- Host's Mind: Layer 2 -
"A hardened blade might excel in the heat of a single battle; however, its long-term utility will diminish over time. This is why having a blade that can be sharpened is crucial for sustained success."
"This is where 'Hua Zhe - the Hunter', comes next." Said the shadowy, cloaked figure, with a smile slowly creeping up his lips. It was clear out of the two that Hau Zhe was his favorite.
To his side, a large cabinet stood with one of its draws open. The word 'Perception' cleanly written on the cabinet draw.
"He can see the big picture, unlike Shi Zhe, who's job is to cut the line of dominoes, halting their descent before they become a wave big enough to shatter mountains. Hua Zhe's job is to make sure that the dominoes never start falling in the first place."
"Similar to the predator's awareness, his is likewise pushed to the extreme."
"With one small exception, his awareness is stronger because it is completely external. Should he suffer from a cut or an injury of any kind, his brain won't register the attack, acting as if it never happened. Great against torture, but could quickly become life-threatening on the actual battlefield."
"His instinct is by all means average, just as his close combat; at best, he would dodge most attacks coming at him. However, he more than makes up for his lack of battle sense with something that is often mistaken for awareness. Perception."
While the predator sees everything: the leaves falling from the branch of the tree, the tracks left behind by recently stepped-on mud, and even the small bubbles coming from under the mud.
The Hunter sees what is invisible to the five senses; he stretches his thoughts to account for his enemy's thoughts. His skill reaches such a high level that some would consider him a psychic, not realizing that they had been duped by someone who simply notices patterns of human behavior. If given enough time to prepare for a situation, he will understand his enemy even more than his enemy knows themselves.
This is Hua Zhe's fundamental design: perception off the charts, granting him the insight to see into others.
"His perception is like a tapestry woven with threads that carry every detail, and in the grand mosaic of life, he is the master weaver, ensuring that no loose end goes unused. He is at the peak of using information to manipulate his circumstances."
- Southern Border: Croaking Mountain Swamp -
The sunlight had just begun to peek over the mountains like a dragon raising one of its eyelids to stare down upon its domain.
A gust of wind rushed through the swamp, pulling leaves along with it.
Long shadows cast along the ground, forming lines without end.
In the distance, two Gu Masters could be seen, one on his hands and knees, while the other was slightly hunched with one leg extended forward. The person on their hands and knees pleaded for mercy, while the other lightly placed their hand on his head.
Within a single frame of time, two crescents of light darted for the standing Gu Master, one crescent aimed at his head and the other crescent at his leg.
At the same time, within that very frame, the Gu Master's pushed their leg against the ground with everything it had, barely raising his head a mere three inches before the two crescents of light reached their destinations.
Flying through the air like a rugby ball kicked for the goalpost, blood spewed forth from the leg, creating a beautiful arc of blood, like an expert painter's stroke across a blank canvas.
Xie Ling ground his teeth from the pain as ice manifested around the palm of his hand. With a swift motion, he cut off 2 cm of extra flesh from his own leg. This was just in case any Poison Path methods were hidden inside the attack.
At the same time, inside Xie Ling's mind, chaos ensued. The attack did carry poison in it, the only difference being that it wasn't a Poison Path method but instead an Emotion Path method.
Feeling the crippling fear of death looming over him, peering into his very being, his mind began to shut down; however, in his last waking moments, he put Hua Zhe in charge, as he couldn't trust Shi Zhe with the body.
- Edge of Croaking Mountain Swamp -
"Damn, I almost had him." Vai Tao began grinding his teeth against each other as he began thinking. "My calculations were practically perfect!" Every action he had taken prior to the attack had specific meaning behind it: the target's hand making contact with Hao Lee's head when his guard would be most lowered, the angle of the sunlight making his attack nearly invisible from the target's perspective, the location he would attack from, and even the timing of a few well-placed toad croaks to silence any other variables.
Vai Tao himself was standing over half a kilometer away from Xie Ling's position, hiding behind a tree, easily a far enough distance that even Beast Emperors wouldn't have been able to sense his existence or his killing intent.
"A Gu Master's Core Gu can at best only give off a warning at 0.09ths of a second; add that to the best reaction speed I've ever recorded, that of Tar Kee the Swift, who reacted at a speed of 0.01ths of a second. Adding the two together gives you 0.1ths of a second."
Vai Tao's attack, from the point he sent it out to the point it reached Xie Ling, had only been a tenth of a second, leaving not even a 0.001th of a second extra to dodge his attack.
"The bastard even realized that the attack had a second Emotion Path effect hidden inside it and quickly cut off a small portion of his own leg! Before he himself would go crazy with an influx of useless thoughts!" By all means, this made no sense to Vai Tao; he'd tracked Xie Ling all the way here from the 'Armed Forest' studying his every action.
He originally went to the Armed Forest to do business with Gao Xia. Make no mistake, by no means was he friends with Gao Xia; his reason for coming here was much simpler.
Vai Tao is a unique rank-5 Demonic Gu Master. Unique in the way he actually had master attainment in his path, equivalent to a rank 6 Gu Immortal's attainment in their main path, meaning if he gained the help of a Gu Immortal, he actually had a high likelihood of passing his ascension, at least higher than those that don't have Master Level Attainment in their respective paths.
Secondly, his main path is Information Path, meaning if news got out, he would be a highly sought-after commodity, and as luck would have it, Gao Xia apparently had ties with the Xia family; as a matter of fact, his name used to be Xia Gao.
Killing Xie Ling wasn't for personal revenge but rather to get in the good books of the Xia clan, most well known for their well-above-average amount of wisdom path cultivators. While a market saturated with a product would reduce his value, it would also increase his future potential as they would be the most capable ones in helping him grow in Information Path.
"If he runs away, I will re-awaken 'Hao Lee - The Swamp Demon', and then make a contract with him to help me kill this man. And if this strange man doesn't run away and instead kills Hao Lee, I will simply sit back and watch. Time is on my side; I've got the advantage in information and position; this is likely to be a drawn-out battle; I'll have to reduce my use of Static Thoughts Gu, as I only have enough food to last it six months."
Vai Tao processed all this information as Xie Ling's leg gracefully flew through the air. This was the power of Information Path, creating heavily convoluted plans and remodeling them within an instant should something unaccounted for happen. striking only when the circumstances favor oneself and finding opportunities where others couldn't.
This is why people, whether Gu Master or Gu Immortal, hated fighting against practitioners of either Information Path or Wisdom Path. At one moment you would think you're safe and that you had finally beaten your opponent, and in the next you would be surrounded by insurmountable walls.
Just as Vai Tao finished collecting his thoughts, he nodded his head, having believed that his success was inevitable. The aura around Xie Ling rapidly changed two times. First from a playful, predator-like state into a panicked frenzy—and then again from this panicked frenzy state into an over-encompassing caution.
That caution extended everywhere, causing everything to become silent; the frogs stopped croaking, the crickets stopped chirping, and even the wind felt like it had been forcefully brought to a halt. It was as if everything was now bare-naked before the gaze of a Hawk Beast Emperor.
Vai Tao felt his entire body shiver as if there were eyes everywhere, watching his every action and judging his every move.
He wanted to use a killer move to collect his bearings. but doing so would leak aura and consequently reveal his location. And just as he felt his heart slowly begin to relax, the man turned his head, staring directly at him, as if the man could see through the tree he was standing behind.
At that moment, one thought entered Vai Tao's mind. "Am I the one being hunted?"