Chu Jie retreated beside a dead log a hundred feet away. He did not choose to seize the chance to slip away.
Blood Qi surged skyward from the hollow ahead. That Blood Wolf leader was a genuine spirit realm third level peak demon.
He was certain this mortal realm ninth layer Demon Suppression Guard would not last three exchanges.
He wanted to watch the other man get torn to pieces. Ideally, the Blood Wolf leader would suffer grave injuries too, allowing him to reap the fisherman's rewards.
Not far away, two disciples wearing Blazing Fire Sect robes exchanged a glance.
The male disciple gripped his sword hilt and stepped forward.
"Senior Brother Chu, this brother from the Demon Suppression Guard is ridding the people of a menace. We can't just stand by and watch. I'll help him keep it occupied."
Although the man was stealing their kill, leaving this demonic beast alive would make their descent from the mountain unsafe too.
Chu Jie whipped his head around, fixing the man who had spoken with an icy stare.
"You want to help him?"
Chu Jie lowered his voice.
"This is prey our Mystic Sword Sect has claimed. He stole it without knowing his own limits, so he deserves to die. Anyone who dares help him is making an enemy of me, Chu Jie, and the entire Mystic Sword Sect!"
The male disciple's expression changed at those words. He clenched his teeth, tightening his fingers.
Although the Blazing Fire Sect and the Mystic Sword Sect were both second-rate sects, the Mystic Sword Sect firmly held the upper hand in strength.
What made him even more wary was Chu Jie's identity: the youngest son of the Mystic Sword Sect's grand elder. Someone with that status was absolutely not a person either of them could afford to offend.
"Forget it!"
The female disciple reached out and caught the male disciple's sleeve, gently shaking her head.
Offending a Mystic Sword Sect true disciple for an unfamiliar, low-ranking Demon Suppression Guard was not worth it.
The male disciple released his sword hilt.
"Sorry."
He murmured the word in Su Yu's direction, then turned and raced down the mountain with the female disciple.
In the blink of an eye, they vanished into the dense forest.
Chu Jie put away his sword and snorted coldly.
"At least you know what's good for you!"
Boom!
Just then, an explosive crash erupted in the clearing.
Mud burst apart as the Blood Wolf leader's enormous body became a dark red mountain of flesh, lunging ferociously at Su Yu.
Its raging Yao Qi uprooted the surrounding trees.
Su Yu stood where he was without even lifting his eyelids. Within three feet of his body, the Prohibition Blood Formation rumbled into operation.
Within his sea of consciousness, the Spirit-Seizing Art, which he had just deduced to major accomplishment, erupted in full. His vast divine sense spread silently outward.
The instant the Blood Wolf leader entered the gravity field, the tenfold pulling force caused a fatal pause in its movements.
Now. Su Yu drove his feet against the ground.
Soil churned as he skimmed low over the ground, evading claws powerful enough to shatter rock.
The Blood Wolf leader reacted just as quickly. Its thick tail instantly became an iron whip, sweeping toward him.
Bang!
The sonic boom pierced the ears.
Su Yu did not dodge. Vajra Demonic Baleful Intent circulated furiously, the muscles of his left arm bulging high as a metallic, dark bluish-green sheen surfaced on his skin.
He met it head-on!
Bang!
The dull impact echoed through the forest.
Su Yu's feet plowed two deep furrows through the mud as he slid back more than ten meters.
He shook his slightly numb left arm.
The sheer strength of a spirit realm third level peak creature was indeed formidable.
The Blood Wolf leader fell into a complete frenzy.
It opened its blood-filled maw, and the surrounding Spiritual Qi rushed madly toward the depths of its throat. A destructive black-and-red ball of light was taking shape.
A trace of coldness flashed through Su Yu's eyes.
Trying to clear the field?
At his brow, a transparent sharp ray as fine as an ox hair instantly condensed.
Spirit Sense Piercing.
His divine sense swept over the Blood Wolf leader's massive body. Its bones were exceptionally hard, and its protective Yao Qi was extremely thick.
But on the left side of its chest was a palm-sized patch of withered fur.
It was an old wound that had damaged the vessels of its heart, with no Yao Qi circulating there.
Su Yu formed a seal with one hand.
Ignoring distance, the transparent ray bypassed the raging Yao Qi and pierced unerringly into its body through that old wound.
Straight into its spiritual core.
Rip.
The ball of light in the Blood Wolf leader's throat instantly collapsed. It threw back its head and let out a shrill, agonized howl.
Its enormous body slammed into the mud and rolled wildly, crushing a swath of trees.
With its sea of consciousness pierced, it completely lost control of its flesh.
Su Yu kicked off hard, blasting a crater half a foot deep into the ground.
He shot upward into midair, drawing his right arm back as far as it would go.
An ultimate-realm killing move: Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist.
All his Prison-Suppressing Spiritual Qi flooded into his right arm, and a thick layer of blood-colored Spiritual Qi surged around his fist.
Below, the Blood Wolf leader happened to roll directly beneath him.
The Prohibition Blood Formation crashed down, pinning it firmly in the muck.
Boom!
There was nothing fancy about this punch. It struck squarely in the center of the Blood Wolf leader's skull.
The crack of shattering bone rang out crisply. Raging blood-colored Spiritual Qi pierced the hard skull and churned its brains to pulp.
Its enormous body went rigid, then collapsed completely, dark red, foul-smelling blood flowing from all seven orifices.
[Slain: spirit realm third level peak Blood Wolf leader. Slaughter Points gained: 500]
Su Yu landed steadily.
He flicked the brain matter off his fist and exhaled a breath of stale air.
Dead silence reigned all around, the night wind brushing over the wreckage strewn across the ground.
In the distance, Chu Jie and his companions were deathly pale. All the blood in Chu Jie's body froze at that moment.
That terrifying greater demon that had left him utterly powerless to fight back.
Its head had been smashed apart with one punch.
No formations, no high-grade secret treasures.
Through nothing but overwhelming physical strength and divine sense, he had crossed three minor realms and killed it single-handedly!
Run!
That was the only thought left in Chu Jie's mind.
This was no obscure Demon Suppression Guard from Nanhe County. He was clearly a monster wearing human skin!
He spun around and stumbled into a headlong sprint down the mountain.
Behind him, the short young man and the female disciple were so terrified their legs went weak. They scrambled after him for their lives.
Su Yu pulled the black-and-gold saber out of the mud. Watching the three fleeing figures, a cold gleam flashed through his eyes.
Since enmity had already been formed, there was no reason to let anyone return alive to report it.
Wandering Dragon Steps, Dragon Concealment.
Su Yu's figure became a bolt of black lightning, instantly tearing through the darkness between the trees. He crossed a hundred meters in a flash.
Chu Jie felt his back suddenly grow heavy as the tenfold gravity field crashed down.
His legs buckled, and he fell straight into the muck. The shadow of death instantly enveloped him.
Chu Jie rolled over and raised his sword, his face filled with terror.
"I'm a true disciple of the Mystic Sword Sect! You can't kill me!"
"My father is the Mystic Sword Sect's grand elder! He's a mystic realm expert! If you kill me, the Mystic Sword Sect will slaughter your entire family-"
Su Yu's hand did not pause in the slightest. His black-and-gold saber swept up a bleak, cold gleam.
One slash cut through man and sword alike.
Squelch!
Chu Jie's voice stopped abruptly. His head rolled into the muddy water, bewilderment and terror still lingering in his eyes.
Even in death, he could not believe that this Demon Suppression Guard from a little county town had drawn his saber outright without even asking about the Mystic Sword Sect's name.
Beside him, the short young man knelt on the ground, his crotch already soaked.
He had only just opened his mouth and had not even managed to beg for mercy.
Saber light flashed again, and another head rolled.
As for the remaining female disciple of the Mystic Sword Sect, Su Yu upheld the principle of equality between men and women and did not spare her either.
Clean and decisive-a single slash took her head!
Su Yu sheathed his saber and crouched, his gaze settling on the storage pouch at Chu Jie's waist.
A storage pouch contained a spatial formation. Such a thing could not be measured in gold or silver.
Su Yu pulled it straight off and stuffed it into his robes!
The dead had no need for possessions. Since they wanted to steal his kill, they had to be prepared to be killed and looted.
With all that done, Su Yu turned and walked toward the Blood Wolf leader's corpse.
He cut open its skull and extracted a dark red demon core the size of an infant's fist. The power it contained was enough to exchange for a large quantity of resources.
The night wind gradually turned cold and sinister.
Su Yu stopped and turned his head as though sensing something, looking toward the dark, dense forest to one side.
Crack!
The sound of boot soles crushing dry branches came at a steady rhythm.
Someone was coming, without making the slightest attempt to conceal it.
A hand wearing a black leather glove slowly parted the bushes ahead.
Moonlight pierced the canopy and spilled over the newcomer. A black trench coat snapped in the wind.
A pure white fox mask covered the newcomer's face, leaving only a pair of utterly unruffled eyes exposed.
A deep, icy pressure silently locked onto the entire hollow.
Far beyond the spirit realm third level.