Demonic Transformation, Unifying Primordial Baleful Intent

After swallowing the Praying Mantis Beast's beast core, the Golden Saber Gang elder's aura continued to rise.

In just a few breaths, his entire presence had surged wildly. The Blood Essence power in his dantian kept swelling, and the nine drops of Blood Essence expanded to several times their former size.

His aura, originally only at Upper-Grade Bright Force, had in the blink of an eye climbed close to Peak Bright Force. A violent pressure spilled from his body.

Xue Yong gripped his long staff tightly, looked at the Golden Saber Gang elder, and said to the others, "The density of his Blood Essence power has already reached Lower-Grade Dark Force. But neither his cultivation method nor his realm has broken through accordingly. His overall strength is probably somewhere between the Upper-Grade Bright Force Peak and Dark Force. Be careful!"

Before he had finished speaking, the demonically transformed Golden Saber Gang elder bent low, braced both hands on the ground, and kicked fiercely with his hind legs. Like a praying mantis, he lunged forward and leaped more than two zhang in a single bound.

The transformed elder landed before Xue Yong, raised his scythe-like forelimbs, and slashed diagonally down at him.

Xue Yong raised his staff to block. With a bang, the long staff snapped in two.

The two broken sections flew from his hands, while Xue Yong himself flew backward like a kite with its string cut. He crashed into a tree as thick as a man's waist, then slammed heavily to the ground.

Xue Yong struggled to rise, only to suddenly cough up two mouthfuls of blood. Looking down at his chest, he saw a half-foot-long gash already carved across it. Flesh curled outward, and blood streamed down from the wound, staining the entire front of his clothes red.

The transformed elder turned around again, his pair of dark green eyes fixing on Cao Ling.

A chill rose in Cao Ling's heart under that gaze. Gritting his teeth, he swept his long staff toward the transformed elder's lower body.

The transformed elder kicked violently off the ground with his hind legs and leaped high into the air.

Cao Ling's face changed drastically at the sight. He hurriedly threw away his staff and desperately stumbled two steps back.

Yet he was ultimately too slow. The transformed elder's scythe-like forelimb sliced across Cao Ling's shoulder, exposing stark white bone. Cao Ling screamed and fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Lu Hao stepped forward with his left foot and fiercely raised his right hand in a blade strike. With Black Tiger Rending Wind, he slashed diagonally toward the transformed elder's nape.

Having swallowed the Praying Mantis Beast's beast core, the transformed elder's senses were extraordinarily sharp. Before Lu Hao's hand blade arrived, he had already twisted around and swept a forelimb backward. The serrated, scythe-like limb struck Lu Hao squarely on the forearm.

Lu Hao let out a muffled groan. Looking at his forearm, he saw an extremely deep wound had appeared there. His right arm was aching and numb, utterly unable to rise.

Zheng Huaijian had been circling around the outskirts. When he saw Xue Yong seriously wounded and downed, while Cao Ling and Lu Hao had both failed to overcome the transformed elder, he unconsciously backed away two steps.

His thoughts raced. Before setting out, Ding Mian had pulled him aside and given him two instructions. First, bring back the Praying Mantis Beast's corpse; if that proved difficult, he was to bring back the beast core no matter what. Second, find an opportunity to get rid of Lu Hao.

But in this situation, the beast core had already been swallowed by the Golden Saber Gang elder. Forget killing Lu Hao—even whether Zheng Huaijian himself could leave Green Ox Mountain alive was uncertain.

Seeing that the transformed elder was not paying attention to him, Zheng Huaijian shifted back another few steps. The moment the situation in the clearing turned bad, he would immediately turn and flee.

Lu Hao panted heavily, staring at the Golden Saber Gang's transformed elder.

He could sense that after swallowing the beast core, the other man's force was likely more than seven or eight times stronger than Su Qin's.

Yet he had also noticed that there was not a trace of reason in the transformed elder's dark green eyes. Each time he swung those two scythe-like forelimbs, it did not seem as though he were using a martial technique, but rather acting on a beast's instincts.

Lu Hao glanced at the system panel.

[Blood Baleful Intent in body: 20/50]

[Blood Essence in body: 108/120]

After killing a Golden Saber Gang elder just now, he had already accumulated 20 units of Blood Baleful Intent power within his body.

The moves of the Blood Baleful Blade Method flashed through Lu Hao's mind.

He looked again at the transformed elder and slowly paced forward.

Lu Hao's right hand hung powerless at his side, while the fingers of his left hand were pressed together in the shape of a hand blade.

The transformed elder also lowered his body, his two scythe-like forelimbs braced against the ground. He stared at Lu Hao like a praying mantis eyeing an autumn cicada.

Suddenly, the transformed elder let out a half-human, half-beast roar. Then he kicked fiercely off the ground with his hind legs, raised both scythe-like forelimbs high, and pounced at Lu Hao.

Lu Hao detonated the nine drops of Blood Essence in his dantian. Blood Essence power instantly flooded into his left arm. At the same time, a wave of icy Blood Baleful Intent power shot up from his dantian and poured into that arm.

The two powers converged upon his hand blade. First, a layer of blood-red radiance appeared over it, followed by an extremely faint layer of black Killing Intent.

The black and red colors entwined at first, then fused in an instant into a blackish-purple sheen that surfaced over Lu Hao's hand blade.

Lu Hao kicked off the ground and charged out like a black tiger pouncing upon its prey.

Just as the transformed elder's scythe-like forelimbs were about to strike Lu Hao, he twisted aside and executed Unifying Primordial Baleful Intent with his left hand blade. Its blade aura was like a blood rainbow piercing the sun as it viciously slashed toward the transformed elder's neck.

The transformed elder released a shrill howl, neither human nor beast.

A deep crack appeared in the dark green skin at his neck. The fissure swiftly spread in every direction, and his skin split apart.

Lu Hao felt as though that strike had hit a slab of solid rock. The tremendous recoil left his entire left arm aching and numb.

Struck in the neck by Lu Hao's hand blade, the transformed elder went mad from pain, wildly flailing his two scythe-like forelimbs before him without any pattern.

Lu Hao flashed forward and swung his left hand blade once more at the crack in the transformed elder's skin. This time, he used Threefold Blood Waves.

The first hand blade strike deepened the crack in the transformed elder's skin. The second knocked off large chunks of his dark green skin, exposing bloody flesh. The third plunged directly into the transformed elder's neck.

At the same time, Lu Hao madly circulated the Golden Saber Blood Essence Formula. A stream of icy Blood Baleful Intent power flowed out from the transformed elder's body, passed through Lu Hao's meridians, and rapidly poured into his dantian.

The transformed elder's body quickly shriveled. After several breaths, his two scythe-like forelimbs drooped limply, and his whole body crashed to the ground. Those dark green eyes gradually regained their distinct black and white.

Lu Hao finally could not hold on any longer. His left knee buckled, and he dropped to one knee, both arms hanging weakly at his sides.

The Blood Essence and Blood Baleful Intent power within his body had been completely drained. The Blood Baleful Intent he had just absorbed churned ceaselessly inside his dantian. His vision darkened, and golden stars burst before his eyes.

At that moment, faint footsteps sounded behind Lu Hao.

Holding a long staff, Zheng Huaijian came up behind Lu Hao. A sinister smile spread across his face.