Dust billowed through the ruins of Nanhe Town.
Chu Dongyang and three others were closing in on an Eighth-grade Scaled Leopard.
The four worked together seamlessly. The Eighth-grade Scaled Leopard was moments from death.
Several hundred meters away, three figures stood atop an abandoned high-rise.
Two Eighth Grade martial artists and one Seventh Grade martial artist.
They wore black martial arts robes, with "Hua Tian" across their chests.
Hua Tian Martial Arts Hall!
"Instructor Li, it looks like Jiang Li has split off from the Heavenly River Martial Arts Hall hunting team."
A buzz-cut young man of twenty-five or twenty-six spoke with an amused look. "For all we know, a Mutant Beast might kill Jiang Li before we even get the chance."
Another woman, cold and striking, turned to Instructor Li. "Should we take them out while we're here?"
Li Meng was in his early thirties, with a straight back, broad shoulders, and a narrow waist.
"No need to stir up more trouble. There are still two Fifth-grade Grandmasters in Beihe City."
With that, he turned into a blur and vanished from the building.
The young man and woman exchanged a look, then immediately followed him.
In the wasteland between the two towns, Jiang Li had been away from Beihe City for a full day and night. By now, he carried himself like a hunter.
He gently set the Command Flag among the weeds. Ahead, an Eighth-grade Armored Boar slept soundly in the grass.
The Armored Boar ranked among the ten most terrifying Eighth-grade Mutant Beasts. Its back bristled with countless razor-sharp spines of varying lengths, while a single thick plate of bone encased its head.
Apart from its bulk, this Mutant Beast was nearly invincible. Even packs of Blood Claw Cunning Jackals or Silver-Haired Wolves would not choose to fight one.
Eighth-grade Martial Artists could only keep their distance from an Armored Boar, even in a team.
Yet Jiang Li gripped his Black Horizontal Saber and held his breath.
At that moment, he seemed like a seasoned hunter—or a Mutant Beast hardened by survival in the wild.
Suddenly, Jiang Li's skin flushed crimson, and his feet sank into the soil.
Whoosh!
In an instant, he reached the Armored Boar and drove the Black Horizontal Saber straight at its eye.
Its eyes, each no bigger than a grape, were among the Armored Boar's few weak points.
But striking one was difficult.
The Armored Boar jolted awake and immediately lowered its head, trying to block Jiang Li's blade with its thick bone armor. At the same time, a cluster of spines shot from its back toward him.
The blade struck the Armored Boar's skull, throwing off sparks.
Then Jiang Li flickered out of sight.
The spines missed, but the attack had thoroughly enraged the Armored Boar.
Its body, over two meters tall, rose to its feet. Bloodlust gleamed in its eerie green eyes.
Jiang Li appeared a short distance away, frowning slightly. "I underestimated the Mutant Beast's reaction speed."
"Next time, I should use more of my blood qi and move faster."
He reflected on the exchange, learning from it.
He had come to hunt Mutant Beasts partly to earn Lifespan, but also to gain combat experience.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The Armored Boar suddenly dropped its front half, and another volley of spines blasted toward him.
Jiang Li vanished again. The spines were fast, but against his perfected Phantom Shadow Maze Steps, they could not even brush the hem of his clothes.
After dodging the spines, Jiang Li charged straight at the Armored Boar. This time, he held back none of his speed. In the blink of an eye, he was right before it.
With a roar, the Armored Boar relied on its armored head and slammed toward Jiang Li.
This time, the Black Horizontal Saber in Jiang Li's hand flashed like lightning and struck the Armored Boar's head.
The Black Horizontal Saber sank deep into its skull. Even under the force of the Armored Boar's charge, Jiang Li did not retreat a single step.
"Die!"
Inside Jiang Li, his heart seemed to burn like fire.
Fire Spirit Breathing Technique, second layer!
The Black Horizontal Saber fell again, severing the Armored Boar's toughest part—its head.
With a heavy crash, the Armored Boar's corpse hit the ground, and blood spread around it.
Jiang Li exhaled and put away the Black Horizontal Saber. With a surge of strength, he lifted the several-thousand-pound Armored Boar and strode swiftly toward a cave.
He had discovered the cave when he killed a Scaled Leopard. It had been the beast's lair.
The cave now held quite a few Beast Cores: twenty-nine Ninth Grade ones and thirteen Eighth Grade ones, along with valuable materials that were easy to carry.
The Cultivatable Lifespan on the Yellow Book had reached 1,479, an all-time high.
He had also secured enough Lifespan to repay what he owed in just over two months.
He collected the Armored Boar's spines, then lit a fire to roast some meat.
He still had compressed rations on him, but eating them was like chewing wax.
Before long, a glistening, roasted pork leg sat before Jiang Li.
He dug in heartily, looking less like the cautious members of a hunting team and more like someone on vacation.
He had cleared out the Mutant Beasts nearby, so Jiang Li was not worried about giving away his position.
The wasteland between the two towns was vast. Besides, Mutant Beasts were territorial; few would suddenly enter another beast's territory.
He had killed so many Mutant Beasts in a single day that he had practically cleared the area.
Even if one did show up, Jiang Li was not worried. The Command Flag was beside the grill. As long as he did not use it to boost his Blood Qi Value, it placed little strain on his body or mind.
Suddenly, Jiang Li's eyes shifted toward the Black Horizontal Saber at his side.
Within the Command Flag's sensing range, three figures were rushing toward him at high speed.
The younger man and woman among them had already drawn their weapons.
Jiang Li also saw "Hua Tian" on their robes. If he remembered correctly, Luo Tianji had trained at the Hua Tian Martial Arts Hall before transferring schools.
For the three of them, eighty meters would pass in the blink of an eye.
Jiang Li pretended not to notice. As two figures closed in on him, the man with the spear unleashed a martial technique.
A fierce wind coiled around the spear as it thrust toward Jiang Li.
Boom!
The spear struck, gouging a small crater in the ground. Jiang Li was nowhere to be seen.
"Liu Yu, watch out!" someone shouted in alarm.
Jiang Li had already appeared behind Liu Yu, the Black Horizontal Saber in hand.
One slash across the throat!
Jiang Li gave the Black Horizontal Saber a light flick, shaking the blood from its blade.
"An Eighth-grade Martial Artist? Luo Wenhao's being rather stingy."
Behind him, the buzz-cut young man collapsed, dead.
"You're dead!"
The woman roared and stepped forward. Firelight flashed along her sword as she lunged at Jiang Li.
Jiang Li looked at her calmly, then vanished.
Just as the Black Horizontal Saber was about to sweep across her throat, another sword caught it.
Sparks flew. Only then did the woman react, stumbling backward.
She clutched her neck, a chill running down her spine. If Instructor Li had not intervened, she would have died.
Wasn't Jiang Li's Blood Qi Value only 1.09? And didn't he have no one backing him?
How could he be this strong!?
Instructor Li was surprised too. Losing a student was a serious problem for him.
"Eighth Grade Peak?"
Jiang Li spoke suddenly, looking at the man who had blocked his strike with a sword in one hand.
A faint smile appeared on his face as his skin turned fiery red.
Heavenly River Crimson Blood Art?
Instructor Li's gaze turned cold, though he was not surprised. In an instant, he activated his cultivation technique. His blood qi surged, and a powerful pressure radiated from him.
"Hua Tian Martial Arts Hall. Seventh Grade. Li Meng, the Mountain Lord!"
He had expected those few words to leave Jiang Li terrified.
Instead, Jiang Li's smile only widened.
"Seventh Grade? Then I can... go all out!"
With that, he unleashed the Heavenly River Crimson Blood Art at full force. A Great Sun Silhouette appeared behind him, and his blood qi surged.
Fire Spirit Breathing Technique, fourth layer!
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