A moment ago, he had been a harmless young man in the eyes of both sides. The next, he had transformed into a ferocious tiger—a man-eating tiger.
One punch killed a Black Mountain Army soldier on the spot.
The sight left both sides stunned. The four Black Mountain Army men knew one another's strength all too well. Fourth Brother was the weakest of them, but he had still cultivated strength within his body. He had simply failed when attempting to break through to Refined Strength.
Besides, all of them were vicious criminals who had lived by the blade and had blood on their hands. They had no shortage of experience in a fight to the death.
It wasn't that Fourth Brother was too weak. It was simply that the young man before them was too strong.
In an instant, the three men left on the field realized that this youth in a conical hat and straw rain cape wasn't a lamb for them to toy with, but a bloodthirsty jackal, baring its fangs.
This prey was tough.
The three Black Mountain Army bandits all had the same thought.
"Little brother, we mistook you for someone else just now... It was all a misunderstanding."
Seeing Su Mu lift his eyes toward them, the stern-faced leader spoke up in a loud voice and voluntarily backed down. To him, Su Mu was an unexpected complication. Better to avoid trouble when possible.
Before they finished killing Shi Feng, he didn't want Su Mu interfering.
As for what happened afterward, a chill flickered through the stern-faced man's heart.
"Heh. A misunderstanding?"
The youth suddenly laughed. Only now were they calling it a misunderstanding?
Too late!
Su Mu took a deep breath and poured strength into his legs, unleashing the deer's gallop from the Five Animal Frolics. His figure blurred into a streak as he charged into the clash between the two sides like a running deer.
"You're looking for death! Second Brother, Third Brother, go deal with him. I can kill Shi Feng by myself."
"Got it."
The two Black Mountain Army soldiers who had been backing up the stern-faced man as he tried to toy with Shi Feng immediately left the fight. Turning their blades in opposite directions, they charged Su Mu from either side.
"These bandits are vicious, little brother. Be careful!" Shi Feng called out in warning. Seeing hope of survival, new strength surged inexplicably through his right arm as he gripped his saber, and he fought fiercely against the stern-faced man.
Whoosh!
Two cold flashes of steel cut through the air, slashing simultaneously at Su Mu's vital spots from different angles.
Su Mu narrowed his eyes slightly. After mastering the Five Animal Frolics, he had gained near-perfect control of his body. The two slashes came from tricky angles, but they seemed to move several times slower in his eyes. He only needed to focus, and he could easily track the path of each blade.
Five Animal Frolics, White Ape Turns.
His body flowed into motion as Su Mu twisted aside. The two long sabers, propelled by strength and swung at blinding speed, both missed. To an onlooker, it almost looked as though the two men had coordinated their attacks with Su Mu beforehand.
"Hm? They missed... This kid's really lucky."
Whoosh, whoosh!
The two Black Mountain Army soldiers kept swinging their blades. As they attacked, sweat beaded on their foreheads. One of them swallowed hard, his throat bobbing.
There was something uncanny about the kid before them. Every time he raised his blade, the other man seemed to know it in advance and dodge before the strike came, making them miss again and again.
The soldier's suspicion wasn't wrong. The perfected Five Animal Frolics gave Su Mu almost complete control over his body. On top of that, he had also cultivated three Ranked Martial Arts. A weapon was an extension of the fists and feet, and Su Mu's understanding of muscle power far surpassed the two men's.
What was more, Su Mu's senses were far sharper than an ordinary person's, and his astonishing Excellent Talent, Raw Jade gave him remarkable insight. So whenever the two men raised their blades, or tensed their wrists, forearms, waists, or abdomens, Su Mu could anticipate their next move before they made it.
Their swordsmanship was broad and forceful, and the strength within their bodies surpassed that of the soldier Su Mu had just killed. But after several consecutive swings hit nothing, they ran out of strength. Before their old strength could recover, their movements slowed.
That was the moment Su Mu had been waiting for. Seizing their brief hesitation, he sent a breath coursing through his limbs and meridians. The muscles in both arms rippled and swelled, growing slightly thicker.
In an instant, Su Mu entered the Limit Break State. Then he lunged forward in a single step—a lone tiger charging into a flock of sheep.
Roar!
He poured all his strength into his fists, gathering it at a single point. His entire body's power erupted in one punch.
Rock Shattering Fist, Armor Break!
Su Mu had noticed that the Black Mountain Army soldiers wore padded armor. Though it offered less protection than iron armor, its soft, elastic material was quite effective against fists and kicks. So he didn't use Tiger Subduing Fist. Instead, he chose Rock Shattering Fist, created specifically to fight heavily armored enemies.
Thump! Thump!
The instant his fist met the padded armor, it caved in slightly with the first muffled boom. Then a burst of strength punched through the outer layer and into the body beneath, erupting with a second, even more deafening crack.
Crack.
The explosion was followed by a series of sharp, brittle snaps as the padded-armored Black Mountain Army soldier's ribs shattered beneath the punch. He screamed, his mouth flying open.
Spurt.
A huge mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips. He flew backward and crashed to the ground. He was still breathing, but he had completely lost the ability to fight.
The padded armor had been useless against this youth's fists?!
A comrade had just been punched so hard he'd been left gravely injured on the ground, then sent flying right past him. Fear spread through the other man's heart.
At that instant, their eyes met.
Su Mu's gaze was calm, yet murderous. For the first time, the Black Mountain Army soldier who met his eyes looked terrified—but it was already too late.
Thump! Thump!
The moment the man's courage failed him, Su Mu showed no mercy. Those who killed would be killed in turn. He stepped forward and closed the distance, then threw another punch.
Two more muffled blasts rang out. The Black Mountain Army soldier suffered the same fate as the first: his padded armor remained intact, but the flesh beneath caved in, his bones and sinews snapped, and he flew backward to slam into the ground, twitching and wailing.
"Well done!" Shi Feng cried out in delight.
Seeing three of his men face Su Mu and end up with one dead and two badly injured, the stern-faced leader felt a chill settle deep in his heart. This wasn't a vicious wolf at all. It was a ferocious tiger descending the mountain.
This wasn't just tough prey—they'd run headlong into an iron wall.
"Kid, you can still back down. I can even recommend you to the Heavenly General. With your strength, you'd have a bright future in the Black Mountain Army and enjoy a lifetime of wealth and glory."
His face twisted as he shouted furiously.
"But if you keep refusing to see reason, neither the Black Mountain Army nor the Heavenly General will let you go. We'll wipe out your entire family!"
Wipe out his entire family?
Su Mu had come to this world alone, and he couldn't even decide whether he would live or die. Why would he fear threats like that?
And the man before him had gone from arrogant to servile. It was laughable.
"Little brother, don't worry! When I return, I'll report this to the County Marshal. The Qingyun Army will protect you. Every Black Mountain Army bandit deserves to die!"
After Su Mu joined the fight, the situation had reversed in an instant. Now the key to victory was the very youth both sides had initially thought harmless.
Once Shi Feng truly saw a chance to survive, his spirits soared.
The stern-faced man saw that the situation was turning against him and made a snap decision. He abandoned the other two Black Mountain Army soldiers and turned to flee. He had mastered a Ranked Lightness Skill, and that was his greatest source of confidence.
If he wanted to escape, how could a wet-behind-the-ears kid and a half-dead Shi Feng stop him?
"Damn it! You'll regret this!"
He threw out a threat as he fled.
"Damn it, that bandit's getting away..." Shi Feng saw him use a Lightness Skill and couldn't help feeling disappointed. But the next second—
Shi Feng suddenly felt a gust of wind at his side. A figure flashed out like a startled swan.
The bandit had only made it a few steps before he felt a gale sweep up behind him. He turned around, furious and alarmed, and saw a figure rapidly growing in his pupils. The man-eating tiger was coming at him with claws outstretched.
Vajra Tiger Subduing!
A mighty tiger's roar rang out first, then a heavy blow landed on his temple.
"No, you—you can't kill..."
Before he could finish, a sharp crack rang out.
Bang!
The stern-faced man's features twisted violently. Blood poured from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth as his skull shattered in an instant. His eyes were wide with disbelief as he died.
A fist that roared like a tiger.
A fist that pierced armor.
And the transformations of ape and deer, along with that Lightness Skill that surpassed even his own. He couldn't understand how a youth so young could master so many martial arts—and not one of them was merely something he had dabbled in.
He regretted it.
"I never wanted to get involved... Why did you insist on courting death?"
Su Mu murmured the words to himself. As he finished speaking, the stern-faced man's mouth opened and closed as if he wanted to say something. But in the end, he only let out a muffled groan before breathing his last.
There was no answer, but Su Mu hadn't expected one.
These so-called rebel soldiers had been ready to kill him at the drop of a hat, all to trade him for silver and enjoy themselves. The only thing Su Mu could do was send these bandits to the underworld together. With all four accompanying one another on the road to the Yellow Springs, they wouldn't be lonely.
Su Mu kicked the curved saber at his feet with his toe. It spun through the air and landed in his hand.
"No, don't kill me..."
The two men on the ground begged for mercy. Su Mu ignored them and swung his blade twice, sending them on their way. After finishing them off, he crouched and quickly searched the few corpses, looting them right in front of Shi Feng.
Shi Feng stared, dumbfounded. The youth's movements seemed a little too practiced—whether killing, finishing off the wounded, or looting the bodies before him, everything came so naturally that it didn't look like his first time.
Shi Feng had also recognized one of the fists Su Mu had used. There was no mistaking that tiger's roar.
"Vajra Temple's... Tiger Subduing Fist? Is this little brother from Vajra Temple?"
Recognizing that Su Mu had used Tiger Subduing Fist only made Shi Feng more astonished. This fist technique was quite well-known in Qingyun County. It was said to be exceptionally difficult to cultivate, and one had to reach at least the Great Achievement stage to produce a tiger's roar.
Yet the youth before him still had a few traces of boyishness in his face and looked only fourteen or fifteen. Had he been practicing Tiger Subduing Fist since he was in the womb? Otherwise, how could he have brought such a demanding technique to this level?
While Shi Feng, shaken by his narrow escape, let his mind wander, Su Mu quickly finished searching all four corpses. The stern-faced leader had more than two hundred taels on him, and the other three had over a hundred between them. Altogether, the take came to a little over four hundred taels.
"These bandits really are rolling in money."
There were a few other items as well. With Shi Feng still there, Su Mu didn't bother to count them carefully and simply stuffed them all into his clothes.
"This place isn't safe. We should leave."
After looting the bodies, Su Mu glanced at Shi Feng and turned to leave.
"Little brother, my name is Shi Feng. I'll never forget that you saved my life today. A great kindness needs no thanks. Please accept this Qingyun Army token. If you run into trouble anywhere around Qingyun County in the future, bring this token to the Qingyun Army and look for me!"
Seeing Su Mu turn to leave without another word, Shi Feng realized that he didn't want trouble. After all, the Black Mountain Army had risen rapidly in Qingyun County over the past few years and had grown into a major force. Even the five great factions didn't dare provoke them lightly.
After calling out to Su Mu, Shi Feng removed the token from his waist and tossed it over. Su Mu casually caught it. Seeing the bloodstained words "Qingyun" on it, he considered it briefly, then accepted it.
"I'll hold on to this token for now. It might come in handy later."
Before you continue