Outside Linyang City.
Su Mo held Xi'er's jade-like hand as they walked along the mountain path.
"Xi'er, once we enter the mountain range and encounter demonic beasts, stay behind me."
Su Mo instructed Xi'er.
"Mm!"
Xi'er nodded.
Before long, the two arrived at the Youfeng Mountain Range and entered its depths.
Roar!
A lion-like demonic beast at Level One, Second Layer pounced at them, but Su Mo casually killed it with a single punch.
"Xi'er, close your eyes!"
Su Mo said to Xi'er.
Xi'er froze for a moment, but she did not ask any questions and obediently shut her eyes.
Su Mo released his Martial Soul, immediately devouring the beast's beast soul and all the blood essence in its body.
Su Mo had not told Xi'er to close her eyes because he did not trust her or feared she would discover his secret.
Rather, he did not want Xi'er to be traumatized. After all, directly sucking a demonic beast's corpse into a dried husk was far too horrifying a sight.
"All right, Xi'er. Let's go!"
Su Mo removed the Demonic Core from the beast and spoke.
Xi'er opened her eyes. The next instant, she saw the demonic beast's corpse, nothing but skin stretched over bones, and froze.
"Brother Su Mo, how did this demonic beast become like this?"
Xi'er was greatly astonished, her eyes filled with confusion.
Just moments ago, it had been a tall and mighty demonic beast. Yet after dying, it had turned into such an emaciated dried corpse in the blink of an eye.
She knew Su Mo must have done it.
She also knew Su Mo had made her close her eyes because he did not want her to see it.
Yet she still could not help asking.
"I devoured all the blood essence in its body, so it became like this."
Su Mo did not hide anything and told Xi'er the truth.
"Devoured?"
The confusion in Xi'er's eyes deepened. She did not understand how a demonic beast's blood essence could be devoured.
"Hehe, Xi'er, if you want to know, I'll show you later."
Su Mo smiled.
But Xi'er shook her head and said, "Since Brother Su Mo does not want Xi'er to see it, then Xi'er will not look."
"Let's go, Brother Su Mo!"
The outermost region of the mountain range was filled with demonic beasts below Level One, Rank Three.
Because he was traveling with Xi'er, Su Mo did not move very quickly.
Along the way, no matter what demonic beast they encountered, Su Mo killed them all.
He devoured every beast soul and every drop of blood essence.
Whenever he finished killing a demonic beast, Xi'er would voluntarily close her eyes despite her curiosity.
Although Su Mo told her she could watch, she insisted on not doing so.
In her words: since Brother Su Mo did not want Xi'er to see it, then Xi'er absolutely would not look.
That determined look made Su Mo shake his head helplessly.
Boom!
Once again, Su Mo killed a Level One, Rank Three demonic beast with a single blow.
Just as Su Mo was about to devour it, his expression changed, and he turned to look behind him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Seven or eight black-clad figures suddenly sprang from the forest behind them, swiftly surrounding him and Xi'er.
"What do you want?"
Su Mo hurriedly pulled Xi'er to his side, frowned at them, and asked.
They held steel sabers, and their auras were deep and powerful. All of them were experts. Without a word, they had surrounded the two of them. Clearly, they had come with ill intent.
"Su Mo, obediently hand over this young lady, and I may consider leaving you an intact corpse."
The tall, middle-aged man in the lead wore a cold expression, killing intent gleaming in his eyes.
Su Mo raised his brows upon hearing that.
They had come for Xi'er, and they knew his identity. It seemed they had come prepared.
"Who exactly are you?"
Su Mo demanded sharply.
"A man about to die has no need to know."
The middle-aged man sneered and waved his hand. "Kill him!"
The middle-aged man had no intention of wasting time and immediately gave the order.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The others swung their long sabers and immediately charged at Su Mo.
Their auras were extremely powerful. They were all Qi Cultivation Level Seven experts.
Working together, they could even fight an ordinary Qi Cultivation Level Eight expert.
Whoosh!
Su Mo grabbed Xi'er and flashed away, leaving behind a faint afterimage as he evaded their attacks.
"Xi'er, climb onto my back and hold on tight!"
Su Mo hurriedly had Xi'er climb onto his back.
Although these men were Qi Cultivation Level Seven cultivators, killing him was simply impossible.
What made Su Mo somewhat wary was the leading middle-aged man, an extremely powerful expert at the peak of Qi Cultivation Level Eight, far beyond the others.
If he fought alone, Su Mo would not fear even a peak Qi Cultivation Level Eight expert. Even if he could not win, he could still leave with ease.
But now, his first priority was protecting Xi'er.
Xi'er also knew that they were in grave danger. Hearing Su Mo's words, she hurriedly climbed onto his back.
Soft warmth pressed against his back, but Su Mo had no time to feel it as the enemy's sabers came at him again.
Whoosh!
Su Mo unleashed his movement technique and swiftly flashed to the side of a black-clad man.
Clang!
His longsword left its sheath. A flash of sword light streaked past, and a spray of blood shot out.
One Sword Seal Throat!
With one move, he killed a man, then immediately retreated.
"What?"
The black-clad men were greatly shocked. They had not expected one of their number to fall in the blink of an eye.
"What a fast sword!"
The black-clad middle-aged leader was utterly astonished.
A month ago, Su Mo's strength had merely been comparable to Qi Cultivation Level Seven. Now, he could actually kill a Qi Cultivation Level Seven martial artist in an instant.
"However, you will still die today!"
The black-clad middle-aged man shouted coldly, drew his saber, and fiercely slashed at Su Mo.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The middle-aged man slashed three times in rapid succession, sending three sharp waves of saber qi at Su Mo in a triangular formation.
The saber qi directly sealed off Su Mo's routes of escape to the left and right, forcing him to meet the attack head-on.
Gale Edge!
Su Mo swung his sword. Wind rose and clouds surged as sword light burst forth and slashed toward the saber qi.
Boom!
The saber qi shattered, turning into fierce gusts that swept in every direction.
"Urgh!"
At that moment, a muffled groan came from Xi'er on his back.
Su Mo turned his head and saw Xi'er's face was pale as paper, her crimson lips bitten tightly as she desperately held back her voice.
She remained silent because she was afraid of distracting Su Mo.
Su Mo was instantly alarmed, cursing himself for being foolish.
Xi'er's strength was too low. She simply could not withstand the shockwaves from the attacks.
But there was no time to think. Just as Su Mo blocked that move, the attacks of the other six or seven black-clad men arrived as well.
Saber Light flashed like bolts of lightning, all striking toward Su Mo's vital points.
Wind Sweeps Clouds!
With one sword strike, wild winds raged and directly forced the men back. Su Mo retreated once more.
It was not that he could not defeat these black-clad men, but that he wanted to prevent the aftershocks of their attacks from reaching Xi'er.
Su Mo had only just retreated and had not yet regained his footing when a brilliant Saber Light swept toward his lower abdomen.
The black-clad middle-aged man had attacked again.
Their attacks came like a violent storm, giving Su Mo not the slightest chance to catch his breath.
The black-clad middle-aged man was highly skilled at seizing opportunities. This was precisely the moment when Su Mo's old strength had faded and his new strength had yet to arise.
With Xi'er on his back, Su Mo was constrained at every turn to avoid hurting her, unable to fully unleash his strength.
At this critical moment, Su Mo had no time to gather strength and defend. He could only do his utmost to use his movement technique to evade.
Slash!
A stream of blood sprayed through the air. Although Su Mo evaded the strike, the saber qi still wounded his side, leaving a gash more than a finger's length long.
Blood flowed steadily from the wound.
"Brother Su Mo!"
Xi'er's face went pale with fright, mist rising in her eyes.
"Brother Su Mo, put me down! Don't worry about me anymore. Run away by yourself!"
Xi'er cried.
"Xi'er, what nonsense are you saying? If I want to leave, they cannot stop me."
Su Mo smiled. Then he spun around and dashed toward the depths of the forest. In the blink of an eye, he had already swept dozens of meters away.
"Chase him! We must not let him escape!"
The black-clad middle-aged man hurriedly gave the order and took the lead in pursuit.
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