Chapter 94: Instant Clash

A North Luo Master Clan patrol team was moving along a road.

Both the Gekko People and the Da Guan had wary expressions. The Gorlak in the sky strained to hear every whisper of wind, scanning every corner.

Suddenly, the Da Guan team captain in the middle of the group looked up and fell backward, an arrow piercing his eye.

The attack came without any warning.

“Over there!”

Because it was daytime, the Gorlak spotted where the arrow had come from right away and screamed. A human figure stood on a large rock ahead, briefly flickering before becoming transparent, but it was enough to pinpoint the location.

“Signal now.”

Another Da Guan quickly raised his bow and shot a whistling arrow into the sky.

Gorlaks also dove toward their fallen captain, trying to pick up the resonance crystal to report the situation to the watchtower.

Snap!

The figure in front flickered again, and this time, they each saw it was indeed a human, firing arrows continuously with a very fast rate.

Almost as soon as they spotted the figure, his arrows arrived.

But the arrows didn’t hit anyone; instead, they flew overhead, striking the newly-launched whistling arrow, immediately cutting off its sound.

The Da Guan were stunned.

He was an archer too, skilled with the bow. He had never imagined someone could hit a moving arrow, especially from such a distance!

Before he could recover, another arrow struck; it went right through his mouth.

Soon after, the Gorlak who had just grabbed the resonance crystal was also shot dead, an arrow not only piercing his body but also shattering the crystal.

The remaining Gorlaks panicked, madly flying up only to fall down one by one as corpses.

“Charge!”

The Gekko shouted, raising their shields and leading the rest in a frantic rush.

The sole vine spirit among them quickly expanded, its vines and branches forming a wall to protect the remaining Da Guan’s Gorlaks.

The Gekko had already charged out.

They were fast, shields in front, their eyes locked on the enemy atop the giant rock.

Whiz! Whiz! Whiz…

Arrows kept flying, striking one Gekko after another as they charged.

The Gekko realized their shields were useless. A well-timed arrow would always find the gaps in their armor, piercing through easily, incapacitating them even if it did not hit vital spots.

Half of their number had fallen within just a hundred meters of their charge.

Under these circumstances, no one could get close to the enemy. There was also no sufficient cover on this route, putting them in a difficult position.

As they hesitated whether to form up and retreat, an explosion suddenly came from behind.

Followed by a series of screams.

Turning back, they saw the vine spirit’s branches burning, the Da Guan and Gorlaks hidden behind the branch wall shot into pincushions by unseen arrows.

In an instant, the patrol was decimated, leaving only a few Gekko, who couldn’t even send out a signal.

“Keep charging!”

A Gekko shouted, “We must reach him; this is our only chance…”

He didn’t finish his cry as an arrow pierced his head.

The Gekko’s resolve wasn’t shaken; their blood was cold, their hearts also cold, unfamiliar with fear, they continued their charge. Predictably, the Gekko fell one by one, the furthest making it only a hundred meters from the enemy.

Ji Xinghuo hopped off the boulder, quickly approaching and shot several arrows to finish the few struggling Gekko.

Within two minutes, he collected the spoils and hybrids, then hurried off with Qinghong, who was hiding by the roadside.

As they moved away, he opened the interface.

[Mental Source Energy: 28]

Ji Xinghuo put all the newly acquired mental source energy into the spinning magnetic field. This was his second patrol team hunted today.

The progress of the spinning magnetic field increased to (Tier 2 255/1699).

“Almost there.”

He felt the magnetic field’s sensing distance had extended a bit further, feeling very pleased.

Hunting during the day was indeed more challenging than at night, but as he had guessed, the North Luo Master Clan couldn’t have that many legendary warriors to set traps and ambush him.

If he just kept his distance a bit further and chose his hunting targets more cautiously, it shouldn’t be a problem.

Unless the North Luo Master Clan stopped patrolling.

But that was almost impossible. Without patrols, human bounty hunters would be even more unrestrained, causing more casualties.

Without the patrols, North Luo Master Clan’s forces would have to retreat into fortresses, forts, and watchtowers, forced into a defensive stance, which was unacceptable politically, militarily, or publicly for the upper echelons and citizens of the North Luo Master Clan.

This was a defensive system that had developed over centuries; it wouldn’t be easily changed just because of one bounty hunter.

The primary response of the North Luo Master Clan was to eliminate him.

“I will never hunt in the same place twice.”

“Each strike must be at least twenty kilometers apart, and also without any pattern.”

“Never hesitate if something feels wrong; must retreat immediately.”

Ji Xinghuo had set several principles for himself while also summarizing some experiences.

He was now three or four kilometers away from where he had wiped out the patrol. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, his magnetic field sense detected something unusual.

“Someone’s catching up!”

“Very fast!”

Ji Xinghuo’s heart tightened as he focused on sensing. About 800 meters behind, a high-speed moving magnetic field indicated it was a Da Guan, though not one of legendary strength.

“Good that it’s not a legend.”

He felt slightly relieved but puzzled, “How did this Da Guan find me?”

He had initially suspected the Da Guan was just passing by, but within two or three seconds, Ji Xinghuo was sure the Da Guan was coming for him, approaching rapidly at less than seven hundred meters now.

“Shadow Step?”

The North Luo Master Clan had a similar professional template to Shadow Step, specializing in long-distance running. Small scope movement and direction changes were also very quick, quite similar to the characteristics of Shadow Step.

Ji Xinghuo immediately activated the spinning magnetic field, boosting his speed.

However, he discovered his speed was still not as good as the other’s; the distance between them was gradually closing.

In at most ten minutes, he’d be caught.

The endurance and starness of Shadow Step were excellent, especially the endurance, ranked within the top three among all professions; otherwise, they couldn’t support their long-distance running.

Once caught, his opponent would be unscathed while his own starness would be heavily consumed.

Not only would the power dynamic shift, but also these ten minutes of delay might have allowed legendary warriors to start approaching.

The longer the delay, the more unfavorable for him.

“Since I can’t shake him off, I’ll just have to kill him!”

Ji Xinghuo didn’t hesitate. Still, he didn’t stop immediately; instead, he let Qinghong go first and continued to run a few hundred meters, rushing up a small hill to stop at the top. The hill’s sparse vegetation allowed a clear view of the surroundings.

He saw the approaching Da Guan at a glance.

Indeed, it was a very fast Shadow Step, wearing a tight blue battle suit, each step he took covered more than five meters with extremely high step frequency, the posture stretched, navigating the rugged road as if it were flat. A long tail flitted back and forth behind him maintaining balance.

“Super Shadow Step!”

Ji Xinghuo remained calm, the Dragon Falcon Bow already aimed at the enemy.

In just a matter of seconds, the Da Guan ran into his shooting range, and Ji Xinghuo immediately released the bowstring, sending a titanium-aluminum alloy arrow flying directly toward the enemy’s eye.

The Da Guan reacted very quickly. With a slight deviation in his steps, he dodged the arrow.

He also took the opportunity to advance a few dozen meters.

He was now at the base of the hill, slightly lifting his head, his fish-like round eyes locked on Ji Xinghuo on the hilltop, revealing a cold murderous intent.

An arrow flew toward his face, and the Da Guan skillfully deflected it with his curved blade.

“Human…”

As the Da Guan charged up the hill, he still had the energy to roar but was interrupted by a violent thunderous sound.

Crack!

Qinghong, already hidden in the grass, spat a bolt of lightning toward the Da Guan’s back.

This would have been nearly impossible for others to dodge.

However, this Da Guan’s reflexes were unbelievably quick. The instant the lightning was released, his body suddenly blurred, the lightning striking an afterimage as his true form moved forward about four meters, with his speed again explosively increasing, continuing to charge toward the hilltop.

Shadow Step!

Sprint!

At this moment, the Da Guan’s speed fully erupted, exceeding fifty meters per second.

In just two or three seconds, he’d be right in front of Ji Xinghuo, his curved blade cutting through the air at high speed, making a whistling sound.

Speed is power.

Even though the Da Guan’s physical strength wasn’t outstanding, with high-speed enhancement, any of his attacks possessed terrifying lethal power.

The Da Guan’s cognitive processing also accelerated to the extreme. In his eyes, the world seemed to slow down. Ji Xinghuo’s movements were like slow motion, his eyes able to capture each of Ji Xinghuo’s movements, even the arrows Ji Xinghuo shot, he could see clearly during their flight.

Ji Xinghuo quickly shot an arrow, aiming for the Da Guan’s eye.

The Da Guan slightly tilted his head, and the arrow grazed past his ear.

He closed in on Ji Xinghuo again, now less than thirty meters away with his current speed, just half a second to enter striking range. A Shadow Step would allow him to slash at Ji Xinghuo’s neck.

Suddenly, the Da Guan noticed a slight flash in his opponent’s right eye.

But it had no effect, seemingly an illusion.

Twenty meters!

The curved blade in the Da Guan’s hand was already raised, aimed at Ji Xinghuo’s neck.

Fifteen meters.

Ji Xinghuo’s right hand, which had just released the bowstring, brightened with a spark of electricity. Invisible currents amplified in his body, starness instantaneously invested, transforming into electrical energy.

Ten meters.

The Da Guan and Ji Xinghuo could now clearly see each other’s eyes, both filled with coldness and killing intent, neither showing any sign of backing down.

With a crack, a silver-white bolt of lightning burst from Ji Xinghuo’s fingertips.

Five meters!

The Da Guan had been prepared for the Thundering Hand technique. The moment the lightning struck, he executed another Shadow Step, his figure flickering forward, landing at Ji Xinghuo’s side with the blade nearly touching Ji Xinghuo’s skin, almost seeing the enemy’s decapitated outcome.

However, behind him, the unseen lightning abruptly changed direction.

Boom!

The Thundering Hand struck the Da Guan’s back heart, the powerful electric current paralyzing his entire body, causing excruciating pain, nearly making him lose his grip on the curved blade.

By this time, he was only two steps away from Ji Xinghuo.

As Ji Xinghuo’s left hand released the lightning, he had already ditched the bow and drawn out the Thundering War Blade, slashing toward the empty space on his left.

As if rehearsed thousands of times coincidentally, the Da Guan’s out-of-control body crashed into the blade, competing with the blade sharpness using his neck.

The blade of the Thundering War Blade flashed with electricity.

Spurt!

Blue blood splattered as a large fish head flew up, the Da Guan’s head hitting the ground, his round eyes still retaining the joy of killing the enemy.

Spiritual Source Energy +18

Ji Xinghuo sheathed his blade and saw the message pop up in the interface.