Demon Immortal

Due to its proximity to the Grasslands, the locality around it is not unknown to people. If you travel east from the Dark Star City, you will enter the plains that will merge into the Grasslands if you travel further. This route was relatively barren and had very few places to hide.

On the west, is the road that leads to the Star Empire interior. This route can be used by those who enter from the Grasslands if they want to head into the Star Empire further. The route will directly lead one to the heart of the Star Empire – its capital city.

If one headed north from the city, they would reach other cities that border the Grasslands like Starmist City. Traveling further would lead directly to the border between the Star Empire and Wei Kingdom. 

The southern direction was filled with wilderness. The reason for that was because of its proximity to the Ancient Battleground, a forbidden zone that very few dare to enter unless absolutely necessary.

Duncan had chosen this hill in the south exactly because he knew the terrain around the city pretty well. Heading towards the Grasslands might look to be the safest bet for him. But, everyone would be expecting him to retreat back to the Grasslands and lay low. 

Moreover, Duncan didn\'t want to enter the Grasslands anytime soon. He wanted to avoid the turmoil in the Heavenly Demon Sect. The best way to accomplish that was to be not present in the area.

As for heading west, Duncan wasn\'t a fool to try that. The west was where the various sects were located. Things like hiding right under their nose would sound great and exciting to hear about, but the danger level was pretty high. So, that route was never under his consideration at all.

Thus, Duncan was left with two options. Either travel north, cross the border between the Star Empire and the Wei Kingdom and disappear into the Wei Kingdom. Or travel south, lose the pursuers in the wilderness, skirt around the edges of the forbidden ground, and enter the numerous small kingdoms present on the other side where the average cultivation level was low. 

To Duncan, it was a no-brainer. He was clear on his choice. If he traveled north, he must cross the border of a first-rate kingdom first and then try to lose his pursuers in an unfamiliar land, where they would have help from their counterparts in the Wei Kingdom. That was not easy.

On the other hand, losing people in the wilderness can be done easily. Moreover, Duncan always felt comfortable in the wilderness. He felt that his experience in the wilderness would aid him a lot as well.

As for these sects getting from the small kingdoms after he entered that region, Duncan wasn\'t worried about it at all. The relative strength of sects and clans in the small kingdom was only at the Violet Palace stage. Duncan was confident of dealing with them.

Hence, he selected the southern direction to escape in. That\'s why he picked this hill in the south direction of the city to stage his massacre. Duncan\'s speed had always been top-notch. 

After exiting the city, he had rushed here to wait for his pursuers. He already had a one-hour lead against his counterparts. Moreover, he knew the exact place he wanted to go. 

They, on the other hand, had to search the surrounding region and finally arrive here. Thus, it took his pursuers some time to catch up to him. Duncan passed time leisurely with wine in his hand waiting for the fish to enter the net. 

*****

When the young talents of every sect who were residing in Dark Star City at the moment heard about the provocative words uttered by Duncan, they were all enraged.

They immediately dropped everything they were doing and set off in pursuit of Duncan. As most of them heard the news at the same time, some were even chatting together when the news arrived, they started to run into each other within a few miles out of the city.

Knowing that they all had the same destination and goal in mind, they grouped up with whoever they came across and headed toward the mentioned location. The City Guards and those who were standing in line saw a large number of young talents exit one after the other from the city and couldn\'t help but become curious as well.

Some busybodies started following them, while others entered the city and spread the word around. By the end of the second hour, the topic of Duncan from the Heavenly Demon Sect challenging all the young talents on the continent became the hottest topic in the city streets.

While the discussions in the city raged, several groups that were formed spontaneously rushed towards the destination with a single goal in mind. The young talents of the sect were all gnashing their teeth and chomping at their bits as they searched for their prey in the vicinity of the area Duncan had mentioned.

Even though they all wanted to compete with each other in order to determine who was the strongest among them, they had all set their sights on Duncan to be their priority target. For them, deciding who was the strongest can be postponed later. First, they wanted to grab hold of Duncan and not allow him to leave.

It had been more than a week since they all collectively decided to hunt down Duncan in the Greenwood Forest. However, no matter how they enquired, there hadn\'t been any news about him at all. 

The first time they had news, it came with a provocative statement causing all of them to fume internally. They knew that they couldn\'t let this guy go about unchallenged. If they did, none of them could hold their heads high.

Words like talk is cheap seemed to be hounding them as they made their way towards the hill mentioned by Duncan in haste. As they traveled in groups, they were also sizing up their competition as well. 

There were histories and grudges between several people in the groups as well. But no conflict arose as everyone had a united opinion of teaching Duncan a lesson first before determining who was superior.

It didn\'t take long for them to find Duncan when they arrived in the vicinity of the location Duncan had announced. Seeing the figure in the distance, they were all taken aback slightly. Most of the talents expected Duncan to have slipped away by now. 

Seeing his silhouette in the setting sun, the young talents from the sect were both relieved and slightly apprehensive. After realizing that Duncan wasn\'t going anywhere, they stopped at the distance warily and wanted to check out the situation before heading in. 

Duncan sat conspicuously on top of a small hill, waiting for their arrival while drinking wine. His nonchalant behavior only increased their guard. Several young talents discussed among themselves wondering if there was some kind of trap set up in the location.

They absolutely refused to believe that Duncan wasn\'t scheming. They couldn\'t fathom why Duncan would say such provocative words and wait for them to arrive like this. Something about the entire thing felt off to them.

So, they began to deploy all sorts of arts to see if any formation or other forms of ambush were present in the region. Duncan watched all their actions coldly. While he could have greeted them already, he was waiting for the crowd to swell before harvesting all their lives.

Duncan knew that to be a young talent from a sect, every one of these individuals was one of the best of their generation in cultivation talent and mental fortitude. He was eagerly anticipating his clash with them as well. 

However, he didn\'t immediately address them when he saw them arrive. Duncan had his own considerations for doing such a thing. He didn\'t want any latecomers to take note of the massacre and retreat. He wanted to harvest as much slaughter qi as possible.

One didn\'t become a young talent from a prestigious sect by just the virtue of their luck or strength. Each of these people also had smart minds as well. If not, no power would invest resources in them. 

If he didn\'t catch as much as possible in the first wave, then he would end up scaring the latecomers away. That was something Duncan didn\'t want to see. To him, they were all meat on the chopping block. He didn\'t want to lose the chance to harvest more by being hasty.

So, he waited until the crowd had surged to a certain extent before rising from his position. By now, all those who went out to check whether the area was filled with traps had also returned. They found the matter of no trap waiting for them even more surprising.

However, they didn\'t relax their guard because of this. Rather, it only heightened their vigilance towards Duncan. In their mind, Duncan was already mad to provoke all of them with his words. Him standing there audaciously and looking at them without even preparing any traps for their arrival let them know that he was incredibly arrogant as well.

"Well, it looks like almost every one of you little pests are here," Duncan spoke as he gave a once-over to everyone who was present here. "As much as I would like to beat your sorry asses one by one and personally teach you, that will take a lot of time. Frankly, I am in a hurry. Why don\'t you all come at me together? That will make sure that you all don\'t lose too badly."

*****

A/N: Check out my other stories and let me know your thoughts...

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