A Killing Spree Shocks Everyone!

Half an hour earlier.

Wang Shun locked the door with his wife and daughter, then headed for the square.

"Mother, do you think we'll see Brother Qin later?"

Wang Xiaoxi looked up, her eyes wide.

"Silly child, Qin Ming belongs to the Eight Trigrams Martial Arts Academy. He'll definitely be there today."

Wu Shi stroked her little head. "Remember, when you see Brother Qin, you can't call him that anymore. You have to call him Master Qin."

"Oh, I understand, Mother."

Wang Xiaoxi nodded thoughtfully.

Not long after Wang Shun and his family of three arrived, the bandits of Clearwind Stronghold charged out from every direction and began a killing spree.

The three were caught in the crowd. In the end, they failed to escape and were driven back by the bandits. Protecting his wife and child, Wang Shun suffered several cuts to his back. Blood pooled on the ground, and his face turned deathly pale.

"Father, Mother, I'm scared."

"Don't be afraid. Your father and mother are both here."

Wang Shun and his wife held Wang Xiaoxi tightly in their arms.

Nearly seventy percent of Qingshan Town's people died in the chaos. After the survivors were robbed of their money, they were driven into the middle of a ring of haystacks and forced to crouch down, hugging their knees and trembling.

A bandit carrying a torch strode over. He was only waiting for Yuan Lie's order to set the haystacks alight and burn everyone to death.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Several young men rose and charged into the bandits beside them.

"You're courting death!" The men were quickly hacked to death.

Seeing that all hope of survival was gone, everyone turned ashen and fell into utter despair.

Just then, Qin Ming's voice rang out.

Hearing the familiar voice, Wang Xiaoxi immediately looked up, her large eyes full of delighted surprise.

"Mother, that looks like Brother Qin. How did he get so big? Are we saved?"

"Saved?"

Wang Shun smiled bitterly.

Even the heads of the two martial arts academies were no match for these bandits. Where would Qin Ming, an inner-court disciple who had only recently joined the academy, find the strength to save them?

He was throwing himself into the net.

"Young Master Qin, run!"

Wang Shun suddenly shouted.

Since they were destined to die anyway, why drag Qin Ming down with them?

"Shut your damn mouth!"

A bandit slapped Wang Shun hard across the face, leaving it covered in blood and scattering his shattered teeth across the ground.

Seeing this, Qin Ming's expression grew colder still, and he sped toward the arena.

"Kill him!"

Yuan Lie frowned slightly, unconcerned.

A mere disciple of the Eight Trigrams Martial Arts Academy wanted to turn the tide?

The two bandits closest to Qin Ming exchanged a glance and slowly drew the long sabers at their waists.

Both were at the Mid-Stage Skin-Refining Realm. Ordinary inner-court disciples were no match for them.

They silently gauged the distance. When Qin Ming drew near, they struck together.

"Swish!!"

A flash of saber light came and went. Qin Ming passed between them without breaking stride.

Only after three breaths did a bloody line appear between each man's brows, extending all the way down to his abdomen. The two slowly lowered their heads and watched as the wounds in their bellies split open and their innards spilled onto the ground.

"Such a fast blade!"

Everyone was shocked.

Huo Lan felt a wave of belated fear. Not long ago, Qin Ming had held that very blade against her abdomen. If she had attacked him then, she would probably have met the same end as those two!

"That's the pig butcher! How did he get so strong?!"

The people from the Tiger Martial Arts Academy recognized Qin Ming and were shaken to the core.

They still vaguely remembered Qin Ming coming to the Tiger Martial Arts Academy to seek a master not long ago, only to be thrown out by them. In the blink of an eye, two Mid-Stage Skin-Refining Realm martial artists were like ants before him, unable to resist in the slightest!

"Black Wolf, you go!"

Yuan Lie was furious.

Black Wolf was a close-cropped man with only half an ear. He wore a fitted black outfit and held a torch.

Without a word, Black Wolf tossed the torch to someone else and immediately charged at Qin Ming, the aura of the Perfected Skin-Refining Realm roaring out from his body.

At the Perfected Skin-Refining Realm, he was at the same realm as Yan Yangtian and Huo Lin, but he was far harder to deal with than either of them. His experience fighting his way out of piles of corpses alone was beyond their comparison.

Even when facing a new inner-court disciple of the martial arts academy, Black Wolf showed not the slightest carelessness. As he saw it, a lion used its full strength even when hunting a rabbit, and killing a man was no different.

"Kill!"

Clutching a saber in each hand, Black Wolf charged forward and stomped hard on the ground. He leaped into the air, his twin sabers whirling rapidly in his hands as he spun like a drill. A piercing whistle tore through the air, blade Qi crisscrossing as he sought to grind Qin Ming into minced meat.

The twin sabers were his signature skill. Several martial artists at the Perfected Skin-Refining Realm had already died beneath this attack. As he saw it, once he unleashed it, Qin Ming was as good as dead!

"Boy, it's your good fortune to die under my saber technique!

Twin Blades Strangulation!"

The two sabers slashed at Qin Ming's neck from either side, so fast that everyone could see only faint afterimages!

This move had never failed him. In the blink of an eye, it could send an opponent's head rolling!

But he never expected Qin Ming's butcher knife to be faster!

"Squelch!"

Qin Ming struck later but landed first. His butcher knife shot forward at an inconceivable angle, its speed suddenly increasing as it pierced clean through the close-cropped man's throat.

They brushed past each other.

Black Wolf fell to the ground with a thud, both hands clamped tightly over his blood-spurting throat. In the end, he breathed his last.

One strike, one kill!

"Hiss!"

Everyone present sucked in a cold breath.

A martial artist at the Perfected Skin-Refining Realm had been killed with one strike. What realm had Qin Ming reached?

Huo Lan's clear, beautiful eyes widened, and chills raced down her back.

Remembering how she had nearly fought Qin Ming last time, she silently thanked her luck.

This pig butcher was hiding his strength so deeply. But when did he become even stronger than Elder Brother?

Huo Lan instinctively looked at Huo Lin beside her.

Huo Lin was equally stunned, with a hint of dejection on his face.

So Qin Ming was the foremost genius of Qingshan Town's younger generation.

"That's impossible!!"

Yan Yangtian stared fixedly at Qin Ming, his eyes bloodshot. His gaze held deep jealousy and killing intent, along with a trace of fear that even he had not noticed.

Qin Ming's blade was too fast.

So fast that even Yan Yangtian was not confident he could block it.

But Qin Ming had only recently joined the academy. Didn't he have a Ninth-Grade Root Bone?

Where had things gone wrong?

Even Pei Heng was stunned.

Was this really his disciple?

Lu Liu, who had chased after Qin Ming, happened to see it and froze like a wooden chicken.

After only a few days apart, how had Junior Brother become so valiant?

"Good, good, good! I didn't expect your Eight Trigrams Sect to produce another genius!"

Yuan Lie's mouth twitched. As though remembering something, he flew into a rage. "I hate geniuses more than anything, especially geniuses from the Eight Trigrams Sect!"

"Second Brother, go bring me his head!"

As soon as he spoke, an Early Flesh-Refining Realm martial artist stepped forward.

Pei Heng's expression changed drastically.

The Flesh Refining Realm was a full major realm above the Skin Refining Realm. Not only did a martial artist's strength increase greatly, but upon reaching the Flesh Refining Realm, they began tempering their body and could instantly tense their muscles. Without absolute strength, it was impossible to break through their physical defenses!

No matter how fast Qin Ming's blade was, if his strength did not reach the Flesh Refining Realm, he could not possibly hurt his opponent. The only path awaiting him was death!

"Qin Ming, run! Go to Qingyang County and find your martial uncle! He'll avenge me!"

Pei Heng roared and lunged headfirst at Yuan Lie, hoping to buy Qin Ming time to escape.

"Get back!"

Yuan Lie struck out with a sudden palm, sending Pei Heng flying backward, coughing up blood. He crashed down hard beneath the arena, cracking the paving stones.

"Pei Heng, you dare mention your Junior Brother in front of me? Do you think I won't kill you?"

Yuan Lie's eyes nearly spat fire. He seized Pei Heng by the throat and lifted him into the air.

"Soon, you'll see with your own eyes how this brat gets chopped into meat paste!"

Yuan Lie spoke coldly, but when he turned around, the sight before him shook him to the core. "How is this possible?"

One of his four protectors, one of his trusted lieutenants, had been beheaded by Qin Ming with a single strike!

Qin Ming slowly drew back his blade and casually flicked the blood from it. His expression was calm. "So this is the Flesh Refining Realm? Nothing much."

The entire place fell deathly silent.

A dropped needle could have been heard.

Someone at the Skin Refining Realm had killed someone at the Flesh Refining Realm in one strike!

Had they not seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed it. Even now, some wondered whether their eyes were playing tricks on them.

Fighting across an entire major realm—could such a legendary monster really appear in a little place like Qingshan Town?

Yuan Lie's expression turned utterly dark. He released the gravely injured Pei Heng and turned to fix his gaze on Qin Ming.

Right now, Qin Ming was his greatest threat.

Yet even now, Yuan Lie could not see through Qin Ming, and he grew more wary.

"You three, go! Don't hold back!"

Yuan Lie gave the order in a low voice.

He was not sure how many trump cards Qin Ming had, so he did not dare attack recklessly. He decided to have the three protectors test him again.

With three Early Flesh-Refining Realm fighters joining forces, even an ordinary Mid-Stage Flesh-Refining Realm fighter would have to give way.

They were extremely cautious. After slowly drawing closer, they surrounded Qin Ming in a triangle.

"Be careful. This brat's blade is fast, and his strength is no less than ours!"

The three tightened their grips on their weapons.

Two held sabers, while the last wielded a massive spiked club.

The club had long since been stained brown with blood. Many enormous rusty iron spikes jutted from it, and scraps of flesh could still be faintly seen hanging from some of them.

The three kept circling Qin Ming, trying to find an opening.

Qin Ming stood there playing with the butcher knife in his hand. At a glance, his whole body seemed full of openings, which instead made the three reluctant to attack rashly.

Just as they hesitated, Qin Ming's gaze sharpened, and he suddenly struck.

"Not good!"

One of them instinctively raised his saber, but he was too slow. Before he had raised it halfway, his entire forearm and the saber were split in two. Qin Ming struck backhanded with his palm, landing a Fire Sand Palm squarely on the man's chest with the added force of Savage Bull Strength.

"Pfft!"

The man's robes instantly tore to pieces. The force of the Fire Sand Palm pierced his lungs and organs, leaving a scarlet palm print on his chest, surrounded by a distinctly charred black patch.

It was the Fire Poison inherent in the Fire Sand Palm.

Though it took time to describe, it happened in an instant: Qin Ming had suddenly struck and severely injured one man.

The other two attacked immediately, striking at his vital points and fatal acupoints. Holding his butcher knife, Qin Ming used offense as defense and swiftly became locked in combat with them.

In a short time, the three had exchanged more than a dozen moves.

The more the two fought, the more alarmed they became. Qin Ming's strength had definitely surpassed the Early Flesh-Refining Realm, and his blade was extremely fast. Every strike was ruthless, aimed straight at their tendons and meridians. One careless move and their tendons and bones would be severed. It was their first time encountering someone at the Skin Refining Realm who was so difficult to deal with.

Qin Ming's Qi and blood surged within him, and the power of Savage Bull Strength poured into his limbs, filling him with fighting spirit. He grew bolder as the battle went on, while the martial arts proficiency points on his panel gradually rose at a steady rate.

Just as he prepared to finish the two in one push, Lu Liu's startled cry suddenly came from behind him.

"Junior Brother! Watch your back!"