Mo Wen had concealed himself in the hole in the tree to nurse his injuries, but he had been discovered. Mo Wen thought that this was odd. Was the person called White Dust coming after him to kill him?
It did not seem like it. The man called White Dust was just one person, but there were many people outside. It seemed like there were more than a hundred of them.
“Shoot!”
Mo Wen suddenly emerged from the hole, and a cold voice immediately rang through the air. Arrows began to whistle through the air. There were so many of them that it was like a swarm of locusts had descended.
The arrows seemed not to be affected by air resistance. They were extremely fast, like bolts of lightning, and they appeared before Mo Wen in the blink of an eye.
“Broken Qi Bow.”
Mo Wen’s gaze narrowed as he looked at the bows. Those arrows were being shot using the Broken Qi Bow and there were many of them: there were more than 100. Compared to what he had seen in the Tiger Head Triad, this was a startling sight.
It was already late at night. There was a round moon in the sky, and the stars glittered above. Mo Wen could not understand why he could see the moon and the stars from here.
The Broken Qi arrows turned into shadows, and their murderous intent spread through the air. Everything had happened in an instant. There had only been a moment from Mo Wen’s appearance to the arrow attack beginning. Ordinary competitors in this situation would have been killed instantly. They would not even have time to escape using the jade pendant.
A ray of golden light suddenly enveloped Mo Wen. A clinking sound could be heard.
There was a chain of sounds that sounded like metal clanking against each other. Mo Wen had turned into a Golden Body Luohan. The arrows were rebounded the moment they hit him.
The people controlling the Broken Qi Bow were all warriors in the Golden Elixir Realm. It was impossible for them to break through Mo Wen’s golden body.
Of course, there were also a few arrows shot by some warriors in the first martial arts grandmaster realm. However, there were very few of them, and they were no threat to Mo Wen.
“Golden Body.”
A soft sound came from an old woman. She was very old, and her hair was white. Her skin was like tree bark. She held a wooden cane in her hand as she stood under a tree. She wore odd clothing, and, under the moonlight, she resembled a witch.
There were several warriors standing around the old woman. They were all holding Broken Qi bows and surrounded Mo Wen. These warriors were all dressed shabbily, and only a few were dressed neatly. Many of them did not even have clothes that covered them and some just had beast leather draped over their bodies.
It was obvious that these people were all criminals detained in this place.
“He is so young and already has such a powerful golden body as a defense. He is not simple.”
The old woman looked at Mo Wen with a pair of murky eyes. She did not startle Mo Wen when she discovered him. Instead, she decided to hide to ambush him, preparing to kill him with one strike.
However, he had still discovered her in the end.
The first Broken Qi Arrow did not kill the young man. That meant that the hunt had essentially failed. The competitors all had jade pendants to protect themselves. In such a dire situation, they would not insist on stubbornly resisting and would choose to break the jade pendant instantly to get out of the battleground.
As such, it was very difficult for criminals to hunt and kill the competitors. There was usually just one chance. If they failed at the first strike, they would not get a second chance.
Generally speaking, it was very difficult for a criminal to gather five jade pendants. There were rarely any criminals who could accomplish this.
“I am very curious. How did you all find me?” Mo Wen thought that it was odd. He had concealed himself well, and his senses were keen. He was able to sense anyone who got close to him unless the person’s cultivation was close to becoming an immortal.
“This is our territory. Do you think that you competitors can hide from us when you all march in here?”
The old woman laughed. They had set up camp here for many years. Could these foreigners understand?
“What is it? Aren’t you going to escape?”
The old woman looked at Mo Wen oddly. She was the leader of this group of people. No one dared to move without an order from her.
“Thank you for reminding me. I really should escape.”
Mo Wen blinked endearingly and then suddenly looked as if he had received a great revelation. There was a flicker, and he flew straight into one of the criminals who was blocking him. Then, he began to flee.
The criminal syndicate was very powerful. The old woman’s cultivation levels were so high that Mo Wen could not even tell what level she was at. She was at least a third realm martial arts grandmaster. There were also three powerhouses in the second martial arts grandmaster realm and more than ten first realm martial arts grandmasters.
Faced with such opponents, Mo Wen had only one option: he would have to escape.
“How dare you!”
The old woman was so angry that she laughed when she saw Mo Wen knocking people out of the way to escape. What she had meant earlier was that Mo Wen should break the jade pendant and leave the heart of the Red Stone.
But the lad had still not given up and was not going to leave the heart of the Red Stone. He wanted to escape from them. Did he think that they were there just for decoration?
“This is good! Against someone like you who will not give up, I might still have a chance.”
The old woman’s lips curled up in a cold smile. She suddenly jumped up and stepped on a tree branch. With a leap, she traveled more than ten feet and chased after Mo Wen quickly.
The old woman was evidently skilled in body motion, and she was also a third realm martial arts grandmaster. She was very quick and in just a few blinks of an eye, she managed to travel a large distance.
“This is another difficult one.”
Mo Wen sighed to himself. The old woman was not an easy opponent. Her body motion was probably even better than White Dust’s. Even though she did not know the rite of passage body motions, her skills were also very impressive and were at the peak of her realm.
A flash of lightning rose from Mo Wen. Then, the winds howled and the sounds of wind and lightning tore through the night sky. Mo Wen’s figure immediately turned into a ray of light and he hurtled into the distance at a terrifying speed.
“Good one, lad. A rite of passage body motion! I have cultivated for many years and never had the chance to come into contact with the rite of passage martial arts. You are really blessed.”
The old woman did have good judgment for she could see at one glance that the skill Mo Wen used was a rite of passage martial art.
“It seems like I will not be able to catch up if I do not do my best.”
As she thought, a sharp whistle came from the old woman’s mouth. Then, a long howl rang from the skies as if it was responding to the whistle.
Roar!
An enormous figure whooshed towards them. It was the figure of a huge, peculiar bird. Its enormous body blocked the moonlight and cast a large shadow over the forest.
The old woman jumped up and landed on the peculiar bird. The bird howled and flew forward with the old woman riding it at an impressive speed. The speed was startling.
“What!”
Mo Wen looked at the bird chasing after him. He was a little shocked. The criminals here were able to work together with the beasts of the heart of the Red Stone. That was incredible.
The beast could fly and was shockingly fast. In the face of the pursuit by such a fierce beast, Mo Wen felt a sense of hopelessness rise in his chest.
No matter how amazing the rite of passage body motion was, he would not be able to move faster than such a beast when he could not fly.
Mo Wen felt a sense of desperation for the first time since entering the Red Stone forest…
One of them gave chase while the other ran and the two traveled several hundred miles in just ten minutes. The distance between the two grew closer as well. There were a few times when the woman almost caught up with Mo Wen.
“Continue fleeing if you can.”
The old woman stood on the beast with a cold smile on her face. However, deep down inside, she was shocked. She had not managed to catch up with this youth even after 5 minutes. The beast below her feet was one of the fastest creatures in this world and was at the initial stages of a beast king in its cultivation. It was similar to a human first realm martial arts grandmaster in terms of its ability.
“Old woman, is it really suitable for such an elderly person to chase after me, a young man?”
Mo Wen stopped, somewhat helplessly. He stood atop a tree. He might as well not escape. It was pointless for him to continue so.
“Young man, you are not ordinary. With your capabilities, you might be able to enter the top ten of the Heavens List. How about we make a deal?”
The old woman stopped not far away from Mo Wen. However, she was in no hurry to strike. Instead, she spoke with Mo Wen.
“What deal?” Mo Wen smiled. Actually, he knew what she wanted even without asking.
“My goal is still the jade pendant. You are worthless to me. Give me the jade pendant, and I promise that I will not make things difficult for you again. How about that? Consider this carefully. Given your capabilities, you can find a way to get another one even if you don’t have one right now. You can still make it into the top ten on the Heavens List. However, if you were to continue resisting me stubbornly, I will force you out of the competition even if you do not die in my hands. I won’t be able to get the jade pendant then, and you will not be able to make it onto the top ten of the Heavens List. It does not benefit any of us.”
The old woman tried to persuade Mo Wen. She could already tell from the chase that it would be almost impossible for her to kill Mo Wen and take the jade pendant. The young man had really good stamina.
“Old fogey, taking things that belong to others is wrong. Didn’t your primary school teacher teach you that?”
Mo Wen rolled his eyes. The old woman wanted to take what belonged to others without working for it. Was there anything so easy in life?
“So you are not going to cooperate then?” The old woman’s eyes darkened and an enormous aura burst forth from her.
“That beast of yours is really annoying. I shall kill it and see what you are going to use to chase after me.”
There was a glint of gold light in Mo Wen’s eyes. Then, a strange ripple spread out with him as the center. The ripple spread in all directions across a thousand-meter radius.
The beast the old woman stood on that had been chasing after Mo Wen was dazed. Then, it was as if it had lost its soul as it fell from the sky and plummeted to the ground.
Mo Wen’s figure appeared below the beast, waiting for it to fall.
“Soul attack!”
The old woman’s gaze wavered, but she quickly gathered her wits. She suddenly looked at Mo Wen. The soul attack earlier was mostly against the beast. However, she was affected as well. But because of her high cultivation levels, and because she did not bear the brunt of the attack, she regained her wits in mere moments.
However, even though it was for just a mere moment, the beast had already become like a rock and fell several dozen meters through the sky.
A piercing gold light shone in the dark night. Coils of lightning wound around Mo Wen and the aura was stifling. A terrifying fist appeared and struck the beast on its head.
“You’re seeking death.”
The old woman’s eyes widened as she yelled at Mo Wen angrily. She leaped downwards, preparing to save the beast.
Yet…
It was obvious that Mo Wen would not give her the opportunity. It was all too late.
Crash!
Mo Wen’s fist crashed onto the beast’s head, and it fainted. He killed the beast, which had no means of defending itself, instantly. Its head exploded like a watermelon.
