Verbal Provocation

A massive Spirit Beast was rampaging through the village, easily five meters tall. In addition, a group of people were burning, killing, and looting within the village.

Zhou Hao stared in shock at the hellish scene before him, his mouth slightly agape, unable to speak.

Just then, a person appeared above the head of the tall, ferocious Spirit Beast. It was someone with flowing hair, but their face was contorted into a cruel, sinister grin.

This person was Jia Qing. He turned his head to look at Zhou Hao and asked softly, "Do you want to die too?"

Although his tone was calm and his voice wasn't loud, and they were quite far apart, Zhou Hao could hear him clearly.

Cold sweat beaded on Zhou Hao's forehead. He could feel the killing intent, something that was difficult for him, a modern person, to adapt to.

However, he couldn't show fear at this moment. His brow furrowed. The sounds of screams and roars gradually faded, and the village slowly quieted down, eerily so.

His gaze sharpened as he fixed on Jia Qing and said, "You're slaughtering them, do you know that?"

"Heh... Hahaha..."

Jia Qing threw his head back and laughed. After a while, he suddenly fixed his gaze on Zhou Hao and said arrogantly, "As you can see, these people were all killed by us, and for no reason at all. We just wanted to kill... so we killed them. Hahaha..."

A lunatic.

This was Zhou Hao's most immediate impression of Jia Qing. Looking at the village, which resembled a living hell, a fire of rage burned within him, threatening to erupt at any moment.

"Assemble," Jia Qing suddenly commanded.

At his order, the shadowy figures darting around the village gathered. A total of twelve figures in black all assembled at the feet of the Spirit Beast.

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

The moment Jia Qing finished speaking, the twelve figures in black exploded into action. They shot out like cannonballs, charging straight towards Zhou Hao.

This was Zhou Hao's first time facing such a situation, and he was a little flustered. Back on Earth, let alone fighting to the death, he'd barely even gotten into a physical fight.

Fortunately, the strength of these figures in black wasn't high; the strongest was only at the Mysterious Body Sixth Level, not even reaching Spirit Profound.

Zhou Hao reacted in a panic. Due to his lack of combat experience and his subconscious reluctance to collide with them, he appeared somewhat disheveled under their deadly attacks.

But Zhou Hao was, after all, a big shot at the Spiritual Consciousness Fifth Stage. Even though he wasn't skilled in combat, these figures in black were no match for him.

The movements of the figures in black seemed to play in slow motion in his eyes, clearly visible. So, despite Zhou Hao's slightly disheveled state, the figures in black hadn't even touched the hem of his clothes.

"Hey, hey, no way?"

Jia Qing's arrogant voice sounded again, and he laughed mockingly, "You, at the Spiritual Consciousness Realm, can't even fight? Hahaha... This is hilarious, hahaha..."

He laughed heartily for a moment, then abruptly stopped smiling. The killing intent radiating from him erupted, and he roared at Zhou Hao, "You don't even dare to kill people, do you? Coward."

Zhou Hao's mind went blank; he was actually affected by that remark.

One of the figures in black seized the opportunity and swung his saber horizontally, a blade light shooting straight for Zhou Hao's neck.

Zhou Hao's heart leaped in alarm. The Dragon Sword in his hand appeared silently, and with a gentle swipe, he blocked the blade light. He then instinctively swung his sword forward.

But he stopped his attack just as he was about to strike the figure in black.

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

Seeing this, Jia Qing mocked him again, "How did you cultivate to this point? A flower in a greenhouse is ten thousand times stronger than you, you know?"

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

Jia Qing sat on the Spirit Beast's head and said casually, "This one fighting you, he killed seventy-five people in this village, including the elderly, children, and women. He spared no one, regardless of age or gender. And he didn't kill them with a single blow; he tortured them to death, one blow after another!"

As he spoke, he looked at Zhou Hao with great interest and asked, "Well? Does that stir any anger within you? Can you kill him now?"

The hand holding the sword trembled slightly. Zhou Hao's anger was indeed ignited, but he still had his reason, and it was this sliver of reason that prevented him from killing.

Seeing that his sword was only a centimeter away from the figure in black, Jia Qing retracted it again. He immediately shook his head and sighed, "Was my description not vivid enough? Or are you actually a cold-blooded person? If that's the case, then I'll tell you a more vivid story."

He smiled and slowly began, "The first one on your left, he! Tsk, tsk, tsk, he has a habit of making dolls. He often makes dolls out of people he's killed and tortures them whenever he has the chance to amuse himself, ensuring that these innocent souls find no peace even after death. Isn't that excessive? Hahaha..."

After speaking, Jia Qing burst into laughter; he was completely mad.

However, thanks to him, Zhou Hao's last shred of reason was completely drowned out by his rage. He shouted in anger:

"Aaaargh~"

The aura of the Spiritual Consciousness Realm that belonged to Zhou Hao erupted completely, forcing back the twelve figures in black who were surrounding him.

"Swish~"

His figure vanished from his spot. All that remained on the ground were faint whirlwinds and scattered dust.

"Pfft~"

The blade pierced the heart of one of the figures in black. Zhou Hao quickly pulled out his sword. This wasn't the end; having lost his reason, he swung his sword four more times, severing the limbs of this figure in black.

Without even glancing at the figure in black, he let him die slowly in agony.

This figure in black was one of the ones Jia Qing had mentioned earlier.

Zhou Hao then moved on to the next. Each figure in black had their limbs severed by him and died slowly in pain.

Zhou Hao regained some of his reason during the process, but he was getting carried away with the killing and couldn't stop.

"Hahaha... That's right, killing should make you excited," Jia Qing shouted maniacally. "Yes, kill them like this, you're doing great."

After Zhou Hao finished off the last figure in black, he flicked the blood off his sword onto the ground. He turned to look at Jia Qing, then forcefully pushed off the ground, flying towards him at extreme speed, the sound of air breaking like thunder.

Jia Qing watched Zhou Hao fly over, slowly stood up, and spread his arms as if to welcome him.

"Pfft~"

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

As the Dragon Sword penetrated Jia Qing's chest, he clearly paused, looking at Zhou Hao with surprise.

This was because Jia Qing hadn't resisted or dodged at all just now; he had done nothing, as if... he was seeking death.

"Congratulations." As Jia Qing spoke, blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but he still reminded Zhou Hao with a smile, "Don't let others' words provoke you too easily in the future; you'll suffer greatly."

With that, he transformed into white light spots and dissipated into the surroundings, along with the Spirit Beast that seemed like a mere decoration.

Following that, the bodies of the black-clothed men also began to gradually vanish.

Zhou Hao flicked the blood from his sword, his expression unastonked, as if he had anticipated this.