Outsider
"Yaaah~!" A rough male voice rang out through the dense jungle, followed immediately by a thunderous boom. The orderly pounding of hooves shook the earth violently.
The rustling leaves drifted down as the ordinary beasts foraging nearby scattered in every direction. Yet several vicious beasts radiating murderous menace still charged toward the group of roughly twenty men in black.
Generally speaking, vicious beasts had no intelligence. Only those that reached the Seventh Order or above possessed intelligence comparable to that of an adult human. Once a vicious beast reached the Seventh Order, it would undergo a miraculous metamorphosis. Afterward, it could transform into human form, looking no different from a human being.
But this transformation was also extremely dangerous. Nine out of ten would die because the metamorphosis failed. As a result, Seventh Order and higher vicious beasts were exceedingly rare across the continent, and usually difficult to see even once.
But was that really the case? The continent was vast beyond measure, and no one knew exactly how large it was. Yet people's thoughts were easily limited by what they had already encountered, leading them to take things for granted.
"Bang!" A deep impact rang out, accompanied by the teeth-chattering sound of bones breaking. The charging vicious beasts were sent flying without the slightest ability to resist, then slammed viciously into the ground or into trees. A sharp creak rang out as a great tree that would have required three adults to encircle it broke at the point of impact and toppled over, crushing a swath of green beneath it.
"Hmph! You don't know when you're outmatched!" The leader coldly glanced at the several vicious beasts lying on the ground, dead beyond dead.
He was a burly man with rugged features. A hideous scar about an inch long marked the left side of his face. Combined with his slightly dark, bald head and cold eyes, his entire person gave off an extraordinarily dangerous air. Without a doubt, he was a man who killed without batting an eye. The murderous aura that occasionally emanated from him was even more frightening than that of the vicious beasts in the jungle.
He had killed those vicious beasts with a single swing of his hammer. With nothing more than a casual blow, several vicious beasts—including one of the Fourth Order—had been slaughtered without the slightest power to resist. This alone showed how formidable he was. He had definitely reached the level of a first-rate expert. After all, on the continent, one had to reach at least the level of a Sixth Order Battle Emperor to be called a first-rate expert.
"Go!" The bald man spat out a single word.
The nineteen men behind him shuddered all over and immediately urged their horses after him. They wore uniform black combat outfits, their faces filled with killing intent, and every one of them radiated the aura of a powerhouse. At the very least, they possessed the strength of Fourth Order Battle Kings. Such a lineup was truly terrifying.
One had to understand that cultivating as a warrior became extraordinarily difficult after the Third Order. The leap from the Third Order to the Fourth Order was a watershed. Crossing it was incredibly hard, and many people remained stuck there for their entire lives, unable to advance another step.
Reaching the Fourth Order was enough to be called an expert. Every advancement after the Fourth Order was even more difficult. Those who reached the Sixth Order were called first-rate experts, while the leap from the Sixth Order to the Seventh Order was yet another watershed. Its difficulty caused countless geniuses across the continent to turn back in despair.
If the leap from the Third Order to the Fourth Order was like vaulting across a bottomless chasm, then the leap from the Sixth Order to the Seventh Order was as difficult as climbing to heaven. Once one reached the Seventh Order, however, one could walk through the air and make initial contact with the power of space—a capability everyone yearned for beyond measure.
This formidable group of men in black proceeded slowly along the path. Suddenly, the road ended. Looking ahead, they saw nothing but a luxuriant jungle.
The bald man frowned as he looked ahead, then calmly issued an order: "Everyone dismount. Tie the horses here. We'll continue on foot!"
"Yes!" There were no unnecessary words, only a unified response. Clearly, this was a well-trained unit. Such a force absolutely belonged to some major power on the continent. It was simply unknown why they had come to this desolate wilderness.
The group traveled for roughly an hour, yet they were still wandering through the jungle. The bald leader's brows drew tightly together. This jungle was so vast that wandering around aimlessly was no solution. But after thinking for a long while, he still could not come up with one. In the end, he had no choice but to order the group deeper into the forest.
Although the depths of the forest were incomparably dangerous, the order from above had to be carried out. They could not be perfunctory. Their master's terrifying power and unfathomable abilities were beyond question. Otherwise... At that thought, even the bald man, a hardened killer, could not help shivering.
As time passed, ten days went by. The group had already advanced deep into the forest, and they encountered more and more vicious beasts. By the time they reached this point, five men had died and three were gravely injured. Everyone else had suffered injuries of varying severity. Only the bald man bore no wounds, though even he looked somewhat disheveled and exhausted.
"Damn it!" The usually expressionless bald man could not help cursing. In his fury, he smashed the last vicious beast leaping at him into a puddle of flesh with his massive hammer.
"Boss, this can't go on! We've already lost several brothers!" A tall, thin subordinate walked over, grief flashing in his eyes as he said between gasps.
The bald man cast him a faint glance and said helplessly, "Everyone, come over and rest for a while." After speaking, he stamped against the ground and shot toward the crown of the largest nearby tree like a streak of light, standing straight atop it.
The bald man was named Rook. He had lost count of how many times he had climbed a tree, yet he still could not find their direction. According to their master's instructions, the thing should be somewhere in this area, but they had found nothing. If they searched for another day without discovering anything, they could only withdraw. After all, that thing was so ethereal. Although its sudden appearance that day had caused a huge stir, no one knew its exact location. They had also been delayed on the way here, and so much time had passed. It had probably vanished without a trace by now, Rook thought secretly.
His gaze swept constantly across every direction. After a long while, he still discovered nothing. With a helpless sigh, he was just about to jump down from the tree.
But at that moment, his body suddenly froze. His eyes stared fixedly beyond the dense jungle in the distance. A wisp of nearly invisible blue smoke slowly rose into the air. If not for Rook's naturally astonishing eyesight and formidable strength, no one else could possibly have noticed it. Though the wisp of smoke was faint, Rook still recognized it.
It was cooking smoke! Yes! Cooking smoke!
Rook was filled with uncertainty. How could there be cooking smoke in this desolate wilderness? Could someone be living here?
With this question in mind, Rook jumped down from the tree. His gaze swept over his subordinates, and he said with a hint of delight, "Everyone, stand up! Prepare to set out. I've spotted cooking smoke not far ahead!"
"Cooking smoke?" Waves of uncertain voices rang out.
"Enough. Quiet down!" Rook roared.
"Set out!" Immediately afterward, everyone swiftly re-formed their ranks and followed Rook as they raced ahead.
After roughly half an hour, the outline of a village appeared before them, and delight spread across every face.
After all, they had been pushing through the jungle for so long, remaining vigilant every moment and enduring the attacks of so many vicious beasts. Five men had already died, while everyone else was battered and utterly exhausted. Now that they had suddenly spotted a village, their joy was beyond words.
"Stop! Who are you people? What are you doing here?" A robust young man in his twenties blocked their path.
Rook frowned at this. The young man's shouting made him very displeased. A short subordinate beside him saw this and revealed a sinister grin. "Brat, you really don't know when you're outmatched. How dare you shout at us like that? Hmph!" As he spoke, he drove a fist forward.
Rook merely said, "Don't kill him."
"Yes!" The short man's fist paused slightly before he answered. The young man was Pierre. Although he had reached the Third Order Battle General at such a young age, against the short man, a Fifth Order Battle Sect, he was utterly helpless. With a deep impact, Pierre's body flew backward in an arc, blood spraying ceaselessly from his mouth.
"Hmph!" The short man snorted coldly and glanced contemptuously at Pierre, who lay on the ground twitching nonstop.
These men were normally killers who never blinked at taking a life; none of them were softhearted. Moreover, they had spent more than ten days forcing their way through the jungle and suffered heavy losses. They had long been bottling up a vicious rage with nowhere to vent it. Now that this young man had run into them, how could they possibly show him any courtesy?
Many villagers came running after hearing the commotion. Seeing this, they all began cursing angrily. Several burly men even picked up their hammers and swung them at Rook's group, but without exception, the short man smashed them flying with a single blow of his hammer.
Just then, a furious roar carrying an overwhelming aura rang out from far away: "Stop!"