"Chase him!!!"
"Don't lose sight of him!!"
"But… don't you think his footwork is a little too fast?"
Derek's people shouted one after another as they rushed through the streets, their voices echoing between buildings. Dust rose beneath their feet as they sprinted with all their strength, their expressions filled with urgency and frustration. None of them dared to slow down. None of them dared to stop.
From the very beginning, they had believed that this chase would be easy.
After all, Ethan was only at the same cultivation level as them. He had just finished dealing with a series of troubles. He had not eaten. He had no backing, no support, and no resources. How fast could he possibly run?
Yet reality quickly slapped them in the face.
At first, they maintained a calm rhythm, confident that they would close the distance soon. Ethan was visible ahead of them, weaving through the crowded streets of Phoenix Feather City. He did not run in a straight line. Instead, his movements were erratic and unpredictable.
Sometimes he rushed toward the west, disappearing into narrow alleys. Sometimes he abruptly turned east, blending into busy streets filled with stalls and pedestrians. At other times, he dashed north, then suddenly reversed direction and sprinted south.
The pursuers began to feel uneasy.
"This bastard… what exactly is he trying to do?" one of them muttered while panting.
They could not understand Ethan's intention. He did not appear to be heading toward any specific destination. Instead, he seemed to be deliberately confusing them, forcing them to constantly adjust their direction and waste energy.
But even so, they gritted their teeth and continued.
They had to.
Losing Ethan was not an option.
They all knew what would happen if they failed. Young Master Sirius might have ordered them to "protect" Ethan, but in reality, their task was far more complicated. They were supposed to keep constant watch over him. If Ethan disappeared under their watch, no explanation would save them.
As time passed, an uncomfortable truth slowly surfaced.
The distance between them and Ethan was not shrinking.
It was widening.
At first, they dismissed it as an illusion. Perhaps their exhaustion was affecting their perception. Perhaps Ethan had used some shortcut. But after another stretch of running, they could no longer deny it.
"Damn it…" one of them cursed under his breath. "How much stamina does this guy have?"
Sweat streamed down their faces. Their breathing grew heavier with every step. Their legs burned as if filled with molten iron. Even as cultivators, even with inner energy reinforcing their bodies, stamina was not infinite.
Another pursuer clenched his teeth and shouted, "Don't lose him! If we fail, Young Master Sirius will skin us alive!"
Fear pushed them forward.
But fear alone could not overcome reality.
They had been running for three full hours.
Three hours of relentless pursuit.
Three hours of constant direction changes.
Three hours of draining both physical stamina and inner energy.
Their pace gradually slowed. Their breathing became ragged and uneven. Some of them felt their vision blur at the edges. Their legs trembled with every step.
And yet, when they looked ahead—
Ethan showed no signs of slowing down.
His breathing remained steady. His steps were light and controlled. His speed did not waver in the slightest. It was as if exhaustion simply did not exist for him.
What they did not know was that Ethan's body was fundamentally different from theirs.
Because of the System, every one of Ethan's basic attributes—strength, stamina, agility—had been repeatedly refined and upgraded. While his cultivation level appeared ordinary, his foundation was anything but. Among cultivators at the same realm, his physical parameters were on an entirely different level.
They were chasing someone whose endurance far surpassed their own.
When Ethan sensed the change behind him, a faint smile appeared on his face.
He could tell.
Their footsteps had grown heavier.
Their breathing had become chaotic.
Their pursuit was no longer precise—it was desperate.
"This should be enough," Ethan thought calmly.
In the next instant, he increased his pace.
Not gradually.
Instantly.
His muscles surged with power. His stamina, agility, and strength erupted in unison. The ground beneath his feet cracked slightly as he pushed off with explosive force.
Boom!
A dull sonic burst echoed through the street.
Before the pursuers could even process what had happened, Ethan's figure blurred—and vanished.
"W-What the hell?!" one of them shouted.
They skidded to a halt, staring ahead in disbelief. Their eyes darted around frantically, searching for any trace of him.
Nothing.
No shadow.
No movement.
No lingering presence.
It was as if Ethan had never been there at all.
Silence fell upon the group.
Their minds went blank.
They exchanged looks, each face mirroring the same shock, disbelief, and fear.
"He… disappeared," someone whispered hoarsely.
Panic set in.
They scattered in all directions, desperately searching the streets, alleys, rooftops—anywhere he could have gone. But no matter how hard they searched, Ethan was nowhere to be found.
What they did not know was that Ethan was no longer in Phoenix Feather City.
At that moment, Ethan had already crossed its southern boundary.
His only concern now was simple.
He was hungry.
And he needed a place where no one would bother searching for him.
That place was Blissful Village.
Blissful Village lay south of Phoenix Feather City. Unlike the bustling city, this place was quiet, isolated, and forgotten. It was a land inhabited entirely by mortals—people with no cultivation, no power, and no ambition beyond survival.
In the cruel cultivation world, such a place should not exist.
Yet it did.
Cultivators rarely stepped foot here. To them, Blissful Village was meaningless—a waste of time and resources.
Ethan entered the outskirts of the village unknowingly. He slowed his pace and looked around, confusion flickering in his eyes. The atmosphere here was different. Too calm. Too silent.
"How strange…" he murmured.
He had no knowledge of this village's background. He only knew that his pursuers would never think to look here.
As he stepped closer to the village's entrance, his surroundings abruptly changed.
An invisible pressure descended upon him.
Ethan's body froze.
His legs refused to move. His breath caught in his throat.
The world before his eyes twisted.
What had once been old, broken houses suddenly transformed into towering, ruined structures—ancient and majestic, yet utterly destroyed. The land was soaked in blood. Rivers of crimson stretched as far as the eye could see.
The blood did not belong to mortals.
It belonged to cultivators.
Millions of them.
The sky turned blood-red. There was no sun. No moon. Only an endless crimson void.
Then—
A pair of eyes appeared.
Vast.
Ancient.
Terrifying.
Each pupil seemed to contain an entire galaxy. Countless stars revolved within them, radiating an indescribable pressure. Nothing in existence could escape their gaze.
Ethan felt it instantly.
That pressure was the source of everything.
The eyes shifted.
They looked at him.
The moment their gaze locked onto Ethan, the pressure multiplied.
His spirit screamed.
Pain exploded within his mind. Blood streamed from his eyes, nose, and mouth. His soul felt as if it were being torn apart piece by piece.
"AAAARGHHHH!!!"
Ethan collapsed to his knees, clutching his head. His thoughts shattered. His will faltered. Every instinct screamed at him to submit—to surrender—to disappear.
He wanted to endure.
He wanted to resist like the protagonists he had once read about.
But willpower had never been his strength.
"Is this… where my journey ends?" he thought bitterly.
His body gave out.
Ethan collapsed onto the ground.
His vision darkened.
As consciousness slipped away, one thought lingered faintly in his heart—
He would never wake up again.
And with that, everything fell into silence.