The group had been walking through the nested Rift for more than twenty minutes.
Lin Feng led the way.
Twelve Dark-Scaled Giant Lizards had appeared along the route, scattered here and there. He cut them all down as he went.
Not one lasted more than three seconds against him.
[Defeated C-Rank Exotic Beasts: Dark-Scaled Giant Lizard ×12, gained Martial Path Points ×6000]
[Steel of the Blade: 310/500]
Old Zhang followed behind, counting the corpses. He stopped after the eighth.
There was no point.
It was like watching someone slaughter chickens.
They passed through the dark-purple nested entrance and returned to the fifth layer of the E-Rank Rift.
The temperature dropped considerably, and the air felt fresher.
Someone behind him let out a long breath. Several of the wounded collapsed straight onto the ground.
"Don't stop. Keep moving." Lin Feng didn't even look back.
There were still four layers between the fifth level and the Rift's exit.
The E-Rank Exotic Beasts were about as threatening to him as mosquitoes, but with so many wounded in the group, they couldn't move quickly.
Lin Feng simply hoisted Li Ming onto his shoulder.
"Brother Lin, I can walk by myself..."
"Shut up."
Li Ming's words caught in his throat, and he fell silent.
Old Zhang and the others followed behind. Lin Feng cleared out every Exotic Beast along the way; they didn't even see a single cockroach.
Forty minutes later, the light of the Rift's exit appeared.
Everyone quickened their pace.
The moment sunlight fell on their faces, several people dropped to their knees and burst into tears.
Three days.
They had been trapped inside for three days. Four had died, and every survivor was injured.
They had thought they were going to die there.
"Brother." Old Zhang walked up to Lin Feng and dropped to one knee.
Lin Feng frowned and pulled him back up.
"Don't do all that."
"No, you saved more than twenty lives. I have to—"
He hadn't even finished speaking when Lin Feng cut in.
"If you really want to thank me, just give me a reward."
Old Zhang froze, then broke into a grin.
"Deal! You bet!"
He pulled a business card from his coat and handed it over. "Northern Territory Third Martial Artist Regiment, squad leader Zhang Qingyang. Brother, I didn't bring any money on this trip, but come visit our regiment sometime, and I'll make it up to you!"
"Sure, I'll take it."
Lin Feng tucked the card away and lowered Li Ming from his shoulder.
"Can you walk?"
Li Ming nodded. His right leg was still trembling, but the Energy Recovery Pill was taking effect, and his wound had nearly stopped bleeding.
"Let's head back to the Seventh Defense Line." Lin Feng patted him on the back.
The two said goodbye to Old Zhang and his group, then headed toward the Seventh Defense Line.
After about twenty minutes, they spotted the walls of Base Camp in the distance.
Lin Feng stopped.
Two black SUVs were parked outside the entrance to Base Camp.
Eight people stood beside them.
Seven were Martial Artists, their auras fully unleashed. The weakest was a sixth-stage Martial Artist, while the strongest was at the peak.
And one more.
A lean, middle-aged man in his fifties, dressed in a gray robe, stood at the front with his hands behind his back.
Third-stage Martial Ancestor.
Someone from the Zhao Family.
Lin Feng shoved Li Ming back.
"Stand to the side. Don't come over."
Li Ming's face went deathly pale. He recognized those cars. They were debt collectors.
But the group that had come today was several times larger than before.
"Brother Lin, those people..."
"I know."
Lin Feng gripped his battle blade and strode toward the entrance to Base Camp.
The gray-robed man glanced over and fixed his gaze on Lin Feng.
"You're Lin Feng?"
"Yeah."
"The two debt collectors sent by the Zhao Clan Bank went missing. Their last known location was somewhere around here."
The gray-robed man pulled a photograph from his sleeve. It showed the two debt collectors Lin Feng had killed.
"Have you seen them?"
"I have."
The gray-robed man raised his eyebrows.
"Where?"
"Waiting for you underground."
"Waiting for me underground?" The gray-robed man's expression darkened.
Before the other man could react, Lin Feng moved.
There was no wasted motion.
He drew his blade.
The gray-robed man was named Zhao Wei, the Zhao Family's Third Elder.
His reaction was already fast enough.
The moment he sensed the killing intent, he took half a step back and shouted for his men to attack.
But the seven Martial Artists behind him were even slower.
Lost Trace Step carried Lin Feng straight into the center of the group.
Three afterimages split off at once, while his true body was already right in the face of the nearest sixth-stage Martial Artist.
Mountain Splitter swept through.
The first man's head flew off, spinning two and a half times through the air before rolling into the grass by the roadside.
The second had only drawn half his blade.
Lin Feng's blade had already cut through his waist.
His upper and lower halves slid away in opposite directions.
The third turned and ran.
Gale Wind caught up and sliced clean through his back from left to right.
Three men. Two seconds.
The remaining four finally drew their weapons, but their hands were shaking.
Lin Feng gave them no chance to surround him. He kicked off the ground and shot three meters into the air.
Midair, Mountain Splitter rose high.
Mountain-Breaking Slash.
Golden Gale Wind cleaved downward, an arc of energy sweeping over the four men's heads.
Its piercing power was unleashed to the full. Two men were split into pieces on the spot. A third was flung away by the lingering force of the Gale Wind and slammed into a car door, caving it in.
The last man held out, raising his blade to block, but the impact shattered both his arms and knocked the weapon from his hands.
Lin Feng landed and struck again.
A slash to the throat.
[Targets defeated ×7]
[Steel of the Blade: 317/500]
It had taken less than five seconds from start to finish.
Zhao Wei stood rooted to the spot, as if nailed there.
His seven Martial Artist subordinates had all been taken out in five seconds.
How could a Martial Master have that kind of killing power?
That blade, that footwork, and the penetrating force of that Gale Wind...
Zhao Wei's hand went to the sword at his waist, his fingertips turning cold.
He had cultivated for more than thirty years, yet this was the first time he had felt the threat of death in front of a younger man.
"You..."
He hadn't finished speaking.
An invisible force slammed into his mind.
"Damn it! A Psychic Master!"
Zhao Wei realized the danger, but it was too late.
It felt as though someone had grabbed his brain and twisted it.
His vision blurred, his body lost control, and he stood frozen for a full half-second.
Half a second was enough.
Lin Feng was already in front of him.
Mountain Splitter rose over his head.
He poured all his blood and energy into the blade. The Dark Gold Spirit Pattern shone at its brightest.
In that half-second, Zhao Wei fought desperately to recover. He grabbed his sword with both hands and thrust it upward.
Third-stage Martial Ancestor.
Even with his mind disrupted by psychic force, he couldn't possibly fail to withstand a single slash.
That was what he thought.
Mountain Splitter crashed into the sword.
There was no metallic clang.
The sword split down the middle.
The blade met no resistance. It passed through the steel sword, through Zhao Wei's skull, and through his chest.
Armor Piercing and penetration flowed together in one seamless strike.
Zhao Wei looked down.
A golden crack ran from the crown of his head all the way to his abdomen.
"This... this is impossible..."
Zhao Wei's body split down the middle and toppled in two directions.
[Target defeated: Zhao Wei (Third-Stage Martial Ancestor)]
[Steel of the Blade: 318/500]
Lin Feng flicked the blood from his blade and turned around.
Li Ming stood twenty meters away, both legs shaking. His mouth hung wide open, and he couldn't close it for a long time.
"Let's go."
Li Ming trailed after him, moving slowly.
After a few steps, he blurted out, "Brother Lin, that guy was a Martial Ancestor!"
"Yeah."
"And you took him down with one slash..."
"Yeah."
Seeing Lin Feng's expression, Li Ming swallowed the rest of his words.
They reached the entrance to Base Camp and ran into Wang Tie.
"Where is he? Did you bring him back?" The moment Wang Tie saw Li Ming, his eyes reddened. He rushed over and looked him up and down. "What happened to your arm? Your leg's hurt too? Damn it, who did this?"
"An Exotic Beast bit me." Li Ming hissed as Wang Tie slapped the injured spot.
Among the things Lin Feng had searched off Zhao Wei, he found a debt-collection order from the Zhao Clan Bank and a stack of documents stamped with the Zhao Family seal.
He laid everything out in front of Li Ming and tore the papers to shreds, one by one.
"The money you owed the Zhao Family doesn't exist anymore, starting today."
Li Ming reached out, then pulled his hand back. At last, he clenched it tight against the seam of his trousers.
"But the Zhao Family..."
"I'll deal with them."
Wang Tie watched Lin Feng's expression. His lips moved, but in the end, he didn't ask anything.
He knew Lin Feng too well.
When this man said, "I'll handle it," he meant he would rip the problem out by the roots.
Back at Base Camp, Lin Feng first went to the infirmary, treated Li Ming's wounds, and left him in Wang Tie's care.
Then he returned to his tent.
The System Panel unfolded in his mind.
[Host: Lin Feng] [Spirit: First-Rank Psychokinetic Master (260/1000)] [Realm: Martial Master, Fifth Stage (0/5000)] [Cultivation Art: Heavenly Gale Body-Forging Art (1/10000)] [Martial Techniques: Mountain-Breaking Slash (Perfect), Lost Trace Step (Perfect)] [Talent: Steel of the Blade (318/500)] [Martial Path Points: 13500]
He didn't have enough points.
Zhao Wannian, head of the Zhao Family, was a Martial King, First Stage.
At his current strength, Lin Feng couldn't beat him.
The gap wasn't just a little; it was an entire major realm.
He needed to grind.
Lin Feng swung his legs off the bed and picked up Mountain Splitter.
It was already completely dark outside the tent.
He pushed aside the flap and headed for the camp gate.
Zhang Qian came hurrying after him, panting.
"Sergeant Major? Going out again? It's already dark."
Lin Feng didn't even look back.
"I'm going to grind some monsters. Don't come looking for me."
Before you continue