When enemies met, their eyes blazed with hatred!
After Jiang Songhao recovered his senses, hatred filled his face. "You?!"
Lin Shuguang remained unmoved. "Hand over the treasure medicine!"
"You got all eleven members of my team killed, and now you dare brazenly block my path? How stupid! How arrogant!"
Jiang Songhao gave an angry laugh, suddenly drew a pair of broad axes, and charged in for the kill!
He brought an axe down at Lin Shuguang's head with ferocious force.
Crack, crack-
A series of explosive cracks rang through the air.
Lin Shuguang narrowed his eyes, stepped forward, and raised his saber.
He slashed, unleashing a tremendous burst of power.
Clang!
Clang!
Their weapons clashed, sending sparks flying!
The two figures rapidly crossed back and forth, crisp metallic collisions ringing incessantly like gongs and drums as saber and axes traced long trails of sparks through the air.
The sparks illuminated Jiang Songhao's savage expression, Lin Shuguang's icy face, and the young man knocked to the ground by the fierce gusts... who scrambled frantically to get up.
The battle had come suddenly, so suddenly that it utterly shattered the stillness of the blood-colored mountain forest.
Amid the pervasive bloody haze, the two figures moved like phantoms, exchanging several blows with almost every breath.
Their deadlocked exchanges of attack and defense were fierce and perilous, but in truth, Jiang Songhao grew more alarmed the longer they fought. Even his arms had begun to tremble faintly.
After barely a dozen seconds of fighting, he could feel with increasing clarity that Lin Shuguang was even stronger than he had guessed! In both strength and speed, the ability Lin Shuguang displayed was far beyond what someone his age should have possessed.
Damn it! Where did this freak come from?!
Jiang Songhao was furious. He had just escaped a brush with death, and his stamina still had not recovered. Otherwise, with his strength, even if he could not claim absolute confidence in defeating Lin Shuguang, he at least would not have been reduced to such a humiliating state!
"Do you really think you've got me beaten?"
Lin Shuguang paid him no heed.
This was his first truly exhilarating battle against another person since coming to this world.
In this life-and-death struggle, he finally gained a deeper understanding of saber arts. In particular, he grew increasingly proficient with the [Tiger Roar Saber Technique] he was using now.
Slash followed slash, the whistles of cleaving air growing ever more piercing.
Just a little more!
Just that last little bit!
Lin Shuguang was already immersed in honing his martial skill. He had actually met the requirements to upgrade the Tiger Roar Saber Technique, but he was in no hurry. Instead, he took this opportunity to hone his martial arts, attacking even more ferociously with the large saber in his hands.
Jiang Songhao's expression, however, darkened. If this continued, he would undoubtedly lose.
"Xiao Fei, do it! We can only get out of here alive if we kill him!"
Jiang Songhao roared.
The pale-faced young man nearby hesitated, then gritted his teeth and summoned his Life-Bound Sword again. With a vicious expression, he drew his sword and charged.
"Time to end this!"
As the two attacked him together, Lin Shuguang raised his head and suddenly said those words.
End this?
Do you really think victory is yours?
Jiang Songhao flew into a rage, as though he had suffered a tremendous insult. After Xiao Fei charged with his sword raised, Jiang Songhao's axes swept after him in a frenzied storm, moving to attack from both sides.
But suddenly, a swath of savage, ruthless saber light surged like thunderbolts, engulfing them both in an instant.
Crack-
The pale-faced young man was the first to show terror in his eyes.
The Three-Foot Green-Edge Sword in his hand shattered inch by inch, as though struck by an immense force. Then thin streaks of blood seeped through the skin of the hand gripping its hilt.
More and more blood seeped out, faster and faster, across an ever-widening area!
"Aah!"
With a piercing scream, Xiao Fei died without an intact corpse!
"What?!" Jiang Songhao watched in terror.
Seven or eight bloody gashes now marked his face, arms, and chest as well. Had he not possessed considerable strength, he likely would have shared Xiao Fei's fate.
When he looked at Lin Shuguang again, his gaze held greater wariness and fear. "Let me go, and we'll put our grudges behind us. How about it?"
"Hand over the treasure medicine."
"Impossible!"
"That's not up to you!" Lin Shuguang's gaze was cold. Unwilling to waste words, he raised his saber to attack.
Rumble-
Suddenly, the ground shook.
Jiang Songhao's expression changed drastically.
That sound was far too familiar.
Turning to look, he saw more than a dozen Desolate Ghost Apes closing in to kill them, their eyes filled with bloodlust.
Jiang Songhao was startled at first, but suddenly broke into a vicious laugh.
"Hahaha! Brat, you can't kill me! If I die, you'll die a horrible death too!"
"Why wouldn't I dare?"
The moment he finished speaking, Lin Shuguang delivered an utterly overbearing slash.
Jiang Songhao had not expected Lin Shuguang to be so forceful and hastily dodged. Once he evaded the slash, he shouted in shock and fury, "Are you insane? With so many Desolate Ghost Apes surrounding us, there's no way you can fight your way out alone with your current strength! If I die, you're certain to die too!"
Before he heard any answer from Lin Shuguang, the surrounding Desolate Ghost Apes had already attacked them.
Jiang Songhao suffered in silence. He had little stamina to begin with, and Lin Shuguang had kept him pinned down for so long. Now, faced with this squad of Desolate Ghost Apes, he felt like dying.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the charging Desolate Ghost Apes tear into Xiao Fei's corpse with their teeth. A chill gripped his heart, and he lost all will to fight. Yet the Desolate Ghost Apes kept him entangled, leaving him no way to escape. He hurriedly shouted to Lin Shuguang, "How about we join forces? Otherwise, we'll both die here!"
Lin Shuguang ignored him completely. After killing another two Desolate Ghost Apes, he focused his mind.
[Blood energy value: 182] [Wealth value: 400] [Tiger Roar Saber Technique can be upgraded to LV4]
"Upgrade!"
At his mental command, the Tiger Roar Saber Technique rose to LV4.
Lin Shuguang distinctly felt his understanding of martial arts become clearer, and the power throughout his body grew considerably more concentrated.
At the same time, he tightened his grip on the saber's hilt... he felt that he had become much stronger again!
A Desolate Ghost Ape descended from above, its sharp claws seeming poised to crush Lin Shuguang's head.
But the next second, a brilliant burst of saber aura erupted!
Bang!
The Desolate Ghost Ape's head burst apart under the slash, leaving it utterly dead!
Lin Shuguang found the slash immensely satisfying, but nearby, Jiang Songhao was already dumbfounded. He cried out involuntarily, "Y-you! How did you suddenly become so strong?!"
He could not understand it!
He would not even have had the courage to face that slash alone!
For a moment, his concentration broke. Something seized his right shoulder, and he let out a scream.
Afraid of being dragged away, which would truly leave him no chance of survival, Jiang Songhao frantically swung an axe down. He severed the arm gripping his right shoulder on the spot, then tore the severed limb from his shoulder and threw it aside.
Blood streamed down as he staggered several steps. Cold sweat poured from his forehead, and his face turned deathly pale.
Looking around at the approaching Desolate Ghost Apes, Jiang Songhao's heart sank to its depths. He frantically begged Lin Shuguang for help. "Save me! I'll give you the treasure medicine! As long as you save me, anything can be discussed! Hurry and save me!"
Lin Shuguang ignored Jiang Songhao's frantic pleas nearby. The LV4 Tiger Roar Saber Technique was far, far stronger than LV3, and he benefited greatly from both its explosive power and its application of force.
In mere moments, he was wielding it with ease, charging into the Desolate Ghost Apes like a god of slaughter.
A few breaths later, he had wiped out all the remaining Desolate Ghost Apes. Blood covered the ground like a hell on earth.
"Aah-hrrgh-"
Hearing the screams, Lin Shuguang turned to look.
One of Jiang Songhao's legs was already gone, and a large hole had been clawed through his belly. He lay in a pool of blood, his face utterly drained of color.
"Save me! I don't want to die! I can't die yet-"
Jiang Songhao pleaded with his dying breath.
He still had to become a martial artist, to rise above others. He could not die!
He could not accept it, and even feared losing everything like this.
Yet a trace of venomous resentment still flashed through his eyes as he looked at Lin Shuguang... he hated Lin Shuguang, hated him for not coming to save him earlier, hated him for refusing to let him go, and hated him even more for destroying everything he had.
The tearing sensation in his body brought Jiang Songhao back to his senses. Afraid that Lin Shuguang would see through his thoughts, he hurriedly promised, "As long as you save me, I'll never cause you trouble in the future!"
Standing amid the blood-soaked corpses strewn across the ground, Lin Shuguang looked down at Jiang Songhao with an indifferent gaze.
"Still threatening me on your deathbed?"
The next second,
Saber light flashed, and a head flew high into the air.
Jiang Songhao died with his eyes wide open!
Before you continue