The days went by, and before long a week had gone by. While Void was absorbing the essence from the orb, Grey was fully healed and he had started heading out to see if there was anything of value around this place where Void was training.
He had even caught wind of the fact that he was being hunted down by the Snow Leopards since he left the place, he couldn't believe those guys wouldn't let the matter rest.
'They are persistent, I'll have to give them that.' He thought to himself as he apprehended the second Snow Leopard in a day.
He was found by one earlier, and not wanting any trouble after interrogating it, he kept it by his side for the meantime, at least that way it wouldn't be able to go back and expose him, who would've thought that another one would come towards him only after a few hours.
'Looks like its disappearance is the reason they came this way. They'll send another one here. Looks like it's time for me to start exposing myself to them.'
Grey didn't want them to disturb Void since he was still in the middle of whatever he was doing, so he wanted to draw them away from this place. He didn't think about it too much, he teleported to a place hundreds of kilometers away and attacked one of the Snow Leopards on his own. He ensured it was alive and that it could head back to the Tribe Leader and report to it.
The Tribe Leader is obviously after him, so what's the harm in playing a little hide and seek?
A few more days went by in this manner. To be honest, Grey was bored, and since the Snow Leopards wanted to keep him entertained until Void fully absorbed their treasure, then he didn't mind. Besides, during the whole hide and seek process, he has found a few things that might not be of use to him, but he could take them back to the Lyttelton Family and it might be of use to them.
There was nothing of value to him in this place, nothing that he wanted to be precise, he couldn't help but wonder why it was so hard for him to enter when most of the treasures here are common in a lot of secret realms.
….
'They're onto me. This time the Leader is definitely with them. If I'm caught by him, it's not going to be easy to leave again.'
Grey noticed that the Snow Leopard Tribe Leader was getting closer to him. It was one thing fighting just the Tribe Leader, if he were to fight with not just it but other Snow Leopards, although he enjoys fighting multiple opponents, he might not have the upper hand in this fight.
The Tribe Leader of the Snow Leopards is very hard to deal with, and without his fusion orb, at least one with five elements, he isn't sure he will be able to cause any serious damage. The last time they fought, to a certain extent, it could be said that the Tribe Leader underestimated him hence the reason he was able to catch it off guard. He tricked it a few times too, so there's also that.
The Tribe Leader wouldn't fall for the same trick again, so he needed to avoid it at all costs.
….
The Lyttelton Family.
Grey's mother and the others were still stumped as to what was happening inside the portal. They tried sending someone in and to their shock, the moment someone else wanted to enter, the portal separated and went back to its previous state of three different portals.
The entire Family were stumped as to the reason why the portal would have such a reaction when Grey wanted to use it, but for others it went back to the way it was. Not just that, but the person who entered didn't report seeing anything out of the ordinary.
This person was transported to the same place he had been sent to the first time, and it was almost the same way, no changes, except for more signs of battle which was normal in this place since there were Magical Beasts staying and they would occasionally fight each other.
"What's happening in there?" Grey's grandfather still found it hard to explain the situation, if he didn't see it with his eyes, he would've never believed it. Eventhe Elders he called over, if not for the fact that they saw all three portals being one, they would've not believed it as well.
"Could the child have something that resonated with anything else in there?" An Elder suggested.
When the others heard this, they felt it was possible that it might be true. Since Grey has gone to multiple secret realms, there's a chance that he might've gotten a treasure related to the Gods who created this secret realm and the Gods might've left an inheritance there or something. At least, this theory seemed very believable.
"We can only wait till he comes out. I hope he's doing fine in there."
….
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
Grey cursed as he flew through the sky at breakneck speed, behind him, a large group of Snow Leopards, and the one leading the Snow Leopards was overflowing with killing intent.
It was the Tribe Leader, and after finding Grey a few minutes ago, Grey tricked it and then launched a sneak attack and took off, it only wanted Grey to take them to the treasure since it could sense that it was being absorbed even while it was with Grey.
It didn't take long for it to realize that another person was absorbing it, and it was the same person that snatched the treasure while Grey was keeping it occupied.
Grey could tell that the Tribe Leader wanted him dead, and he very much still wanted to stay alive. There's no way he would allow himself to be caught by them.
While running, he would occasionally send out fusion orbs which although isn't too powerful since it was only a four colored one, it was also very effective as it has stopped the Snow Leopards, albeit momentarily, that short pause is enough for Grey to distance himself from them.
The cat and mouse chase continued, and if there's one thing Grey was good at, it was escaping from chasers. He has mastered the art of escaping, it has been a long time since he was stuck in such a situation, but he was still very good at it. These Leopards chased and chased, and even with their speed, they couldn't catch up to him just because of his annoying tactics.
Grey was a very fast Elementalist, who also has the space element, so he set up traps, and while these traps slow down the Snow Leopards, he disappears, literally. He'd teleport to another place a few kilometers away from where he was, in the opposite direction, that is. Once the Snow Leopards realize this, they have to turn around, which is upsetting.
Even the Snow Leopards, the weaker ones in the Early stages of the Eighth Rank were finding it a bit too hard to keep up, but the Tribe Leader promised rewards, rewards which they have wanted for a long time, and that was to train under the treasure.
The Tribe Leader has almost gone crazy just from chasing after Grey. It was unbelievable that a human who was in a lower cultivation stage could outwit them like this, and also outpace them, although with tricks, it couldn't deny the fact that Grey was fast, too fast for his cultivation stage.
Unknown to it, Grey was using the help of his lightning, wind, and even light elements to ensure that he was out of their clutches, this was the only reason they've not been able to catch up to him till now, he was just too fast for them, except the Tribe Leader, and then the tricks come in.
"I'll kill you, rip you apart " It roared as it chased after Grey once again, forced to turn back.
It didn't take more than thirty seconds before they closed the gap to Grey, but then again, he used the same trick. The Tribe Leader was on the verge of going insane. It couldn't believe there's someone this insidious that will make life a living hell for them. It didn't want to chase after Grey anyone, but it didn't want to give up on the treasure.
The reason they were the way they are is all due to the treasure, once it's gone, their overall strength will drop.
Grey was running out of breath since he's been doing this for a while now, he paused and yelled, "Let's make a deal!"
The Snow Leopards surrounded him, but he didn't panic, he looked at the Tribe Leader with a serious gaze, "Let's make a deal."
"Do you think you're in a position to do that?" The Snow Leopard asked with a low growl.
"Technically, yes."