Long Chen’s Gift

Seeing Ying Hou begin his actions, Long Chen did not dally and started moving slowly toward the depths of the forest.

Long Chen's speed was not fast; on one hand, he needed to be extremely careful and try his best not to leave too many traces, which would increase the difficulty for Ying Hou to find him.

On the other hand, he dared not make any sound; otherwise, once discovered by Ying Hou, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

Therefore, Long Chen's movement speed was not much faster than Ying Hou's search speed. Moreover, the path Long Chen took could not be straight, as it would be disastrous if Ying Hou happened to charge in a straight line.

After all, this was not a simple game of hide-and-seek; if he failed, his life would be over. For the first time in his life, Long Chen felt this nervous, as if the blade of the Grim Reaper was pressed against his neck, and the slightest negligence would result in his head being severed.

"Long Chen, I see you! Go to hell!"

Ying Hou suddenly shouted and charged forward. Long Chen was momentarily stunned, but then a cold sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

His position was currently about five miles away from Ying Hou, which did not mean Ying Hou's speed was faster than Long Chen's.

Rather, it was because Long Chen had to move in a winding path and could not walk in a straight line. However, following Long Chen's tracks, the distance between them was still over ten miles.

Ying Hou was clearly bluffing, jumping out suddenly to intimidate the young Long Chen. If it were an ordinary young person, they would have long since been scared out of their wits and fled for their lives, which would have caused them to fall into his trap.

But now, Long Chen was quietly hiding under a large tree, appreciating the self-amusement of this top figure of the Phoenix Empire.

However, Long Chen dared not look directly at Ying Hou. Ever since the last time at the Huayun Pavilion auction, when he was sensed by Ying Hou through the glass wall, Long Chen knew that the vigilance of an expert was terrifying.

Ying Hou tried several times in succession without any effect and had to return to his original spot to continue exploring Long Chen's tracks.

After all, no matter how careful Long Chen was, he could not fly. He would still leave traces on the ground, grass, stones, and dead wood.

However, because of Long Chen's caution, the traces in some places were not obvious and required careful examination to determine the path Long Chen had taken, which consumed a great deal of Ying Hou's time and energy.

Compared to Long Chen, he was more passive and had to put in more effort than Long Chen, which made Ying Hou increasingly angry.

"Long Chen, once I catch you, I will definitely skin you, pull out your tendons, and grind your bones into dust!" Ying Hou could not help but grit his teeth.

He knew Long Chen was nearby and could hear his words. He could even imagine Long Chen hiding in some corner, stealing a laugh, which made him feel more and more frustrated the more he thought about it.

A dignified expert of the Tendon Transformation Realm, one of the three top experts of the Phoenix Empire, could not even kill a kid in the Qi Gathering Realm. If this got out, he would become the laughingstock of the entire Empire.

However, he had a belly full of fire but nowhere to vent it. He had to remain calm; otherwise, a slight oversight might really let Long Chen escape. As he searched, he pricked up his ears, listening for any movement around him.

Long Chen's mouth curled into a cold sneer: "Want to skin me and pull out my tendons? I'm afraid that great wish of yours will be very hard to realize."

Seeing Ying Hou begin to move forward slowly again, Long Chen slightly discerned the direction. Now, moving toward the depths of the dense forest was the most ideal objective.

In fact, he could bypass Ying Hou, sneak out of the valley, and return to the capital. Moreover, this idea was very tempting.

However, Long Chen decisively gave up on it because, based on his understanding of Ying Hou, he must have made arrangements before coming here. If he were to rush out, he would very likely walk right into a trap.

Most importantly, he was currently suffering from severe internal injuries, and the Meridians in his right hand had been shattered. His combat power was less than one-tenth of his usual level; encountering even a few experts of the Blood Condensation Realm could cost him his life.

Therefore, Long Chen had to suppress the temptation of the capital and continue heading deep into the forest, moving carefully along the way in a "Z" shape. Although that could not quickly increase the distance, it could mislead Ying Hou and make his progress even slower.

After another two hours of travel, the sky suddenly darkened, and the entire forest became eerie and terrifying, with the roars of beasts echoing from time to time.

Long Chen's expression changed slightly. If he were unlucky and discovered by a beast, while he wouldn't necessarily be eaten, it would be terrifying if it attracted Ying Hou.

Now that night had fallen, some large wild beasts were foraging. Those beasts didn't know how powerful he was; if they mistook him for food and attacked, it would be troublesome.

At this moment, Long Chen was hiding under a cliff. Suddenly, a slight sound came. Long Chen hurriedly scanned with his Divine Sense, and his heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

Although he couldn't see his own fingers in the dark, Long Chen's Soul energy spread out, acting as eyes, allowing him to "see" clearly the situation within a range of dozens of zhang around him.

It was a wolf, three feet tall, looking like a calf, baring its teeth and staring at Long Chen.

Long Chen couldn't help but secretly cry out, "Heaven is destroying me!" This was a wild beast, not a Demonic Beast. Although its combat power was not strong, if this blind animal attacked him, even if he could kill it instantly, it would make some noise.

Now the entire forest was silent. Ying Hou was only a little over ten miles away. With his Tendon Transformation Realm cultivation, it was impossible for him not to notice, especially since he was currently quietly paying attention to all movements around him.

Long Chen slowly took a dagger out of his ring. If that hungry wolf came over, he would have to kill it in one strike. However, he had no confidence at all whether he could kill this wolf silently.

If this wolf screamed before dying, then everything would be over. The man and the wolf stared at each other, and Long Chen felt his sweat pouring out.

This wolf itself was not scary; the key was that this wolf would attract even more formidable guys, which was the most terrifying consequence.

After staring at each other for a few breaths, the wolf sniffed a few times with its nose. Then, to Long Chen's surprise, the wolf actually started to back away and finally disappeared into the night.

Long Chen was puzzled. Suddenly, a little snow-white creature came to his mind. Could it be that because he had been with Little Snow for so long, he had picked up its Demonic Beast scent, scaring the wolf away?

"Oh no, that's terrible! Little Snow is still at the valley entrance!"

Long Chen wished he could slap his own head. He had actually forgotten about Little Snow. Before he attacked and killed Xia Changfeng, he had hidden Little Snow in a stone cave.

Later, the situation changed drastically. The appearance of Ying Hou left Long Chen and A Man unable to resist, so Long Chen fled into the forest to lure Ying Hou away.

Recalling this now, Long Chen could not help but secretly pray, hoping that kid A Man could be smart for once and remember to take Little Snow with him.

Little Snow had eaten quite a bit of meat with Long Chen and had grown from the size of a palm to over a foot long, but it was still too small. Right now, it was far from being able to survive on its own.

Thinking of this cute little guy, Long Chen wished he could return to the valley immediately, but that was not realistic. There was still a killer nearby waiting for him.

For a moment, Long Chen hated Ying Hou to the bone, but he was helpless. Seeing that the wolf had retreated, Long Chen hurriedly moved a few stones to bury himself. This would hide his figure, and at the same time, by concealing his aura, he could deceive most wild beasts.

"Awoo!"

Suddenly, a miserable cry came from the distance. A smile appeared at the corner of Long Chen's mouth. Hehe, it seems Ying Hou is very popular.

The reason Long Chen didn't dare to kill that wolf was, on one hand, because he was afraid of alerting Ying Hou, and on the other hand, once the beast died, the strong smell of blood would attract countless predators.

Those were the native inhabitants here; even from dozens of miles away, they could easily smell the blood in the air.

Sure enough, not long after that howl, beast roars were constant, and Long Chen even heard the sound of a blade slicing through the air.

"Hehe, very good. You stay busy; I'll do some Cultivating first."

Long Chen was hiding in the pile of stones and was hard to be discovered. With Ying Hou socializing with the beasts over ten miles away, he was now even safer.

He swallowed two Medicinal Pills: one for repairing internal injuries and one for assisting in repairing his Meridians.

As an alchemist himself, Long Chen naturally kept countless Medicinal Pills on hand. Today, they finally came in handy, and Long Chen was so extravagant that the Medicinal Pills he used were all High Grade.

Ever since he obtained the beast fire at the last Phoenix Lantern Festival, his flame power had greatly increased. After he was able to refine High Grade Medicinal Pills, all the original Medium Grade Medicinal Pills he had in reserve were replaced.

After taking the two Medicinal Pills, he basically didn't need to worry about his internal injuries. As long as there was enough time, they would eventually recover slowly.

However, the Meridians in his palm were a bit troublesome. Human Meridians covered the entire body and reached every part.

It was precisely because of these Meridians, which were like irrigation channels, that Spiritual Qi could be delivered to every part of the body to exert maximum energy.

If an ordinary person's Meridians were shattered, they would basically be crippled. However, Long Chen possessed the memories of the Pill Emperor. Although this matter was a bit troublesome, it was nothing serious; it just required some time.

With the help of the power of the Medicinal Pills, Long Chen followed his wrist to the end of the Meridians, which was the damaged part. Using his Soul energy supplemented by the medicinal power, he made the Meridians regenerate.

Such Meridian regeneration was a technique with an extremely high difficulty coefficient. The principle was very simple to state: the original channel had collapsed, and he had to rebuild one along the original route.

However, the difficulty was immense. The entire Phoenix Empire, including Great Master Yun Qi, could not accomplish this.

Great Master Yun Qi might be able to repair the Meridians leading to the fingers, because many people would remember those main Meridians.

But those tiny Meridians, as fine as cow hair, were absolutely impossible to repair. Moreover, even the newly reconstructed Meridians would be shaped based on experience and could not be exactly the same as the originals.

But Long Chen's method was different. He let the Meridians grow as if naturally, extending by following the Meridians' own memories.

Although this progress was extremely slow, for Long Chen, every bit of growth gave him a few more bargaining chips for survival.

Long Chen focused all his attention on repairing his body's injuries. When he opened his eyes again, the sky had already begun to turn white.

He gently pushed away the pile of stones and took a look at the direction where the beasts had been howling all night yesterday. Suddenly, his stomach let out a series of rumbles.

Long Chen's eyes lit up, and a smile appeared on his face. Hehe! Ying Hou, it's time for me to prepare a little gift for you.