Immortality Cultivation

Chapter 230: Hunt

Fang Hao was half-carrying the severely injured Green Wood Sect female Cultivator, Liu Yiyi, trudging unevenly through the fog-shrouded wetlands, feeling incredibly annoyed.

Saving her had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, but now, he had picked up a huge problem.

This woman was seriously injured and could barely walk on her own; carrying her made his speed as slow as a snail and made them a large target.

If they were spotted by the Sun Family or the Zhao Family, they would be in big trouble.

He swept his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to their full extent, wanting to find a relatively hidden place to temporarily settle this woman.

Finally, at the edge of the wetlands, he discovered a cave partially sunken into the ground, covered by several huge dead trees and dense vines.

The entrance was not large, and the inside was pitch black, but after sweeping it with his Divine Sense, he found no signs of living creatures, only the bones of some small beasts.

"This will do." Fang Hao supported (or rather, dragged) Liu Yiyi inside.

The cave was not deep, but it could barely accommodate them.

He casually set up a few simple warning and concealment Restrictions at the entrance, then placed Liu Yiyi in a relatively dry corner.

"There are Medicinal Pills for healing in here; treat your wounds yourself and circulate your energy to heal."

Fang Hao shoved his own untouched bottle of healing Medicinal Pills to Liu Yiyi, his tone devoid of emotion, "I will be regulating my breath at the entrance. Once your wounds are healed, you can leave on your own; whether you go find your Senior Brother or do something else is up to you."

"Remember what I said: keep today’s events to yourself."

"Th-thank you for saving my life, Senior. This Junior... will remember."

Liu Yiyi’s face was pale, and she looked at Fang Hao with a mix of gratitude and fear while enduring the pain.

She could feel that this Senior who saved her possessed unfathomable strength; killing those two Loose Cultivators was as easy as crushing an ant, and his actions... were somewhat righteous yet devilish, making him impossible to read.

Fang Hao ignored her, walked near the cave entrance, sat cross-legged with his back to her, swallowed a Medicinal Pill, and began to regulate his breath.

He also needed to recover the spiritual energy consumed from the constant fleeing and fighting, and incidentally, treat the lingering pain in his back.

At the same time, his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes and Divine Sense remained constantly vigilant of the outside.

Liu Yiyi dared not delay, quickly taking the Medicinal Pill to treat the wound on her abdomen (fortunately, it did not hit any vital parts), and then sat cross-legged to circulate her energy and guide the medicinal power to heal.

Inside the cave, only the faint sound of their breathing remained.

Time passed bit by bit.

About two hours later, Fang Hao felt his state had mostly recovered, and the lingering pain in his back had basically disappeared.

He opened his eyes and glanced at Liu Yiyi; she was still in deep meditation healing, her aura had stabilized quite a bit, and there was some color returning to her face.

It seemed this woman had a solid Foundation, and this bottle of grade-four healing Medicinal Pill was quite effective.

"Once she wakes up, I’ll let her leave on her own." Fang Hao thought to himself, and just as he prepared to stand up and stretch his muscles, his ears suddenly twitched!

His Clear Spring Spirit Eyes caught, not far outside the cave, extremely faint, deliberately suppressed footsteps and whispers!

It wasn’t a Demon Beast, it was people! And there were quite a few of them, at least five or six! They were searching in this direction!

Fang Hao became instantly alert, quietly activating his Shadowless Evasion Technique, suppressing his aura to the extreme, while transmitting his voice to Liu Yiyi: "Don’t make a sound, suppress your aura, someone is coming!"

Liu Yiyi’s body trembled, and she immediately woke from her meditation.

Although she didn’t know what had happened, seeing Fang Hao’s grave expression, she hurriedly followed suit, clamping her mouth shut and even holding her breath.

The footsteps grew closer and closer, accompanied by low conversations that were clearly transmitted inside.

"...Senior Brother Zhao, we’ve searched all around here, but haven’t found a trace of that Fang Hao. Could he have already left this area?"

"Impossible! He was poisoned by the Xuanming Python; even if he isn’t dead, he definitely can’t have run far! He must be hiding nearby to heal! Search carefully for me! Do not let a single inch of ground or any possible hiding spot go unchecked! *Cough, cough*..."

Hearing this voice, Fang Hao’s pupils suddenly constricted!

Zhao Wuji?! He actually didn’t die?!

Although the voice carried obvious weakness and coughing, it was definitely Zhao Wuji!

He actually managed to escape from the mouth of the Fourth-Rank Demonic Beast, the Three-Headed Xuanming Python?!

Although he sounded seriously injured, he was indeed still alive! And he was leading people to hunt him down!

Fang Hao’s heart sank.

This Zhao Wuji had too tenacious a life! Furthermore, judging by his tone, he was pinning the entire account of his attack by the giant python on him.

His hatred was monstrous; this was going to be a fight to the death!

"Senior Brother Zhao, your injuries have not yet healed; you should rest for a while. Leave the searching to us." Another voice advised.

"Rest? If I don’t kill Fang Hao, I won’t be able to eat or sleep in peace!" Zhao Wuji’s voice was filled with resentment, "That bastard used a trick to lure the Xuanming Python to attack me, causing me to lose half my life and also the life-saving talisman treasure bestowed by my Family! If I, Zhao Wuji, do not avenge this, I swear I am not a man! *Cough, cough*... Search for me! He must be nearby!"

The footsteps began to pace around the cave.

Fang Hao could feel several Divine Senses sweeping past the entrance; the simple concealment Restrictions he set up had limited effect under the conscious probing of Golden Core Cultivators.

Fortunately, the entrance was tightly covered by vines and dead wood, and coupled with the concealment effect of his Shadowless Evasion Technique, he hadn’t been discovered yet.

But this couldn’t go on.

There were many people on the other side, and although Zhao Wuji was heavily injured, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, and his strength could not be underestimated.

Once discovered and trapped in this cave, they would be like turtles in a jar.

"Must find a way to leave, or... strike first?" Fang Hao’s brain spun rapidly.

There were five or six people on the other side; besides Zhao Wuji, the others also sounded like Golden Core Stage Cultivators from their auras.

Although they might only be at the Early Stage, they would be very troublesome if they coordinated.

A direct confrontation was unwise.

He glanced at Liu Yiyi, who was trembling with fear beside him, and an idea formed in his mind.

This woman might be useful.

"If you want to live, do as I say." Fang Hao quickly gave a few instructions to Liu Yiyi via sound transmission.

After hearing this, Liu Yiyi’s face grew even paler, but she still bit her lip and nodded.

Just then, a voice came from outside: "Senior Brother Zhao, there’s a cave here! It’s covered by vines!"

"Pry it open and take a look!" Zhao Wuji’s voice was filled with excitement.

The footsteps approached, and someone started pulling at the vines at the entrance.

Now! A cold light flashed in Fang Hao’s eyes; he suddenly withdrew the concealment Restriction at the entrance and, at the same time, used his spiritual energy to gently push Liu Yiyi toward the entrance!

"Ah—!" Liu Yiyi let out a terrified scream, stumbling as she fell out of the half-opened entrance, and crashed right into a Zhao Family disciple who was pulling at the vines!

"Someone!" The people outside were startled, subconsciously retreating, their Magic Treasures drawn and aimed at the falling Liu Yiyi.

"Is that a female Cultivator? Injured?" Someone asked in confusion.

Zhao Wuji also clutched his chest and walked over with the support of two people, looking sharply at Liu Yiyi: "Who are you? How did you get here? Have you seen a male Cultivator wearing green robes who is injured?"

Liu Yiyi followed Fang Hao’s instructions, pretending to be terrified, pointing inside the cave, and crying incoherently: "In... inside! There’s a monster! A huge snake! It ate my fellow sect members! I... I barely managed to escape! Don’t kill me!"

"A monster? A snake?" Zhao Wuji frowned; the terror of the Xuanming Python was still fresh in his memory, and he shuddered at the words.

He signaled to a subordinate: "Go in and take a look!"

The subordinate carefully pushed aside the vines and probed inside with his Divine Sense.

The cave was not deep and was completely visible; there were only some dry bones and messy traces, along with a faint smell of blood (Liu Yiyi’s), but there was no sign of anyone or any Demon Beast.

"Senior Brother, there’s no one inside, and no Demon Beast, just some bones. This female Cultivator might have been scared silly." The subordinate reported.

Zhao Wuji was somewhat disappointed and looked back at Liu Yiyi: "When did you escape? Did you see anyone else?"

"No... no! Just me! The snake chased me, and I ran here to hide!" Liu Yiyi shook her head, crying.

Zhao Wuji stared at her for a few moments; the female Cultivator’s cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment, her injuries were not light, her panic did not seem fake, and there was no aura of Fang Hao on her (Fang Hao had long ago completely concealed himself using Chaos Qi and the Shadowless Evasion Technique).

He waved his hand irritably: "Get lost! Don’t block the way!"

"Th-thank you, Senior!" Liu Yiyi acted as if she had been granted amnesty, scrambled up, and without caring about the direction, stumbled away in the opposite direction of the cave.

Zhao Wuji did not pay her any more attention; his target was Fang Hao.

"Continue searching! He must be nearby!"

Watching Zhao Wuji and his people leave while grumbling, searching in another direction, Fang Hao silently slid down from an extremely hidden rock indentation above the cave that was completely covered by vines.

Just a moment ago, when Liu Yiyi was pushed out, he had used Shrinking the Ground to an Inch and the Shadowless Evasion Technique to climb up to the cave ceiling like a gecko, perfectly avoiding detection.

"This Zhao Wuji, he really didn’t die, and he’s still chasing me like a mad dog." Fang Hao’s eyes were icy.

It seemed that in this Secret Realm, the situation with the Zhao Family was already a fight to the death.

Moreover, although Zhao Wuji was heavily injured, he seemed to still have trump cards (he used the life-saving talisman treasure), so he could not be taken lightly.

He didn’t bother with the fleeing Liu Yiyi; that woman had taken the Medicinal Pill and also distracted Zhao Wuji for a moment, so they were even.

He identified his direction and chose a third path, opposite to the direction Zhao Wuji was searching and different from the direction Liu Yiyi had fled, and once again submerged himself into the thick fog.

This time, he was even more careful.

Not only did he have to guard against Demon Beasts and the dangers of the Secret Realm, but he also had to be constantly vigilant against that mad dog Zhao Wuji, as well as... the Sun Family, who might also be searching for him.

This Savage Secret Realm had already become a hunting ground filled with deadly traps at every step for him.

And he was both the hunter and the prey.