Level 5 Spirit Body, Breakthrough!

"Forget it, I'll just beat it to death first!"

Mu Chen shifted his focus, summoned his quasi-divine artifact, and charged straight into the fray.

He planted his feet in a crouched stance, centered his energy in his dantian, tucked his chin, and unleashed a flurry of strikes—hitting, parrying, stabbing, poking, pressing, and collapsing. The eighteen profound variations of the staff technique flowed from his hands like a blur.

Although the Spirit Road rules had sealed most of the Demon-Subduing Battle Staff's power, its essence as a divine artifact remained.

With the aid of this divine weapon, Mu Chen forced the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast to retreat again and again.

The five-foot-long Demon-Subduing Battle Staff looked like an ordinary, unadorned rod, devoid of any divine glow, yet it struck the intermediate spirit beast with pinpoint accuracy time after time.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The long staff rained down, landing on the beast's body—which felt as if it were forged from refined iron—producing the sound of clashing metal and occasionally sparking with every impact.

Mu Chen, his hands numbed by the vibrations, quickly realized the problem.

Just hearing the noise without dealing any actual damage—who could keep this up?

In a split second, he transitioned from his crouched stance into a lunging step, retracted the staff, gripped it tightly with both hands, and thrust it forward like a dragon striking, aiming straight for the creature's glaring eyes.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast slammed its eyes shut, covering its fragile eyeballs with thick, fleshy membranes.

Ping! The Demon-Subduing Battle Staff vibrated, emitting a metallic ring as the attack failed once more.

"ROAR!!"

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast let out a pained howl; it had been successfully enraged.

Its body, originally only half a man's height, suddenly surged to three or four times its size, its mane bristling.

Seven or eight tentacles, resembling those of an octopus, danced like a swarm of demons, baring their fangs like gray-white venomous snakes, intertwining and snapping wildly with ferocious intent.

Boom! The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast thrust its front claws forward, swiping directly at the little bug before it.

Had that strike landed, even a Level 5 Spirit Body would have met a gruesome end.

Mu Chen had calculated the timing the moment he retracted his staff, leaping backward just in time.

By the time the beast's sharp claws slammed down, he was already well out of range.

Swish!

A mysterious whip-like shadow flashed, shattering the air as it lashed toward Mu Chen's face.

Before he could react, swish-swish-swish, the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast unleashed all its tentacles, shrouding the human in an all-encompassing net.

Mu Chen's expression shifted, and he immediately rolled across the ground, narrowly evading the attack.

These giant snakes possessed highly potent venom capable of numbing nerves and corroding muscle.

In this realm, spirit pills were hard to come by, and Mu Chen was unwilling to waste them unless absolutely necessary.

Besides, being on the receiving end of a beating was not his style.

Boom! Staff shadows filled the air as Mu Chen flicked his right hand, executing a sudden counter-strike.

The pursuing Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast, never expecting the little bug to counterattack mid-flight, was caught off guard, taking seven consecutive blows to the head that left it reeling in dizziness.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast flew into a rage, its eyes turning crimson. It pushed off the ground with its powerful hind legs and lunged, intent on pinning the reckless human to the ground.

It was at this moment that a white line, hidden beneath the fur on its belly, was exposed.

An opening!

A sharp glint flashed in Mu Chen's eyes as his technique shifted instantly.

The fourth move of the thirty-three Demon-Subduing Staff Technique: Rib-Piercing Autumn Frost!

Mu Chen let out a loud shout, his black hair cascading over his shoulders, his heroic posture radiating the might of a celestial deity.

This was a thrusting technique; he lunged forward, driving his hips into the movement, and aimed straight for the white line.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast was startled and immediately diverted two of its flailing tentacles to coil together, shielding its soft belly and that vital point.

Without spiritual energy to amplify his martial arts, he couldn't achieve the effect of shattering mountains and rivers, but the form remained. Mu Chen possessed a Level 5 Spirit Body, and he executed the move with pure physical strength.

Even so, his Demon-Subduing Staff Technique was enough to strike terror into the heart of the fierce beast.

To kill this monster, one must first strip away its claws and teeth, and break its wings.

Seeing this, Mu Chen let out a low, cold laugh.

A beast is a beast, after all; it knows nothing of the natural order.

He rotated the battle staff again, instantly switching from the thrusting technique to a sweeping one.

The third move of the Demon-Subduing Staff Technique: Lightly Sweeping Autumn Water!

Swish-swish-swish! He swung the staff, creating a flurry of afterimages.

The two tentacles the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast had hastily diverted were instantly severed.

That's right—his target had never been the white line.

Roaring, the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast let out a mournful cry, slamming heavily into the ground and shattering a large slab of bluestone as two jets of white mist puffed rapidly from its nose and mouth.

Again!

Mu Chen repeated his tactics, feinting multiple times to strike at vital points, forcing the highly agitated Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast to defend repeatedly until he severed another of its tentacles.

White Ape Exits Cave!

Striding Tiger Ascends Mountain!

Eagle Claws Sparrow!

Mu Chen unleashed eight forms of the Demon-Subduing Staff Technique in total, precisely severing eight of the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast's tentacles, leaving it a hairless, clawless beast with seven or eight-tenths of its combat power gone.

"Huff, huff, huff~~"

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast was covered in blood, its breathing ragged as crimson stained its golden mane.

Across its body, seven or eight large, hideous wounds writhed silently, looking incredibly gruesome.

It had become a toothless, sickly tiger.

With most of its ferocity dissipated, reason gradually regained the upper hand within the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast; fear flickered in its eyes, and with a weak roar, it turned to flee.

The fragrance of spiritual herbs grew increasingly rich in the air.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast abandoned even the nearly ripe, easily accessible Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit; in the end, the instinct for survival outweighed everything else!

But with a dull thud, Mu Chen swung his battle staff, ending its life on the spot.

In the Spiritual Road Plane, there is no right or wrong.

If I do not kill you today, you will slaughter me tomorrow; it is merely survival.

Mu Chen expressionlessly smashed the skull of the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast, produced his token, and refined the miniature beast soul, adding five points to his score.

A surge of heat rose up. Level Five Spiritual Body. Breakthrough!

The crimson blood of the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast poured onto the scarlet spiritual plant, seeping into the soil and roots, finally bringing the strange fragrance in the mountain stream to its peak.

The Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit had ripened.

Plop. The firm, plump, fiery-red fruit detached itself and rolled into his palm.

A faint joy welled up in Mu Chen's heart.

With his spiritual body breaking through ahead of schedule, he was certain he could reach an even higher level after refining the spiritual fruit.

"Kid, stop right there!"

As Mu Chen put away the fiery-red fruit and prepared to leave to find a safe place to refine it, an arrogant voice suddenly rang out from below the mountain.

Swish! Swish!

The sound of wind breaking echoed as three or five figures ascended from the foot of the mountain in quick succession, landing in a line halfway up the slope, each wearing an expression of haughty pride.

"Not bad, you're quite clever; you've saved yourself a beating."

The black-clad youth leading them nodded in approval, seemingly satisfied with Mu Chen's sensible behavior, before his gaze swept past Mu Chen to the area behind him.

When he saw the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast lying in a pool of blood and the already harvested Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit, greed flashed in his eyes, and he exclaimed with delight, "It's that!"

His group had received intelligence that a high-level, unknown spiritual plant was growing in this mountain range.

They had hurried and rushed, finally managing to track it down.

"Kid, we planted that Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit here long ago. It's not good to take other people's things—hand it over."

The black-clad youth clearly recognized the origin of the scarlet spiritual plant.

He stared fixedly at Mu Chen, his face turning vicious.

Mu Chen turned around unhurriedly and, ignoring the question, muttered to himself, "If I add you lot to the count, my points should break one thousand."

"What? You little brat, are you looking for death!"

With a low, furious shout, the atmosphere on the field turned tense instantly.