“Don’t come any closer!”
Senior Brother Hai shouted, scrambling to his feet in a panic.
“Senior Brother Hai, calm down and think carefully. That kid just took advantage of your conversation with Junior Brother Zhang to launch a sneak attack. He’s not that strong; he must have used something like a Thunderfire Bomb.”
She Mei, as a woman, was calmer than Senior Brother Hai.
She stopped in her tracks, coldly eyeing Ling Xiao, then spoke to Senior Brother Hai beside her.
At this moment, Senior Brother Hai began to regain his composure.
Junior Brother Zhang’s death was too gruesome and suspicious, causing him to mistake the opponent for a demon from the True Demon Empire in his panic.
Now, thinking it over, it seemed just as Junior Sister She Mei had said.
A glint of surprise and wariness flickered in She Mei’s beautiful eyes.
Yet she managed to maintain a temporary calm.
Although Ling Xiao’s palm strike had momentarily surged to the Second Layer of the Mortal Realm, if that was all, she wasn’t afraid.
In her view, Ling Xiao was playing the pig to eat the tiger, likely having learned some special martial technique that could instantly unleash an attack close to the Second Layer of the Mortal Realm. This sudden burst of power had caught the careless Junior Brother Zhang off guard, reducing him to dust in an instant.
That must be it!
She admitted she had underestimated Ling Xiao, but the instantaneous burst of power he displayed was only around the early Second Layer of the Mortal Realm.
Moreover, she firmly believed that such a technique, capable of suddenly unleashing immense power, must consume a tremendous amount of energy and couldn’t be used too many times.
With this in mind, she turned to Senior Brother Hai and said, “Senior Brother Hai, Junior Brother Zhang’s death was due to carelessness. This kid seems to have mastered a terrifying palm technique that can instantly boost his attack power to around the early Second Layer of the Mortal Realm, but that’s no reason for us to fear him.
If Senior Brother Hai is afraid, I’ll avenge Junior Brother Zhang myself!”
She Mei was truly cunning. By saying this, she not only reminded Senior Brother Hai of Ling Xiao’s true strength but also forced him to take action.
It was clear that Senior Brother Hai, like Junior Brother Zhang, was utterly bewitched by She Mei.
How could he let her take the risk?
Senior Brother Hai gradually calmed down.
He understood that She Mei was goading him into facing Ling Xiao.
But that wasn’t unreasonable.
After all, he was an inner disciple of the Beast King Palace with a cultivation at the late Third Layer of the Mortal Realm, while his opponent was merely an outer disciple of the Moonlight Sect.
Ling Xiao’s cultivation was only at the Half-Step Master level, and he had merely practiced a palm technique capable of instantly unleashing terrifying attack power.
As long as he was cautious, killing this opponent would be a matter of moments, wouldn’t it?
Moreover, this Ling Xiao had humiliated him in front of his peers. If he couldn’t kill him, this incident would likely become a lifelong stain.
That wouldn’t do!
The fear in his eyes had completely dissipated, replaced by a frenzied battle intent and killing intent.
“Junior Sister She Mei, dealing with an outer disciple of the Moonlight Sect doesn’t require your involvement.”
Senior Brother Hai glanced at She Mei, then said coldly, “Junior Brother Zhang’s revenge is mine to take! I’ll make him understand the heavy price of killing a disciple of the Beast King Palace!”
Ling Xiao stood there, his gaze still calm and indifferent, as if the two before him were already dead.
“Haven’t you decided the order of your deaths yet? How about I send you both to hell together?”
“You little beast, don’t be so arrogant! Do you really think you’re invincible just because you killed Junior Brother Zhang?”
Senior Brother Hai roared, and a black panther’s shadow suddenly appeared behind him.
The panther was pitch-black, its massive shadow standing seven or eight metres tall, exuding majesty behind Senior Brother Hai, its glowing eyes fixed on Ling Xiao.
With the appearance of the black panther shadow, Senior Brother Hai’s body seemed to undergo changes: his muscles tensed further, and the confidence in his eyes surpassed what it had been before.
“Black Panther Martial Soul?”
In an instant, the Mountain River Martial Soul provided him the answer.
This martial soul granted its master terrifying speed and attack enhancements, along with a formidable ability to seize opportunities when hunting prey.
Thus, Ling Xiao deduced that the moment Senior Brother Hai summoned the Black Panther Martial Soul, he gained three abilities: enhanced speed, enhanced attack power, and a powerful ability to exploit weaknesses.
As expected, the warriors of the Beast King Palace indeed possessed animal-type martial souls.
Unfortunately, Junior Brother Zhang had died too quickly, without even summoning his martial soul, making it impossible to know what it was.
However, Ling Xiao’s interest in martial souls was growing stronger.
The entire Mysterious Realm consisted of thirteen continents.
Even just the Heavenly Dragon Continent was home to numerous nations and tribes, such as the Human Sacred Dynasty, the Ninja Nation, the Blue-Eyed Nation, and the Barbarian Tribes.
Under the Human Sacred Dynasty alone, there were hundreds or thousands of vassal states.
The Northern Han Kingdom was merely one of these vassal states, yet he had already encountered a vast array of martial souls.
Especially after his Mountain River Martial Soul fully awakened and merged, it ushered in a golden age of martial soul awakening and inheritance for humanity.
Though this period was brief, lasting just over two months, billions of warriors had awakened their martial souls during this time.
In the future, he expected to encounter even more martial souls, likely of greater variety.
Divine Prison King Fist—Bull Head Crack!
Ling Xiao decided to first test the capabilities of this Black Panther Martial Soul.
After all, his opponent was a late Third Layer Mortal Realm warrior. If he went all out without understanding their abilities and failed to kill them, he might end up in a passive position.
So for now, he was only probing.
But even as a probe, this punch was immensely powerful. The fist’s force roared like a thunderclap, and in a blur, it seemed as though a bull-headed deity was charging at his opponent.
Whoosh!
In that instant, Senior Brother Hai suddenly vanished!
His body turned into a blur, disappearing almost simultaneously with his martial soul.
Though Ling Xiao’s punch was powerful, it only struck the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
This punch hadn’t used his full strength, merely employing the power of a Half-Step Master.
It was a probe, after all; there was no need to expend too much true essence.
Senior Brother Hai’s disappearance elicited a wave of astonished shouts.
The watching sect disciples gasped in amazement.
Suddenly, Senior Brother Hai’s figure reappeared, but now he was behind Ling Xiao, wielding two daggers that gleamed with a chilling light, their greenish glow clearly indicating they were coated with deadly poison.
Clang!
The daggers struck Ling Xiao’s body, yet they produced the sound of metal clashing.
Senior Brother Hai froze for a moment, only to see Ling Xiao suddenly turn and deliver another palm strike—
Divine Prison King Fist—Horse Face Shatter!
Still a probe.
Because from that single strike, it was still difficult to track Senior Brother Hai’s movement patterns.
