Uninvited Guest

The rustling of footsteps drew closer, and the light spilling from the tent stretched the shadow of the person behind him into a long, thin line. Hemon turned slowly to look.

"It's you!"

"That's right, it's me."

Hemon saw Li Xingluo appear abruptly before him, and in Li Xingluo's eyes, he saw only confidence.

Hemon glanced back at the twenty-plus corpses scattered on the ground, his eyes brimming with overwhelming rage.

"Stop looking; I killed them," Li Xingluo continued with a hint of mockery. "I heard you were looking for me, and that you claimed you'd hack me into eight pieces to offer as a sacrifice to your young leader once you found me."

Beyond anger, Hemon's eyes were filled with nothing but disdain for Li Xingluo.

In Hemon's view, even if Li Xingluo could kill so many of his subordinates without a sound, he still could not shake the strength Hemon possessed as an eight-star Dou Practitioner.

"That's right, which is why tonight is the day you die."

The moment Hemon finished speaking, Li Xingluo let out a scoff. Hemon felt somewhat insulted.

Without further ado, relying on his hulking frame, he raised his fists and charged at Li Xingluo.

Li Xingluo tapped his toes lightly, using the ground to dodge backward as the fist slammed into the earth, blasting out a small crater.

One had to admit that the brute's strength was truly terrifying; Li Xingluo couldn't help but gasp.

Missing his first strike, Hemon brought his fists together toward the center. Seeing this, Li Xingluo refused to meet him head-on and dodged the attack once more.

As he swept past the top of Hemon's head, he didn't forget to flick the man's forehead—a gesture that pushed Hemon's anger to its peak.

The punches came one after another, and their speed was clearly increasing; several times, Li Xingluo was nearly struck.

Li Xingluo slid backward, braced his hand against the ground, and performed a kip-up to regain his footing.

He hadn't expected this brute's strength to be superior to an average eight-star Dou Practitioner, nor was his speed slow. A massive boulder in the camp was shattered by his punch, turning into countless small fragments.

As Hemon threw a punch, the small stones flew toward Li Xingluo. Li Xingluo shifted his stance continuously, weaving between the debris until he reached a large boulder he could no longer dodge.

Li Xingluo threw a punch, instantly shattering the boulder twice his size, but Hemon's fist arrived at the same time.

Unable to dodge, Li Xingluo decided to meet force with force, throwing both fists out to intercept Hemon's strike.

"Kid, you're still too green to compete with me in strength."

Combined with his massive frame, Hemon's power was indeed terrifying. The force pressing down on Li Xingluo's fists made his entire arms feel as if they had been struck by clubs, with his bones threatening to shatter.

Li Xingluo was sent flying backward, tumbling twice in the air before landing. Seeing Li Xingluo's disheveled state, Hemon grew smug.

"Kid, I told you today is the day you die."

Hemon did not press his advantage; instead, he looked at Li Xingluo with disdain, his gaze that of someone who could crush his opponent at will.

Li Xingluo brushed the dust off his clothes. For a man this arrogant, his fate had long been sealed.

"Is that so? Then try this."

Li Xingluo drew the Wind Spirit Split-Form Sword, his eyes filled with resolve.

"Wind Brake Annihilation!"

He poured his Dou Qi into the Wind Spirit Split-Form Sword, forming a visible longsword at the tip—a manifestation of pure Dou Qi.

The blade was wrapped in a layer of green Dou Qi, causing the surrounding air to distort slightly.

Seeing the Dou Technique Li Xingluo was performing, Hemon burst into laughter, not taking it seriously in the slightest.

Hemon circulated his Dou Qi, his bones creaking audibly, while his entire body began to swell at a visible rate.

Li Xingluo lunged forward, thrusting his sword at Hemon, who threw out both fists to form a defense.

Li Xingluo failed to break through Hemon's defense instantly; he felt as if his sword had struck solid steel. The tip bent slightly, unable to pierce the barrier.

Seeing this, Hemon became extremely smug, mocking Li Xingluo.

"Kid, you think you can break my defense? I have specifically cultivated defensive techniques."

"Is that so?" Li Xingluo smiled, a slight curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

The bent blade began to straighten, and Hemon clearly felt the power behind the sword increasing rather than diminishing.

He was shocked—how could this be? Especially since he saw absolute confidence in Li Xingluo's eyes, not fear.

"You... you are also an eight-star Dou Practitioner? How is that possible? You..."

"It's too late to realize it now!"

"Hmph, so what if you're an eight-star Dou Practitioner? Even the leader would have to expend great effort to break my defense. As for you, kid, you can't break it."

Hemon continued to pour Dou Qi into his defense to reinforce it.

"Is that so?"

The moment the words left Li Xingluo's lips, Hemon instinctively wanted to retort, but suddenly felt a churning, nauseating sensation in his chest, followed by a wave of dizziness and a sharp, stabbing pain in his stomach.

Noticing Hemon's physical distress, Li Xingluo poured all his Dou Qi into the sword, transitioning from a fist to a palm strike.

With a loud shout of "Break—!" the longsword shattered Hemon's defense, the sound like glass breaking and hitting the floor ringing out clearly.

The shockwave sent Hemon flying, tearing through the tent behind him and leaving him collapsed against the fence.

Li Xingluo walked slowly toward Hemon, carrying a faint sense of hostility.

Hemon struggled to rise, but his massive frame left him unable to move, black blood trickling from his mouth.

He wiped the congealed blood from the corner of his mouth and discovered it was black; was this poison?

Hemon recalled everything that had happened tonight, and only now, combined with the woman's initial demeanor, did he understand.

"You... despicable."

Li Xingluo looked down at Hemon from above. He had to admit that at over two meters tall and weighing several hundred jin, Hemon's ability to withstand a beating was truly formidable.

"When dealing with the likes of you, the means don't matter; the result is what counts. So, how is it? Is tonight still my death day?"

Hemon struggled to sit up, staring at Li Xingluo with great unwillingness, and looking at the woman who had already stood up in the distance with a mixture of anger and hatred.

Li Xingluo did not hesitate; he swung the Wind Spirit Split-Form Sword, and Hemon collapsed, breathing his last.

The woman trembled in fear, having witnessed the ruthlessness of Li Xingluo's methods.

Li Xingluo paid the woman no mind, nor did he have any mood to do so; after looting everything from Hemon, his figure vanished into the night. Seeing Li Xingluo depart, the woman slumped to the ground like a pile of mud, staring blankly at Hemon's corpse.

In Green Mountain Town, at the temporary residence of Xiao Yi Xian, she had not yet realized what was happening when the courtyard gate was already knocked down, leaving her to snap back to her senses.

Xiao Yi Xian saw the intruders' attire and immediately understood that these people were from the Wolf Head Mercenary Group.

More than ten men consciously split into two rows, and from the center, two people walked out slowly: one was Mu She, and the other was the owner of the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion.

Xiao Yi Xian was very alert, her hand instinctively moving behind her back. Mr. Yao, the owner of the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion, wore his usual smiling expression, just as he always did when meeting people.

"You are Xiao Yi Xian?" Mu She asked first.

Xiao Yi Xian did not know why they had come, so she did not answer him.

Mr. Yao, the owner of the Ten Thousand Medicine Pavilion standing to the side, immediately fawned, "That's right, she is Xiao Yi Xian."

"Very good!"

Since her identity could no longer be hidden, there was no need for Xiao Yi Xian to continue playing dumb.

"Why have you come here today?" Xiao Yi Xian already held an object in her hand behind her back.