Life and Death

Even injured and poisoned, the Black Mountain Wolf King was still a formidable aberration comparable to a second-stage martial artist. Seeing its pups constantly beheaded only enraged it further. Its eyes turned crimson as it let out a furious howl.

It only hated that it had too few means of attack. Aside from swift, savage strikes, it possessed no mysterious techniques. Otherwise, these two unarmored two-legged beasts...

Zhao Tuo was having a hard time. He panted heavily, his face growing paler by the moment.

He was injured too! A long, bloody gash had been torn across his body! His vitality and blood were declining as well!

After all, he had only recently broken through to the second stage, and his Water-Questioning Sword Manual had not yet reached mastery of its fourth form. His agility was still a notch lacking.

I should've listened to Big Brother. Drunk less, chased women less, and focused on practicing my sword... A trace of regret flashed through Zhao Tuo's heart. He had boasted about bringing Li Mu hunting—who could have imagined they would actually encounter a mutant wolf king!

In past hunts, even when they ran into wolf packs, they had never encountered anything this monstrous. They really had terrible luck today...

"Not good!" In that brief lapse of concentration, Zhao Tuo realized something had gone terribly wrong.

"Awwooo!!"

The Black Mountain Wolf King had hunted prey for a long time and was exceptionally sensitive to the fleeting openings between life and death!

It instantly caught the flaw in Zhao Tuo's strike. With a sudden crouch and shift, it actually dodged the Azure-Edge Sword's slash, then leaped into the air like black lightning. It pounced viciously down at Zhao Tuo, its long, sharp claws gleaming coldly.

If those claws tore open his skull, his life would truly be forfeit!!

"Beast!! Die!!" Zhao Tuo shouted to bolster his courage. He desperately twisted his body and slashed back with his sword.

But he was still a step too slow.

The two claws crashed heavily onto the blade and, with terrifying force, sent it flying from his hand!

Pain jolted through Zhao Tuo's arm as he fell to the ground, watching the wolf king's claws descend viciously toward him.

At the critical moment—

"Vile beast, die!"

Li Mu roared, stepping forward. Calculating the distance of his sword force, he gathered the vitality and blood around him into Black Frost and thrust it out.

Peak-level sword force—

Dripping Water Pierces Stone!

Bang!!

With a thunderous explosion, an incomparably swift sword force tore through the air and slammed into the Black Mountain Wolf King's soft belly. It ripped open a long wound, sending the beast flying out of the air and crashing to the ground. It rolled several times, exposing its abdomen and the enormous gash in it.

Wolf blood gushed out like a fountain.

Yet the Black Mountain Wolf King's vitality was simply too strong. It actually managed to get back up.

At this distance... Li Mu gritted his teeth and forced himself to draw upon the last shred of his strength once more.

Whoosh!

Dust billowed as a tornado formed from swirling yellow earth surged toward the Black Mountain Wolf King.

His vitality and blood churned. Li Mu leaped ten steps, his tendons and bones letting out low groans under the unbearable strain.

Concealed within the sky-filling sandstorm, he disregarded everything and let out an angry roar, striking with all his strength!

A point of emerald light flickered. Black Frost suddenly thrust out from the earthen tornado, the sword force of the Water-Questioning Sword Manual's third form wrapped around its blade. It pierced viciously through the wolf's head before being violently pulled free!

A great blossom of blood burst from the wolf king's forehead, scattering with the yellow sand.

"Whine... whine..." The Black Mountain Wolf King collapsed to the ground, letting out an unwilling moan as its life rapidly drained away.

Its crimson eyes stared ahead in disbelief, fixed on the white-clad youth who had torn open its belly with a single sword strike.

There had clearly been so much distance between them. It had clearly been just a little short of killing that troublesome big two-legged beast, after which it could have casually dealt with this smaller one. Why...

The Black Mountain Wolf King stared with unwillingly widened eyes, then died completely.

Li Mu panted as he swept his gaze around. Wolf corpses covered the ground.

One Black Mountain Wolf King comparable to a second-stage martial artist! Twenty-four wolf pups! They had killed them all!

It had been a bitter, bloody battle. Far from easy.

He hurriedly helped Zhao Tuo up, took out the bandages Zhao Tuo had prepared earlier from his pack, and wrapped his wounds.

"I originally prepared these for you. Who would've thought..." Zhao Tuo gave a bitter smile.

This time, he had ended up suffering the worst injuries.

"Thank you, Brother Li Mu. If it weren't for you, I'd already be dead." Zhao Tuo thanked him solemnly, deeply moved.

"That strike just now—was that the Dripping Water Sword Force? There's such a powerful sword force? And you can even use the third form of the Water-Questioning Sword Manual?!"

Those two strikes had come at exactly the right time, and their power had been especially shocking. Zhao Tuo was deeply stunned.

"I saw Brother Tuo at death's door and panicked. I used it without meaning to. Fortunately, Brother Tuo is all right." Li Mu wore an expression of lingering fear.

Zhao Tuo nodded and did not press further. No matter what, Li Mu had saved him.

Looking at the wolf corpses all over the ground, the two exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

Today had truly been a tremendous haul!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

"Watch out!" Li Mu suddenly drew his sword and slashed wildly, knocking several arrows from the air in succession.

"Who is it?! Come out!"

He stared coldly at the forest ahead.

Zhao Tuo and Li Mu's expressions darkened at the same time. Both of them were already exhausted and could not endure another great battle...

"You two have worked hard, killing so many wolves for us... Now, clean up and you can head down the mountain." More than a dozen figures emerged from the forest one after another. The man at the front spoke casually.

Looking at the wolf corpses covering the ground, greed and smiles appeared in their eyes.

"The Hunter Gang!" Zhao Tuo instantly recognized their attire.

"You're rather knowledgeable." The leader was a rough, burly man with a round, fat face and a large black mole on it.

He planted a mountain-cleaving saber into the ground and said flatly, "Since you recognize our Hunter Gang, there's no need to waste words. Break one of your own arms..."

Before the man could finish, Zhao Tuo cursed loudly.

"Zhou Dayuan!!! What kind of bullshit are you spouting to me?!"

"Who gave you the nerve to insult our boss—" A hunter immediately raised his bow.

"Shut up!! Don't move!!" To everyone's surprise, the rough man with the black mole turned back and cursed at him.

Then he turned around and stared at Zhao Tuo, somewhat uncertain. "Stone? Is that you?"

Zhao Tuo sneered. "Dayuan, your ass..."

"Enough, don't say it!! Stone!! Leave some face for me!!"

Zhou Dayuan immediately cut Zhao Tuo off, strode over to help him up, and gave him a bear hug.

"Easy! Don't you know I just fought a bloody battle?" Zhao Tuo bared his teeth in pain.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Zhou Dayuan turned and ordered, "What are you standing around for? Help clean up, set out a feast, and let my brother Stone have some wine!"

The dumbfounded Hunter Gang members hurriedly cleared out a patch of ground, spread grass mats, and laid out fruit wine, fruits and vegetables, dry rations, and dried meat.

Zhao Tuo pointed at Li Mu. "This is the most formidable newcomer in our Myriad Swords Tower. My good brother. The man who saved my life."

After Zhao Tuo's grand introduction, Li Mu received a welcoming bear hug from Zhou Dayuan as well.

Li Mu adapted quickly. After drinking a few cups with Zhou Dayuan and the others, he swiftly blended into the new group, and before long they were calling one another brothers.

It turned out that when Zhao Meng and Zhao Tuo had been hunters, they and Zhou Dayuan had sworn brotherhood.

The three had even hunted mutant beasts together, comrades who had faced life and death side by side.

"Damn it! If I'd known the bounty target was you, I'd have boiled that message-carrying bird alive." Zhou Dayuan said angrily.

Zhou Dayuan explained that they had originally been hunting in the area. After accepting the bounty mission, they sent scouts to find Li Mu and Zhao Tuo's tracks, then deliberately drove the Black Mountain Wolf King and its pack here.

"Someone put a bounty on us." Li Mu immediately frowned. He had never expected a simple hunting trip to be so dangerous.

"Those who knew our movements were either people from the manor or people who had been watching us along the way." Zhao Tuo analyzed, but he had no leads.

"The bounty only called for you to be injured or crippled. Otherwise, we wouldn't dare touch disciples of Hidden Sword. But for the time being, you'd best not come here anymore." Zhou Dayuan offered a reminder. Even he could not say who was behind it—the bounty missions were anonymous, and the employer's information could not be revealed.

"Good thing it was you. Otherwise, I'd have suffered a huge loss today. It's not often I get to leave home." Zhao Tuo said with a smile.

"You two are impressive, taking care of the wolf king and so many pups." Zhou Dayuan said admiringly.

Zhao Tuo explained that Li Mu had killed all the wolf pups, and that Li Mu had also dealt the Black Mountain Wolf King's fatal wound.

At once, Zhou Dayuan and the hunters all stared wide-eyed, their hearts trembling.

They had never imagined that such a young lad was already a first-stage martial artist with exceptional swordsmanship. If he continued down the path of martial arts, who knew how brilliantly he would shine in the future?

"We can't take all this wolf meat with us. Let's talk." Zhao Tuo tapped the mat.