Kai ran as fast as he could. But he didn't activate his Torture King Mode. At this point, it was better to save his trump card for last resort.
All in all, after half an hour of running, Kai realised that the giant turtle wasn't chasing him. The sounds of footsteps shaking the ground had almost died down. Only due to his keen senses of perception, Kai continued to feel slight vibrations under his feet.
The energy pressure of that giant monster had disappeared altogether. Finally, Kai could run at his normal pace.
'Alright... I think I've had enough of the Shadowlands... I should be heading back soon enough.' - Moving through the small forest thought Kai.
He realised that he wouldn't be able to hunt in the mountains anymore. And the safer area didn't have all those predatory animals. His strategy just wouldn't work anymore. Hunting single animals would be too inefficient a method, especially given the experience of the previous months.
Kai is already used to consuming the blood of his victims in rivers. If he hunts in safe zones where the animals themselves are weaker. And most importantly without the ability to massacre... It's just useless.
- Shit! I was just a little bit short! Just a little bit more and I could have risen higher! - Kai said through gritted teeth.
He would be lying if he said that he didn't feel any regret... After all, the chance of getting a place on the expedition to Reincarnation Island depended on his level!
Right now, Kai was considering what options he had left. If he calculated by time. He still had about a month or two left before the Tournament. But Kai realised that he wouldn't be able to find the finishing touch for his cultivation in the Fatuma High Arena. Killing was strictly forbidden there!
Without killing, Kai would simply not be able to cultivate his bloodline. And this, in turn, severely limits the speed of his cultivation development...''
'So what should I do? Maybe...' - Kai suddenly thought to himself.
At this moment, a rather evil and insidious idea popped into his head... The only source of quality blood that was potentially possible in his situation was martial artists!
'I'll have to do some not-so-good things... I can spend a few more weeks in the Shadowlands. But the whole area is too vast... Finding enough people will be difficult.' - Kai continued to have a mental dialogue with himself.
The Shadowlands was too vast... If someone entered here, it was already difficult to find that person after a day. Naturally, unless you had methods similar to the Purple Illusion technique.
Although Kai would find a couple of people in a few weeks, but it wouldn't be enough. Strong martial artists rarely come here. All of the strongmen, go straight to the centre of the Shadowlands. But crossing them is also not an option. Kai simply isn't an opponent for them, as mostly only Elders go there. And even for the newly minted Elders who are around 30 years old, Kai will absolutely not be an obstacle.....
'There's only one option left... We need to track them down right after entering the Shadowlands!' - Kai suddenly realised.
Choosing a victim is easiest when you see them entering this area. You can immediately assess her cultivation level. Also, follow her to a more secluded place so that no one will discover you.
Kai was a little hesitant about such a method. After all, he didn't really want to kill everyone. There might be a really good person among the victims. But in general, every martial artist had sins. Almost none of them could be called righteous. This even applied to masters like Shuo.....
Everyone had killed and everyone was willing to trade someone else's life for their own. Right now, Kai had an easy dilemma. He was trying to negotiate with his conscience, but he wasn't completely succeeding yet.
'Alright... I'll decide according to the circumstances... There are a lot of diverse people coming here anyway. I'll observe first before I kill...' - Kai said to himself and set his course towards the gate he had entered here through.
Moving steadily along the mountain range, in all this time, he had almost made a full circle. Now, the original entrance, once again, was closest to Kai's location.
He decided that he would start by observing the people entering and eavesdropping on their conversations. When people think they are alone, they often give away very savoury details of their lives. Especially if it's a group of men...
If a man is cruel and ruthless, he will not miss an opportunity to tell about his dirty deeds. Paradoxically, such people liked to brag about their murders, rapes and humiliation of the weak.
They were no different from wild animals. But that was not for Kai to judge. He didn't think his deeds were any fun, but if someone found out about them..... Then even those scoundrels would wonder if Kai was as nice a guy as he seemed at first glance.
In general, Kai didn't give his actions any particular colouring at all. In general, he just had some conventional boundaries. But he wouldn't blame himself if he had to overstep them a little.
When Kai decided what he would spend his remaining time on, he headed for the entrance without delay. Naturally, he didn't show his face to the guards, and generally didn't get close enough.
He was just far enough away to sense a new batch of potential victims. And it didn't take long for them to arrive.....
Already the first group of two people appeared to be a match for Kai. Two guys were discussing their sexual adventures in a very casual manner. One of them was talking about how he had recently raped the Apprentice Assistant. Naturally, she couldn't do anything against him since he was a High Apprentice.
The second one, laughing, also began to tell about his previous evening. Everything was similar, the same rape... Except this man's preferences were different, he preferred guys.
Thus, Kai didn't hesitate to take their blood for himself. He even did it with a special pleasure! Rape seemed to Kai as a very low act that was unworthy of a martial arts master.
Kai's hunt continued for another fortnight, where he constantly picked people to harvest. One had to hand it to Kai, he really didn't touch most people. The goodness of the frequency of people entering and exiting the Shadowlands allowed him to do so. If there weren't enough people, Kai would take the lives of neutral individuals as well.
Every day, Kai could feel the clouds in his Energy Centre getting denser and denser! Their speed was increasing, and they themselves seemed more formidable. Kai felt that there was not much left!
- In the next few days, we must leave the Shadowlands... - Kai said to himself under his breath.
At this moment, he was sitting on a tree branch and calmly sipping wine from a small barrel. It seemed that this journey was beginning to tire him... But that was more because he was remembering the massacre in the mountains. And the way he hunted now was no comparison. In contrast, it seemed too boring...
Although, he had to give credit to the blood of the martial artists. From it, Kai absorbed far more energy. Although his bloodline was slower to develop, it was still possible to reach a high Cloud Sphere stage!
- What the... - Kai said quietly and quickly began to climb higher up the tree.
A second ago, he heard a noise in the distance...
Kai decided to lie low and watch carefully. Perhaps it was the new victims...
- Heforus, you need to calm down. You've entered your unstable state again. - There was a stern female voice.
- We've wasted a whole lot of time! That bastard got away! And yet, we barely got away from the Mountain Guardian! - A male voice shouted.
It turned out to be a duo that Kai knew well! Silver Spear and Purple Illusion!
Except that they didn't seem to be in the best condition right now... The past few days had definitely not been easy for them.
'Guardian of the Mountains? Are they really talking about that giant turtle? Hahaha!' - Suddenly laughed in Kai's mind.
He immediately realised the approximate state of affairs! It seems these two didn't abandon their attempt to discover him and continued their search. While in the mountains, they were caught by that turtle!
'It seems like they were much less fortunate than me! Hehe.' - Gloatingly observed Kai.
It seemed that Silver Spear was the one who got hit the hardest. His clothes were covered in blood, and judging from his gait, his condition wasn't the best either. It would be more accurate to say that he was in a critical position! Most likely, they had encountered incredible difficulties while trying to leave the mountain territory!
- Heforus, your psychological state is negatively affected by your injuries. You need to focus on yourself! - Shouted out the girl.
At this moment, a slight note of confusion could be read on her face. She was obviously very worried about her brother. It seemed like just a little more and she would cry.
'Hehehe... Luck is a very treacherous thing.... Isn't it?' - Kai thought and a cruel, predatory smirk appeared on his face.
Kai didn't hesitate and instantly activated his Eyes of Essence! Also, his energy, Astral Sacrifice Fire, and Torture King Mode were at the ready! Kai waited for the duo to be right below him!
'Now!' - Shouted Kai in his mind!
- Bam!' There was a massive explosion of energy! From it, the entire top of the tree shattered into splinters!
Holding the daggers in his hands, Kai flew downwards at lightning speed!
- What!!! Purple Illusion suddenly shouted!
Her perception was indeed very good! Even in this state and considering such an unexpected attack, she was able to react!
The girl raised her hand upwards, and a purple shield formed in front of her in the blink of an eye! She immediately went into defence mode!
But alas... It didn't help her! The duo was weakened too much! It seemed like their energy was already running low even before Kai's attack! Considering the size of the mountain range, perhaps they had encountered that turtle just a few days ago!
- Crackle! - There was the sound of glass shattering! The barrier created by the girl shattered in the blink of an eye!
At this moment, she was too exhausted. Kai, on the other hand, had become much stronger over the past few months!
Right now, he was one step away from the high stage of the Cloud Sphere! Moreover, he was now activating all of his powers to their full potential!
- Bam! - There was an explosion sound!
From this, the duo flew apart in a flash! From the recoil, Silver Spear immediately lost consciousness. His condition was indeed critical!
At the last moment, Kai managed to catch his fierce gaze on himself. It seemed that at this moment, he hated him with all his soul.
- Stoooi! Please don't! Spare him! - Screamed Purple Illusion, watching Kai approach her brother's body.
Hearing such brazen words, Kai even stopped in surprise... Slowly turning around, he coldly said:
- What the fuck did you just say?
Every word he said seemed to drive the girl into a cold, dark pit. She felt as if Death's hand was already upon her.
In a normal state, so instantaneous a rout would never have happened. They didn't expect that Kai might be here and found themselves in too vulnerable a state....
- I know how unfair this sounds! But my brother is sick! I couldn't influence him! Forgive him! - Purple Illusion began to make hysterical excuses!
It seemed that at this moment, she had lost all her calmness and equanimity! She had turned into an ordinary frightened girl. But it could be seen that she wasn't as worried about herself as she was about Silver Spear!
Earlier, Kai had already pondered over their relationship... It seemed to him that those were not entirely healthy.....
- Forgive him? Hahaha! - Kai thundered, -You're just as fucked up as your brother scum! - With an evil smirk he shouted out.