After Kai managed to break away from the duo chasing him, he didn't stop. He continued to activate the Torture King Mode time after time, constantly taking his trail in different directions. It didn't stop in the day or night. As soon as Kai recovered from the recoil, he would continue his trail again.
Except, now he wasn't massacring the beasts. That would only embellish his route with blood, giving the enemy all the information they needed. From the trail of beast corpses, it would be very obvious where he was headed.
Kai simply slipped away from each pack with the help of Shadow Marks. It was possible since he didn't go too far towards the centre. He continued to move within the perimeter of the mountain range. As it turned out, it almost connected with the other two, creating a ring.
At that moment, Kai realised why it was called a natural barrier. These mountains signalled that it was best not to go any further. Most likely, on the back side of the mountain range, the one closer to the centre, the Cloud Sphere masters would have nothing to do.
Realising all this, Kai calmly ran around in circles, occasionally retreating to safer regions to recover. This was also confusing his enemies.
Such a chase had been going on for about a week and a half now. During this time, Purple Illusion was definitely able to use his ability a few times. But it was most likely impossible to detect Kai's energy anymore.
At this moment, Kai was in the same, familiar terrain. It was the mountains, but the rock was darker here. There was also a lot of moss everywhere, which coexisted peacefully with the rocky surface. Although this was also a mountainous area, it was another of the three mountain ranges in the Shadowlands.
- I had to get rid of those freaks...' Kai sat in thought, recovering from the recoil.
He decided that this was the last use for escape. Now he needed to get back to training.
- Shit... Because of them, I lost almost two weeks...' Kai muttered irritably, 'If you add it up... A month in the cave, two and a half months of quiet hunting and about a week and a half of escape... Plus add the rest days in the gorge... I've been in the Shadowlands for about four months now! Fuck! - Kai cursed.
He realised that he only had about two months left before returning to Shadow City. It would be dangerous to stay longer than that. If he didn't make it to the Tournament, it would be a huge failure!
- All right... We have to look on the bright side. I've seen a method of provoking a massacre. If I do this for two whole months... Then I'm afraid to imagine my progress. Heh-heh. - With a wicked grin, Kai said.
His strength had increased a lot in the last four months. And it was mainly due to absorbing the blood of the victims. If he were to prowl around while slaughtering local animals, the influx of blood would be incredible. Moreover, his Torture King Mode would be held for a longer period of time.
- Now, I more clearly understand the environment inside Asura's Hell... If one could create such an environment in reality... Literally whole seas of blood... - Kai muttered while rubbing his chin.
After seeing the carnage, a parallel with the scenery inside Asura's Hell was created in his mind. There, everything was drenched in blood, with mountains of corpses floating in it. Kai couldn't even imagine what would happen if a person with Kessia's bloodline was able to absorb it all....
He was definitely not wrong when he thought that in the Torture Technique of the Invisible Kings, 'uninterrupted battles' referred to a bloodbath! Slowly, everything was falling into place in his mind.
- So we need to use the remaining two months to the fullest... If I'm lucky, I'll break through to the high stage of the Cloud Sphere. Brother Shuo will definitely be surprised. - Cai said with a smile, ''But if I get to Reincarnation Island... There will be a lot of masters from other Sects there. Killing them won't be such a sinful thing... Hehe. - Smiling evilly, Kai said.
Thinking about it, Kai popped a few pills into his mouth and closed his eyes. He had already decided that as soon as he regained his strength, he would head out to reap the harvest.
After a few days, Kai realised that his new method was incredibly effective! It was as if the slaughterhouse was opening up a warehouse with endless supplies for him! Take whatever you want!
Of course, there was a small drawback. If Kai arrived at the murder scene too late, where the blood had already lain outside the body for some time.... In that case, he could no longer absorb it. It was as if all the blood's life force had been drained.... Without the support of the beast heart, in the outside world, it could only exist for a small amount of time.
Although Kai was surprised by this fact, he didn't give it much thought. In this mountain range, there were enough beasts to set up an uninterrupted takeover. Kai began to almost ignore the solitary daytime animals. Finding the predators' lair and killing them in groups was a much more efficient method. True, after that, one had to change hunting spots almost every day.
For the next month, the mountain range was a living hell. In his mind, Kai even joked that he had brought Asura's Hell to reality. All the mountains were drenched in blood, and the number of beasts was rapidly dwindling.
When he got a taste for it, Kai would kill the masters who had come. In such a commotion, many of them would have died themselves. Of course, that didn't excuse Kai, but in this situation, he didn't care. All he wanted was to quickly build up his strength. Alas, in order to do so, he needed to behave selfishly.
The world of martial artists was a cruel place. In general, death was ubiquitous and commonplace. There was no place for pity and regret here. If Kai was weaker, he himself would have given his life to the Silver Spear.
Why would that have happened? Simply because of the whim of a stronger master! Silver Spear had chosen Kai as his victim. And the most ironic thing was that there was no objective reason for it!
It was the same in the case of Kai's reaping. It was just that at this moment, he was stronger and was pursuing his cruel, selfish goals. As unfortunate as it is, the strong devours the weak. The same thing, at one time, happened to Kai's kin....
Although such a fundamental truth of the world might seem unfair. But in reality, it was what ensured the development of all things. The stronger or more adaptable individuals continued to live. The weaker ones either died or became a resource for the development of the stronger ones.
But when Kai reasoned about this, he always reminded himself of another truth. No matter how strong you think you are, there are likely much stronger individuals above you. The realisation of this became most clear after talking about the Shadow Sect Patriarch. To such a person, Kai couldn't even be considered a resource... Just a meaningless organism whose existence could be interrupted at the behest of someone else's thoughts.
The difference was so great that the comparison to a child who unknowingly kills an ant seemed too flattering to Kai. Naturally, it was Kai who was the ant in this case.....
Kai had pondered such things many times when he thought about the Laws of the Essence Sphere. And also about the words he had heard from different people. Therefore, he had no qualms about devouring everyone. Animals and humans alike!
If one were to see this from the outside, the nickname 'Immortal Drunkard' would seem like a mockery! Unless he's drunk on blood! And this merciless reaping showed the terrifying fact that it was incredibly hard to quench his thirst!
Before the end of the allotted time, Kai had about three weeks left. He realised that he had to break through to the high stage in time. And Kai felt that this moment was incredibly close! If it didn't happen, then there was simply no point in returning!
- Recently, there were far fewer beasts appearing. It seems that everyone has noticed the strangeness of what's going on around them... They continue to hide in their lairs even at night... - Kai thought with his back against the rock.
The scenery around was frightening... As Kai didn't have time to absorb all the blood, a large amount was spoiling. In various places, there were corpses lying all over the surrounding area, with frozen rivers of blood visible beneath them.
At the same time, Kai himself was unharmed. At the same time, there wasn't even a speck of scarlet colour left on him. All the fresh blood was instantly absorbed by his body!
Kai noticed that the animals themselves were becoming wary of going out to hunt. For the past month, night time had been turning into hell in various parts of the mountain range. The roar and sounds of slaughter came from everywhere. And this continued until the morning.
In the beginning, many animals saw it as a battle for territory and actively joined the fight.... Now, they were reluctant to go outside. Most likely, they will only be wiped out by the majority of the pack. Which in turn would cause them to lose their influence in the neighbourhood.
The beasts also had their own minds and instincts. It took a little time to choose a more effective strategy. If your rival packs lose most of their individuals. Wouldn't it be better to wait out the carnage and then just finish off the remnants?
Pondering this, Kai smiled evilly.
'You think I didn't understand your train of thought? Hehe...' - Smiling slyly, Kai thought.
He had already thought of a plan to smoke them out of hiding....
'If I just wait a few days, you'll think it's safe to start dividing up territories. That's when I'll eat you!' - Rubbing his palms together thought Kai.
At that moment, he decided to train in Asura's Hell to better absorb all the energy he had absorbed earlier. Recently, he had paid little attention to this aspect of training. Because of this, a large amount of energy had not had time to be processed into his own.
The sun was slowly setting, and Kai decided to take his time. He would wait for the beasts to come out on their own. He wouldn't even have to provoke their slaughter. They would be happy to do it themselves. After all, they are predatory animals, and it is in their interest to get more hunting grounds.
Just as Kai expected, two days later it all started!
Crowds of beasts were gnawing at each other's throats, tearing apart their opponents with their horns, some even used their needles as spears!
In the midst of this, Kai consumed the blood of each slain man! The feast that had subsided for a few days continued again!
'Good! Very good! I think I can make it through!' - Moving between the predators, Kai thought.
He could feel the clouds in the Energy Centre getting denser and denser. At the same time, their movement was also becoming sharper. The entire cloud sphere was circling around the centre at an impressive speed. It seemed to Kai that just a little more and a breakthrough would come! That's just it, analysing past experiences as well as the information from the Library. Such feelings were usually deceiving....
'Need more! Need a finishing touch!' - Almost maniacally, screamed Kai in his mind!
But then...
- Ruuuuum! - There was a prolonged and incredibly rumbling and bassy sound! It was as if someone had blown an incredibly huge horn!
It sounded like something only a giant sized throat could produce! This sound instantly deafened Kai! So much so that he collapsed to his knees. The entire massacre also instantly stopped!
All the animals were terrified! They seemed to be gripped by instinctive fear! Each one of them began to step back very carefully and timidly. And the next moment, they all scattered! Each animal ran towards its lair!
- Dum... Dum... Dum! - Slowly and intermittently, loud sounds rang out, and the ground shook underfoot!
- Shit! What the hell is that?! - In shock, shouted Kai.
Looking towards the centre of the Shadowlands, Kai saw large flocks of birds, all at once soaring into the air! It seemed like someone of gigantic size was coming from the back side of the mountain range!