From his concealment, Elder Wang's eyes gleamed.
'Perfect. Shi Jing is being forced to reveal more of his capabilities.'
Shi Jing continued his apparent retreat, occasionally glancing over his shoulder with what looked like genuine concern.
"Burning your life force for a temporary power boost... how wasteful."
"Wasteful?" Fang Yu's speed increased dramatically as the forbidden technique reached its peak. "I'll show you wasteful when I paint these trees with your blood!"
The chase led them deeper into the forest, Elder Wang following at a safe distance. To his trained eye, it seemed like Shi Jing was genuinely struggling to maintain his lead.
But if Elder Wang could have seen Shi Jing's face during the retreat, he would have noticed the subtle smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
'Three more minutes,' Shi Jing calculated internally. 'At his current burn rate, Fang Yu will collapse from qi exhaustion in exactly three minutes. And we're almost at the perfect location...'
