retracted his sense and knew he had fucked up thoroughly now.
The Huo brothers felt the stranger sense scanning them and at the same time activated their senses, scanning back, trying to gauge the position of that individual.
"I failed to gauge his position, have you got anything?" Huo Shifen said.
"I failed too, that should not be possible right?"
"No, there are two possibilities. He could have used an artifact to hide himself from our senses, but considering that that person had just entered the Mana Perception realm, it would be almost impossible for him to completely hide his aura, not leaving a single trace behind." Huo Shihong was talking with a grave countenance.
"If it is unlikely for the first possibility, what could be the second, brother?"
"The person that entered the Mana Perception realm, invaded our Secret Formation as it is on the same direction that the previously sense came from. The Secret Formation can hide the presence of your aura once you are inside it. If this guess is correct, we might be in deep trouble."
"!!!"
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.
.
Seth left his reverie and his thought process was running at its fastest. 'Damn it! They are going to find us here and my plans of entering the Fire Labyrinth will be gone forever. I can probably leave and run using my shadow walk, but I'll end up losing what I achieved today.'
Seth dark element arts could probably take him out of his situation, but it would be impossible to achieve this feat carrying Caizhi and Lilian together with him.
If they were left behind, he was sure that Caizhi would have a terrible ending, while Lilian would at least lose a lot of credibility within the Sect.
He started looking around and remembered that there was a formation on the room outside, and if he wasn't wrong, it would probably be something that could save the life of the people hiding on this hideout.
"Lilian, I'm afraid that if we leave the formation now, we are going to be discovered. I think your father is already coming towards us."
"What!? How can you be so sure of that? My father hasn't visited this part of the forest for many months."
"There is no time for that now, do you have any other way of getting us out of here?"
"There is a way, but..."
"What is it? Are there any problems?"
"There is a teleportation circle on the other room, but its destination is unknown. If we end up using it, we can pretty much be teleported to any part of the human territory, so it's risky."
"Thats not a problem at all. The Fire labyrinth will be opening after three weeks, we will have enough time to get back here until then." Seth could not miss the chance to participate on this event, so it wasn't a problem for him.
Lilian thought for a moment, weighing down the possibilities. She was sure she could at least save Caizhi's life, at the cost of her endlessly begging for her father. Although the price wouldn't only be that. She would be criticized by the elders, losing a lot of benefits, but this road would at least eliminate a possible enemy of her country. Seth.
Lilian turned towards Seth and asked him: "Who are you really? The teleportation circle is connected with the formation, so only the Royal Phoenix bloodline is able to activate it. You are so eager to leave here safely, that it ended up being suspect. What do you really want from my sect?"
'This woman! At a time like this, she is cold enough to corner me on the wall.' Seth breathed slowly while looking at her eyes.
"I can't tell you who I really am, but I promise I won't do any harm against you sect or your people."
Lilian continued to eye him, demanding for more concrete answers.
"Sigh... Let's do it like this... I'll make a commitment with you. If you help us out this time, I can help you later with anything you need." Seth sincerely talked while looking at her eyes.
Lilian still didn't change her posture.
Suddenly someone grabbed Lilian's hand while saying.
"Lilian, you're not only the first real friend I made, but the person that saved me from my lonely hell at that time too. If you trust me as much as I trust you, could you please help us this time?" Caizhi pleaded for Seth. She could feel his anxiety raising. Whatever he was doing on this sect was really important for him.
Lilian looked at her best friend and smiled.
"Alright. Let's go to the teleportation platform."
She had achieved what she really wanted. Seth was in debt with her now.
The trio entered the teleportation room and without delay, Lilian activated the runes with a drop of her blood.
Swoosh!
The Sect Master and his two brothers arrived at the entrance of the formation and just as they were about to enter it, Huo Shihong sensed that there was someone watching on them in the area. He was the strongest of the three brothers, currently at the Mana Perception realm late-stage, so his senses were better and sharper.
Huo Shihong Coated his hands with fire and the Mana around him started to burn, vibrating with his energy.
"Phoenix Beam!"
A single beam of fire five meters wide shot towards his right side, burning everything on its way and crashing three hundred meters away from them, creating a sea of flames inside the forest.
"What was that brother?" Huo Shifen asked. He and Huo Shikai were Mana Perception realm mid-stage practitioners and that difference on their cultivation made it impossible for them to realize that there was a person observing them from afar.
Huo Shihong though, felt it.
"Come with me Shikai. Shifen, go inside the formation and check if there is anyone inside it. It's highly probable that the person we are searching for, was observing us on that direction, but we cannot miss any probability."
"Alright brother."
At that time, a skinny and grayish silhouette jumped out of the ocean of fire, running away from the Huo brothers.
"Let's go!" Huo Shihong and Shikai followed that shadowy figure, leaving streaks of fire behind, because they were using their maximum speed.
Seth was right. Valic was observing his recent moves, but got caught on this confusion. Huo Shihong probably mistook him for the one that entered the Mana Perception Realm. This would be an indirect contribution for him.
Huo Shifen entered the Secret formation with the intention to kill anyone that was inside it. But soon, he lost interest, because there was no one inside.
After double checking everything and leaving, he sealed the formation with his blood, the Phoenix blood.