The air abruptly froze.
The leader of the Shadow Church wore a billowing black robe. The oppressive aura of a Warrior of the Ninth Rank weighed like a mountain on every mercenary's chest. Even the mercenary captain, at the peak of the sixth level, trembled all over, his limbs weak, forcibly stripped of even the strength to raise his weapon.
The man parted his thin lips and uttered just one word:
"Scram."
"How are we supposed to fight this?!" a burly mercenary panted, tugging urgently at the captain's arm. "A Warrior of the Ninth Rank! He's on a completely different level! Go! Hurry!"
Once their resolve scattered, they had no will to fight. Within moments, the once-noisy temporary camp stood deserted, leaving only Shiheng and the luxurious carriage quietly in place. Opposite them were forty-seven Shadow Church experts mounted on fifth-level Wind Wolves, their ranks orderly as a forest, brimming with murderous intent.
The leader sat astride a saber-toothed tiger at the peak of the eighth level, his cold gaze settling on Shiheng.
"You're not leaving?"
Shiheng looked up, his expression calm. "I'm just passing through. Do as you please."
"Hmph." The leader sneered. "Since you won't leave, you can stay."
He turned to a Seventh-Level Warrior beside him and ordered, "You. Deal with him."
Then he pointed to the other side. "Bring me whoever's in that carriage."
A Church expert advanced with a vicious grin, his greedy gaze sweeping over the carriage. "Who do they think they are, riding in a carriage this luxurious?"
Before his words had faded, his saber slashed down. The ornate carriage shattered, sending splinters flying.
The figure inside slowly came into view-
Skin smooth as cream, a face like an angel's, and spotless white clothes whiter than snow.
Shiheng's pupils abruptly contracted, and he cried out in surprise:
"Kelin Xiaoman!"
Kelin Xiaoman had abandoned resistance the moment that ninth-rank pressure descended. Her father was Grand Duke Kelin, a warrior at the peak of the ninth rank. She knew better than anyone how terrifying a Warrior of the Ninth Rank was. Such power was simply beyond human strength to resist.
But when she saw who stood outside the carriage, shock and anxiety instantly filled her face.
It was Shiheng.
The boy she had rescued in the central region of the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts four years ago, with whom she had spent her days in a cave, depending on each other.
"Run, Shiheng!" Kelin Xiaoman shouted urgently.
They had not seen each other in four years.
Yet now, their reunion held not a trace of warmth, only mortal danger.
A Shadow Church expert had already closed in on Shiheng, his face full of mockery. "Run? You think you can get away? Die!"
A heavy, powerful saber slash swept toward him with a howling gust!
Shiheng did not even lift his eyes.
Only a strand of invisible, formless spiritual power burst forth like a sharp sword.
The man's movement stopped abruptly. He froze in place, utterly motionless.
Someone beside him urged impatiently, "What are you dawdling for? Finish him!"
Only after a moment did the others notice something was wrong-
The Seventh-Level Warrior had already stopped breathing. He toppled stiffly to the ground.
Dead.
Utter silence fell.
Even the Warrior of the Ninth Rank sitting astride the saber-toothed tiger showed a trace of gravity in his eyes for the first time.
Even the sound of wind brushing black robes was clearly audible. All forty-seven Shadow Church experts mounted on Wind Wolves widened their eyes, staring fixedly at the lifeless corpse on the ground.
A Seventh-Level Warrior had died just like that, without a sound?
There had been no magical light, no eruption of Battle Qi. His opponent had not even raised his eyelids, yet an invisible force had directly snuffed out a seventh-level expert.
The dense Battle Qi surrounding the black-robed leader atop the peak eighth-level saber-toothed tiger abruptly tightened. His icy eyes locked onto Shiheng, his voice carrying incredulous gravity. "You're a mage?"
Only a mage-and a high-level mage far beyond ordinary standards-could possess such concentrated, deadly spiritual attacks!
After years of battle, he understood combat well-mages possessed formidable spiritual power, but their bodies had always been their fatal weakness. If he launched a close-range surprise attack, he could kill with a single blow!
The thought flashed through his mind. The Warrior of the Ninth Rank wasted no more words. Beneath him, the saber-toothed tiger let out a deafening roar, its massive body surging into motion. He himself drove his ninth-rank Battle Qi to its limit, his body wrapped in an ink-black aura. Moving like a phantom, he crossed dozens of meters in an instant and drove a fist straight at Shiheng's heart with the force to split mountains and shatter stone!
He held nothing back. This was a killing blow backed by all the strength of a Warrior of the Ninth Rank. Even an expert of the same rank would not dare take it head-on lightly!
Kelin Xiaoman turned deathly pale and cried out, "Watch out!"
She knew all too well how terrifying an all-out blow from a Warrior of the Ninth Rank was. That power could crush steel and tear the earth apart. In her eyes, even if Shiheng had some tricks, he could never withstand such a direct assault!
But what happened next completely overturned everyone's understanding.
Facing that lethal punch, Shiheng remained where he stood, straight as a pine, his face utterly unruffled. He did not even activate his triggered Berserk State.
He merely raised one hand slowly and, with seemingly effortless yet flawless precision, caught the Warrior of the Ninth Rank's fist, despite the immense Battle Qi wrapped around it.
Bang!
An invisible shock wave exploded outward from the two of them, instantly sending loose stones flying. Yet Shiheng's feet did not move an inch.
He caught it bare-handed?
The Warrior of the Ninth Rank's pupils contracted sharply. Veins bulged on his arm as he drove his Battle Qi with all his strength, only to discover that his power vanished like a clay ox sinking into the sea, effortlessly dissolved by a mysterious, vast force far beyond the level of Battle Qi.
That was... the power of laws!
A storm instantly raged through his mind!
Warriors first cultivated Battle Qi and tempered their bodies, then comprehended "force." Those who comprehended force were already among the finest Warriors of the Ninth Rank. With steady accumulation, they would enter the Saint realm sooner or later. But comprehending the power of laws was the hallmark of a peak Saint expert-the supreme mysteries beyond the fundamental powers of Battle Qi and magic!
This boy before him, who looked no older than eighteen or nineteen, had actually mastered a trace of the power of laws?!
Unbelievable!
The Warrior of the Ninth Rank's face grew thunderously dark. Knowing he had encountered an opponent far tougher than expected, he abandoned fighting alone. He fiercely circulated his Battle Qi and let out a furious roar that shook the entire field. "Everyone, attack together! Kill him!"
As his words fell, he turned to two trusted subordinates, his gaze sinister. "You two, grab that girl over there!"
From Shiheng and Kelin Xiaoman's earlier words and exchanged looks, he had already seen that they were closely connected. Since he could not overcome Shiheng head-on, he would seize this woman and use her as leverage!
The two peak seventh-level Shadow Church experts immediately obeyed. Their figures flashed as they lunged straight at Kelin Xiaoman, their eyes full of greed and viciousness.
Though Kelin Xiaoman came from a grand duke's family, she was no powerful combatant herself. The Warrior of the Ninth Rank's pressure had already left her mentally exhausted. Now, facing the surprise attack of two seventh-level experts, she had no strength to dodge and could only watch as their clawing hands reached for her.
"Xiaoman!"
Shiheng's gaze finally turned cold. The faint aura of the law of destruction surrounding him abruptly sharpened, and icy killing intent rose in his previously calm eyes.
They dared touch someone under his protection? They were courting death!
His spiritual power spread like a fine spiderweb, instantly covering the battlefield for dozens of meters around him.
There were no earthshaking magical fluctuations. Only the forty-seven Shadow Church experts on their Wind Wolves abruptly stiffened at the same time.
The next second-
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The forty-seven men, along with the fifth-level Wind Wolves beneath them, were like puppets with their souls torn out. They tumbled from the wolves' backs in unison, collapsing in a heap. Before they could even scream, all had lost their lives.
Blood and wolves' howls mingled with the sounds of heavy bodies striking the ground, instantly shattering the brief deathly silence.
One move?
Just one move!
The Warrior of the Ninth Rank, who moments ago had commanded forty-seven Seventh-Level Warriors with such menacing force, now stared wide-eyed in disbelief, his entire face consumed by terror.
"A Saint... You're a Saint expert?!"
His voice trembled with fear that rose from the depths of his soul.
The Warrior of the Ninth Rank knew all too well what being a Saint meant. It was an absolute realm beyond the barriers of rank, where some had already touched the true essence of laws. For a Saint expert, casually wiping out a group of seventh- and eighth-level subordinates was as simple as crushing ants.
His will to fight collapsed instantly.
Without the slightest hesitation, the Warrior of the Ninth Rank changed direction. He could not even spare a thought for his saber-toothed tiger, drawing on a lifetime of cultivation as he fled madly into the distance.
He only wanted to survive.
Shiheng stood quietly in place and casually picked up the bloodstained saber on the ground with his right hand.
His fingers tightened slightly.
A blade of saber energy imbued with the law of destruction silently condensed and shot out like a meteor chasing the moon.
There was no dazzling light, no thunderous boom.
The saber energy seemed to pierce through space, instantly catching up to the Warrior of the Ninth Rank fleeing for his life.
As the blade swept past, he did not even have time to turn his head.
The next second-
His body crashed to the ground.
The dust settled.
Only the sound of the wind remained in the camp, along with crisscrossing trails of blood on the ground.
Kelin Xiaoman stood beside the carriage wreckage, her small hands slightly open and her eyes vacant, utterly unable to process what had happened.
That inexperienced boy who had depended on her for survival in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts four years ago...
What exactly had he gone through in these four years?
There had been no Berserk transformation as expected, no fierce struggle. His breathing had not even quickened for a moment.
The boy who had once needed her protection could now annihilate an elite Church force with a mere lift of his hand.
Her mind was completely blank.
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