Chương 399: Dao of assassination

Ren Ji's face was sullen as he glared at Long Feng.

"You…!" He didn't even know what to say. When had he ever received such an insult? Long Feng completely ignored him and focused on fleeing. Ren Ji gritted his teeth then reached into his void ring and pulled out a worn out paper talisman engraved with several runes.

"The bronzeflame talisman…?" Long Feng murmured as he caught a glimpse of the talisman and recalled that he had one as well. Ren Ji's fist was clenched tightly around the talisman as he waited for the right time to ignite it and teleport a thousand miles away. As for the others, their life and death wasn't his concern as long as he survived. Chen Zhaofeng hesitated briefly before taking out a fist sized crystal that was strangely flickering like it contained a faint flame within it.

He was an Inner disciple on the same level as Ren Ji. Naturally, he also had his own life saving means. In fact, nearly all inner disciples who had been in the sect for a while would eventually gather enough heaven runes to exchange for different life preservation methods. Hua Zhi also took out a treasure that could boost his speed to the Dao realm temporarily. Watching them all take out their life saving treasures in preparation to flee, Long Feng was speechless.

He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he hadn't received the bronzeflame talisman from Ren Ji the other day. What would he do right now? He didn't think over it and directly pulled out his own bronzeflame talisman and held it tightly while glancing at Ren Ji out of the corner of his eyes. As expected, Ren Ji's eyes turned red as he spotted the talisman in Long Feng's grasp, recalling that it belonged to him.

If Long Feng hadn't relied on Xiao Hu back then, how would Ren Ji ever hand something so precious over? Now, it would actually save Long Feng's life! He was extremely unreconciled with this fact. Without the talisman, Long Feng, a mere new disciple would absolutely die here without any method to save his life. Ren Ji took a deep breath and looked away with a glint in his eyes.

"It's fine as well. If the old man killed him, I will never get the Dao heart." He thought. Behind them, the old man clearly sensed each of them taking out a treasure using his divine sense and his expression turned serious.

"Trying to escape? Hmph!" He snorted and stopped holding back, erupting with his full speed that was enough to make ghosts weep. A hundred kilometers was crossed in an instant and he seemed to blink and appear mere hundreds of meters away from the four youths. Their expressions all changed drastically as they all activated their treasures at the same time. Long Feng poured his energy into the talisman with such force that it tore to pieces, and the fragments burned to ashes in the air.

A powerful energy enveloped him, growing stronger and preparing to teleport him away.

"You're not going anywhere, brats!" The old man roared and thrust his palm in their direction, causing the sky and earth to reverse. A huge palm manifested, towering across the sky as it descended upon the four youths with an earth crumbling force. Long Feng's expression changed as he didn't expect the talisman wouldn't take effect instantly. Chen Zhaofeng's crystal was better in that regard, sacrificing distance for efficiency. It activated near instantly and Chen Zhaofeng vanished in a warp of light.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. The pressure from the palm arrived before the attack itself, causing the three youths beneath it to feel a crushing weight upon their chests. Hua Zhi's treasure activated and he vanished while coughing up a mouthful of blood. As for Ren Ji and Long Feng, the bronzeflame talisman activated at the same time, warping the space around them.

Even still, some of the force of the palm was already upon them, smashing into them just as they were teleported away. The palm continued on it's path, crashing into the earth and sending a minor earthquake across the land. A massive palm shaped crater was left where the attach landed. A few seconds after the attack landed, the old man appeared over the crater with a dark expression on his face.

"Teng Yanbin is right. They do have lifesaving methods… but that's still not enough to escape from me!" He snorted and closed his eyes, slowly sensing for the direction which his cut off divine sense was coming from. Minutes passed and over ten minutes later, seven peak deities rushed over from behind and floated respectfully behind the old man. Another few minutes passed before he opened his eyes.

"You should form two groups and head in these two direction! Two of the brats are in those directions. Kill them at all cost!"

"Yes, Great elder!" The peak deities clasped their fists in acknowledgement before dividing into two groups and speeding off in the direction given. The old man turned in a different direction with a chilling gaze.

"It's good that two of them are close together. I'll take care of them together." He could sense two of the youths, and they were much farther away compared to the first two. They were roughly a thousand miles away, which was extremely far from his usual range. Luckily, he latched his divine sense onto them all before they teleported, giving him a blurry direction. He could no longer play around, otherwise they really might escape his grasp.

With a grim expression, he utilized a movement technique, turning into a blur of light as he sped across the sky, covering tens of kilometers at once.

Long Feng tumbled over after he appeared and crashed into the ground while coughing up a mouthful of blood. A crushing pain filled his chest and he had to sit upright and consume several healing pills to stabilize the pain.

"So powerful!" He wiped the trace of blood from his lips and murmured in shock.

"The attack was far from us, and we were only hit by the shockwaves, yet it's still so powerful! Even the shockwaves alone could have killed us!" This was the power of a Dao realm master, a spiritual lifeform? It was truly inconceivable.

"If it was Teng Yanbin himself, we wouldn't have been able to teleport in one piece." He realized grimly. The Dao realm was too powerful.

"A thousand miles is far enough, but I don't know if he can still track us down. I can't sit around." He rose to his feet and prepared to leave. Only by returning to the sect would he be truly safe. But he realized that there was a tiny issue. He was teleported randomly, leaving him lost. He didn't know which direction would lead to the nearest city that had a teleportation formation.

"I'll just move opposite the direction I came from. That way, I'll be moving further away from the old man." He decided. Luckily, he was able to sense which direction he came from during the teleportation, so he began to speed away in the opposite direction. His body protested with every step he took, but he endured the pain from every muscle and continued running, even taking flight. His eyes suddenly narrowed as he glanced in a certain direction, sensing a familiar aura approaching him.

Within a few minutes, Ren Ji's battered figure appeared in the distance, and he also spotted Long Feng. Seeing Long Feng floating alone, Ren Ji's eyes began to burn with malicious intents as he rushed over.

"What a coincidence, don't you think?"

"I don't really believe in coincidences." Long Feng replied calmly.

"You should. How else would our talismans send us so close together? I was afraid that I had missed my chance to kill you and take the Dao heart." Ren Ji grinned and stated without hiding his intentions. Long Feng's brows furrowed slightly.

"We're on a mission, and a Dao realm master is hunting for us. Are you're still thinking of that?" He asked casually while circulating his inner energy.

"Hmph. Even if he catches up, I have my means to escape. I'm more interested in taking the Dao heart before he kills you and take it." Saying this, Ren Ji unleashed his aura, causing a wave of energy to stir up the wind in the sky. Long Feng's eyes turned grim as he felt great pressure. Ren Ji had refined his cultivation once and returned to the mid stage deity realm, which meant he possessed the strength of a normal late stage deity! This wasn't an opponent he could defeat normally.

But he could sense the injuries Ren Ji was forcefully suppressing, which was caused by the Dao realm old man's attack before they escaped. That attack weakened Ren Ji by about thirty percent. Of course, Long Feng was also injured, but his surging vitality made it so that he was recovering several times faster.

"I've dreamt of this moment, you and I alone for a while already." Ren Ji huffed before charging at Long Feng, causing the air behind him to explode from his speed.

'Move!' Long Feng's pupils shrank as his mind erupted with alarm. He pushed his body to the side just as a gleaming dagger sliced through where he was standing.

"Good instincts." Ren Ji snorted coldly and unleashed several more attacks using his dagger. The dagger itself was a peak mortal grade armament, and his movements were extremely unpredictable, like that of a ghost. Long Feng drew out his mid stage mortal sword, and seeing this sword which was extorted from him caused Ren Ji's rage to increase.

"Die!" He unleashed a barrage of ghastly attacks, completely suppressing Long Feng and forcing him to dodge, barely blocking the attacks. The force behind each dagger strike made his arms numb and forced him backwards unsteadily. A few times, he formed openings that allowed Ren Ji's dagger to cut open deep words on his body.

"I can't fight him!" Long Feng realized cooly. He didn't have true force yet, so his body strength wasn't of much use now. As he was thinking, Ren Ji grinned and swung his dagger in a tricky angle, causing Long Feng to be unable to block and leaving a deep wound across his chest. Blood instantly flowed out as Long Feng retreated with a solemn expression. Ren Ji didn't immediately attack and instead stared at him playfully.

"I could have targeted your throat with that strike." Long Feng wasn't interested in a conversation. This brief moment gave him enough time to fully gather his inner energy, and his sword gleamed as he merg At the same time, he tapped into the Dao heart within his Dantian and released a flood of true essence into his veins, causing them to expand under pressure but they didn't tear. His body tempering wasn't a waste, after all.

His minor sword intent was infused into the sword, causing it to hum as he unleashed a violent strike at Ren Ji.

"Earth Firmament!" The sword blade cleaved through the air, slicing Ren Ji's figure into pieces. Of course, it was merely an after image. Long Feng's expression changed slightly as he rushed forward. Even then, a light cut appeared on his back as Ren Ji manifested behind him.

"Have you noticed? I comprehended an ethereal Dao, the Dao of assassination. My power isn't boosted like other Daos, but my movements are unpredictable, my dagger is silent and hard to deflect while my energy possess a unique attribute that can cut off your life source. Even those at the same level as I am will struggle to stay alive in a fight against me, not to mention you." Ren Ji boasted with a smile.