Level 5 Spirit Body, Breakthrough!

"Forget it. I'll beat it to death first!"

With a thought, Mu Chen summoned his own quasi-divine Spirit Soldier and attacked without hesitation.

He planted his feet in a low stance, sank his breath to his dantian, tucked in his chin, and launched into the eighteen applications of staff work—striking, smashing, parrying, thrusting, tapping, pressing, and snapping—each move flashing through his hands like scenes from a galloping show.

Though the Spiritual Road's rules had sealed away most of the Demon-Subduing Staff's power, its divine-weapon essence remained.

With the divine weapon's strength behind him, Mu Chen drove the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast back again and again.

The Demon-Subduing Battle Staff was about five feet long. It looked like an ordinary staff, plain and unadorned, with no divine light shining from it, yet it struck the mid-level spirit beast with pinpoint accuracy time and again.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The slender staff whipped down again and again, landing on the beast's body, which was as hard as cast iron. Each blow rang like metal striking metal, sometimes sending sparks flying.

Mu Chen's hands had gone numb from the vibration, and he soon realized there was a problem.

All he got was the sound of blows, with no damage to show for it. Who could stand this?

In an instant, he shifted from his low stance into a penetrating step, drew back the battle staff, gripped it tightly with both hands, and thrust straight at the hulking beast's gleaming eyes, aiming to strike home like a dragon piercing its lair.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast shut both eyes, thick membranes covering its vulnerable eyeballs.

Clang! The Demon-Subduing Staff shuddered and rang like metal, once again accomplishing nothing.

"Roar!!"

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast let out a pained roar. He had successfully enraged it.

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

Seven or eight tentacles, like octopus limbs, writhed wildly. Gray-white as venomous snakes, they bared their fangs, twisted around one another, and snapped at everything in reach, brimming with ferocity.

With a rumble, the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast thrust out a foreclaw, swiping straight at the little bug in front of it.

If the blow landed, even a Level 5 Spirit Body would meet a violent end.

While drawing back his staff, Mu Chen had already calculated the timing. He sprang backward.

By the time the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast's claws struck the ground, he was already clear of its attack range.

"Whoosh!"

A mysterious whip-like shadow flashed past, cracking through the air and lashing straight at Mu Chen's face.

Before he could react, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast had already flung out all its tentacles, blotting out the sky as they descended on the human.

Mu Chen's expression changed. He immediately rolled across the ground, barely evading the attack.

These giant snakes were exceptionally venomous. Their poison numbed the nerves and corroded the muscles.

In this world, spirit pills were hard to come by. Mu Chen didn't want to waste any unless absolutely necessary.

Besides, taking a beating wasn't his style.

With a boom, staff shadows filled the sky. Mu Chen flicked his right hand and struck back with a thrust over his shoulder.

The pursuing Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast hadn't expected the little bug to dare counterattack halfway through its escape. It took the blow head-on, seven staff strikes crashing into its head and leaving it dizzy.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast flew into a rage. Its eyes gradually reddened, and it suddenly kicked off with its powerful hind legs, leaping into the air to pounce on the human who didn't know what was good for him.

At that very moment, a white line hidden beneath the fur on its belly was exposed.

An opening!

A flash of brilliance crossed Mu Chen's eyes as his moves changed.

The Thirty-Three Demon-Subduing Staff Techniques, the fourth move: Rib-Piercing Autumn Frost!

Mu Chen let out a shout. His black hair fell over his shoulders, and he stood bold and imposing, with the might of a Heavenly God.

This move was a thrust. He drove the battle staff forward, his waist and hips surging ahead as he aimed straight for the white line.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast was startled. It immediately brought two of its clawing, snapping tentacles together to shield its soft belly and that vital spot.

Without spiritual power to augment them, spiritual techniques couldn't unleash the force to shatter mountains and rivers. But their forms remained. With his Fourth-Grade Spirit Body, Mu Chen relied on nothing but the strength of his flesh.

His Demon-Subduing Staff Technique still struck such terror into the vicious beast that its courage failed.

To kill this beast, he first had to take away its claws and teeth, to sever its wings.

Seeing this, Mu Chen gave a quiet, cold laugh.

A beast was a beast. It didn't know when its luck had run out.

The battle staff turned again, and he immediately changed his thrust into a sweep.

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

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! He swung the battle staff in a sweeping arc, leaving a blur of afterimages.

The two tentacles the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast had hastily raised were swept clean off.

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

Roar, roar! The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast wailed and slammed hard into the ground, shattering a large slab of bluestone. Two streams of white breath burst rapidly from its nostrils and mouth.

Again!

Mu Chen followed the same approach, feinting repeatedly before striking at its weak points. Each time, the increasingly anxious Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast pulled back to defend, and he severed another tentacle.

White Ape Exits Cave!

Striding Tiger Ascends Mountain!

Eagle Claws Sparrow!

Mu Chen used eight moves of the Demon-Subduing Staff Technique in all, just enough to chop off all eight of the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast's tentacles. The beast was left a clawless, bare-limbed wreck, its combat strength diminished by seven or eight tenths.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

Blood streamed from the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast's body, its breathing ragged, crimson staining its golden mane.

Seven or eight enormous, hideous wounds squirmed soundlessly across its body, a ghastly sight.

It had become a toothless, sick tiger.

With most of its ferocity gone, reason gradually gained the upper hand within the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast. Fear flickered in its eyes. It let out a feeble roar, turned around, and fled.

The fragrance of spirit herbs in the air grew stronger.

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast was on the verge of maturity, yet it abandoned the Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit within easy reach. The instinct to survive truly overrode everything!

But with a muffled thud, Mu Chen swung his battle staff and ended its life on the spot.

There was no right or wrong in the Spiritual Road Plane.

Today I kill you, or tomorrow you slaughter me. That was all survival meant.

Mu Chen expressionlessly smashed the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast's skull, brought out his token, and refined the tiny Spirit Beast Essence. His score increased by five points.

A wave of heat surged through him. Level 5 Spirit Body. Breakthrough!

The Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast's crimson blood drenched the scarlet spirit plant, trickling into the soil and roots. At last, the strange fragrance in the ravine reached its peak.

The Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit had ripened.

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

A faint joy stirred in Mu Chen's heart.

His Spirit Body had advanced ahead of schedule. After refining the fruit, he would surely reach a new level.

"Boy, stop right there!"

Mu Chen put away the fiery-red spirit fruit and was about to leave in search of a safe place to refine it when a rather arrogant voice suddenly rang out from below the mountain.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The sound of rushing wind rose as three or five figures swiftly made their way up from the foot of the mountain. They lined up at mid-slope, each looking haughty and proud.

"Not bad. At least you're clever enough to spare yourself a beating."

The black-clad youth at the head of the group nodded approvingly, apparently pleased with Mu Chen's cooperation. His gaze passed over Mu Chen and swept toward the area behind him.

When he spotted the Lion-Bodied Snake-Dancing Beast lying in a pool of blood and the already-plucked Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit, greed flashed in his eyes. Delighted, he said, "There it is!"

The group had received word that an unknown high-level spirit plant grew in this mountain range.

They had hurried all this way and finally caught up with it.

"Boy, we planted that Red Cloud Crimson-Refining Fruit here long ago. It's not good to take what belongs to someone else. Hand it over."

The black-clad youth had clearly recognized the scarlet spirit plant.

He fixed his gaze on Mu Chen, his face fierce.

Mu Chen turned around unhurriedly and murmured, answering a different question altogether, "With you lot added in, my score should break a thousand, shouldn't it?"

"What? You little punk, are you asking to die?"

With a low, furious shout, the atmosphere on the mountain turned tense at once.