"Whatever, what happened has already happened. Right now, I need to focus on the battle in front of me, everything else is unnecessary right now."
As he thought of this, he kept on running. After killing the rank 6 cultivator, he didn't stop to fight. Using everything he had, he wanted to get as far away from the Mantora Mountain as possible. The reason was simple,
Right now, they are too shocked to think of anything else. This is my chance to run away. As for them, they wouldn't even be able to think of asking for reinforcements except for following me in this situation. If I stay close to the mountain, they can always call for reinforcements without giving me the time to run away.
As such, he kept on running.
"Everyone, follow him and don't let him get away!" The rank 7 cultivator shouted.
We were too shocked to react to the situation and gave him the chance to run. We can't let him get away. He killed our two brethren right in front of us and we couldn't even do anything. Damn it! How did he get so strong in just a week? What exactly happened?!: The rank 7 cultivator thought.
Yang Zhai was running with all his might, but in random directions.
Even though he was changing directions randomly, there was a pattern to it. He did this to avoid any attack that might come from behind.
He kept running, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Mantora Mountain. The cultivators chasing him stayed back but kept attacking relentlessly.
Right now, I have the strength of over 6,596 bulls, including what I had before activating the orange lines. A rank 5 cultivator gains strength equal to 27 bulls when advancing to rank 6 and 243 bulls at rank 6 False Immortal. Since the original method is forgotten, I'm certain all these cultivators advanced to rank 6 False Immortal, not to mention their catching speed can only mean they are False Immortals.
But what truly matters is this:
A rank 5 cultivator's body is toughened to hold 189 bulls of power. Adding previous stages, its strength totals 280 bulls' strength, leaving the strength gained through training aside.
A rank 6 False Immortal's body naturally toughens to hold 1,701 more bulls, totaling 1,792 bulls.
A rank 7 False Immortal's body gets toughened to hold 5,103 more bulls' strength, totaling 6,895 bulls, while the strength they gain after advancing to rank 7 equals 729 bulls.
With over 6,500 bulls' strength, I could crush a newly advanced rank 7 cultivator. But the three behind me? Even if he's not a body cultivator, their ranged attacks might match a body cultivator with 7,000+ bulls' power.
What's more is that I have no cultivation methods on my side—just raw strength—and I'm facing eight rank 6 cultivators and three rank 7.
I am impressed by Mu Kang's caution. Sending three rank 7 against a rank 5? Even a single rank 6 False Immortal could easily handle a rank 5.
I truly hoped they'd underestimate me completely and would send only one rank 6. Who could've guessed he'd send rank 7 too?
All of these were Yang Zhai's thoughts. It didn't even take him a few seconds to think of all this.
In the beginning, he was hoping to win the competition and then inherit the unique torus. After that, everything would have been easy, but unfortunately, the moment he reached the Mantora Mountain, the competition was over. He had to change his plans.
"I am finally here, let's begin."
Yang Zhai stopped suddenly and turned to face the cultivators chasing him.
The forest around them was thick and dark, with barely any moonlight reaching the ground. Massive trees stood everywhere, their trunks 5 to 10 meters wide. The leaves were bright red, pure white, or deep green, each tree colored distinctly—some red, some white, some green.
Yang Zhai lowered his hands, letting the energy hiding him fade. He had stopped using the green lines, deactivating the Veil Stalker's ability.
From among the cultivators chasing, a woman in scaly armor sneered. "Done running?"
Yang Zhai smirked. "Running?" He placed a hand on a hill beside him, which was as tall as a three-storey building. "You light to a blind fight."
Yang Zhai activated the green lines again. His aura and presence vanished entirely. Unless someone laid eyes on him directly, no one would sense he stood there at all.
After that, he moved his hand back and closed his palm into a fist.
"What is he doing?" The woman muttered, confused by Yang Zhai's actions.
"He first stopped his presence-hiding method and then activated it again. And why did he suddenly stop here? I thought he would keep on running." Another rank 6 cultivator replied.
Yang Zhai punched the hill fiercely, making it shake violently.
After that, he hurriedly stepped back and moved as far away from the hill as possible.
"Where do you think you are running off to?" The cultivators hurriedly followed Yang Zhai.
"Tzu Yu, even though we don't know how you suddenly became so strong, I could sense that you were only rank 5 when you deactivated that presence-hiding method of yours. Even though I don't know what method, I am sure you must be using some kind of cultivation method to temporarily boost your strength, but there must be a price to it."
Yang Zhai stood in front of them, facing them, a total distance of a mile between them. Three rank 7 stood at the front, with eight rank 6 behind them.
"You eight, spread out into the forest and help us from the shadows. Even though I don't know how he suddenly got so strong, one thing is for sure, you eight are no match for him. The three of us will face him head-on while you back us up." A rank 7 cultivator ordered.
As he said this, all the rank 6 cultivators disappeared into the forest.
He could see as far as 4.08 miles clearly even in this dark forest.
"Tzu Yu, you are done for. You brought this on yourself. In this dark forest, we have the advantage." A rank 7 cultivator said while snickering.
"Even if you have gotten stronger, do you think you can compete against three rank 7 cultivators, and eight rank 6 cultivators?" Another rank 7 cultivator.
Yang Zhai stood silently, looking at them. His expression was extremely calm.
"Do you think I would just go ahead and be pretentious just because I obtained a bit of strength?" he said.
"Anyway, now that it has come to this, be prepared. We are taking you back, even if as a corpse." The third rank 7 cultivator said this and moved his index and middle finger together.
Vines started to rise from the ground and move into the air like snakes before moving towards Yang Zhai at a fast speed.
Yang Zhai stood silently and was ready to dodge, however, he gave a slight smile.
"Why is he smili…" the rank 7 cultivator was confused and was saying something before he came to a stop.
His expression was one of confusion as he looked down, and it changed to fear and disbelief. He was missing his lower body below his abdomen and was bleeding severely before his upper half fell to the ground.
"Wha, what's that…" the rank 7 cultivator close to him said this with extreme fear as he looked at huge eyes glowing in the dark behind the man whose half body was missing.
!|!*****!*****!|!