Battle Across Realms, Burn One's Boat

Hong Xi's face was grim. He had lost the trust of Wei Haoshan and Lu Zhuo after his series of wrong judgments. 

After taking a deep breath, Hong Xi said, "This is what we should do. You two group the disciples into two teams and take care of them. I will go hunting alone! The kid is just an Early Mystical Learner. There's no way he can do something shocking to me."　　 

Lu Zhuo and Wei Haoshan looked at each other and agreed with him. Since the idea was suggested by Hong Xi, there was a scapegoat for them if they were to answer to the chief. How could they not be happy about that? 

Hong Xi looked at the two people. He knew what they were thinking. However, his dissatisfaction with Xu Yang overwhelmed everything else. 　　 

Hong Xi had been proud of his ingenuity all this while, he would not allow himself to be played by a Mystical Learner.　 

A faint cyan Mystical Power burst out from Hong Xi's body. He flashed toward the direction of Lin Yuan City.　 

Xu Yang did not know that Hong Xi had started to chase after him. Even if he knew, he would continue fleeing as he had no other option. He would be safe only if he was in Lin Yuan City.

"If I were given three months, I will definitely not be escaping like I am right now. I will have the ability to fight against a Mystical Warrior!" Xu Yang knew many temporary strengthening techniques. However, it was difficult to cultivate or exert strength now due to his limits. 

If Xu Yang were given three months, he could advance to an Advanced-tier Mystical Learner. He could temper his physical strength to thirty juns and cultivate several temporary strengthening techniques. At that time, he would not be afraid of just one or two Mystical Warriors.　 

After having run the entire night, a pale halo appeared in the east.　 

Xu Yang was a little tired as he had been running all night long. There was no other Mystical Learner that could do that without that kind of stamina.　　 

"Ha… ha," Xu Yang slowed down and his legs were numb. He ran forward dozens of steps even though his brain issued a signal for him to stop, after which he finally surrendered to the exhaustion. 

Gulp… Gulp… Gulp…

 Xu Yang took out his water bottle, unscrewed the cork and downed more than half of the remaining water in the water bottle. He then wiped the droplets on his lips and exhaled in satisfaction. 

"Hahaha!" Xu Yang recalled last night's thrilling experience and could not help laughing. The three Mystical Warriors had mocked him as a Mystical Learner. They were powerful but it did not help them in any way. 

"I can take a break first. The three Mystical Warriors may have just started to chase after me." Xu Yang chuckled and looked for a mountainside. He went through it and started adjusting his breaths in the Lotus Position.　 

Time passed by second after second. A middle-aged man with a grim face was chasing after him. There were drops of sweat rolling down his pale face. 　　 

'D*mn b*stard. I am gonna turn you into ashes once I find you!' The man was Hong Xi. He had found traces of snapped twigs and leaves that Xu Yang had stepped on along his way but he had yet to see him. He was amazed by Xu Yang's stamina but his impatience and intention to kill Xu Yang merely increased with time. 　 

A Mystical Cultivator at a Mystical Learner stage was not able to run overnight. They had not formed a Mystical Core. The Mystical Energy in their Star Ocean was not enough.

Even Hong Xi with the cultivation of an Advanced-tier of a Mystical Warrior was feeling exhausted. His Mystical Core was continuously rotating and distributing Mystical Power to his Mystical Veins. He had persisted for a lengthy period of time only supported by his anger. His Mystical Power was almost drained out at that moment.　　 

On the mountain side.　　 

Fuuu… shuu… fuuu…

Xu Yang breathed uniformly. His mind was refreshed after taking some food. He could feel that his cultivation had improved along the way as he was fleeing for his life. He sensed that he was soon going to advance to an Advanced-tier Mystical Learner.　 

"I should focus on accumulating Mystical Energy and train my body. If the accumulation is enough, the advancement of the stage is only a matter of course." Xu Yang stood up and dusted his body. He breathed out slowly. "I must continue my journey back to Lin Yuan City now."　 

"Rascal, you won't be going back!" A sharp voice came from not far away. Then, he felt a rush of strong wind gushing in his direction. 

Xu Yang reacted fast. He avoided the strong wind with a leap. Then, he saw a black light flashing. It turned out to be a branch thrown by someone.　 

The branch did not hit Xu Yang but hit the tree in front of him. It was broken into two pieces with a crack.　 

Xu Yang looked at the direction from where the sound came from. A pale and thin middle-aged man was looking at him furiously.　 

'He's fast!' Xu Yang was terrified and forced himself to calm down.　 

"You're good! It took me so long to find you." Hong Xi's eyes flashed viciously. "Finally I have caught up to you. Soon, you will be begging for me to kill you instead!"　 

Xu Yang squinted. His messy black hair swayed with the breeze. His pair of eyes were shining like the stars at night. 　　 

As Xu Yang's feet exerted Mystical Energy, he rushed toward Hong Xi without saying a word.

Hong Xi's Mystical Power had been depleted, and he was weakened. He was going to say something to allow some time for his Mystical Qi's recovery as his Mystical Core was almost drained from the run to catch up with Xu Yang. He wanted to kill this rascal after his recovery. However, Xu Yang, ignoring the difference in their level of cultivation, was headed toward him.

"Ha!" Xu Yang yelled. He dashed in front of Hong Xi using the Running Horse Stance. His fist punched out with crackling power on Hong Xi's chest. 

Hong Xi defended with his arm but he took one step back as he felt his arm vibrate. He was shocked and yelled at Xu Yang, "Stop, kid… As long as you can keep the secret that Song Ren was killed by us that day, I will let you go." He thought to himself, 'The kid's strength is powerful. That's why the outer disciples were slaughtered like animals.'　　 

Xu Yang took two steps back when his punch was defended. He was not feeling any better than Hong Xi. A Mystical Warrior was truly different from a Mystical Learner. Hong Xi's physical strength was stronger than Xu Yang's even though his Mystical Power had been exhausted.　　 

Hong Xi's physical strength was fifty juns. It was three or four times stronger than Xu Yang's! Xu Yang's only advantage was that he had the eight battle stances of the Dynamic-Static Combined Qi-Introducing Technique which could magnify his physical strength to the maximum. 

"Your Mystical Energy has been drained. If not, the branch just now would have directly penetrated the trunk instead of breaking into two." Xu Yang sneered. "I will die here if you were to recover your power!"　

A Mystical Warrior was indeed stronger than a Mystical Learner. By releasing the inner power, a hundred juns of strength was added to every punch and every kick. None of the Mystical Learners would be able to resist. Not only that, Mystical Warriors could perform graded Mystical Techniques which could cause much more damage than ordinary punches. 

Hong Xi was enraged that the branch had revealed his weakness. He knew that the good-looking teenager in front of him was not a person who would be affected by his words. 

"Although my Mystical Power has been drained, my body strength is still three times of yours. I can kill you without using Mystical Power." Hong Xi said and punched Xu Yang.　　 

His fist was like a heavy hammer. Its strength was forty or fifty juns and this displayed the physical strength of Hong Xi as a Mystical Warrior. 

Xu Yang finally regulated his breath. He did not feel well after Hong Xi's defense. It was clear that the difference between their physical strength was apparent. Seeing that Hong Xi was coming in for an attack, Xu Yang's eyes flashed fiercely but he did not try to escape!　 

Hong Xi thought that his boxing speed was so amazing to the point that the kid could not react. He sneered and exerted even more strength, punching in the direction of Xu Yang's chest.　　 

Hong Xi was thinking of many ways to deal with Xu Yang after defeating the kid. His eyes gleamed with joy at this prospect.　　 

However, when his punch approached Xu Yang, Xu Yang took a deep breath and the muscles on his chest sank inward. Hong Xi's punch missed its target and he heard Xu Yang roaring. Xu Yang bent his waist and rushed forward with a dagger that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.　　 

Hong Xi knew that a section of the dagger had pierced his body when he felt a coldness at his lower abdomen. He was frightened and angry but realized that Xu Yang was not satisfied with a stab. Xu Yang twisted the blade, hard, causing even more damage! Hong Xi used his palm to hit Xu Yang's shoulder angrily and Xu Yang flew backward like a broken kite.　 

The attack was launched in a hurry. Although the strength exerted was not powerful, Xu Yang rolled several times on the ground. His right shoulder bone was cracked, and half of his body was numb.　　 

Xu Yang forced himself to stand up. He still had the dagger in his hand and a piece of intestine was hanging on the blade! A ruthless smile appeared on his face.　 

Hong Xi was shaking as he covered his abdominal wound with his hand. His intestines had been ruptured and it was extremely painful. He was bleeding profusely and his strength was dissipating continuously.　 

"You… you..." Hong Xi's other hand shakily pointed at Xu Yang. "Kid... you are really ruthless." 

"Since you want to kill me, you have to be prepared as you may be killed by me like a dog!" Xu Yang did not waste any time waiting for Hong Xi to recover. He rushed to him as he spoke.　 

The attack just now was just his luck. If Hong Xi had reserved thirty percent of his power, he would have avoided it. If Hong Xi had a full bar of Mystical Power, the ordinary dagger would not even be able to penetrate the protective layer formed by his Mystical Power.　 

However there were no 'ifs' in duels. There was only victory or death!　 

In the following battle, Xu Yang revealed his ruthlessness to Hong Xi. He did not care about the punches by Hong Xi. Xu Yang avoided his punches as much as he could. He just wanted to create more and more injuries on Hong Xi's body. 

The battle soon ended with a total of no more than a hundred breaths, but this battle had determined his life or death predicament.　 

Hong Xi opened his eyes wide and stared at the morning sky. He had stopped breathing. His body was covered in wounds of all sizes and his body was drained of all the blood he had.　 

Xu Yang struggled to stand up. His body had seven or eight broken bones and his body was almost at its breaking point. There was still a line of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. 

Xu Yang's dagger fell to the ground. In addition to bloodstains, there were large and small cracks. After this battle, this ordinary dagger was no longer usable. 

'A Mystical Warrior's physical strength is comparable to that of a rhinoceros or elephant. It is not easy to kill one even if there was no protection from the Mystical Power,' Xu Yang thought. Exerting great force, he squatted and picked up Hong Xi's leather pouch.