— Meanwhile, within the Great Forest of Jargon —
"Hmm?" Zar looked at the mildly scorched manual that one of his Shadow Beasts was extending to him, looted from the person of a 2nd Layer Foundation Establishment Realm Peacock Therian. "It would appear that we finally found one who carried their Techniques with them. Now then, what type of Technique is this, I wonder?"
Accepting the manual from his Shadow Beast, Zar opened it up right away. Flipping through it, he became more and more fascinated.
"Flaming Vermillion Slash," he began. "It has a pretty interesting name, and though it's just of the Peak-Mortal Rank, I can certainly upgrade it to the Yellow Rank in due time. That is, of course, assuming that it's a good fit for my fighting style—one that could definitely use some polishing."
Although he could only vaguely make out the mechanics of the Flaming Vermillion Slash, Zar could still begin practicing it.
Doing just that, he got into a specific fighting stance where his right hand was positioned slightly higher than his left. Using a stolen sword to do this, his left hand briefly let go of the sword hilt. Then, with a blurry slashing motion, his left hand returned to the hilt, amplifying the force behind the attack in a very unique way.
SWISH!
An arc of wind cut through the air in front of Zar, evenly slicing apart dozens of trees. Resounding thuds reverberated all around the dumbfounded young man, his eyes falling on the Mortal-rank sword in his hands.
"That was just me performing the motion of the attack," said Zar, amazement in his tone. "If I were to infuse the Fire Element into the attack and follow through as stated in the Flaming Vermillion Slash manual, then… just how powerful will the resulting attack be?"
However, as amazing as that sounded, it simply wasn't possible right now.
What Zar displayed just a moment ago was nothing more than an extremely rough representation of the most basic motion of the Flaming Vermillion Slash. He would have to become a lot more proficient in the Technique to be capable of reaching the point of waving around tsunamis of fire.
A long, grueling process that could very well require months, even years of training. And that's with the inclusion of his Inferior Tri-Heaven Spirit Roots!
But as they say: Rome wasn't built in a day.
Leaving the area with dozens of Therian Cultivators strewn about, Zar made his way to a different part of the Great Forest of Jargon. The number of new places he could retreat to was dwindling—and fast—but with his strength also constantly growing, it was unlikely he'd be on the run for much longer.
"From now on, I believe I'll begin spending one year of Lifespan every day on my cultivation," said Zar, stroking his chin in thought. "That way, I won't create another large commotion like last time. I fear that if that were to happen again—and on a bigger scale—I'll be detected and hunted by the one who killed me a couple of years ago."
He knew not why the mysterious figure hadn't already done something about him, but powerful Therians were innately arrogant beings. It didn't come as much of a surprise that one at the Peak—or above—Core Formation Realm would see him as not worth the trouble.
However, it was equally likely that this extraordinarily powerful Therian was protecting or guarding something in secret. Zar guessed as much from how no one in town even knew of his existence.
An Above-Core Formation Realm Entity—how could they be completely unknown in such a small place?
That was unless they were purposely hiding…
As for why someone so strong would be hiding, Zar had no idea. He did, however, know he'd be finding out the answer soon enough. Their paths were destined to cross again; he was sure of it.
Anyway…
"With this new Divine Sense obtained from my breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment Realm, I'm now able to make out the existence of numerous Rank 3 Demon Beasts," said Zar, his Divine Sense giving him the positions of several powerful aura signatures. "And though these Therians give just as much Lifespan for the same Realm, there simply aren't enough of them. The Town of Verndale forces who are actively hunting me are just too small in number."
Tracking and hunting Demon Beasts was much more lucrative in terms of Lifespan acquisition!
And now, the grind continued…!
As hours turned into days, and days into weeks, two years flew by in the blink of an eye.
It was on a day like any other that the latest group of formidable Therians faced off against Zar. These ones were shadowy figures just like the ones subordinate to Grandmaster Nero—just like the ones that Zar had frequently killed in batches over the years.
"Another lot of you?" Zar frowned. "Why is it that there are so many of you—and each time you make an appearance, you're stronger than the ones that came before?"
The shadowy cloaked figures gave no response to his laid-back question. They instead dashed forward like phantasmal beings, zipping to Zar's location in an instant.
However, taking a rather nonchalant approach, Zar subconsciously used Lifespan Detection, which was what he renamed System Sight as.
[Darkness Puppet (9th Layer Foundation Establishment): 137/330/330]
[Darkness Puppet (8th Layer Foundation Establishment): 114/313/313]