[A One-Sided Massacre]

That punch failed to land. Like him, the youth retreated to the rear completely unscathed.

Yang Long, the Boss of Crimson Fire Stronghold, was stunned. As he stared at that young face, he found it hard to believe.

But at a time like this, Yang Long had no room to dwell on it.

Facing the utterly unruffled youth, he gritted his teeth, yanked the long saber embedded in his abdomen free, gripped it in reverse, and charged at Shen Xiu.

Yang Jinhong had already rushed in to attack. He thought that although the youth had blocked Yang Long's strike, he could not possibly be Yang Long's match. He immediately let out a thunderous roar!

"Your opponent is me!"

His figure suddenly swelled by a full circle, golden light blazing as he threw a punch straight at Yang Long's face. His own guard was wide open, as if he were fighting without fear of death.

The force of that punch was fierce, whistling through the air.

Yang Long had no way to ignore it. He immediately swept his saber back and slashed at Yang Jinhong's fist.

Seeing their Boss fall into a disadvantage under the two men's assault, the Crimson Fire Bandits nearby—

Under the shouts of several leaders, they swiftly closed in, brandishing their broadswords as they charged into the fray with killing intent boiling over.

"Kid, deal with them first!"

Those attacks could not hurt him, but they greatly distracted him. Yang Jinhong shouted at Shen Xiu.

Pavilion Master Yang could still hold them off for now.

Seeing this, Shen Xiu nodded. He immediately used his saber like a sword, stabbing it straight into the chest of a Crimson Fire Bandit who was swinging his blade at Yang Jinhong.

He then swiftly pulled out his saber and sliced it across the man's throat.

The Crimson Fire Bandit stopped at once, clutching his throat as jets of blood kept spraying out. He wanted to speak, but not a word came out.

As one Crimson Fire Bandit fell, another tattooed man charged forward from the steps of the stronghold's main hall, equally fearless of death.

The tattooed man was lean, yet every movement of his contained tremendous strength, like a man-eating tiger.

A broad flight of stone steps led down to where Shen Xiu stood. With a shout, the tattooed man leaped down and lunged viciously at Shen Xiu.

The distance of several yards vanished in a single breath beneath his speed.

Shen Xiu held his saber and focused. The tattooed man's rhythm of movement and the flexing and stretching of his muscles instantly appeared in his mind.

As soon as he reached him, the tattooed man let out a fierce roar.

Like a tiger pouncing on its prey, he lunged at Shen Xiu, determined to tear him to pieces.

Shen Xiu remained calm. He merely swept his saber lightly upward from below at incredible speed, then drew it back as he retreated alone, leaving behind a spray of blood.

The tattooed man immediately clutched his throat and rolled across the ground. Then he glared at Shen Xiu with eyes full of unwillingness before slowly toppling backward and crashing to the ground.

Shen Xiu had finished him with that single slash.

A chill rose in the hearts of the Crimson Fire Bandits charging in around him. That strike had been too fast and too ruthless. If they faced it themselves, they likely would not have the slightest confidence of surviving—one slash, one death.

Among them, Leader Li, who had normally been a Second Realm martial cultivator and a figure of great prestige within the stronghold, had already become a corpse.

This was a lesson written in blood!

This kid was so formidable that they began to consider retreating. Yet when they thought about it, if their Boss could not defeat that man, then once he fell, they would likely still be unable to escape death.

With that thought, their killing intent grew even fiercer. Before or behind, all paths led to death. They might as well think of a way to kill this kid no matter what!

Shen Xiu noticed that as soon as one tattooed man fell, three more Crimson Fire Bandits had closed in, forming a triangular encirclement around him. Their faces were savage and twisted.

All three were broad-backed and thick-waisted, their auras imposing. Their strength and cultivation clearly were not weak.

Their bearing was stronger than that of ordinary Second Realm Muscle Tendon Training disciples at Golden Red Martial Arts Academy.

Shen Xiu immediately drifted away. The three Crimson Fire Bandits pursued relentlessly, and in the blink of an eye, he had reached the exit of Crimson Fire Stronghold. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly turned around.

A flash of saber light appeared without warning, striking backward with startling abruptness.

The three burly men had assumed their opponent had grown fearful and did not dare fight. Who could have expected him to counterattack instead?

One of the Crimson Fire Bandits failed to dodge in time and ran straight into Shen Xiu's saber. With a wet rip, a long section of the blade passed through his chest without the slightest resistance.

Shen Xiu twisted his wrist, shredding that broad chest to pieces and leaving behind a hole as large as a bowl. The bonfire behind him flickered through it, clear from one side to the other.

The other two Crimson Fire Bandits changed expression at the sight. Realizing the situation was bad, they immediately retreated, intending to return to their brothers.

But this time, their roles had switched. Shen Xiu was the one pursuing relentlessly. Dragon Subduing Qi circulated through his body, driving his speed to erupt even further.

With only a few effortless steps, he quickly caught up to the two Crimson Fire Bandits.

Using the same move again, Shen Xiu thrust his saber straight out, piercing one Crimson Fire Bandit's chest from the back.

Then he casually gave it a vicious twist, grinding the man's organs into a pulp, like dragon fruit crushed into a chaotic mess of colors.

The Crimson Fire Bandit beside him was terrified. Even the hand swinging at Shen Xiu's wrist was trembling.

Shen Xiu reacted quickly. He kicked away the Crimson Fire Bandit before him. Before his saber could turn back, he sidestepped the other bandit's attack, then drove an unstoppable punch at his forehead.

Empowered by Dragon Subduing Qi, his fist was like a cannonball shot from its barrel.

With a crisp crack, the Crimson Fire Bandit attacking Shen Xiu had his head explode like a watermelon smashing onto the ground.

In an instant, red and white splattered everywhere, carpeting the ground like grotesque bloody blossoms.

Several of the strongest Crimson Fire Bandits had gone to hell. The remaining bandits below the Second Realm were simply nothing to fear.

Shen Xiu drew his saber and moved again, plunging into the crowd of Crimson Fire Bandits.

These First Realm or unranked Crimson Fire Bandits were like lambs awaiting slaughter before a martial cultivator like him who had already reached Third Realm Bone Marrow Cleansing, utterly incapable of resistance.

Shen Xiu was a wolf among sheep. His Blood Battle Saber Technique flashed ceaselessly through the crowd, growing more valiant with every battle as he cleanly and decisively cut down Crimson Fire Bandits—some fierce, some vicious, some terrified.

These men had long entrenched themselves in White Tiger Ridge, massacring people throughout the areas around Taixi City day after day. No one knew how much innocent blood stained their hands.

They deserved death, so Shen Xiu had even less reason to hold back.

The Crimson Fire Bandits on the outskirts stared at the figure weaving through the center.

Their backs went numb, and sweat beaded atop their heads.

Shen Xiu's saber was too fast. All they could see in the field was bloody light wrapped in bloodstains. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen men had fallen dead, like grass being cut and melons being sliced.

Curses rang out without end throughout Crimson Fire Stronghold amid Shen Xiu's ceaseless slaughter.

The savagery in their bones was stirred awake one by one. When Shen Xiu came near, not only did they not fear or shrink back, they instead cursed more viciously and pounced at him.

Each of them fought with moves meant to drag him down with them, wanting to take a savage bite out of Shen Xiu before dying and make him pay dearly.