Perfection-level saber technique?
The battle between Zhou Si and the golden-gray ape demon had reached a fever pitch. Her saber technique was fierce and swift, and every strike carried the vigorous force of mid Nei Jin.
But the ape demon's hide and fur were frighteningly tough. Her blade left only shallow marks on them, unable to inflict any real damage.
Instead, every counterattack from the ape demon forced Zhou Si to retreat and dodge.
A second-tier demonic beast's physical toughness far surpassed that of a first-tier beast. Breaking through its defenses with ordinary Nei Jin attacks was simply too difficult.
Elsewhere, Lu Feng's saber flashed again and again.
Several unranked ape demons were beheaded before they could even scream.
[Ding! Successfully killed an unranked ape demon. Demon Points obtained: 100] [Ding! Successfully killed an unranked ape demon. Demon Points obtained: 100]
System notifications rang out one after another in Lu Feng's mind. He lowered his saber and stood there, his expression calm.
"Aah-!"
The golden-gray ape demon watched helplessly as the last few lesser demons fell in pools of blood. Its eyes turned blood-red in an instant, and it let out a furious roar.
"I'll kill you! Kill you!"
Yao Qi surged around it, and its already hulking body swelled even larger. Its claws whipped up fierce gusts as it attacked with more than twice its previous ferocity.
Zhou Si had already been at a disadvantage, and against the enraged ape demon, she was in even greater peril. Though her saber technique was exquisite, every block left the webbing between her thumb and forefinger numb, and her footwork began to falter.
Lu Feng stood not far away, but he didn't immediately intervene. His gaze stayed fixed on the ape demon's movements, though his thoughts were on something else.
No wonder Xiao Huaishan had looked as though he'd seen a ghost when Lu Feng killed that second-tier wolf demon. For an ordinary person, killing a second-tier demonic beast alone was indeed no easy task.
Zhou Si was at Nei Jin Perfection, and her saber technique was no slouch, yet this second-tier ape demon still had her on the defensive. Human martial artists of the same tier truly had trouble matching demonic beasts in physical toughness, recovery, and explosive power.
Unless-
They had a perfection-level cultivation technique.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when the battle took a sudden turn.
The ape demon knocked Zhou Si's blade aside with one claw. The other followed close behind, striking her squarely on the right shoulder.
"Bang!"
With a muffled thud, Zhou Si was sent flying backward, a trickle of blood escaping her mouth.
Lu Feng's pupils contracted. He instantly activated Treading on Snow Without a Trace, leaving an afterimage where he had stood as he caught Zhou Si securely.
His left arm wrapped around her waist, and he felt warmth and softness beneath his hand.
But he had no time to dwell on it. He swept the Six Harmonies Saber across with his right hand, pouring Nei Jin into the blade and driving the pursuing ape demon back three steps with a single strike.
"Senior Sister Zhou, are you all right?"
After landing, Lu Feng loosened his hold and looked down at the person in his arms.
Zhou Si's face was flushed crimson, whether from her injury or some other cause. She bit her lip and shook her head. "I'm fine."
Her voice was softer than usual.
Lu Feng helped her sit at the edge of the cave, then turned to face the enraged ape demon.
"Rest here. I'll deal with it."
"Be careful!" Zhou Si struggled to stand. "This demon is very strong. I'll help you-"
Before she could finish, a sharp pain from her right shoulder made her grunt and fall back to the ground. She gritted her teeth and forcibly circulated her Nei Jin despite her injury, pushing herself back to her feet.
Then she raised her head and looked toward the battle.
She froze.
Lu Feng moved around the golden-gray ape demon like a ghost. Combining Carefree Steps with Treading on Snow Without a Trace, he alternated between the two perfection-level movement techniques. Every attack the ape demon made missed by a hair, grazing his clothes without touching a hair on his body.
And every strike of his saber landed precisely where the ape demon's defenses were weakest-its joints, armpits, and the sides of its neck.
His saber technique was fierce and seasoned, without a single wasted movement.
A perfection-level saber technique.
How is this possible? Lu Feng is only at mid Nei Jin, but his combat strength...
The golden-gray ape demon now had more than a dozen wounds across its body, its blood staining its golden-gray fur dark red. Its movements were growing sluggish, its breathing heavy, and each swipe of its claws carried less force than the last.
At this rate, Lu Feng would be able to kill it on his own in less than half an hour.
Zhou Si slowly sat down cross-legged, took a healing pill from her storage bag, and swallowed it before circulating her cultivation to treat her injuries. Since she couldn't help, she might as well recover as quickly as possible. At least she wouldn't be a burden.
Meanwhile, Lu Feng's brow furrowed slightly.
This ape demon is pretty agile.
He had thought he could take it down within ten moves, but to his surprise, although its attacks weren't particularly powerful, it was exceptionally nimble. Every time his blade was about to strike a vital spot, it managed to twist aside at the last possible instant, leaving him with nothing but a shallow cut in its flesh.
If he kept wearing it down like this, he would eventually kill it.
But that wasn't the result Lu Feng wanted.
He took a deep breath and poured Nei Jin madly into the Six Harmonies Saber.
Gale Slash.
A perfection-level saber technique.
The saber flashed.
Zhou Si saw only Lu Feng's figure sway where he stood. In the next instant, he was behind the ape demon.
The saber light on the Six Harmonies Saber had yet to fade.
"Aah-!"
A shrill scream echoed through the cave.
A thin line of blood appeared across the golden-gray ape demon's neck, then rapidly widened. Its enormous head slowly slid off its neck and hit the ground with a thud, rolling twice before coming to a stop.
Its massive body swayed, then crashed to the ground.
[Ding! Successfully killed a second-tier ape demon. Demon Points obtained: 10000]
The system notification sounded.
Lu Feng sheathed his saber, his chest rising and falling slightly. Gale Slash consumed too much Nei Jin. Even with his current mid Nei Jin cultivation, two consecutive strikes were his limit.
At the edge of the cave, Zhou Si stared at the scene, her lips slightly parted. For a long moment, she didn't close them.
A perfection-level saber technique.
Her eyes hadn't deceived her. It truly was a perfection-level saber technique.
Saber techniques were far harder to cultivate than ordinary cultivation techniques. Among all the demon slayers in Su Prefecture, those who had cultivated a saber technique to the major accomplishment level could be counted on one hand, let alone those who had reached perfection.
That was because after reaching perfection in a saber technique, taking one more step would allow one to master Saber Force.
That was a realm only those at the Grandmaster stage could touch.
And Lu Feng was only at mid Nei Jin.
Where on earth does he come from?
"Senior Sister Zhou, how's your injury?"
Lu Feng walked over carrying the ape demon's head and set the enormous thing down in front of her.
"This second-tier ape demon is yours, as compensation for your injury."
Zhou Si stared for a moment, then shook her head repeatedly. "No! You killed this ape demon. How could I take it?"
She meant every word, but she still couldn't help letting her gaze linger on the ape's head for a moment.
A second-tier demonic beast. Exchanging it directly would earn a thousand merit points, and if there happened to be a matching bounty, that would be two thousand. A healing pill cost only a few dozen merit points. She had done the arithmetic clearly.
It was precisely because she understood that she couldn't accept it.
Lu Feng waved a hand, his tone casual. "Take it. I killed a second-tier demonic beast just the day before yesterday and exchanged it for two thousand merit points. If we run into another one later, that one can count as mine."
He really didn't mind.