Whoosh!
Ning Xuan sheathed his saber.
The enormous black bear's body crashed heavily to the ground.
Whoosh!
Ning Xuan drew his saber and stabbed the black bear's body again.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
With a blank expression, he kept delivering follow-up strikes until the black bear was thoroughly reduced to a bloody mess. Only then did he put his saber away.
He recalled Master Zhang's words.
Though Master Zhang was merely a man of the martial world, what he said made sense.
All else being equal, techniques were crucial.
The exquisite Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse, performed with a saber, was far more powerful than the crude Bear Prowess Mountain Collapse.
He glanced again at the black bear's body, which had nothing hidden on it besides its fur, and left it alone. Instead, he gazed toward the cave in the distance.
In front of it, the bear demons stood frozen in terror.
Suddenly, several bears started bawling. Ning Xuan couldn't understand what they were saying.
He narrowed his eyes and watched for a moment. When he saw several little bear demons fleeing toward the cave behind them, he suddenly hunched over, dragged the Beast Slaying Saber at an angle, and sprinted through the wild forest.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
He ran fast, his steps heavy.
But he did his best to avoid the trees and rocks, so the bear demons wouldn't realize he could use Bear Prowess Mountain Collapse.
A move had to be hidden. Only a move kept concealed could be a killing technique.
When he had fought the Mountain Crashing Bear Demon, if it had known he could wield Bear Prowess Mountain Collapse with a saber, it surely wouldn't have fought the way it did. Even if he had won then, there was no way he could have slain his enemy in a single exchange.
Now, though he hadn't used Bear Prowess Mountain Collapse, his presence was still astonishingly imposing. Combined with the Killing Intent from killing their leader in a single exchange, it left many of the bear demons who had been standing their ground scared witless. They howled like ghosts and wolves as they shrank back toward the cave.
At the sight, Ning Xuan immediately understood.
There was another leader in the cave.
Otherwise, the bear demon underlings wouldn't be running into the cave. They'd be fleeing in the opposite direction.
They were running back because they still had someone to rally around.
A little show of force, and he'd scared the information right out of them.
He stopped running to conserve his strength and rolled his neck, taking stock of his condition.
He was nearly unscathed.
He surveyed his surroundings, spread his fingers slightly, then tightened them around the hilt of the Beast Slaying Saber. Slowly, step by step, he approached the cave.
Once he drew near, whenever he took a step forward, the bold bear demons still outside the cave took one back.
He took another step.
The bear demons retreated again.
When they could retreat no farther, they were packed tightly together.
It was as if what loomed over them wasn't a single man, but a vast army—or some terrifying monster.
With a little over ten zhang still between him and the cave entrance, Ning Xuan suddenly stopped. He let out a thunderous shout, and the bear demons crowded outside were so startled that they began bawling. Then they all fled into the cave.
Ning Xuan didn't enter. He casually grabbed a tree in front of the cave and shook it, then wrapped both arms around it and gave a mighty heave.
The tree came out of the ground with a whoosh.
Ning Xuan broke the tree into pieces with a few quick twists of his hands, then took a fire striker from his waistband.
He'd spent a lot of time in the forest lately. When he got hungry, he'd fend for himself and roast some fish. His constitution could easily handle raw fish, but cooked food simply tasted better.
After a while, the fire striker had become something he carried everywhere.
His plan was simple.
Set a fire and fill the cave with smoke to force the bears out.
But...
He tried several times to light the fire striker, and each time the flame went out.
The tiny fire striker couldn't possibly ignite a freshly cut tree.
Just then, he heard a faint sound from the direction of the cave. Something was coming out, moving faster and faster. By the time he noticed it, a massive red figure had already charged out of the cave.
Ning Xuan casually tossed aside the fire striker, gripped his saber with both hands, and used the practiced Swallow Return Step. He retreated, then surged forward, circling the Beast Slaying Saber like a spiral as he accelerated. Then, holding the saber in one hand, he extended his body and thrust upward at an angle with Skillful Swallow Returning to Roost, concealing Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse within the move. A razor-sharp glint flashed from his blade, with a killing strike hidden inside.
The instant he thrust, he also saw the massive red figure rushing toward him.
He narrowed his eyes.
It was another bear—a Mountain Crashing Bear. It was huge, a little shorter than the one from before, but not by much.
It was red because this Mountain Crashing Bear was actually wearing a blood-red Brocade Kasaya.
It all happened in the blink of an eye.
Ning Xuan found it strange that a Mountain Crashing Bear was wearing a kasaya, and it brought to mind some distant image of a certain bear stealing a kasaya. But his Beast Slaying Saber didn't slow in the slightest.
He'd actually wanted to circle around the kasaya.
But in that split second, there was no time. Besides, the kasaya was huge, so avoiding it wouldn't be easy.
The next instant,
the saber tip touched the Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon.
At the moment of contact, Ning Xuan channeled his strength and silently thought, "Collapse!"
WHOOSH!
The blood-red kasaya suddenly billowed backward as if caught in a gale.
Ning Xuan felt his force sink into an endless sea.
BANG!
The impact sent him flying backward through two turns before he landed. His saber guarded his body, ready to strike with Skillful Swallow Returning to Roost again at any moment.
The Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon also staggered back several steps. It only stopped when its hind claws braced against a rock protruding from the soil.
Crack!
The rock shattered instantly under the force.
Ning Xuan narrowed his eyes, staring fixedly at the blood-red kasaya, then watching every minute movement of the bear demon.
His true nature was that of a spoiled young master, fond of eating, drinking, whoring, and gambling. But that hellish nightmare of life and death, along with some of his experiences before he crossed over, had given him a temporary nature.
A nature that existed only to kill his opponent.
When that nature took over his body, he became a killing machine.
Truthfully, he didn't like being this way.
But he had no choice.
At that moment, Ning Xuan wasn't thinking about where the blood-red kasaya had come from or how it could have such an effect. He was only considering why his attack had failed.
Almost instantly, he keenly realized that the blood-red kasaya had directly spread out the force of his blow, expanding it from a concentrated point to a broad surface and naturally weakening it considerably.
His gaze slowly lifted again, fixing on the Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon's throat.
The bear demon noticed his gaze, too.
He didn't ask anything.
Neither did the Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon.
Who the hell would distract themselves by asking questions in the middle of a fight to the death?
The Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon suddenly grinned savagely and swung its claws wildly, turning the kasaya into two blood-red shields. Then it charged at him like a streak of crimson wind, reaching within seven steps in an instant.
Ning Xuan stepped with Swallow Return Step and swiftly swung his saber.
Man and demon clashed.
For a moment, the saber was a silver dragon surging from the sea, while the robe was a blood-red sea rising in waves. One tried to vault into the sky and break free of the sea, only for the raging tide to press down from above.
As they crossed blows, shadows flickered. The clashes tore at the ears, and the force of each impact sent surging waves of air sweeping outward.
Ning Xuan's techniques were a cut above, but the blood-red Brocade Kasaya was so large that it left him little room to attack. Whenever his strikes landed on the kasaya, it evenly dispersed their force.
As for the kasaya, no matter what it was made of, Ning Xuan couldn't damage it with any amount of slashing or stabbing.
BANG!
Another collision, and man and demon separated.
Ning Xuan stared at the bear demon and slowly assumed the starting stance of Swallow Return Three Sabers.
He had an idea.
He'd give it a try.
If it still didn't work, he'd retreat for now.
The air fell silent for a moment.
The Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon's eyes glimmered eerily. It was impossible to tell what it was thinking. Then it suddenly sprang at Ning Xuan.
Ning Xuan moved like a swallow, his saber faster than his body. His late strike arrived first as he unleashed Flying Swallow Chasing Wind.
The Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon flipped its sleeve to block.
Ning Xuan rushed in close, shifting from a one-handed grip to a two-handed grip. He followed up the light, swift Flying Swallow Chasing Wind with the forceful, heavy Swallow Piercing Raging Waves.
SWISH!
WHUMP! WHUMP! WHUMP!
The kasaya caved inward slightly, but quickly spread his force evenly across itself.
Ning Xuan changed his slash into a spin, trying to slide up the slippery kasaya and cut the bear demon's throat.
The Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon reacted just as quickly. Its dark arm suddenly flipped, and its elbow pressed down on Ning Xuan's saber. Then it poured its strength into the blow and slammed hard against the blade.
It meant to destroy its opponent's weapon.
Crack!
The saber broke.
But the Blood Red Brocade Kasaya Bear Demon's strike missed.
Its heavy blow missed.
Yet the saber still broke.
It had wanted to break the saber.
It seized the opportunity and struck with all its strength.
Then the saber broke.
But—damn it—the bear demon hadn't been the one to break it.
The tremendous force of its blow made its body dip slightly.
Ning Xuan had broken the saber himself. Holding the broken blade, he didn't let up, stepping forward to build speed as he brought Flying Swallow Mountain Collapse down toward the bear's neck.
At that moment, they were truly rushing to meet each other halfway.
The bear was coming down, and the blade was rising.
The bear's eyes flew wide, but no matter how quickly it reacted, it could do nothing now.
SWISH!
The broken blade cut across the bear's neck, severing half of it.
Ning Xuan slapped the bear's head and flipped over it. His blade turned as well, and from behind he gave a savage yank and pull.
THUD!
The enormous bear's head hit the ground.
It rolled through the mud and dust.
Ning Xuan glanced around, then quickly bent down to pick up the blood-red Brocade Kasaya.
Just then, though he was certain there was no one around, a howl suddenly sounded close by.
The air seemed to boil, the sound coming from behind him.
Ning Xuan tensed all over. With no chance to dodge, he stamped his feet hard and charged toward the howling wind instead of retreating.
But the attack had come too suddenly, and he hadn't managed to put much strength into that move.
BANG!
He felt a searing pain flare across his lower back.
The air he had struck revealed a strange white ape. It was pure white, with three-inch-long fur. Its eyes glimmered with an indescribable, sinister lewdness, and it held a long metal staff in its hands.
PFFT!
The white ape spat out a mouthful of blood. Its body was clearly not as sturdy as a bear's. Even though Ning Xuan hadn't used his full strength to execute Bear Prowess Mountain Collapse, it had still taken a heavy toll on it.
The strange white ape stared at Ning Xuan in silence, then suddenly began backing away.
Taking advantage of the moment, Ning Xuan quickly wrapped himself in the blood-red Brocade Kasaya.
In an instant, the blood-red Brocade Kasaya turned into a cloud of incense-scented mist and dispersed.
Ning Xuan was stunned.
The white ape's eyes lit up. It let out several mocking "Kekeke" laughs and said, "I thought you were a demon playing dirty and devouring your own kind. I didn't expect you wouldn't even know that. Looks like you're still a local. See you again!!"
With that, its body swayed in midair, and it vanished completely.
Ning Xuan took two steps forward and looked at the pool of white ape blood on the ground.
Suddenly, a line of information appeared before his eyes:
[Ghost Shadow Horse Monkey] [Heavenly Demon Life-Class: Monkey Order, Common Family, Ghost Shadow Species (Constitution): 3.5] [Heavenly Demon Scroll: Observe the Heavenly Demon's arrival, follow its essence and blood, and examine the root of its nature and life. Forcefully refine a talisman. If the refinement fails, life and spirit will perish; if it succeeds, it can be made your own.] [Refine talisman?] *No.*
Before you continue