“Just hope we get a bit lucky, find that lad after a meal, yeah? With the skills of the five of us, killing him would be a piece of cake, wouldn’t it?”
“Hahaha, too right. Five of us, three at the peak of Mortal Realm Fourth Stage, two at the late Fourth Stage. Killing a mere early Third Stage martial artist is like child’s play.”
Chatting and laughing, they started looking for a safe spot to rest.
But at that moment, a shadow flashed before their eyes. The two late Fourth Stage martial artists dropped dead on the spot.
Their necks bore faint scratches, but closer inspection revealed they’d been cleanly sliced open.
The shadow moved too fast. They had no chance to react, not even to see what it was.
Terrifying!
Seeing their jovial companions now lifeless, the remaining three martial artists felt their hair stand on end, their hands trembling as they gripped their weapons.
“Run!”
“Quick, escape! It must be some fearsome beast!”
“Since you came looking for me, why run now? Don’t fancy a chat?”
The shadow blocked the path of the three remaining martial artists.
Though he was alone, his aura seemed to seal off every escape route. Move recklessly, and you’d die.
The three martial artists stared at the shadow in horror, their faces pale with fear.
“You’re that Ling fellow!”
Though they’d never seen Ling Xiao, Fairy Linglong had plastered his portrait all over Shajiabao.
“Congratulations, you got it right!”
Ling Xiao grinned at the three, his face hardly that of a ruthless killer, more like an innocent, carefree child.
Yet the cold corpses on the ground told the three martial artists exactly what this boy was capable of.
Suddenly, one of them pulled a thunder signal flare from his storage ring and fired it into the sky.
Ling Xiao could’ve stopped it, but he didn’t.
Instead of hunting them down one by one, why not let them all come to him? Save some time and deal with them all at once.
With the likes of Fairy Linglong and that cold-faced martial artist, he doubted any truly strong fighters would show up.
One comes, one dies.
What’s wrong with playing the bloodthirsty beast for a day?
His Plague Demon King martial soul needed nourishing with blood, after all.
Ling Xiao felt a touch of wickedness at the thought.
But if these people weren’t out to kill him, he wouldn’t have gone this far.
Everyone who makes a choice has to pay the price for their actions!
“Don’t fear him! This kid just got lucky with a sneak attack. The three of us are enough to take his life!” one of them shouted, trying to steady his nerves.
“Yeah, kill him!”
“Kill him, and we’ll claim a fat bounty. No more worries about cultivation resources.”
The three exchanged glances, madness glinting in their eyes.
And so, they moved.
Three men, three directions, converging on Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao stood there, a sneer of disdain on his face.
“Your combined attack is nothing compared to a Wind Tail Wolf. And you think you can kill me?”
Peak Mortal Realm Fourth Stage martial artists? He didn’t even consider them a threat anymore.
Pfft!
Swoosh!
Two air swords, two lives snuffed out!
Two of the three charging martial artists died in a daze under Ling Xiao’s attack.
In their final moments, they saw only two lightning-fast streaks of light, then nothing.
The last one turned and fled in panic.
Demon!
He was convinced this wasn’t Ling Xiao, but a demon in disguise!
He’d heard of creatures in the Fulong Mountains that could mimic humans to hunt them.
“No need to rush off. I’ve got questions for you.”
This martial artist was spared because Ling Xiao wanted him alive.
The air sword morphed into a rope, wrapping around the man’s neck and yanking him back.
Ling Xiao pinned him down with a foot, his voice cold and menacing: “Move again, and you’re dead!”
“I won’t run, I won’t! Please, don’t kill me, I beg you!”
Ling Xiao kept this one alive because he could tell he was the most cowardly of the three. Perfect for getting answers.
“Should’ve cooperated sooner.”
Ling Xiao smirked, pulling a formation stone from his pocket.
It was a weakened version of the “Plague Bone-Dissolving Formation.”
Lacking full materials, Ling Xiao had to simplify it.
Even so, it was more than enough to handle martial artists below the Fourth Stage.
Paired with his Plague Demon King martial soul, even a Fifth Stage martial artist could be trapped!
This little gift was for the reinforcements soon to arrive.
If someone wants to die, how could you stop them?
“Don’t worry, answer a few questions properly, and I’ll let you go,” Ling Xiao said, looking down at the trembling martial artist.
Just half a month ago, he’d have been wary of fighters like this. Now? They were beneath his notice.
That was the fruit of half a month’s cultivation.
“You’d better keep your word, or Fairy Linglong will hunt you to the ends of the earth. She won’t let you off!”
Desperate, the martial artist tried to threaten Ling Xiao with Fairy Linglong’s name.
Did he not consider that if Ling Xiao feared her, he wouldn’t have crossed her in the first place?
“Relax, I’ll head to Shajiabao soon enough. Anyone who sides with her, I won’t spare a single one,” Ling Xiao said with a smile. “Now, answer my questions. Lie or babble nonsense, and I’ll show you the true meaning of pain. Ever seen a Wind Tail Wolf? They don’t kill their prey outright. They toy with it, letting it suffer until it loses the will to live.”
Demon! A true demon!
The martial artist shook uncontrollably, his face ashen. How could a young martial artist be so ruthless?
It had to be a demon in disguise!
It had to be!
But he didn’t dare refuse to answer. Trembling, he said, “Ask away. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
“Good. I overheard you lot saying Fairy Linglong put a bounty on my head, yeah?”
“Correct, dead or alive. Preferably alive for a bigger reward, but dead still pays well. She also spread word that you got rare treasures from an ancient martial artist’s cave.”
The martial artist answered earnestly, terrified of slipping up and getting killed by Ling Xiao’s wrath.
