Chapter 373: So Close yet So Far
Translator: chuchutrain Editor: DavidT, Rock
Under the heap of soil, Ling Tian’s mouth was placed on the other end of the reed pipe, and he gently shut his eyes, sinking into deep rest. He had almost dried up his body, with his internal energy trickling in drops, and his inner core akin to a dried piece of sponge, as clean as a newborn baby. It was only after a while that his inner core began to heat up, with thin streams of energy slowly coalescing there and leisurely flowing out to his meridians. The energy began to heal Ling Tian’s damaged meridians from the constant overdrive he was in, and slowly, the rivulets turned into a small stream in his dantian.
The meridians in his body jumped slightly, and the acupoints on his feet also warmed up and responded, as they began to take in the surrounding energy into his body to merge with his internal energy. It was akin to meeting a long lost friend, as both energies merged together and began to spread through his entire body.
The mortal shell connects to the heaven and earth, taking one’s body as the Universe!
Under the relentless pursuit of Justice, it finally spurred Ling Tian to successfully stimulate his potential! Right now, Ling Tian’s thoughts and spirit seemed to have reached a miraculous state of being one with the heavens themselves! This was akin to the Buddha himself achieving enlightenment on the spot, an opportunity that arose by accident because of his insistence in pushing forward!
While he was still underground, Ling Tian felt the changes in his own thoughts and senses. Upon revolving his internal energy, any and all movements within a few hundred feet were captured in his eyes, without a single detail being missed. The cry of birds and crickets seemed to sound directly beside him, and the meridians in his body all began to jump energetically as energy ceaselessly flooded his body. Like rivers flowing to the sea, all the energy poured into his dry dantian bit by bit. The irrigating XianTian energy in his body met with the energy from heaven and earth that he absorbed through his feet and split up, one moving down and the other going up towards the rest of his body. This formed a perfect cycle, that continued to revolve unceasingly…
While his mouth was still clasped around the reed pipe, Ling Tian had long lost the need to continue taking in the foul HouTian air, but rather had reached the XianTian stage of being back in his fetal state, where he only required energy. His entire mind was partly unconscious, and right now, he had completely and utterly merged with the heavens and earth, without any difference between them.
Time slowly slipped by…
Justice’s figure appeared just like a passing cloud, floating by the patch of grass and forest.
Along this journey of pursuit, Justice had felt something strange in the last few days. He had long grasped all of Ling Tian’s abilities, as well as his speed, but it seemed like that brat had not even stopped once the entire way!
As the saying went, ‘A man’s strength is finite, for he is not god after all’. Once a man had drained his energy, he would fall unconscious due to the lack of strength. This was especially so for a martial artist, for if he were to exhaust all the energy in his body he would enter a dangerous situation, as even a kid would be able to beat him up! This was similar to a billionaire who did not bring along any spare cash, and was unable to purchase anything on the streets!
Furthermore, since martial artists put more emphasis on burst strength, the moment they drained all their energy, this would mean that all the muscles in their body would not have even the slightest bit of energy left to move!
Ordinary people would meet a scenario known as ‘energy depletion’, but a martial artist’s scenario was known as ‘devoid of energy’! Both could not be explained in the same breadth, as an ordinary person’s energy depletion could be recovered in two or three days, but once the martial artist became devoid of energy, if not handled properly, he might end up crippled forever!
If Ling Tian was really risking this sort of exertion to push himself along the way, then that was a definite death trap! But if he didn’t use such a tactic, then how he could escape from Justice’s grasp so many times?
Justice’s eagle sharp eyesight scanned his surroundings once, and immediately could tell that Ling Tian had passed by here, and even stopped for a long time!
The problem was, why did he stop here, and what was his motive? More importantly, where was he now?
Justice’s figure flashed through the forest, speeding through at an insane speed that would leave a person who saw it dazed, before slowly returning and standing at his original spot! Standing on top of a piece of rock, he started to frown.
If Ling Tian was at the side staring at him, he would have opened his mouth in shock! Justice’s speed, direction, as well as route were exactly the same as what Ling Tian had taken into the forest before, without any deviation! It was as though he was repeating history by walking the same route again! As for the final position he stopped, it was exactly where Ling Tian had buried himself, with the rock above!
To think that such a miraculous pursuit technique actually existed in this world! No wonder Justice had scoffed at Ling Tian’s bet to last for half a year! He was actually keeping such a skill as his trump card!
However, Justice right now was at a loss! Ling Tian’s traces at come to a halt at this point, and Justice was thinking about whether Ling Tian had stopped here for a moment before choosing another place to escape.
However, pausing to utilize his senses, Justice found out that this was not the case! Justice could feel that Ling Tian had paced around this area for a few times, which resulted in a slightly stronger aura of his permeating this spot, but had somehow started to dissipate in all directions later on! This left Justice unbelievably puzzled.
Ling Tian had mysteriously vanished! Could it be that Ling Tian actually had an epiphany and comprehended the great martial path, allowing him to shatter the void and travel through space? Or else, why would such a situation occur? Even if he were to burrow into the ground or fly into the heavens, there would be some indication!
Along this pursuit, while Ling Tian appeared to have suffered a lot, the same went without saying for Justice! Being the pursued, Ling Tian had the advantage of pioneering the route, which would allow him to create feints and diversions, and give him the chance to slip from Justice’s grasp. However, Justice had to recognize and overcome all the ambushes in order to get a clue as to where Ling Tian was headed! These few days, Justice felt as though Ling Tian had transformed into some sort of headless fly, leading him on wild goose chase round and round like a merry-go-round. They had circled the forests close to the Celestial Gathering City for a good five or six times before running into this particular forest!
Based on Justice’s predictions, Ling Tian should be close to exhaustion, and should not have any resistance left. However, how did such an unreasonable scene happen?!
While the truth was not far away from Justice’s predictions, that Ling Tian was already bereft of strength, the prerequisite was for him to first be found!
Justice’s body swayed as he cast his gaze out over a hundred feet. This time, he strained his movement technique to the pinnacle and collapsed into a green haze as he breezed past the entire forest, scrutinizing every single tree and leaf as he did so. He then leaped up onto the canopy, and a purple aura surfaced around him as he began to activate his secret law, Heavenly Vision, Boundless Hearing!
In that instant, with a circumference of over a hundred feet, each and every movement was magnified and transferred into his ears!
Justice closed his eyes, and his senses extended to his maximum, making every single tree, every stalk of grass a part of his eyes and senses!
Ling Tian was in for another shock!
Just based on his previous hiding method, he would definitely be completely exposed in front of Justice under this supreme skill! If not for the fact that he had an enlightenment and had managed to enter the state of merging with the heavens as one, he would have long ago fallen into Justice’s hands! Right now, Ling Tian had no way to retaliate!
The god of luck seemed to be following Ling Tian everywhere he went!
If Ling Tian had done more research and found out the nickname of Justice, even with his arrogance and confidence, he would never have set this bet with Justice! The nickname of ‘Heaven’s Way is fair, none shall escape the web of Justice’ was not given for nothing! This supreme skill was one that even his bosom buddy Ye QingChen was unaware of!
So long as Justice locked onto a target, no one would be able to escape his clutches, everyone would be sentenced to justice in the end!
However, at this instant, the first anomaly appeared!
The Heavenly Vision, Boundless Hearing that had never failed him before was ineffective this time! For this matter, even if he were to mention it to his predecessors, probably none of them would believe him!
After a long while, with a ‘kacha’ sound, the clear sound of a branch snapping could be heard as Justice swooped down like a bird and landed on a rock.
His face was pale, and breathing ragged as an unnatural flush could be seen on his face. This supreme skill, while omnipotent, was not something that could be used willfully! Justice was still mortal after all, and even he would feel fatigue!
If it wasn’t for the fact that he was sure Ling Tian had already fully exhausted his strength, he would not have activated such a skill if he knew he had to engage in a fight later on!
Justice could only sit down glumly and frown as he slowly pondered.
Never in his dreams would he dare to imagine that the target he was painfully searching for, Ling Tian, was actually comfortably nestled beneath the rock he was sitting on! If Justice were to find out, he would not even need to use much strength to finish him off. Simply applying some pressure on his butt would make this place Ling Tian’s permanent resting grounds, never to show his face in this world ever again!
