The battle, once a fierce and intense one, was now a chase. Like a shooting star, Shen Pojun flew across the sky with sickening speed while a red and black streak of light chased after him from behind. The two were quite distant from each other due to how difficult Shen Pojun was making it.
It was fortunate for Shen Pojun that Shangguan Xiongyan was of the fire type, and the Abyssal Snake Saint was of the dark type. Had they been of the wind or lightning type, then Shen Pojun wouldâve been in danger of being caught.
For ten minutes, Shen Pojun ran while Shangguan Xiongyan and the Abyssal Snake Saint gave chase. Shen Pojun didnât look particularly worried at his situation, however. He was simply observing the area around him.
He was flying in the direction of the stone gate. Probability dictated that heâd meet the Frostfeather Saint since everyone was heading for the same place. In that case, the odds of this battle would even out.
A battle between four Saints would be hectic, but his chances of winning would most definitely be higher if he had the Frostfeather Saint helping him.
Unless, of course, Gu Jimie was there to meet him instead. As dangerous as that possibility was, it was pretty unlikely since Gu Jimie wasnât as familiar with this place as the Frostfeather Saint was. Still, it was definitely a gamble.
And the gambleâŠpaid off!
It was around the twenty minute mark when a beam of light shot forth toward Shen Pojun from his right.Â
The Frostfeather Saint!
Shen Pojunâs eyes lit up with excitement at the blue and white light. Shifting course, Shen Pojun moved to fly in the direction of the Frostfeather Saint. The two drew together in the blink of an eye and came to a stop to face their enemies. They looked to one another for a brief second before nodding as if agreeing on something before they took flight.
âThe Frostfeather Saint! Damn!!â
The Abyssal Snake Saint and Shangguan Xiongyan came to a stop as well when the Frostfeather Saint arrived on the scene. Their confidence wasnât as great as before now that the Frostfeather Saint was her. The battle was no longer unequal, a victory here would be difficult.
And now, a new battle would begin.
There was also another serious problem: Four Saints being here meant that Bai Yunfei would beâŠÂ
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Not too far away from Shen Pojun and the others. Where the stone gate was.
Now that Bai Yunfei was a Late-stage Soul Emperor, his range of perception was much farther than before. So the moment he exited the Core World was the moment he felt a powerful flux of energy.
âSaints! Is ancestor Shen and the Frostfeather Saint nearby? AndâŠwith enemies?!â
He didnât know who these people were just yet, but the inverse wasnât true! Knowing that he could potentially be in danger, Bai Yunfei decided without hesitation to use an equipment effect!
+12 Additional Effect: Enter a âHiddenâ status. Any movement will cancel out this status.Cooldown of one hour.
In an instant, Bai Yunfei melted into the scenery and grew invisible to the world!
Not even his aura could be felt anymore. It was almost as if Bai Yunfei was gone from the world, but he was still, in fact, there.
The +12 additional effect of the Scoutâs Ring had the same effect as Jing Mingfengâs abilities, but it was limited to once an hour and he couldnât move at all while under its effects. Jing Mingfeng was able to hide in a different dimension while Bai Yunfei simply blended in with the world. He was still âhereâ and would be exposed if an attack were to hit him.
Bai Yunfei was able to make use of the ringâs effects to escape from Nether and the Late-stage Soul Emperorâs perception, and that was when he was just a Mid-stage Soul Emperor. As he was now, Bai Yunfei could probably hide from a Saint, but Bai Yunfei was afraid of seeing whether that was true or notâŠÂ
But heâd have to find out the answer today. He could only hope that the people coming were Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint. If they were enemiesâŠthen Bai Yunfei would be in danger. He had no confidence fighting a Saint by himselfâŠÂ
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Bai Yunfei felt a powerful source of soulforce wash over him the instant he disappeared. Afraid to even breathe, Bai Yunfei suppressed his soulforce as much as he could and waited.
âWhoosh!!â
Ten seconds went by before the first streak of light entered the scene. A black one!
Bai Yunfeiâs eyes dilated at the sight of it. Breath stuck in his throat, he watched with anxiety and dread as the black streak of light went past him
This person wasâŠGu Jimie!!
âEh?â
Gu Jimieâs eyes hovered over the area where Bai Yunfei was, suspicious. On the other side, Bai Yunfei suppressed a shiver when their eyes metâit was a dreadful moment.
His heart felt like it was ready to leap out from his throat. Fighting his bodyâs instinct to scream out from anxiety, Bai Yunfei waited several moments to see if Gu Jimie would do something first.
Luckily, it seemed that the Scoutâs Ring did its job and successfully hid Bai Yunfei from Gu Jimie.Â
Every soul cultivator relied on their soulsense. They had full confidence in it. If they couldnât sense something, then there was nothing. So when Gu Jimie didnât sense anything, his attention turned away to the giant stone gate nearby.
It was fortunate that Gu Jimie had no idea about the Scoutâs Ring and its effects. Had he known, then Bai Yunfei was sure a wide-spread attack wouldâve been launched to force Bai Yunfei out from hiding.
That didnât mean Bai Yunfei was ready to drop his guard, however. He had to be as vigilant as ever to get through this!
There was still one more Saint incomingâŠwhat should he do?!
Had Bai Yunfei decided to run away instead of hiding, he probably wouldâve been caught. Flying at full speed meant his soulforce would be recognized by everyone. And racing against a SaintâŠwhat chance did he have in that?
It was too late to run away now though. Now it was time for another question. Would he be able to escape detection from the second Saint?
Luckily it wasnât his only choice. He just had to wait here until Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint got here and things would most likely get better; theyâd probably even be able to defeat Gu Jimie before anyone else was here.Â
What  Bai Yunfei didnât know was that Shen Pojun and the Frostfeather Saint were currently fighting the Abyssal Snake Saint and Shangguan Xiongyan. That meant itâd take a very long time before either party would come here.
But staying here still posed a problem. Multiple problems, in fact. Gu Jimie was definitely going to stay here and study the gate, meaning there was still a chance heâd âbumpâ into the spot where Bai Yunfei was, thus exposing him.
Secondly, Bai Yunfei had to use soulforce into order to himself, and the rate of consumption was rather large! Heâd be out of soulforce if he stayed here for too long!
In short, Bai Yunfei was stuck in between a rock and a hard place.
âNoâŠI canât let myself die here!!â
Bai Yunfei thought to himself as he readied himself to actâŠÂ