Slaying the Rat Demon!

The Rat King absorbed Moon Essence. Below it, hundreds upon thousands of densely packed rats lay prostrate on the ground, burying their heads in the earth to show their reverence for the Rat King!

Even the four martial artists from the sects were stunned by the sight of the "Rat King" absorbing Moon Essence.

No one noticed that a figure had already silently drawn close to the Rat King.

"Clang."

A crisp sound suddenly rang out in the silent night sky.

The four sect martial artists could not have been more familiar with that sound.

It was the sound of a blade being drawn!

"That is..."

The four sect martial artists' pupils suddenly contracted.

They saw a dazzling blade light seeming to tear through the entire night in the silent darkness.

Fast!

Far too fast!

The blade light was breathtakingly beautiful. They had never seen such a brilliant slash before.

And this blade light was not merely beautiful—it was deadly!

The dazzling blade light pointed straight at the Rat King.

"Whoosh."

The Rat King abruptly raised its head.

A trace of human-like surprise actually appeared on its face.

Unfortunately, the blade light was simply too fast. Even though the Rat King noticed it, it had no way to react.

The blade light fell, slashing viciously across the Rat King's body.

"Hm?"

"It didn't even break the skin?"

Ji Qing's expression changed slightly.

He had been the one to draw his blade just now.

And the moment he attacked, he had used his ultimate move, Thread of Sky.

He had struck while the Rat King was absorbing Moon Essence.

Everything had gone smoothly.

Yet Ji Qing had not expected that when his blade struck the Rat King, it would not even be able to cut through its hide.

Just how powerful was the Rat King's physical defense?

"Squeak, squeak, squeak!"

A piercing cry came from the Rat King's mouth.

At the same time, the densely packed rats below seemed to become incomparably frantic and enraged, charging madly toward Ji Qing.

The Rat King even extended its sharp claws and slapped viciously at Ji Qing.

"Bang."

Ji Qing held his blade crosswise to block. An enormous force surged through the blade, sending Ji Qing flying.

"Whoosh."

Ji Qing descended through the air.

Below him was the densely packed rat swarm.

If he fell, he would probably be gnawed until not even dregs remained.

Ji Qing planted his feet on a rat's body, then used Grass on Wings. With a light tap, his entire body rose into the air again and flew once more toward the Rat King.

Another breathtakingly beautiful blade light.

Ji Qing's Internal Force erupted with a roar.

His Internal Force increased by thirty percent!

"Thread of Sky!"

This slash carried even greater force than before.

"Bang."

The Rat King allowed Ji Qing's blade to strike its body, then suddenly stretched out its claws and seized the blade in one grip.

A strange smile even appeared at the corner of the Rat King's mouth.

But Ji Qing smiled too.

At some point, he had already clasped a hidden weapon in his hand.

Bone-Piercing Nail, produced by the Three Freaks of Lingdong!

"Whoosh."

Ji Qing's right hand snapped out like lightning.

A streak of black light shot toward the Rat King's eye at point-blank range.

"Pfft."

The black light pierced the Rat King's eye.

Blood immediately splattered everywhere.

The Rat King's eye burst apart in an instant.

"It worked!"

Ji Qing suddenly gripped the long blade with both hands and wrenched it free from the Rat King's claws, then stabbed it toward the Rat King's eye.

The long blade entered its body, piercing through the Rat King's burst eye.

But the Rat King's physical body was too strong.

Even with the blade entering its body, it could not kill the Rat King completely. Instead, the blade became stuck.

Ji Qing leaped into the air and viciously kicked the hilt with his right foot.

An immense force instantly transferred into the long blade. This time, the Rat King could no longer stop it. The blade savagely pierced through the Rat King's head and emerged from the other side.

"Rumble."

The Rat King's enormous corpse fell from the boulder and crashed onto the ground.

It was dead!

The Rat King, which had looked so mysterious and demonic just moments ago, had died just like that.

In the span of lightning and flint, Ji Qing had slain the Rat King.

With the Rat King dead, the rat swarm became utterly chaotic.

Some of the rats still charged at Ji Qing without fear of death.

They were only ordinary rats. No matter how numerous they were, they posed no threat, and Ji Qing cut them down one by one with his blade.

Most of the rat swarm scattered like a flock of startled birds, vanishing into the mountain forest.

The entire process had taken only a few breaths.

The four sect martial artists still "hiding" in the forest had their eyes wide open, as if they could not believe it.

"The Rat King... is dead?"

"We haven't even made a move, and the Rat King is already dead?"

"Then what did we come into the mountains for?"

The four looked at one another, utterly at a loss.

As for stealing credit, joining a siege, and the like—

They did not even dare entertain such thoughts.

With the strength "Li Mu" had displayed just now, how could they dare steal his credit?

"This Li Mu definitely has the strength of a Second-Rate Martial Artist!"

"Li Mu's blade is too fast. Since when did the Jianghu produce such a young martial artist with such swift blade techniques?"

"Li Mu... I really have never heard of anyone like him in the Jianghu. Could it be an alias?"

The four all had their own suspicions.

But after witnessing Ji Qing so cleanly and decisively slay the Rat King, the thoughts in their hearts had completely lowered their banners and silenced their drums.

In the Jianghu, strength spoke for itself.

So-called sects, connections, and reputation were all meaningless before absolute strength!

Ji Qing was currently examining the Demon Record.

When he had just slain the Rat King, a line of small text had appeared in the Demon Record.

"Killed the Rat Demon's true body. Obtained 10 Origin Points."

At the same time, Ji Qing opened the Demon Record.

"Rat Demon: a Lesser Demon that has not undergone Transformation. Thick-skinned and tough-fleshed, skilled at burrowing, capable of commanding rat swarms."

Ji Qing fell into thought.

"Demons also differ in rank and strength. This Rat Demon has yet to undergo Transformation and can only be considered a Lesser Demon. Its true body was worth only 10 Origin Points. What about the Skin-Peeling Demon? A single avatar was worth one Origin Point; if it were its true body..."

Ji Qing understood that the Skin-Peeling Demon was probably far stronger than this Rat Demon.

He had struggled greatly even against the Rat Demon just now.

If he had not happened to possess the Bone-Piercing Nail hidden weapon from the Three Freaks of Lingdong, he truly would have found it difficult to kill the Rat Demon.

That battle had also made Ji Qing realize some of his shortcomings.

For instance, his blade techniques were fast, certainly, but their power was insufficient.

That made little difference against martial artists, since martial artists could not withstand a sharp blade either.

But against demons, insufficient power in his blade techniques would make things very difficult.

Therefore, Ji Qing would have to practice some powerful blade techniques in the future to make up for his weaknesses.

This time, his gains had been quite good. Not only had he successfully carried out Rat Extermination, but he had also obtained 10 Origin Points.

His martial arts could advance by leaps and bounds again.

Ji Qing then came to the Rat King's corpse. Reaching out, he dug hard into the corpse's head and pulled the Bone-Piercing Nail from the Rat King's skull.

This Bone-Piercing Nail truly was a fine thing. At critical moments, it could produce miraculous results.

Ji Qing wiped the Bone-Piercing Nail clean and put it back into his clothes.

The Rat King's corpse still lay on the ground.

But the corpse was too enormous, and it would be rather difficult for him to carry it alone.

Still, Ji Qing was not the only person here. Were there not four others?

Ji Qing raised his head, looked toward the distant grass, and shouted, "You four did not make a move, but carrying the Rat King's corpse down the mountain should not be a problem, right?"

"No problem! Leave the Rat King's corpse to us. We will definitely carry it down the mountain!"

The four sect martial artists obediently emerged. Working together, they carried the Rat King's corpse and swiftly headed down the mountain.