Frank didn't know why he found Li Xi's trail. He immediately threw out his curved blades, which cut through the surrounding flowers and branches as they lunged at Li Xi. Seeing this, Li Xi knew that if he continued to dodge, he would surely die.
He leaped out of the garden, evading the curved blades, and shot steel needles from his hands towards Frank's eyes.
Frank's body swayed slightly, dodging the steel needles. With a few strides, he was in front of the curved blades, retrieved them, and charged at Li Xi.
Only when being chased by him did Li Xi realize how fast he was. Compared to Li Xi's snail-like pace, Frank was like a chasing wind and moon.
Li Xi only had time to shoot six steel needles before Frank caught up. The distance between them closed. Li Xi smelled a faint odor of sulfur mixed with blood from Frank, perhaps this was the scent of the abyss.
Frank's curved blade slashed downwards. Li Xi drew his own blade to block.
*Bang*
The force behind the curved blade was surprisingly great. Caught off guard, Li Xi's short sword was knocked flying, and he was forced back several steps.
Watching Frank continue to hack, Li Xi's hands ceaselessly shot out steel needles. Within one breath, fourteen needles were fired. Facing such dense attacks, Frank couldn't block them all. Four needles embedded themselves in his body, but none were in vital spots, and their depth was insufficient.
Frank looked at his injuries, red blood mixed with black oozing out. Instead of pain, his face showed excitement.
"Heh heh, little mouse, I didn't expect you to have such skills. In the past, I might have died by your hand."
After speaking, Frank yanked out the steel needles, tearing apart his leather armor. His skin, which was already half black, was revealed. He pointed at his skin.
"This is the gift of the abyss, granting me the defense of a warrior. I no longer fear attacks."
Li Xi instantly understood. After being infected by the abyssal aura, all of Frank's attributes had likely been enhanced, allowing him to face Li Xi's steel needles without fear.
Facing the pursuing Frank, Li Xi quickly formed hand seals. Just as the curved blade was about to strike his neck, and he could feel the edge of the blade against his hair,
"Substitution Jutsu!"
*Bang*
Frank's blade split a log in two, while Li Xi appeared seven meters away in the darkness.
Thanks to arriving early that morning, Li Xi had placed logs in many hidden spots, intending to be prepared for any eventuality. He hadn't expected to use them now.
Li Xi took shallow, rapid breaths, trying to calm his despairing heart from the near-death experience.
Frank looked at the broken log and then at Li Xi seven meters away, his eyes filled with confusion. He couldn't understand why this person could suddenly swap places with a log.
This involved the secrets of space, something mercenaries of their level couldn't possibly comprehend.
"Heh heh, I didn't realize you had such a trick up your sleeve. To comprehend the secrets of space at such a young age, you're a genius."
Li Xi played along to buy time, "It's not what you think. It was just a trick, very simple. If you want to learn, I'll teach you."
"You teach me?" Frank seemed to hear the funniest joke in the world and burst into laughter. After laughing, his killing intent intensified.
"I know you're stalling for time, but what does it matter? Now that my strength has reached an intermediate level, killing you is as easy as crushing an ant."
He stomped heavily, crushing the solid stone slabs beneath him. His two curved blades sliced through the air like the shrieks of death, lunging at Li Xi.
But Frank watched as Li Xi's hands moved like butterflies, forming several hand seals at extreme speed. Then, his curved blades again struck a log, and Li Xi instantly reappeared seven meters away.
Frank's brain, corrupted by the abyssal aura, operated slowly. It took him several seconds to react, "You're moving using these logs."
This time, he didn't just attack Li Xi; he shattered all the logs he could see. Li Xi's expression turned grim, but he was inwardly roaring with laughter.
Who said his substitution jutsu could only be used with whole logs? Half-logs worked just as well.
Moreover, through repeated brushes with death, Li Xi's execution of the substitution jutsu had reached a state of perfection. What initially took a second and a half was now almost instantaneous.
Frank could only howl and trail behind, eating dust, not even qualified to get close to Li Xi.
Li Xi toyed with Frank like flying a kite, using his speed advantage to retrieve a short sword from a dead mercenary.
Its quality was much better than his own short sword that had met its end prematurely.
After multiple failed pursuits, Frank was thoroughly enraged. The fury erupting within him was like a volcano about to erupt. The black skin on his body began to spread, and soon more than half of his skin turned black.
His aura also grew stronger with the changes in his skin, repeatedly making Li Xi feel like he wasn't being chased by a person, but a primordial beast.
"Did those mercenaries ever go to find the priest? If they don't come soon, I'll have to flee." Li Xi had performed the substitution jutsu more than ten times and felt utterly drained, his body as if hollowed out. This was the result of overuse.
He had only been exposed to ninjutsu for two days, and his chakra reserves were very low. By his own estimation, he would be completely depleted after about ten more uses of the substitution jutsu.
"Seven uses left for escape, only three remain for free use. No matter what, I have to try."
Li Xi gritted his teeth and made up his mind. If he was careful enough, he might succeed.
Frank cut down another log, his eyes fixed on Li Xi, wishing he could skin him alive. "Little mouse, don't let me catch you. If I catch you, I'll shatter your bones one by one, making you wish you were dead."
Just as Frank was about to catch up to Li Xi, and Li Xi vanished, the log appearing, Frank suddenly noticed Li Xi stumble, appearing to be out of stamina.
At this moment, he believed his chance had arrived. Ignoring the log, he instantly sprinted past it, chasing after Li Xi. He was already on the verge of exploding from the elusive Li Xi's actions, and now that he saw hope, how could he let such an opportunity slip away?
But as soon as he took a step, he saw the Li Xi who had stumbled vanish, and a log appeared in his place. Li Xi's figure completely disappeared from his sight.
As Frank stopped, looking left and right for Li Xi's figure, he suddenly heard a strong gust of wind from behind.
It turned out Li Xi hadn't swapped with any other log, but with the log Frank had just passed, appearing directly behind Frank.
The short sword in his hand pierced directly towards Frank's neck. At this critical moment, Frank, as if sensing it, suddenly lowered his head.
If Li Xi's initial target had been his head, Frank would have dodged this attack. But Li Xi had coincidentally aimed for the neck. Their speeds were so great that Frank couldn't completely evade it. Li Xi instantly plunged the sword into his head.
"Roar!"
A pained howl, unlike any human sound, came from Frank's mouth. Li Xi ignored his pain and seized the opportunity, attacking while the enemy was weak. He slashed horizontally with his sword.
Half of Frank's skull was cleaved off and flew away, the pulsating brain matter clearly visible. Yet, Frank was not dead.
Without looking back, he swung his curved blades at Li Xi. Li Xi only managed to twist his body, barely avoiding the attack. However, the leather armor gifted by his master Meng Lan De was grazed by the curved blade, creating a large gash on his chest, even severing his undergarments. But the blade stopped there, scraping Li Xi's stomach without enough force to proceed further.
It was only because of the protection of the leather armor that Li Xi wasn't disemboweled.
Knowing he couldn't win in a direct confrontation with Frank, and before his body even hit the ground, Li Xi formed hand seals with imperceptible speed. Before Frank's next attack arrived, he vanished from the spot.
Frank's curved blades struck another log. The pain in his head plunged him into complete madness.
The last vestiges of his human yellow skin disappeared, all turning black.
His eyes, previously filled with emotion, now held nothing but the glint of slaughter, bloodlust, and violence. His aura surged once more, extinguishing any thought Li Xi had of attacking again.
Watching Frank slowly approach him, Li Xi's nerves were stretched to their limit, always ready for the substitution jutsu.
"Why aren't they here yet?"
Just as Li Xi mentally cursed everyone he could think of, a sweet voice rang out.
"God says, sin shall not be tolerated."
A beam of light descended from the sky, engulfing Frank before he could react.
This pillar of light seemed to weigh thousands of pounds. Although it appeared light, it pressed Frank firmly to the ground. No matter how much Frank struggled, he couldn't move. No matter how much he roared, he couldn't shift even an inch.
Seeing this, Li Xi collapsed onto the ground. The brief exchange had consumed most of his spirit and energy. As he relaxed, sweat poured from him uncontrollably. Watching Frank howl and burn within the light, then reduce to a pile of black ash, Li Xi's heart finally settled.
"Isn't this little brother? I didn't expect to see you here." The same sweet voice from before sounded beside Li Xi.
Li Xi looked up and saw Ays, who had registered him as a mercenary.
"Sister Ays, why are you here?"
Ays surveyed the surroundings, her gaze lingering on the entrance to the underground passage. After seemingly confirming something, she smiled and replied, "I am a priestess of the God of Mercenaries. With such a major incident occurring here, naturally, I had to come and see."
Li Xi thought, so that's why it took these mercenaries so long. The Mercenary Guild was quite a distance from here.
"Miss Ays is not only a priestess of the God of Mercenaries but also a B-rank mercenary. She is one of the few high-ranking mercenaries in Cador City."
Perhaps fearing Li Xi wouldn't understand Ays's status, a mercenary who had fled approached and introduced her to Li Xi.
A B-rank mercenary. Li Xi looked at Ays, who was not much older than himself, and was astonished. He truly couldn't have imagined she possessed such strength.
He sincerely admired her, "You're truly amazing."
"Little brother is also amazing. Frank has completely degenerated into a demon, his strength nearly equal to that of a high-ranking warrior. You managed to last so long against him, commendable."
"Heh heh, I was injured at the beginning and kept hiding. Frank only just discovered me, and you arrived. I was just lucky." Humility is the best policy. Li Xi dared not reveal his true strength. Besides the substitution jutsu and kunai throwing technique, he was weaker than an ordinary person.
A mercenary picked up two curved blades from Frank's ashes and handed them to Ays. Ays glanced at them and then directly tossed them to Li Xi.
"Little brother, I see you don't have suitable weapons. Consider these two curved blades your spoils of war."
Li Xi looked at the other mercenaries gazing at these curved blades like hungry wolves eyeing food, their eyes shining with a blue light. He knew they were good items.
Li Xi unceremoniously put away the curved blades. Each blade weighed around three kilograms, which felt a bit heavy for Li Xi to wield now. Judging from his fight with Frank, these two curved blades were definitely high-quality weapons.
"Thank you, Sister Ays."
"You stay here for a bit, I'm going to check the underground."
Ays led the mercenaries away. Immediately, another person walked up to Li Xi. Li Xi recognized him as Dale, the steward of the manor.