The next day
As the bell rang, Su Zhan carried his hoe to the mine as usual.
He was in a very good mood today.
If his cultivation progressed without any surprises, he would break through to the Third-Level Mortal Realm in just two days.
Over the past few days, although there were still people keeping a close watch on him, their presence had no real impact. Su Zhan simply ignored them, spending every day in the mine practicing the Blood Shadow Sword.
With his comprehension and talent, he estimated that within half a month—at most a month—he could reach the "Initial Mastery" stage. At that point, his explosive power would almost double.
Like all martial arts, the Blood Shadow Sword was divided into realms of mastery, each bringing vastly different effects:
• Initial Mastery-explosive power nearly doubled.
• Small Accomplishment – explosive power roughly doubled.
• Great Accomplishment – explosive power tripled.
• Perfection – explosive power increased nearly fivefold, enough to kill even a third-level opponent in one strike if they were caught off guard.
Just as he was thinking about this, Su Zhan suddenly sensed something unusual.
"One… two… three… five people following me?" His brows furrowed.
A quick look back confirmed it—five men were following him in plain sight, keeping a distance of less than ten meters.
They chatted and laughed as if they wanted him to notice. This was different from before, when people had trailed him in secret, keeping their distance to avoid being detected.
Now, as the other miners dispersed from the area, only those five remained, sticking to him like shadows.
"So bold… coming straight at me?" Su Zhan's expression darkened.
If he wanted, he could summon all twenty-two of his Clones in an instant and wipe them out here and now. With twenty-two against five and no one else around, not a single one of them would escape.
But he restrained himself.
For them to follow him so openly meant there was definitely someone behind them. Whoever could control Five-Level Mortal Realm cultivators at the second level had to be at least a third level… possibly even fourth.
If he killed these five outright, it would only draw attention and make others suspicious of him.
Before long, Su Zhan reached his usual mine. But today, those five followed him right inside.
He stopped, turned, and said coldly, "Who told you to follow me?"
The five men were briefly stunned—then they all laughed.
"Kid, don't ask stupid questions. You think we'd actually tell you?"
"Hahaha, yeah! You may have some skill to rise from the first level so fast, but we're not afraid of you."
"One thing we will tell you—our orders are to stick to you wherever you go. Even if you take a dump, we'll be right there watching."
"What? You planning to attack? Go ahead, we'd be happy to settle this with a fight!"
Four of them were openly mocking, their words full of threat.
Then the scar-faced man among them spoke up, his voice low and calculating. "Brother, how about we make a deal? Since someone sent us after you, you must have something valuable. Just hand it over, and we'll leave you alone. No need for trouble."
"Valuable?" Su Zhan frowned. "I don't have anything like that."
"You don't? Then how did you reach the second level barely a month after arriving here?" The scarred man narrowed his eyes. "If you don't cooperate, we'll just keep following you. But if you work with us, things will go much easier."
Su Zhan was speechless for an instant.
So it wasn't because of the Lao Gao incident or the frequent appearances of his Clones? They were targeting him just because he advanced to the Second-Level Mortal Realm in a little over a month?
What a ridiculous reason… who had this much time to waste?
"Oh, I get it now." His expression shifted to mock realization. "So the one behind you is just a Fouth-Level Mortal Realm cultivator?And you're all licking boots like this?
"A mere Fouth-Level Mortal Realm ? You've got guts saying that," one of them sneered. "You're only Second-Level Mortal Realm—killing you would be like crushing an ant."
"Damn, I've seen arrogant people before, but never anyone like you!"
"Keep pretending. So you reached second-leve mortal realm l—big deal. Anyone who didn't know better would think you'd stepped into the Origin Realm."
The five men burst into laughter, their voices filled with ridicule.
Su Zhan, however, also smiled.
So it really was a fourth-level mortal realm.
His earlier words had just been bait to confirm the opponent's strength and adjust his strategy.
A fourth-level opponent wasn't much of a threat.
If it had been a Fifth or Sixth-Level Mortal Realm, that would have been harder to deal with—even if he broke through to the Third -Level Mortal Realm and had all his fearless Clones, there would be no guarantee of victory or even escape.
But Fouth-Level Mortal Realm? That was manageable.
Even if he couldn't win, getting away wouldn't be a problem.
"I've met several Fouth-Level Mortal Realm cultivators before," he thought, "but the only one I've truly crossed paths with is Zhou Yueshan. Could it be him?"
Su Zhan thought to himself, No, that's unlikely. He helped me before—just for that reason alone, it doesn't make sense… Besides, with his personality, if he really suspected I was hiding some secret or treasure, he'd come straight to my door. Why bother sending people to spy on me, let alone keep me under such close watch?
It's more likely the work of some Fouth-Level Mortal Realm cultivator I don't know. Maybe it's someone connected to a person I killed before—someone with a close tie to a fourth-level expert, or who has a Fouth-Level Mortal Realm backer.
Su Zhan was a man who made a clear distinction between gratitude and resentment.
For anyone who wronged him, he would repay in kind—blow for blow—and if possible, make them suffer a hundredfold in return. But for those who had shown him kindness, he would remember it well. Given the chance, he would repay the debt without hesitation, even viewing them through the point of view of a "good person."
Just like now—even though Zhou Yueshan seemed the most suspicious, Su Zhan still didn't want to believe he was the one pulling the strings.
Whoever it is… they can wait for death.
A cold gleam of murderous intent flickered in Su Zhan's eyes.
Then, ignoring the mocking laughter of the five men, he walked calmly to the nearby mine wall, raised his hoe, and began breaking away at the rock.
Since these people had gone to such lengths to keep him under watch, he might as well "cooperate" by putting on a little show—pausing his cultivation progress for now and pretending to focus on mining.
In truth, all of his practice clones were still cultivating nonstop. In just two days, he would break through to the Third-Level Mortal Realm.
When that happened, none of these five would escape with their lives.
As for the fourth-level culprit… they would also have to die. But twenty-two third-level clones alone might not be enough insurance.
Better to wait a few more days—advance his Black Mark technique to the eighth or ninth stage, and increase the number of clones—before moving in for the kill.
Once he acted, he would give them no chance to flee. Everything would be decided on the spot.
"Not going to cooperate?" Su Zhan's voice was icy.
"Fine. Let's see how long you can last."