Slaying

"It had been many years since I last used this body."

Mo Feng rolled his neck, producing a crisp crack of grinding bones.

"Every time I reveal my true form, my cultivation becomes even more refined."

He raised the longsword still gripped in his claw. Its blade had already been dyed pitch-black by dense demonic qi.

"Heavenly Snow Mountain's Heavenly Heart Sword Canon is one of the Human Race's foremost sword arts, emphasizing the union of heart and heaven, the sword moving with intent."

"But they did not know that when driven by demonic power, this sword art becomes far more interesting."

Mo Feng's claw stroked the blade, and black demonic qi coiled around it like a living thing.

"Let you become my final sacrifice before I return to my clan."

The instant his words fell, he moved.

This time, it was not the Human Race's lightness skill, but the pure explosive power of a demonic beast.

The inn floor exploded beneath his feet. His figure became a blurry black streak as he pounced straight at Shen Che.

"Heavenly Heart Sword Canon, Demon Devour!"

He let out an inhuman roar.

The longsword in his hand swept out, and thousands upon thousands of grim black Sword Qi surged forth before bizarrely merging into one in midair.

A pitch-black sword aura nearly a zhang long sprang into being across the air.

Countless demonic beasts seemed to be shrieking and roaring atop the sword aura. The air was torn apart, letting out a piercing wail.

The inn's tables, chairs, walls, and bricks were sliced apart as easily as tofu before that sword aura, crumbling into powder.

The terrifying pressure of demonic qi made Xue Xi and Tu Rong's legs go weak in the distance. They nearly fell to their knees, their faces pale as paper.

This was the power of a Commander-level Demonic Beast.

This was the all-out strike of an expert comparable to the Primordial Qi Realm.

Faced with this sword capable of splitting mountains and shattering stone, Shen Che did not dodge.

He merely pushed the Dragon Elephant True Qi within him to its limit.

A dull thud rang out.

The surface of his ordinary azure cloth robe took on a dark metallic sheen, as if it had instantly transformed into a suit of close-fitting iron armor.

At the same time, a pale golden, translucent phantom of a great bell flashed over his body and vanished.

Golden Bell Shield! Iron Shirt!

The two external hardening arts, which he had long since pushed to the mortal limit with Time Value, now erupted with power far beyond the techniques themselves under the reinforcement of his Dragon Elephant True Qi.

The next instant.

That terrifying pitch-black sword aura, carrying endless demonic shrieks, struck Shen Che squarely across the chest.

BOOM!!!

The deafening explosion made the beams and pillars of the entire inn shake violently.

Xue Xi and Tu Rong shut their eyes in terror.

Yet the expected scene of flesh and blood flying everywhere never appeared.

The moment that terrifying black sword aura touched Shen Che's body, it froze.

The sinister demonic power contained within the sword aura frantically battered the seemingly thin metallic robe and the fleeting bell shadow, yet it could only leave tiny cracks across them.

It did not even reach his skin.

"This... can't be..."

Mo Feng's inhuman pupils shrank to pinpoints.

Before he could even be shocked, an even more violent rebounding force surged back along the sword blade like mountains toppling and seas overturning.

Crack!

The bones inside the clawed arm holding his sword let out a string of brittle cracks, unable to bear the strain.

A piercing pain mixed with numbness instantly spread through half his body.

His entire body's movements slowed for a moment.

When experts traded blows, the slightest delay meant the difference between life and death.

Shen Che seized that opportunity.

"Roar!"

A fierce, tyrannical tiger roar did not come from his mouth, but from the saber sheath at his waist.

He gripped the hilt.

The battle saber left its sheath.

Black Tiger Saber Technique, Tiger Fiend!

The Saber Intent that had long fused into his bones, together with the terrifying divine strength of over fifty thousand jin in one arm, was poured wholly into this slash.

The saber light flared.

It was an incomparably tyrannical crimson-gold saber light, beyond all words.

It appeared with such suddenness, and struck with such swiftness.

The saber light tore through everything in its path like dry weeds and rotten wood. It ripped apart the sword aura still lingering before Mo Feng, cleaved through the hard scales he was so proud of, and severed his stark white bones.

Mo Feng's movements completely froze.

The upper half of his ferocious, scale-covered body separated from his lower half and flew high into the air.

Green demonic blood shot skyward like a fountain.

"I... obeyed the King's command... lurked for... decades..."

In midair, his one-horned head still bore an expression of utter shock and unwillingness.

"Before I could... return to the Demon Country... I actually died in..."

His consciousness ended there.

The two halves of his corpse crashed heavily to the ground.

[Time Value +1000]

The system notification rang out crisply and pleasantly in Shen Che's mind.

The Demon Suppressing Token around his wrist also grew scorching hot, absorbing all the immense demonic qi that dispersed after Mo Feng's death.

The inn returned to deathly silence.

Only the thick stench of blood lingered in the air.

"Y-you're not hurt, are you?"

Xue Xi was the first to recover. She ran to Shen Che's side, wanting to see whether he had been injured.

Tu Rong followed her over. Looking at Shen Che's profile, an indescribable emotion began to grow within her heart.

He had crossed an entire major realm and slain a Commander-level Demonic Beast.

Just how strong was this man?

Shen Che did not answer Xue Xi's concern. He walked over to Mo Feng's corpse and began searching it.

His movements were so practiced that they made one's heart ache.

Before long, he found a Demon Suppressing Token among Mo Feng's shredded clothes.

He then went over to the corpses of the other four demonic beasts and searched them as well.

Two tokens.

Three black iron tokens lay quietly in his palm.

The three missing Demon Queller Envoys had been killed by them.

The mission clue was confirmed.

Shen Che carefully inspected every household in Black Mountain Village.

There was not a single survivor.

The entire village was a trap set up by demonic beasts to prey upon passing travelers.

He returned to Huafeng County with Xue Xi and Tu Rong.

Dawn was already breaking.

At the county gate, Xue Xi called out to Shen Che as he prepared to take his leave.

"Shen Che, thank you for this time."

The red-clad girl no longer had her former liveliness and impishness on her face. In its place was a maturity born from upheaval.

"This is for you."

She handed him a small snowflake token carved from ice-blue crystal.

"This is a token of Heavenly Snow Mountain. If you ever need help, you may use it to seek assistance at any branch of Heavenly Snow Mountain."

Shen Che did not refuse. He accepted the token.

"We must also return to the sect to report back and tell them about Mo Feng, that traitor."

Tu Rong stood nearby and added softly.

Xue Xi suddenly leaned closer to Shen Che and asked in a low voice, "Will you come to the Northern Territory in the future?"

Shen Che thought for a moment.

"If there's a mission, I will."

A smile bloomed on Xue Xi's face.

"Alright. Then I'll wait for you."