It's not surprising to encounter humans in the star field, but Ming Qi hadn't seen even a trace of human presence in the past forty or fifty years, which had subtly conditioned him to believe that he was the only human roaming the entire star field.
And now, suddenly seeing traces resembling those left by humans, he was inevitably a little surprised.
Perhaps because he'd been alone for too long, he decided to follow the trail, hoping to discover what kind of person it was.
The dead star demon looked quite old. The battle marks on the corpse suggested a fierce battle, with both sides severely wounded and near death. It was the star demon's relatively low intelligence that sealed its fate.
It seemed the hunter was most likely recovering in a quiet corner, perhaps absorbing the power of the Heavenly Star Crystal. If that was the case, it certainly wouldn't have traveled far.
After determining this, Ming Qi decided to spend some time searching within a thousand-mile radius. He was confident that as long as the hunter remained within this range, no matter how hidden, he would be unable to escape his sight.
Assassins are all exceptional hunters; whatever they seek is almost impossible to escape their sight.
Ming Qi had once been a formidable assassin, and coupled with his Celestial Shift ability, which allowed him to instantly teleport a hundred miles, he could search a thousand-mile radius in a short period of time.
Ming Qi searched his memories and learned that this area was designated the Wild Land, where the star monsters were primarily wolf monsters, all of whom were relatively weak. He was now confident that he could slay a powerful wolf monster in a short period of time, and remain unscathed.
On the first day, Ming Qi searched a hundred-mile radius but found no trace of the hunter. However, he did find some traces and determined a direction.
On the second day, Ming Qi searched two thousand miles in this direction, but still found nothing. To his surprise, the traces had also disappeared. He was forced to return and continue his pre-planned search strategy.
On the third day, the search radius was extended another two hundred miles, but still yielded no results.
On the fourth day, the search radius was extended another two hundred miles. Here, he searched for traces again, and these traces clearly indicated that the hunter was not far away, as he was observing recently dried bloodstains.
However, Ming Qi also noticed something strange in these bloodstains. Although they were still dark red, they were different because they were crisscrossed with silver lines, like a silver spiderweb covering the bloodstains.
Even the dried bloodstains had a scent, and Ming Qi immediately followed it.
To this day, even Ming Qi himself couldn't explain why he wanted to track the hunter. He couldn't even tell if he was human, but he felt like he was facing a mysterious treasure chest, determined to open it and see what was inside.
Perhaps it was loneliness? Or was it curiosity?
Ming Qi didn't give up, nor did he pursue the trail for too long. To follow the scent of the blood, he couldn't directly use Celestial Shift, so he adopted a slow flight. Whenever he encountered a star demon, he would slay it.
Six days passed like this, and he arrived at a lush forest. Ming Qi didn't recognize any of the plants, but most of them imbued with stellar power, appearing to shimmer with a starry glow.
Stepping inside felt like walking through a grove bathed in starlight.
The forest wasn't large, but Ming Qi could accurately detect the source of the blood aura: it was right here!
He strolled in, his feet treading the weeds, making no effort to conceal his presence, not even paying attention to the sound of his footsteps. He wanted to see how the demon would react if he simply appeared.
Ming Qi wasn't disappointed; he soon saw what he had come to see.
A flash of silver, star-colored light flashed through the air, silently piercing Ming Qi's throat.
The silver light came swiftly, yet it couldn't escape Ming Qi's sight. He could tell from its swift trajectory that it was a silver flying blade, only the size of a thumb and as thin as a cicada's wing.
However, Ming Qi didn't underestimate the flying blade. He could sense the powerful stellar power contained within it, and it wasn't something to be ignored.
So he raised his hand, gently tapping the Fire Emperor Sword in his hand, accurately meeting the oncoming blade. With a crisp clash, the blade split in two and fell to the ground.
After a few seconds of silence, two more blades pierced the air, piercing Ming Qi's throat and heart from two different angles.
The blades' attack paths were perfectly chosen, targeting his weak points without any deviation. A single strike would have been fatal.
From the trajectory of the two flying blades, Ming Qi finally confirmed that the opponent was indeed human, or at least a species extremely similar to humans. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so familiar with the human body's vulnerabilities.
"Come out!"
Ming Qi shouted, and struck again with the Fire Emperor Sword. With the same effortless strokes, he gently brought down two more flying blades.
The opponent didn't appear. Instead, Ming Qi received a vast cloud of flying blades. Over a dozen blades scattered in the air, radiating a silver glow and engulfing Ming Qi.
Ming Qi frowned. Pure star power surged through the Fire Emperor Sword in his hand, and as he added Star Attraction, his figure glided in an instant, his footsteps shifting intricately. In a single breath, he shot down all the flying blades.
This time, the opponent was completely silent. No more flying blades flew out, presumably having exhausted their power.
Ming Qi took a few steps forward when the Fire Emperor Sword suddenly, without warning, jolted to the side. The space there suddenly trembled violently, and a shadow emerged from it, rapidly transforming from blur to clarity.
The figure froze, and the first thing that caught Ming Qi's eye was a star-colored sword blade. The blade was only a foot long, but it clearly surged with star power, as if the entire blade was formed entirely from invisible and intangible star power.
The Fire Emperor Sword precisely blocked this blade, preventing it from moving forward.
Gripping the blade was a black-gloved hand, followed by a bare, snow-white arm.
"It's a woman."
Ming Qi was somewhat surprised. He had never expected that the hunter he had been tracking for over ten days was actually a woman, and a fair and tender young woman at that.