Cloud-Shocking Steps

The Scarlet Leopard was indeed fast. Its dark red fur did not even flash through the weeds, instead stretching into a crimson streak.

Yesterday, even if Li Zhengyang had withstood that pounce, he would have needed to retreat two steps to dissipate the force.

But now, Cloud-Shocking Steps.

His foot touched the ground, and his body shifted sideways through the air by three feet.

The Scarlet Leopard pounced at nothing.

Before it could turn after landing on all fours, an extra length of silver-white spear shaft appeared in its field of vision.

Collapse Formula.

A Great Martial Master's Blood Qi poured into the Mountain-Piercing Spear, while Astral Qi condensed into a violent vortex at its tip.

"Pfft."

The spearpoint pierced through the Scarlet Leopard's left ear and emerged from its right, splattering brain matter mixed with blood.

Instant kill.

Li Zhengyang pulled out his spear, bent down, and skillfully used his Short Blade to split open its skull.

A red crystal the size of a pigeon egg slid into his palm.

A Third-Rank Beast Core.

This thing could sell for at least sixty thousand.

The entire process had taken less than five seconds. An Upper Yellow Rank movement technique paired with a Lower Profound Grade spear technique—the practical effect was simply absurd.

After tossing the Beast Core into his Space Ring, Li Zhengyang looked up at the sky.

It was still early.

Since Cloud-Shocking Steps worked so well, it would be a waste not to push it to the limit after spending fifty thousand on it.

With a flick of his spear, droplets of blood fell to the ground. Li Zhengyang gripped the weapon and plunged deeper into the forest.

Over the next three hours, the Demonic Beasts of North Mountain suffered a devastating calamity.

This was not completing missions at all. It was slaughter.

An Ironclad Bear? This thing was said to possess unrivaled physical defense among beasts of the same rank. Li Zhengyang could not even be bothered to find its weakness. He used Cloud-Shocking Steps to circle behind it, then drove the Twisting Formula straight into its rectum from the rear and churned wildly, shredding its intestines and heart together.

A pack of Bloodthirsty Wolves? Too many of them?

Cloud-Shocking Steps pulled four or five afterimages through the wolf pack. The Mountain-Piercing Spear danced up and down, and the pack-dwelling Bloodthirsty Wolves were often slaughtered in swathes before they could even touch the enemy's shadow.

Mission tokens, Demonic Beast tail stingers, and all sorts of miscellaneous but valuable Spirit Materials—Li Zhengyang took whatever he found.

The Space Ring was gradually running out of room.

"Pfft!"

As the last Bloodthirsty Wolf fell.

Li Zhengyang leaned against a large tree, preparing to take a break.

There was movement ahead.

Not the movement of Demonic Beasts, but people.

The clash of blades and swords rang out alongside constant shouts, interspersed with several highly penetrating national curses.

Li Zhengyang followed the sounds over and looked down from the top of a slope.

In the hollow below, five people were circling a Third-Rank Demonic Beast, a Blackscale Python.

The python was as thick as a water barrel, its scales harder than steel plates. A casual sweep of its tail left a deep trench in the ground.

The five worked together seamlessly. Three held the front while two maneuvered along the sides. Their tactics were extremely standard: wear it down and seek out its weakness.

Leading them was a bald middle-aged man wielding a Nine-Ring Broadsword, a First-grade Grand Martial Master.

The remaining four were all High-grade Martial Masters.

Their equipment was uniform, and each had a "Gale" emblem embroidered on their chest.

The Gale Squad.

A veteran team that ranked among the best in this county town.

They fought steadily—so steadily that Li Zhengyang found them rather tedious to watch.

At their pace, it would take at least another half hour to grind the Blackscale Python to death.

Taking a detour, meanwhile, would waste too much time.

He took a drink of water, picked up his spear, and jumped down the slope.

"Captain, the snake's head is lifting! Watch the right!"

"Keep it pinned on the left! Don't let it turn around!"

The bald captain was hoarsely barking orders, his Nine-Ring Broadsword raised above his head as he prepared to meet the Blackscale Python's tail sweep.

A figure flashed past before his eyes.

It truly only flashed past.

The bald man did not even see the person's face before a wave of Astral Qi far more powerful than his own rushed toward him.

"Pfft."

The sound of an ultimate piercing strike.

The Blackscale Python that had pushed all five of them into peril froze.

Its water-barrel-thick neck had been pierced by a silver spear. The spear wielder exerted force with one hand and lifted the shaft upward.

The massive python head, weighing more than six hundred pounds, was forcibly hoisted into the air.

A flash of blade light. Li Zhengyang pulled out his Short Blade with his left hand and skillfully cut down along the snake's vital point, dropping a black Beast Core the size of a fist into his hand.

He withdrew his spear.

The headless corpse of the Blackscale Python crashed heavily to the ground.

Dead silence filled the area.

The five members of the Gale Squad remained in defensive stances, utterly dumbfounded.

"Excuse me."

After tossing the Beast Core into his ring, Li Zhengyang darted past them.

"Stop!"

The bald captain finally snapped out of it. His face flushed red as he pointed his Nine-Ring Broadsword forward. "Where did this wild brat come from? Do you know the rules? We surrounded it out here for over half an hour, and you came up and stole our prey?"

Stealing prey was a major taboo in the wilderness. If things got serious, it could trigger a bloody clash between squads.

Li Zhengyang turned around and sized up the bald captain.

"Rules? Did that Demonic Beast have your name written on it?"

"You're courting death!" The bald man flew into a rage.

He was a Great Martial Master, after all. He had long been used to throwing his weight around in these parts, and had never seen such an arrogant lone cultivator.

"Hand over the Beast Core, then apologize. I'll pretend I never saw you today. Otherwise, that spear of yours is pretty nice. I'll be taking it."

The other four squad members also closed in, their expressions unfriendly.

"Oh?" Li Zhengyang slammed the butt of his spear against the ground. "Seeing how hard you were struggling just now, I thought you were about to get killed instead. I stepped in out of kindness to save you. So my good intentions were wasted on ingrates."

"What a load of nonsense!"

The bald man's temper flared. He swung his Nine-Ring Broadsword and chopped downward.

A Great Martial Master's Blood Qi circulated to its limit, and the blade wind was razor-sharp.

Li Zhengyang did not use his spear. Cloud-Shocking Steps activated.

The bald man's vision blurred, and his slash struck empty air.

Before he could withdraw his blade, wind whistled beside his ear.

Smack!

A crisp, resounding slap.

The bald man's two-hundred-plus-pound body flew sideways.

With a thud, his whole body embedded itself in the nearby rock wall.

The bald man's face swelled into a pig's head. His eyes rolled white, half his body wedged in a crack as his limbs twitched, yet he could not pry himself free.

The remaining four squad members had just raised their weapons when they collectively froze.

One slap had sent a First-grade Grand Martial Master into a rock wall.

What kind of monstrous strength was that?

Ignoring the bald man stuck in the wall, Li Zhengyang walked over and tapped the rock face with the butt of his spear.

Bang, bang.

"Quit playing dead." Li Zhengyang looked at the bald man who could not pull himself out, then at the four petrified people beside him. "I'm a reasonable man. I just saved all five of your lives. Shouldn't you pay a little life-saving fee?"

The four squad members looked at one another.

The one holding a saber swallowed, his voice trembling. "H-how much?"

"How much?" Li Zhengyang sighed and said considerately, "Naturally, all of it."

No more pretense. This was plain robbery.

But looking at their unconscious captain in the rock wall and the silver spear in Li Zhengyang's hand, the four had no thought of bargaining.

"S-scan... scan the code."

The squad members shakily took out their phones, pooled what they had, and transferred one hundred thousand.

"One hundred thousand yuan."

The payment notification sounded.

"Get lost. And take that guy out of the wall while you're at it. He's an eyesore." Li Zhengyang waved them away.

The four breathed sighs of relief and worked together to pull the bald captain out. Only after a miserable scream from him did they manage to yank him from the rock wall. Supporting him between them, they fled in a scrambling panic, not daring to look back even once.

Li Zhengyang watched their fleeing backs without the slightest ripple in his heart.

The horizon began to brighten.

Li Zhengyang stood halfway up the mountain and stretched lazily.

His joints cracked. After staying awake all night, not only did he not feel tired, he was instead brimming with energy from his abundant Blood Qi.

Time to take stock.

In a single night, he had wiped out every available D-Rank and C-Rank Mission target in the surrounding area.

His Space Ring was stuffed to the brim, holding over thirty Beast Cores and countless token materials of every kind, plus the hundred thousand in "life-saving fees" from earlier.

By rough calculation, this North Mountain clearance run had brought him close to a million in direct profit.

Li Zhengyang rubbed his chin.

"A million Great Xia yuan and ten thousand Blood-Qi Value. That's enough to advance."