He forced a deep furrow through the layer of rotting leaves underfoot, driving the Wandering Dragon Steps to their limit.
The muscles in Su Yu's legs bulged to the extreme, each stride stamping fine cracks into the rocks beneath his feet.
Tree trunks raced backward on either side of his vision, while muffled booms continued to roll from the main peak behind him.
Huge shattered boulders tumbled down the slopes, snapping swathes of ancient trees thick enough to encircle with both arms clean in half.
A savage spiritual pressure unique to Mystic Realm experts radiated indiscriminately across all of Cloud Wolf Mountain from the main peak.
The air grew extremely thick, every breath drawing in the heavy stench of blood and decay.
Su Yu stamped his right foot onto a protruding root and leaped into the air, clearing a ravine two zhang wide.
His Slaughter Points had now reached two thousand, and the system had entered a twenty-four-hour update countdown.
Cloud Wolf Mountain's Mystic Realm puppet had fully awakened. The seal had broken.
With his Qi refining at the Mortal Realm ninth layer and spirit refining at the Spirit Realm third level, combined with Vajra Demonic Baleful Intent, killing Spirit Realm third-level demons was his limit.
But against the Mystic Realm, he had no chance of winning.
Mystic Realm experts harnessed the might of heaven and earth. Their spiritual pressure alone could burst a Mortal Realm martial artist's body.
Staying on the mountain meant certain death.
As for that Shadow Guard wearing a white fox mask, Su Yu could only pray she had good luck?
Su Yu controlled the circulation of blood and Qi through his meridians, locking his internal breath within three inches of his skin.
He let not a trace of Spiritual Qi escape, darting through the dense forest like a black phantom.
The woods ahead gradually thinned, and a dirt road leading to Nanhe County came into view.
Less than twenty zhang from the mountain pass, three figures blocked the middle of the road.
Two men and a woman. One man and the woman wore close-fitting crimson outfits with flame emblems embroidered on their chests.
They were precisely the two Blazing Fire Sect disciples who had voluntarily withdrawn when they encountered the Blood Wolf leader halfway up the mountain.
Standing before them was a middle-aged man in gray robes, powerful Spirit Realm fourth-level spiritual pressure surging around him.
He raised his right hand, a crimson fireball the size of a human head floating above his palm.
Its extreme heat charred every dead branch and fallen leaf within several zhang, giving off a pungent burnt smell.
Suddenly, the female disciple raised her hand and pointed straight at the approaching Su Yu.
"Martial uncle! It's him! The Demon Suppression Guard who fought the Blood Wolf leader!"
The gray-robed man's gaze locked firmly onto Su Yu, ten zhang away.
"Stop."
The gray-robed man uttered the word.
The fireball instantly swelled, orange-red tongues of flame crackling explosively in midair.
The phenomenon at the main peak shook heaven and earth. A great demon must have emerged, or a rare treasure had been unearthed.
A low-ranking Demon Suppression Guard had charged out of the depths of the mountain alive, his clothes steeped in the bloody scent of a great demon.
He was definitely hiding a priceless treasure.
Su Yu did not slow down. His black-and-gold saber remained sheathed, and his feet moved even faster.
Eight zhang.
Five zhang.
The distance kept shrinking.
Su Yu swept his gaze over the fireball, then glanced at the two tense disciples. His mind reached a judgment in an instant.
Murder and robbery?
Behind him, crimson light from the main peak stained half the night sky red. The Mystic Realm puppet could charge down the mountain at any moment.
Killing here would not only waste time; the traces left by drawing his saber and spilling blood would certainly draw the Mystic Realm puppet after him.
I can't hold back, and I absolutely can't get bogged down in a fight!
Su Yu pressed his left thumb against his saber's guard.
His right foot slammed into the ground, blasting a pit half a foot deep in the soil.
He forcibly halted three zhang from the trio, his tremendous momentum plowing a furrow several feet deep into the ground.
"Move."
He offered no explanation, nor did he display his Demon Suppression Guard token.
The gray-robed man sneered at his words, pushing the fireball in his right hand forward half a foot.
"Hand over what you're carrying and tell me where Chu Jie of the Mystic Sword Sect is, and I'll spare your life."
Before his words had faded.
The air within three feet of Su Yu's body abruptly froze.
The Prohibition Blood Formation erupted into being.
Dark red blood Qi formed an inverted gravitational field that slammed down onto the gray-robed man's head, imposing tenfold gravity.
The dirt road beneath the gray-robed man's feet instantly collapsed, and his knees buckled uncontrollably.
An invisible force dragged the hovering fireball straight toward the ground, its light dimming sharply.
The gray-robed man's expression changed drastically. His Spirit Realm fourth-level Spiritual Qi surged wildly as he tried to force apart the bizarre crushing pressure.
Su Yu gave him no chance to regulate his breath.
The Spirit-Seizing Art circulated madly.
Within his sea of consciousness, his vast Spirit Realm third-level divine sense compressed to the extreme.
It was no longer a fine, scattered Spirit Sense Piercing attack, but gathered directly into an enormous invisible hammer.
It ignored distance.
It ignored defenses.
It smashed straight into the gray-robed man's brow.
Buzz!
The gray-robed man felt a muffled thunderclap explode inside his skull. His entire sea of consciousness caved in under the brutal impact of savage mental force.
Excruciating, swelling pain instantly tore through every nerve, and his facial muscles twitched wildly.
His gathered fire True Qi completely dispersed, and the fireball struck the mud, turning into a wisp of black smoke.
The gray-robed man staggered backward, both hands clamped tightly against his temples. Only by leaning against a tree trunk did he avoid dropping to his knees on the spot.
"Spirit refining! Spirit Realm third-level divine sense!"
The gray-robed man cried out in shock, staring fixedly at the youth in a low-ranking uniform. His contempt and greed had been utterly shattered by that single hammer blow.
The tangible slaughter-born viciousness mixed into that divine sense was so dense it was nauseating.
This was no soft persimmon. This was a savage beast wearing human skin!
That strike had merely been a warning. If his opponent truly resolved to fight to the death, until the fish died and the net broke, he would lose half his life too.
Beside him, the male and female disciples saw their martial uncle grievously injured without withstanding even a single move and collapsed to the ground in terror.
Longswords clattered to the ground.
Su Yu spared the three no further glance. The Prohibition Blood Formation contracted.
The Wandering Dragon Steps erupted once more.
He became a streak of black lightning, forcing his way through the gap the three had cleared.
The fierce wind he stirred up swept fallen leaves into the female disciple's face. In an instant, Su Yu vanished into the darkness leading toward the county town.
The gray-robed man panted heavily, cold sweat soaking the back of his robes. He grabbed the male disciple off the ground.
"Forget about Chu Jie! That kid is a monster hiding his cultivation!"
"The monster on the main peak is coming down! Run!"
Without even stopping to regulate his breath, the gray-robed man fled madly in the opposite direction with his two disciples.
Two incense sticks later.
The outline of Nanhe County's dilapidated walls appeared in the night.
A few dim lanterns hung atop the wall, where two garrison soldiers dozed against the stone, spears in their arms.
A short while later, inside the little courtyard!
Having stripped off his clothes, he walked over to the well in the courtyard.
He lifted the wooden bucket.
An entire bucket of icy well water poured straight over his head.
Black water mixed with blood and mud flowed down his ankles into the drain. He poured three buckets over himself in succession, washing away every scent on his body.
After changing into a clean, coarse-cloth tunic, Su Yu summoned the system panel.
[Host: Su Yu] [Slaughter Points: 2000] [System updating. Time remaining: 22 hours, 45 minutes]
The progress bar crept forward.
Su Yu leaned back against the earthen wall, and the room sank into utter silence.
The night breeze blew in through gaps in the window frame.
In his vision, the countdown's digits ticked coldly onward as Su Yu considered his next arrangements.