The setting sun dyed the skies above Ether Cloud orange. The city was in ruins. Corpses strewn about everywhere were like morbid decorations upon the fallen houses. Accompanying the orange skies were the flames that were yet to die, lifting the half-destroyed city from the upcoming darkness in a cruel, ironic light. The soundtrack to this perfect picture of misery were the screams, full of agony, loss and despair.
"We have not been able to find him, Young Lady Yun." One of Yun Meili's personal guards informed her mistress.
The Young Master had been missing for the last couple of hours. The cultivators disguised as his personal maids were supposed to escort him directly to the Yun Estate as soon as possible yet neither they nor Yun Lei was anywhere to be found.
"I do not care what you do, find him." The gentle voice of the Ether Cloud's Princess had turned cold and chilling. Her city was in ruins and her people were dying as they spoke. It would be strange if she wasn't unhappy.
Everything had been perfect for that unfortunate scenario to unfold. A tide had attacked causing the law enforcement of the city to be occupied while the people ran outside their houses in a panic. Then, massive earthquakes shook the ground beneath their feet while the skies rained down thunder, as if delivering divine punishment.
The disaster, the likes of which had never been seen before, had already claimed the lives of thousands while thousands more still awaited aid. The situation was so bad the Yun Meili could only spare her three personal guards to go search for her husband.
The leaves rustled with the wind as Yun Lei ran past it. He didn't know how long he had been running but his legs had not stopped even once.
His entire body was covered in blood that was seeping out of his orifices, the profound energy reinforcing his leg had long run out, yet, he didn't stop. Even while he could barely even see anymore, he knew that if he stopped, the cultivators would catch up to him.
Thus, he ran. He ran and kept running and ran some more. The soles of his feet were covered with blisters and his legs felt like they would fall off. He was so dehydrated that he no longer felt thirsty even. Despite all this, his pace didn't slow down at all.
He had been very careful to wipe all of his blood with his clothes so not even a single drop would fall down on the ground but he knew that it was inevitable for him to slip up. He was getting closer and closer to passing out by every moment.
Losing consciousness, in that scenario, was certain death. The forests surrounding the city were filled with dangerous beasts that could no doubt smell his blood. If he was in a state where he could not defend himself, the only inevitable result would be for him to lose his life.
He lost control of his legs for a single moment, causing his entire body to come crashing down on the ground. His blood-soaked clothes picked up a lot of dirt and dust, but he got right back up and continued running. His soul was under too much strain. It had been pushed to the breaking point.
Another momentary lapse of control made him fall down again but this time, he was unable to get back up. He could no longer control his legs.
He would not let something so 'small' deter him, however, as he began crawling forward with just his arms. The sleeves of his elegant silk robes were tattered and ripped and even the arms underneath it were full of scratches and injuries. However, he could barely even feel them anymore.
Slowly but surely, he dragged his body towards the river that had entered his sights. Every inch he moved forward felt like an eternity, the water almost seemed to move away, as if mocking him, but, he persisted. Only when he felt the currents gently carrying away his body did he stop.
Yun Lei drifted down the river, sometimes conscious, sometimes not. When he was able to, he opened his eyes, looking at the starry sky peeking through the canopy.
It was the second time in his life he had observed the sky he was always under, beholding its majesty. After he had regained control of his body, the first thing he had done was look up at the night sky and appreciated its beauty.
It hadn't even been two months since then but it still felt like a lifetime had passed. He had read through the entirety of the Yun Family's library, he had become the owner of a reputed company, but most importantly, he had become a man worthy of respect.
Everything he had achieved would have been impossible for Ren Lei. Drinking that cup of poisoned wine had truly been a turning point in his life. A wake-up call, perhaps. He was determined to make something of himself. Even if he was meant to remain a weak cripple for the rest of his life, he would no longer use this as a reason to give up before even trying.
He had begun slowly establishing himself and he had even found a way to increase his personal strength. With time, he would become a force to be reckoned with. But just as things were looking up, fate blindsided him with an obstacle he could not possibly have dealt with.
He could have felt bitter; begun crying and complaining about the absurdity and unfairness of the hand fate had dealt him. He could do all that but he wouldn't. It was fine for Ren Lei, who could do little else besides that to do so. For Yun Lei, the only available option was to shut his mouth and pick himself up from the ground.
And that was exactly what he did. His soul began screaming in dissatisfaction at the fact that he was still walking on his two feet. He had to use every bit of his willpower to make sure his legs wouldn't give out underneath him as he slowly walked out of the river.
His soul had recovered to the point that he was no longer crying bloody tears but that wasn't saying much.
"You're gonna die here if you don't get your shit together." Yun Lei said out loud to himself. He knew he was still very much in danger and he needed to remind himself that so he could get rid of all of the unnecessary thoughts in his head.
If that wasn't enough, the growling of the beasts that entered his ears sure was, since he immediately began running along with the flow of the river when he heard it. He didn't know which river near Ether Cloud it was exactly but he knew that as long as he followed it, he would end up at a human settlement.
Even as he ran, he was already planning his next move. He didn't have a whole lot at his disposal, just two profound crystals. He usually kept four with him since that was the number he could keep in his pocket without making it obvious.
He had been quite wanton with his use of profound crystals while making his escape. He was facing five Blood Cleansing Realm cultivators, after all. But now, he had to be extremely careful. They were a limited resource and he didn't even know when or if he would be able to get his hands on more. In the possibility that a massive threat against his life appeared once more, they would be the only thing he could use to save himself.
Yun Lei was becoming quite adept at the use of profound energy but he had never used it in active combat in order to attack as most cultivators did. That mostly had to do with the fact that he didn't know how it would behave.
Cultivators were able to use profound energy after absorbing it into their bodies and 'branding' it. In other words, the profound energy every cultivator could use was unique. But the energy he extracted from the crystals would be the same kind as the one that could easily be found in the atmosphere or rather, everywhere.
A cultivator couldn't control profound energy that they didn't brand but when it came to absorption, they had no such requirements. What if a cultivator simply just absorbed the energy Yun Lei used to attack? Such a fear prevented him from trying it out in the first place. Fortunately, he wouldn't need to worry about such a thing with beasts.
Keeping himself alert, Yun Lei moved swiftly but silently. The thing that worried him the most in the scenario he had found himself in, was being surrounded on all sides.
I should start carrying a bow and arrows with me wherever I go. Yun Lei contemplated. If he had a weapon he was confident in using, he wouldn't feel quite as vulnerable as he was currently feeling.
In that forest only illuminated by moonlight, he had no problem seeing. In fact, everything appeared as clear as the day to him. He had experienced the same thing before in the Forest of Endless Trees but as soon as he had returned to Ether Cloud, he no longer had the same level of vision.
He had no explanation as to why he was able to do something like that and he didn't even want to start theorising it. Knowing why was not helpful to his current situation, at all.
Crack!
Yun Lei heard the cracking of a dry branch. He knew for a fact that he hadn't stepped on one so the only explanation was that someone or something else had. The sound was so incredibly close that Yun Lei immediately prepared himself for combat.
He pulled out one of the profound crystals from his pocket before briefly turning his head to the side. Running behind him was a large dog-like animal that was almost half his size. Its eyes were pitch black, a trait all beasts shared, and its body was covered with green fur.
Forest Wolves, Intermediate Rank beasts. Individually, they were just as strong as Savage Boars. The reason they were ranked higher was because of one simple reason. They were pack hunters and knew how to coordinate well. If one was chasing him, he could safely assume that its pack was somewhere close by.
"Just my luck." Yun Lei grumbled, extracting some profound energy from the crystal in his hand and reinforcing his legs. His speed increased explosively, leaving the Forest Wolf in the dust. But not to be outdone, it too began speeding up.
Although it wasn't fast enough to catch up to his current speed, it could have easily caught up to him when he wasn't reinforcing his legs.
"Shit!" Yun Lei let out a curse after realising what was happening and immediately jumped up to the branches of the tree while focusing his senses as hard as he could. Sure enough, there were five wolves in his immediate area. Excluding the one who was chasing after him, the rest were trying to discreetly encircle him so he would have no way to escape.
If he had used his senses to the best of their abilities the entire time, no doubt he would have caught this. However, doing so put a strain on his soul. It was only a tiny bit of strain but to the current him, who was on the verge of collapse, saving that tiny bit could have allowed him to stay functioning for longer.
In his endeavour to push back the inevitable loss of control as far as he could, he had let his guard down.
"Shit!" He cursed again before jumping to another branch. Hopping from branch to branch, he began picking up the speed. Of course, this didn't come without a cost: he was using far more energy than he would have just running on the ground.
But then, suddenly, a noise that made chills run down his spine entered his ears. It was the same loud crack of breaking wood that he had heard not too long ago. But this time, the sound originated from underneath his own feet.
The branch he had jumped to had broken under his weight and he swiftly began falling down. Down towards the forest floor where the Forest Wolves were eagerly awaiting their next meal.