Death Hall Master walked up to the thrown dagger, pulled it out of the tree, and placed it back at his side.

  He looked around.

  There were faint traces of blood on the ground. That meant his aim hadn’t missed—he must have struck the boy’s arm, leg, or some other part of his body.

  From the direction in which the blood had fallen, Death Hall Master estimated which way the boy had fled. Then he moved on.

  Bam!

  He rushed forward at high speed, all the while keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. The master that boy had been talking to, what if they were hiding nearby? What if they suddenly launched a sneak attack?

  Bam! Bam! Bam!

  Death Hall Master had already come quite far, but he saw neither the boy… nor anyone else.

  ‘How can he be running this fast…?’

  Death Hall Master frowned.

  When he had first seen Sharv, he had noticed immediately that only his Muladhara (Root) Chakra was open; meaning he was a Third-Rate Martial Artist.

  Normally, someone at that level could never run this quickly. It didn’t make sense.

  ‘Did he hide his true strength all this time?’

  The thought crossed his mind—but he soon rejected it.

  Because a person’s full strength isn’t determined solely by cultivation level. There are many factors, and among them there is, external energy too.

  External Energy, meant enhancing one’s physical strength through grueling training building the power of the body itself.

  Most Martial Artists ignored External Energy, believing Internal Energy to be superior.

  And in a way, they weren’t wrong.

  Because the amount of strength someone could gain in a year of relentless External Energy training… another cultivator might get the same or even surpass that amount, simply by cultivating Prana and opening the next chakra.

  So why bother with External Energy at all?

  It requires very brutal physical training everyday—while Internal Energy cultivation can be done sitting in place, breathing in and out.

  It's not like cultivating internal energy is easier, it has its own difficulties too, different from external energy.

  But if someone has the choice, to choose anyone between them, then they'll choose Internal Energy only.

  Because it not only helps in developing more Prana. It also benefits the body, it both from inside and outside. From outside; physicall and from inside; spiritually.

  The whole soul could be developed, through internal energy. It is simply more efficient and reliable; Internal Energy naturally becomes the priority.

  And because of this many people completely, abandon the external energy path.

  ‘But let's say, what if someone trained both—Internal and External Energy; with equal intensity?’

  Death Hall Master thought.

  Cultivating both Internal and External ‘equally’. Now that is hard, extremely hard.

  But the world is vast, with many people on it. And yes, there are some maniacs on it, who do this; everyday. There are some in past too, who have already done it.

  Maybe, Sharv is also be one of those maniacs?

  It didn’t show beneath his clothes, but Death Hall Master, with his experience, could see it.

  Sharv’s body was strong. Very strong.

  If Death Hall Master has to compare it with the other participants of the entrance trials.

  Then only Sharv and Devansh were there who had the peak physical body of their respective age. But Devansh had very less Internal Energy;Prana than Sharv.

  It shows, that Deavansh focused more on external than internal.

  If Sharv and Devansh were to fight solely based on physical strength; no internal energy at all, then they both might be at stalemate.

  But if internal energy is also used, then Sharv would overpower Devansh easily.

  Sharv must have trained his body relentlessly.

  So perhaps Sharv had also trained his speed and stamina as it's a part of physical traing too.

  That would explain how he was able to flee so swiftly. Of all the possibilities, this seemed the most logical.

  Not long after, Death Hall Master reached the foot of the mountain.

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  He scanned the area; nothing. Just thin snow, trees, and the silence of the night.

  ‘I can’t let him escape! I have to kill him!’

  When he had first found Sharv, he thought he could use the boy against Surendranath. But the tables had turned completely.

  Now Sharv had to die, no matter what.

  He had already disobeyed the Society Leader by not handing Sharv over to Surendranath. Not only that he had even allowed Sharv to participate in the Entrance Trials.

  If the Society Leader learned the truth… Death Hall Master knew he would not be spared.

  Bam! Bam! Bam!

  He increased his speed, no longer bothering to scan the surroundings racing straight ahead.

  And then he saw him.

  Sharv—running right ahead of him.

  ‘Found you!’

  Bam!

  Death Hall Master moved even faster now running like the wind.

  ‘!!!’

  Sharv suddenly sensed someone rapidly closing in from behind. His eyes widened.

  He didn’t even need to turn around; he already knew. It was Death Hall Master.

  And he was near. Very near.

  Sharv sharply changed direction and dashed between the trees.

  Death Hall Master snorted. He drew three small daggers from inside his robes and hurled them toward Sharv.

  Swish!!!

  The daggers sliced through the air toward him.

  Sharv abruptly changed direction again and the daggers embedded themselves into the trees instead.

  Clench.

  Sharv grit his teeth hard.

  Death Hall Master wasn’t just stronger than him, he also attacked from afar, using his daggers.

  But Sharv is specialized in close combat—not ranged fighting. For range fights he requires some weapon.

  Even if he had a weapon, using it effectively was an entirely different matter. Using a weapon without skill was useless.

  Death Hall Master was already growing tired of this cat-and-mouse chase.

  This time, he drew another dagger but this one was different. It gleamed with a strange light.

  ‘Try dodging this—Sky Dagger Art: Line Pierce!’

  He infused the dagger with Prana, closed one eye, aimed carefully at Sharv...

  And then threw it...

  Swish!!!

  The dagger shot toward Sharv at terrifying speed.

  ‘!!!’

  Sharv glanced back and immediately swerved again.

  But...

  The dagger curved mid-air following him.

  Sharv’s eyes flew wide open in shock, how could it change it's path in mid-air? It was the first time he has seen something like this!

  ‘Disciple! Watch out!’

  His master’s voice echoed in his mind.

  However...

  Shhhr!!!

  With a sharp, violent sound, the dagger whistled through the air in a straight glowing light and pierced into Sharv’s hand.

  “Ahh!”

  Sharv screamed.

  The dagger had pierced right through the center of his palm, pinning his hand against the tree behind him.

  Now, he cannot move that hand at all.

  Grip!

  Sharv tried to pull the dagger out of the tree and his own hand with his other free hand, but it wouldn’t come out.

  ‘Disciple it has that person's Prana infused with it. You'll have to force out his prana first from within it, then only you'll be able to remove it.’

  Sharv's master said.

  Sharv understood, the dagger has Death Hall Master's prana so that's why taking it out was very difficult.

  But right then…

  Bam!

  “Death Hall Master!”

  He arrived right beside Sharv, and...

  Tak!

  Grabbed Sharv’s neck tightly!

  But Sharv wasn’t someone who would just give up like that.

  With his free hand, he tried to swing under Death Hall Master’s chin and punch him.

  But…

  Churr! Churr!

  ‘!!!’

  “Urghh!!!”

  The dagger that was stuck in Sharv’s other hand—Death Hall Master twisted it, once, then twice.

  A sharp pain shot through Sharv’s fist.

  His fingers were trembling violently. Streams of blood flowed out.

  “And you thought you could run away from me, huh?”

  Bang!

  Death Hall Master punched Sharv in the stomach.

  “Kuak!”

  Sharv groaned slightly.

  The punch didn’t have that much raw physical force, but it was coated with Prana, so Sharv suffered some internal injuries within his body.

  Drip! Drip!

  Blood started to flow from his nose and from the corner of his lips, staining the white cloth wrapped over his mouth red.

  “Now speak clearly—who were you talking to? Back in that room?!”

  Death Hall Master demanded.

  Sharv felt as if Death Hall Master had somehow overheard the conversation between him and his master. But Sharv replied,

  “Me? …I wasn’t talking to anyone.”

  “Don’t lie! I heard you talking myself!!!”

  Death Hall Master shouted. To which Sharv shamelessly lied again,

  “I don't know which Master you're talking about!”

  Death Hall Master was getting annoyed.

  He wanted to know about Sharv’s companion—the master he had been speaking with. If he could capture that person and hand them over to the Society Leader, his own chances of survival would increase greatly.

  ‘I should search him myself…’

  Death Hall Master thought.

  If he could find the communication talisman or artifact Sharv had used, he might be able to trace the other person.

  He began searching Sharv's body—first his outer clothes, then inside. He didn’t find much outside, but inside Sharv’s clothes he found four different herbs.

  Those herbs were quite rare, normally. But right now Death Hall Master had no interest in them. He continued his frantic search.

  Meanwhile, Sharv couldn’t understand what exactly Death Hall Master was trying to find.

  From within the sacred thread, Sharv’s master; that woman—was also watching Death Hall Master carefully.

  She did care about Sharv’s life right now because she is his spirit servant. But at the same time, she also wanted to know where he had hidden that bead, which contained her dead body.

  However, despite all his searching, Death Hall Master found nothing except those four herbs.

  He even searched inside Sharv's pants and shoes, but didn't find anything.

  That woman inside Sharv's sacred thread was deeply confused.

  If Sharv hadn’t shattered her dead body's bead, and is hiding it. Then where exactly?

  ‘Where the hell has he hidden it?’

  She thought from within.

  Death Hall Master, on the other hand, assumed that Sharv must have destroyed or burned the communication talisman. Spies often did that to erase evidence.

  Death Hall Master looked at Sharv and...

  Grip!

  He tightened his grip around Sharv’s neck mercilessly.

  “Ugh! Ugh! You... Asshole!”

  Sharv’s face turned pale. He was struggling to breathe.

  Until now he had avoided calling out his master or Vijaya’s spirit because he didn’t want anyone to learn about them. But now, standing so close to death, he decided to call them out.

  But just then...

  Slish!

  ‘?!’

  Suddenly, the arm Death Hall Master was using to choke Sharv was severed.

  It was cut clean off!

  “Ah!”

  His entire arm had been sliced off. Anyone else might have died from the pain alone. But instead of a scream, only a faint cry escaped Death Hall Master’s lips.

  Thud! Splatter!

  His hand slipped from Sharv’s neck and fell to the ground, blood pouring out everywhere.

  “Huff! Huff!”

  Sharv took a relieved breath, but he still wanted to know how on earth Death Hall Master’s arm had been cut.

  Death Hall Master looked at his severed arm.

  Blood was flowing heavily, yet strangely, it seemed as though he barely even felt the pain.

  Grip!

  Sharv did not waste the opportunity. He channled his internal energy inside the dagger, and luckily removed Death Hall Master's internal energy from within it.

  And pulled the dagger stuck in his fist out of the tree. His hand was free again but he wasn’t thinking of running away.

  His gaze turned toward Death Hall Master, who was staring upward. Sharv followed his eyes.

  ‘?!’

  ‘What the?...’

  His eyes widened in shock.

  Above them stood a person—standing in the air, somehow.

  His face was pale white, as if all the blood had been drained from his body. Near his lips was a long, thin pipe, from which he was smoking.

  He was the Society Leader of the Crimson Heaven Society.