The group of boys continued to walk directly towards John, and based on their expressions, John knew that they were here specifically for him, and their intentions were not good either.
"Would you look at this. In this entire expansive world, we somehow manage to run into each other. It seems like our fates are intertwined," Jason called out as he stared directly at John with a large smile on his face.
Dylan and the rest of the group stood behind Jason, also with similar looks on their face.
"Something tells me fate has nothing to do with it," replied John in a casual tone. Although his demeanor appeared calm, he was constantly thinking of solutions to this crisis while keeping his energy ready to explode out at the maximum if need be.
"Haha, you're not as dumb as you look," responded Jason as he took out an item and waved it for John to see. John stared at the item, but did not recognize it at all.
"Haha, you don't even recognize a tracking artifact. You really are all country bumpkins," responded Jason while laughing.
"Tracking artifact?" John asked, trying to stall for time while he thought of something to get himself out of this situation.
"It leaves a small spirit mark on your body, allowing us to track you," said Jason. John's eyes suddenly lit up in understanding.
'So that was the weird feeling I felt in the beginning of the pocket realm as they left. No wonder.'
Jason noticed John's change in expression. "It seems like you managed to detect it when it was placed on you. Not bad, it seems like you really are talented. But its a shame you country bumpkins are so stupid. If you had known you were being tracked, you could have used your soul power to find the spirit mark and erase it."
The rest of the group laughed at John's lack of knowledge and misfortune. To them, he was a piece of meat on the chopping block, and playing around with him a bit first made it all the more savory.
John sent his soul power to carefully scan his body after he heard Jason's words. A minute later, he suddenly detected an incredibly faint fluctuation attached to his body, so faint that it was hardly noticeable. His soul power flared to that point and washed over it, erasing it from his body.
'No wonder I didn't detect it. Without knowing it was there, and without incredibly close observation, I never would have noticed it.'
John felt slightly better now that the tracking mark was off him, but he was still trapped by the group of boys, with no way to retreat. The chasm behind him closed off all opportunities of running.
While thinking about his solutions, John suddenly remembered some information from back during the tournament. That, coupled with the way Jason kept calling him a country bumpkin ignited his suspicions further.
"Back during the tournament, Dylan recognized the Supreme Battle Art, and I'm sure you did as well. That coupled with how you address me...you're not truly from the Crimson Valley Sect are you?"
The surrounding group of boys all had surprised looks on their face at John's words, which made him sure he was correct. Jason narrowed his eyes at John's words before he suddenly changed his tune and started laughing loudly.
"Hahaha, not a bad guess. Since you'll be dying soon, I guess there's no harm in telling you."
Jason's words confirmed both of John's suspicions. One, that they were not from the Crimson Valley Sect, and that they were also here for his life.
"You're right. We're not from the Crimson Valley Sect. Instead, we're from the Yuan Continent Holy Lands."
John narrowed his eyes further. He had been hoping that they were from another power that rivaled the Fenix Clan, but if they were truly from the Yuan Continent Holy Lands, then this was an extremely grave situation for both him and his clan.
John looked towards the few boys he knew were from the Crimson Valley Sect and spoke in a loud, mocking tone.
"I guess you've gone ahead and sold yourself to the highest bidder. Dogs will always be dogs I suppose."
"Courting death!" Yelled one of the boys.
"You've already confirmed your here for my life, why wouldn't I court a little bit more death in that case? At least I don't bow down and lick the boots of a new master whenever I can," John responded once again in a mocking tone.
The Crimson Valley Sect boys exploded in anger and prepared to charge forward, but were held back by a wave of Jason's hands.
John looked back towards Jason. "Then I have just one question. Why all this effort just to kill me? You have only three months to look for opportunities in this realm. That should be more important than wasting time to kill a Mist Creation junior, shouldn't it?"
John couldn't understand why they had spent so much time and effort tracking him down, instead of looking for treasures and opportunities.
"Unfortunately, this was a decision from the higher ups. Your talent is not bad. And based on you somehow knowing the Supreme Battle Art, our sect decided that it was important that you die. If you somehow became a member of the Supreme Battle Sect, that could spell trouble for us in the future. Besides, we've spent plenty of time looking for opportunities, and will spend plenty more once you're dead. This won't take long."
Although both Jason and Dylan didn't want to admit it, John's talent definitely was terrifying, and the elders at their sect wanted to eliminate him before he could potentially join any major powers. Once he did so, he would be well protected, and eliminating him would be much more difficult.
"Are you not afraid that killing me will ignite the wrath of my clan?" John asked.
"Haha, your clan is but a mere eyesore, waiting to be eliminated. Besides, how will anyone know that we were the ones to kill you. We can just feign ignorance."
John's mind continued to race, and he wanted to keep stalling for time. He was about to ask which power they came from that made them so confident in their schemes, but Jason saw through John's intentions.
"You're just stalling for time, but unfortunately that won't save you," stated Jason in a cold tone as he took out his sword.
Boom!
The ground exploded behind John as he dashed forward with all his might. The Supreme Battle Art and the Five Step Movement Technique were superimposed, making his burst of speed frightening. As long as he reached the tree line, John was confident in his escape due to his dual Qi reserves and fast movement speed.
However, as he dashed forward, an incredibly sharp sword light pierced towards his back. John was forced to turn around and block the attack.
Peng!
The attack was blocked with his scythe, but the time it took to turn around and parry had allowed himself to be fully surrounded by the group of five boys.
'Three at the Qi Condensation Realm and two at the late Mist Creation Realm. This is going to be troublesome.'