18: Chapter 18 Blood-Tracking, Using War to Sustain War

Inside the dark cave, the air seemed to have solidified.

Lin Yan stared intently through the gaps in the vines at the few dark shadows groping their way forward in the night.

There were five in total, moving with agility and spread out in a loose search formation; they were clearly well-trained and far superior to ordinary mercenary lackeys.

The leader was short and stocky, and the compass-like object he held was flickering with an ominous, dark red light, like the single eye of a beast in the night.

"Blood-Guided Compass……" Lin Yan's heart sank.

This was a rather insidious tracking tool that required the target's blood or a personal item as a lure, capable of roughly indicating direction within a certain range.

Although he had treated the wound on his left shoulder, he had inevitably dripped blood earlier, and the enemy had actually used this method to track him down!

He glanced at Xiao Yi Xian beside him; she was also holding her breath. Although there was tension in her eyes, there was no panic. Instead, she quietly gripped the silver needles in her hand—her usual defensive weapon. The tips of the needles emitted a faint blue luster in the darkness, clearly coated in deadly poison.

"The short, stocky leader is the Third Captain of the Wolf Head Mercenary Group, 'Rolling Ground Blade' Wu Lang, a one-star Dou Practitioner. The four behind him are all his trusted aides, with at least seven stages of Dou Zhi Qi."

Lin Yan told Xiao Yi Xian the information he had perceived in an extremely low voice.

Thanks to the Living Spirit Flame's keen sense for life and his powerful soul perception, he could roughly judge the enemy's strength level.

One Dou Practitioner and four experts above the seventh stage. Even if Lin Yan exposed his full strength (peak seventh stage, Eight Extremities Collapse, Explosive Step, and Heavenly Flame simulation) in a head-on fight, the chances of winning were slim, not to mention having to divide his attention to protect Xiao Yi Xian.

"Their target is mainly me," Xiao Yi Xian bit her lip and whispered, "I will lure them away, you……"

"Don't do anything foolish." Lin Yan interrupted her, his eyes calm, "We leave together. Wait for my signal."

He carefully observed their search route.

Wu Lang was clearly relying on the guidance of the Blood-Guided Compass, heading towards the cave with a clear objective, but the vines and natural rocks at the cave entrance provided good cover, so the enemy had not yet discovered their specific location.

They were searching very carefully, but their attention was focused more on the compass and the traces on the ground.

Lin Yan calculated rapidly in his mind. The terrain inside the cave was narrow; once discovered, they would be like turtles in a jar.

He had to act outside the cave, utilizing the complex terrain of Luoying Ravine and the night to create chaos and defeat them one by one, or…… seize the chance to escape far away.

He gently touched Xiao Yi Xian and pointed to a narrow rock crevice shrouded in shadows at the side and back of the cave.

He had discovered it while scouting during the day; it could barely allow one person to pass through sideways and led to a rocky beach deeper within the ravine.

Xiao Yi Xian understood and nodded.

Just as Wu Lang and the others were less than twenty zhang away from the cave entrance and the red light of the compass was clearly pointing towards the cave, Lin Yan moved!

He did not rush out of the cave entrance, but instead fiercely threw a fist-sized stone he had prepared long ago with all his might towards a cliff wall diagonally opposite the entrance!

"Bang!" The stone struck the cliff wall, emitting a crisp sound that was exceptionally jarring in the silent ravine.

"Over there!" Wu Lang and the others were instantly attracted by the sound, turning their heads to look in alarm. Their weapons were drawn, and the light of Dou Qi flickered slightly.

Now is the time!

Lin Yan let out a low shout: "Go!" His figure darted out from behind the vines like a cheetah, but he did not rush towards the enemy. Instead, he sprinted in the opposite direction. At the same time, he suddenly activated Explosive Step, his speed increasing sharply as he pounced directly towards a seventh-stage mercenary who had fallen to the very back of the group and was slightly further away!

He wanted to clip their wings first and disrupt their formation!

That mercenary did not react slowly. Hearing the ill-intentioned wind behind him, he immediately turned around, his steel saber slashing over with the sound of wind.

However, Lin Yan's speed was too fast. The instantaneous explosive power brought by Explosive Step allowed him to narrowly avoid the blade's edge. His body slipped into the opponent's center like a loach, and his right fist slammed into the opponent's chest and abdomen without any flair!

Eight Extremities Collapse, First Layer Manifest Force!

"Puff!" Amidst the muffled sound, the mercenary's eyes bulged, and he spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body flew backward like a broken sack, colliding with a rock by the stream, and he immediately fainted.

Lin Yan had deliberately controlled his strength and did not deliver a lethal blow, but the mercenary had absolutely no power to fight again in the short term.

"Fifth brother!" Another mercenary nearby was shocked and furious, swinging his saber to strike.

Lin Yan shifted his footsteps, stepped with Explosive Step again, and moved sideways like a ghost. His left hand formed a sword finger, and a trace of extremely faint green-red flame energy (Green Lotus Core Flame simulation) at his fingertips flashed and vanished, accurately striking the acupoint on the opponent's saber-wielding wrist!

"Ah!" The mercenary only felt as if his wrist had been pierced by a red-hot iron rod; the piercing pain went straight to his heart, and the steel saber slipped from his hand.

Lin Yan took advantage of the momentum to land an elbow strike, hitting him in the ribs and knocking him down.

In an instant, he had disabled two people!

"You're courting death!" Only then did the leader, Wu Lang, fully react, feeling both shocked and furious.

He had not expected the opponent to dare to take the initiative, and his methods were so ruthless and swift!

The aura of the target (Xiao Yi Xian) indicated by the Blood-Guided Compass was still in the direction of the cave. Who was this youth who had suddenly killed his way out?

Judging by his Dou Qi fluctuations, he was only at the fifth stage, but his speed and strength were bizarrely outrageous!

"Stop him!" Wu Lang shouted sharply, but he did not immediately step forward. Instead, he cautiously stopped and scanned the cave with his gaze.

He suspected this was a lure-the-tiger-off-the-mountain tactic.

The other two seventh-stage mercenaries were already roaring as they pounced towards Lin Yan, their sabers flashing menacingly.

Lin Yan did not wish to linger in the fight. He stepped repeatedly with Explosive Step, charging left and right in the narrow open space of the ravine. Although he appeared to be in a sorry state, he was always able to dodge attacks at the last hair's breadth, occasionally counterattacking with the tricky hidden force of Eight Extremities Collapse, forcing the two into a flustered mess.

His purpose was to create chaos and attract attention, creating an opportunity for Xiao Yi Xian to withdraw from the rock crevice.

Sure enough, while everyone's attention was attracted by Lin Yan, Xiao Yi Xian's slender figure, like a nimble cat, quietly slipped out from the rock crevice at the side and back of the cave, quickly disappearing into the dark, rocky beach deep within the ravine.

Before leaving, she looked back at Lin Yan with concern, her fingers flicking slightly. A few specks of almost invisible powder drifted away with the wind and landed in the grass by the stream.

"Hm?" Wu Lang was a Dou Practitioner after all, and his perception was stronger. He vaguely sensed the movement of another weak aura and turned his head sharply towards the side of the cave, just in time to catch the last moment of Xiao Yi Xian's figure disappearing.

"Damn it! Tricked! That girl has run away!" Wu Lang was furious and could no longer care about anything else, "You two, tangle with this brat! I'm going to chase that girl!"

He firmly believed that Lin Yan was just a troublesome bait, and the real target was Xiao Yi Xian and the treasures on her.

He moved, like a hungry wolf pouncing on its prey, about to bypass the battle and rush towards the direction where Xiao Yi Xian had disappeared.

"Want to leave?" Lin Yan's eyes turned cold.

How could he let him chase Xiao Yi Xian?

He pushed Explosive Step under his feet to its limit, forcibly weaving through the gaps in the two mercenaries' blade strikes. He blocked Wu Lang's path, his right fist flashing with a faint crimson light (fire attribute simulation), and slammed towards Wu Lang's face with an unstoppable momentum!

"Get lost!" Wu Lang roared. He did not dodge or evade, his right hand's five fingers forming a claw, covered in earthy-yellow Dou Qi. With a fierce whistling sound, he clawed directly at Lin Yan's fist!

He was a one-star Dou Practitioner, whose Dou Qi could already initially leave the body and be released to form protective Qi. He was confident that he could crush this brat, who only had a bit more strength.

Fist and claw collided!

"Bang!" A wave of energy exploded.

Lin Yan's body shook violently, and he slid back several steps. A stinging pain came from his fist; the opponent's Dou Qi protective force was indeed formidable.

Wu Lang's body also swayed, and a flash of surprise crossed his eyes—the force transmitted from the opponent's fist and that scorching energy actually made his palm slightly numb!

This was absolutely not power that could be possessed by the fifth stage of Dou Zhi Qi!

"Good brat! You've hidden yourself deep!" Wu Lang sneered, "Unfortunately, beneath a Dou Practitioner, all are ants! Let me let you see what real Dou Qi is!"

He no longer held back, and the aura of a one-star Dou Practitioner fully erupted. Earthy-yellow Dou Qi covered his entire body like armor. His right hand gripped empty air, and a heavy saber condensed from Dou Qi instantly took form. With heavy pressure, he slashed it towards Lin Yan!

Yellow-rank intermediate Dou Technique—Earth Splitting Slash!

The blade wind was biting, locking down most of Lin Yan's evasive space.

Lin Yan's pupils contracted; a full-force strike from a Dou Practitioner was no small matter!

The Dou Qi in his body circulated crazily, and the double force of Eight Extremities Collapse condensed on his fist. At the same time, he communicated with the system via his mind—"Use the second stage effect of the breath-concealing talisman (simulating weakness after an outburst) prepare!"

He could not expose his full strength, but he had to take this strike to create an opportunity to escape.

Just at the moment he was prepared to resist head-on, a sudden change occurred!

The two mercenaries who were chasing Lin Yan suddenly felt their footsteps go weak. Their complexions instantly turned purple, and they clutched their throats, making strange wheezing sounds as they staggered to the ground, their bodies twitching violently!

And Wu Lang, who was in the middle of swinging his saber down, also felt the Dou Qi in his body suddenly become sluggish. His chest felt stuffy and nauseous, his movements involuntarily slowed by half, and the momentum of his blade weakened by three parts!

Poison! It was the poison powder that Xiao Yi Xian had sprinkled before leaving; it had been quietly dispersed by the night wind and had now invaded their bodies through their breathing!

Although Wu Lang was a Dou Practitioner and had strong resistance, he was also caught off guard!

Opportunity!

A sharp light exploded in Lin Yan's eyes. The trajectory of his fist, which he had originally prepared to use to resist head-on, suddenly changed. He stepped diagonally with Explosive Step, and his figure slipped like a ghost through the tiny gap exposed by Wu Lang due to the poison, avoiding the sharpest edge of the Earth Splitting Slash.

At the same time, his right fist, which had been building up power, carried the double hidden force of Eight Extremities Collapse compressed to the extreme, as well as a wisp of Green Lotus Core Flame simulation energy that was a few degrees more solid than before. Like a poisonous dragon leaving its cave, it slammed fiercely into Wu Lang's right waist and abdomen, which were left wide open due to his saber swing!

"Bang! Sss—!" A heavy muffled sound mixed with a faint sizzling sound.

The Dou Qi armor on Wu Lang's body surface fluctuated violently and nearly collapsed. A tricky, scorching force broke through the defense and drilled into his body!

"Urgh!" Wu Lang groaned in pain and staggered backward, his face turning pale instantly.

A burning, searing pain came from his waist and abdomen, and a churning sensation from his internal organs being shaken by the hidden force. Furthermore, a strange, scorching aura was rampaging through his meridians, making his Dou Qi circulation even more chaotic. Coupled with the influence of the poison in his body, he was unable to muster the strength to pursue for the time being.

Lin Yan retreated as soon as he succeeded, not lingering in the fight at all.

He did not even look at the mercenaries twitching on the ground or the livid Wu Lang. He activated Explosive Step with full force, and with a few flickers of his figure, he vanished into the darkness of the rocks in the direction where Xiao Yi Xian had disappeared, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

"Bastard!!!" Wu Lang barely steadied his figure. Looking at the instantly silent ravine and his four subordinates who had collapsed to the ground, he was trembling with rage, and a mouthful of blood nearly spurted out.

He never expected that this tracking and encirclement, which he thought was a sure thing, would end up like this!

Not only did he lose the target, but his subordinates were seriously injured, he himself had suffered non-trivial internal injuries, and he had even been poisoned with a strange toxin!

He hurriedly took the common antidote he carried with him and sat cross-legged to circulate his energy to drive out the poison and heal his injuries. The resentment in his eyes was almost overflowing: "Brat! And that bitch! I have remembered you! If I don't skin you alive and pull out your tendons, I will write my name, Wu Lang, backwards!"

Luoying Ravine under the night sky returned to silence, with only the murmuring of the stream and the faint groans of pain in the wind.

At this moment, on the rocky beach deeper in the ravine, Lin Yan reunited with Xiao Yi Xian.

Xiao Yi Xian's face was somewhat pale; using the newly comprehended poison techniques in such a hurry had consumed quite a bit of her energy.

Lin Yan quickly treated the wound on the web of his hand that had split open when he clashed with Wu Lang.

[Ding! Memory fragment reading complete! Some key information has been extracted!]

[Warning: Detected a weak fluctuation in activity at the source of the 'Bone Chilling Flame mark', suspected to be indirectly stimulated because the host used the Heavenly Flame simulation aura (Green Lotus Core Flame)! The risk of the mark re-sensing has increased slightly! It is recommended to leave the current area as soon as possible, or find a special energy field to interfere!]

Lin Yan's eyes narrowed. Having just repelled the pursuers, the system's warning and the harvest arrived simultaneously.

He pulled up Xiao Yi Xian: "Let's go quickly, we can't stay here anymore!"

Their figures quickly disappeared among the craggy rocks.

And in the distant darkness behind them, a tiny, extremely faint pale cold flame seemed to flicker in the void, then quietly vanished.