“Swift!”
A sword beam shot forth, slicing through the air with a piercing sonic boom. Ling Xiao could distinctly feel the explosive, terrifying power contained within the Clear Breeze Sword.
“Roar! Roar!”
The sword beam tore through the void.
Sword shadows flickered.
A Level Three demonic beast collapsed with a thud, managing only two anguished cries before death as its head was cleanly severed by the strike.
What a magnificent sword, cutting off the beast’s head in one go!
“Hmm, I used a bit too much force. With my current strength, about thirty percent of my inner power should be enough to easily kill a peak Level Three demonic beast!”
Through the Mountain and River Martial Soul, he analyzed the power of the Transcendent Hundred-Step Killing Sword within a two-hundred-meter range.
The conclusion was staggering.
Within two hundred meters, the Hundred-Step Killing Sword was equivalent to a full-force strike from a peak Martial Vein Fifth Level martial artist!
What kind of concept was this? He was only approaching the peak of Martial Vein Fourth Level himself, yet his attack could match a peak Martial Vein Fifth Level martial artist’s all-out blow.
By this logic, forget peak Level Four demonic beasts, even Level Five ones, as long as they weren’t too strong, should be within his reach.
He just had to be cautious.
The flying sword technique relied on surprise and explosive force, if the enemy anticipated it, its power would diminish significantly.
With that thought, Ling Xiao casually tossed the beast’s corpse into the Mountain and River Diagram.
Then he pressed forward, searching for more prey.
Level Three demonic beasts were too cheap, this time he was after Level Four ones, ideally peak Level Four, which would fetch more gold.
Of course, if he encountered a Level Five beast, he could give it a shot too.
“Hm? Someone’s coming?”
After consecutively slaying over a dozen Level Three demonic beasts, Ling Xiao frowned.
The Mountain and River Diagram showed three lifeforms rapidly approaching nearby.
“Passing by? Or targeting me?”
Ling Xiao didn’t want to take risks, so he chose to hide and assess the situation first.
The three lifeforms finally appeared.
They were three black-masked bandits.
One was a short, stout old man.
Another was a tall, burly man.
The third was a sinister-looking woman.
“Where is he?”
“Did he spot us and hide?”
“Gaga, he won’t escape!”
The short, stout old man let out a grating laugh, then opened his mouth and spewed a cloud of murky gas.
“Cough, cough, cough! That stinks!”
Caught off guard, Ling Xiao was hit by the fumes and immediately started coughing.
“Whoosh!”
“Thwack!”
Almost the instant he coughed, several poison needles shot toward him, but fortunately, his reflexes were sharp, and he dodged using Soaring Cloud Steps.
“Oh? He dodged my poison needles, not bad with that lightness skill!” the sinister woman remarked in surprise.
“No matter how good his lightness skill is, he’s dead!”
The burly man snorted coldly, “The employer already warned us this kid’s lightness skill is impressive, so I’ve prepared something special to deal with him.”
“Black-masked bandits!”
Seeing they didn’t attack again immediately, Ling Xiao’s heart settled slightly. He activated the Mountain and River Martial Soul, and information about the trio appeared.
Two at peak Martial Vein Fourth Level, one at Martial Vein Fifth Level!
Honestly, seeing this data, he was taken aback.
Who was behind this, sending such high-level fighters to deal with him?
The burly man was the strongest of the three, exuding a thick killing intent, who knew how many he’d killed.
“Heh, little guy’s not running?” the sinister woman asked with a smile.
“Why should I run?”
Ling Xiao had made up his mind—he’d hunt these three.
Though one against three might be tough, this was the Fulong Mountain Range, and with Soaring Cloud Steps and the Mountain and River Martial Soul, he could maneuver through the jungle with ease.
In a different environment, he’d probably turn and flee.
But here, his odds against three weren’t that slim.
“Ignorant brat, if you hand over the lightness skill technique you’ve learned, we’ll give you a quick death!” the stout old man said with a grin.
“Want my lightness skill? Catch me first!”
Ling Xiao smirked, then abruptly leapt into the air, flying deeper into the forest.
In terms of speed, he didn’t believe he’d lose to these three.
“Heh heh heh!”
What puzzled Ling Xiao was that the trio didn’t chase him, instead standing in place, chuckling coldly.
This gave him a strong sense of foreboding.
But the Mountain and River Diagram showed nothing unusual.
That meant it was just the three of them, no reinforcements.
No, something still felt off!
“Buzz!”
A massive pressure surged, causing his Gang Qi to circulate rapidly within him. In that moment, the blood-bond sensation with the Mountain and River Martial Soul grew even clearer.
“I see!”
Ling Xiao suddenly realized he no longer needed to consciously look inward at the Mountain and River Diagram. His body had perfectly fused with it.
Now, just by looking at his opponents, analytical data would instantly appear in his mind.
Simulations formed simultaneously in his head.
Though it seemed like a minor change, the impact was enormous.
Before, using the Mountain and River Martial Soul’s analysis and simulation required him to look inward at the diagram, which took too much time.
In combat, that was practically suicide.
Now, he didn’t need to do that—wherever his eyes landed, analysis followed.
Even his vision had undergone a strange transformation thanks to the Mountain and River Martial Soul.
Normal eyes had blind spots.
His didn’t, he could see everything in all directions, crystal clear from every angle.
Not only that, he could now see through things.
He knew this wasn’t his eyes’ ability, but the Mountain and River Martial Soul’s power manifesting through them.
Regardless, under the immense pressure of death, his abilities had leaped forward again, and it was a massive leap.
The reason the Mountain and River Diagram hadn’t shown anything earlier was because the enemy’s killing move was underground.
A giant spider.
Standing over two meters tall.
It was locking onto him from below, ready to burst out of the ground.
He’d just been wondering what they’d use to counter his lightness skill, and now it seemed clear—spider webs.
If the spider had spread a web across this area, he’d indeed be in serious trouble.
“Take out the spider first!”
With a thought, Ling Xiao gathered his Gang Qi and slammed a fist into the ground.
The underground spider was only a Level Three demonic beast, this punch carried fifty percent of his power, using the Transcendent Meteor Killing Fist.
The spider was as good as dead.
In that instant, the three black-masked bandits, who’d been smirking wickedly, turned pale.
They didn’t know how Ling Xiao had detected the danger from below, but they could feel the terror of that punch.
The stout old man and the sinister woman moved first.
They flanked Ling Xiao from the left and right.
Despite the old man’s chubby frame, his movement technique was anything but sluggish, even outpacing the sinister woman slightly.
The woman’s deadliest weapon was clearly her hidden projectiles, as she ran, her crossbow fired several bolts in succession.
The arrowheads glinted with a faint blue sheen, unmistakably coated with poison.
