Chapter 118 - 84 : Monster (2)

Chapter 118: Chapter 84 : Monster (2)

A blade came from the right. Ethan raised his dao and caught it, but another weapon was already coming from the left. He ducked beneath it, felt the wind of the strike pass over his hair, and drove his shoulder into the attacker as he came up. The cultivator staggered backward, and Ethan followed with a short slash that opened his chest. Before the man could fall, a burst of Qi struck Ethan from behind and threw him several steps forward. He twisted as he landed, rolled across the ground, and came up just as three figures closed around him. Ethan’s eyes narrowed. He drove forward instead of retreating, forcing his way between them before their formation could tighten. One cultivator swung at his head. Ethan leaned aside, caught the man’s wrist, and pulled him directly into the path of the second attack. The weapon meant for Ethan buried itself into the man’s shoulder. Ethan used the opening to drive his dao into the attacker’s throat, then kicked the wounded cultivator away before another spear could reach him.

The valley had become a blur of movement, steel, Qi, and blood. Ethan fought through it with increasing aggression, no longer treating the fallen as obstacles but as openings he could create and exploit. A body became a shield. A tree became something to throw an opponent against. A dropped weapon became a distraction. Even the narrow spaces between the rocks became useful when he forced his opponents into them and attacked before they could spread out again. Yet the longer the fight continued, the more Ethan could feel the cost of every movement. His body healed each wound, but the Living Blood consumed in the process was not returning quickly enough. His breathing grew heavier as another cut closed across his arm, and the next burst of speed came with a faint heaviness in his limbs that had not been there earlier.

The cultivators noticed.

"He’s slowing!"

The shout came from somewhere behind the surrounding figures, and several immediately pressed forward. Ethan caught one man’s blade against his dao, twisted his wrist, and sent the weapon flying before driving the man backward into another attacker. A spear struck Ethan’s thigh a moment later. He ripped himself free, turned, and cut down the spearman, but the wound remained open for a heartbeat longer than it should have. Living Blood rushed toward it, drawing the torn flesh together, yet the healing was noticeably slower.

Another group saw it and surged forward.

Ethan killed the nearest cultivator, caught another by the collar, and hurled him into a cluster of Body Tempering cultivators behind him. Bodies crashed together, giving Ethan a narrow opening to move through, but a blade still managed to catch his side as he passed. Pain flashed through him. He turned and killed the attacker, then pressed a hand briefly against the wound as the flesh began to close.

Too slowly.

Ethan looked at his bloodied hand.

The realization settled deeper this time.

The blood he had taken was already keeping him going, but it was not enough to restore everything he was spending in the fight. Ethan could feel the difference with every exchange. He could replenish himself by taking blood directly from those he killed, but doing so still required him to close the distance, overpower them, and spend more strength in the process. His gaze fell briefly to the ground beneath him. Blood soaked the earth, spreading between the rocks and pooling around fallen bodies. It was everywhere, far more than he could possibly drink one person at a time.

An idea took shape.

Ethan pushed his awareness inward and focused on the Blood Seed. Rather than drawing another cultivator toward him, he guided the Blood Seed into a deeper cycle and used it as the medium through which the blood around him could be refined. Nothing dramatic happened. The blood on the ground did not suddenly surge or leap toward him. It simply began to move, so gradually that the change was almost impossible to notice.

A thin trail of blood slowly crept across the stone, gathering toward him almost imperceptibly. Another followed from a different direction, then another, the movement so gradual that it could easily have been mistaken for the natural slope of the ground. Yet Ethan could feel what was happening. The blood was being drawn into the cycle, its vitality passing through the Blood Seed before the usable essence was refined and returned to his body. Warmth spread through him, his breathing steadied, and the heaviness in his limbs began to ease.

Ethan’s eyes sharpened as he stepped forward again. The battle had become something else entirely. He was no longer fighting simply to survive until his reserves ran dry. Every exchange created more blood, every fallen cultivator added to what surrounded him, and the Blood Seed could now draw from the battlefield itself. As long as the fight continued, there was more for him to use.

A cultivator rushed toward him, and Ethan met him head-on. The man’s blade came down, but Ethan caught the strike with his dao and drove forward with enough force to break the man’s stance. His other hand seized the cultivator by the neck, and the man’s eyes widened as Ethan’s fangs sank into his throat. Warm blood rushed into him, joining the steady flow already being drawn from the ground. Ethan released the body and immediately turned toward the next attack.

There was no reason to retreat anymore.

The valley was full of blood, and Ethan had just found a way to make use of it.

"He isn’t slowing down!"

"Keep attacking!"

"Keep pressing him! He’s almost at his limit!"

That last shout came from somewhere in the crowd.

Ethan heard it as his gaze shifted slightly.

The battle was beginning to lose its shape. What had started as a coordinated assault was slowly becoming a collection of scattered movements, with some cultivators pressing forward while others had begun glancing toward the paths leading out of the valley. A few had already taken small steps backward, subtle enough to go unnoticed unless someone was paying attention, while others kept their weapons raised but no longer advanced with the same certainty. The sight of Ethan growing more relentless with every exchange had begun to unsettle them. They had expected to wear him down, to keep throwing pressure at him until his strength finally gave out, yet the longer they fought, the more difficult it became to believe that was actually happening.

That realization was spreading through the group faster than anyone wanted to admit. The cultivators who had been counting on numbers were beginning to wonder whether those same numbers could hold together much longer. If too many started withdrawing, the formation they had built around Ethan would break apart, and once that happened, the opportunity to claim the bounty could disappear with it. The thought of walking away after everything already spent on the pursuit was difficult enough, but staying when the situation was turning against them carried its own danger. They were caught between the two, hesitation spreading through the crowd as each man watched the others for some sign of what to do next.

Amid that growing uncertainty, two figures remained unusually still. They had spent much of the battle allowing the others to move around them, keeping their strength hidden beneath the appearance of ordinary Early Qi Refining cultivators. Neither had any reason to reveal what they could truly do while the weaker cultivators were still useful. But the opportunity they had been waiting for was beginning to slip away. The people they had expected to weaken Ethan were now losing their nerve, and if the crowd scattered, neither of them would have an easy chance to act again.

For the gray-haired cultivator, the thought was especially difficult to accept. The bounty represented far more than a large amount of spirit stones. His lifespan was already nearing its end, and without a breakthrough, there might not be much time left for him to change that. The reward could give him enough resources to obtain what he needed for another attempt, perhaps even reach the next stage and gain the years of life that came with it. Without those resources, there might be no later opportunity to seek them. He could die before another chance like this ever appeared.

That was what made the situation so difficult. He had spent much of the battle holding himself back, watching and waiting instead of rushing forward recklessly. He knew the danger of making the wrong move. Ethan had already shown enough strength to kill cultivators far stronger than him like both those in the same realm or the other lower-level cultivators around him, and one mistake could cost the gray-haired cultivator his life. Yet watching the opportunity slip away was just as dangerous in its own way. His remaining years were already running out, and he could not afford to let this chance disappear simply because the others had lost their courage.

His expression hardened as he made his decision.

He stepped forward.

For much of the battle, he had stood among the others without drawing attention to himself. Now he stopped hiding.

"Don’t panic. He’s already at his limit. You just need to keep him contained. I’ll deal with him."