Verbal Provocation

A gigantic spirit beast was wreaking havoc in the village. It looked to be five meters tall. Meanwhile, another group was burning, killing, looting, and pillaging throughout the village.

Zhou Hao stared in shock at the hellish scene before him. His mouth hung slightly open, yet he could not utter a word.

Just then, a man appeared atop the tall, ferocious spirit beast. His long hair fluttered in the wind, while a savage, cruel grin twisted across his face.

This man was Jia Qing. He turned toward Zhou Hao and softly asked, "Do you want to die too?"

Although his tone was calm and his voice was not loud, and although he stood far away from Zhou Hao, every word came through clearly.

Cold sweat seeped from Zhou Hao's forehead. He could feel the killing intent, and as someone from the modern world, he found it difficult to adapt to such a thing.

But he could not show weakness now. His brows knitted tightly. The screams and howls gradually faded, and the village slowly fell silent—a silence so deep it was terrifying.

His gaze sharpened as he stared at Jia Qing. "You're massacring them. Do you know that?"

"Heh... Hahahaha..."

Jia Qing threw back his head and laughed wildly. After laughing for a while, he suddenly fixed his gaze on Zhou Hao and said with utter arrogance, "As you can see, everyone here was killed by us. And there was no reason for it. We just wanted to kill... so we killed them. Hahahaha..."

Madman.

That was Zhou Hao's most immediate impression of Jia Qing. Looking at the village that resembled a living hell, he felt a blaze of fury constantly erupting inside him, ready to explode at any moment.

"Assemble." Jia Qing suddenly issued an order.

At his command, the shadows prowling through the village gathered one after another. A total of twelve black-clad men assembled beneath the spirit beast's feet.

"Kill him." Jia Qing pointed directly at Zhou Hao and issued another command.

The instant his words fell, the twelve black-clad men burst into motion. Like cannonballs, all twelve shot forward and charged straight at Zhou Hao.

It was Zhou Hao's first time facing such a scene, and he was somewhat flustered. Back on Blue Star, let alone fighting someone to the death, he had barely even gotten into fights.

Fortunately, these black-clad men were not particularly strong. The strongest among them was only at the Mysterious Body Sixth Level, not even having reached the Spirit Mystery Realm.

Zhou Hao responded in a panic. With his lack of combat experience, coupled with his instinctive reluctance to clash with them head-on, he appeared rather disheveled beneath the black-clad men's every strike, each one aimed to kill.

But Zhou Hao was still a powerhouse at the Spiritual Consciousness Fifth Stage. Though he was not skilled at fighting, he was far beyond the likes of these black-clad men.

To his eyes, their movements were like a slowed-down recording, clear in every detail. Thus, while Zhou Hao looked somewhat bedraggled, the black-clad men had not even touched the corner of his clothes.

"Hey, hey, no way, right?"

Jia Qing's arrogant voice rang out again. He laughed mockingly. "You're in the Spiritual Consciousness Realm, yet you don't even know how to fight? Hahahaha... You're killing me! Hahahaha..."

He clutched his stomach and laughed for a while before abruptly wiping the smile from his face. Killing intent exploded from him as he shouted at Zhou Hao, "Don't tell me you don't even dare kill someone? Coward."

Zhou Hao's mind jolted, and he was actually affected by those words.

One of the black-clad men seized the opportunity and swung his blade in a fierce horizontal slash. A streak of sword light shot straight toward Zhou Hao's neck.

Zhou Hao was alarmed. The Dragon Sword silently appeared in his hand, and with a light sweep, he blocked the streak of sword light. Then, acting on instinct, he swung his sword forward.

But just as it was about to strike the black-clad man, he stopped the slash.

Damn it, I can't do it. Zhou Hao cursed himself inwardly. Having never killed anyone before, he truly could not bring himself to do it.

Seeing this, Jia Qing mocked him again. "How did you cultivate to your current level? Even flowers raised in a greenhouse are ten thousand times stronger than you, understand?"

He paused, seemingly deep in thought, then suddenly came to a realization. "Oh~ You've never killed anyone, have you? You can't bring yourself to do it? Then let me help you."

Sitting atop the spirit beast's head, Jia Qing said airily, "The one fighting you right now has killed seventy-five people in this village, including the elderly, children, and women. He spared neither men nor women, young nor old. And he did not kill them with a single blow—he tortured them to death, slash after slash!"

At this point, he looked at Zhou Hao with great interest and asked, "Well? Has that stirred up the anger in your heart? Can you kill him now?"

The hand gripping Zhou Hao's sword trembled slightly. His fury had indeed been ignited, but he still retained his reason. It was that sliver of reason that kept him from killing.

When Jia Qing saw that Zhou Hao's blade was only a centimeter away from the black-clad man before withdrawing again, he immediately shook his head and sighed. "Was I not vivid enough? Or are you actually cold-blooded? If so, then I'll tell you something more vivid."

He smiled and slowly began, "The first one on your left—him! Tsk, tsk, tsk. He has a habit of making dolls. He often turns the people he kills into dolls, then tortures those dolls whenever he has time or nothing better to do, amusing himself with it. He makes those innocent people unable to rest in peace even after death. Isn't that excessive? Hahahaha..."

After Jia Qing finished speaking, he burst into wild laughter. He was completely insane.

Yet thanks to him, the last shred of Zhou Hao's reason was utterly drowned beneath his rage. He let out an angry roar:

"Ah~"

The aura belonging to the Spiritual Consciousness Realm exploded fully from Zhou Hao's body, forcing the twelve black-clad men surrounding him to retreat.

Whoosh~

His figure vanished from where he stood. Only a faint whirlwind and drifting dust remained on the ground.

Pfft~

The sword blade pierced through one black-clad man's heart. Zhou Hao swiftly pulled out his sword, but it was not over. Having lost his reason, he swung four more times, severing the black-clad man's arms and legs.

Without even looking at the black-clad man, he left him to slowly die in agony.

This black-clad man was one of those Jia Qing had just mentioned.

Zhou Hao went on to kill the next one. Every black-clad man had his limbs severed and was left to die slowly in pain.

Zhou Hao regained a little of his reason during the process, but he had become too caught up in the killing. He simply could not stop.

"Hahahaha... That's it! Killing should make you excited!" Jia Qing shouted madly. "Yes, kill them like that! You're absolutely wonderful."

After Zhou Hao cut down the last black-clad man, he flicked the blood from his sword onto the ground and turned toward Jia Qing. Then he kicked off the ground fiercely and flew toward him at incredible speed, the roar of tearing air rumbling around him.

Watching Zhou Hao fly toward him, Jia Qing slowly rose to his feet and opened his arms as though welcoming Zhou Hao.

Pfft~

Holding the Dragon Sword, Zhou Hao pierced through Jia Qing's body without hesitation.

When the Dragon Sword penetrated Jia Qing's chest, Zhou Hao visibly paused and looked at Jia Qing in surprise.

Because Jia Qing had not resisted, nor had he dodged. He had done nothing at all, as though... he were seeking death.

"Congratulations." The moment Jia Qing spoke, blood slid from the corner of his mouth. Yet he still smiled as he reminded Zhou Hao, "In the future, don't let other people's words provoke you so easily. You'll suffer a great loss."

As he spoke, he turned into white specks of light and dispersed between heaven and earth. The spirit beast, which had seemed little more than decoration, also turned into specks of light and vanished.

Then the corpses of those black-clad men gradually began to fade away as well.

Zhou Hao flicked the blood from his sword. There was no surprise on his face, as though he had already expected it.