Whoosh!
Ling Xiao flew out of the training room and landed in the courtyard.
After all, there were no sparring partners in the training room, and he really wanted to test just how far his perfected Bull Demon Technique: Meteor Killing Fist had progressed.
Boom!
With just a casual punch, a decorative stone in the courtyard shattered instantly.
This power was comparable to the full-force strike of a Level Four demonic beast he’d encountered in the Fulong Mountain Range.
“Not bad, my attack strength far surpasses that of an average Martial Vein Fourth Level martial artist. If I infuse it with the Will of the Martial Path, the power will rise even further, giving me a much better shot at placing in the top three at the grand finals!”
The might of this punch left Ling Xiao feeling exhilarated.
A high-level martial art that had reached perfection likely wasn’t inferior to even the weakest top-tier martial arts in terms of attack power.
Hong Qi watched Ling Xiao in the courtyard, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.
Suddenly, he pulled a book from his sleeve, though it was a bit tattered, it was still relatively intact.
“It looks like it’s time to give this to the little guy. I thought he’d never need it in his lifetime, but I didn’t expect his strength to improve so quickly.”
He was about to call out to Ling Xiao when a commotion erupted outside.
Ling Fei burst in, shouting, “Ling Xiao, something’s happened! A little beggar came looking for you!”
At the mention of a little beggar, Ling Xiao immediately thought of the companions he used to beg with in the past and rushed out without hesitation.
Outside stood a beggar even younger than Ling Xiao, only six or seven years old, covered in blood.
“Brother Ling Xiao, Grandpa Hong, please go save everyone! If you don’t hurry, they’ll all die!”
Without asking further, Ling Xiao entrusted the little beggar to Hong Qi’s care, then leapt into the air, not bothering to conceal his lightness skill in the slightest.
Soaring Cloud Steps: Dragon Transformation unfolded in full, his speed astonishingly fast.
Ling Fei stared in dumbfounded awe at the figure streaking like lightning, muttering to himself, “Compared to him in lightness skill, I’m just a frog at the bottom of a well.”
It didn’t take long for Ling Xiao to reach the gathering spot of Tianfeng City’s beggar gang, an abandoned temple outside the city.
Calling it a beggar gang was a stretch, it was really just a group of pitiful beggars banding together to scrounge more food and help each other.
When he arrived at the ruined temple, the ground was drenched in blood, bodies strewn everywhere.
“Doggie! Doggie, wake up!”
“Carrot Head! Didn’t you say you’d grow up and be my wife?”
“Uncle Six Fingers! You can’t die, I said I’d make sure you lived well once I made it big!”
“Hunchback Grandpa! Blind Grandpa! Stone Lump! You guys—ahh! Who did this? Who?!”
Over twenty people, aside from the little one who’d gone to report, not a single one had survived, all brutally slaughtered.
For what?
Ling Xiao’s eyes turned bloodshot, never before had he felt such an urge to kill!
Hm? What’s that…
Ling Xiao noticed some footprints, then stomped the ground and gave chase.
At that moment, on a main road leading to Tianfeng City, a few people were walking and chatting cheerfully.
Their bodies were stained with blood.
Among them was none other than Li Xingyun, whom Ling Xiao had encountered in the Fulong Mountain Range.
“Senior Brother Xingyun, congratulations on mastering the Gale Sword! That one strike killed over twenty people, brilliant!”
“They were just twenty-something beggars, nothing impressive.”
Li Xingyun smiled, a hint of pride on his face.
“Senior Brother Xingyun, now that you’ve not only mastered the Gale Sword but also broken through to Martial Vein Fourth Level, if you run into that Ling Xiao guy again, you’ve got to take his miserable life!”
“Of course, I haven’t forgotten the grudge from that day in the Fulong Mountain Range!”
With his strength greatly increased, Li Xingyun naturally thought of revenge.
Back then, he hadn’t dared to act personally because he wasn’t confident he could beat Ling Xiao.
But things were different now, the Ling Clan had its annual competition, and so did the Li Clan.
In the Li Clan’s annual competition, he had not only won first place in the elimination rounds with a perfect record but had done so without ever using his full strength.
Just recently, while hunting beasts in the Fulong Mountain Range, he’d killed the Level Four demonic beast that had once forced him into a sorry state with a single sword strike.
So now, his confidence was overflowing.
On the way back, when a little beggar approached them begging for food, a killing intent surged within him, because one move in his Gale Sword technique was called Chain Sword.
This strike could hit multiple targets.
On a mere whim, he’d killed over twenty beggars with one swing.
Of course, he didn’t know there was another little beggar playing in the nearby bushes.
Having killed them, he felt no remorse, instead reveling in excitement over his mastery of the Gale Sword.
“Did you kill those beggars?”
Suddenly, a figure landed in the middle of the road, a voice as cold as if it came from the depths of the underworld emerging from their mouth.
“Ling Xiao?”
Li Xingyun would never forget that face, ever since the Fulong Mountain Range incident, he’d kept a portrait of Ling Xiao in his room as motivation.
“Heh heh heh, that’s right, I killed them. What, were those beggars related to you?”
He chuckled lightly, a glint of killing intent in his eyes.
Today was a case of enemies crossing paths, and in this remote wilderness, it was the perfect spot for murder and robbery.
Ling Xiao recognised Li Xingyun too.
He suddenly recalled the black-masked thieves he’d encountered on the way back, could they have been sent by this guy too?
Whether they were or not, since Li Xingyun had killed his family, he had to die!
“Today, you all die!”
Having received a clear answer, Ling Xiao didn’t hesitate.
He could tell Li Xingyun had broken through to Martial Vein Fourth Level, but so what? If he went all out, Li Xingyun wouldn’t last three moves against him.
As for the others, one move would suffice.
“Hahahaha!”
“Did you hear that? That guy said he’s going to kill us.”
“That’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“A mere peak Martial Apprentice dares to be so arrogant, it’s laughable.”
“Senior Brother Xingyun, looks like he doesn’t take you seriously.”
The group of Li Clan disciples paused, then burst into laughter, treating Ling Xiao’s words as a complete joke.
But their chatter abruptly stopped.
Because Ling Xiao moved.
In an instant.
With a wave of his hand, a sword light shot out.
The Li Clan disciples mocking Ling Xiao, still basking in the thrill of their taunts, suddenly felt a sharp pain in their necks.
Then, terror spread across their faces.
Moments later, they all thudded to the ground, lifeless.
“You! You dared to kill them? Are you really trying to start a war between the Li Clan and the Ling Clan?” Li Xingyun hadn’t expected Ling Xiao’s sword to be so fast.
In a mere instant, before he could even react, everyone behind him was dead.
Over a dozen Martial Vein Third Level Li Clan disciples, the strongest among them even at the peak of Third Level, on the verge of breaking through to Fourth Level, had been killed so easily.
“Once I kill you, no one will know what happened here today!”
Ling Xiao had already decided to eliminate them all, he wouldn’t let a single one leave, otherwise it might truly spark a war between the Li Clan and the Ling Clan, and the Ling Clan might not protect him then.
