'Oh crap, who is that?'
Ken thought to himself as he got up from the ground. He made sure to do it slowly and appear as natural as he could.
'One Step.'
Ken executed his dashing technique, disappearing from sight immediately. Following his dash, he sprinted as fast as he could in the forest. He felt a powerful cultivator locking on him earlier with his Bloodlust Sense, and he didn't think he could win.
'This person must be at the sixth stage, they have a similar aura to Vivienne!'
Ken also noticed he only sensed that person when they were close to him; much closer than he normally needed to find people, especially in the secret realm where everyone had a relatively strong bloodlust and Blood Tokens that gave their location away.
It didn't take long for the lurker to react and chase after the escaping child, thus beginning a pursuit in the forest.
"Haha, Devil's Heir, don't run away! I thought you enjoyed killing disciples of the Four Seasons Sect!"
Ken heard nasty laughter behind him, exposing his enemy's origins. The extra knowledge didn't help much; it only made it clear to him that there won't be negotiations going on.
He already fought Vivienne in the bloody mist and knew the daunting power of a sixth-stage cultivator; it wasn't something he could deal with yet, surely not when the said sixth-stage cultivator was an elite and not an average cultivator.
"Remember the name of the man who killed you; I'm Felix the Carmine Genius!"
Ken was almost caught in surprise as the first part of his name sounded familiar, but he let it go and focus on running away. Catching a glimpse of the man's figure, he understood the Carmine part in his name must be referring to his dark red hair.
'One Step.'
Ken was running at full speed using Cloud Running while switching to One Step from time to time whenever Felix sent a wave of Lightning Qi after him.
"Argh."
Ken grunted with pain as he failed to dodge one of the strikes. Felix was adapting to his dodging movements, making it harder to dodge every time.
"Hahaha, can't run anymore, little mouse?"
Felix shouted as he landed on the ground nearby from a tree branch and dashed toward Ken, who hurriedly got up from the ground and dodged again. The chase continued, and this time Felix was using his spear while boosting his speed with Lightning Qi movement techniques and attacks.
Ken's flesh was getting charred by the attacks even when he dodged them, and new burns and cuts started to decorate his body wherever the spear tore his robes. Now, he also had to focus on repulsing foreign Lightning Qi, but luckily it was not part of Felix's technique but just a natural aftereffect, making it much less dangerous.
Despite his plight, Ken never lost focus and had been considering his circumstances with a clear mind and a cold expression, not letting the pain get the better of him or the panic control him.
With another spear thrust, Ken was thrown against a tree, and the crash made the air escape his lungs. He tried to counter the strike with his slash, 81 in 1, but it was still too powerful for him to block or parry.
"Haha, you should've just given up from the start. You can't fight a sixth-stage cultivator no matter how amazing you are. I admit, even I am impressed by your prowess given your age and stage."
Felix complimented him in a condescending tone. He was always the top genius, only second to the experimental kids. However, Vivienne and the other boy were always just tools of war in his eyes, so he was never jealous of them.
Now that he met a genius from another sect, a greater genius than him, he felt a pure desire to kill him, and a strong satisfaction coursed through his body from watching the younger genius all battered up.
'I should be alone at the top. Killing greater geniuses is a type of pleasure that is second to none! It's a shame that almost nobody can call themselves a genius next to me.'
Felix thought to himself narcissistically as he approached Ken with light, slow steps. He wanted to capitalize on every moment before putting an end to the show.
"Hmm, what do you think you can use this pill for?"
Felix squinted his eyes in suspicion as he looked at Ken bringing out a shiny red pill from his storage ring.
"We've crossed quite a long distance, didn't you notice?"
"So what?"
"So I just know a few guys around here."
Felix didn't know what Ken meant by that, but he could tell by the facial muscles that the child was smiling under his silver mask. The man could only imagine it as the smile of the devil when thinking of the child's nickname and the menacing mask that covered his face.
"Eeeuhhh!"
"Guys, I will give each one of you this pill if you bring him down!"
It was a Bloodline Refining Pill, but this time it wasn't just a third or even a fourth-grade pill. It was a sixth-grade pill that would almost ensure their future as sixth-rank beasts, and their whole entity screamed to eat this pill.
"Buffalos?"
Felix looked with confusion at the huge herd. The herd was in a frenzy. The ground shook as they thunder past, their hooves pounding the earth. The air was filled with the sound of their cries and the scent of their fear. They could feel Felix was dangerous, but the temptation was too strong.
"Damn you, animals!"
Ken was retreating to the buffalos' habitat all this time. He knew they were the only group powerful enough to deal with a sixth-stage cultivator among all the 'allies' he acquired in the forest.
"It's not over yet! Even if you run away, I will still find you and kill you later!"
Felix shouted in anger as he fended off the buffalos' horns that tried to puncture holes all over his body.
"Who said anything about it being over?"
Felix heard a young voice and felt a strong trepidation.
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