Escape.

Liang Chen grasped the spear and dashed around, his body blurring from the speed. Azure arcs of lightning danced around the spear, a white mist that smelled of flowers spreading around the tip, killing everything that it came in contact with.

Every step Liang Chen took killed the earth around him, the poison mist seeping out from his body turning the area into uninhabitable land. The area around him was drenched in the blood of melted corpses, body parts and corpses he had torn apart spread around. His visage was firmly burned into the eyes of everyone who watched, the terrifying might he revealed chilling them to the bone as many tried to flee and plead for mercy.

"Ahhh, have mercy!"

"Please spare us, we promise to leave and never bother you again!"

"You monster, just let us go!"

They begged for mercy and tried to escape, but Liang Chen did not respond, nor did he halt his attacks. If he and Yan Ling had begged for mercy, would they have spared them? No, they would have killed them in cold blood. When his parents died, Liang Chen had tossed away his carefree nature that only wanted to play around. And when he saw how the cultivation world really was, he fully abandoned his remaining naivety.

This world was cruel. If he wanted to protect people, if he wanted to impose his sense of justice on the heavens, then he would need strength, he would need to be cruel to those who were cruel. Mercy to one's enemy was cruelty to oneself. So he grabbed his spear, and he killed those who were cruel.

Liang Chen's narrowed eyes swept the area around him, glaring at the people that were still trying to attack him and Yan Ling. There were still more people coming over from the distance, loud shouts ringing out through the area. Liang Chen felt his body ache, his brows furrowing.

"About 2 minutes left. Gotta pull out a bit more."

Liang Chen could tell that the energy within the Demonic beast blood was quickly running out. What he was doing was simply doping himself, so once the energy in the blood ran out, he would not only lose most of his strength, his body would likely become quite weak for a period of time. So before that happened, he had to take care of all these people.

He touched upon the violet bud that his Lightning Seed had become, drawing out even more lightning to increase his strength. This time, he not only drew out more azure lightning but also a bit of crimson lightning. The crimson lightning started wreaking havoc within his body, the spear in his grasp starting to melt slightly once he channeled the lightning into it. Liang Chen grit his teeth to endure the pain in his body, his bloodshot eyes glaring death at the surrounding people.

"Come on...Just hold on a bit longer, plant the fear deep into their souls."

He had to make them believe that this was his own strength, that he could fight like this as he wished. He had to make them fear him so much that none of them would ever dare step close to him or Yan Ling.

He stomped down on the ground, the dying earth cracking under the might, some stones melting because of the heat from the crimson lightning. His speed increased even further, most of the surrounding people unable to even see how he moved. Each thrust of his spear was accompanied by the booming sound of thunder and a horrified scream as another person was torn apart by the force of lightning.

Even those that managed to dodge the brunt of his attacks would shortly die, a mere scratch of his spear enough to flood their bodies with pure white poison that quickly melted their organs and flesh.

Liang Chen's slaughter continued, more and more people fleeing in fright. As Liang Chen was dashing at a female youth, he suddenly sensed a strong feeling of danger assault him from his left and right sides. His eyes narrowed further as he stomped on the ground and stopped his dash.

Two people suddenly appeared at his side, one of them jumping out of Liang Chen's shadow, while the other one jumped out from the ground as if he was a mole. They both had a strange stream of energy surrounding their bodies, temporarily blocking his poison.

The male who jumped out of his shadow slashed out with a thick green saber, while the woman who jumped out from the earth lashed out with a brown whip covered in thin spikes. But as Liang Chen watched the two attacks, a strange scene took place.

The single slash by the saber suddenly grew stronger and turned into five identical slashes, forming a large green claw that grasped at Liang Chen's head, each finger of the claw about two times stronger than the original attack. As for the whip, it suddenly wriggled and changed, taking on the appearance of a translucent snake, two large fangs aiming to pierce Liang Chen.

Liang Chen immediately understood what was going on, they were using their battle skills. Whenever Liang Chen attacked, he only sent out his element and use brute strength and pure elemental power in a very crude way. Battle type skills cost a bit more energy to use, but they were able to drastically increase the strength of an attack. Taking the saber user as an example, he had only sent out a single slash, but by mixing it with his skill that one slash had doubled in power and multiplied by five! that was a drastic increase in strength and power!

There were also different types of skills, such a defensive skills, movement skills, or auxiliary skills. Each skill one learned and mastered would allow a person more versatility in battle and would be another trump card, hence, most clans and sects carefully guarded their skills. Liang Chen could for the moment be considered a wandering cultivator, one who had no home or sect he belonged to, so he, of course, had no skills he could use.

But just using skills and ambushing him was not enough for them to take him down. Right now, using the energy within the Demonic beast blood, Liang Chen was practically unrivaled beneath the Soaring Immortal realm. None of the people who surrounded him and Yan Ling had reached the Soaring Immortal realm, the highest cultivation among them was at the late stage of the Heaven's Gate realm.

How many people at the Soaring Immortal could there be in this hidden realm? Ever since entering the hidden realm, Liang Chen had only met six people who had stepped into the Soaring Immortal realm, and those people were the group leaders of the five great sects, as well as Yuan Xuefeng.

Liang Chen stomped the ground once more and shot backward, dodging the faster of the two attacks, the whip that had turned into a snake. A flash of crimson lightning flashed by the eyes of the woman holding the whip, a cold hand grasping onto her and pushing her forward. Terror filled the heart of the woman when she saw where she was being pushed, directly into the large green claw that had aimed for Liang Chen.

"Nooo!"

The male youth was not able to stop his attack in time, so the claw grasped onto the head of the woman, completely crushing it. Just as he wanted to send out another attack, a flash of crimson lightning blinded him. He felt a hand grab onto the back of his head, and his heart immediately sunk into his chest. He felt Liang Chen exert force into his arm, smashing the male's head into the ground.

Liang Chen didn't stop at once, he smashed the head of the male into the ground again and again, only stopping when a crunching sound rang out and the male stopped twitching. Liang Chen let out a few heavy breaths and let go of the man's head, this was the first time he had seen anyone using a battle skill, and the might they had shown had shocked him quite a bit. As he was once again checking his surroundings, a loud shout that caused his expression to turn gloomy rang out.

"He's just doping himself, he won't be able to hold on forever! Exhaust his energy!"

He could only let out a sigh. In the end, the secret behind his current power had been seen through by someone. Now that they knew that his strength was only temporary, it was unlikely that they would give up on trying to kill him and Yan Ling. But as Liang Chen's mind was racing and he was trying to figure out what to do, he heard a familiar voice call out in a worried tone.

"Ling'er!"

Liang Chen's lips quickly curled into a smile as he turned his head, gazing into the distance, a light chuckle escaping from his lips. Yan Ying and some of the others from the Storm Wolf sect were running over at full speed. He couldn't see Teng Yimu, Zhu Chun, and Xiao Yong, so they had either died or failed to meet up with Yan Ying.

"Heh, seems like luck is on my side for once!"

Liang Chen could also see that Yan Ying and the others were in pretty bad shape, pale and wounded. But after giving it a bit of thought, he found that it was quite normal that they were wounded. Yan Ying had a cultivation at the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, one of the highest cultivation levels in this entire hidden realm. Since he had entered this floor of the pagoda, it was likely that many others were worried that he would easily take one of the spots as an honorary disciple, so they probably teamed up in an attempt to kill him, just like they were doing against Liang Chen.

Liang Chen quickly dashed towards Yan Ying and the others, who had already reached Yan Ling, who was leaning against the corpse of the white spider. He removed the poison mist around him, lest Yan Ying and the others get poisoned on accident. Liang Chen was about to say something, but then he saw something that caused his heart to drop.

Yan Ling had fallen unconscious, white spots appearing on her skin, slowly spreading over her entire body, she had been poisoned. Liang Chen felt like cursing and hitting himself, he should have kept a closer eye on her. She had grabbed onto him after he drenched himself in blood, so of course, some of the poison in the Demonic beast blood would come into contact with her, he should have realized this much sooner. His mind quickly moved, quickly glancing at the pale-faced and worried Yan Ying.

"Do you have more of those teleportation talismans?"

Since Yan Ling had a teleportation talisman that could return her directly to the Storm Wolf sect, it was likely that Yan Ying and the others also had some. Yan Ying stopped examining Yan Ling, giving a slight nod.

"Each of us has one."

The talismans had been prepared by the elders of their sect, so they had been able to just barely make one for each of the people that entered this hidden realm. Liang Chen gave a swift nod of his head, not wasting any time.

"Good, use them to escape."

With Yan Ling poisoned and Yan Ying and the others weak and wounded, it was clear that they could not continue to stay in this hidden realm. Liang Chen could use poison, but he was still only a newbie when it came to controlling it, so he didn't know how to remove the poison in Yan Ling's body, she would need a proper doctor to look at her. Xiang Qing and the others looked like they wanted to protest, but Yan Ying quickly waved his hand and stopped them, looking deeply at Liang Chen.

"And you?"

How could Yan Ying not see that Liang Chen's suggestion was the right one? They were all wounded and weak, and Yan Ling urgently needed care, staying here would only risk all of them dying. But they didn't have any spare talismans, so Liang Chen would be left alone here to face the wrath of the surrounding people, who were quietly waiting for Liang Chen's doping to run out. Liang Chen's expression was calm as he glanced at the surrounding people, seemingly not worried.

"I can still keep this doping going for around one minute, it's enough for me to escape them."

One minute, if he focused on escaping with all his might for one minute, he would be able to put a good bit of distance between him and these people. And once he did that, then he would just have to figure out something else for how he would escape further. Yan Ying looked deeply at Liang Chen for a short second, his eyes filled with gratitude. He swiped the bracelet around his wrist, taking out a small green ring and handing it to Liang Chen.

"Take this, it contains a map of the eastern part of this planet, it'll lead you to our sect once you leave this hidden realm. There are also plenty of pills in it that you can use to heal yourself."

Liang Chen had protected his sister twice in this hidden realm, once during the third trial, and then once again now when they were surrounded. The gratitude he felt for Liang Chen could not be described with words. Liang Chen grabbed the ring, immediately taking out a few pills and swallowing them, a warm stream of energy filling his body. After swallowing the pills, he glanced at the unconscious Yan Ling.

"Once she comes to, tell her that I'm sorry she got poisoned because of me."

Had Liang Chen paid better attention to her, put her further away when he drenched himself in blood, she would not have ended up in this state. Yan Ying gave a nod of his head, lifting up Yan Ling and taking out a silver paper talisman from her interspatial ring and placing it in her hand. He and the rest took out similar talisman, sending one last look and a nod at Liang Chen.

"Don't worry about it, just focus on escaping."

After Yan Ying spoke up, the talismans lit up with silver flames, space around them distorting and twisting. Shortly after, Yan Ying and the others completely vanished in a flash of silver light, leaving Liang Chen completely alone. A loud shout rang out from the surrounding people when they saw that Yan Ying and the others vanished, everyone slowly pulling closer.

"He's alone now! surround him and continue exhausting his energy!"

Liang Chen took a single deep breath, closing his eyes for a short moment. Now he was all alone again, just like he had been after he split up with Qing Chun. Of course, just like back then, he was only alone in body. In spirit, he had Qing Chun, Yan Ying, Yan Ling, as well as Xiang Qing and the others from the Storm Wolf sect, each of them wishing for him to be safe. He let out a deep breath, opening his eyes, which were calm and deep, clear as the morning sky.

"Alright, no need to worry about Yan Ling any longer."

He put away his spear, which had been almost completely ruined by the crimson lightning that he had channeled into it. He turned towards the distance, looking in the direction that his two buds were calling towards. He took a step forward, crimson lightning flashing around his body as he charged forward with all his might, eliciting a loud shout from the surrounding people.

"He's fleeing, stop him!"

When he put all his focus onto escaping at full speed, none of the surrounding people were able to stop him or catch up to him, not as long as he was still doping himself at least. He quickly lost sight of the people that were chasing him, putting a large distance between him and them.

And a little less than one minute later, the energy within the Demonic beast blood ran out, forcing him to slow down. His face was pale, his entire body aching, some of the wounds that had yet to heal opening again, blood dripping down his body as his chest heaved up and down from his heavy breathing.

"Hah...hah...hah...it should take them a bit of time to catch up."

The place he was at now was a large plain filled with several lakes, some small and some large. He turned towards one of the larger lakes he could see in the distance, his brows furrowing slightly.

"The longing is pointing in that direction, does it want me to enter that area?"

The longing feeling that his two seeds were unleashing pointed him towards a large lake filled with silver water that he could barely see from his current position. He could feel that the entire lake radiated a strong suffocating pressure, even slightly more oppressive than the pressure he had felt in some of the deeper parts of the hidden realm. In the end, he could only let out a deep sigh.

"Ha~ah, at this stage, what does one more risk matter?"

The people chasing him were surely running after him with their full speed, so they would catch up to him sooner or later. And in his now weakened and wounded state, there wasn't much he could do against them without further worsening his situation. Besides, ever since he had entered this hidden realm, he had taken one risk after another, so one more really didn't matter.

He started to slowly walk towards the lake, the suffocating pressure quickly bearing down on him. But strangely enough, the pressure simply washed over him for a short moment before vanishing, turning into a soft and refreshing breeze.

Liang Chen reached the shore of the silver lake after walking for a little over two hours. Despite walking for over two hours, he had not seen or heard anything from the people chasing him. Had they yet to catch up, where they really that slow?

Liang Chen walked around the shore of the lake, carefully tracing the longing feeling that his two seeds unleashed. After making it to the other side of the lake, he found what his two seeds were longing for, tilting his head slightly in confusion.

"A human corpse? I thought this was the Demon's Graveyard?"

Sitting with crossed legs at the side of the lake was the corpse of a middle-aged man. The man had chiseled features and flowing silver hair that swayed slightly despite the fact that there was no wind there. The man looked like he was just sleeping, but Liang Chen could tell that there was no life in his body, he was long dead.

Liang Chen carefully took a few steps forward, reaching out with his hand to touch the corpse. Once his hand made contact with the forehead of the man, he felt space all around him freeze and turn solid. As he was feeling shocked, he felt a strong suction force coming from the corpse.

Before he had the time to react, Liang Chen was swallowed by the suction force, a silver light flashing in front of his eyes. Once the light vanished, Liang Chen found himself standing at the foot of a massive mountain that looked like a sword piercing into the heavens. Sitting in the shade of a tree not far from him was the silver-haired middle-aged man, who now opened his eyes, a weak voice escaping his lips.

"After so many years, has another child of my race finally reached this place?"