The night after the outpost massacre was unnaturally still.
No insects.
No wind.
Liang Feng felt it before Master Shen spoke—the pressure crawling across his skin, subtle but absolute. The kind of presence that did not rush.
It arrived.
"We're being tracked," Master Shen said quietly, eyes scanning the darkness. "And not by scouts."
Liang Feng's Blood Qi stirred, coiling tighter around his heart.
"I know," he replied. "He's close."
The forest ahead bent slightly—as if reality itself bowed.
A figure stepped out from between the trees.
Luo Zhen.
His crimson armor was cleaner than before, freshly engraved with new war sigils that pulsed faintly with restrained power. His expression was calm, almost amused.
"You slaughtered my outpost," Luo Zhen said, voice even. "Efficiently."
Liang Feng did not answer.
"You refined Blood Qi," Luo Zhen continued, walking forward casually. "True circulation. Ancient. Dangerous."
He stopped ten paces away.
"And now you stand before me with a half-broken body and borrowed techniques."
The pressure exploded.
Liang Feng felt his bones scream as gravity multiplied. Blood leaked from his eyes, ears, nose—but he stayed standing.
Master Shen stepped forward, staff blazing.
Luo Zhen's gaze snapped to him.
"One step more," Luo Zhen said coldly, "and I erase you."
Master Shen froze.
Liang Feng took a step forward instead.
"You came to kill me," Liang Feng said. "So stop talking."
Luo Zhen smiled.
The forest vanished.
Not metaphorically.
The trees collapsed inward, crushed into splinters as Luo Zhen flicked his wrist. Liang Feng was hurled backward, smashing through stone, skidding across earth, body tearing itself apart just to stay intact.
He coughed blood—dark, thick, heavy.
"Run," Master Shen roared. "Now!"
Liang Feng didn't hesitate.
He turned and fled.
Not blindly.
Strategically.
Blood Qi surged through his legs, compressing, reinforcing, tearing muscle apart and rebuilding it mid-stride. He moved faster than sound, terrain shattering beneath his feet.
Behind him—
The world screamed.
Luo Zhen pursued without urgency, each step covering dozens of meters. Mountains cracked. Valleys folded. His presence alone distorted space.
"You cannot escape a warlord," Luo Zhen called out calmly. "But entertain me."
Liang Feng veered sharply into a ravine filled with corpses—an old battlefield.
Perfect.
The moment his feet touched blood-soaked ground, the Blood Qi answered.
He slammed his palms into the earth.
The battlefield awakened.
Blood erupted upward like spears, forming writhing constructs that lashed at Luo Zhen from every direction. The air filled with screams of the dead as residual will was dragged into motion.
Luo Zhen halted.
He raised one hand.
Everything froze.
Then shattered.
The blood constructs imploded, collapsing into mist. Luo Zhen stepped through unharmed.
"Clever," he admitted. "Still insufficient."
He appeared in front of Liang Feng instantly.
A fist struck.
Liang Feng crossed his arms just in time.
Impact.
The shockwave flattened the ravine, pulverizing rock into dust. Liang Feng was driven into the ground, bones snapping, organs rupturing.
He screamed—not in pain—
In rage.
Blood Qi detonated inward, not outward.
His heart thundered.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Crack.
Something broke.
Not bone.
A barrier.
Liang Feng's aura collapsed inward violently, compressing until it felt like his body would implode.
Then it expanded.
Controlled.
Dense.
Terrifying.
Luo Zhen's eyes widened slightly.
"A breakthrough," he said. "Mid-combat?"
Liang Feng rose from the crater slowly, blood streaming down his face, eyes burning.
"I told you," Liang Feng growled. "Stop talking."
He moved.
This time—
Luo Zhen felt it.
Their fists collided.
The impact split the ravine in half.
Liang Feng was still weaker—but not helpless.
Blood Qi wrapped around Luo Zhen's arm like chains, biting into armor, draining essence. Luo Zhen tore free instantly, but a faint crack remained on his gauntlet.
He looked at it.
Then laughed.
"Good," Luo Zhen said. "Very good."
He raised his hand.
The sky darkened.
A massive war sigil formed overhead, pulsing with annihilating force.
"This ends now."
Master Shen screamed Liang Feng's name.
Liang Feng felt death descending.
So he made a decision.
He turned—
And detonated his Blood Qi outward in a single violent burst—not to attack, but to blind.
The battlefield vanished under a crimson storm.
When it cleared—
Liang Feng was gone.
Miles away, Liang Feng collapsed into a river, body torn, barely conscious, Blood Qi barely holding him together.
Behind him, Luo Zhen stood amid devastation, cloak fluttering.
He touched the cracked gauntlet again.
His smile faded.
"Run," he murmured. "Grow."
His eyes turned cold.
"Because next time… I will not let you escape."
The hunt had begun.
And Liang Feng had crossed a line—
There would be no mercy left for him in this world.