After being put on a bounty list, one not only had to guard against the Federation, but also other Transcendents and Genetic Modifiers who wanted to trade their life for money. With everyone wary of one another, these people naturally found it difficult to unite.
Avoiding a bounty was simple too: join one of the major factions and become a lapdog for the big shots, and one would be exempted.
Strictly speaking, Transcendents like Li You were also wanted by the Federation. It was just that he was not yet well-known, so there was no bounty on him.
This was an utterly blatant scheme. A single decree made it difficult for independent Transcendents to grow stronger. Some brain-damaged Transcendents even took pride in having high bounties, specifically challenging people with higher bounties than their own in order to raise theirs.
"I, Li, have been looking for him for a long time. I never expected to run into him at Black Mountain today," Li Xiao said coldly.
"You have a grudge against him?" Gao Bancheng looked utterly confused. He had never heard of one.
Li Xiao lowered his binoculars. "No."
"Then you..."
"Hmph! He merely happened to kill the second-generation heir of some great family, yet he was given an eighty-five-million bounty—twenty million higher than mine! Truly, in an age without heroes, even a brat like him could become famous!"
Gao Bancheng: "..."
See? One of the brain-damaged ones had appeared, Bai Ye thought.
"Li Xiao, I hired you not to have you pick fights everywhere!" Gao Bancheng said anxiously.
"Hmph, don't worry." Li Xiao snorted, his gaze disdainful. "The Tyrant, one of the Ten Kings, will soon arrive. A mere Sword Wielding is not enough to interest me."
Bai Ye secretly found this strange. He had figured it out: this pretentious bastard Li Xiao only had eyes for the Ten Kings. No one else even registered in his eyes. He rarely spoke normally, but whenever he did, he was sure to mention the Ten Kings.
"Boss Gao, what do we do now? Take a detour, or..." Li Baitian asked.
Gao Bancheng's face broke into a smile. "I'm a kindhearted man. I can't stand the sight of blood, so naturally, we'll go stop this conflict."
Deep within the forest.
Sword Wielding Xiao Yi, dressed in an ancient-style azure robe, calmly faced eight gunmen.
"Gentlemen, I discovered this century-old ginseng first. Please let me have it."
"You say you found it first, so you found it first? I, Black Leopard, may be missing one eye, but this new metal prosthetic eye works even better than a human eye. I clearly saw it first; you just beat me to it!"
A brawny man holding a shotgun spoke viciously. One of his eyes was a metallic prosthetic, gleaming with a cold red light.
"Kid, hand over the ginseng, and we won't have to fight you."
Black Leopard did not snatch it outright. Unlike Gao Bancheng, he was not well-informed and could not gauge Xiao Yi's background. He only knew that anyone who dared come to Black Mountain alone was certainly no ordinary person.
Under normal circumstances, he would never provoke such a person. But profit moved the heart. That century-old ginseng was no ordinary medicinal herb—it was a mutated herb. Consuming it could increase Blood Qi and strengthen the body. Even on the black market, it was rare and exceedingly valuable.
Faced with such obvious benefits, and with their side having superior numbers and no weaklings among them, they naturally had the courage to take the risk.
"Ah, then I suppose we'll have to fight." Xiao Yi pressed a hand to his forehead, his handsome face filled with helplessness.
A vicious glint flashed through Black Leopard's eyes. The men exchanged looks and began chambering their rounds. Just as they were about to fire—
Xiao Yi suddenly shouted, "Hold on!"
"Heh... now you know fear—" Black Leopard had only just begun to laugh when his expression drastically changed.
Clang!
A crisp sword cry rang out. A flash of cold light suddenly shot from behind Xiao Yi's back. It was a treasured sword forged by ancient methods, flying toward Black Leopard like a white streak.
The sudden change stunned everyone. No one was controlling that sword; it was as though it had been fitted with autopilot, reaching Black Leopard in the blink of an eye.
Slash!
The shotgun in Black Leopard's hands split in two, severed cleanly down the middle.
The broken shotgun fell to the ground with a dull thud.
Xiao Yi smiled and beckoned, and the treasured sword flew back into the sheath on his back.
Looking at the dumbstruck men, he smiled. "Still want to fight?"
Black Leopard's expression changed again and again. "Despicable! You said 'wait,' then attacked in a sneak assault. What vile behavior!"
"Not at all, not at all." Xiao Yi smiled and shook his head. "The 'Wait' I said was not the wait you understood. It was the name of my sword... Wait."
"I'll f***ing kill you!" Black Leopard flew into a rage, feeling thoroughly toyed with. His burly body suddenly tensed, muscles bulging as a layer of dense black fur spread wildly across him.
He dropped onto all fours, his back arched high like a leopard crouching on the ground, poised to strike.
At that critical moment, Bai Ye and the others appeared in the clearing.
Gao Bancheng jumped down from Xiao Kui's back and shouted, "Stop!"
Seeing so many people suddenly appear, Black Leopard's eyes flashed with wariness and apprehension. He halted his pouncing attack.
Xiao Yi also looked over and smiled as he nodded to Gao Bancheng and the others.
Clang!
Another treasured sword behind Xiao Yi instantly flew from its sheath, transforming into a streak of light as it shot forward.
"You still dare launch a sneak attack!?" Black Leopard's eyes nearly split with rage. He had not expected Xiao Yi to be shameless to such an extent, always thinking of ambushing him.
But the shock and fury in his eyes quickly turned to terror, because that streak of sword light was rapidly enlarging in his vision. The shadow of death instantly enveloped his entire body, leaving him briefly stiff.
Gao Bancheng's expression turned somewhat ugly. He had not expected Xiao Yi to give him so little face.
But then an unexpected scene unfolded. The sword aimed directly at Black Leopard's head actually stopped five centimeters from his eyeball.
Black Leopard snapped back to his senses as though awakening from a dream and hurriedly retreated several steps. Yet Xiao Yi had somehow appeared in front of him, his right hand gripping the sword hilt tightly.
"Phew..." Xiao Yi let out a long breath, looking shaken. "That was close. Good thing I made it in time."
His words left everyone bewildered. What was he doing?
He turned around and gave Gao Bancheng a slightly resentful look. "You can't just shout the words 'Stop' whenever you like. This sword of mine is called Stop."
Gao Bancheng: "..."
What kind of freak was this!? Wait? Stop? What decent person named their swords like that?
Bai Ye was stunned too. He did not understand why all Transcendents were so absurd. Was it really because the mental stimulation from awakening gave them all the potential to become lunatics?
Li Xiao loved showing off, Xiao Yi was an old schemer, and Li You was a complete idiot. Was there not a single normal person among them!?
"Your other two swords aren't named Just a Moment and Hold It, are they?" Bai Ye blurted out.
Xiao Yi was startled. "How did you kno—"
Clang!
Yet another sword flew from behind his back. He hurriedly pressed it down, his face turning red from the strain before finally forcing it back.
Before you continue