Slaying a Core Formation Cultivator, Seizing the Storage Ring!

Xia Wuji did not immediately pursue the Blood Butcher. The fiend had just suffered a crushing setback and was still highly vigilant. He would let him run for a while first, until his guard lowered.

In any case, he could not escape!

Xia Wuji was confident of that.

He leaped up and arrived at the spot where the Blood Butcher had fallen earlier. With a grasp of his five fingers, he seized a wisp of the Blood Butcher's blood from the blood spilled across the ground.

With this—

He could perform a tracking art!

Immediately afterward, Xia Wuji rushed into the valley.

"Brother Huang." He found Huang Hu.

At this moment, Huang Hu's body had withered considerably, and his gaze was unfocused and hazy.

"Brother Xia... is it really... you? This isn't an illusion, is it?" Huang Hu's consciousness had already grown muddled as he murmured.

Xia Wuji said, "Not long after I left, I felt that going to Qingyun City alone was indeed too dangerous, so I came back to find you."

"I never expected this place to be a net spread by people from the Bloodfire Demonic Cult. Fortunately, the demonic cult thief controlling the formation was not proficient in formations. It seemed that the formation's disorder caused a backlash against him."

He had already prepared his explanation.

As for the credit for saving so many people, Xia Wuji did not want it.

Since the Bloodfire Demonic Cult had dared to target the young talents participating in Azure Star Academy's assessment, it meant they were a tough foe.

If Xia Wuji claimed the credit now, it would also mean that his name would soon enter the eyes of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult's upper ranks.

There was no need to shoulder such enormous risk for this small bit of credit.

At this stage, the crucial matters were entering Azure Star Academy first, using Azure Star Academy's resources to increase his personal strength, and searching for clues about his mother.

Xia Wuji rapidly tapped with his fingers, sending wisps of yuan force into Huang Hu's acupoints. Before long, Huang Hu's condition improved considerably.

"Miss... Miss Xu..." Huang Hu looked toward Xu Lan, who was already deeply unconscious beside him.

Xia Wuji said, "Don't worry. Her soul's foundation hasn't been harmed. Her loss of qi and blood is simply rather severe. After taking some pills, she'll recover soon enough."

"That's good... that's good..." A trace of lingering fear appeared on Huang Hu's face.

"Brother Huang, although the people from the Bloodfire Demonic Cult have left, I plan to take a look around nearby. Perhaps I can find their retreat route and provide it to Azure Star Academy, making it easier for them to settle accounts with the Bloodfire Demonic Cult in the future," Xia Wuji said.

Huang Hu immediately looked nervous. "Brother Xia, this... is too dangerous."

Xia Wuji said, "I know what I'm doing. I'll be careful."

After leaving those words behind, Xia Wuji departed from the valley.

He had entered the valley only to confirm whether Huang Hu was alright. As for the others, even Xu Lan, Huang Hu's beloved, he had not wasted any effort treating them.

After leaving the valley, Xia Wuji spread open his palm. The Blood Butcher's blood transformed into a wisp of bloody light that flowed across his palm.

"Tracking Breath for a Hundred Miles, nowhere to hide!" Xia Wuji cried softly. Forming a hand seal with one hand, he unleashed a secret art designed specifically for tracking—the Hundred Mile Tracking Technique!

This was a low-grade Profound-rank technique. With a wisp of the target's essence blood in hand, one could precisely lock onto their location anywhere within a hundred miles.

Of course, with Xia Wuji's current strength, he could not use this art to lock onto such a vast range. But the Blood Butcher had not left long ago, so finding him was easy.

Sure enough, after only a few breaths, Xia Wuji used the Hundred Mile Tracking Technique to find, within the unseen, the lingering traces of the Blood Butcher's aura along his retreat route.

Cough!

Cough, cough, cough!

The Blood Butcher ran wildly for some distance before collapsing to the ground. He struggled into a sitting position, leaned against a large tree, and continuously coughed up blood.

Even now, he had not realized that his utter defeat just as success was within reach had been caused by someone destroying the formation.

After taking several breaths, he began viciously cursing the person who had given him the formation, believing that fellow had set him up and caused him to end up in this state.

"I can't keep running. I need to heal my injuries first. Otherwise, if they continue to worsen, I'll never be able to recover."

The Blood Butcher muttered to himself. A ring worn on the bones of his fingers, which had lost all their flesh, flashed with light.

For this ring to have remained perfectly intact through the previous massive energy explosion, it was naturally no ordinary item. It was a Storage Ring. A space was contained within it, making it exceptionally useful to cultivators.

It could be called a must-have when traveling.

Yet Storage Rings were extraordinarily valuable. Even ordinary Core Formation Realm martial artists could only dream of possessing one.

As a branch master of the demonic cult, the Blood Butcher had committed every evil imaginable—burning, killing, plundering, and looting. Only after accumulating enormous wealth had he been able to own a Storage Ring.

The next instant, a pill flew out of the Storage Ring. The Blood Butcher opened his mouth sharply, and the pill dropped into it.

After swallowing the pill, dense, pure energy surged through his body. On his arms, stripped of flesh, wriggling sprouts of meat began emerging at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But at that moment, a streak of sword light shot from the darkness.

Alarmed, the Blood Butcher abruptly sprang up from where he sat against the tree!

The sword light was razor-sharp, directly cleaving through the large tree he had been leaning against!

Meanwhile, the Blood Butcher had already risen into the air, intending to fly higher for a better view of his enemy.

Before Blood Butcher could fly any higher, Xia Wuji had already charged out. Against a Core Formation Realm martial artist capable of flight, he absolutely could not allow his opponent to rise too high. Otherwise, all his methods of attack would lose their meaning.

Instead, Blood Butcher would be able to unleash spell techniques from the air, bombarding him without restraint.

Xia Wuji charged forward, erupting with tremendous power and briefly soaring into the air. In an instant, he entered the state of Man-Sword Unity. The Jinghong Sword, a quasi-spirit sword, burst forth with dazzling sword light!

Xia Wuji gave a cold shout and swept his blade outward!

Overlapping Waves Sword Art, Third Wave!

In an instant, three enormous waves of sword light swept out, crashing into Blood Butcher like a surging tsunami.

Blood Butcher roared furiously. The flesh on his arms had yet to fully regrow, and without meridians, he could not circulate his vital energy at all. He could only kick with his right leg, lashing it out like a long whip.

Boom!

Boom! Boom!

Blood Butcher shattered Xia Wuji's three waves of sword light with his kicks, but his body also lost its balance, plummeting toward the ground!

Xia Wuji likewise planted a foot on a tree trunk, borrowing its force as his body dove downward.

Blood covered Blood Butcher's face, twisting his expression into something ferocious. He threw back his head and roared. Soundwaves rolled out like tides—this was the Soul Howling Sonic Wave Technique, a secret art of the Bloodfire Demonic Cult designed specifically to target the soul.

The souls of martial artists below the Core Formation Realm were frail; there was no way they could withstand this blow.

Sure enough.

Xia Wuji, diving downward, suddenly stiffened, and his body fell straight toward the ground.

"Even if this old man's tiger has fallen to the plains, it's not as if every stray cat and dog can come up and take a bite!"

"You little brat, your cultivation may not be high, but your explosive power is so fierce, and your blood and vitality are so abundant. Perfect—I'll devour you to nourish this body of mine!"

Blood Butcher let out a howl and pounced at Xia Wuji.

Xia Wuji stood where he was, utterly motionless. To Blood Butcher, this was the classic sign of having been struck by the Soul Howling Sonic Wave Technique.

As Blood Butcher lunged before Xia Wuji, he opened his mouth, about to use his fangs to bite through Xia Wuji's neck and feast on his scorching, delicious blood.

But at that moment, Xia Wuji went from stillness to motion, swift as a thunderbolt. His sword flashed, and he unleashed another Third Wave of the Overlapping Waves Sword Art!

He had previously consumed Crimson Jade Blood Ginseng, which had tempered his soul. His spiritual power had long since become capable of leaving his body and extending outward.

How could Blood Butcher's mere Soul Howling Sonic Wave Technique possibly shake his spiritual will?

That earlier scene had merely been Xia Wuji turning the tables against him.

Xia Wuji's sword erupted right before Blood Butcher. Blood Butcher no longer had time to defend himself. With a miserable scream, his body was cut horizontally in two at the chest, becoming two severed halves!

"Ah!"

The upper half rolled across the ground, letting out a miserable wail.

Whoosh!

Xia Wuji followed up with another sword strike, directly killing the fiend.

This battle seemed to have ended in the blink of an eye, but in truth, it was the result of one step building upon another.

First, Blood Butcher had suffered a severe backlash from the array.

Then Xia Wuji attacked. The flesh on Blood Butcher's arms had not yet regrown, leaving him without meridians and unable to circulate vital energy. He could only use leg techniques, which he was not skilled at, to receive Xia Wuji's Third Wave.

After clashing head-on, Blood Butcher temporarily lost his advantage of flight. Then Xia Wuji played along, pretending to have been struck by Blood Butcher's Soul Howling Sonic Wave Technique, causing Blood Butcher to let down his guard completely.

After consecutively unleashing Third Wave twice, the Sword Essence in Xia Wuji's Dantian was utterly depleted.

He, too, felt a wave of weakness at this moment.

His eyes fixed on the Storage Ring worn around Blood Butcher's finger bone. With a flick of his sword, he removed the ring, then conjured a wisp of flame and burned Blood Butcher's remains before immediately departing at top speed.

After a long while, he found a cave in a secluded area.

Xia Wuji entered the cave, took out the Storage Ring tucked inside his robes, and a trace of anticipation appeared on his face!