"Yes." Zhou Xiang replied.
"All right, you may leave." Jiang Ming grew extremely irritated upon hearing the news.
What they did not know was that Chen Luo and the others in the Great Desolate Mountain Range had also died at Jiang Chen's hands.
They were destined never to see those people again.
As for Jiang Chen, he had by then arrived near the outpost.
Jiang Chen's strength had increased tremendously. Dealing with several patrol teams was as easy as turning over his hand.
After killing those men, Jiang Chen devoured their blood essence. However, he now needed far more spiritual energy to advance, and these people were not enough to help him break through.
Perhaps only slaughtering everyone here would allow Jiang Chen to advance.
As for what realm he could reach, he would know only after doing it.
Jiang Chen was dressed in black, a Silver Moon Blade strapped to his back, his face covered as he slowly walked toward the outpost's entrance.
The mercenary guards stationed at the entrance saw a figure approaching them and shouted, "Who goes there?"
Jiang Chen said nothing and continued forward.
"Stop right there! Speak up! Who are you? If you dare to keep advancing, we will attack," the guard squad captain shouted.
This squad captain was at the Martial Master Realm, Second Level. His aura had already erupted, and he was ready to attack Jiang Chen at any moment.
"I'm the enemy who came here to kill you," Jiang Chen said slowly.
"What?" The guards' expressions changed when they heard this. Someone actually dared to say he was here to oppose the Bloodfire Mercenary Group?
As soon as Jiang Chen finished speaking, he drew the Silver Moon Blade from his back.
With a flash, he instantly appeared before the squad captain.
Such incredible speed startled the squad captain. He knew that the person before him was absolutely an expert—an expert far stronger than himself.
However, the squad captain still launched a counterattack. The longsword in his hand swept out, slashing toward Jiang Chen.
But Jiang Chen raised his blade and brought it down in one smooth motion. A streak of blade light flashed.
"Pfft..." The squad captain was still a step too slow. Jiang Chen's blade cleanly slit his throat, and his entire body collapsed.
"Ah..." The other Martial Artist Realm guards were stunned.
They had never expected their captain to be killed by the masked man in black in a single exchange. His strength was terrifying.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" they shouted.
The mercenaries inside the outpost heard the cry and quickly sprang into action.
However, the killing had only just begun.
The Silver Moon Blade in Jiang Chen's hand moved rapidly. With the support of Traceless Steps, the dozen or so Martial Artist Realm mercenaries before him had no power to resist and died one after another beneath his blade.
With Jiang Chen's current strength, weren't Martial Artist Realm cultivators just one slash each?
He could unleash countless slashes in a short time, harvesting his opponents' lives.
By the time the other mercenaries arrived, Jiang Chen had already dealt with the guards at the entrance and entered the camp.
"Fire the arrows!" someone ordered.
A dozen mercenaries immediately shot arrows at Jiang Chen.
But with his speed and Traceless Steps, Jiang Chen's figure moved like a ghost, making him impossible to lock onto.
"Hegemonic Blade Art!" Jiang Chen reached the archers in an instant. His blade rose and fell, killing the dozen mercenaries before him cleanly and decisively. This was the crushing difference in strength.
Not one of them could withstand a single exchange, and they could not even dodge.
"What? His strength is terrifying!" Jiang Chen's power caused the expressions of the many mercenaries to change drastically.
The aura Jiang Chen was releasing now was that of the Martial Master Realm, Fifth Level.
At this moment, several experts at the Martial Master Realm who served as squad captains also arrived.
They saw Jiang Chen slaughtering his way through the camp.
When they realized that the Martial Artist Realm mercenaries were no match for him, they all came forward to deal with Jiang Chen.
"What audacious fool dares to come to our Bloodfire Mercenary Group's territory and cause trouble? Don't even think about leaving alive today. Stay here!" a Martial Master Realm, Sixth Level expert roared.
As he spoke, he charged at Jiang Chen with a pair of hammers.
He was a burly man of tremendous strength. Each of his hammers weighed two hundred jin and possessed terrifying power.
When Jiang Chen saw him approaching, he flashed aside and dodged the attack. Then the long blade in his hand swept out.
"Pfft." The blade struck the burly man's thigh, leaving a huge wound from which blood poured.
"Ah..." The burly man let out a scream and dropped to one knee.
Taking advantage of this opening, Jiang Chen raised his blade and brought it down, cleanly slitting the man's throat.
The burly man's eyes widened in disbelief. How could Jiang Chen have killed him in a single exchange?
But the excruciating pain in his throat soon blurred his consciousness. He collapsed, and his awareness sank into darkness.
He died just like that.
"How is this possible? How could Captain Wu Tong have been killed so easily?" The other mercenaries were also shocked when they saw the burly man fall.
The man in black before them was far too strong. The other mercenaries were beginning to lose their nerve.
Charging forward to fight Jiang Chen would be little different from throwing their lives away.
Had they not seen it? Captain Wu Tong, a Martial Master Realm, Sixth Level expert, had not even lasted three moves against Jiang Chen.
As for Martial Artist Realm cultivators like them, Jiang Chen could kill them with one slash each.
At that moment, Zhou Xiang also appeared. Seeing the large number of mercenary corpses strewn across the ground, he immediately understood what had happened.
"You brazen madman! You're courting death!" Zhou Xiang roared furiously. He then joined forces with several squad captains and attacked Jiang Chen together.
Four Martial Master Realm, Ninth Level experts attacked Jiang Chen.
"Hegemonic Blade Art, Tenth Form!" Jiang Chen unleashed his full strength and charged at Zhou Xiang and the other three.
Blade light flashed as their weapons clashed.
The two sides actually fought back and forth.
"Ha! Tenth Form!" Jiang Chen shouted and unleashed a strike. A powerful blade aura instantly forced Zhou Xiang and the other three back.
Zhou Xiang and the other three retreated more than a dozen steps in succession, their faces filled with shock.
This man in black was incredibly powerful. With a cultivation level at the Martial Master Realm, Fifth Level, he was actually holding his own against four Martial Master Realm, Ninth Level experts. His strength was terrifying.
"The four of you are quite capable. However, I don't have time to play around with you here. I'd better kill you quickly," Jiang Chen said coldly.
With Jiang Chen's current strength, he had not the slightest fear of fighting them head-on.
However, he wanted to end the battle swiftly.
"Hmph. We admit that you're quite strong, but you're too naive if you think you can kill us. You won't leave this place alive today," Zhou Xiang shouted.
"That's right. You will die today. Do you think our Bloodfire Mercenary Group is a place you can come and go as you please?" another squad captain said coldly.
"Is that so? Didn't I come here once before? Oh, right—I even looted your treasury," Jiang Chen sneered.
"What? The person from before was you too?" Many people revealed shocked expressions upon hearing this.
They had been searching for that person all this time, never expecting that tonight's intruder and the previous one were the same person.
He was truly bold beyond belief. Knowing that the Bloodfire Mercenary Group had been searching everywhere for him, he still dared to come a second time.
Did he look down on the Bloodfire Mercenary Group?
The reason he had escaped before was that he had been lucky—their hall master had not been at the outpost.
But tonight, their hall master was at the outpost.
As long as Hall Master Jiang made a move, could this fellow still run wild?
The difference between the Martial Master Realm and the Martial Grandmaster Realm was far from ordinary.
So what if he could exchange blows with their four Martial Master Realm, Ninth Level squad captains?
Once he encountered their Hall Master Jiang, he would still die with regrets. That was what everyone thought.
Before you continue