As Guan Yu continued his journey towards the tall tower, he felt as if something were constantly warning him about a potential threat. Although this feeling was extremely vague and not as powerful as Izroth's or Luna's Soul Sense, Guan Yu could still perceive it.
At first, however, Guan Yu did not really pay it much attention as it was barely noticeable. But, the further he walked the more clearly he was able to feel the effects of his Soul Sense. Now he was sure that something or someone was stalking him!
"You can stop hiding now! Show yourself!" Guan Yu said in a commanding tone of voice while coming to an abrupt stop. He stood tall and proud with his guandao in hand ready to face whatever came before him.
However, after waiting for nearly thirty seconds, no one revealed themselves and it left Guan Yu with furrowed brows. He was confident that someone or something was tailing him. Even though Guan Yu thought with his fist instead of his head most of the time, that did not mean that he was incapable of piecing together a few things.
There was a good chance that whoever was stalking him was not a monster from the Chaotic Dogma Realm, but rather a player who entered inside of this place along with the other teams. After all, he had yet to encounter one monster within the Chaotic Dogma Realm that patiently stalked its potential prey. While it was not impossible, it was highly unlikely.
"If you refuse to come out, then don't blame me for being impolite!" Guan Yu spoke in a slightly more aggressive tone this time. If this player held bad intentions towards him, then he would obviously not bother being polite.
"If you do not show yourself in five seconds, then I will personally pay you a visit! 5... 4..." Guan Yu began counting down. Of course, he had no idea where this player was hiding and was just hoping that they would not call his bluff. After all, his Soul Sense only gave him a vague feeling of being followed.
Just as Guan Yu counted down to two, he felt that maybe there really was no one there.
However, just when this thought crossed his mind, a figure emerged around twenty meters away from Guan Yu behind one of the metallic-like trees.
When the figure finally showed themselves, Guan Yu set his gaze upon the figure and confirmed his previous suspicions. It really was another player that was tailing him! But now the question remained, why was this player following him around?
If Luna were here, she would immediately recognize the player that showed himself. He was that same highly skilled player that held an advantage over Silent Step even while he was within his Shadahi transformation state. That player was Qi Jiguang.
Qi Jiguang stayed on guard, however, he did not take any immediate hostile actions against Guan Yu. He had barely escaped from Silent Step's devastating attack. Every single member of his party were all killed in one go, even the tank who was definitely no pushover! The only reason he was able to leave with his life was mostly due to luck.
Qi Jiguang possessed a unique skill that gave the user the ability to live through what should be a fatal attack. However, the user would be left in a weakened state for a period of time after the skill wore off. If not for his luck in activating it without even the slightest bit of hesitation, then he would have definitely suffered the same tragic ending as the other members of his party.
He had grossly underestimated Silent Step and the extent of power he held within the palm of his hands. However, how could Qi Jiguang know that the item Silent Step activated could only be used once before shattering into pieces?
Nevertheless, Qi Jiguang still blamed himself for the death of his party members. If he did not lead them to strike first, then the players who suffered that fate would have been the members of Heaven's Law, not them.
When Silent Step escaped during the confusion, Qi Jiguang chased after him in a fit of rage. But with no clue as to what direction Silent Step escaped in, he could only choose a direction at random and hope for the best. However, after his anger subsided and he cleared his mind, he had to stop to think about his current state.
He was weakened and would just be an easy target for Silent Step. Qi Jiguang knew better than to let anger guide his actions and he almost made one of the most amateur mistakes a fighter could ever make. That was misplacing and redirecting one's source of anger in a negative form, a lack of discipline!
It was not long before he came across Guan Yu, but after his experience with Silent Step, he was not willing to take a chance and trust anyone so easily. But at the same time, he could not wander around the Chaotic Dogma Realm in a weakened state. Even staying in one spot for too long could be potentially dangerous.
Therefore, Qi Jiguang made a decision. He would follow Guan Yu around and trail behind him in order to cover for his weakened state, letting Guan Yu face any dangers they ran into.
After he recovered, he would be on his way while Guan Yu was none the wiser. However, he did not expect Guan Yu's range of perception to be so frightening! Qi Jiguang was confident in his ability to hide his presence, but little did he know that Guan Yu had a special trait which allowed him to discover his presence, Soul Sense!
Guan Yu sized up Qi Jiguang. At first glance, there did not seem to be anything special about him except for his handsome appearance. But after taking a closer look, Guan Yu noticed that Qi Jiguang had absolutely no exploitable openings! He was definitely a top level player and this made Guan Yu execute a level of more caution than before.
"So? Why are you following me? Just so you know, I like women!" Guan Yu said in a serious manner.
Qi Jiguang was baffled. He likes women? What did that have to do with him? However, it only took a brief moment for Qi Jiguang to understand the meaning behind Guan Yu words. His facial expression immediately darkened.
"Like your head! I, Qi Jiguang, only like women as well!" Qi Jiguang snapped back.
Guan Yu let out a sigh of relief as if a great burden was just lifted off his shoulders. However, Qi Jiguang felt the sudden urge to forget about his weakened state and just punch Guan Yu. Why did he look so relieved? Did he really think that he was following him around for something so vulgar?
Guan Yu frowned, "Then why have you been following me for so long?"
"This-" Qi Jiguang was uncertain of what to tell Guan Yu. If he told this stranger about his weakened state then he may very well take advantage of him, or even worse, eliminate him on the spot! However, if he did not give an acceptable explanation, then his situation may not be any different. For Qi Jiguang, it was a lose-lose situation!
After thinking about it for a bit, Qi Jiguang decided that he would tell Guan Yu the truth. Although this fellow appeared to be a little thick-headed, those types were usually the easiest to deal with when you approached them with honesty. Qi Jiguang chose to trust his gut feeling.
"I ran into some trouble with some devious people who plotted against all of us. When I confronted him with my party members, he used some type of powerful item to eliminate every single member of my group. The only reason I survived was due to some... Special set of circumstances. However, I'm currently in a weakened state so..." Qi Jiguang was reluctant to continue.
"Hm..." Guan Yu observed Qi Jiguang as he told his story. After doing so, he came to the conclusion that Qi Jiguang was either a really good liar, or he was telling the truth. Though just like Qi Jiguang, Guan Yu was also one to trust his gut feeling about a person.
"So you need someone to protect you in this dangerous place while you are in your weakened state, is that it?" Guan Yu nodded his head with a large grin on his face. A part of Guan Yu had always wanted to play the role of a hero saving the weak and now he was getting a chance to do just that.
Qi Jiguang was quite a prideful person, however, he was also a person with common sense. He knew that too much pride could be a dangerous thing and it often led many fools to their end. Therefore, he swallowed his pride at the moment and gave a simple nod in response.
"Heh, don't worry! I, Guan Yu, will protect you during your time of need!" Guan Yu said in an almost heroic tone of voice.
If Zi Yi were here at the moment, she would have had a look of disgust on her face from that creepy and happy expression Guan Yu currently had.
Qi Jiguang was extremely gloomy at having to put his life in the hands of someone with a possible hero complex. However, this was his only option for now and so he would learn to live with it for the time being.
Qi Jiguang suppressed his personal feelings and cuffed his fist towards Guan Yu in a respectful manner, "You have my thanks." Even if he was unhappy with the current set of circumstances, it had been instilled in him from a young age to repay kindness with some form of gratitude.
Guan Yu nodded, "Leave it to me!"
...
"Any idea who we will run into next with that method of yours?" Zi Yi asked.
At the moment, Izroth, Luna, and Zi Yi were not too far away from the position Izroth said that one of their other party members should have been transported to.
Izroth shook his head, "That part is impossible to tell. Although there is a certain level of order to the chaos within the Chaotic Dogma Realm, chaos would ultimately not be chaos if every single aspect of it had some kind of order. There always has to exist some form of the unknown." he explained.
"This place feels strangely... Enlightening in a way. It's as if it was built to chip away at one's understandings and bestow a more profound point of view on them." Luna said.
Zi Yi nodded in agreement, "I also feel that this place offers a unique outlook on matters that I would have never considered before. I think I'm beginning to understand the words written on that stone door a bit."
When Izroth heard Zi Yi's words, he could not help but to inwardly shake his head. While all that she said was true, she had in the end, not even scratched the surface of the meaning of the words written on that stone door. However, for mortals, Izroth was quite impressed that both Luna and Zi Yi were able to grasp even that much. To him, it was already quite a remarkable feat.
'The mortals of this realm live a more intellectual lifestyle than those within the Seven Realms. I suppose it is to be expected that there are some who are able to, at the very least, perceive that there is something present in the first place.'
Within the Seven Realms, putting it in the most polite terms possible, mortals were considered as disposable trash by the majority of cultivators. After all, even the weakest of cultivators were seen as unbeatable deities by mortals.
Most mortals within the Seven Realm would live their entire life doing one of two things. The first was being some cultivators personal servant or living out their life peacefully cultivating the land. While there were mortals who controlled kingdoms, they were nothing before the eyes of a cultivator and could easily be overturned within one night.
Although there were a few exceptions to this, such as mortals who became martial art practitioners, even at their peak they would be no match for a cultivator. It was also seen as a waste of time since true power, in the end, was becoming a powerful cultivator.
Therefore, their thought process was limited by the fact that "all cultivators are untouchable beings", the absolute highest level of authority. To try to fight against that authority would be tantamount to signing one's own life away.
However, the mortals within this realm explored a much deeper pattern of beliefs and philosophies than those within the Seven Realms did. This was due to the simple fact that although some of the people within this realm believed in divine beings, they did not let that stop their own advancements from occurring. This was something Izroth found fascinating.
'Maybe it will be possible for the mortals of this realm...'
Izroth suddenly had quite an interesting thought pass through his mind, however, he felt that it was a thought for a much later date.
"This place indeed holds many mysteries. I am afraid that twenty-four hours is not enough to unravel every single one. But, I believe that if we are the first to reach the end, we may at the very least, uncover some of those hidden mysteries." Izroth said.
