Han Fei held the broken sword upside down and charged straight at He Xiong.
The moment Han Fei moved, Qi Xuanxuan flicked her left hand, sending five Spirit Burst Bombs flying out in a fan shape.
Boom, boom, boom! Violent Spiritual Energy Shock waves spread in every direction.
Han Fei raised two fingers of his left hand before his chest, and his figure vanished instantly.
Boom! The explosion forced He Xiong and the others to retreat. Three of the weaker ones failed to evade in time and were blasted by the Spirit Burst Bombs. Their spiritual energy was thrown into disarray, leaving them unable to fight for at least half an hour.
As He Xiong retreated, he suddenly sensed spiritual energy fluctuations above his head.
He looked up slightly and saw Han Fei smiling down at him.
"Broken Sword Slash."
With a swish, He Xiong saw only a jet-black sword gleam falling swiftly. He crossed his two short blades above his head to block Han Fei's powerful downward slash.
Clang! The two short blades could not withstand the broken sword's strike. The instant they collided, both blades shattered into four pieces.
A flash of golden light vanished in an instant, and He Xiong's body froze where he stood.
After that strike, Han Fei did not even glance at the He Xiong he had killed. He simply passed him by and swept the broken sword horizontally.
"Annihilate."
Whoosh! An exceptionally beautiful sword gleam spread outward in a fan shape.
The sword gleam was not graceful, but it carried the formidable Sword Qi of the Dragon Slaying Sword Art. Moreover, the Sword Qi kept expanding, while the sword gleam grew increasingly solid.
As that sword gleam swept out, He Xiong's standing body slowly toppled over. With a single move, Han Fei had slain this fifth-level Spirit Gathering Realm expert.
The sight filled the other four with grief and despair. How the hell did this look like the strength of someone at the first level of the Spirit Gathering Realm?
When they saw He Xiong reduced to a corpse, all hope drained from them. The five of them had been as close as brothers, yet He Xiong had died right before their eyes. The four men stopped in their tracks.
Watching the expanding sword gleam, the four of them simultaneously circulated their spiritual energy and blocked Han Fei's Annihilate.
Clang, clang, clang! Just as the four blocked Han Fei's sword gleam and prepared to attack him four against one, the sound of metal striking metal came from beneath their feet.
The four looked down and saw two golden metal spheres rolling to their feet.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Countless steel needles shot out from the metal spheres at once, instantly piercing through all four pairs of legs.
Though the metal needles were small, the force with which they shot out was anything but weak. More importantly, the needles carried spiritual energy effects and could easily break through spiritual energy defenses.
Unless one wore inner armor or possessed an exceptionally powerful body, one would certainly be wounded by those needles. There was nowhere to dodge.
Han Fei looked at the four people slowly collapsing before him, then turned back in astonishment. "Th-this... what is this thing? It's so powerful?"
With a proud expression, Qi Xuanxuan picked up the two metal spheres and put them away before saying to Han Fei, "This Magic Treasure is called Baptism of Rain. It's low-grade. It only works when it catches people by surprise. In a direct fight, it's not very useful."
Han Fei understood that. The thing was far too obvious. If you threw it at someone, they would not just stand there stupidly and wait for needles to shoot them.
But if this Magic Treasure were tossed into a crowd, that would be interesting. It was practically the ultimate weapon for group battles.
All four men clutched their legs and howled in agony.
Qi Xuanxuan raised the Azure Spirit Sword and swept it through them one strike after another, killing all four Martial Artists. She also did not spare those wounded by the Spirit Burst Bombs, slaughtering every one of them.
At that moment, Han Fei frowned, as though he were meeting Qi Xuanxuan for the first time. He had never imagined that she had such a ruthless side.
With the four killed, the A-rank mission was considered complete. Han Fei intended to let the remaining rebel Martial Artists go.
But Qi Xuanxuan clearly did not intend to spare them. She seemed especially bloodthirsty today. Before Han Fei could say anything, she took up the Azure Spirit Sword and chased after the dozen or so remaining people.
They were scared out of their wits. How could they possibly fight Qi Xuanxuan? They only wanted to escape as quickly as they could.
The group scattered in all directions, and Qi Xuanxuan chased after them as if they were all her sworn enemies.
Han Fei stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Qi Xuanxuan, preventing her from continuing the pursuit.
Qi Xuanxuan was stunned. "Y-you... why are you holding me? Don't let them get away."
Han Fei said, "Xuanxuan, how about we let it go? They aren't our mission targets."
Qi Xuanxuan abruptly turned to him. "Killing them isn't part of the mission, so they aren't rebel Martial Artists? They all betrayed the sect. That alone makes them unforgivable."
Han Fei said, "So that means you can kill them indiscriminately? They no longer have any intention of killing us. Besides, I don't know whether they really betrayed the sect. I don't even know why we're supposed to kill them. The mission only says they're rebel Martial Artists. It doesn't say what they did."
Qi Xuanxuan put away the Azure Spirit Sword and stopped arguing with Han Fei.
Han Fei also knew he had spoken too harshly. Qi Xuanxuan's father was the sect master of the Tianyuan Divine Sect. To her, the Tianyuan Divine Sect was home. It was understandable that she hated these rebel Martial Artists.
Qi Xuanxuan headed out of the valley first. Han Fei could not stop her, but he could not leave all the spoils scattered across the ground either.
He first collected the Storage Bags of the five men. Then he gathered the Storage Bags from the dozen or so corpses Qi Xuanxuan had finished off as well.
Among these people, the only survivor was the two-meter-tall burly man who had attacked first.
Han Fei walked over to the burly man and slowly crouched down in front of him.
The burly man was terrified. "D-don't kill me. Please, don't kill me."
Han Fei said, "I can spare you. Tell me why the Tianyuan Divine Sect listed He Xiong as a rebel Martial Artist. You should know that, right?"
The burly man hesitated, then shook his head. "I don't know either."
Han Fei sneered. "Do you take me for an idiot? You're at the second level of the Spirit Gathering Realm. Without enough benefit to buy you off, would you willingly serve as someone's lackey?"
As he spoke, Han Fei revealed a trace of killing intent.
The burly man hurriedly said, "Senior Brother He Xiong might have stolen something from the Headmaster of Digui Peak. That's why the Headmaster of Digui Peak listed him as an S-rank mission target, right? Wasn't the mission requirement to retrieve the Storage Bags of He Xiong and the other four?"
Han Fei froze. The final requirement of the mission really had been to retrieve the Storage Bags of He Xiong and the other four.
"Hand over your Storage Bag."
The burly man immediately pulled a long face.
"Hm? You don't want to?"
The burly man slowly took out his Storage Bag and removed his personal mark from it.
Han Fei took the Storage Bag and inspected it carefully. Aside from Spirit Stones and several sets of clothes, there was nothing else. Once he confirmed nothing had been overlooked, he returned the Storage Bag to the burly man.
Han Fei had mainly been worried that the treasure had been missed.
After Han Fei left, the burly man nearly cried. In all of Hidden Dragon Abyss, aside from those who had escaped, he was the only one left alive—and he had not suffered much financial loss.
When Han Fei exited Hidden Dragon Abyss, Qi Xuanxuan was nowhere to be seen. With no other choice, he sent her a voice transmission talisman message, but she did not reply.
He sighed. "She may really be angry this time."
The thought of upsetting Qi Xuanxuan gave Han Fei a headache.
Suddenly, a tremendous crash rang out not far from Hidden Dragon Abyss, followed by a series of spiritual energy explosions.
Han Fei's eyes narrowed as he looked toward the southern part of Hidden Dragon Abyss. It was only a few hundred meters away.
"Xuanxuan..."
Han Fei did not have time to think. He rushed toward the southern area.
At that moment, an earth-shaking battle was unfolding on the plains south of Hidden Dragon Abyss.
However, neither of the combatants had anything to do with Qi Xuanxuan.
One wore a white robe and held a slightly curved saber. The other wore fitted blue clothing and wielded a sword, fighting fiercely against the white-robed expert.
Though they were on open plains, vast stretches of the land had been nearly destroyed.
Han Fei reached the edge of the plains and relaxed when he saw that Qi Xuanxuan was not involved. He had been too anxious earlier to notice that even the aftershocks of their fight were more destructive than the power of the Spirit Gathering Realm. How could it have been Qi Xuanxuan?
He let out a breath and carefully watched the two fight.
"What cultivation level are they at? How can they cause such destruction? The Martial Origin Realm?"
Fuxi shook his head. "They're a little weaker than your sect master, about the same as your so-called Headmasters."
Han Fei said, "Headmasters? The Martial Soul Realm?"
Han Fei knew that the Headmasters of the Thirty-Three Peaks were all Martial Soul Realm experts, one level above the Martial Origin Realm. As for their exact Martial Soul Realm cultivation, Han Fei was not sure.
"With cultivation that high, why are they fighting in the East Continent Empire? That's a little unbelievable, isn't it?"
Chiyou said, "Why do you care why they're fighting? Just watch carefully. Seeing high-level Martial Artists fight will only benefit you."
Before you continue