Jiang Chen breathed a sigh of relief as he looked behind.
His right-hand man was sweating profusely near him as well. They both exchanged looks and couldn't help but gulp. They felt incredibly lucky to escape the massacre that had occurred in the distance.
"I never expected someone to still create such a massacre after being injured so much," Jiang Chen's right-hand man shook his head in disbelief.
"There is always a sky beyond the sky. A heaven beyond heavens," Jiang Chen commented in a grave tone.
His subordinate could only nod to that. There wasn't an argument to put forth here. What they had witnessed was like the birth of a demon. They both didn't know how to react to it even now.
When both Lu Tianxin and Wu Dongmin attacked Duncan along with others, Jiang Chen felt that something was incredibly wrong. He had immediately called over his subordinate while Duncan was buried in the pit.
Even though what he saw suggested victory for their team, his every instinct was screaming at him to get away. Jiang Chen had always followed his instincts. So, he didn't hesitate to leave the area secretly along with his subordinate while everyone was preoccupied with Duncan's status. For that, he didn't even hesitate to use a precious escape talisman that was gifted to him by his master.
It was lucky that they did what they did at that time. In mere minutes, a massacre was unleashed. If they had stayed behind, Jiang Chen didn't have the confidence to escape from Duncan's clutches.
They had not traveled far when the screams and sounds of the slaughter came to their ears. Jiang Chen was tempted to go back and take a look. But, his subordinate had persuaded him to stay away from the battlefield.
It was their good fortune that they did it.
"I have never seen a fight change so suddenly and so drastically," Jiang Chen's subordinate said with fear evident in his voice. "It didn't take him even a few minutes to kill them all. Was he always this powerful?"
"I guess so," Jiang Chen said with a severe frown on his face.
"It's a good thing you ordered me to leave with you, my lord. But, we are the only survivors of the group that went to attack him. How are we going to explain it to the others?"
"What's there to explain?" Jiang Chen snorted dissatisfiedly. "We lost. It is as simple as that. No need to harp about the details."
"But, the sects wouldn't take such a loss lying down. This matter is going to blow up. Furthermore, your reputation will take a huge hit after this," the subordinate worried.
"Heh," Jiang Chen shook his head. "Gao Song, you have followed me for a long time. You must know what we witnessed today was something very rare. That guy was close to death at one point. Taking two direct attacks from peak Violet Palace realm weapons and still reversing the situation within seconds is not something ordinary people can do. Mark my words, we will one day become legends for escaping this massacre."
"Furthermore, what else are we supposed to do? He killed those cultivators with such ease that there was nothing I could have done. Remaining behind would only cause our deaths as well. As for the reputation, I don't care about it much. Today, I gained far more than I lost. I think I am close to a breakthrough."
"Once I return to the sect, I will enter closed-door training to breakthrough to the next level. The shackles on my cultivation had been loosened considerably. Right now, my only priority is to make sure I am not left behind by this guy. As for that Grand Event, let nature take its course. We will see how things turn out," Jiang Chen shook his head and replied.
"Congratulations, my lord," Gao Song spoke sincerely looking at Jiang Chen. "After you step into the Violet Palace realm, your future in the sect will be boundless."
Jiang Chen didn't reply to his praise. In his mind, the demeanor exuded by Duncan when he demanded to face his weapon again flashed past. He knew what a real cultivator should look like after this moment.
There had always been a thin fog covering his thoughts when it came to acting like a true cultivator. It was something one must innately understand. No amount of explanation can help others with it. It wasn't a skill or a technique. It was a mindset one needed to possess as a cultivator.
After witnessing Duncan's actions, Jiang Chen felt his confusions regarding cultivation clear up a lot. Cultivation is always about the perusal of higher realms. But, that doesn't mean it is the same as pursuing strength. There was a fundamental difference between the two.
Obtaining higher realms in cultivation might result in gaining more strength. But, the reverse wasn't essentially true. A true cultivator would be invincible at the same realm. Just like how Duncan was practically invincible against anyone below the Violet Palace realm.
There are even freaks in the cultivation world who could jump realms and fight against cultivators at a higher cultivation realm. It was clear to Jiang Chen that Duncan was already on his way to becoming one such freak.
The reason they are so strong despite their low cultivation has to do with their mentality. Duncan's actions showed a glimpse of that mentality to Jiang Chen. Right now, he was inspired to cultivate such a mentality. To challenge the status quo and fight for dominance.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Chen came out of his thoughts. He felt a fire being ignited deep in his heart. He knew clearly that the sects wouldn't stand still after such a massacre. But, if Duncan was able to survive the following hunt, then he would become a monster that would terrify cultivators all over the world.
If he didn't improve, then the next time he met with Duncan he wouldn't even be qualified to clash against Duncan's sword. Even today, they clashed with their true powers very rarely. And every time they did it, Jiang Chen had come up short. He didn't want to watch from the distance as Duncan flipped the entire cultivation world around in the future.
This clash was just a fight between the juniors. In the grand scheme of things, they were just ants. Their antics wouldn't affect the world much. But, it wouldn't remain the same in the future. The future would belong to them. And he wanted to fight with Duncan for dominance in the world stage.
Clenching his fist, Jiang Chen sported a determined look as he looked behind into the distance.
"Today, I may have come short against him," Jiang Chen stated to Gao Song. "But, it wouldn't be the same in the future. Let's go. We should head back to the city. As for how the sects react, that has nothing to do with us. You just report everything that happened to the sect without hiding anything."
Gao Song nodded and the duo left the place towards the Dark Star City in a hurry.
*****
Several miles away from the Dark Star City, yet another world-shaking event was going to transpire at this moment. Compared to the ruckus Duncan's actions were going to cause, this was going to have far more serious repercussions.
The assembled high-level cultivators of various sects stood in front of the formation covering the Greenwood Forest sporting heavy frowns on their faces. No matter what they tried, the formation before them refused to break.
Several Nascent Soul realm cultivators were sporting an ugly look as they looked at the red mist covering the entire Greenwood Forest. There was no movement visible inside the forest at this moment. It somehow gave them an uneasy feeling.
"What do the formation experts say?" the Nascent Soul cultivator from the White Plume Sect asked in a heavy tone.
"What else can they say? This formation is beyond their level. It would take a higher-tier formation master to break this. The only way to open it is by brute force," the Nascent Soul cultivator from Iron Mountain Sect scowled.
"Useless bunch of trashes," the Nascent Soul cultivator from the Eternal Sword Pavilion sneered. "Do they think we haven't tried it? What use are they if they can't help us in this time of need?"
"The bigger question is, how could such a formation exist in this region? Someone had clearly tampered with the surrounding areas to trap the cultivators who entered inside to fight for treasures. The real question now is why they did it," the Nascent Soul cultivator from the Splitting Heavens Saber Sect asked in a worried tone.
"I have a bad feeling regarding this," the Iron Mountain Sect elder spoke gravely.
"Not just you," the others muttered under their breath.
"Is there any news from the Little Heaven Sect?" the Iron Mountain Sect elder asked a little dissatisfiedly.
"That old coot from the Little Heaven Sect is refusing to disturb their First Elder. They claim that they have no knowledge regarding the formation and refuse to talk further," the elder from Splitting Heavens Saber Sect sneered.
"Heh, as if we would believe that?" the elder from Iron Mountain Sect snorted.
"There is no use debating that now. Now, we must know who did this and what their motives are. Such a grand scale operation is definitely worrying," the elder from White Plume Sect mediated to calm things down.
"I have already sent the information over to the Seven Clouds Sect. One of their elders will arrive soon. Let's hope they have some information regarding this formation. If not, we can only pray for our sect members inside," the Iron Mountain Sect elder said in a grave tone.
"So, what do we do now?"
"Wait, there is no other option for us. Let's blockade this area first. Then, we shall deal with things depending on the situation."
"I guess, we could only do that."
