Taking Shape

Liu Bai was nothing like Ji Zong, dressed flamboyantly and even holding a floral umbrella.

A faint spiritual glow radiated around Liu Bai, keeping all the rainwater away.

"A teenager?" Even Blood Blade could not help but feel slightly surprised after seeing Liu Bai's face clearly.

Liu Bai wore an indifferent expression, as though the bloodthirsty butcher before him were merely an ordinary person.

"Blood Wolf Bandits..."

"I came to Black Wasteland City earlier, but all I saw was towering flames and corpses littering the ground. It seems you came to Black Wasteland Forest this time to plunder Black Wasteland City?"

Blood Blade's gaze narrowed slightly. He remained coldly silent, but in the next moment, he suddenly slashed out.

Accompanied by crimson blade light, Blood Blade's figure also turned into a bloody mist and vanished. When he appeared again, he was already behind Liu Bai.

"Using that move again?" Liu Bai's expression remained unchanged, though a faint smile appeared on his face.

Blood Blade had just used this move to directly kill the Black Wasteland City Lord, who was at the same level as him...

Whoosh!

A piercing sound tore through the air. Without giving Liu Bai any time to react, the crimson light had already severed him at the waist.

Splash!

The sound of water rang out. Liu Bai, who should have been cut in half, unexpectedly turned into splashing water and vanished into the rain curtain.

Although the Spirit Rain Array was merely an ordinary First-Grade Spirit Array and not very powerful, once fully mastered, it could use the rain curtain to track the movements of those within the array. No matter how fast they were, they would leave traces behind.

Meanwhile, the array's creator could use the power of rainwater to condense a body. Combined with the Chaos God Array, even peak Spirit Wheel Realm experts would find it difficult to locate the array master's true body.

Unfortunately, Ji Zong had yet to reach that level. Liu Bai, on the other hand, had easily reached Great Accomplishment with these two array manuals without relying on the system.

Naturally, the Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao deserved the credit for all this. Besides, he had even mastered the "Heart Array" state now, so mastering such simple arrays was effortless.

Ice Rain Arrow!

In an instant, countless raindrops turned into ice arrows and rained down upon the crimson figure.

Boom!

The long blade in Blood Blade's hand spun, and the erupting Crimson Spiritual Energy directly swept aside those Ice Rain Arrows, turning them into ice blossoms that scattered away.

The Spirit Rain Array's offensive power was simply too weak. It could not inflict any harm on a killer like Blood Blade.

Liu Bai knew that as well, so he had never expected those rain arrows to accomplish anything. They were merely meant to confuse and delay him...

Liu Bai's true body hid within the rain curtain. He slowly raised an arm, then threw a punch with an incomparably heavy motion.

Buzz! Buzz!

As Liu Bai threw that slow and strange punch, the rain curtain before him instantly trembled. Violent spiritual energy rapidly gathered in the air, faintly forming a brown mountain roughly several dozen yards tall.

Thud!

Liu Bai's heavy punch landed on the brown mountain. In an instant, it shuddered before turning into a dark brown streak of light that shot forth with a howl. Carrying the immense force of a mountain, it crashed violently toward Blood Blade.

Blood Blade, who had been pursuing "Liu Bai," was suddenly startled. Not only had he failed to find the other party's true body, but that youth could actually unleash such a terrifying move?

Blood Blade Slash!

With a fierce shout, terrifying crimson blade light erupted and slammed directly into the brown mountain.

Bang! As the two collided, an astonishing spiritual energy shockwave swept outward, stirring up a violent storm within Black Wasteland Forest.

The Spirit Rain Array was also shattered by the impact, revealing Black Wasteland Forest's true appearance...

Seeing the ground around him, shattered across hundreds of meters, Blood Blade's expression could not help turning solemn. He simply could not believe that a youth who looked barely more than ten years old possessed such strength.

That Mountain Spirit Art the other party had used was definitely above Spirit Grade Low Rank. Such a thing was not easy to find in the Northern Spirit Realm.

"Who exactly are you?" Blood Blade demanded in a low voice.

Liu Bai smiled faintly. "The one who will kill you!"

In the next moment, both sleeves on Liu Bai's arms exploded into powder.

His two arms, glowing with white light, were exposed. They quickly swelled, veins bulging as a sense of heavy power radiated from them.

Mountain God Art, Mountain Shaking Divine Fist!

Liu Bai blasted out with both fists. Mountains dozens of yards tall formed beneath his fists, and these peaks, formed from immense spiritual energy and heavy fist wind, all came crashing down upon Blood Blade like massive meteors.

Danger!

At that moment, Blood Blade was utterly horrified. The crisis of death engulfed his entire body, making this butcher who had slaughtered countless people unable to maintain the calmness on his face any longer.

Spirit Veins, appear!

Blood Blade Slash! Slash! Slash!

Dots of light slowly emerged across his body. These points of light were like soaring dragons of light, flashing with dazzling radiance. Blood Blade's aura instantly reached the peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm, only one step away from the Divine Soul Realm.

All his spiritual energy erupted from within his body. Massive streaks of blade light shot into the sky, continuously slashing at the cluster of mountains.

Boom! Boom!

The overwhelming and powerful attacks collided fiercely in the sky. Crimson blade light and brown mountain peaks smashed viciously into one another, followed by an explosive burst of astonishing spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy blast stirred up a storm in the sky. As the storm raged outward, everything within a thousand meters of Black Wasteland Forest instantly became ruins. Vegetation was destroyed, the earth cracked apart, and huge boulders dozens of yards tall rose from the ground like mountains, forming an enormous stone forest.

Hearing the system notification in his ears, Liu Bai slowly let out a breath. Soon after, waves of weakness spread through his body.

"I never thought I'd have a day when I'd overexhaust my spiritual energy..." Liu Bai shook his head with a bitter smile. He decided it would be better to use Mountain Shaking Divine Fist less often in the future; its consumption was simply too great.

After all, it had nearly drained the spiritual energy from all three of his Spirit Wheels. Even an early Divine Soul Realm expert probably would not be able to endure that.

Still, the gains from this battle were quite good.

Not only had he gained nearly five thousand Experience Points, but he had also encountered Blood Blade, who possessed Spirit Veins...

"Judging from Blood Blade's Spirit Vein bonus, they should only be ordinary Two Person Veins. If I want to improve them, I'll probably need to encounter more people like him."

With so much experience, Liu Bai directly added some to the Mountain God Art, raising it straight to the third layer.

A surge of dense spiritual energy arose with a boom, directly entering the Earth Element Spirit Wheel in his spleen aperture. It then rapidly transformed and flowed into his Sea of Qi.

Player: Liu Bai

Realm: Peak Spirit Wheel Realm

Profession: Spirit Array Master (Second-Grade Spirit Array Master)

Spirit Veins: Two Person Veins (67/500)

Constitution: Spirit Muscle Jade Bone

Cultivation Method: Blazing Sun Art (Sixth Layer 125/3600); Hundred Scrolls of Array Dao: Upper Volume (Initiation · Heart Array, Beginner 0/1200); Low Grade Body Tempering Divine Art · Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art (Minor Accomplishment 0/6000); Mountain God Art (Third Layer 0/9000)

Skills:...

Arrays:...

Experience Points: 1870

Beast Soul Points: 68

"Peak Spirit Wheel Realm!"

The third layer of the Mountain God Art had directly raised Liu Bai by two minor realms. It truly was stronger than the Blazing Sun Art.

Moreover, Liu Bai discovered that the changes brought by the Mountain God Art's advancement did not end there. At that moment, an earthy yellow mountain peak slowly condensed into shape atop the Earth Element Spirit Wheel in his spleen aperture...

The mountain's form appeared extremely illusory, as though a single gust of wind could disperse it. Yet at the moment the phantom mountain took shape, Liu Bai sensed mysterious points of light illuminating within his body...

These points of light spread throughout the depths of Liu Bai's body. Looking carefully, however, he found that when connected together, they formed an even larger mountain shape within him!

At the same time, in the outside world, when the mountain shape appeared in Liu Bai's body, earthy yellow spiritual energy surged over the surface of his body, seemingly forming an indistinct Yellow-Brown Mountain as well.

A great mountain protected Liu Bai's entire body within it.

"This is the true strength of a spirit-grade high-tier cultivation method and spirit art!"

Clenching his fists, Liu Bai felt that the brown spiritual mountain around him possessed incredibly powerful defense. Even an attack from the Divine Soul Realm would probably find it difficult to break through.

Of course, it could not compare to Mu Chen's Pagoda Tower, but Liu Bai possessed three Spirit Wheels. In terms of sheer spiritual energy reserves, he was probably even thirty percent stronger than Mu Chen, who cultivated the Great Pagoda Art.

"For ordinary people, breakthroughs in cultivation and breakthroughs in cultivation methods are different. Strictly speaking, the latter is even more difficult. But I use experience to drive my cultivation method, advancing my cultivation and spirit arts together. Therefore, as long as my cultivation reaches the necessary level, my cultivation method will naturally advance as well."

Liu Bai considered the differences brought by his system and came to a conclusion.

Afterward, Liu Bai did not linger. He began searching once more for the traces of the Blood Wolf Bandits.

There were several hundred Blood Wolf Bandits in total. The ones he had encountered today numbered only a few dozen. Their main force must still be stationed somewhere hidden. If they discovered that Blood Blade and the others had not returned for a long time, they would definitely send people to search. When that happened, he could seize their weakness.

At the same time, deep within Black Wasteland Forest, in a certain valley, piles of bonfires illuminated the entire dim valley. From the crude tents came women's screams and men's wild, cruel laughter, echoing over the entire valley. Through the torn sections of those tents, flashes of exposed flesh could occasionally be seen, along with heaving bodies.

Within the largest tent, a tall, gaunt man with the gaze of a hawk and a wolf sat imposingly in the seat of honor. His hands wore weapons resembling sharp claws, and his entire face was tattooed with bloody wolf fang patterns. Whenever his eyes shifted, a vicious aura like that of a man-eating beast rushed forth.

This man was none other than Blood Wolf, the chief of the Blood Wolf Bandits!

On either side of the tent stood six grand chairs, each occupied by a fierce-looking figure. Every one of them held a scantily clad woman in his arms, teasing them with mocking amusement.

"Still no news from Second Brother?" Blood Wolf asked gloomily as he looked at the sky, already swallowed by darkness.

The entire tent fell silent at those words. The two men who had been unable to hold themselves back instantly felt cold at heart and went limp.

At the side, Blood Slaughter, the third bandit chief, spoke up. "Big Brother, are you worrying too much? You know Second Brother's strength. The Black Wasteland City Lord definitely isn't his match. That old bastard from Black Wasteland is rather cunning, though. Second Brother probably wasted some time during the pursuit..."

Everyone in the Blood Wolf Bandits knew Blood Blade's strength very well. As long as no Divine Soul Realm expert acted, it was nearly impossible to kill him. Even if he could not win, escaping would not be a problem.

Otherwise, among a group of bloodthirsty butchers like the Blood Wolf Bandits, someone lacking strength could never sit in the position of second bandit chief.

"I'm not worried about the Black Wasteland City Lord. I'm only concerned that if Second Brother encountered some accident along the way, we must make preparations in advance."

Although the Blood Wolf Bandits had rampaged through the Northern Spirit Realm without restraint, killing countless people, Blood Wolf, their true leader, was extremely cautious. Even when provoking the Nine Great Domains in the past, they carefully selected their targets. That way, although the Nine Great Domains would be enraged, they would not go so far as to send Divine Soul Realm experts to hunt them down.

It was precisely because Blood Wolf grasped this balance that they had been able to remain free for so long. Otherwise, if they truly provoked the Nine Great Domains into joining forces regardless of the cost, there would be no place for them in the Northern Spirit Realm.

"Pass down the order. Send people to investigate Second Brother and the others' whereabouts. Also, tell the little ones not to play around tonight. Guard all the entrances and exits around us. Don't let even a fly in, understand?"

"Yes!" Seeing his eldest brother act this way, Blood Slaughter did not dare be careless. He threw aside the woman in his arms, answered, and hurried out to arrange the guards.

And so, the Blood Wolf Bandits remained tense throughout the night. Although no attacks or other unexpected incidents occurred, the entire camp became even more oppressive.

Because the bandits sent out to investigate had returned. They had not found the second bandit chief, Blood Blade, but they had discovered corpses smashed apart by massive boulders...

"Damn it, someone really did attack us in secret!" Blood Slaughter roared in fury as he looked at the Blood Wolf Bandit corpse on the ground, which only had its upper half remaining.

It was obvious that someone had killed him first, then smashed apart his lower body with a massive boulder. Clearly, someone had first killed these lackeys before engaging Blood Blade in battle.

But how many people in the Northern Spirit Realm could kill so many lackeys before Blood Blade's eyes? And judging from the wounds, all of it had been done by one person!

"Big Brother, could it be that Divine Soul Realm experts from the Nine Great Domains have acted?" Blood Slaughter's voice trembled slightly. At this moment, panic had actually risen in his heart.

"What are you panicking for?" Blood Wolf shouted fiercely, his expression incomparably gloomy. "Useless trash. So what if it's the Divine Soul Realm? We have hundreds of brothers. Can one man really kill us all?"

"Go. Send people out separately to investigate the outside world and see what is happening nearby."

"And tell those fools to be careful. Do not reveal their identities. Report back immediately if they find anything. We must not alert the enemy, nor can we expose our camp. Understood?"

"Got it, Big Brother. I'll go right away!"

Thanks to readers Emperor of the Heavenly Hall and Listening to the Purple Wind Chimes for the rewards! Wind Chimes has been a longtime reader who has supported me since the previous book. Thank you for your continued support.