Shi Lei might be strong, but he was still only at the early stage of the seventh level of the Martial Vein.
His body had already been pierced by several arrows, and his clothes were long since soaked with blood.
Yet even so, Shi Lei showed no sign of retreating. He even lunged toward the village, attacking the executioners slaughtering the villagers.
A few hundred meters from the village, there was a small squad led by Murong Shao.
This guy had a team of ten, but he had no intention of helping Shi Lei. Instead, he stood by watching with amusement.
If it were just fear, that’d be one thing, but what disgusted Ling Xiao was the mocking smile on Murong Shao’s face.
However, while there were repulsive characters like Murong Shao, there were also hot-blooded heroes.
One team of eight joined the fray. Though the strongest among them was only at the peak of the sixth level of the Martial Vein, they didn’t hesitate to jump into battle.
Soon after, another team of about ten joined in.
Their involvement visibly boosted Shi Lei’s morale.
Facing two early seventh-level Martial Vein warriors alone, he grew fiercer with each strike.
“Damn little pests!”
The blue-eyed clan’s boss finally stood up. With a slight wave of his hand, seven or eight Qianlong Camp disciples were sent flying. Three died on the spot.
Another four or five were gravely injured and knocked unconscious, no longer able to fight.
The remaining dream pill traffickers seized the chance to finish off these Qianlong Camp disciples.
But what met them was a brilliant, razor-sharp sword light!
Ling Xiao had arrived!
He pushed his speed to the limit, so fast even Ling Yixue couldn’t keep up.
Even so, he only managed to save the few gravely injured comrades in time.
“Boss, that kid knows sword-control techniques!” exclaimed someone standing beside the blue-eyed clan boss.
He didn’t need to say it—the boss had already locked onto Ling Xiao.
“Kid, are you the one who destroyed our dream pill factory?”
The blue-eyed clan boss halted his attack, staring coldly at Ling Xiao as he asked.
His pause gave the other Qianlong Camp disciples some breathing room, allowing the injured to be pulled to safety.
Moments later, Ling Yixue arrived. Without a word, she dove into the fight, intercepting one of the early seventh-level Martial Vein warriors and easing the pressure on Shi Lei.
One-on-one, Shi Lei held his own.
Plus, with the dream pill traffickers who’d been sniping from the shadows now tied up by other Qianlong Camp disciples, he was like a dragon unleashed into the sea.
He’d survived!
The blue-eyed clan boss paid no attention to the skirmish over there. His eyes seemed fixed solely on Ling Xiao.
The thought that this kid might be the one who burned down his dream pill factory filled him with rage.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Ling Xiao nodded.
At this point, admitting or lying made little difference. The peak seventh-level Martial Vein warrior before him wouldn’t spare him over a single word.
“Since you admit it, prepare to die! None of you here will escape today—you’re all dead!”
A maniacal laugh rang out over the fire-lit village.
The blue-eyed clan boss no longer cared about the villagers.
Those villagers were being rescued by the steadily arriving Qianlong Camp disciples.
Yin Ran and Leng Mei joined in this effort, knowing full well their strength couldn’t match a peak seventh-level Martial Vein warrior.
They’d likely fall in a single blow—going up would only cause trouble.
“A peak seventh-level Martial Vein warrior—I don’t have a shred of a chance.”
Ling Xiao smiled bitterly to himself.
But his face showed no hint of wavering.
Worst case, he’d use the corpse of the Mighty Ape again.
Though against an early seventh-level Martial Vein warrior, the Mighty Ape’s corpse might work, against a peak seventh-level one, it’d only cause some damage at best—not enough to kill.
Unless it was the last resort, Ling Xiao wouldn’t use it lightly.
“Junior Brother, I’ll help you!”
“Brother Ling, I’m here too!”
As Ling Xiao pondered how to stall this peak seventh-level blue-eyed clan boss, Ling Yixue and Shi Lei suddenly moved toward him.
He glanced over—the other two early seventh-level Martial Vein warriors from the blue-eyed clan were now surrounded by the remaining Qianlong Camp disciples.
Though these disciples ranged only from the fifth to the peak of the sixth level of the Martial Vein, they were geniuses. Three or four peak sixth-level fighters, paired with a few fifth-level ones, could pin down an early seventh-level warrior.
They might not win, but they could buy time.
Everyone understood that the blue-eyed clan boss, a peak seventh-level Martial Vein warrior, was the key to this fight.
If he died, the battle was over.
If he didn’t, no matter how many Qianlong Camp disciples were here, they’d all perish.
“Hahaha, think adding two weaklings can stop me?”
The blue-eyed clan boss laughed wildly, not taking the two early seventh-level warriors seriously at all.
“Senior Sister, that thing I gave you earlier—don’t use it rashly. Save it for the critical moment since you’re not fully familiar with it yet!”
As the fight began, Ling Xiao whispered to Ling Yixue. Then the three of them took their stances, ready for battle.
Thunder Hammer!
Crack!
It was like a bolt of lightning roaring down. The blue-eyed clan boss swung his hand, and a forging hammer wrapped in purple-blue electricity smashed toward Ling Xiao.
“You two don’t need to worry about me—just protect yourselves.”
Seeing Ling Yixue and Shi Lei start to move toward him, Ling Xiao shouted lowly and then darted back.
Though he was no match for a peak seventh-level Martial Vein warrior, his exceptional movement skills made dodging no problem.
Boom!
The hammer missed its target, crashing into the ground. The earth split open with a massive fissure, the surrounding surface trembling.
“What a monster—that’s the power of a peak seventh-level Martial Vein warrior? Terrifying!”
Ling Xiao was certain that if that hammer hit him, even with his Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique, he’d be smashed to pulp.
Dodging was the smart move.
“Huh?”
The blue-eyed clan boss let out a surprised grunt. He hadn’t expected Ling Xiao to possess such top-tier movement skills—this wouldn’t be easy.
“Kid, I’ll give you credit for some skill, but if you think you can dodge my killing blow with that, you’re dreaming.”
As his words fell, an electric dragon burst from the cracked ground.
Its speed was jaw-dropping.
Even Ling Xiao couldn’t evade it instantly.
Shi Lei and Ling Yixue wanted to help but couldn’t—stunned, they watched the electric dragon lunge at Ling Xiao, powerless to act.
Yet Ling Xiao’s face remained calm, showing no trace of emotion.
Suddenly, a giant sword descended from the sky, cleaving the electric dragon apart. The scattered currents fizzled out harmlessly.
“Giant Sword Spirit!”
The blue-eyed clan boss was stunned.
Not only had Ling Xiao accurately predicted the electric dragon, but he’d summoned a Giant Sword Spirit—this was hard for him to swallow.
“Wrong—it’s a Giant Sword Martial Soul!”
Ling Xiao hadn’t forgotten devouring the spirit of that blue-eyed clan member named Meng. For most warriors, having two or three martial souls was the limit—any more, and their soul and body couldn’t handle it.
But for Ling Xiao, with his Mountain River Martial Soul, that wasn’t a concern.
The Mountain River Martial Soul encompassed all, containing everything.
Forget a few martial souls—it could hold dozens, even hundreds.
Right now, Ling Xiao lacked offensive and defensive options, so the more martial souls, the better. Though in the future, he planned to focus on a few, finding the perfect combination.
