Chapter 31

In the eastern part of Jiandan Village, a young girl sprinted swiftly, catching sight of her mother in the distance being accosted by two men dressed in black. Without hesitation, she deployed the technique she had diligently honed. Channeling her inner strength, she released a radiant blue aura, and with resolve, she invoked, 'Adamantine Sealing Chains.'"

As she spoke the words, two blue chains suddenly emerged from behind her and shot straight toward the two men. Preoccupied with their actions, the men didn't notice the chains wrapping around their bodies. Once the chains coiled tightly, the young girl clenched her right hand, causing the chains to constrict rapidly around the men. Struggling against the tight bindings, one of them exclaimed, 'I can't move! What kind of technique is this?' he asked, staring at the blue chains encircling him."

As the young girl ran towards her mother, she shouted, "Don't touch my mother with your dirty hands!"

With those words, the blue chains tightened even more around the two men, causing them to scream in pain as the mysterious technique constricted their bodies. Just as the chains began to loosen and fade from sight, one of their companions punched the young girl in the stomach, breaking her concentration. Seeing this, the girl's mother sprang to her feet and ran towards her, shouting, "Li Lu!"

When the man punched Li Lu in the stomach, she doubled over in pain. Seeing this, he ordered his two companions to restrain them. They had no choice but to obey since he outranked them. After they had handcuffed the mother and daughter, he addressed his two companions.

"Enough playing around. We have a mission assigned to us by the boss. Have you forgotten the punishment for disobeying his orders?"

The two men swallowed hard upon hearing this, fear evident in their eyes.

Afterward, the three men looked up at the sky, noticing that the prison array set by their four comrades had been completed. The man then turned to his two companions and said, "Alright, take these two captives with you."

The two men nodded in agreement upon hearing his instructions.

...

Emerging from the southern part of their village, Madara didn't look back. Instead, he kept running, utilizing his technique to put distance between himself and their village. Amidst his sprint, a soft whimper escaped him, tears mingling with his sweat as memories of Xiao Yun's sacrifices flooded his mind, dating back to his childhood. Journeying through the dense Yunwun Senlin Forest, he couldn't shake off the words his sister had imparted to him.

One thing that lingered in his mind was his sister's remarks about his technique and the expression she wore when she caught sight of it. It dawned on him that she had been aware of his secret for quite some time, hence her lack of surprise at witnessing him employ the technique. This realization prompted him to glance at the storage ring in his right hand, murmuring softly, "I didn't know when you noticed, sister... but it seems you preferred to observe me. It appears you were waiting for the right moment... for me to confess to you myself... Am I correct?" he mused, slipping the storage ring onto his right finger.

Madara's grief faded as he sensed qi trailing him from the right. Glancing over, he spotted a man in black attire similar to the assailants who had attacked their village. Determined to evade the pursuer, he quickened his pace and relied on the body flicker technique to stay ahead. However, before he could create much distance, he felt another presence approaching from the front. Without hesitation, Madara changed direction, veering away from the oncoming qi.

...

Several kilometers away from Jiandan Village, in its southeast direction, three shadowy figures swiftly traversed the dense and misty Yunwun Senlin Forest. Guided by the moon's full illumination, their features gradually emerged. Clad in black Hanfu attire, a young boy led the charge with a wooden sword strapped to his side, trailed closely by two men. Their feet were propelled by the surrounding qi.

Upon glimpsing them, Madara stole a quick glance back at the two men tailing him and murmured to himself, "Judging from the qi they're emitting, they're at the middle stage of qi condensation in their cultivation."

He was about to continue his observation when he once again sensed qi approaching from his left. As it drew nearer, he discerned a man who seemed to be part of the group trailing him.

Spotting him, Madara muttered to himself as he glanced to his left, "Damn, I didn't expect three of them on my tail, and with their formation in an inverted V-type, it seems they're not planning to let me escape."

As Madara hastened his pace, employing the body flicker technique to outpace his pursuers, the three men chasing him took note. They matched his speed, utilizing their own movement techniques to keep him within reach. Amidst the chase, one of them spoke up.

"Brothers, I never expected to encounter a young cultivator in such a remote village."

"Indeed, and his technique is quite unusual, almost like teleportation," another remarked.

"Your words only fuel my desire to capture him and obtain that technique," their companion added.

With shared laughter, they continued their pursuit of him. Despite hearing their faint laughter, Madara remained focused on his surroundings, navigating through the dense and misty forest.

...

After hours of relentless pursuit, Madara began to sense his own fatigue creeping in. Yet, he ignored it, pushing himself to run even faster with the aid of his qi. As more time passed, he felt his qi gradually diminish. Glancing back, he was startled to see the three men, who had been trailing behind, now rapidly closing the gap. Frustrated, he muttered to himself, "Damn it, if this keeps up, they'll catch me for sure," discreetly wiping the sweat from his brow with his left hand.

As the three men noticed Madara slowing down, one of them, clad in black, spoke out loudly. "Kid, you better surrender now. This chase is going nowhere," he urged.

Ignoring their plea, he continued to distance himself from them. Unaffected by his silence, the man spoke again, this time with irritation. "It looks like you're not one for diplomacy. "Fine, then take this," he declared.

With a swift motion, he retrieved a spear from his storage ring. Gripping it tightly, he infused lightning qi into the weapon, declaring, "Thunderstrike Spear Technique."

----Thunderstrike Spear Technique: channels the practitioner's Qi into a spear, infusing it with the power of lightning. When the spear is thrown or thrust, it releases a bolt of lightning that can pierce through defenses and paralyze the target.----

After uttering his declaration, the man swiftly hurled the spear with his left arm towards Madara, who was running ahead. Sensing the qi released by the man, Madara quickly glanced back, spotting the lightning-infused spear hurtling towards him.

Reacting with speed, Madara employed his body flicker technique to evade the incoming attack. His swift maneuver allowed him to dodge the strike, but the spear grazed the right sleeve of his Hanfu robe before striking a nearby tree trunk and embedding itself into the ground. The impact created a powerful shockwave, accompanied by a lightning strand emanating from the spear, causing smoke to rise from the ground due to the force of the impact.

As he evaded the attack, he felt a numbing sensation creeping through his right arm, rendering it motionless. "Am I paralyzed?" Madara questioned himself. Observing the paralysis slowly spreading across his body, he glanced back at the spear in the distance. "I don't know how to reverse it, but I'll try to counteract it," he resolved, swiftly releasing his lightning qi to impede the paralysis's progress.

Amidst the lingering smoke, Madara remained vigilant, awaiting its dissipation. Standing firm, he gradually discerned three figures approaching him. "I have no choice but to confront them, despite the odds," he muttered to himself. When the smoke cleared, he found the three men who had been chasing him standing before him.

...

As the three men laid eyes on him standing before them, the spear-wielding man spoke once more. "I didn't expect you to be so resourceful, kid, trying to slow down the paralysis by releasing your own lightning qi. But no matter what tricks you pull, you're still weak. It's best for you to surrender."

Ignoring the man's taunts, Madara swiftly unleashed his fire technique at the three men. "Fireball," he declared, and a stream of fire came from his mouth aimed at them. Reacting with agility, the trio dodged in different directions using their movement techniques. After evading the flames, they noticed Madara had vanished from his spot.

Sensing Madara's qi in the distance, they swiftly pursued him using their movement techniques. As they departed, the man quickly retrieved his spear, which had been thrust into the ground.

After a few minutes, he sensed the three men drawing closer, and in the distance ahead, he spotted a ravine. Just then, he heard a voice behind him taunt, "Nowhere left to run, kid."

Swiftly turning around, Madara caught sight of one of the men wielding a crossbow. Puzzled, he watched as the man raised the weapon and aimed it directly at him. With the crossbow now aimed high, the man announced, "Thousand Shadows Volley."

----Thousand Shadows Volley: The practitioner fires a single bolt that, mid-flight, splits into numerous shadowy duplicates.----

As the man spoke those words, he unleashed an arrow into the air targeting his. Observing this, Madara initially saw just one arrow in the sky, but in the blink of an eye, it multiplied. Surprised by the sudden increase, he instinctively stepped back while continuing to run, his eyes fixed on the descending arrows. As the volley of arrows approached, he quickly executed his fireball technique towards the oncoming projectiles.

As the collision of the two techniques occurred, the arrows launched by the man vanished into thin air. At the same time as his fireball technique fading away, a fresh volley of arrows suddenly appeared above him. Reacting swiftly, he utilized the body flicker technique while backstepping to dodge them.

"The kid's technique is damn annoying," muttered the crossbow user to himself, observing how the young boy skillfully dodged his attacks using his 'teleporting' technique.

With each evasion, the only sound resonating was the thud of the arrows hitting the ground.

"Thud, thud, thud."

With each step, Madara edged closer to the ravine's precipice, the sound of rushing water audible from below. Despite this, he persisted in deflecting the assault with his fireball technique. However, realizing its inefficacy, he swiftly drew his wooden sword from its sheath at his waist.

After retrieving it, Madara swiftly imbued his wooden sword with sword qi. With a fluid motion, he deflected the incoming arrows using his left hand.

"Ting, ting, ting."

With each precise block, he observed that every arrow intercepted by his wooden sword, enhanced with sword qi, vanished. Perplexed, he muttered to himself, "Where's the real one?"

As he voiced his query, a swiftly formed arrow made of qi greeted him. Reacting swiftly, he stepped back and executed the body flicker technique once more. However, upon reappearing in another direction, another volley of Qi-made arrows intercepted his path. Undeterred, he defended himself against them with his wooden sword while continuing to backstep. Despite the stinging sensation of wounds caused by the arrows, he sensed two distinct qi energies accompanying him from both sides.

Glancing briefly, he caught sight of the spear-wielding man in black to his right and another man, also clad in black but wielding a saber, to his left.

Amidst his defense against the shadow arrows, the crossbow user spoke again as he ran, "Heaven Piercing Shot."

----Heaven Piercing Shot: By focusing Qi into a single bolt, the crossbowman creates a shot of immense power.----

As the man spoke those words, a surge of powerful qi raced swiftly towards his position. With its speed, Madara couldn't evade, and his wooden sword bore the brunt of the attack, shattering upon impact, while the force propelled him backward towards his chest. The impact forced him to cough up blood as he was sent hurtling towards the ravine's edge.

Observing this, the spear-wielding man declared, "You won't escape, kid," tightening his grip on his spear as he dashed towards the edge of the precipice. Closing in on the brink, the boy plummeted rapidly into the abyss below, prompting the man to unleash his ultimate technique, "Thunderbolt Piercing Spear."

----Thunderbolt Piercing Spear: Is a formidable lightning-based martial technique that focuses on channeling raw, destructive lightning energy into a concentrated spear form.----

As the words left the man's lips, he swiftly hurled it towards him.

...

When Madara's eyes blinked open once more, he realized he was hurtling toward the ravine he'd seen moments before. "Fuuckk," he muttered, feeling a sharp pain in his chest.

As he was about to continue, Madara halted as an echoing voice reverberated from above the ravine. Hearing this, he muttered, "It seems… they won't let me… live. I've got no… choice but to… use it."

Continuing his descent into the abyss, he hastily used his Wood Clone Technique, channeling all his remaining qi into the created clone. With the transfer complete, he whispered, "I hope... this works."

With those words, both he and his wooden clone descended into the tumultuous waters below. After they fell, his wooden clone materialized in front of him, while above them, a surge of qi swiftly approached. Reacting swiftly, he moved away as quickly as he could from where his wooden clone had landed. 

As the spear struck the wooden clone, it triggered a massive explosion in their vicinity. The force of the blast caused Madara to collide with rocks beneath the water's surface, and soon he lost consciousness as the strong current carried him away.