Seeing the sudden appearance of a figure, Liu Bai immediately realized that someone else had also set their sights on the same prey.
Judging from the other party's attire, they should be an adventuring squad that had entered the Northern Spiritual Fields—one specialized in hunting Wind Foxes, otherwise they wouldn't be so well-prepared.
Frightened by the two people who had suddenly rushed out, the Wind Fox immediately tried to escape. But just as it bolted toward a thicket behind it, it didn't expect to be ambushed by two more figures lying in wait with a large net.
Seeing the Wind Fox about to charge straight into their trap, the group couldn't help but reveal expressions of joy.
A living Wind Fox could earn them several hundred thousand spiritual coins. That was a huge sum of money.
But what no one expected was that at the critical moment, the Wind Fox's entire body suddenly erupted with a violent vortex of wind, blasting into the net. Borrowing the recoil from the impact, it abruptly spun mid-air and fled in the opposite direction straight toward Liu Bai.
"A windfall like this?!"
Having already considered retreating, Liu Bai looked surprised. He hadn't expected that in the end, he'd be the one to benefit from waiting by the tree.
Without the slightest hesitation, as the Wind Fox charged at him, Liu Bai's right hand shot out like lightning. One finger jabbed directly at the Wind Fox's head.
With the Wind-Piercing Finger at the Greater Mastery level, the force of that strike shattered the Wind Fox's skull, instantly killing it.
This sudden turn of events clearly startled the four-man team. Staring at the spiritual beast essence that had emerged from the Wind Fox's body, their expressions turned extremely unpleasant.
"Who dares steal the prey of our Blood Fiend Adventuring Group?!" A youth at the late stage of the Spiritual Movement Realm gripped a blade and shouted angrily at Liu Bai.
"Blood Fiend Adventuring Group?" Liu Bai frowned slightly.
Although he hadn't heard of the name before, since they were an adventuring group, their numbers surely exceeded just these four. That meant this squad was likely just one of several teams specifically tasked with capturing Wind Foxes. The real question was how many members of their group were present in the Northern Spiritual Field.
"I wouldn't say I stole it. I had my eye on this Wind Fox for a while too. Besides, your capture attempt failed. If I hadn't made a move, it would've escaped already." Liu Bai replied indifferently.
Though the opposing group had four people, Liu Bai was unafraid and spoke up calmly.
"Tch, it's just some brat who hasn't even grown all his hair…"
Seeing Liu Bai's youthful face, the four men immediately revealed malicious grins.
"Well well, you're alone and you dare snatch our Blood Fiend prey? You've got guts." The youth sneered, completely disregarding Liu Bai's words.
"How about this: hand over the prey and that mustard seed bracelet of yours, and we'll pretend this never happened. We'll let you walk away."
Liu Bai narrowed his eyes. Clearly, they intended to rob him.
Especially after noticing their greedy gazes fixed on his mustard seed bracelet, he realized this matter would not end peacefully.
"You… you want to rob me?" Liu Bai asked, pretending to stay calm even as the four slowly began to surround him.
"I'll have you know, I'm a student of Northern spiritual Academy. Two of our instructors are here as well and they're both at the Divine Soul Realm!"
The four burst into laughter.
"We know you're from Northern spiritual Academy! We also know you're here for training… but didn't your instructors tell you that getting robbed is part of your training too?" the youth sneered. "As long as we don't kill you, your instructors won't intervene."
Or if Liu Bai really was alone here, and they went a step further and killed him without leaving any clues, what could Northern spiritual Academy even do?
At that moment, the four had no qualms whatsoever.
"If you don't want to suffer, you better cooperate. Otherwise, I don't mind showing you just how brutal the wilderness can be!"
"You…"
Liu Bai's face was filled with anger but helplessness. That kind of expression only made the four feel more delighted.
"Tch, I just love crushing these so-called 'geniuses.' Hey kid, want a taste of what that feels like?"
Liu Bai's expression froze, then he revealed a frightened look. He slowly removed the mustard seed bracelet from his wrist and, looking dejected, began walking toward the youth.
He looked like he had resigned himself to fate.
Seeing this, the youth's smile grew even wider. But just as Liu Bai got close, the youth's eyes flashed with killing intent.
Anyone who owned a mustard seed bracelet surely had an extraordinary background. If they stole from him and let him go, he would definitely come back for revenge.
So the moment they saw Liu Bai's bracelet, they had already decided to kill and loot him.
Everything up until now had just been to lull Liu Bai into lowering his guard, in case he tried to flee.
When Liu Bai was right in front of him, and had even held out the mustard seed bracelet, the youth reached for it with one hand while gripping the long blade in his other, ready to strike at any moment.
But what shocked him was just as he was about to attack—Liu Bai's previously terrified eyes had turned as calm as a still pond.
With a flick of his wrist, a streak of black light shot from Liu Bai's right palm and struck the youth's chest with force.
At the same time, Liu Bai let go of the bracelet with his left hand and coiled his arm like a serpent around the youth's blade-wielding wrist, effortlessly snatching the weapon from his limp grasp.
Swish!
The long blade shot out like an arrow, piercing the chest of another defenseless team member.
It all happened in a flash. By the time the remaining two came to their senses, their two comrades were already dead.
"Run!"
In that instant, the two seasoned killers made the smartest choice they turned and fled.
Judging from Liu Bai's display of strength and cunning just now, they knew they were no match for him. Their only option was to escape and report this to their captain. He would avenge them.
Liu Bai hadn't expected them to be so decisive.
Unfortunately, while the two were both at the mid-phase of the Spiritual Movement Realm, it seemed they hadn't cultivated any movement techniques. In terms of speed, they were no match for Liu Bai.
A crimson glow burst from Liu Bai's feet. In the next moment, he had already appeared behind one of the fleeing men.
"Die!"
Hearing the sound of wind behind him, the man knew escape was impossible. With a final burst of viciousness, he spun around and punched with all his strength.
"Courting death," Liu Bai snorted coldly.
"Starshatter Fist!"
Boom!
A strike from the low-level Spirit-Grade Starshatter Fist, amplified by Liu Bai's Qilin Arm, collided head-on with the opponent's punch. At the moment of impact, the man's entire arm was crushed into pulp by the terrifying power.
Liu Bai's fist continued its momentum, slamming into the man's chest and completely collapsing his ribcage.
Without pausing to check the result, Liu Bai's Blaze Step activated again. In a few flickers, he had already caught up to the last man.
"Spare me, spare my life!"
Seeing that he could no longer escape, the last man suddenly dropped to his knees in a sliding motion right before Liu Bai's stunned gaze. He kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.
The sight indeed caught Liu Bai off guard, causing him to freeze momentarily in surprise.
It was precisely in that instant of distraction that the man who had been kowtowing flipped his palm. A sharp black light swept out, forming a cunning and vicious arc as it slashed directly toward Liu Bai's throat.
A twisted expression appeared in Liu Bai's vision.
From the man's distorted gaze, Liu Bai could even see a kind of perverse pleasure as if he were avenging a deep grudge.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring echoed.
The man's previously ecstatic expression quickly morphed into disbelief, and then was entirely replaced by terror.
He saw a pale, flawless hand tightly gripping the blade of his dagger.
"How is this possible?!"
How could flesh and blood block the sharp edge of a dagger?
Especially when this was a strike fueled by his full strength. Even a chunk of steel might have been pierced through.
Liu Bai's face turned grim. Without any further hesitation, he thrust a finger straight through the man's forehead, killing the treacherous attacker on the spot.
"I was careless after all. Just because this guy surrendered, I actually hesitated..."
But to be fair, Liu Bai couldn't completely blame himself. After all, in his previous life, he had lived peacefully for decades. Even after transmigrating to this cruel world, despite constantly reminding himself to adapt, the habits from his past still occasionally caused mistakes.
It seemed he would have to become even more vigilant going forward.
He glanced at his right hand and saw a thin red line across his palm.
Even though his hand had been modified into the Qilin Arm and protected by spiritual energy, forcefully blocking a full-strength strike from a mid-phase Spiritual Movement Realm cultivator still left a wound.
Liu Bai didn't dwell on it. After confirming the opponent's death, he immediately left and returned to the previous battlefield.
Of course, before leaving, Liu Bai also retrieved the pitch-black dagger. He had come to realize that such short weapons could sometimes produce unexpected results in combat.
After returning to the battlefield, he found his mustard seed bracelet lying on the ground, picked it up, and also collected the spiritual beast essence of the Wind Fox. After scanning the area and confirming there were no issues, Liu Bai quickly left.
Once he had distanced himself from the battle site and confirmed that no one was tailing him, Liu Bai found a large tree, leapt into its canopy, and used the dense foliage to conceal himself. Only then did he finally have time to open his system interface and check the notifications.
"Ding. Killed a late-stage Spiritual Movement Realm cultivator. Gained 150 experience points. Spiritual Pulse Awakening Point +1."
"Ding. Killed a mid-stage Spiritual Movement Realm cultivator. Gained 100 experience points. Spiritual Pulse Awakening Point +1."
"Ding. Killed a mid-stage Spiritual Movement Realm cultivator. Gained 100 experience points. Spiritual Pulse Awakening Point +1."
"Ding. Killed a mid-stage Spiritual Movement Realm cultivator. Gained 110 experience points. Spiritual Pulse Awakening Point +1."
After killing four individuals, he had gained 460 experience points.
Of course, what shocked Liu Bai the most was not the experience gain, but the so-called Spiritual Pulse Awakening Points.
"Killing spiritual beasts yields Beast Soul Points. Killing cultivators gives Spiritual Pulse Awakening Points. Could this be the system's method of fixing the fact that I was born without a spiritual Pulse?"
If that were the case, it would be amazing.
With this realization, Liu Bai immediately opened his status panel.
------
Player: Liu Bai
Realm: Peak of Spiritual Movement Realm
Class: Spirit Array Master (Rank 1)
Spiritual Pulse: Awakening (4/10)
Cultivation Methods:
Blazing Sun Art (Fourth Layer 0/2000)
Basics Spiritual Array Formula (Greater Mastery 0/500)
Skills:
High-level Common-Grade Wind-Piercing Finger (Greater Mastery)
High-level Common-Grade Senluo Death Seal (Greater Mastery)
Low-level Spirit-Grade Starshatter Fist (Initiate 0/100)
Low-level Spirit-Grade Blaze Step (Greater Mastery 0/1500)
High-level Spirit-Grade Great Sun Burning Sea Palm (Minor Mastery 0/1200)
Arrays:
Flame Serpent Spirit-Breaking Array (Greater Mastery)
Experience Points: 515
Beast Soul Points: 11
------
"So awakening a spiritual Pulse only needs 10 awakening points..." Liu Bai mused silently.
Most likely, the awakened Pulse would be the lowest Grade 1 Human Pulse, and he would have to continue upgrading its level afterward. It was the classic game setup. Having figured this out, Liu Bai closed the status panel.
His experience had just passed 500. Aside from the Basic Spiritual Array Formula and Starshatter Fist, nothing else could be upgraded. So Liu Bai decided to save the experience points for now. Unless something unexpected happened, raising his cultivation realm should take priority.
Meanwhile, back at the location where Liu Bai had slain the Blood Fiend Adventuring Squad, several dozen people had surrounded the area. At the center stood a nearly two-meter-tall burly man in full iron armor. His entire presence radiated a terrifying and bloodthirsty aura as he stared at the corpses on the ground.
In front of him, a man who looked to be in his thirties was examining one of the bodies. It was the young man who had wielded the blade Liu Bai's first victim.
"One strike pierced the chest, followed by a weapon snatch that killed another..."
After a while, the man stood up and spoke gravely.
"Captain, it looks like the attacker was a very experienced adventurer. Their strikes were ruthless and precise. Each one was fatal without hesitation."
This burly man was none other than the Blood Fiend Adventuring Group's leader, Blood Fiend a mid-stage Spiritual Wheel Realm expert. The others gathered were all elite members of the group. The man inspecting the corpse was Deputy Leader Lu Ling, who was at the early stage of the Spiritual Wheel Realm.
The Blood Fiend Adventuring Group was well-known in the Northern Spiritual Fields. After all, both its leader and deputy were Spiritual Wheel Realm experts. With such strength, they could easily become city lords in any of the Nine Domain's if they so desired.
"One person dared to kill my Blood Fiend members?" Blood Fiend's face darkened, the killing intent on his face growing even heavier.
"Lu Ling, I don't care what it takes—find him."
"I will personally crush every bone in his body. I'll make sure he understands what it costs to lay hands on the people of my Blood Fiend group."
"Yes, Captain. I will send someone to track him immediately." Lu Ling responded without hesitation.
He could tell from the tone of their captain that Blood Fiend was truly furious this time. If he failed to handle the matter properly, he would likely become the target of that rage himself...
Blood Fiend was not only a name soaked in blood the man himself was brutal and bloodthirsty. No one in the entire group dared disobey his will.
.....
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