Actius’s spirit had gone dormant after he’d expended all of his energy to help them escape from the nightmarish realm that he and his fellow Neomen had created, so Jason wasn’t able to defer to him when presented with unknown objects or uncertain situations. Even so, there was a slight bit of silver lining to these circumstances. As Nolan had likely obtained the mysterious stone ring that both Actius and the chained woman were so dead set on acquiring, the ancient being’s absence ensured the safety of this secret.

Terrible headaches plagued him in recent weeks, results of the Soul Meld that he’d suffered through when fragments of the minds of Actius and his fellow disciples were integrated into his being. Thanks to this unstable treasure trove of knowledge, he knew for a fact that the woman had botched the procedure and that these numbing migraines would take months to subside.

They were attacked again the following morning. He killed two more black-robed disciples, these a bit weaker than the previous man but even more difficult to deal with due to the fact that they had the help of a dozen more disciples of the inner court. He had almost bled to death in the aftermath of the battle, and only barely managed to conjure up the most simplistic healing arrayment that resided within Actius’s memory, saving his life by a hair. It had taken him five panicked attempts in order to seal his wounds, which were so grievous that he wouldn’t have had the luxury of another attempt had his fifth one failed.

The light in Brud’s hopeful eyes had diminished like a dying star as soon as Jason pulled himself up off the ground and limped over to the nearest corpse to access the energies that lingered within. The boy’s silent gasps signalled that he’d attempted to prevent him from preserving his life, as Jason had ordered him to hold his breath indefinitely should he ever attempt to harm his ‘master.’

Having almost died a bloody death, he decided that he wouldn’t survive if he relied solely on the Ancestral Body Technique to supplement his cultivation, and so resolved to make use of his secondary core cultivation method, albeit with great reluctance.

The last thing that he remembered was tossing a handful of blood breeding pellets into his mouth and going to work. He must have permitted the other boy to breathe normally at some point throughout the forty minutes that followed, and had most likely told him to flee a few kilometres away though he had no recollection of the fact. While his resistance had risen in regards to the troublesome technique, he blacked out after he emptied the seventh body of its inner essence reserves only to awaken a short while later in perfect health, his pants soiled with semen and his body raked with a terrible burning sensation akin to resting on a bed of searing hot needles.

Brud had returned in due time, at which point he’d belatedly realized that he had climbed all the way up to the peak of the Profound Entry stage’s fifth level with that last stint of refinement. Without a word, he’d changed clothes and led the other boy to a new location so that he could stabilize his cultivation base, though he was almost immediately attacked by a small group of inner court disciples.

Unwilling to risk entering into a mindless rampage of refinement, he’d killed their attackers as quickly and efficiently as possible and then led the way back into the forest, though he was distressed to discover that a series of camps lay strewn about the area both in and around the forest, and so he was forced to fight for his life almost immediately killing off the previous group.

Once again on the verge of death, he chanced another binge of refinement only to wake up choking on a mouthful of blood that he had no choice but to drink down in his strangely paralyzed state. His cultivation had moved up to the initial phase of the Profound Entry stage’s sixth level, though the energies within him were so turbid that cracks were beginning to appear upon his skin. On top of that, several of his organs had ruptured.

This is bad, he thought. His body would explode if he took in any more energy. Expanding his spiritual sense to the limit, he located the nearest enemy camp and forced himself to his feet. Wasting no time, he moved his agonized body and closed in on it within a matter of minutes. With so much energy roiling within his inner essence channels, his only option was to rid himself of the excess, though doing so would likely attract the nearby cultivators. If he had no choice but to fight again then he might as well do it with extra reserves in stock.

It wasn’t long until the entire camp lay in ruins, though he immediately set off towards the mountains with a reluctant Brud for fear of giving in to the itching temptation to refine the dead disciples. Now that he’d shed enough energy to safeguard his body, he needed to find an isolated place to stabilize his cultivation base.

He didn’t get far before dozens of auras appeared within his perceptions from countless directions, all of them moving quickly and directly toward him.

There’s what…forty-eight? All were at the ninth or tenth levels of the Profound Entry stage. What the…? How can so many be here when I’m almost at the mountains? By now he’d gone a good deal into the forests that hugged the base of the mountains which marked the fringes of the Dragon’s Tail. I’m strong, but I can't fight them all at once.

He glanced at Brud, who was now at the fifth level of Profound Entry after he’d refined a good number of his former comrades. Even so, his lagged response was one of fear and cowardice.

I’ll only stand a chance if I fight them before they join up.

“You sense those guys up ahead? I’m gonna fight them. While I do that, you run ahead and wait about a half a league away. If you disobey me then kill yourself.”

“W—what? But what if there’re more up ahead? I won’t be able to run away!”

“Go now.”

The master-slave seal appeared around Brud’s neck, a black line that suddenly glowed red.

“Ah!”

The boy stumbled from sudden pain, though Jason didn’t pay him any attention.

Of the five groups, the one that he was about to attack numbered the least. Four young men at the peak of Profound Entry were now in his sights, their black, scarlet trimmed uniforms billowing from the wind resistance brought on by the speed of their sprints.

I’ve gotta make this quick.

The next closest group was around three hundred metres away, though at their speed they’d close in on him in a handful of seconds.

The young men rushed forward with their offensive martial skills activated, four pairs of hands covered in subtly menacing scarlet energy. They wore steeled gazes on their youthful faces, though Jason chose not to focus on their expressions as he activated the Life-Severing Spear martial skill, pouring over half of his inner essence into a huge spear that boasted an impressive fifteen-metre length. The oncoming disciples faltered in the face of such a frightening attack, none of them expecting such a thing from a young man at the sixth level of Profound Entry, especially one with such an unstable aura.

In the blink of an eye, the crimson spear flashed across the forest floor like a momentary mirage. The subsequent impact was tremendous, as if one of those approaching had triggered a deadly landmine. An explosion of dirt and debris climbed dozens of metres up into the air as the ground trembled from as far away as Jason stood, though he hurried onward through the cloud of dust and leapt over the earthen crater that his attack had created. Blood and bits of flesh brushed against his shoulders as he cleared the blast site, all that was left of the small squad despite the fact that they had been several metres apart from one another.

Shit, I didn’t mean to hit them that hard…

The only reason he’d used so much inner essence was because he’d planned on replenishing the spent energy by refining one of the corpses. Since his attack had almost completely obliterated their bodies, he could only move on to the next nearest group. He’d have to conserve his energy during the next fight, since the other groups were close enough that they might show up before he finished dealing with the six people that were quickly closing in on him.

He took out the curved azure sword that served as his main weapon and rushed to meet the people that had just emerged from a distant thicket. He’d only have enough time to refine a single person, so only one corpse had to be left intact.

Just as the previous group had done, those up ahead subconsciously slowed when they saw how fast he could move. They were probably searching for someone with a much higher cultivation than his, and must have thought he was just an unfortunate person hiding in the woods.

“Unfortunately for you…” Jason mumbled. He pushed his speed to the limits and appeared in front of the young woman that was leading the group.

He stabbed her in the gut and disemboweled her when he tore his sword free with a sideways slice. The spray of blood that left her wound was still airborne when he hacked the head from the next girl’s neck, though he was forced to retreat as the other four pounced for him in a desperate bid to overcome him with numbers.

These disciples were using swords instead of their trademark martial skill, and though he was much faster than them he still felt it unwise to allow them too many strikes. There were four of them, after all, and even their attacks could claim his life should they land in the wrong place.

Jason growled as he batted a blade aside with his weapon and punched his attacker so hard that his bloodied fist met bits of brain as it smashed right through the young man’s head. He immediately leapt upward and allowed the force of his jump to remove his fist from the corpse’s mutilated face, tracking the locations of the others while he also kept track of the remaining groups that would arrive within the coming seconds.

With a mind to hurry, he conjured a regular-sized spear of scarlet energy and hurled it down at the closest youth, who was crudely split down the middle as the martial skill tore into his body and continued onward into the ground below. The remaining two boys turned tail and ran, though he promptly skewered one with another spear.

He chased down the other boy just as the sounds of rustling underbrush announced the presence of the remaining groups, each of them twelve disciples strong. He broke the young boy’s neck without hesitation and quickly pierced his hand into the corpse’s torso in order to refine the inner essence within.

That’s better, he thought with a satisfied tremor. He changed direction and made to catch up to Brud so that they could shake off these pursuers and move on to another part of the forest, though a sudden impulse caused him to turn around and hurl a Life-Severing Spear at the closest pursuer, an older boy about ninety metres away.