Wu Guang could be only grateful for the three people he was following for moving far slower than he expected. Actually, they were moving only with mortal speed, namely about 5 or 6 mph. And so, even though he was about one hour late to intercept them on arrival, it took him only a quarter of an hour to get them into his senses area.
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Wang Tu, nicknamed 'Hiding Slash Wang' had arrived here, on this heavens forsaken 'Wildlands' with a mission. He could not very much care for it much, as he considered they should simply exterminate everyone in the path of their Kingdom and be done with this. Still, his brother, the leader of the Black Eagles, Wang Zuo had asked him to take it. And so, whatever thoughts he may have about using incidents as a reason to invite, or even cower the Clan's Assembly into some kind of negotiation, he intended to complete his task. He even had made sure to bring a few of his people, to guarantee the existence of these so-called incidents. After all, they had no contact with their Underhill pawns, and so did not know if everything had occurred as planned.
But... Whatever had happened, Wang Tu knew that his people would make sure that he had enough to base his claims on.
For this, he along with the two subordinates that accompanied him decided to walk slowly and give enough time for the three teams to carry out their orders.
"We may have a tail. A single Spirit realm cultivator" Wang Tu was surprised to note it, and even his voice showed it. Indeed, they had just moved a few miles from the beach they landed on, and there was already someone on their tracks?
His two subordinates, one a 6th level Soul realm cultivator and another on the peak of the Spirit realm nodded and gripped their weapons.
"Until we are sure that he or she is alone, we should try and not arouse suspicion" Wang Tu quickly reprimanded them. Albeit their strength was beneath his own, both of them had accompanied him for a long time. And even though a peak Spirit realm cultivator was nothing impressive, on the contrary, it would be called a failure... Wang Tu had 'Subtle Falcon' not for fighting, but as a specialist in runes and other security measures they had to avoid while completing their missions. Evens so, their tail was simply too weak to be considered dangerous.
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A pair of minutes later, Wu Guang was already in sight range of the trio he was approaching. He had stopped releasing aura and only allowed a small amount of qi to circle himself. Making him look, and feel somewhere around a normal 3rd level Spirit realm cultivator. As they sensed his strength and the fact he was alone, he noted that the trio relaxed. It wasn't apparent, no, the ones in front of him were definitively experienced enough as to don't show, but... There was always something that denoted an expert readiness to fight for his life if needed, and that something was exactly what had disappeared from their bearing.
Wu Guang slightly slowed down, taking a moment to fully observe the group that stopped and turned towards him.
Armed and armored to look alike to the Guards of the Coastal Hill City, they carried shields, spears, and swords. And sported whitened leather armor.
Still, Wu Guang could assure that they were not guards, after all, the City only a single sixth-level Soul realm cultivator, Lady Shenlan. Not to mention that there were absolutely no guards from that city in the Wildlands at all.
A distressing moment was that he could still not see through the concealment used by the third man, the one that looked like being in charge of everything. But there was nothing to be done, and so Wu Guang approached and immediately began talking
"Oh, it's so good that I caught you! I saw a few spirit beasts from the Mountains moving along the Demonic border, and so rushed to find reinforcements"
"Spirit Beasts?" The man that Wu Guang had pinned as the leader asked in confirmation.
"Yes, at least half a dozen of Legged Serpents. I am afraid they may turn towards the camps, please accompany me to deal with them"
"We would like to, but we are currently on a mission to hunt a rogue cultivator from the city that assaulted Clansmen without provocation" Wang Tu had a lot of experience covering up his movements and actions, and so he lied without even blinking.
"How horrible! But I saw there were a few other guards with you, don't you suppose there is a way to ask them to return?" Wu Guang added distress to his voice, fully showing what the normal reaction... and questions to follow should be when one was worried.
"Sorry, they are on similar missions. You know how many incidents there have been lately. But 'Legged Snakes' are slow, so if you run towards any of the Clan' towns, you should be able to find reinforcements in time" Even though asking directly was impossible, Wang Tu made sure to mention the incidents and watched closely how the young cultivator that had run to them paled. "So it seems that there have been at least some" He thought.
"But... They are only about ten miles from here, if I move farther away, I fear that I will not find them again..." Wu Guang continued to play his role, even adding a slight shiver to his voice.
"I'm very sorry, but orders are orders. Even if our City Lord isn't around, we can not defy our commands. But do not worry, if we see anyone, we will definitively inform him. Can you point us where did you see the beasts?" As Wang Tu spoke, he used his senses to confirm there was no one around except the distressed young cultivator. And when he was sure and the target was distracted enough, he quickly commanded via qi transmission
"First Condor, do it!"
Wang Tu did not think that the 3rd Spirit realm in front of him would be a problem even for 'Subtle Falcon', but he was used to allowing for anything unexpected when carrying out any elimination. Regretfully, his usual precautions did not work now.
"Revealing yourselves so soon?" A single breath before a claw covered in qi and aimed at his heart reached Wu Guang, he exploded with the power of his aura.
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He had already reached an equivalent to a 4th level Soul realm cultivator, but after his session to infuse it with even more of his Soul power in the ruins, Wu Guang could generate a short burst of an aura strong as a peak of the realm cultivator.
Which he had done now, at least momentarily freezing the attacker.
Not missing the chance to deal with one of them, he also immediately counterattacked.
"Green Demon Claw" Calling the poisonous and armored claw to cover his left arm, Wu Guang intended to wound his attacker. And diminish his threat with the use of the qi poison.
But he did not manage more than a light scratch on the opponent's extended wrist, before being forced to throw himself to the side.
*Crash*
A lone spear or stake made of ice crashed on the spot where Wu Guang had just stood.
"A Spell? No wonder that he is using such powerful means to conceal his cultivation" Wu Guang's mind raced. He did not expect to meet a Sage realm expert. And more to the point, he did not expect the Eagle Kingdom to risk sending one here. After all, however strong he was, a single such expert could still fall to a combined assault of Soul realm cultivators. Not to add that the Clans had Lang Mu.
"Who are you?" Wang Tu asked. His senses told him that the youngster in front of them was young, not more than 15 years old. And that his cultivation was at the 3rd level of the Soul realm. But... He had just used an aura almost as strong as a peak Soul realm cultivator!
"A guest should introduce himself first. Albeit I doubt that manners are something taught by the Black Eagles" Wu Guang wasn't sure of the origin of the men before him, so he decided to voice the most logical one.
"...You're now dead" Wang Tu did not answer and did not bite the provocation. He simply muttered the words before launching himself at Wu Guang, with a speed far surpassing even the one that the latter had used.
As Wu Guang dodged the attempt to take his life by shifting position with 'Counting Steps', he felt that his opponent was only a 1st level of the sage realm. Not that it did matter currently, as without using all of his trump cards, Wu Guang had absolutely no way to win against such level of cultivation. Still, the main problem was that he could not use them openly!
"Or at least I can not use them without making sure that they die and are never, absolutely never found" With neither the option to escape or win normally, Wu Guang added mentally.
***
About ten minutes later, Wu Guang was constantly using his movement technique to avoid the attacks from the three people following him while moving directly to the north. His speed was slightly lower than the Sage realm, but the benefit of Deng Zian's gift was that the technique masked one's movement, allowing one to zig-zag without revealing one's next step.
Even so, he had already received a few wounds. None of them were life-threatening, but it still meant that he could not avoid confrontation for much longer. Not that he intended to, as the cliff of the 'Demonic Plateau' was already towering in front of him.
"Here I should be able to fight without being sensed, after all, the Demonic Plateau interference applies to at least a few dozen of feet from the bottom of the Cliff" Wu Guang thought. And indeed, there was a small zone, clearly marked by the lack of any life near the cliff. A zone that he already checked before while setting his alarm formation. And one that interfered with any long-range senses, including aura and even mindpower.
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Seeing their target stop while almost hugging the ominous black wall of the cliff, Wang Tu signaled the other two to stop as well.
He had no idea of why the young cultivator they had been hunting down stopped. And that greatly alarmed him. Still, his senses had not found any nearby reinforcements, so that could mean only...
"Can't run anymore?" Wang Tu said while his mouth twitched to form a smirk. A smirk that was erased right after the answer
"Oh no, I just could not risk fighting before. So thank you for following me here. And... Don't expect me to forget about repaying you for all this" The should-be cornered prey coldly smiled and pointed to the few small scratches and lacerations Wang Tu's 'Ice Shard' spells had inflicted on him before.
"Don't you think you can bluff your way out of this one" He said with a coldness that mimicked the opposing party one, and quickly commanded via qi transmission
"First Condor, circle him from the right. I will take the left side. Falcon, stay behind. If he tries to run towards you, stop him"
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The main reason why Wu Guang did not try to fight back before was that his major strength was his mind-power. It was at the peak of the possible one for this plane, which allowed him to wound, or even outright kill anyone below this limit. So the problem laid in that mind-power spells, except a few, were easily trackable to their caster.
But with the help of the interference coming from the Plateau cliff, as well that the 'Death Rain' that would start not long from now, Wu Guang could be sure to conceal his tracks.
However powerful his spells were, that did not change the fact that he could be wounded or even killed in close combat, as his body was not much stronger than his real cultivation.
And so, Wu Guang had to definitively pursue any possible advantage, especially in the initiative that he could grab.
"Gale of Swords" Naming spells was uncommon, as most of them were personal of the creator. Still, in Bai Qi's original plane, there was a place where cultivators showed, traded, and even fought with spells... Making some spells fairly common between cultivators that specialized in mind-power and so assigning them a name. What Wu Guang had conjured was one of such spells. A small tornado of wind qi, that appeared from nowhere to launch itself at the weaker prey, the Soul realm cultivator referred to as Condor...