Principles Don't Save You

"We must return to the second mountain and use the distress flare. There, we will be safe, with everyone regrouping and the other elders helping we will be able to defeat the blighted treant and rescue senior Ma. This jungle is too dangerous, even rank 2 beasts appear out of nowhere, we can't move separately anymore if we want to keep searching for the kid."

Liu Qiao, the leader of the team tied by the blood tracking fly instructed to his comrades as they ran quickly towards the base of the mountain.

Among the group, only three of them had a good movement battle skill, but they couldn't use it and leave the others behind so instead the member in charge of healing used a martial art sending sparks shining upon everyone.

Immediately, their body turned light like paper and their speed increased by 50%, making them quickly progress through the jungle.

They were close to their destination when suddenly, the blood tracking fly grew agitated.

Liu Qiao looked ahead and could see someone's back in the distance, standing on a tree as he seemed to look at something.

This person sensed their presence and turned back towards them as their gaze met.

Liu Qiao's eyes widened in shock, the person ahead was a young man dressed in a black gown covering his legs.

Short spiky black hair, tanned skin, muscular...

"It's him!" Liu Qiao did not expect to find Ye Mo at this time.

The murderer of Liu Hualing and Liu Huan, extorting their clan and crippling Liu Zhi.

This heinous criminal was the prime target they researched, starting surch a large operation and losing many lives just for his capture.

When he saw them, Ye Mo appeared surprised before calling upon winds and racing away in another direction.

"Don't let him escape!" Liu Qiao shouted as he instantly charged ahead, using a battle skill without holding back.

The blood tracking fly was placed in an inner pocket of his uniform so that it wouldn't impede his movements as he went after Ye Mo.

His companions followed him, but three of them were slowly being distanced.

In this situation, the elder's warning or the plan he formulated was discarded. Between the blood tracking fly or capturing Ye Mo, it was easy to understand what was the most important for Liu clan members.

All this affair was started for him in the first place, the lives lost, the ressources expended, the risks taken, everything would be worthwhile if he was arrested.

"You might not know but Liu Zhi and i were good friends since young, because of you, he still didn't regain consciousness." Liu Qiao gritted his teeth, his eyes burning with anger.

The chase continued and the Liu clan members were slowly gaining grounds on Ye Mo. The latter, with his body refining cultivation and wind flow had a speed comparable to a mid-tier Yellow class battle skill, but his pursuers were all 9th layer cultivators using mid-tier movement battle skills, in terms of speed, they surpassed him.

At some point during the chase, Ye Mo engulfed himself inside thick bushes and vanished. Liu Qiao and his team followed him closely, but after passing through the bushes and reaching a hill, they couldn't find him anymore, it was like he suddenly disappeared.

"Where did he go?!"

"Scout the area!"

"If you have any investigative battle skill, use them!"

Liu Qiao and his teammates looked around, agitated. It was the first time Ye Mo was seen since they arrived in this jungle, if he escaped so easily, what excuses could they give to the elders? It would be too humiliating.

In the meantime, those that have been left behind because they didn't have a good movement art quickly joined them as they wondered where he went.

Soon after, the trumpets of rhinos resounded in the area.

Eight lightning horn rhinos were seen furiously charging towards them in the distance. Among them were three rank 1 peak level beasts.

"Damn it! We entered in these lightning horn rhinos territory."

"The eight of them are a bit too much for us, we should leave."

Liu Qiao furrowed his brows: "Have we been led there on purpose or is it a coincidence, and where did Ye Mo go, does he have a stealth battle skill that the clan isn't aware of?!"

He was perplexed, there wasn't any trace left from his target and he could see from the rhinos speed that they would quickly overtake them even if they tried to run away.

Battle was inevitable, they lost their purpose coming here and were turned into prey instead, their situation progressed horribly!

"We have no choice, we must fight so prepare yourself." Liu Qiao told everyone.

Hearing his words, the others nodded and circulated their Qi, some started raising earthwalls in preparation for the upcoming battle.

At this time, Liu Qiao's eyes turned cold as he opened his mouth: "However, you heard the elder, without Ye Mo, the priority is to keep the blood tracking fly safe. I will count on you guys to slow them down."

Saying so, Liu Qiao used his movement battle skill, turned around and sped off!

"Wait, leader come back!"

"We have a chance if we fight together!"

"You can't leave us here like that!"

"Fucking bastard!"

Liu Qiao's teammates were astonished before their faces instantly turned deathly pale.

They might have a small hope at life if they stood together, but without Liu Qiao, there was no way they could ward off these beasts.

They shouted desperately, growing frantic, but it was useless. Liu Qiao quickly ran away and couldn't be seen anymore.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Simultaneously, the lightning horn rhinos arrived before the cultivators and smashed to bits the earthwalls as they continued their charge.

Their size was two times one of ordinary rhinos and the tip of their biggest horn shined in a light blue color. When they were agitated, blue sparks would oscillate around it.

Shouts and flashes of lights resounded for a short time, before the calm returned on the hill.

In the meantime, Liu Qiao ran with all his strength racing across the woods.

"Fortunately, i was the one to be handed the blooded tracking fly, i am just upholding the elder's will. Yes, it is their duty to help me protect it even if they have to sacrifice themselves, as long as i bring it back, i would have done my part, the clan won't say anything."

Liu Qiao breathed heavily as he moved foward.

"It would be the best if i could capture Ye Mo, where did this scum go. Well, he can stay here and get devored by beasts for all i care, this jungle is too dangerous and the beasts movements are strange, i will just go and regroup with the others."

"You're the one dying."

He was still thinking out loud when all of a sudden, a voice was heard behind him.

Concurrently, a black mass emerged from Liu Qiao's shadow and threw a punch.

Bam!

Liu Qiao didn't have the time to react when a fist connected and the world turned upside down.

His body was sent crashing on the ground more than fifteen steps away, his eyes open. He was dead on the spot.

His spine has been shattered by the force of the punch and his back was displayed at an odd angle, almost aligned to the legs.

"Starting at the second phase, shadow walk becomes extremely effective towards assassination. This guy couldn't even use a defensive battle skill before i killed him." Ye Mo looked at the body as he reflected.

Liu Qiao was a 9th layer Qi Gathering cultivator so if he faced him head on, Ye Mo would find it very difficult to deal with him, he could even lose. Yet, when he used shadow walk and took him by surprise, only a punch was needed to end him.

The body of a cultivator remains fragile at low levels, if you don't use battle skills to protect yourself, its very easy to get killed.

Liu Qiao just escaped a great predicament and left the territory of lightning horn rhinos so instinctively, he wouldn't think another mortal danger would hit him right after. Unavoidably, his body relaxed and his guard lowered and that's when he was attacked by the concealed Ye Mo.

The latter approached the corpse and grabbed the head, then he used the nine revolutions fiend body. The mass of the corpse shrunk down continually until all that was left was crumbled skin and bone powder.

"Hehe, humans have the highest spirituality in the world but i guess they aren't that different from beasts."

Ye Mo's lips curled up as he thought about it.

He doubted the blighted treant would be able to kill this team if an elder intervened so he took another approach for this problem.

Since the start, he has been leading beasts towards cultivators of the Liu clan, reducing their numbers without dirtying his hands, but this time they were about to escape and he didn't have the time to go attract another one so he used himself as bait and with the same strategy, led humans towards beasts.

Capturing him was too important, the clansmen immediately threw themselves at his pursuit, Ye Mo also did his part, acting startled when seeing them and quickly distancing himself from the team, reinforcing the urge to go after him.

However, the most important point was that he was only a 7th layer cultivator while Liu Qiao and his team were all 9th layer cultivators. The world was ruled by strength and here the balance of power was clearly in favor of the Liu clan members hence they didn't hesitate.

If they knew of his stealth abilities, they might have ignored him but Ye Mo never revealed this battle skill, hence there were no reason to pass this chance.

"All these tirade about kinship, honor, loyalty and whatnot, in a situation of mortal danger he didn't hesitate to abandon his own clansmen to save his life. He was right to do so because he would have died with them if he stayed, those principles don't makes you stronger nor smarter and they don't save you when in dire predicaments so why take them to heart? People will do what they needs to preserve themselves. Hmm?"

While in thought, a small bump was raised on Liu Qiao's clothes.

Ye Mo watched this bump slowly traveling towards an extremity and escape the darkness when a small bug flapped its wings and rised in the air.

The blood tracking fly looked at Ye Mo, it was hungry and has been craving for his blood for days.

It opened its mouth wide and flew in a straight line towards him!

Slap!

With a backhand strike, Ye Mo sent the bug hurled on the side like a stone from a slingshot and crashed against a small boulder, thirteen steps further.