Chapter 39: Devotees of the Crimson Emperor

Four people ran swiftly, climbing up the slope in the forest and from the top, they could see the movements in the surrounding woods.

Ren Mian glanced at Ji Xinghuo.

Seeing him nod to signal safety, she then said, “Everyone stop and recover your strength.”

“Phew…”

Chi Zhonglin dropped his heavy backpack to the ground, panting heavily and cursed, “Have those forest patrol tribes gone mad? They attacked us out of nowhere.”

“It’s not surprising. They might be followers of the Crimson Emperor,” said Ren Mian, her expression grave.

While speaking, she planted a small herb in the ground, which quickly grew into a cluster of vibrant green leaves. The leaves shone brightly, revitalizing and relieving fatigue, swiftly restoring the spent energy.

Ji Xinghuo was not new to this plant, known as “Millennium Green.”

Millennium Green not only restores vitality and alleviates fatigue but also heals minor injuries. It is a must-have plant sample for all plant wizards.

“Devotees of the Crimson Emperor…”

Chi Zhonglin felt the refreshing restoration of his strength, yet his face showed no ease, “Unlucky! The forest tribes I’ve met before were friendly. Now they too believe in the Crimson Emperor and have turned into heretics.”

Ji Xinghuo and Jiangnan Caiyi’s faces also looked grim.

The Crimson Emperor is a star god.

In the Star Realm, there exist supreme beings with immense power, known to different tribes as star gods, worshipped and revered by their followers.

The power of these star gods is mythically immense, omnipotent, and beyond imagination!

These star gods wield various magnitudes of power, some strong and others weak, but four of them are acknowledged as the strongest, most terrifying, and the oldest. Their followers are spread across the Star Realm, and their renown is known by everyone. Their faith even permeates the Milky Way, garnering billions of followers!

These four star gods are revered as the Masters of the Star Realm.

The Crimson Emperor is one of them.

The full revered name of the Crimson Emperor is “Luyan Crimson Emperor,” and he has many other divine names.

God of War, God of Wrath, Lord of Madness, Blood Drinker, Destroyer, King of Slaughter, and these are just some of the more famous ones. In many Star Realm tribes, there are hundreds of other names.

The power of the Crimson Emperor is at the forefront of the Masters.

He has an endless desire for battle and slaughter. Those who fight and kill in his name might win his favor.

Therefore, the followers of the Crimson Emperor are fearless and frenzied. They harbor unstoppable anger towards their enemies and the world, bringing them formidable destructive power.

Also, the Crimson Emperor values courage and honor, appreciating the weak resisting the strong and daring to challenge all authority.

There are also believers of star gods on Earth.

It began with extrahumans who worshipped the star gods in the Star Realm. Upon returning to Earth, they spread the faith secretly.

Belief in the star gods is harmful, eroding people’s spirits and wills like a plague, ultimately brewing great disasters.

Earth’s nations have branded these believers as “heretics” and strive to eradicate them.

However, the allure of the star god faith is too strong, particularly the heresy of the Masters, which sprouts like weeds, periodically causing major incidents.

In the Star Realm, worshipping star gods or Masters is quite common, and many different tribes don’t hide their allegiance.

The followers of the four Masters are especially troublesome to deal with, and once involved, it’s extremely difficult to disentangle.

Devotees of the Crimson Emperor are especially ferocious.

Without thinking, it’s clear that the forest tribe will come after discovering the three tribesmen dead. The forest tribe has a keen sense of smell. The most skilled among them can even detect targets kilometers away through their scent, making them hard to shake in the dense woods.

“Xiao Chi, bring out the deodorizer,” instructed Ren Mian.

Chi Zhonglin rummaged through his backpack and quickly found a spray can, spraying everyone from head to toe.

Earlier, Ren Mian had placed a “Sweat Absorbing Orchid Leaf” on everyone’s hands, which absorbed body odors. Used together with the deodorizer, it completely eliminated their scents.

“Let’s rest for five more minutes, then we need to quickly distance ourselves from the forest tribe’s territory to avoid being caught.”

Ren Mian looked at her mechanical watch.

Ji Xinghuo nodded slightly, his vision activating the All-Seeing Star Pupil interface.

When he had shot the members of the forest tribe, he realized he had absorbed mental essence energy—now he saw it was 23 points!

“That’s a lot!”

Ji Xinghuo was a bit shocked.

Of those three from the forest tribe, the strongest male had evolved three times, equivalent to Earth’s advanced extrahumans. His strength was substantial, yet his magnetic field strength comparable to an Elite Shadow Roaming Spider. Initially thought to be worth four mental essence energy points, yet he yielded 15 points, nearly four times as much.

The other two female members of the forest tribe, having evolved twice, each contributed four mental essence energy points.

“Is it because the forest tribe’s intelligence rivals that of monsters?”

Ji Xinghuo wondered internally but felt that wasn’t quite right.

In terms of intelligence, female and male members of the forest tribe likely didn’t differ significantly. The disparity in their strength and the discrepancy in acquired mental essence energy also didn’t correspond proportionally.

“Could it be because of their faith?”

Ji Xinghuo couldn’t be sure but suddenly remembered the first person he killed, Ji Zongbang, that super extrahuman seemed odd as well.

Ji Zongbang had provided 137 points of mental essence energy, and now that seemed excessively high!

The amount of mental essence energy seems somewhat linked to strength but isn’t the main determining factor.

“Could Ji Zongbang have been a heretic, and a relatively senior one at that?” Ji Xinghuo speculated. Heretics are hard to identify on the surface unless they reveal themselves.

As soon as the five minutes were up, Ren Mian stood up.

“Let’s keep moving.”

Everyone had only partially recovered their strength, but there was no more time to delay.

Ji Xinghuo constantly activated magnetic field sensing, investing all 23 points of mental essence energy into the rotating magnetic field. The progress reached 140/359, quickly expanding his sensing range a bit further. While on the move, his body also silently strengthened slightly.

Over an hour later, the group crossed two mountains.

Turning past a mountain ridge, Ji Xinghuo suddenly found the view opened up before him—distant continuous mountains stretched far and wide.

The vast and magnificent scenery relaxed everyone a bit.

“That’s the direction we came from,” Ren Mian said, standing on a high spot and pointing back the way they had come. Ji Xinghuo jumped next to her, peering into the distance where mountains and forests filled his view. His All-Seeing Star Pupil scanned everything moving.

His gaze paused for a moment when he spotted something at the foot of a mountain.

“The forest tribe’s village!”

Ji Xinghuo pointed in that direction, comparing the terrain, and said, “Had we walked another two to three kilometers forward, we would have entered their village.”

“You can see that far?”

Chi Zhonglin couldn’t believe it, shielding his eyes with his hand and squinting. He only saw a swath of green trees, completely unaware of the village’s location, muttering, “It must be at least fifteen kilometers away…”

Ren Mian also looked astonished; she could only vaguely make out some outlines.

If Ji Xinghuo hadn’t mentioned that it was the forest tribe’s village, she wouldn’t have been able to recognize it either.

Realizing their reactions, Ji Xinghuo then understood he might have revealed too much. The weather was clear today, there were no visual obstructions, and the observation point was high, allowing the All-Seeing Star Pupil not only to see the village but also to faintly see members of the forest tribe moving around.

Ren Mian didn’t ask further. She drew a line on the map and said, “We need to circle around this tribe’s territory.”

“We need to move soon,” Ji Xinghuo suddenly said.

He had spotted a group of the forest tribe, about a dozen, sprinting through the forest and climbing up towards their position on the ridge.

They were only six or seven kilometers away now.

The forest tribe lived by hunting, and even without scent, they could rely on their rich experience to track prey, albeit at a slower pace.

All three teammates changed expression and turned to run.

This chase went on for three days in the Star Realm, equivalent to more than six days on Earth.

From daylight to starry night and into darkness, they traveled day and night, resting no more than ten minutes at a time, barely having time to eat, let alone sleep. Only occasionally could they snatch a few minutes of sleep.

Although Ren Mian had various plants for quick recovery of physical and mental strength, under such intense pursuit, everyone’s condition deteriorated significantly.

Their physical stamina, star energy, and will were nearly depleted, inevitably slowing their advance.

“Rest for ten minutes.”

No sooner had Ren Mian spoken than Chi Zhonglin collapsed to the ground, his face weary and eyes bloodshot, looking much thinner.

Apart from looking somewhat pale, Jiangnan Caiyi seemed in better condition though that was just superficial; she was actually very weak.

Ji Xinghuo was also nearing his limit.

He had to constantly maintain the rotating magnetic field, feeling extremely tired, with mild stabbing pains in his head.

Only Ren Mian appeared unchanged, still radiant.

“Those forest tribe hunters must also be nearly at their limit,” Ren Mian said, looking towards the distant forest and then at Ji Xinghuo.

These persistent forest hunters were difficult to deal with. If not for Ji Xinghuo, who always warned them in advance when the enemy was near and then took detours to avoid them, their team would have been caught long ago.

After three days of pursuit, both groups had moved over four hundred kilometers away from the forest tribe’s territory.

Less than ten of the pursuing forest tribe members were still on their trail.

Ji Xinghuo looked up at the sky and suddenly said, “It might rain tonight.”

Chi Zhonglin was overjoyed, only then noticing the changing weather, “If it rains, we’ll finally be able to shake off those annoying devotees of the Crimson Emperor.”

Rain could wash away scents and cover their tracks.

They had been hoping for rain, and it was finally about to come.

But Ren Mian shook her head, “Even if it doesn’t rain, they can’t catch up now. But if it does, let’s use this opportunity to make them pay for these last few days of pursuit.”

“Are we going to counterattack?”

Chi Zhonglin hesitated, fearing there might be high-ranking strong ones hidden among the enemies.

“If there were legendary-level forest tribe hunters, they would have acted long ago,” Ren Mian was very sure. “We will observe secretly at first. If there are no legends, we make our move. What do you think?”

Jiangnan Caiyi was the first to express support, “I’ll follow Sister’s decision.”

“Good!”

Chi Zhonglin fiercely said, “They’ve chased us for so long, we must release this pent-up anger. Otherwise, I won’t be able to sleep even when I return to Earth.”

“What do you think, Starfire?” Ren Mian asked.

Ji Xinghuo slowly stood up, his eyes gleaming sharply, and replied, “Whatever Sister Ren decides, I’ll follow.”