The Xu Family and the Monster Potion Company had issued wanted notices for Lu Xuan long ago.
Capture him alive, and receive all the resources needed to cultivate to the level of a Blood-Qi Martial Master.
Behead him, and receive the treatment reserved for an honored guest.
After the bounty was announced, no one had seen Lu Xuan in the Wilderness.
Everyone thought he was afraid.
No one had expected to encounter him here.
With such a shortcut leading to the Martial Master realm, who wouldn't want to take it?
If Lu Xuan weren't the Ghost Face Martial Artist, even he would have wanted to walk this path to heaven.
But at this moment,
he had to find a way to hack his way through a bloody path.
Watching the Martial Artists radiating killing intent as they closed in, Lu Xuan tightened his grip on the long saber in his hand, and his breathing grew heavier.
He had expected to become the target of everyone's ire.
That was why, ever since entering the Wilderness, he had never shown himself.
He had only dared to hide and develop.
He had never expected that his trail would still be discovered in the end.
Fate was playing tricks on him.
"Everyone, do you really want to trade my head for wealth?" Lu Xuan held his long saber horizontally.
If he were facing only a scattered few people, he would feel no pressure.
But there were dozens of people at the scene.
Every one of them was a Martial Artist of Fifth-order or higher.
Even if a Ninth-order Martial Artist came, it would be extremely difficult to wipe out this group.
The three members of the Dark Night Squad were closest to Lu Xuan. The panic on the female Martial Artist's face vanished, replaced by undisguised greed and madness.
She threw her head back and laughed.
"Ghost Face, you aren't a Blood-Qi Martial Master either, so you naturally know how tempting this bounty is to Martial Artists like us. So..."
"Just surrender obediently!"
With that,
the female Martial Artist moved as lightly as a ghost, leaving several afterimages in place as she spun and stabbed with her twin-bladed daggers.
She moved so fast that the naked eye could barely follow her.
However,
under Lu Xuan's Psychic Power, she was riddled with openings.
He did not use his Psychic Power right away. When the female Martial Artist suddenly appeared before his face, he dodged the fatal blow sideways. His wrist turned, and the gleaming blade carved a silver arc through the air.
Clang!
Both of them were knocked back several steps.
Before Lu Xuan could steady himself, the Martial Artist in mechanical battle armor had already flown in front of him. Cold weapons and firearms attacked from both sides, giving Lu Xuan no chance to escape.
Knowing that retreat was impossible, Lu Xuan turned defense into offense.
His Mental Power swept across the battlefield, immediately finding the weakest point, and he unleashed Every Strike Fatal.
Clang-clang! Boom!
The ringing of blades and the roar of gunfire erupted.
The two exchanged blows in the blink of an eye, dozens of blades flashing past one another.
But this was not a turn-based game.
In the brief dozens of seconds that Lu Xuan was entangled, the other Martial Artists had already launched their attacks one after another.
In an instant,
blades and swords flashed, and the dense forest was destroyed in the gaps between everyone's bursts of Blood-Qi.
Lu Xuan fought with all his might and forced one person back.
Before he could catch his breath, two more attacked.
Bang bang bang!
The chaotic battle continued for a minute.
Lu Xuan gradually found himself unable to hold on and was blasted dozens of yards through the air.
These people were no monsters. In terms of intelligence, they held the absolute high ground. They gave him not the slightest chance to breathe, using an extreme yet rapid relay assault.
Moreover,
there were dozens of Martial Artists, each averaging one level higher than him.
"Indeed, he's the Ghost Face Martial Artist. Even under the siege of so many Martial Artists, he wasn't instantly torn to pieces."
"But this is where it ends!"
The Dark Night female Martial Artist took advantage of the instant Lu Xuan landed. She leaped up, appeared before him in a flash, and thrust her dagger down.
Almost in that very instant,
whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
Countless throwing knives materialized in midair, shooting at the female Martial Artist like bullets.
"Watch out!"
Someone shouted.
The female Martial Artist's hand paused. Catching sight of the throwing knives shooting toward her from the corner of her eye, she hurriedly withdrew her strength and retreated.
"You... really pissed me off!"
Clang clang clang!
Hundreds of throwing knives shot toward the crowd.
Fortunately, they had been prepared and immediately withdrew their strength to resist. Only the female Martial Artist was half a beat too slow, leaving countless wounds across her body.
"Is this the true ability of the Ghost Face Martial Artist?"
Everyone retreated one after another, dispersing the throwing knives' assault.
Yet that tiny movement gave Lu Xuan an opening. He controlled the throwing knives with his Mental Power, surrounding himself with a layer of blade aura.
Using this defense, Lu Xuan charged at the most severely wounded female Martial Artist.
Without hesitation, he executed the movement Martial Skill Faster Than You, pressing close to the Dark Night female Martial Artist.
"Bastard, what are you doing?!"
The Dark Night female Martial Artist was so frightened that every inch of her skin tensed. The instant their skin touched, her flesh grew scorching hot as charcoal, and shame and fury surged through her heart.
Damn it, is this bastard trying to assault me?
At that thought, she immediately used an even more exquisite movement technique.
That was exactly the effect Lu Xuan wanted.
His Mental Power frantically analyzed the circulation of her Blood-Qi and the degree of her Spiritual Energy release.
In the space of a few breaths, he synchronized with the Dark Night female Martial Artist's movement technique.
No matter how exquisite her movements were, she still could not shake Lu Xuan off in the slightest. The two even drew closer and closer.
The other Martial Artists saw this and hesitated.
"This Ghost Face is being surrounded, yet he still has the leisure for this?"
The two members of the Dark Night Squad's expressions darkened. "Leisure your ass! This guy is looking for a chance to escape. Stop him, quick!"
Amid the furious roars,
Lu Xuan had already borrowed the female Martial Artist's movement technique to break through a route without anyone noticing.
The crowd had originally thought Lu Xuan wanted to take the opportunity to strike the female Martial Artist and exact brutal revenge. They immediately realized what was happening.
They charged at Lu Xuan once more.
Lu Xuan had already broken through a safe route and no longer held anything back.
He unleashed his Psychic Power completely, gathering the throwing knives filling the sky around himself and the female Martial Artist.
"Not good!"
The female Martial Artist paled with fright. Forgetting all about Lu Xuan clinging to her, she summoned all her strength to resist the throwing knives.
"Strike when you're sick and finish you off!" Lu Xuan seized the opportunity. His long saber spun once through the air, its tip sweeping across her shoulder.
Splurt! Blood sprayed from the female Martial Artist's arms as both were severed on the spot.
"Ahhh! I'll kill you!"
She shrieked in agony.
Lu Xuan ignored her. He took the opportunity to control the female Martial Artist's weapons, lifting her up as he fled the battlefield at top speed.
"Ghost Face, you won't escape!"
The Martial Artists from every direction pursued him relentlessly.
In their eyes, Lu Xuan was not an enemy but a treasure—a supreme treasure capable of leading them to the Great Dao.
Even the two members of the Dark Night Martial Artist Squad had long since stopped caring whether the female Martial Artist lived or died.
They only wanted Lu Xuan.
For a time,
the long river of Blood-Qi pierced the sky like a rainbow and spread across the Wilderness.
Lu Xuan fled, and they pursued.
Along the way, other low-level and Intermediate Martial Artists did not dare approach at all.
The lower-level monsters were even more frightened, shrinking back into their caves.
"Ghost Face, how long can you last in this state?!"
"Die!"
Faced with the pursuit of countless Martial Artists, whenever he could not block an attack, Lu Xuan would bring out the female Martial Artist as a shield.
"Hey, you bunch of bastards, don't hit me... Splurt!"
The female Martial Artist had not even finished speaking before another blade struck her.
Blood dyed her moon-colored battle robe scarlet. Her body was covered in even more wounds, leaving her battered and torn from head to toe.
"Ahhh!"
"Ghost Face, you fucking beast, coward, weakling..."
The female Martial Artist had long since lost her earlier sensuality.
Her voice had changed from charming to rough and furious. She sounded exactly like a shrew.
"Shut up!"
Lu Xuan punched her in the mouth. "Block a few blades for me. If I make it out alive, I definitely won't kill you."
"Mmph, mmph~"
The female Martial Artist wanted to say something, but only blood filled her mouth.
The lonely, aggrieved look in her eyes seemed to ask: My blood is almost drained. Do you really think I'll survive?
Relying on a single human shield would not let him escape safely.
Lu Xuan's eyes shifted as his mood grew heavy. "Is there any way to shake these people off, or hide myself?"
A sense of weakness spread through his body. Wave after wave of soreness and pain swept through his bones and flesh, while dizziness battered his brain.
He was nearing his limit.
"Cough, cough... Damn it!" Lu Xuan's throat turned sweet, and he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
His swollen, aching eyelids felt as heavy as lead. His vision blurred, and he could only vaguely make out the thunderclouds continuously gathering in the distance.
Suddenly,
Lu Xuan shuddered, and his mind cleared.
"Today is already May 19. The monster tide is only a few hours away..."
"What if I make the monster tide erupt ahead of time...?"
A trace of madness and determination flashed in Lu Xuan's eyes.
"To hell with it!"
He erupted with his remaining strength and charged toward the place where Future Mail had told him the Awakened Level monster was located—the center where the monster tide would erupt.
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