Gale Breath Severing Slash

The sun sank in the west, the sunset glowing red. A crimson halo washed over the whole land, and in the afterglow, Stone Village lay peaceful and serene.

Stone Village was situated on the outskirts of the mountain range, where there were fewer ferocious beasts, so the area was relatively peaceful.

"Ha... ha... ha..." Bai Yixin was in an awkward predicament. He couldn't tell whether he was being dragged along or looking after the children.

"Ah..." Listening to the gaggle of little brats chattering beside him, Bai Yixin sighed helplessly.

Although Bai Yixin considered himself young at heart, he just couldn't fit in with the little brats. The adults were busy processing their prey and didn't need his help, either.

If he hadn't been waiting for Little One and the others to return, Bai Yixin would have gone to the mountains to grind monsters and build up his proficiency long ago. There was no need for him to waste time playing such pointless games with these brats.

Suddenly, a long cry rang out from the distant mountain forest.

"An eagle's cry? They're finally here. I thought I'd remembered wrong." Bai Yixin's eyes lit up. He stopped circulating his cultivation art and spoke to a skinny child beside him, one who looked like a mountain monkey whenever he smiled.

"Pi Hou, go tell Grandpa Chief. Little One and the others are back, but it sounds like something happened. The Green-Scaled Eagle's cry is weak."

"Huh? Oh, okay." Pi Hou blinked, then watched Bai Yixin head toward the outskirts of the village and asked, "What about you, Little Bai?"

"I'll go take a look first. Tell Grandpa Chief and the others to hurry over." Bai Yixin darted away, his voice fading into the dust behind him.

"Little Bai, be careful!" The other children couldn't keep up with Bai Yixin. They could only watch him vanish into the distance in the blink of an eye and hurriedly shout after him.

Meanwhile, Little One and the Green-Scaled Eagle returned laden with spoils: the Suanni Precious Body, a Demon Ape's arm, and the broken horn of a Li Fire Demon Ox.

But they hadn't escaped the struggle unscathed. In a battle not long ago, a Purple Gold Snake had bitten the Green-Scaled Eagle. Though she'd decisively cut away a large chunk of flesh, she still hadn't managed to stop the poison from spreading completely.

At last, poisoned and growing weaker, she ran out of strength and crashed to the ground.

"Auntie, are you all right?" Little Shi Hao quickly got to his feet and ran over to the Green-Scaled Eagle.

The Green-Scaled Eagle was in terrible shape. Blood seeped from her wound like ink, giving off a foul stench. Her whole body was weak, and she could barely stand.

The Green-Scaled Eagle threw back her head and let out a long, piercing cry that seemed to rend metal and shatter stone, but it was clearly weak.

"Auntie, hang on. Grandpa Chief and the others will be here soon."

The sky slowly darkened, and the forest grew especially gloomy and terrifying.

Suddenly, every hair on Little One's body stood on end. He twisted aside in a flash as a cold iron arrow grazed his throat and slammed into a boulder with a clang. Figures appeared and disappeared all around him. More than twenty people had emerged, each holding a hard bow and aiming an iron arrow at him.

Little One was furious. He glared at them with wide eyes and said, "Last time, our Stone Village let you go, and you swore a blood oath. Now you want to kill me? You..."

The newcomers were from a nearby place called Bei Village. Their Sacrificial Spirit was an old Bei, and their purpose was simple: they wanted the Suanni Precious Body.

Silver light shone in all directions. Since Little One couldn't reason with these treacherous bandits who broke their word, he spread his arms and traced out a radiant moon. Silver light flowed around it, dazzling and bright, as if a divine moon from the Nine Heavens had descended into the world.

Little One moved with the moon, knocking aside arrows and iron spears. He killed several people, and only barely managed to hold off Bei Village's assault.

The people of Bei Village truly lived up to the "Bei" in the saying about wolves and their accomplices: cold-blooded and merciless. More than twenty of them were ganging up on a child, without a trace of reluctance, their faces twisted in cruel smiles.

When they saw they couldn't take Little One down right away, they called for reinforcements. Even their Sacrificial Spirit, Old Bei, was on its way.

A Sacrificial Spirit, also called a "spirit of sacrifice," was short for "the spirit a tribe worships and sustains." It protected the village and kept the ferocious beasts of the Great Wilderness at bay.

Stone Village's Sacrificial Spirit was the Lightning Struck Wood at the entrance to the village: a willow tree with only a single Willow Branch left.

Others might have thought it was merely a tree spirit so badly injured that only one branch remained, but Bai Yixin knew the truth. This was a supreme powerhouse, an Immortal King giant—just temporarily fallen on hard times and stranded in Stone Village.

Compared with Willow Deity, Old Bei of Bei Village was nothing but trash, not worth mentioning.

But for Bai Yixin and the people of Stone Village, Old Bei was an opponent they couldn't hope to defeat.

[Breath Concealment Art proficiency +1]

[Breath Concealment Art proficiency +1]

"These people are shameless! They have no sense of honor!"

Bai Yixin was naturally fast, and he'd already been at the scene for a while. Instead of making an entrance, he'd found a VIP seat and settled in to watch the show.

This was a perfect chance to build up his Breath Concealment Art proficiency.

Unlike the Gale Sword Technique, which gained proficiency simply by being used again and again, the Breath Concealment Art only improved when other people were nearby. The more people there were, and the longer he went unnoticed, the faster his proficiency grew.

With Bai Yixin holding the fort, and Little One—Shi Hao—still able to handle himself, Bai Yixin wasn't in a hurry. Besides, how could the Desolate Heaven Emperor grow without battles and bloodshed?

Mm, it definitely isn't because I want to grind more proficiency.

Bai Yixin peeped out through the dense canopy, showing only his wide eyes as he carefully dodged arrows knocked his way.

"Keep it up, Little One! Get stronger so you can go back and beat up your Double Pupil brother and avenge yourself!" Bai Yixin silently cheered him on. But after moving to a better spot, he hadn't even had time to warm the seat before he couldn't sit still any longer.

"No good. If I stay here any longer, this is going to get out of hand."

Iron arrows flew thick and fast, glinting coldly as they whistled through the air. Each one was enormous and powerful, and they snapped the trees in front of the Green-Scaled Eagle in two.

"Clang!" "Clang!"

The arrow storm was relentless. Little One fought desperately to hold it back, but he still couldn't stop it. The Green-Scaled Eagle had already been struck by more than twenty arrows, all of them buried deep in her body as blood gushed from her wounds.

"Auntie Green-Scaled Eagle!" Little One was heartbroken. Tears filled his eyes as he cried out and did everything he could to hold them back.

An iron arrow slipped silently through the branches and nearly pierced Little One's heart. Luckily, his reflexes were lightning-fast and he dodged aside, but the arrow still tore through the muscle of his small arm, spraying blood.

Not far away, Bei Shan, the leader of Bei Village's hunting party, sneered. He was the one who had shot through Little One's arm. His face was pale; not long ago, the Silver Moon had split his belly open. He nocked another arrow and hid in the bushes, beginning a fresh round of attacks. Ignoring the Green-Scaled Eagle, he aimed only at Little One's heart or throat.

"So you're the sneaky bastard playing dirty!"

Suddenly, a voice that seemed to crawl out of the underworld slipped into Bei Shan's ear. Before he could shout, "Who's there?" a small hand clamped over his mouth.

With a splurt, his head fell to the ground.

"There can only be one sneaky bastard here, and that's me!"

Without the slightest pause, once he'd struck, he had to follow through like a storm.

Never underestimate a hunter's nose for blood!

Bai Yixin swung his short sword toward the crowd and, in an instant, shot toward the people of Bei Village like a howling gale.

Bei Shan's position was behind the crowd, and Bai Yixin had struck decisively. Almost no one noticed him. Everyone within range was swept up into the air by the gale.

"Woohoo! Gale Breath Severing Slash!" His shadow followed the wind as a joyful shout rang out.