# Chapter 31: Three Bounty Hunters
The enhanced spiritual perception provided by his newly acquired Authority Recognition Technique revealed details about the three infiltrators that transformed his understanding of the threat they represented. What he had initially assumed to be advance scouts for a major power were actually something far more focused and potentially more dangerous: professional bounty hunters operating with the kind of precision that suggested a specific, high-value target.
ENHANCED PERCEPTION ANALYSIS:
Target 1:Gold - Low cultivation, specialized in tracking and surveillance
Target 2:Gold - Mid cultivation, combat specialist with assassination techniques
Target 3:Gold - High cultivation, leader with authority coordination abilities
Movement Pattern:Systematic search rather than territorial reconnaissance
Equipment:Professional hunter gear, not military reconnaissance tools
Objective:Individual target acquisition, not strategic intelligence gathering
The realization that Radiant City faced bounty hunters rather than factional operatives was both reassuring and terrifying. Reassuring because it meant no major power was planning immediate assault on the city's defenses. Terrifying because professional hunters operating at Gold-level cultivation represented threats that could eliminate most targets regardless of local protection or political sanctuary.
But who in Radiant City warranted the attention of such sophisticated professionals?
His new Purification Blade responded to his spiritual energy circulation with sensitivity that made his enhanced perception feel like a natural extension of his consciousness rather than an acquired technique. Through this expanded awareness, he could track the hunters' progress through the city's lower districts while analyzing their search patterns for clues about their intended target.
HUNTER SEARCH PATTERN ANALYSIS:
Primary Focus:Recent arrivals to Radiant City *(Past 3 months)*
Secondary Interest:Individuals with unusual advancement rates
Tertiary Markers:Fugitive status from major factional territories*
Search Methodology:Professional intelligence gathering, local informant cultivation
The search parameters sent ice through his veins. Recent arrival, unusual advancement rate, fugitive status from major territories—every criterion matched his own profile with uncomfortable precision.
HIDDEN INTERFACE: THREAT ASSESSMENT UPDATE
PROBABILITY OF PERSONAL TARGET STATUS:87%
LIKELY SOURCE:Blood Iron Tribe retribution for escape/trial avoidance
HUNTER CAPABILITY:Sufficient for elimination of Azure Bronze targets
RECOMMENDED RESPONSE:Immediate extraction or direct confrontation
The Blood Iron Tribe's resources apparently extended beyond their territorial boundaries. His dramatic escape from the Trial of Absolute Truth had clearly been interpreted as an insult requiring professional response, and they had hired bounty hunters capable of operating in neutral territory where tribal authority held no sway.
But running would mean abandoning everything he had built in Radiant City—his sect membership, his growing reputation, his integration into human cultivation society, and most importantly, the stable environment that had allowed his Lord of Greed heritage to develop without constant exposure risks.
The alternative was direct confrontation against three Gold-level professionals using terrain and tactics of his choosing rather than allowing them to dictate the engagement parameters.
His Gaming Prodigy talent immediately began analyzing tactical options while his divine heritage whispered of advancement opportunities hidden within seemingly impossible challenges.
TACTICAL ASSESSMENT: DIRECT CONFRONTATION
Advantages:Terrain familiarity, surprise initiative, enhanced equipment, divine heritage
Disadvantages:Cultivation tier gap (3 full levels), numerical inferiority, professional expertise
Success Probability:23% through conventional engagement
Success Probability:74% through divine authority application
Risk of Exposure:Moderate to high depending on manifestation level
The mathematics were stark. Conventional engagement would likely result in his elimination despite superior equipment and terrain advantages. But controlled application of his Lord of Greed heritage could shift the probability dramatically in his favor—at the cost of revealing capabilities that would raise exactly the kind of questions he had spent months avoiding.
But as he tracked the hunters' continued progress through the city, a third option emerged from his analysis of their operational patterns.
Professional bounty hunters operated by specific protocols designed to minimize collateral damage and political complications. They would avoid direct confrontation in populated areas, preferring to isolate their target in circumstances that allowed clean elimination without attracting attention from local authorities.
Which meant they would eventually attempt to lure him into a location of their choosing—creating an opportunity to reverse the trap while maintaining the appearance of responding to their initiative rather than hunting them proactively.
STRATEGIC DECISION: CONTROLLED ENGAGEMENT
Phase 1:Allow hunters to establish surveillance and preparation
Phase 2:Appear to respond to their lure while actually controlling engagement location
Phase 3:Eliminate threats using maximum necessary force while maintaining concealment
The plan required patience and precise timing, but it offered the best balance between tactical effectiveness and maintaining his carefully constructed identity.
SURVEILLANCE COUNTER-MEASURES:
Over the next eighteen hours, Xìng Huáng maintained his normal sect activities while using his enhanced perception to monitor the hunters' intelligence gathering efforts. Their professionalism was impressive—they had identified his quarters, his daily routine, his social connections, and his mission history within a single day of infiltration.
More concerning was their accuracy. The intelligence they gathered matched his actual capabilities and background with precision that suggested access to sources beyond casual observation.
HUNTER INTELLIGENCE ASSESSMENT:
Personal Details:95% accurate *(Blood Iron Tribe provided extensive dossier)*
Cultivation Assessment:Azure Bronze - Mid confirmed
Combat Capabilities:Purification specialist, rapid advancement, exceptional tactical ability
Social Integration:Full sect member, strategic intelligence contributor, broad city connections
But their intelligence also revealed a crucial gap: they had no information about his divine heritage or the true source of his unusual capabilities. Their assessment classified him as an exceptionally talented but ultimately mortal cultivator whose elimination would require professional competence rather than specialized techniques.
That misunderstanding would provide his tactical advantage.
THE LURE:
The hunters' approach came through an intermediary—a junior sect member who approached him during evening meditation with urgent news about a corrupted outbreak in the city's industrial district that required immediate purification specialist attention.
"Master Liu specifically requested you for this assignment," the messenger explained. "The corruption is resistant to standard techniques and spreading rapidly. Time is critical."
The request was plausible, professionally delivered, and perfectly designed to isolate him in an area where Gold-level hunters could operate without civilian interference.
"Tell Master Liu I'll respond immediately," Xìng Huáng replied, while privately noting that his Authority Recognition Technique detected subtle spiritual influence in the messenger's delivery—evidence of mental manipulation that confirmed the trap's artificial nature.
PREPARATION FOR ENGAGEMENT:
The industrial district's layout provided multiple tactical advantages for someone familiar with its geography. Abandoned cultivation workshops created spaces large enough for serious combat while remaining isolated from civilian areas. Most importantly, several locations contained formation arrays that could be activated by authorized sect members for emergency purification operations.
His comprehensive equipment upgrades had included detailed study of the district's infrastructure, and his new techniques provided options for environmental control that the hunters' intelligence wouldn't have anticipated.
ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGES:
Spiritual Domain Projection:Control zones preventing escape or reinforcement
Multi-Layer Purification Array:Area denial through hostile spiritual environment
Environmental Harmonization:Convert industrial hazards into tactical weapons
Authority Recognition:Perfect perception of opponent capabilities and positions
As he approached the specified location—a former alchemical processing facility that had been abandoned after merger-related contamination—his enhanced perception confirmed all three hunters were in position. Their deployment was professionally executed, with overlapping fields of fire and prepared escape routes.
But they had positioned themselves to hunt an Azure Bronze cultivator using conventional tactics.
They were about to discover that some prey possessed capabilities that transcended normal cultivation parameters.
The abandoned facility's main chamber contained the residual spiritual arrays from its original alchemical operations, now dormant but still functional for someone with sufficient understanding of formation principles.
As Xìng Huáng entered the chamber, the three hunters emerged from concealment with coordinated precision that spoke to extensive partnership experience.
"Blood Seeker Xìng Huáng," the leader announced, his Gold - High spiritual pressure filling the space with crushing authority. "You are charged with crimes against the Blood Iron Tribe. Surrender now, and your death will be swift."
"I recognize no authority from powers who judge earned advancement with suspicion," Xìng Huáng replied, his Purification Blade materializing in his hand while his Lord of Greed heritage stirred to wakefulness.
"Then you die as a fugitive," the hunter declared, signaling his companions to begin their coordinated assault.
The battle that followed would determine whether his careful balance between advancement and concealment could survive contact with professional killers who possessed every advantage except understanding of what they truly faced.
Three bounty hunters had come to collect a prize from the Blood Iron Tribe.
Instead, they were about to provide a Lord of Greed with exactly the kind of worthy opposition that enabled divine advancement through triumph over seemingly impossible odds.