Chapter 33: The Game of Shadows
The moon hung high above the Misty Shadow Mountains, casting a pale glow across the sea of fog.
Han Feng moved silently through the trees.
He had left the hidden valley behind.
Not because he had been forced to flee.
Because he had realized something far more dangerous.
The people searching the valley were not the only ones watching him.
Someone else had been observing from a distance.
Someone whose presence even the dormant golden Gu had sensed.
Han Feng had followed that faint disturbance for several hundred meters.
Now he stood motionless beneath an ancient tree, completely concealed by the Art of the Celestial Veil.
His breathing was slow.
His heartbeat was controlled.
His spiritual perception spread through the surrounding darkness in thin, careful strands.
Nothing.
Then—
A faint fluctuation appeared above him.
Han Feng immediately withdrew his perception.
He did not look up.
Instead, he waited.
Several breaths passed.
There.
Another fluctuation.
This one was even weaker.
Someone was moving across the mountain ridge.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
"Careful..."
The person was deliberately suppressing his cultivation.
Not enough to become invisible.
Just enough to avoid being detected by ordinary spiritual perception.
Han Feng recognized the method.
This was not a reckless pursuer.
Whoever was following him understood concealment.
That made the situation considerably more dangerous.
He slowly activated the Step of Dark Chaos.
His body blurred into the darkness.
The technique did not make him truly invisible.
Instead, it allowed him to move between shadows while minimizing spiritual fluctuations.
Each step had to be carefully controlled.
Too much Qi would expose him.
Too little would cause the technique to collapse.
Han Feng climbed the slope.
He followed the faint disturbance without directly approaching it.
After several minutes, he finally saw the source.
A man stood on a rocky ridge overlooking the forest.
He wore a black cloak.
His face was hidden beneath a hood.
Between his fingers was a thin black talisman.
Unlike ordinary talismans, this one did not glow.
Instead, it seemed to absorb the moonlight around it.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
The man whispered something.
The talisman trembled.
A faint spiritual thread extended from it.
Han Feng immediately recognized the principle.
Tracking.
But this method was different from the low-rank tracking Gu he had obtained from the Black Moon Sect.
Much more precise.
Much more dangerous.
Yet it also appeared incomplete.
The thread kept searching for something.
It moved through the surrounding spiritual currents before suddenly stopping.
Then it shifted.
Toward the direction Han Feng had come from.
Han Feng's expression changed.
The man was not tracking his exact location.
He was searching for a specific spiritual signature.
The Celestial Fragment?
His own cultivation?
Or perhaps the resonance left by the altered spirit stone?
Han Feng could not be certain.
But he could not allow the technique to finish.
If the talisman successfully locked onto his signature, escaping afterward would become much harder.
Han Feng reached into his spatial pouch.
His fingers touched a small Gu.
A Disruption Gu.
It was a low-rank Gu designed to interfere with unstable spiritual techniques.
It was not powerful enough to destroy a formation or suppress a cultivator.
But against a technique that depended on maintaining a delicate spiritual connection—
it might be enough.
Han Feng injected a controlled amount of Qi.
The Gu trembled.
Then he flicked it toward the ridge.
The Disruption Gu exploded.
A muted pulse spread through the darkness.
The black talisman immediately flickered.
The spiritual thread broke.
The cloaked man staggered half a step.
His head snapped toward the forest.
"Who's there?"
Han Feng did not answer.
He was already moving.
The man reacted instantly.
A black blade appeared in his hand.
It wasn't an ordinary weapon.
The blade seemed to swallow the surrounding light.
He slashed toward the darkness.
Han Feng twisted his body.
The blade passed his shoulder—
and a thin line of blood appeared.
Han Feng landed silently.
His eyes narrowed.
Fast.
Too fast.
The man had not merely sensed him.
He had predicted his movement.
Han Feng disappeared again.
The Step of Dark Chaos activated.
He changed direction three times in rapid succession, using trees and rocks to break the man's line of sight.
Then he released the Spectral Void Palm.
Several illusory palms emerged from different directions.
The cloaked man did not retreat.
Instead, he closed his eyes.
A thin layer of black Qi spread across his body.
The first illusion passed through him.
The second did the same.
The third—
The man suddenly turned.
His blade struck directly toward Han Feng's real position.
Han Feng's expression changed.
He barely managed to twist aside.
The blade cut across his ribs.
Pain flashed through his body.
He retreated several meters.
Blood slowly soaked through his clothing.
The man opened his eyes.
"I've hunted illusion cultivators before."
His voice was calm.
"Your technique is clever."
He raised the black blade.
"But you rely too much on misdirection."
Han Feng's breathing remained steady.
He ignored the pain.
That exchange had revealed something important.
The man's technique did not simply detect illusions.
He was reading the spiritual disturbance created when Han Feng changed direction.
That meant the Step of Dark Chaos could not be used repeatedly.
At least not carelessly.
Han Feng lowered his stance.
The man attacked.
The black blade tore through the air.
Han Feng blocked with his palm.
A violent shockwave traveled through his arm.
His bones trembled.
He was forced backward.
The man's strength was greater than his.
Han Feng immediately shifted his Qi.
Instead of resisting directly, he allowed part of the force to pass through his body and redirected it into the ground.
The earth beneath his feet cracked.
But he remained standing.
The man's eyes narrowed.
"Interesting."
Han Feng did not give him time to study the technique.
He advanced.
His palm struck toward the man's chest.
The man blocked.
Han Feng changed the angle halfway through the attack.
The Spectral Void Palm erupted.
This time, he did not create several obvious illusions.
He created only one.
A faint phantom appeared behind the man's shoulder.
The man instinctively turned.
That was enough.
Han Feng's real palm struck his side.
The impact sent the man sliding across the rocky ground.
But Han Feng's expression did not relax.
The man had deliberately allowed the strike.
The black-robed cultivator planted his hand against the ground.
A dark formation suddenly appeared beneath Han Feng's feet.
Han Feng's pupils contracted.
He jumped.
Too late.
Black chains erupted from the ground.
One wrapped around his ankle.
Another caught his wrist.
Han Feng's body was pulled downward.
The man's black blade was already coming toward his chest.
Han Feng gritted his teeth.
The Dual Chaos Larva Gu reacted inside his dantian.
He did not unleash its full power.
That would expose too much.
Instead, he allowed a tiny amount of chaotic energy to merge with his Qi.
The energy became unstable.
The chain around his wrist trembled.
Han Feng twisted violently.
The chain shattered.
He rolled aside.
The black blade struck the ground where his chest had been a moment earlier.
The stone exploded.
Han Feng felt the impact against his back.
He rolled several meters before stopping.
His breathing was heavier now.
Blood dripped from his fingers.
The enemy was stronger.
More experienced.
And, worst of all, he had already begun adapting to Han Feng's techniques.
Han Feng stared at him.
The man slowly raised his blade.
"You've been hiding your cultivation."
Han Feng said nothing.
"Good."
The man smiled faintly.
"That means I was right to be cautious."
He suddenly disappeared.
Han Feng's expression changed.
He activated the Art of the Celestial Veil and turned.
Too late.
The black blade appeared behind him.
Han Feng barely raised his arm.
The blade struck.
Pain exploded through his shoulder.
He was thrown forward.
Han Feng crashed into a tree.
The bark splintered behind him.
For a moment, his vision blurred.
The enemy approached.
Slowly.
Confidently.
Han Feng wiped the blood from his mouth.
He needed another method.
He could not win through direct strength.
He could not continue using the same techniques.
And he could not reveal everything.
His eyes moved across the battlefield.
The trees.
The rocks.
The fog.
The uneven spiritual currents.
Then he noticed it.
The black talisman.
It had been damaged by his Disruption Gu.
But it was still functioning.
The man was using it as an anchor for his tracking technique.
Han Feng's gaze sharpened.
If he could not overpower the man—
he would destroy the man's advantage.
He suddenly rushed forward.
The man raised his blade.
Han Feng did not attack him.
He attacked the talisman.
The man's expression changed.
He immediately moved to protect it.
Exactly as Han Feng expected.
Han Feng redirected his palm at the last instant.
The Spectral Void Palm struck the ground.
A burst of chaotic Qi spread through the rocks.
The damaged talisman vibrated violently.
The man's tracking technique collapsed.
For the first time, genuine surprise appeared in his eyes.
Han Feng moved.
The Step of Dark Chaos carried him into the fog.
The man immediately pursued.
But now—
he could no longer distinguish Han Feng's real spiritual fluctuations from the unstable currents of the mountain.
Han Feng deliberately released three tiny traces of Qi.
The man chased the first.
It disappeared.
He turned toward the second.
It vanished as well.
Then the third.
Nothing.
The man stopped.
Silence surrounded him.
Han Feng was gone.
But the black-robed man did not panic.
Instead, he slowly smiled.
"So you chose escape."
He looked down at the broken talisman.
"Interesting."
He placed the damaged object inside his sleeve.
Then he looked toward the darkness where Han Feng had disappeared.
"You may have won this exchange."
His voice was barely audible.
"But now I know what you're capable of."
Several hundred meters away, Han Feng leaned against a rock.
His breathing was heavy.
Blood continued to flow from his shoulder.
He immediately sealed the wound with Qi.
Only then did he allow himself to relax.
He had not won.
He had survived.
There was a difference.
The man had forced him to use far more power than he wanted.
Worse—
the opponent had seen through several of his techniques.
Han Feng looked toward the distant ridge.
"That person wasn't an ordinary tracker."
His expression became solemn.
He had underestimated the forces searching for the Celestial Diagram.
And that mistake had nearly cost him his life.
His hand moved toward his spatial pouch.
The dormant golden Gu pulsed once.
Han Feng froze.
The pulse was stronger than before.
It had reacted during the confrontation.
But not to his injury.
Not to his enemy.
Its reaction had come when the black talisman shattered.
Han Feng's eyes narrowed.
"What exactly are you sensing?"
He had no answer.
Yet one thing was becoming clear.
The dormant Gu was connected to something involved in these tracking techniques.
Perhaps destiny.
Perhaps the Celestial Pattern.
Or perhaps something far older.
Han Feng looked toward the dark mountains.
The game of shadows had become far more dangerous.
And next time—
he could not afford to merely survive.