Outside Black Wind Valley, at the edge of the baleful winds.
Snake Consort stood suspended in the air, her dark green scales gleaming with an eerie, cold sheen beneath the dim light.
Her face was expressionless, but her slit pupils were fixed on the endlessly churning black whirlwind ahead. Her icy gaze seemed to pierce through the barrier between heaven and earth, determined to drag out that brat who had repeatedly defied her expectations and tear him to pieces.
"Two hours..." she murmured, her voice carrying a trace of barely perceptible impatience.
A martial artist charging headlong into the core of the baleful winds should have long since been shredded into nothingness. Yet for some reason, the ominous premonition in her heart only grew stronger.
"My lady, that brat must already be reduced to bones and dust." The sole remaining guard spoke cautiously. "Should we..."
Before he could finish, the black whirlwind ahead, which had been surging in a steady rhythm, suddenly contracted inward before being violently torn open by an invisible giant hand!
A figure wreathed in violet-black lightning burst fiercely out of the core of the baleful winds like a savage beast breaking free of its shackles, carrying an aura far more violent and dangerous than before!
It was Lin Feng!
Every shred of clothing on his body had been destroyed, leaving only a few strips of cloth covering his vital parts and exposing his powerful physique, its smooth lines gleaming with a bronze luster.
His black hair whipped wildly in the wind, and his eyes were as cold as ice that had endured ten thousand years. The arcs dancing around him were no longer pure violet lightning, but violet-black thunder mixed with wisps of black qi, exuding a terrifying aura where destruction and deathly stillness intertwined!
"You... you're not dead?!" The guard turned pale in horror, as though he had seen a ghost.
He could not understand how a martial artist could possibly survive the core of the baleful winds. And from the looks of it... Lin Feng's strength seemed to have advanced enormously?
Snake Consort's slit pupils suddenly narrowed to thin lines, and alarm bells rang madly in her heart!
Lin Feng's current aura made even her feel a distinct threat!
This was no simple recovery from injury. It was a transformation at the very root of his being!
"It seems you gained quite a bit of fortune in there." Snake Consort's voice was cold, but killing intent spread outward as though it had substance. "But do you think this little improvement will let you contend against a Martial Master? How naïve!"
She held nothing back any longer. The powerful aura of an early-stage Martial Master erupted with a roar!
Black Baleful Intent soared from her body and condensed behind her into the phantom image of an enormous demon serpent with scarlet-black eyes!
The phantom serpent raised its head and let out a silent hiss, yet a terrifying spiritual pressure swept in all directions!
"Demon Serpent Devours Heaven!"
She formed a seal with both hands and thrust them forward!
The enormous demon serpent phantom behind her seemed to come alive. Opening a maw capable of swallowing heaven and earth, it lunged at Lin Feng from above with the deathly aura of annihilating all things!
This strike contained the full extent of her power and even employed her martial soul phantom. Its might far surpassed that of the previous Myriad Snake Poison Prison!
Facing this terrifying blow, one that would make an ordinary Martial Master blanch, Lin Feng showed no fear. Instead, blazing battle intent burned in his eyes!
"Good!"
With a long roar, he advanced rather than retreated!
The void beneath his feet seemed to explode with a ring of violet-black airwaves. Like lightning tearing through the night sky, he charged directly at the demon serpent's devouring maw!
He used no flashy martial technique. He simply raised his right fist.
Within his body, the Wind-Thunder Foundation Building Method circulated at an unprecedented speed. The violet-black vortex in his dantian spun wildly, and surging Wind and Thunder True Qi flooded toward his right fist like a burst dam!
Upon his fist, the powers of wind and thunder were no longer clearly divided but fused together perfectly!
Violet lightning arcs intertwined with black Wind Fiend, compressing and condensing until they formed a violet-black sphere no larger than a walnut, yet solid to the extreme. Within it, countless miniature storms and bolts of lightning seemed to be born and perish!
This was the brand-new killing move he had comprehended within the core of the baleful winds after pushing the second level of the Nine Heavens Thunder Blade to mastery and combining the powers of wind and thunder—
"Wind-Thunder... Strike!"
With one punch, the violet-black sphere silently sank into the gaping maw of the demon serpent phantom.
Time seemed to freeze at that instant.
The next moment—
"Rumble—!!!!!"
An explosion too terrifying to describe erupted violently from within the demon serpent phantom!
The destructive power of wind and thunder, like billions of tiny wind blades and thunder sabers, instantly tore apart, ground to pieces, and annihilated the solid demon serpent phantom from within!
The shockwave of the explosion transformed into a destructive torrent mixed with violet lightning and black wind. Without losing any momentum, it slammed viciously into Snake Consort's true body behind it!
"Puh—!"
Snake Consort shuddered violently as though struck by a crushing blow. All color instantly drained from her face, and she spat out a great mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs!
The protective Baleful Intent around her shattered like paper. Countless fine cracks appeared across her dark green scales, and she flew backward like a kite with its string cut, her aura instantly weakening to the extreme!
Her eyes were filled with utter shock, fear, and disbelief!
Her martial soul phantom had been forcibly blasted apart!
She had suffered an unprecedented grave injury!
How was this possible?
He was clearly only a martial artist!
"N-No... impossible..." She struggled to steady herself, but her meridians felt severed and her true qi scattered.
Yet after throwing that punch, Lin Feng merely breathed slightly harder before turning into a violet-black bolt of lightning once more and instantly catching up to Snake Consort as she flew backward!
He looked down at this Shadow Kill Pavilion Martial Master, who had once stood so high above him and regarded him as an ant. His gaze was cold and without the slightest ripple.
"Martial Master? Nothing special."
He raised his foot, gathering violet-black Wind and Thunder True Qi beneath it. Like the foot of a war god crushing the stars, it stomped viciously toward Snake Consort's dantian sea of qi!
"No—!!!" Snake Consort let out a desperate, unwilling shriek.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound rang out, like shattered glass.
The Martial Master aura gathered around Snake Consort burst like a punctured balloon, instantly collapsing and vanishing!
The light in her eyes rapidly dimmed, turning utterly gray and lifeless. As if she had lost all support, she crumpled limply to the ground, already reduced to an ordinary person with her cultivation completely destroyed!
The sole remaining guard had long since been scared out of his wits. Turning around, he tried to flee.
Without even looking at him, Lin Feng flicked out an Electric Light Finger infused with the power of Wind Fiend.
"Sst!"
The finger wind struck after its release but arrived first, instantly piercing through the guard's back and heart.
The guard's forward rush came to an abrupt halt. He fell to the ground, his life extinguished.
Lin Feng slowly descended to the ground and walked over to Snake Consort, who was barely clinging to life.
Snake Consort struggled to raise her head. Her gray eyes were filled with endless venom and a trace of confusion as she stared fixedly at Lin Feng. "You... what kind of monster are you... The Pavilion Master... will not let you go..."
Lin Feng looked down at her, his gaze still cold. "I will pay Shadow Kill Pavilion a personal visit. As for you..."
He paused, his voice as cold as ice from the deepest netherworld.
"In your next life, keep your eyes open."
With that, a wisp of violet-black Lightning Arc flicked from his fingertip and landed between Snake Consort's brows.
Snake Consort's body jerked violently, then all life completely left her. Those once alluring yet icy slit pupils finally froze in endless terror and regret.
Lin Feng stood where he was and took a deep breath of the air thick with blood and Baleful Intent.
The succession of brutal battles, especially his forced use of Wind-Thunder Strike at the end, had drained him greatly as well.
But he could feel the Wind and Thunder True Qi within him rapidly recovering, while his flesh gave off a low hum of yearning for battle.
His gaze swept over the devastated battlefield and the black whirlwind still churning deep within the valley.
Snake Consort had been executed, but the danger had not passed. Shadow Kill Pavilion's pursuit would not stop, and the Zhang Family likely would not let the matter rest either.
Moreover, the provincial examination was still ongoing.
He clenched his fist, feeling that surging power.
"The hunt has only just begun."
Before you continue