Pov: Third person

  But soon he realized he wasn't running at his usual speed; his strength felt clearly suppressed. He tried to sense his surroundings while running; he noticed that the spiritual energy in the environment was much sparser than normal. However, more troubling was the suppression of the Law he sensed as a Nascent Soul expert.

  The world itself was suppressing spiritual energy. Knowing this, he glanced back at the old man flying towards them at a fast speed.

  This made him realize that the suppression was not only affecting them; the old man was also feeling its effects. He had sensed at the start that the old man was a Void refining expert, but now he was chasing them at a speed comparable to a Golden Core realm expert. This gave him some hope, and he began running deeper into the mountains, where he felt the suppression was even stronger.

  He had a clear plan in mind. If he ran toward the mountain's exit, he could regain his strength. But that would mean the old man would regain his strength too. Escaping a Void-traveling expert with his Nascent Soul cultivation felt like a pipe dream. The higher the cultivation level, the wider the gap in strength. As someone who was a veteran cultivator, he understood this well. Once that old man regained his full strength, killing them would be as easy as crushing an ant.

  So he ran into the depths of the mountains. The further he went, the stronger the suppression became, and the spiritual energy around him dwindled to almost nothing. However, despite the suppression, the old man could still fly and exert the strength of a Golden Core realm cultivator. There were only a few dozen meters between them, and the old man was closing in by the second. Their current situation felt like a hunt, with them as the prey.

  Roman was running while carrying Lu Xiaoran, which slowed him down a bit. But Lu Xiaoran wasn’t idle; he tried to attack the old man following them. However, he failed, as the suppression in the air affected him too. Now he could only exert strength comparable to a Qi Condensation expert, and even that was fading quickly as they raced deeper into the mountains.

  So he did the next best thing he could. He prepared a simple elemental attack—a wind blade. This was all he could manage without losing too much spiritual energy, so he created dozens of wind blades. These blades targeted the old man in black robes. They hit successfully, but they didn’t cause much damage; even his robes remained unscathed. Still, the wind blades at least slowed down the old man’s approach.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Lu Xiaoran continued to launch wind blades. Soon, they passed through an invisible barrier, and the suppression grew even more intense. Now he could display strength comparable to the Qi Refining realm, while Roman only had the strength of a Qi Condensation expert. But it didn’t matter; they were not alone. The old man, who had been flying until now, was also suppressed and could only run toward them. Still, since he was stronger, they didn't fight him head-on. Instead, they ran. Once they got out of his range, they could escape the forest and reach their master, who might also be on his way to help them.

  They kept running deeper into the mountains, trying to escape from the old man's pursuit. Eventually, they noticed the old man had stopped and was no longer following them. To gather more information, they looked around. Their spiritual senses were blocked, but they found a path in the forest with ancient-looking stone blocks on both sides. Reading the words, they understood despite not knowing the language; they were confused by the inscription that read “Heaven Suppressing Zone.”

  Now they had two choices: run back and face the old man or go forward. They chose the better option and moved ahead. As they walked down the mountain path, they soon found themselves in front of some ancient buildings. Before they could assess their situation, several armed men surrounded them, wielding weapons like swords, hammers, and axes.

  Before they could ask these men who they were, they heard clapping. Lin Chen stepped forward from behind the line of armed men, accompanied by the old man who had chased them. Walking up to them, he said, “Welcome back to my trap, Lu Xiaoran. This time I will make sure our enmity ends here.”

  Pov: Vik

  After flying straight to the Azure Mountain range, I arrived in a minute. I immediately moved towards the last known location of my disciple.

  Soon, I reached the mountain gate of the villages, which was marked “Azure Mountain Villages Sector 1-8.” Without wasting time assessing the situation, I moved deep into the mountains. When I reached the last known location of my disciple, I felt the environment suppressing spiritual energy, as if it wanted everyone to become mortal.

  I felt this suppression too; now I could only express strength comparable to the Nascent Soul realm, and it kept decreasing as I moved deeper into the mountains. I didn’t know anything about this suppression, but I kept going, sensing that I could still use my strange fire or some other tricks to utilize heavier techniques in this environment.

  Soon, I reached a mountain path where two stone blocks embedded on both sides read “Heaven Suppressing Zone.” I didn’t know that language, but I could still read it. Once I rescued my disciple, I would definitely research it further.

  After some distance, I came to what looked like an ancient village, where many armed men held swords, hammers, and axes. In the middle of them stood Lin Chen, holding a black sword. Both Lu Xiaoran and Roman were there too, injured and barely holding on, bound in chains. Seeing them in this condition, something inside me snapped, and I immediately attacked the crowd.

  Soon, all that could be heard were screams. The armed men, who had just moments ago held their weapons, were now running and screaming that a giant snake had attacked them.