Chapter 19: Now It’s Haunted By Me!
After running nonstop for nearly three more hours, John’s breath remained calm and steady, his Level Five Breathing Technique working continuously to replenish his stamina and endurance.
Each step was fluid, each movement calculated.
His body, honed through battle, hardship, and months of disciplined cultivation, moved like a silent predator through the underbrush.
What truly kept him safe during the sprint through the wild interior, though, was his Level Five Spatial Awareness.
The ability expanded like an invisible sphere around him, extending out twenty meters in every direction.
Every vibration in the ground, every flutter of wings, and every twitch of muscle from hidden predators registered in his senses before they could surprise him.
Thanks to this ability, he avoided at least six different beasts during his journey, one of which gave off an aura so oppressive that John’s chest tightened just sensing it.
"Blood Refinement Realm..." he whispered at one point, crouching behind a bush as the massive, scaled beast passed only thirty meters from him.
Even at a distance, the creature’s footsteps left small tremors in the soil.
Its eyes were glowing crimson, and it had thick iron-like fur down its spine.
John stayed perfectly still, barely daring to breathe until it moved on.
"I can’t face monsters like that yet. The difference between Marrow Refinement and Blood Refinement... it’s like heaven and earth."