We Resist, We Flee

Liang Shixian stared in stunned disbelief as Ji Ruo brandished the long sword in his hand. Zhang Quan and Liu Neng had already run far ahead.

Liang Shixian had heard of sword techniques that could deflect hidden weapons and other projectiles.

But the lowest realm required to practice those techniques was the Qi Pulse Realm!

There simply weren't any similar sword techniques that Martial Apprentices could practice.

That was because every one of those techniques relied on keen eyesight for support.

At the Martial Apprentice level, to put it nicely, one was a Martial Artist Reserve. But in this world, where everyone practiced martial arts, even ordinary people whose physiques were completely unsuited to martial arts could reach the Martial Apprentice level through long-term training.

So in theory, Martial Apprentices were still considered ordinary people.

Warriors in the Qi Pulse Realm could open their Qi Vessels and truly possess "qi and blood."

Qi and blood meant exactly that: qi and blood. It was very straightforward.

Qi and blood were the foundation of a warrior's transcendence. Only by truly possessing Blood Qi Power could one further tap into the body's hidden potential and embark on the path of evolution known as the Martial Dao.

At that point, every aspect of the human body would improve at a terrifying pace. Defense, strength, speed, reflexes, dynamic vision, and more would all increase dramatically.

But to practice a sword technique capable of deflecting arrows or other projectiles, one had to possess keen dynamic vision. After all, how could you deflect an arrow if you couldn't even see it coming?

But the sword technique Ji Ruo was using now was different. It felt nothing like the techniques Liang Shixian knew that could deflect projectiles.

Those techniques relied on extremely fast sword strikes. Ji Ruo's swordplay, by contrast, wasn't fast at all—in fact, it seemed a little slow.

Of course, "slow" was only relative. In reality, Ji Ruo's sword strikes weren't all that slow.

And compared to those techniques that actively deflected projectiles, Ji Ruo's swordplay had no Sword Qi and wasn't particularly fast, yet it seemed even more subtle.

He always swung the sword to a certain spot first, and only then did a venomous stinger crash into it.

It was as if the Tail-Stinger Demon Bees were deliberately driving their stingers into Ji Ruo's blade.

Absurd!

Clang!

As Ji Ruo cut down the final stinger, all sixteen stingers in the first volley had been knocked from the air!

"Ji—"

Liang Shixian had just started to speak when he saw the second wave of stingers, reloaded and ready, come shooting at them.

"Whatever it is, wait until later. Let's move!"

Ji Ruo bent down and scooped up seven or eight stingers, tucking them into his shirt. Then the Arrow-Breaking Style began again, the clanging ringing without pause.

A Tail-Stinger Demon Bee could store six to nine stingers in its sac. Ji Ruo could hold them off with the First Glimpse of the Path level of the Nine Swords of Dugu: Arrow Breaking Form. But if the rest of the Tail-Stinger Demon Bee swarm realized the corpses weren't going anywhere and decided to deal with their few fleeing meals first, they would be in danger.

After all, the Arrow-Breaking Style didn't rely on keen dynamic vision to deflect projectiles. It relied on prediction.

By Listening to the Wind and Discern Position, he could determine a projectile's direction and order of arrival, calculate the sequence of his moves, and predict when to strike. Then he could neutralize the projectiles with precise sword techniques.

Ji Ruo could barely handle a dozen or so Tail-Stinger Demon Bees. But if hundreds of them charged at once, he wouldn't just be unable to deal with them—he wouldn't even be able to hear them clearly. Without that, he naturally couldn't calculate and predict their order of arrival.

If he couldn't see their flight paths or predict their movements, then once the swarm realized it should kill the ones who could run first, Ji Ruo and the others would still die here.

Liang Shixian realized this too. He wasn't the sort to make a fuss, so he said nothing about staying behind to cover their escape. He only left them with, "Be careful."

Then he turned and sprinted away.

Liang Shixian had seemed ready to face death earlier, but he was still just a young man. When death truly stared him in the face, he was afraid too.

Besides, Ji Ruo's swordplay had made it clear who was better suited to hold off the enemy in a situation like this. So Liang Shixian ran.

As soon as Ji Ruo saw Liang Shixian leave, he retreated at full speed while deflecting stingers with the Arrow-Breaking Style.

Fighting as he fled.

The second wave, the third, the fourth.

When Tail-Stinger Demon Bees fired their stingers, their bodies paused for a moment.

And with every stinger they fired, they grew a little weaker, their flight speed slowing more and more.

Normally, fewer stingers meant less weight, so they should have flown faster.

But these Demonic Beasts weren't machines. Their biological limits meant that as their weight decreased, they also expended a great deal of energy, and their flight speed fell with it.

Ji Ruo and the others ran farther and farther away.

Along the way, Ji Ruo even used his free hand to snatch up the stingers he had knocked down and stuff them into his pocket. The things were poisonous and could be used to make specialized arrows, which could be sold for money.

The venom on the stingers was harmless as long as it didn't get into a wound.

The sixteen Tail-Stinger Demon Bees flew slower and slower, while Ji Ruo and the others ran farther and farther away.

At last, the main swarm realized which group to target. Apart from the Tail-Stinger Demon Bees carrying away their bloody food, large numbers took flight and headed after Ji Ruo and the others.

Their noisy buzzing rose once more. But by the time they caught up with the sixteen Tail-Stinger Demon Bees, Ji Ruo and the others were already gone.

Since they had to face the Martial Exam, martial arts classes in high school focused not only on fighting techniques but also on survival skills.

Warriors had to charge ahead without hesitation, but staying alive mattered just as much. After all, only the living could think about anything else.

Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, summit.

This was the very center of the Secret Realm, and a place humans had never explored.

Extremely powerful Monster Beasts and Demonic Beasts lived here, each claiming territory and ruling its own mountain. Friction between them was common, and the neighbors did not get along.

But today, a group of Great Demons had gathered—an unusual sight—to discuss something with another group of powerful Demonic Beasts who also lived on the summit.

Each being was as massive as a mountain peak, radiating terrifying waves of power.

"Have you still not found that damned cat?!"

A gigantic toad asked in a deep voice. A full moon rested on its back, its phase slowly changing with the passage of time.

"No."

An equally enormous Cyclops slowly shook his head. Its single massive eye, which took up two-thirds of its face, seemed to hold a blazing sun within it.

"That damned cat! It killed the sleeping Earth-Turning Dragon and stole its ability. It's been changing Ten Thousand Beast Mountain's terrain and topography ever since. It's hard to find."

"It doesn't matter. It's already badly wounded, and it's constantly using the stolen ability to alter the terrain and topography for fear of being caught by us. It won't last much longer! We can wait until it's exhausted before we search for it."

Hearing this, the gigantic toad with the moon on its back snorted. "Easy for you to say! You're not the one whose treasure it stole, so of course you're not worried!

"My Moonlight Mirror has already been stolen. What if it uses the Moonlight Mirror to leave Ten Thousand Beast Mountain?"

The Cyclops pondered for a moment. "It probably doesn't have enough power left to activate the Moonlight Mirror. It's already badly wounded, and it had to forcibly alter the terrain everywhere in Ten Thousand Beast Mountain except the summit, all while concealing its presence..."

"Hmph. Let's hope so!"

Please don't leave the book sitting on your shelves, dear readers. I'm begging you~

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