Amid the fierce battle in the dense forest, even the two Organ Refining Realm martial artists couldn't help glancing sideways.
"Hm? That kid actually killed a Bone Refining Realm..." the old woman said in surprise.
Chen Ajiu, whom the old woman was shielding behind her, couldn't help looking over as well. By the moonlight, he could just make out Li Qiming's gray-robed figure in the distance, but he didn't think much of it.
Though Chen Ajiu was only in the early Bone Refining Realm, even ordinary martial artists at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm were no match for him. He owed it all to his Blade Dao Talent.
As a prodigy destined to one day top the Prodigy Ranking, Chen Ajiu naturally had a measure of pride. Bone Refining Realm martial artists barely registered in his eyes.
Let alone a mere gray-robed disciple in the Blood Refining Realm.
He'd only killed an early-stage Bone Refining Realm Demon Sect disciple... Well, now that he thought about it, that was still a little upsetting.
The Demon Sect had spent enormous resources cultivating every one of its Bone Refining Realm martial artists.
Chen Ajiu filed it away. Once the battle was over, he'd make sure to give that gray-robed Martial Hall disciple a thorough lesson and let him sample some inhuman torture...
But that was only if the gray-robed Blood Refining Realm disciple survived to the end.
After all, the Demon Sect had no shortage of Bone Refining Realm martial artists. There were still several in this forest, one of them even at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm.
Jiang Lianyue's Sword Momentum didn't diminish in the slightest, but she couldn't help noticing the gray-robed disciple's eye-catching performance in the forest.
As a Silver Badge Demon Catcher from the Demon Suppression Division, what kind of prodigies hadn't she seen?
Compared with the true prodigies at the Demon Suppression Division Headquarters whom she remembered, this gray-robed disciple's performance wasn't particularly outstanding. He merely showed considerable potential.
She turned her gaze away, and her sword light blazed even brighter.
The battle in the forest seemed chaotic, but in truth, setting aside the two Organ Refining Realm martial artists, the outcome of the remaining fight rested with the handful of Bone Refining Realm martial artists.
Originally, the Bone Refining Realm fighters had been evenly matched one-on-one. But when Li Qiming struck and killed an early-stage Bone Refining Realm Demon Sect martial artist, he shattered that delicate balance.
The atmosphere throughout the forest instantly grew tense.
The Demon Sect disciples' high spirits faltered, while the martial artists from the escort agency and Martial Hall were each reinvigorated, their morale soaring.
"Brothers, kill!"
A Demon Sect disciple raised his blade and rallied the others.
The Demon Sect disciples seemed to have gone berserk. In particular, several Bone Refining Realm martial artists gritted their teeth, and strange black light burst from their bodies. Their strength surged dramatically.
Splurt, splurt.
Several Bone Refining Realm martial artists from the escort agency had already been struggling to cope. Now they were swiftly defeated, falling victim to the Demon Sect's methods.
"No wonder the Demon Catcher Jiang Lianyue stepped in to suppress them. They really are a bunch of things possessed by demons."
Brother Wang clutched a vicious blade wound on his chest and said with a furrowed brow.
"We haven't been possessed. We've only borrowed a little of the power in demonic blood." One of the Bone Refining Realm martial artists slowly approached, blade in hand.
His face was flushed, his expression unnervingly strange.
Beneath the moonlight, three Bone Refining Realm martial artists strode forward, gradually forming a ring around Li Qiming and the others. All three had bloodshot eyes, and a trace of blood lingered at the corners of their mouths.
Clearly, they'd taken some kind of drug to boost their strength, one infused with Demonic Power.
Li Qiming had heard a fair bit about this. The Demon Sect acted ruthlessly, and although it was called the Demon Sect, it actually had nothing to do with demons. Otherwise, it would have been driven from the martial world long ago.
But from what he was seeing now, the Demon Sect's martial artists seemed rather sinister!
It looked like they really did have some connection to demons.
Perhaps Jiang Lianyue hadn't been talking nonsense when she said, "You've been possessed."
While everyone had been distracted and shaken just moments ago, Li Qiming had already touched the corpse without drawing attention to himself.
[Touching the corpse granted an entry] [1. Half of a Bone Refining Realm martial artist's assets: money/valuable] [2. Blade Like Wind: talent/rare]
This time, only two entries appeared.
Li Qiming glanced at the first entry. It was nothing more than the Demon Sect's farmland, a few houses, and several taels of gold. None of it appealed to him.
He immediately looked at the second entry.
[2. Blade Like Wind: talent/rare] [Blade Like Wind: You have a natural affinity for blades, and your comprehension of blade techniques increases by one level. You can master any blade technique with twice the results for half the effort! Your blade speed increases by 5%, up to a maximum of 25%.]
"It showed up again!" Li Qiming was overjoyed.
He hadn't expected the Demon Sect to have so many talented blade users.
He always fought with his fists now. It wasn't because he liked using them; it was because he hadn't even reached Entry Level in blade skills, and holding a blade always felt awkward.
But once he had a talent for blade techniques, his fighting strength would definitely improve by leaps and bounds.
With a blade or without one, using a blade or not—the difference in combat strength was like night and day.
With a thought, Li Qiming naturally chose the Blade Like Wind talent.
After selecting the entry, he felt nothing at all.
After a moment's thought, Li Qiming hooked the toe of his foot under the Full Moon Scimitar in the Bone Refining Realm corpse's hand, flipped it up, and caught it.
At once, an incredibly practiced feeling welled up from the hilt.
It really did feel different, but the sensation wasn't very strong. It seemed rather vague.
Then he suddenly remembered that even though both talents were Blade Like Wind, the one on this Bone Refining Realm corpse was nowhere near as powerful as the one on Shadow Blade, who had pursued him earlier.
It seemed that even the same talent could manifest very differently in different people.
Shadow Blade had worked hard, pouring a great deal of effort into blade techniques. His martial root and aptitude were also strong. So when it came to blade techniques alone, he was indeed much stronger than the Bone Refining Realm corpse in front of him.
"Just as I thought. If you have talent but don't diligently cultivate the corresponding techniques, you'll still end up looking pretty ordinary..."
"If you leave it unused for a long time, the talent will probably gradually go to waste, too."
But what Li Qiming lacked right now was time to slowly practice with a blade.
If only he could get an entry that directly granted experience in blade techniques...
Of course, Li Qiming knew that was wishful thinking. There was no way he'd be that lucky, getting exactly whatever he wanted.
He couldn't have every good thing fall into his lap.
He was already satisfied with obtaining Blade Dao Talent.
"Kid, I didn't expect you to use a blade, too."
The three Bone Refining Realm martial artists stood before Li Qiming.
Two of them were in the early Bone Refining Realm. Seeing their companion lying dead-eyed on the ground, they couldn't help feeling the sorrow of a fox mourning a dead rabbit.
Their gazes turned toward Li Qiming with a measure of wariness.
That strike earlier had been a sneak attack, catching the kid's opponent off guard. But no matter what, he had killed an early-stage Bone Refining Realm martial artist.
That meant he was capable of killing them, too.
The third man, a square-faced martial artist, looked relatively relaxed and disdainful. He was the one who had just spoken.
He was a mid-stage Bone Refining Realm martial artist.
The square-faced martial artist raised his long blade and pointed its tip at Li Qiming.
"Since you use a blade, pick yours up. I'll fight you one-on-one and show you what a real blade technique looks like!"
He sounded supremely confident in his own blade skills.
"Fine," Li Qiming replied with a nod.
The next second, his body moved without the slightest warning.
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