(Lin Feng's POV)

I woke up in a tent, feeling like my body was on fire. Every inch of me hurt, and I knew something was seriously wrong. I lay there for a moment, trying to remember what had happened the day before, but my thoughts were a jumbled mess.

I had used my strongest attack during my battle with Zatharios, and the resulting injuries were almost too much to bear. Eventually, I managed to sit up, gritting my teeth against the pain. That's when I noticed my rival, Demon God Zatharios, lying a few feet away from me. I scanned his body and found that he too was gravely injured, just like me.

"Zatharios you little b*stard, are you alright?" I asked him, my voice barely a whisper.

He grunted in response, then slowly scanned his body for injuries. After a few moments, he looked at me with a pained expression.

"I'm not sure if I'm going to make it," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

I nodded, understanding the severity of our injuries. "I know what you mean. If we don't find a divine medicine soon, we will die in a few years."

Our injuries are not only external. We also suffered heavy damage to our souls. If it's as insignificant as our external bodies, recovering will be a little easier but with the damage in our soul, recovering is almost impossible.

We both fell into silence, lost in our thoughts. After a few minutes, Zatharios spoke up again.

"Did you notice anything missing from our belongings?" he asked.

I thought for a moment before replying, "Nothing of great importance, just some miscellaneous items. Why do you ask?"

Zatharios sighed, "We lost the Divine Chaos Crystal, Lin Feng. The most important item we were fighting for. If it falls into the wrong hands, it could cause a calamity."

"Didn't it just fall somewhere nearby?" I asked.

"No, I already scanned the surrounding area using my demonic eyes."

I felt a wave of panic wash over me as the gravity of the situation sunk in. "We have to find it, no matter what. But how?" I asked, feeling hopeless.

Zatharios paused for a moment, deep in thought. "After we used our strongest attacks. I remembered that we both fell into the ground. Also, look around us, it is a tent. Someone must have saved us. That person could be the key to finding the crystal."

Hope flickered in my chest at the thought of a lead. "You're right. We have to find that person. It's our only hope."

Zatharios nodded, his eyes burning with determination. "Agreed. We'll search everywhere if we have to."

"But first, let's recover our injuries," Zatharios suggested.

"Okay"

With a renewed sense of determination, we began to search through our belongings. Thankfully, we had stored everything in our spatial storage, so special items weren't lost. Getting a healing pill, I sat in a lotus position and directed the energy from the healing pill, slowly recovering my body.

........

After we finished recovering our bodies, we both struggled to our feet and began to look for any clues that could lead us to the person who had saved us.

As we stumbled through the forest, our weakened bodies slowing us down, I couldn't help but think back on our conversation with the old man in the void. He predicted and warned us of the dangers that awaited us, and now we were facing the consequences of our actions.

But we couldn't give up now. We had come too far and fought too hard to give up. We had to find that crystal, no matter the cost.

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Walking through the forest, Zatharios looked at me "Lin Feng" he said. "Why don't you use the Aura Tracking Talisman?"

"Aura Tracking Talisman? Okay."

Aura Tracking Talisman is a common talisman used to detect the position of any energy that it identifies. I took out the talisman from my spatial storage and laid it on the ground before reciting some incantation. The talisman slowly floated up before absorbing and identifying the energy in the surroundings.

"Detect a person's presence."

The talisman slowly moved to my head before turning to lights and moving to my mind.

"It detected 6 people that went here for the past few weeks."

"Let's head to the first one," said Zatharios.

Hours turned into days as we searched tirelessly for any signs of our savior. Our weakened bodies made this search harder and slower but we refuse to give up. Currently, we found 4 people but they are not the savior we are seeking. Right now, we are in this forest, on our way to the fifth person. Hopefully, they would be the person we are looking for.

The dense forest seemed endless, with tall trees looming above us and the foliage forming an impenetrable wall around us. The only sounds were the rustling of leaves and the occasional chirping of birds. I felt my frustration growing with each step we took, feeling like we were making no progress at all.

But then, we heard something that broke the silence. A faint sound of running water.

"Water!" I exclaimed, my throat dry from days of trekking through the forest.

We followed the sound of the water, and soon enough we stumbled upon a small stream. We drank our fill and washed our faces, feeling refreshed and rejuvenated. It was a small comfort, but it gave us the strength to keep going.

As we continued our search, we noticed that the forest was thinning out, and we emerged into a clearing. In the distance, we could see a small village.

"That must be where the fifth person is," I said, my hope rising. "Let's go check it out."

We made our way towards the village, our footsteps unsteady but determined. As we drew closer, we could see that the village was small, with only a few houses and a central square. People bustled around, going about their daily lives.

"I can sense his presence. He's nearby." I looked at Zatharios excitedly.

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(Naino's/MC's POV)

After reaching Rock Breaking Stage and a few hours before Lin Feng and Zatharios came to the village.

"I can sense it. They're nearby." I've never been mistaken when it comes to this kind of thing. After many years of traveling, though not related to martial arts, I've developed a few unique skills and I call them Traveling Survival Skills. I just used one of my techniques, the Gut Communication Technique, and right now, my guts are telling me - "They're here. Run."

So I must oblige. As I was explaining my skill, I've already gathered my belongings and put on a cloak. I also used the three-second gap of you reading my monologue to say goodbye to people who know me. Old man Zack, his wife, and Captain Zhou. There is no time to waste.

The only thing that Captain Zhou said to me within that three-second gap is: "You want to leave now? Ok. Good Luck on all your travels and keep training."

Yes, Captain Zhou, I will keep training. To rob-, help more people.

After exiting the Briarwood Village, I went in the direction of the north. I heard that there is a powerful wizard living in one of the mountains there. Apparently, he also came to Briarwood Village before and destroyed Old Man Zack's field due to his battle against another wizard. The problem is, even after destroying his field, the wizard did not even pay up Old Man Zack and said that destroying Old Man Zack's field should be an honor based on the wizard's identity. What a vicious and heartless wizard. I must drag him to our feud because he's vicious.

Sigh. It's really hard being a chivalrous man. Seeking justice for people is what my heart always tells me to do. Next time, I need to change my mentality of being righteous because I might offend a lot of evil in this world.

"North Mountain. YOSHHAA!!"

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Back to (Lin Feng's POV)

"He left?" I asked the old lady.

"Yes. If you've been here I little earlier maybe you can meet him," replied Old Man Zack's wife.

"I see. Thank you for the information, Ma'am. Goodbye."

"Goodbye too."

Sigh. This is so tiring, if only I didn't fight it out with this b*stard, I would not have to go to all of this trouble.

I looked at the cold-looking Demon God and said "Let's go Zatharios, he shouldn't have gone far away."

"Okay. Let's hurry."

We went to the north in hopes of catching up to him. Running as fast as we can, we managed to reach a rather small mountain. His presence points at the top. We both stood at the bottom of the mountain, staring up at the steep incline that led to the top. I took a deep breath and began to ascend, the crunch of rocks under my feet echoing in the silent mountain air.

As we climbed, the air grew thinner and colder but we didn't mind it. Our bodies are forged to the extreme, no amount of mortal fire and cold will be able to affect us in any way. Zatharios followed closely behind me, his demonic eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of danger.

After what felt like hours of climbing, we finally reached the top. And there he was, standing at the edge of the cliff, his back turned to us.

At last. Finally-

"Found you."

Lesson of the day: "Chasing someone, Avoiding someone. Sigh, Love." by DaoMaster