A Bloody Path

Lightning Dragon Plows the Earth, Sweep Through a Thousand Armies.

The carnage caused in that instant was even more terrifying than the two magic arrays from before. Especially that dreadful lightning—it did not even give anyone time to react, killing in an instant.

At that moment, Blood Wolf felt his heart skip a beat.

If he had charged over just now, there would probably have been one more corpse among the dead.

"Spirit Veins, open!"

Blood Wolf roared inwardly. A blood-colored spiritual light suddenly burst from within his body, and at the same time, the spiritual energy inside him surged wildly, even crossing that threshold in one leap and reaching the Divine Soul Realm.

"Wolf God Art, Howling Wolf Slash!"

Accompanied by a wolf-like howl, a terrifying spiritual pressure enveloped Liu Bai. Then, a ferocious blade light swept up overwhelming blade qi like a whirlwind, rushing toward every vital point around Liu Bai's body.

Swish! Swish!

The surrounding ground was torn apart by the blade light, leaving deep gashes everywhere.

Several trees caught in the attack were even cut cleanly in half by the blade light, their severed surfaces smooth as mirrors.

Feeling the pressure brought by that violent spiritual energy, Liu Bai showed no panic. Instead, an inexplicable excitement appeared on his face.

"Spirit Veins again!"

And they could directly raise Blood Wolf from the peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm to the Divine Soul Realm Middle Stage, increasing his spiritual energy tenfold!

This was absolutely not something Human Veins could accomplish. Could it be Earth Veins?

How was that possible?! Someone with Earth Veins would be an absolute prodigy even in the entire Northern Spirit Realm. How could he possibly become a bandit...

But none of that mattered now. Liu Bai really wanted to know how many Spirit Vein Awakening Points he would get for killing an expert with Earth Veins.

At this moment, Liu Bai's black eyes reflected the sky-full of blade light and Blood Wolf's increasingly savage face.

The next instant, the Mountain God Art began circulating rapidly within him. Starting from the Spleen Aperture Earth Element Spirit Wheel, all three of Liu Bai's Spirit Wheels began spinning swiftly. Yellowish-brown spiritual energy surged and roared through his meridians...

At the same time, mysterious points of light flickered deep within Liu Bai's body, and his aura rose rapidly along with them.

His Spirit Veins might have seemed a grade lower than the other's, but his own spiritual energy was already comparable to the Divine Soul Realm. With the boost from Two Person Veins, Liu Bai's aura now even faintly surpassed Blood Wolf's.

As he clenched both fists, the earth-element spiritual light over his body abruptly condensed, and a vague brown mountain appeared over his skin.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Blood Wolf's sharp blade lights all landed upon that indistinct mountain shape, immediately producing a series of metallic clashes. Sparks flew everywhere, yet that black mountain silhouette did not budge in the slightest.

"What is this?!"

Blood Wolf's expression changed slightly as he stared at the mountain shrouding Liu Bai's body.

But then he gritted his teeth...

He refused to believe it. With power comparable to the Divine Soul Realm Middle Stage, triggered by his three Earth Veins, could he really fail to suppress some little brat only at the peak of the Spirit Wheel Realm?!

"Wolf God Art, Wolf Killing Blade Technique!" Blood Wolf stepped forward, and his blade stance changed. Astonishing Bloody Wave surged forth, while his dark-red broadsword turned crimson at this moment. Carrying a streak of red light, it chopped down with all its force.

Liu Bai clenched his right fist. The earth-element spiritual energy circulated by the Mountain God Art directly covered half his arm, as though he had put on a gauntlet. His fist wind howled, turning into the most threatening weapon on his body as it smashed outward.

His fist wind roared, carrying surging spiritual energy as it collided head-on with Blood Wolf's Crimson Broadsword.

Clang!

A fierce blast of wind swept outward, and the ground beneath their feet instantly sank a layer.

"Kill!" Blood Wolf suddenly roared. Chilling killing intent exploded from his body, and the broadsword in his hand felt as light as nothing. Carrying threads of blood qi, it repeatedly smashed toward Liu Bai.

Liu Bai swung his iron fist. Relying on the Mountain God Art's weight and defensive power, he not only held his ground but even occasionally made Blood Wolf suffer minor losses.

There was no helping it. Blood Wolf's attacks were wild and overbearing, like a pack of wolves that would bite their prey to death once they locked onto it, never giving up...

But Blood Wolf himself did not possess Liu Bai's formidable defenses, and even his strength was lacking by comparison.

This was the benefit of cultivating a Body Refining Method. Even a Body Refining Spiritual Art like the Ice Muscle Jade Bone Art, which did not excel at direct combat, was enough to give Liu Bai's body endurance and strength far beyond ordinary people.

Boom!

The two figures, carrying vast spiritual energy, slammed fiercely into each other. The spiritual energy shockwave directly blasted up the earth, sending dirt and stones flying in every direction.

At the center of the shockwave, Blood Wolf gripped his broadsword with both hands and brought it down toward Liu Bai's head in a mountain-cleaving stance.

Yet opposite him, a slender palm covered in yellowish-brown spiritual energy had actually stopped that blood-colored blade with bare flesh. A closer look would reveal that, besides the heavy earth-element spiritual energy, there was also a layer of gentle, jade-white spiritual light between the blade and palm.

"Have you had enough..."

A calm, utterly emotionless voice rang out. To Blood Wolf's ears, it made his entire body tremble.

"If you have, then it's my turn."

Swish!

In an instant, Liu Bai's body transformed into a streak of fire. While leaving an afterimage behind, he himself had already appeared at Blood Wolf's side.

He seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll, yet every step Liu Bai took left behind an afterimage that would not dissipate.

The spiritual energy in his body surged frantically. Then black spiritual energy rapidly gathered over his right hand, and three Black Light Seals emerged...

These three Black Light Seals were only about a foot wide, but as they appeared, an exceptionally tyrannical fluctuation spread from them.

"Boom!"

Liu Bai calmly threw a punch. The three Black Light Seals whistled forward, trailing three black tails and tearing through the air as they blasted toward Blood Wolf without hesitation.

"Ding! Congratulations, player. You spent 1500 Experience Points. The Spirit Grade Low Rank Movement Spiritual Art Blazing Step has been upgraded to the perfect level. Trait acquired: Fire Illusion Body."

During his rapid exchange with Blood Wolf just now, Liu Bai had discovered that his movement technique was beginning to fall behind his opponent's. Though the Mountain God Art's traits and the power of his body-tempering Divine Art allowed him to fearlessly withstand the opponent's storm-like attacks, Liu Bai was not someone who would stand there and take a beating without striking back. Thus, without hesitation, he directly raised his only Movement Spiritual Art, Blazing Step, to its highest realm.

What he had not expected was that Blazing Step at its highest realm could actually give rise to a new trait... Fire Illusion Body. It should have been phantom images created by extreme speed, allowing Liu Bai to rapidly switch between those afterimages and confuse his enemy.

This method of improving himself while fighting, even specifically upgrading his weaknesses to compensate for them, was simply too shameless. So when fighting someone who cheated like this, what could Blood Wolf possibly use to win?!

At this moment, Blood Wolf naturally sensed the power of Liu Bai's three death seals. Yet he could not locate Liu Bai's true body at all, much less know from what direction the attack would come. He could only instinctively raise the door-sized broadsword in his hand and hide his body directly behind its blade.

Liu Bai's eye twitched. Why did this guy come with a giant defensive shield built in?

Boom!

The three tyrannical death seals exploded the instant they struck the broadsword.

The terrifying impact shook the thick blade until it was covered in cracks. Blood Wolf, hiding behind it, was sent flying backward as if struck by a heavy blow. He smashed hard into a thick tree, felt sweetness rise in his throat, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Let's end this!"

Liu Bai's figure vanished like a ghost. When he appeared again, he was already beside Blood Wolf.

A streak of black light flashed across Blood Wolf's throat. Blood Wolf, who had still been struggling to rise, suddenly froze all over, then collapsed to the ground as if every bit of strength had left him.

Liu Bai put away the Pitch-black Dagger in his hand. Looking at the corpse on the ground, which was gradually turning cold from rapid blood loss, he bent down and removed the Mustard Seed Bracelet from the man's wrist. Then, without a hint of reluctance, he stepped over the body and began delivering finishing blows beneath the dull gazes of those who had not yet died...

"So it really was Earth Veins. It directly gave me 100 Spirit Vein Awakening Points, several times more than Blood Blade and Lu Ling."

Looking at the more than three hundred Spirit Vein Awakening Points on the panel, Liu Bai made a decision even as he rejoiced. He would wipe out the remaining Blood Wolf Bandits. By then, his Spirit Vein Awakening Points should be nearly enough.

Half a month later.

More than a month had passed since Liu Bai left the Liu Family, and only a few days remained before the gathering date. Liu Bai had decided to return to the Liu Family.

Slash!

The dagger in his hand slit the throat of the last Blood Wolf Bandit. Liu Bai looked at the weapon that had accompanied him for nearly half a year, then raised his hand and tossed it into the blood.

"It was only a Mortal Item. After fighting for so long, it has done enough."

It had to be said that the Northern Spirit Realm was truly barren. Even top-tier bandits like the Blood Wolf Bandits could not rob much of value...

Inside Blood Wolf's Mustard Seed Bracelet, aside from some decent Spirit Materials, there were only large quantities of Spirit Coins and several low-grade spiritual arts.

Yet such things were utterly worthless to Liu Bai, the young master of the Liu Domain. He could casually mobilize several times this amount, so he had no interest in any of it.

"Looks like in a region where the overall environment is this impoverished, even bandits are poor thieves!"

Only after looking at his Spirit Vein Awakening Points, which had reached exactly 500, did Liu Bai's mood improve somewhat.

The only pity was that Blood Slaughter had still escaped. In fact, from beginning to end, Liu Bai had never even seen a trace of that fellow.

To that, Liu Bai could only say: He ran really fast!

Player: Liu Bai

Realm: Peak Spirit Wheel Realm

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

Spirit Veins: Three Earth Veins (0/1000)

Physique: 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 5/6000); Mountain God Art (Third Layer 0/9000)

Skills:

Mortal Grade High Rank Wind Breaking Finger (Great Accomplishment); Mortal Grade High Rank Senluo Death Seal (Great Accomplishment); Spirit Grade Low Rank Star Shattering Fist · Shatter (Perfect); Spirit Grade Low Rank Blazing Step · Fire Illusion Body (Perfect); Spirit-grade High-tier Great Sun Sea Burning Palm (Minor Accomplishment 0/1200); Spirit-grade High-tier Mountain Shaking Divine Fist (Minor Accomplishment 0/1200)

Arrays:

Chaos God Array (Great Accomplishment); Spirit Rain Array (Great Accomplishment); Flame Serpent Spirit Breaking Array (Great Accomplishment); Wolf Spirit God Striking Array (Minor Accomplishment 25/300); Nine Heavens Thunder Spirit Array (Minor Accomplishment 104/300); Five Wheel Sky Splitting Array (Minor Accomplishment 0/1500)

Experience Points: 38100

Beast Soul Points: 68

During battle, Liu Bai had also used Experience Points to continuously improve his various spiritual arts. Both the Movement Spiritual Art Blazing Step and the Attack Spiritual Art Star Shattering Fist had been raised to the highest, perfect realm.

And these two spiritual arts had lived up to expectations, each developing its own trait: Fire Illusion Body for Blazing Step, and Shatter for Star Shattering Fist!

These were the core traits of the two spiritual arts, usable only after one had completely mastered them. It was like the concept of "Return to Simplicity" in the martial arts novels Liu Bai had read in his previous life.

In any case, he currently had plenty of Experience Points. Furthermore, because he could not find a Spirit Beast Core in the Northern Spirit Realm that suited his wishes, Liu Bai was in no hurry to advance to the Divine Soul Realm. He could wait until he reached the Northern Cang Realm.

After all, Mu Chen and the others in the original story had encountered Heavenly Beasts such as the Earth Core Flame Dragon Lizard and the Ice Spirit Flood Dragon in the Northern Cang Realm.

Liu Bai was not greedy for now. As long as he could obtain a Heavenly Beast's Spirit Beast Core, that would be enough. At worst, he could slowly raise it through the system...

What was the big deal?

With that thought in mind, Liu Bai spent seven or eight days returning to Willow City.

What puzzled him, however, was that after entering the city, everyone stared at him in terror. Even the Willow City guards who recognized his identity looked fearful and trembling. It left Liu Bai completely baffled even after he entered the estate.

He only understood the reason for this confusion after meeting his father, Liu Qingtian.

"Bai'er, what happened to you? Why is such terrifying bloody killing intent radiating from your body?" Liu Qingtian asked his son with a stunned expression.

"Uh... Father, what are you talking about? Killing intent?" Liu Bai looked at his hands. Why could he not feel anything at all?

But in the eyes of others, Liu Bai was currently shrouded in a bone-piercing chill. Even cultivators of the Spirit Wheel Realm could not help feeling panic in their hearts when they approached him.

No wonder the people in the city did not even dare come near him. They trembled and fled from afar, as though they had seen a Great Demon King who killed without blinking!

Well, strictly speaking, Liu Bai really did kill without blinking now.

For the sake of his Spirit Vein Awakening Points, he had killed hundreds of people in barely a month and a half...

This was different from those high-level cultivators who could destroy heaven and earth with a gesture. More than half the people he had killed were ones he personally charged at and chopped down with a blade. As a result, it was inevitable that he had become stained with the scent of blood. And after killing so many, he had developed an instinctive indifference. Even an unintentional trace of it from Liu Bai was enough to make those with weak resolve shudder in fear!