Not long after Vincent left in a hurry, another figure arrived at the spot where the six men lay unconscious.
The figure was a handsome young man with sharp, cunning features.
"Hya hahaha! What a lucky day," he chuckled to himself. "Who would have thought that chasing the faint essence of an invisible person would lead me to such a great meal? He noticed me when he passed by, but he did not realize that I noticed him too. What I am most familiar with is human essence. You can make yourself invisible, but I can smell his life force from far away. I wonder why he was in such a rush?" he mused.
He looked down at the six battered forms. "Tch, tch. They look terrible, but these wounds seem old. So this definitely was not the invisible man's doing. Heh, it doesn't matter anymore. They are mine now."
The young man, who held a villainous monologue with himself, was none other than the labeled cockroach villain, Ori Oregano.
Back on the island, he had vowed to return and kill that panda woman's entire group, but unfortunately, things had not turned out as he wished. He had tried to recruit others by telling them about the immense wealth hidden on that island, but nobody wanted to leave this place.
Treasure? Wealth? Resources? There were plenty to be found right here. No one saw the need to embark on another dangerous journey.
So his recruitment efforts had failed miserably.
Instead, he was the one being constantly recruited, or targeted, by nearly everyone he met after he revealed he had reached the level of Alchemy Grandmaster. He had even been placed on a capture list by Prince Charles, along with several other individuals who had piqued the prince's interest.
But how could a supreme genius like him ever serve someone else? Impossible! So he had been hiding and avoiding people, while selectively targeting careless individuals to devour their essence and grow stronger. Surprisingly enough, with no one else to rely on and forced to depend solely on himself, his mysterious Unique Heavenly Body had improved by leaps and bounds, unlocking many useful new abilities.
Previously, he had relied heavily on his dead slave Gin for surveillance and monitoring, but now he could do it all himself. He could now sense the living essence of beings from a considerable distance, whether they were hidden from sight or not. This was even more effective than using his spiritual sense. It was just one of the abilities that had helped him survive alone.
Once he became strong enough, he would kill one of the faction leaders and seize control of their forces. Only then would he resume his vengeance against that panda woman. She had become a thorn in his heart that must be removed, no matter the cost. Otherwise, he would never know peace.
Ori looked down at the unconscious men, licking his lips with anticipation.
"It has been a while since I tasted any real delicacy," he murmured. "Everyone is being too cautious in this place. Time to eat! Hya hahaha!"
As soon as his laugh faded, both of his hands trembled and began to change shape, turning into a viscous, dark liquid. The substance spread rapidly, engulfing one of the men completely.
"Nice, nice. As usual, human essence is the most delicious. And today I get six of them! Whoever left behind these wonderful gifts for me, I wish your family a prosperous and wonderful life, safe from any danger. Hya hahaha! Look at how nice I am!" Ori was visibly overjoyed, his laughter echoing faintly in the dark.
Afterwards, he continued devouring them one by one, methodically refining their stolen essence into his own.
---
"Darling, we need to rest now," Rose said as they continued moving at high speed through the darkness.
Of course, this pace was only considered average for Leyvi and Ava.
"Alright, let's stop," Leyvi nodded.
The group began to slow down and eventually came to a halt. Lily immediately got to work, setting up a quick illusion formation to conceal their presence from sight. It was the same type of formation Leyvi and Ava had stumbled into before, which she had reassembled again.
Leyvi found a suitably large boulder and sat down on it.
"You ladies sure have low stamina, huh? You need to exercise more. Look at Ava, she is not tired at all," Leyvi said, just making casual conversation.
Ava shot him a sharp glance. Can you stop bringing up my name whenever possible?
Rose pouted, though in her current plain disguise, the expression lacked its usual devastating charm. "How can Darling compare like that? Lady Ava is a body cultivator. We three ladies are just weak and frail damsels in distress who know only a few tricks to protect ourselves."
Leyvi chuckled. A few tricks, huh? Three 'damsels in distress' who almost ruined my life forever. That is certainly a scary thought.
"Then use some kind of vehicle. You ladies must have one, right?" he asked.
"Darling, that would be a waste of spirit stones," Rose explained. "We have many spirit stone mines here, but not many people are skilled or efficient at mining them, so our output is very low. With just a few miners working hard to support thousands of people, there is no way we can afford to waste precious stones on something like traveling."
Leyvi blinked, realizing the truth of her words.
Compared to the factions here, his own group was very small. But they had Tamina, who was exceptionally talented at digging and mining. Ava was also quite good at it, though she could not compare to Tamina's sheer speed. Because of those two, his group had managed to accumulate a truly massive stockpile of spirit stones.
No wonder everyone here is traveling on foot. The resources exist, but they lack the suitable manpower to obtain them efficiently. What a tragedy. Good thing we have Tamina on our side, Leyvi thought.
As they continued their casual chat, an invisible figure arrived in the vicinity. It slowed its approach, moving with extreme caution and stopping at what it deemed a safe distance.
Hoo... using a formation to hide, huh? I did not expect them to have a formation expert in their group. I can see why Rando failed so miserably. But this much is nothing. After all, nothing can hide from me, the greatest hunter in the shadows! Vincent's ego swelled as he held his internal monologue.
An arrogant smirk formed beneath his mask. Jacket man, I have found you. Your end is near. Too bad, he must have already told the truth to these women as well. So they will have to die too. Jacket man, I will let a harem of corpses join your own. Consider it my final goodwill gesture.
Five people. Five arrows, he willed.
With his masterful control of Spiritual Touch, Vincent created five large, invisible bows in the air above him, each nocked with a thick, equally invisible arrow. Each weapon was aimed precisely at the head of one of the five people within the formation. He had lost count of how many heads he had exploded using this very method.
However, something entirely unexpected happened next.
Just as he pulled the invisible bowstrings to their maximum tension, one of the five targets vanished completely from his perception, catching him utterly off guard.
CRACK!
A sickening sound of shattering bone echoed as his body was violently thrown forward, ragdolling hundreds of meters through the air. His spiritual touch creations dissipated instantly, but his mind remained clear and his invisibility held. He was no stranger to life and death situations.
Before the full, debilitating wave of pain could register and cloud his senses, he performed a drastic mental maneuver. He severed all sensory connections to pain and amplified his perception to its absolute limit. It would deplete his mental energy at a terrifying rate, but he had no choice. Holding back now meant death.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Everything around him moved with exaggerated, molasses-like slowness.
He saw a petite woman standing exactly where he had been a moment before, still in the follow-through motion of a devastating kick, about to land gracefully.
Dammit! This bitch can see me, and she is insanely fast!
He shifted his heightened vision to the others. They were just beginning to react, their movements sluggish in his slowed perception, as his own body tumbled toward them.
Instantly, his focus snapped back to the petite woman.
Kill her first. Then I will be safe!
He poured his entire mental focus into a single action. Ignoring the violent, slow-motion bouncing of his own broken body, he created another invisible bow almost instantaneously, maintaining its position perfectly as he flew. He aimed it directly at the petite woman, who was already coiling to launch herself at him again.
DIEEEE! He screamed internally with pure, seething hatred, unleashing the invisible arrow.
But suddenly,
BOOOM!
His body slammed down into the earth, cratering the ground. His newly formed bow and arrow shattered into nothingness.
This force! Spiritual Pressure! Dammit! Who? What? There is no one nearby! Vincent's mind raced, confusion warring with panic.
Everyone was still far away from him. So who was exerting this pressure? Hmph, no matter who it is, how can they possibly compete with my own spiritual pressure? I am Mental Lord Vincent! The greatest genius of this generation! The future greatest spiritual cultivator!
He unleashed his own formidable spiritual pressure in a desperate, countering wave.
But to his mounting horror, the pressure crushing him only grew heavier and heavier, an inexorable, increasing weight.
His body continued to be pulverized into the ground. The earth around him, the trees, the scattered rocks, everything sank deeper alongside him, compacted by the invisible, overwhelming force.
How? That was his final, fading thought before his consciousness winked out forever.