Chapter 54: Tian He's Encounter
Tian He approached the head.
Liu Guan Tao had a fearful and shocked expression in death, his eyes opened wide and his mouth hanging open.
A small spider went in and out of it while maggots and larvaes could be seen wriggling in the wound of his neck and his eyes.
"The head was left there like a trophy or a warning, the killer wanted to catch my attention. It seems he's trying to lead me somewhere heheh, he doesn't know who he's facing!"
Tian He inspected the scene but didn't need much attention, near the head were clear footsteps and drops of blood leading to a direction.
Following the lead, Tian He wasn't the least bit afraid. From what he knew, the culprit was either a mortal or at best a Qi Gathering realm cultivator else he wouldn't need to attract Liu Guan Tao and the others here but could easily slaughter them in the city.
Of course there was the suspicion of accomplices but Tian He didn't worry.
He was one of the best among the Liu clan and Liu Hao being so assertive about sending him wasn't for nothing.
Among cultivators, individual strenght primed over the rest. Tian He was strong enough to deal with a group of regular Foundation Establishment experts without too much problem or at worst escape.
Even if he was faced against a small clan patriarch he was confident he would survive.
As he advanced, he found the remains of another corpse several hundreds of meters further.
Tian He didn't know he was looking at what was left of Liu Jiali's body. Beside blood, bones and pieces of flesh, only her legs retained their shape.
He didn't stop for long and continued while on his way he would meet the corpses of each members displayed on his path one by one until he bypassed the first mountain. Some were partially devored by wolf and other animals when he arrived but he could still recognize most of them, only Liu Hong was missing.
"What, now?" Tian He wondered unsure in what direction he should go.
He was deep inside the jungle but the traces stopped abruptly after the last corpse. To have a better view of the surroundings, he climbed to the top of the biggest tree of the area and looked around.
The environment was filled with green, the thick foliage of the trees covering everything beside the grey rocky mountains towering above the jungle.
Tian He found he made more than a quarter of the way towards the second mountain.
He was just about to go down when he noticed something in the distance. Gathering qi in his eyes, Tian He's vision slightly increased as he looked ahead.
In more than a kilometer, a small shadow could be seen standing at the peak of the tallest pine tree in the area.
Under the moonlight and before the clear sky, this dark figure stood out like a spying raven.
After an instant, the shadow jumped down in the opposite of his position and Tian He lost its sight.
"There's no doubt, its him!" Going after the culprit, Tian He didn't bother to move on land and directly stepped on the top of the surrounding trees using Chasing Whirlwind battle skill, crossing the distance in a short time.
Reaching the tall pine tree, Tian he jumped down towards the zone the shadow has been seen.
On the ground he used his spirit sense and could see flattened grasses and broken twigs indicating someone's passage.
"You can't escape me." Smiling Tian He sprinted deftly in a straight line.
As he pursued the trail a high tier flesh devorer sleeping plant emerged from his position but he was too fast and since he was in movement, he went out of range before the maw could swallow him.
The plant sensing it missed went after Tian He opening its menacing mouth wide.
"A plant acting like a tiger? Take this!" Turning around the Liu clan elder sent a palm strike.
Yellow class high-tier - Rock Splitting Palm!
The flesh devorer sleeping plant received the full force of the palm, its base was uprooted from the earth and the head was sent flying all around in a multitude of pieces.
Tian He didn't look at the outcome but returned to his chase at once. He could see the number of traces growing and becoming clearer as he progressed, showing he was getting closer to his target.
He moved fast and after a short disance, without noticing, Tian He left the jungle and arrived on a small plain.
It was very strange in this zone full of tall trees and dense bushes for an area devoid of any to appear.
At the center of this wide patch of grass was a big pile of leaves, large enough to have a house built upon, and on it layed an enormous black ape on his back seemingly sleeping!
At this moment Tian He's heart dropped a beat.
"A wrathful black ape, what... what is a rank 3 beast doing here?" His back was full of cold sweat as he tried to make a silent step back staying as composed as possible but it was too late as the ape opened its black eye and looked at him with hate.
The ape had sensed this intruder long ago but now it even dared show itself in front of him, interrupting its rest?
Utterly unforgivable!
Standing up, the beast had one eye missing, a long streaked scar running across the right side of his face from the start of the skull to his ear passing through the eyelid.
His body was full of half-closed wound, some of them still covered in blood like he had been cut by something extremely sharp.
However the most attention catching was the gruesome burns on the left side of his body. Extending from his neck all the way to the thigh, completely encompassing his arm and half his torso was but a burned ruin of scars. Slick black flesh is pocked with craters and deep cracks that ooze red and wet while a hint of bone shows on his elbow.
Tian He saw the miserable appearance of the ape and without hesitation turned around and ran away nonetheless.
Blood beasts like cultivators had clear ranks of power, a rank 3 beast shouldn't be trifled with no matter its state, especially with just a Foundation Establishment cultivation.
The wrathful black ape roared loudly in rage and extended his hand in a grabbing motion.
Tian He ran away at full speed under Chasing Whirlwind but he was still caught by the hand in an instant and lifted midair.
As the ape tightened its grasp, Tian He could feel his blood rushing up.
"You mere beast think you can kill me this easily?!" Tian He shouted in defiance as two waves of steam flew out of his nostrils and swelled up like a balloon taking the shape of a pale blue panther at one side and an hawk at the other.
The hawk flapped its wings vigorously, flying towards the beast as it tried to claw at his remaining eye.
In the ape's perspective, the hawk was no different than a fly and he easily smaked it with his free hand.
"Boom!"
The hawk was hit by the palm before promptly exploding.
Hot air blew all over the place and shook the ape violently, reopening his barely cicatrized injuries and spreading blood on the ground.
While losing balance, its grasp on Tian He loosened giving him an opening as he used a Rock Splitting Palm to definitely break out of the animal clutches.
The ape had to take a step back to recover its stability but Tian He was already sprinting away with all his might.
"It barely budged taking a combination of my Steam Beasts Suicidal battle skill with a Rock Splitting Palm and suffered no damages, only opening past wounds. No way im staying in this hellhole fighting this freaking monster!" Tian He's thoughts raced as he distanced himself from this mortal ennemy.
The wrathful black ape looked at Tian He's back deeply, with a bloodshot eye. The hot air from the explosion awakened the burning pain from his recent injuries enraging him.
The steamed panther lunged forward in an attempt to bite its neck but before it could approach him the ape hit the air in front of him with a speed that didn't match its powerful stature.
The remarkable strenght hiding behind this strike created a brutal gale sending the panther crashing on Tian He's path cutting his escape route before it exploded making him fly back in tattered clothes.
This simple action revealed all the ape's cunningness which was unlike any other blood beast.
When Tian He raised his head, seeing the black ape marching towards him as the earth tremored, he understood only one of them could leave this place alive.
"What's this, how did i land in this situation, i was only chasing after some little runt but where did he go? ....No, I can't distract myself, im at the greatest hurdle of my life, i can only think on how getting myself out of this predicament if i want to survive."
"Yet, if i do live i will gain unbound wealth and the opportunities to further my cultivation. The Liu clan would become too small for me by this time, i could even claim it for myself if i ever was interested by such a pitiful organization."
The body of a rank 3 beast was a great treasure and every part of it were valuable. Many struggling cultivators would dream of getting one in their hands.
Tian He stood up and took a deep breath, calming his heart as his body suddenly started burning in intense dark blue flames with streaks of gold.
The blazing fire entirely covered his body, scorching the grass near his feets.
His clothes were completely burnt as he turned intro a humanoid blue-golden flame with two scarlet pupils hiding beneath the surface!
Peak-tier Yellow class - Human Starfire battle skill.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone