Shu He ran as fast as he could, launching himself with each step, moving away from the town; A fight was inevitable and he didn't want to bring it inside the town, it seems they had waited for him to leave but he had no idea whether they'd follow him back in if he returned.
He reached into his robes, checking on his items.
'Too fast!'
He used his <
"!!" He felt a shiver crawl up his spine as his head snapped to the forest ahead of him, he could barely see inside the dark groves, yet thanks to his territory he could tell-
There was a figure inside, waiting for him to enter!
Taller, but still cloaked in black with a mask, it was another enemy.
'I knew it, then-'
He pushed his territory, trying to catch sight of a third figure, it was clear to him now that these people were the same ones he had encountered in the hideout back in Redaloy, even though he took a long detour on the way here they had ended up at the same location and managed to single him out.
'Did they find a new way to track me down?' He thought as he dug his foot in to the ground and launched himself, shifting direction entirely away from the forest as well, he couldn't let himself be cornered.
The only problem was-
*SWISH*
The man behind him swung a long, slender sword as the wind around it whipped sending a blade of air flying towards Shu He's back, Shu He managed to dodge at the last second as the hood of his robe was ripped to shreds, but the young, robed man had almost caught up.
Shu He whipped his hand under the cover of the night as seeds flew from his gauntlet pressed into the ground without stopping, the moment the younger man stepped on them thorny vines burst out, wrapping around everything they could touch-
<
The young man almost tripped, delaying him for a second but then he swung his sword at the ground, tides of wind flew, cutting the vines at the roots and killing them freeing him.
But that was enough time for Shu He to put some distance between them!
Seeing that Shu He had changed direction, the older cloaked man left his cover of the trees and gave chase as well from the side, attempting to funnel Shu He's escape.
'Shit, what should I do?!'
He felt sweat drip from his brow before flying away in the wind that rushed past his face, he knew that these two were stronger than him when I came to specs, especially the older figure, he was the one with that monstrous thing inside of him.
Just thinking of facing a greater version of Jin Bao made him shiver, and one, maybe two others on top? There was no way he could win!
He may have improved in the six months between the tournament and him leaving the sect, but it wasn't so big of an improvement that he could easily fight across stages.
That wasn't even considering the fact that he didn't want to use his Golden Qi to its fullest potential lest he lose even more memories, or worse, everything!
He had to be careful… the only thing he could do now was escape and try to hide!
After a full minute of chasing, his two pursuers were getting closer by the second, the closest were barely 30 meters away from him! In another minute that would be crossed.
But there was an even bigger problem, in Shu He's path was a great obstacle-
'A cliff?! Shit!'
The two chasing him were positioned to the left and right behind him, if he tried to take a detour away they would catch up instantly, he was only maintaining the distance because he was running in a straight line.
He used his territory to glance over the cliff, it was a long way down.
'35… 40 or so meters? I wish I had some sort of flying tool right now!' He cursed in his mind.
He could stop and try to fight through the two but….
He could see, the grinning faces beneath the masks, this was planned by them, they were prepared.
So he had only one choice.
He jumped with all his force, launching him off the cliff into mid-air!
The was a hint of surprise in the expressions beneath the mask, but…
'No, something is off!'
It was like they didn't actually expect him to do it, but they still considered it!
'The third one!'
He funnelled his territory's vision, looking at the area below him and sure enough, another figure ran out of the trees below him, planting her hands on the ground as the earth began to shift and morph, turning in to a wide and deep bog, if he handed in that he'd be completely disabled!
'I'll have to use some!'
A sapling entered his palm from his gauntlet while he was midair, but this time he channelled a very small amount of Golden Qi in to it, as he did he could feel his faint headache getting slightly worse but he bared it, then he held it forward towards the ground that he was falling towards-
*CRACK*
It was the sound of hundreds of trees falling, the crackling of their wood and rustling of branches and leaves sounded out as the sapling grew explosively like a spear approaching the ground.
And the target was the girl, who stood stupefied as the gigantic tree fell down towards her, at the last second she planted her hands on the ground once more as the earth shifted and hardened in to a solid sphere around her-
*BANG*
The earth shook and dirt and dust flew up in the air as the tree landed on the sphere, compressing and distorting it as the roots pierced the earth, as sharp as needles.
She He slid down the large newly created tree and bounced off, rolling on the dirt filled floor before running off once more, he couldn't wait another second.
But before he did, he picked out a small object from his robe-
It was the Lens!
He didn't know whether they truly had a way to track him through it, but he wouldn't risk it!
He threw it in a random direction with all his strength before moving elsewhere.
He didn't want to wait a single moment, on the edges of his territory he could sense the two others descending the cliff with the wind buffeting their fall, they would follow along soon enough.
…
Shu He was in a crawlspace below a tree, stifling his breath, it had been 30 minutes since he had escaped the pursuit and he hadn't seen a peek of them since, it would be easy to think that he was fine now, but he wouldn't be so foolish.
'Maybe they chased after the Lense… or were helping their ally, she should have at least been injured from that after all…' He thought as he listened out for clues.
His territory had weakened even more after that stunt, it was clear his usage of the Golden Qi and that technique were interlinked, the technique originated from the moment he obtained it after all.
But the strain from them was different, he hadn't lost any memories or fainted using the technique.
*crack*
"?!" His heart skipped a beat, and he froze, remaining silent.
It was just the sound a of twig breaking, but it caused a cold sensation to wash over his mind.
He forced his <
It was granted that the two men were unharmed, but the female had a tattered and bloodstained robe… but she was walking fine.
'Damnit, did they use pills?!' He cursed.
They may take a small period to take effect, but it had been enough time since then.
The worst thing was how they were walking, they were moving in a circular formation, slowly decreasing their distance… and Shu He was inside the range.
'Will they find me?' He was well hidden, and he was supressing his Qi and presence as much as he could…
*Swish*
"SQEEEE"
The sound of a screeching animal sounded out before quieting.
'…' Shu He began to sweat heavily.
He could now see the flickering Qi within their eyes, they were using Qi Sight to search, meaning it didn't matter how much he supressed it, he had Qi so they could see him.
It was only a matter of time until he was found… and then…
He would die.
With his Balance Attainment level cultivation, he would lose quickly when surrounded by three higher level cultivators.
He had one trump card in the shape of his Golden Qi, but he had used it once, they might expect an explosively powerful technique now, even more so he didn't want to risk it even more.
He had pushed his luck with it until now, but between losing his life and losing 'himself', he didn't find it much different.
He would rather struggle to find a solution until the very last second!
Their footsteps got closer, he could easily hear their steps with his normal hearing, with his territory he could hear their calm and collected breathing, combined with silent cursing from one of them.
'What should I do? What should I do? WHAT SHOULD I DO?!'
The only thing he could do was try.
Try even harder to supress himself.
He needed to surpass his current level, not just supress his Qi or existence.
He needed to erase it.
He needed to be invisible.
He pushed and pushed, like trying to press playdough into a piece of paper.
It just wasn't working…. Until he noticed something.
'Why am I trying to supress it within myself?'
It was an epiphany, a simple idea, yet the moment he had that thought, words entered his mind.
Words he thought he hadn't ever seen, words that he hadn't remembered.
A small portion of text that was locked inside his mind.
And with it, came the memory of that day, in his room the scroll unfurled presenting a wall of text that he couldn't comprehend.
And soon, he felt himself change, he spread 'Himself', dissipating into the shadows, his Qi becoming the environment's natural Qi, his shadow becoming the world's, his body becoming but another object with no presence, he felt his mind fade into the back of his own.
It felt as natural as breathing, it felt sublime.
And a name entered his head.
<
A technique hidden from the world, to hide from the world.
The three figures continued their march, yet as they passed the tree he was under they didn't notice him; they didn't even see him when they glanced inside, treating him as another piece of wood.
When they met in the centre, a curse was heard as they moved away…
20 minutes later…
Shu He released the technique, he collapsed into the ditch beneath the tree, breathing heavily, his muscles felt like they were dead as the fresh oxygen from his breathing revitalised him.
But Shu He's mind wasn't thinking about the exhaustion he was feeling, no, he had a picture of an old man in his mind.
'Old Yun, you old geezer…' He couldn't help but fanatically smile 'You gave me something good!'