Chapter 125 - 88 : The Pursuit (1)

Chapter 125: Chapter 88 : The Pursuit (1)

He had barely reached the next street when he spotted someone approaching. It was the same young disciple Elder Han Rui had previously sent to summon him. The disciple noticed Kael almost at the same moment and immediately quickened his pace, heading straight toward him.

"Senior brother Kael."

Kael slowed and turned toward him.

The disciple approached and gave a slight bow, his expression carrying a hint of excitement. "Congratulations on your breakthrough, Senior b Kael."

Kael nodded with a faint smile. "Thank you."

The disciple straightened, then hesitated for a moment before asking, "Were you heading somewhere?"

"I was actually on my way to see Elder Han Rui and the other Elders," Kael replied. "I wanted to inform them that I’ve completed my breakthrough and am preparing to return to the sect."

The disciple’s expression brightened.

"That works out perfectly. Elder Han Rui sent me to find you and bring you to them."

Kael raised his eyebrows slightly. "He did?"

"Yes, Senior. Elder Han Rui asked me to summon you as soon as I found you."

Kael glanced toward the direction of the administrative offices, then back at the disciple. A faint smile returned to his face.

"Then we were heading in the same direction."

The disciple nodded. "Please, Senior. I’ll lead the way."

Kael fell into step beside him, and the two continued toward the inner city together.

A few moments later, Kael walked out of the elders’ quarters.

His expression was no longer relaxed.

The conversation inside had left a trace of irritation on his face, his brows drawn slightly together as he walked away. The Blood Demon had been running through his mind ever since Elder Han Rui explained the situation. A demonic cultivator had been moving through Azure Cloud territory, killing cultivators, raiding settlements, and escaping every attempt to deal with him. Even worse, the cultivator was only at Late Qi Refining.

Kael’s eyes narrowed.

"How audacious."

The words left his mouth with a bitter edge, as though even saying them left a bad taste behind. He had spent years at the border, taking missions, fighting Crimson Purge cultivators, being ambushed, and watching people he knew lose their lives. He had risked his own life more than once just to advance, clawing his way upward through one mission after another.

Yet the Blood Demon had treated the entire territory as if it belonged to him. In only a few months, the man had reached heights that had taken Kael years of struggle to approach. What made it worse was how easily he seemed to have done it. The sect had placed a bounty on his head, only for the man to turn around and make use of the very cultivators sent after him. What was supposed to be a hunt had become a banquet for the Blood Demon. One group after another had gone after him, and he had simply slaughtered them, taking their blood and resources for himself. He had even used those encounters to push his cultivation from Early Qi Refining to Late Qi Refining.

Kael’s expression darkened.

It was as if the sect had not placed a bounty on the man, but had delivered everything he needed to cultivate.

He wanted to be the one who ended this.

The thought of facing the Blood Demon now brought a faint smile to Kael’s face. He was no longer a Peak Qi Refining cultivator preparing himself for a battle against someone at the same realm. He had stepped into Foundation Establishment, and the difference was something he could feel with every breath, every movement, every thought.

A Late Qi Refining cultivator was no longer someone he needed to approach with caution.

Kael’s smile deepened.

The Blood Demon might have survived one group after another and even used them to advance, but that was only because the people sent after him had been within his own realm. Kael had no intention of giving him that same chance. If their paths crossed, he would not be going there to test himself against the man.

He would be going there to put an end to him.

And somewhere beneath that certainty was another thought that pleased Kael even more. He wanted to see just how easily he could crush someone who had once seemed so troublesome to the sect.

Kael’s gaze hardened as the thought settled in his mind, along with it. Was a decision.

He would find the Blood Demon.

Even if it meant delaying his journey to Lunar Echo territory, he would search for him along the way. The envoy mission could wait if necessary. Kael had already made up his mind about what he would do.

But before that, there was something else he wanted to settle.

The Blood Demon could wait until he had obtained his flying sword and made the necessary preparations. After that, he would begin the search.

His next stop before his departure from the borderfront, he would make a brief stop at the sect’s Weapon Hall. He still had one thing he had been looking forward to for some time: exchanging his accumulated merit for the low-grade flying sword he had set his sights on.

The thought of controlling a flying sword with his newly awakened Divine Sense brought a flicker of excitement to his eyes. He had watched Foundation Establishment cultivators travel through the sky on their swords while he could only look on from below. Soon, he would be doing the same.

With that settled, he could begin his journey toward Lunar Echo Sect.

He had spent so long struggling toward Foundation Establishment. Now that he had finally stepped across that boundary, the opportunity to test what he had gained was already waiting for him.

And this time, he would not be the one struggling to survive.

Just the thought of what lay ahead brought a small grin to his face.

Morning light filtered through the trees, slipping between the leaves and spreading pale gold across the forest floor. A thin layer of dew still clung to the grass, catching the sunlight whenever the branches shifted in the gentle breeze. The wilderness was quiet, with only the occasional rustle of leaves breaking the stillness.

Nearly two weeks had passed since the battle at Wailing Mountain.

In a small clearing beneath the trees, Ethan sat beside a low campfire, dressed in the dark cultivation robe he had been wearing for the past several days. A skinned wild animal, something resembling a small deer, was turning slowly over the flames in his hand. The skin had already been removed, leaving the meat exposed to the heat as fat dripped from it and struck the fire with a soft hiss.

Ethan turned the meat slightly, letting another side roast before tearing off a piece and tasting it. He chewed slowly, taking his time with it.

He no longer needed food to sustain himself.

That did not mean he had lost his taste for it.

There were some habits that remained even after his body had changed. He had spent years as a human eating whenever he was hungry, and the simple pleasure of a properly roasted meal had not disappeared just because his body no longer depended on it. If anything, eating had become something he could enjoy whenever he felt like it, without having to worry about hunger or whether the food provided enough nourishment.

A gentle breeze passed through the clearing, brushing against Ethan’s face. Almost instinctively, his hand moved toward his waist, reaching for the storage pouch that usually hung there.

His fingers stopped halfway.

For a brief moment, he simply looked down at his hand, as though remembering something that was no longer there. He let out a quiet sigh, then lowered his gaze to the two storage rings on his fingers.

One rested on his middle finger, its surface made to resemble ordinary copper with a dull gray stone set into the top. The other sat on his ring finger, darker and more worn, its surface carrying the faded appearance of old iron. Neither looked particularly valuable, which suited Ethan perfectly.

He turned his attention toward the darker ring as his consciousness entered the space within it, and a short blade appeared in his hand.

The movement was so natural that Ethan barely thought about it anymore. A storage pouch required more effort to retrieve something. A cultivator had to reach for it, open it, and search through what was stored inside. With a storage ring, the space was already connected to his consciousness. As long as he knew what he wanted, he only needed a thought.

Ethan used the blade to cut a larger piece from the roasted meat before returning it to the fire. The convenience alone made the storage ring worth having.

His gaze briefly fell toward the two rings again. They had been among the spoils of Wailing Mountain.

After the battle had ended and the surviving cultivators had fled, Ethan had realized that most of them were unlikely to return anytime soon. He had then gathered a considerable amount of blood from the battlefield, including what remained within the bodies of the two Mid Qi Refining cultivators he had killed. Rather than leave the area immediately, he had decided to make use of the opportunity while the mountain was still quiet.