....
The waters of the lake shattered behind Jiji, erupting as if exploding beneath his feet. He ran across the surface as though the ground below were aflame. The aura radiating from the Bloodheart Flower in his grasp was enough to draw the gaze of every living being.. and even dead ones.. within hundreds of meters.
"Stop him! Don't let him escape!" shouted the short cultivator, unleashing dozens of spirit arrows laced with deadly poison qi. They shot toward Jiji like the fangs of the night.
But Jiji didn't look back.
With a swift motion, he swung his arm, releasing a wave of crimson flame from his palm that consumed the arrows mid-air, leaving nothing behind.
"How is this possible?!" gasped one of the cultivators. "Impossible! There's no way that's the power of a fourth-layer Qi Condensation novice!"
At that moment, the demonic serpent tore through the sky with a thunderous roar. Its massive body rose entirely from the lake, flying unnaturally, propelled by a surge of dark qi. Its red eyes locked onto one target.. the Bloodheart Flower.
Still, Jiji did not stop. The far shore was nearing, solid ground promising relative safety.
Yet Jiji did not stop.
His feet barely touched land before he collapsed to his knees, breathing heavily, his grip on the flower fierce and unrelenting.
He kept running without glancing back, clutching the Bloodheart Flower like the most precious treasure in the world. His breaths were labored, but he didn't stop. Behind him, explosions and splashes echoed from the serpent tearing through the lake, thundering after him like a hammer of wrath.
He entered the forest, weaving through black trees whose twisted branches seemed to reach for him. The place was dim, sunlight barely piercing through, but Jiji didn't care.
The serpent roared behind him, its enormous body smashing trees like twigs. It had no intention of stopping. The Bloodheart Flower was more precious than life itself.
Moments later, two sonic booms pierced the forest.. the two cursed cultivators had arrived. Their expressions were fierce, eyes filled with murderous intent.
"He won't get far!" one of them spat.
"Let him run. No one steals from us and lives to tell it!" the other replied, casting a qi-tracking spell.
But Jiji, despite his modest strength, knew speed alone wouldn't save him. He had to use the forest.. or anything else.
Suddenly, he stopped for a moment and turned his head. No time. He dove sideways into the hollow of an ancient tree, holding his breath in the darkness.. At that moment, the ground trembled.
The demonic serpent had arrived, slithering madly in pursuit of the thief who had stolen its treasure..
Inside the hollow trunk, Jiji sat cross-legged, drenched in sweat as if boiling from within.
The Bloodheart Flower.. the cursed plant he had swallowed.. was flooding his body with volcanic energy. It was a strange power, filled with malice and aggression, unlike any natural qi he had sensed before.
His teeth chattered from the heat, his body trembled from within as if firestorms raged in his gut. Breathing was hard; it felt as though his stomach was melting in hellfire.
But Jiji didn't surrender to the pain. He closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing.
He slowly guided the wild qi from the Bloodheart Flower toward his dantian, trying to purify it, calm it, and take control.
With every second, his body began to transform.
His muscles quivered, veins bulged, his eyes twitched behind closed lids.
He was in a battle for life.. not against the demonic serpent, but against the devouring force of the flower trying to consume him from the inside.
Outside, the serpent's roars shook the forest.
Footsteps of the cultivators drew nearer, furious and merciless.
A violent storm of qi raged within Jiji's dantian, like a fiery tempest sweeping through his inner world. His dantian expanded and contracted, trying to adapt to the immense energy surging from the Bloodheart Flower.
Fifth layer of Qi Condensation!
But it didn't stop there...
Peak of the fifth layer!
Jiji's heart pounded, his blood boiling like magma. His entire body trembled as if every organ was being reforged anew.
Sixth layer of Qi Condensation!
His eyelids clenched tighter, breath growing so faint he seemed almost lifeless.
Peak of the sixth layer!
He felt like his body was about to explode, every cell screaming in agony. Pain beyond comprehension.. as if a mere insect were trying to withstand the ignition of a miniature sun inside its body.
Yet amid the torment, he slipped into deep meditation.. his inner awareness flung wide open as he began to reconstruct his shattered dantian, harmonizing with the invading energy.
Outside..
The demonic serpent rampaged through the forest, leveling everything in its path. Its forked tongue flicked through the air, tasting for the faintest scent of Jiji.
The two cultivators had split up, each searching in different directions, kicking stones, ripping through branches, casting spirit-tracing spells.
One gritted his teeth and growled,
"He couldn't have vanished.. He must be nearby!"
The other replied darkly,
"We won't leave this forest until we find his corpse.. even if it burns our souls."
BOOM!!
The demonic serpent could no longer hold back and attacked them instead.
••••
End of Chapter