Half of Chen Nan's clothes were stained black and red, the marks left by dried blood, and he reeked of blood. After several days on the run, he had lost count of how many fierce battles he had fought with his pursuers. From the beginning until now, he had killed more than a dozen high-level experts, a remarkable achievement, but he had also paid a price.
At this moment, he had no external injuries, but the series of battles had severely damaged his internal health. He had no time to recover; his pursuers could appear at any moment, and if things continued to deteriorate, Chen Nan's life would be in grave danger.
Although there was no evidence, through various clues and an instinctive intuition, Chen Nan had already concluded that these people were sent by Ling Yun.
"Ling Yun, you bastard, you're really vicious! To protect your reputation, you actually want to wipe out everyone who escaped from the desperate situation! Once I escape from here, I'll make sure you regret it!" Chen Nan cursed inwardly.
Then he thought of another possibility: what if Ling Yun tried to smear him? He was trapped in the mountains and had no way to defend himself. If Ling Yun wanted to slander and frame him, he could just make up whatever he wanted.
"Damn it, that bastard!" Chen Nan knew that Ling Yun would definitely make a big fuss about it, which really gave him a headache.
Now, what the other party wants most is to kill him, this thorn in their side, in the mountains to eliminate any future trouble.
Chen Nan stroked the cold blade, gritting his teeth, and said, "I'll let you be smug for now, but when I escape these mountains, I'll make you regret ever being born!"
Chen Nan tore at the roasted rabbit with all his might, swallowing it quickly. He didn't know when the enemy would appear in front of him, so he was extremely cautious even while eating.
"These bastards, with their hounds and falcons, they're a real headache!"
In fact, Chen Nan possessed the Divine Void Step technique, making him many times faster than those chasing him. However, due to the presence of his rigorously trained hunting dogs and falcons, those behind him were always able to accurately track his movements. No matter how far he fled, he could hardly shake off those behind him.
After his counterattack, he had killed several hounds, including the king dog, which became his meal, infuriating his pursuers. But he was helpless against the falcons flying high in the sky; he simply couldn't shake them off.
After having a wild game dinner, Chen Nan came to a stream in the forest to wash his face. Looking at his blood-stained reflection in the water, he sighed. He didn't want to cause trouble, but things always seemed to find him. If he managed to escape these mountains this time, he was destined to create a huge upheaval on the continent.
Nighttime is relatively safe for Chen Nan because the falcon cannot accurately track his movements, and those who are hunting him are unwilling to surround and capture him at night for fear of being ambushed by him.
As the sun sets, the evening glow paints half the sky red.
But as night fell, he could not avoid a bloody battle, for his pursuers had caught up again, and he could hear the distant barking of dogs.
Chen Nan frowned. In the upcoming battle, his internal injuries would likely worsen. He began preparing for the battle, carefully observing the surrounding terrain to make use of it during the bloody fight.
Finally, he set his sights on the stream, a smile playing on his lips. He took a knife in his right hand and a sword in his left, found a deep spot, and sank into the water.
A few minutes later, three imposing old men led dozens of people to the place where Chen Nan was barbecuing wild rabbits.
"He can't have gone far; the charcoal pile is still warm. This guy is very cunning; he might be hiding nearby. Everyone should be extra careful."
"A few falcons are still circling overhead; hmm, they should still be nearby."
Dozens of people immediately dispersed and began to search carefully in the vicinity of the mountains and forests. The three old men each guarded one side, and they also dispersed and mingled in the crowd to deal with any emergencies.
Although Chen Nan was submerged in the water, he could clearly sense the presence of the pursuers nearby. He was waiting; this time, he wanted to kill an old man with profound skills.
There were more than seventy people chasing him. Apart from the dozen or so he killed, there were still more than fifty left. Among these people, apart from the experts who had entered the advanced realm, the rest were not a threat to him. The three old men who led the group posed the greatest threat to him.
The three old men had all reached the third-order mastery realm, which was comparable to his own. Most of his internal injuries were inflicted during his fight with these three old men.
Finally, Chen Nan sensed that a highly skilled pursuer had arrived at the riverbank. Judging from his profound inner energy, he could tell that it was one of the three old men. However, it seemed that it was still a few meters away from the riverbank and not within his kill range.
Chen Nan suppressed his impulse and carefully concealed his aura, making sure his body did not release any spiritual or power fluctuations. He was waiting for the best opportunity to deliver a fatal blow!
However, the footsteps faded into the distance, much to Chen Nan's frustration. Just as he thought he had missed his chance, the old man turned back and said, "This place is not bad. If we can't find that guy, we'll camp here tonight."
Chen Nan sensed that the old man had reached the stream and seemed about to squat down to wash his face. He was so happy that he almost jumped up. He thought to himself: You chased me so hard that I had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Now you're actually sticking your head out so I can hit you. If I don't send you to the Western Paradise today, I'll really be letting you down!
The moment his opponent's hands were submerged in the water, Chen Nan burst forth from the deep water, surging out of the water like an angry dragon emerging from the sea. The long sword in his hand emitted a dazzling light as it charged towards the gray-robed old man.
The old man in the gray robe cried out in surprise. He had clearly not expected Chen Nan to be lying in ambush in the stream, and the sudden turn of events had startled him. But a master is a master. Although he knew it would be impossible to dodge that fierce attack, he instinctively crouched down and quickly retreated, while simultaneously thrusting his palms forward with tremendous force, unleashing a devastating palm strike.
Although the gray-robed old man reacted quickly, his hastily unleashed palm strike was too late. The blazing blade light had already penetrated his body first, and his subsequent palm strike became a death throes, surging towards Chen Nan with overwhelming force.
The people in the forest noticed this astonishing change, and dozens of figures rushed towards the scene, but by the time they got close, the battle was already over.
At this moment, Chen Nan had already landed on the shore. His left hand, holding a long sword, deflected the fierce palm strike from the old man, while the materialized blade light unleashed by his right hand, a long saber, pierced through the gray-robed old man's abdomen. Blood gushed out like a spring, and a mist of blood rose up.
Although he saw that everyone was already in front of him, Chen Nan did not back down. Instead, he strode forward and swung his long sword again. The sword light was like a rainbow that shocked the sky and stirred up a sound of wind and thunder. It smashed the gray-robed old man's body into pieces, and the fragments of his body were scattered everywhere. The people who rushed up dodged.
Two angry roars came from the forest, and an old man in black robes and an old man in blue robes rushed over as if they had gone mad.
"Chen Nan, I will tear you to pieces!"
The two old men attacked Chen Nan like angry lions.
"Hey, I'm not playing with you guys anymore." Chen Nan wielded a long saber in his right hand and a long sword in his left, unleashing a burst of saber and sword energy. The materialized sharpness shone like a comet streaking across the sky, its dazzling light illuminating every inch of space. The unparalleled aura surged violently, invincible and unstoppable!
The sound of countless weapons shattering echoed throughout the arena. Many people's weapons were shattered by the blade light and sword energy, and several experts who had not yet reached the required level were instantly pierced through.
However, experts at higher ranks were not so easy to deal with. Several people suddenly sprang up, blocking Chen Nan's path as if their lives depended on it, shouting, "Give me back my master's life!"
"Give me back my father my foot! Go join your dead master in becoming a ghost!" Chen Nan was truly enraged. He hadn't expected anyone to recklessly block his way. Two highly skilled old men were about to attack him from behind. If he couldn't quickly break through the obstruction of the people in front of him, his life would truly be in danger.
"Die!" Chen Nan slashed down with his longsword, the blade light shattering the air. The divine light-like blade energy shattered the spear in the hand of the man in front of him and tore off one of his arms. However, the man did not retreat at all and attacked him with his bare hands. Several other young men also raised their swords and attacked him fiercely.
Chen Nan felt a sense of powerlessness. These people were actually so tough, not like the villains in the legends who were afraid of death. This gave him a terrible headache.
With this obstruction, the palm strikes of the two old men attacking from behind had already reached Chen Nan's front.
"You bastard!" Chen Nan cursed angrily, but in the end he was still surrounded.
Sword energy crisscrossed, and saber energy trembled in the sky!
A great battle unfolded on the riverbank.
Meng Ke'er, dressed in flowing white robes, stood atop a tree, quietly observing the battle in the forest from afar. Her peerless face showed no emotion, and she seemed to have no intention of making a move.
As the sunset cast its glow, she seemed to be adorned with streaks of golden light, appearing incredibly holy. In the gentle breeze, the branches and leaves swayed, and Meng Ke'er seemed about to ride the wind and ascend to heaven.
Chen Nan was struggling to hold on; he was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally. The two old men were relentlessly pinning him down in the middle of the battle, and he felt an urge to curse. The two old men were attacking him viciously, as if they were fighting for their lives, a desperate, life-or-death struggle. With the assistance of several high-level experts, Chen Nan felt he couldn't even last half an incense stick's time.
"You two old perverts!" Chen Nan cursed. He knew that even though he possessed the Divine Void Step, he would not be able to escape from here without paying a certain price.
He gritted his teeth and shouted, "Big pervert, take this! Second pervert, take this! Sword!" He and the two men clashed head-on at the same time. The enormous impact sent his body flying sideways, blood gushing from his mouth. During this process, the other experts also attacked, their fierce energy surging towards him.
Chen Nan felt as if his internal organs were churning, and he was in excruciating pain. He endured the pain, gathered his strength, and flew over the heads of the crowd before crashing to the ground, wobbling.
The two old men chased after him like lightning the instant he landed on the ground. Chen Nan didn't even look at them, and swung his sword five times backward, unleashing a dazzling display of blade light. Then he ran downstream along the stream.
The old men in black and blue roared and unleashed several powerful palm strikes, shattering the surging sword energy. The palm strikes instantly flowed into Chen Nan's body.
Although the force of the palm strike was no longer as intense, Chen Nan still felt as if he had been hit by a hammer, and he spat out three more mouthfuls of blood. But his body shot forward like an arrow, and he dared not stop for a moment. He had to escape before he could hold on any longer.
The mountains and forests rushed past, and Chen Nan pushed the Divine Void Steps to their limit. He traversed mountains and valleys until he felt he could no longer run before stopping. At this moment, his legs were already numb and almost devoid of feeling. He could no longer stand and collapsed to the ground with a thud. Overwhelmed by pain and exhaustion, he immediately fainted.
He didn't know how much time had passed before Chen Nan finally woke up. He felt incredibly cold all over, as if he had been soaking in a puddle. A flash of lightning appeared in the darkness, followed by a deafening crack, which startled him so much that he immediately sat up.
At this moment, the world was covered in a curtain of water, lightning flashed and thunder roared in the sky, and torrential rain poured down. He was soaked to the bone, having been in the rain for an unknown amount of time.
Chen Nan was in excruciating pain all over his body. His severely injured body had no strength left, so he lay on his back in the mud and water, gathering his strength.
Although he was soaking wet and lying in the mud, Chen Nan felt somewhat fortunate that the rain had come just in time.
This time, he risked his life to kill a highly skilled old man, which would surely drive his pursuers into a frenzy; they would definitely hunt him down through the night. If it weren't for this heavy rain, they might have already found this place with the help of the hunting dogs. In his current weakened state, he would be no match for such a powerful enemy, so he was very grateful for this timely rain.
Chen Nan smiled bitterly, then cursed, "Damn it, I never thought I'd be in such a sorry state!" A few minutes later, he struggled to his feet and staggered toward a low hill in front of him.
He endured the pain and, after searching for half an hour, finally found a dry stone cave at the foot of the low hill. He stumbled and finally collapsed inside the cave.
Chen Nan knew he absolutely could not fall into a coma again. His severely injured body had just been soaked in rainwater, and if he didn't heal his wounds immediately, he would definitely fall seriously ill.
He forced himself to sit in meditation to heal his injuries. A misty vapor rose from his clothes, and once they dried, a faint golden light emanated from his body.
Inside the stone cave, light and mist swirled, and Chen Nan's face flickered between light and shadow. He endured the excruciating pain in his abdomen, repeatedly circulating his family's profound martial arts to repair his damaged internal organs.
It wasn't until dawn that Chen Nan finally stopped practicing and got up, letting out a long sigh. His severe internal injuries had healed somewhat, but a new day was about to begin, which also meant the pursuit would start again. If this vicious cycle continued, he would surely die!
However, as Chen Nan emerged from the dimly lit cave, he immediately burst into joyful laughter: "Haha, truly, heaven has not forsaken me!"
The heavy rain had long since stopped, but the forest was shrouded in white mist, making it difficult to discern anything within a 50-meter radius. A thick fog had risen in the mountains and forests.
Chen Nan was overjoyed. After last night's heavy rain, the scent he left on the road must have been completely washed away, making the hunting dogs useless. And now that the fog had risen again, the falcons would also have difficulty catching his trail.
After washing up at a mountain spring, he hunted a wild rabbit in the forest, dried some branches using his internal energy, and started grilling them.
As Chen Nan ate the wild game, he pondered. The mountain was shrouded in thick fog; it would take those people at least a day to find him.
He chuckled. If he had another day and night, he could recover at least 70-80% of his strength, at which point he could calmly deal with his pursuers.
Just as Chen Nan had predicted, the pursuers spent an entire day searching for him without finding any trace of him. The mountain forest was very damp after the rain, and all the searchers were soaked, but they did not find any valuable clues.
Chen Nan continued to practice his internal energy in the stone cave, healing his severely injured body. By evening, his injuries had mostly healed, and he believed that after another night, his body would be 80% recovered.
Chen Nan gnawed on the cold rabbit leg, a cold smile appearing on his lips, his eyes shooting out two beams of cold light.
"I will make you pay a terrible price. Once I've fully recovered, none of you will be able to leave these mountains!"
He had already killed more than a dozen of the high-level pursuers, half of them, and one of the three highly skilled elders had also been killed. The remaining pursuers, those not yet at a high level, were not a threat to him. Chen Nan decided that once he recovered, he would launch a furious counterattack and wipe them all out in the mountains.
At dawn, Chen Nan awoke from his meditation. His injuries had indeed healed by 80%, and now he was confident he could fight even if surrounded by enemies.
Just then, the sound of barking dogs came from afar; the other side was finally about to find this place.
Chen Nan emerged from the cave, glanced at the gloomy sky, and then laughed. Heaven was truly on his side; it was still drizzling, and although the rain wasn't heavy, it was definitely making the enemy's search operation much more difficult.
He crossed the low hills and ran deep into the mountains, covering a distance of over a hundred miles before stopping. He decided to temporarily evade his pursuers until he was fully recovered.
There are many ancient caves in the mountains. Chen Nan found a secluded cave to continue meditating and regulating his breathing. When he opened his eyes in the afternoon, his injuries had almost healed.
Just then, the barking of dogs reached his ears again. He stepped out of the cave, looked at the gray sky, and sighed, "God, I love you so much! If it weren't for you buying me precious time to heal, I definitely wouldn't have survived this dangerous situation."
Although the barking grew closer, Chen Nan remained calm. He sat at the cave entrance, gazing at the distant forest. The barking, though loud, didn't continue moving in his direction, but instead lingered about a mile away.
Chen Nan couldn't help but chuckle. The drizzling rain was really cute; it had even made the dog's nose go blank.
Soon it grew dark, and the pursuers set up tents in the mountains and began to cook.
A cruel smile crept across Chen Nan's lips. He glanced at the sky and said coldly, "The weather's really nice tonight!"
Brothers,