It was getting darker and darker. Lu Li ran for his life in the mountain. However, it was getting harder and harder for him to see or to run. He fell into ravines many times.
It was the same for Zhao Rui and his warriors. Lu Li was just one man, but his opponents were six or seven, which was favorable for Lu Li.
Zhao Rui, who was chasing Lu Li, also realized this matter. He had lived a comfortable life, but the mountain trail was difficult to travel. He had a few scratches from thistles and thorns, and bruises from falling down. He was quite miserable.
Zhao Rui thought about it and said, "Uncle Scar, we cannot catch up with him like this. Maybe you can go after him by yourself and kill this b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Uncle Scar raised his thick eyebrows and shook his head. "No way. My job is to protect you, and I cannot leave you alone for a single moment. This is the Frigid Cloud Mountain. What if a powerful Xuan Beast shows up?"
Zhao Rui did not care about it. "It is because this is the Frigid Cloud Mountain that there will be no danger. How many defense lines have the powerful warriors of all the families formed? That little b.a.s.t.a.r.d has not made it far. If you run at the top of your speed, you can finish him soon. We will wait for you here and will not wander off."
Uncle Scar still hesitated. What he cared about was not if he could kill Lu Li, but rather the safety of Zhao Rui. Seeing this, Zhao Rui became agitated and his face darkened. "This time, I have come to hunt down Lu Li. It is known among the young masters of several families. If we were to let Lu Li get away and make it back to the county, what about my reputation? It will also affect the prestige and the authority of the Zhao Family. Uncle Scar, I"m begging you."
"Alright…"
Uncle Scar sighed. He told Zhao Rui repeatedly to wait for him here and to go nowhere else. Then he used Xuan Energy to help him ran along as fast as he could.
Even though Uncle Scar and Zhao Rui were both at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, their fighting capacities varied greatly. Uncle Scar ran wildly in the mountains and leaped on like a huge ape. He never fell down into the ravines because he could remain steady.
He followed the direction that Lu Li fled to, so Lu Li"s tracks were easily discovered. He was twice as fast as Lu Li. After only an hour and a half, he could faintly hear the noise of Lu Li running in front of him.
"Where do you want to go, little b.a.s.t.a.r.d?"
Uncle Scar shouted and got a bit faster. The face of Lu Li who was ahead of him changed in an instant as he heard the shouting. The only warriors that could catch up with him were the ones of the Spirit Sea Realm.
Spirit Sea Realm!
Warriors at the Xuan Wu Realm must open up 12 energy channels before they could condense Spirit Sea. Of a million Xuan Wu Realm warriors, only less than 1000 could successfully condense a Spirit Sea. So one could imagine how difficult it was.
Once Spirit Sea was condensed, the power of the warrior would be elevated by folds. That was because Spirit Sea was very miraculous in that it could store a large quant.i.ty of Xuan Energy. The Xuan Energy cultivated by Lu Li now could only be stored in his energy channels. And how much Xuan Energy could be stored just in energy channels anyways? Also, the Xuan Energy stored in energy channels would easily spread into flesh and blood.
It was different for Spirit Sea!
Once Spirit Sea was there, the warrior could store 10 times more Xuan Energy, or even hundreds or thousands of times more. More importantly—Xuan Energy would get refined in the Spirit Sea, getting more condensed and more powerful.
There was an old saying around the Northern Desert that higher realms meant a world of difference. Warriors at a realm one level higher could easily deal with more than 100 warriors of the lower level. If everything was right, there could not be a warrior of the lower realm challenging one of a higher realm.
Since Lu Li had supernatural strength, in this regard, he was not weaker than warriors at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, maybe even stronger. The problem was that fighting capacity was not only about strength, but also about speed, reactions, Xuan Skills, fighting experience and other factors.
Lu Li"s heart sank. Hearing the noise behind him, sensing the strong qi and energy coming off from Uncle Scar, he became desperate.
"I cannot give up now. Even if I will die, I cannot quit. If I died, my sister would not live on by herself dishonorably."
At that critical moment, Lu Li thought about Lu Ling. Somehow, he started to calm down. He thought hard and tried to figure out a way to face his enemies.
There being no Xuan Beasts nearby made Little White not much of a help at the moment. Nor were there people over there, so Lu Li could not count on someone being his reinforcement. After some consideration, Lu Li realized that he could only rely on himself.
"Fight!"
Lu Li made up his mind and stopped running. He put his bundle aside, took a few deep breaths, and waited for his enemy to approach with the Heaven Kylin Sword in one hand and the Death Seeking Crossbow in the other.
Since he could not escape now, he might just as well fight with all his efforts. Maybe there was a slim chance that he would survive.
"Squeak~"
Little White stuck out its head out of the bundle. Lu Li looked at it and said with all seriousness, "Little White, I am about to fight against a powerful enemy. Later, if I die, you leave right away. If we could meet in another life, I would find you the most delicious food in the world."
"Squeak, squeak~"
Little White seemed to be anxious. A shadow of a man moved towards Lu Li fast. He could no longer attend to Little White now. Lu Li jumped onto a big boulder with the sword ready, waiting quietly.
"Swis.h.!.+"
Uncle Scar stood there about 30 feet away from Lu Li. Uncle Scar glanced over and was sure that there was no ambush. He coldly smiled, and the scar on his face twisted, giving him a formidable look. He asked in a deep voice, "Why did you stop running? Kid, I thought you were quite good at running away."
Lu Li was very calm at this moment. Maybe it was because he knew that he was going to die, so he was ready to risk everything. He answered in a same manner, "You are at the Spirit Sea Realm, and I am at the Xuan Wu Realm. You are more than a decade older than me. How can I escape? Are all the people of the Zhao Family shameless like you? Can"t Zhao Rui just come and fight me himself?"
Lu Ling had told Lu Li to be wise and not use brute force only. Therefore, Lu Li wanted to see where provocation would get him. In the old days when he fought against beasts, he had tried this. When the beasts were enraged, Lu Li could easily spot their weaknesses and kill them.
That being said, he was too green-handed. The corner of Uncle Scar"s mouth twisted a bit, but he was not affected. Instead, he mockingly said, "Kid, I joined the Zhao Family when I was 13, and I have lived my life fighting for more than 20 years. This little trick of yours, you can forget about it. Do you want to go back with me to Young Master Rui, or do you want me to carry your body back?"
"Go back with you?" Lu Li frowned, and there was a trace of hope. "If I go back with you to Young Master Rui, can I live?"
"I don"t know!" Uncle Scar said with a straight face, "But if you don"t go with me, you must die now. It"s your choice."
Lu Li considered it for a bit and once again asked, gritting his teeth, "Now, I am only a Guest Warrior at the Liu Family. If… I were to leave the Liu Family and join the Zhao Family, will you spare me a life?"
"I don"t know!" Lu Li again got these three cold words as his answer. Uncle Scar paused for a bit and added, "Whether you are going to live or die is totally dependent on what Young Master Rui feels."
Lu Li sunk into silence again. When Uncle Scar got impatient, Lu Li nodded and he seemed determined. "Okay, I will go with you to meet Young Master Rui. You are at the Spirit Sea Realm, so I will most a.s.suredly die if I fight you."
Lu Li jumped off the boulder, picked up his bundle and put the Heaven Kylin Sword into the band on his back. Then he walked towards Uncle Scar, looking down in the dumps.
"You are sensible enough."
Uncle Scar sneered and ridiculed Lu Li, "You want to win against me? One move and I can end you. Go in front of me. Don"t try anything. Or else don"t blame me for being ruthless."
"Really?"
Right at that moment, Lu Li lifted up his head and threw the bundle at Uncle Scar hard. He released the Death Seeking Crossbow arrow that was hidden in his sleeve. Then he reached to his back and grabbed the Heaven Kylin Sword. Lu Li mobilized his Xuan Energy and used all his efforts to chop at Uncle Scar.
Lu Li never thought about giving up. Di Ba was a Patriarch of the Zhao Family, and Lu Li had killed more than a dozen people of the Zhao Family, so how could the Zhao Family tolerate him?
The only way for him to live now was to kill this man with a scar on his face!