Liu Bai was nothing like Ji Zong with his showy attire and floral parasol. A faint layer of spirit light emanated around Liu Bai, completely warding off the rain.
"A youth?" Even Blood Saber involuntarily felt a flicker of surprise after seeing Liu Bai's face.
Liu Bai's expression remained cold and indifferent, as if the butcher before him was nothing but an ordinary man.
"Blood Wolf Bandits…"
"I came to Black Desolate City earlier, but all I saw were soaring flames and corpses everywhere. It seems your group came into Black Desolate Forest this time to raid Black Desolate City?"
Blood Saber's gaze hardened slightly. Without speaking, he suddenly slashed with his blade.
With the flash of blood-red blade light, Blood Saber's figure dissolved into a mist of blood—and reappeared behind Liu Bai in an instant.
"Using that move again?" Liu Bai's expression did not change, but a faint smile flickered across his lips.
That exact move had just killed the City Lord of Black Desolate, a peer in cultivation level…
Shua! A gust of slicing air. Liu Bai had no time to react before the red light had smashed him cleanly in half.
Splash! A sound of rushing water. The Liu Bai who should have been cleaved in two instead dispersed into droplets and vanished into the rain mist.
Although the Spiritual Rain Array is only a basic Rank 1 spiritual formation with limited offensive power, once completely mastered it can use rain to trace the movements of those within. Even the fastest opponent leaves traces.
The caster can condense their form using the power of rain. When combined with the Consciousness Mesmerizing Array, even a peak Spiritual Wheel Realm cultivator would find it very difficult to locate the true body.
Alas, Ji Zong has not yet reached this level. But after obtaining these two formation scrolls, Liu Bai easily achieved Greater Mastery without relying on the system.
This is all thanks to Hundred Scrolls of Array, and especially because he has mastered the "Heart-array" state. Learning such simple formations was naturally effortless for him.
"Ice Rain Arrows!"
Instantly, countless raindrops transformed into ice arrows, raining down across the sky toward the blood-colored figure.
Boom! The figure spun Blood Saber's long blade. A burst of blood-colored spirit power blasted away the ice rain arrows, turning them into icy petals that drifted off.
The Spirit Rain Array's offensive power was truly weak it could not injure someone like Blood Saber.
Liu Bai understood that well. He never expected the rain arrows themselves to work—only to confuse and buy time…
Liu Bai's true form remained hidden in the rain. He slowly raised his arm and then, with extreme weight, threw a punch.
"Buzz!"
As Liu Bai's slow yet unnatural punch was released, the rainscreen in front of him suddenly trembled. Violent spirit power condensed rapidly in the air, faintly forming a brown mountain tens of zhang in height.
Thud! Liu Bai's heavy punch struck the brown mountain. It trembled instantly and then transformed into a deep brown arc of light, imbued with the weight of a mountain, roaring toward Blood Saber.
Blood Saber, who was pursuing "Liu Bai," was stunned. He had not even found the opponent's true body, yet the boy was able to use such a terrifying technique?
"Blood Saber Slash!"
With a fierce shout, terrifying blood-red blade light erupted, striking directly against the brown mountain.
Boom! When they collided, a powerful shockwave of spirit power swept through Black Desolate Forest, stirring up a raging storm.
Under the impact, the Spiritual Rain Array shattered completely, exposing the true terrain of the forest…
Looking at the ground fractured for hundreds of meters, Blood Saber's expression turned grave. He simply could not believe that a boy who looked no older than his teens had this level of power.
That mountain spirit skill just used, the Mountain God Technique, was clearly beyond spirit-grade low-level—rare in Northern Spiritual Realm.
"Who exactly are you?" Blood Saber asked in a low voice.
Liu Bai gave a light smile. "The one who kills you."
In the next moment, Liu Bai's sleeves disintegrated into dust. Two arms, glowing with white luminescence, were revealed. They rapidly expanded, veins bulging, radiating a heavy force from them.
"Mountain God Technique, Mountain-Shaking Divine Fist!"
Liu Bai jolted both fists forward; dozens-of-zhang-high mountain peaks formed beneath them. These spirit peaks, shaped by vast spiritual power and heavy fist wind, rained down on Blood Saber like massive meteors.
Danger!
Blood Saber's heart thundered with terror. Death threatened to engulf him, and even the butcher who had slaughtered countless people lost all composure.
"Spiritual Pulse, now!"
"Slash! Slash! Slash!"
Suddenly, points of gleaming light slowly floated across his body like ascending luminous dragons. Blood Saber's aura instantly soared to the peak of Spiritual Wheel Realm—only one step short of Divine Soul Realm.
Spiritual power exploded from his body as massive blade lights soared skyward, continuously slicing at the spirit peaks.
Thunk thunk!
Against the sky's storm, the red blade lights and brown spirit mountains collided fiercely. A tremendous blast of spirit waves erupted.
The resulting spirit shockwave whipped up a storm overhead. Within a radius of a thousand meters, Black Desolate Forest was reduced to ruins trees shattered, the earth cracked. Mountains of boulders tens of zhang high rose like pillars, forming a vast stone forest.
Liu Bai exhaled slowly upon hearing the system prompt in his ear. A wave of weakness washed through his body.
"I never thought I would one day overconsume spirit energy…" He shook his head with a bitter smile. He resolved to use Mountain-Shaking Divine Fist more sparingly in the future—it consumes too much energy.
After all, nearly all three of his Spiritual Vessels were nearly empty. Even an early Divine Soul cultivator would not stand that strain.
Still, the spoils from this battle were excellent:
He earned nearly five thousand experience points and encountered Blood Saber who also had a spiritual Pulse.
"From Blood Saber's spiritual Pulse bonus, it should only be a Grade 2 Human Pulse. To raise mine, I'll need to encounter more cultivators like him."
Liu Bai allocated a large portion of experience to the Mountain God Technique, raising it to the third layer.
A surge of profound spiritual energy erupted, flowing directly into his Earth Vessel Spiritual Wheel, swiftly converting and merging into his Qi Sea.
Player: Liu Bai
Cultivation Stage: Peak Spiritual Wheel Realm
Profession: Spiritual Array Master (Rank 2)
Spiritual Pulse: Grade 2 Human Pulse (67/500)
Physique: Spirit‑Skin Jade‑Bone
Cultivation Methods:
Blazing Sun Art (Sixth Layer 125/3600)
Hundred Scrolls of Array · Volume One (Initial· Heart-Array Low- Tier 0/1200)
Low-Grade Body Refinement Deity Art · Frost‑Skin Jade‑Bone Art (Minor Completion 0/6000)
Mountain God Technique (Third Layer 0/9000)
Experience Points: 1870
Beast-Spirit Points: 68
"Peak Spiritual Wheel Realm!"
The third layer of Mountain God Technique directly advanced Liu Bai two minor sub-stages—which indeed far surpassed Blazing Sun Art.
Moreover, Liu Bai discovered that the advancements in the Mountain God Technique did not stop there. At that moment, atop the Earth-attributed Spirit Wheel within his spleen aperture, a soil-yellow mountain peak was slowly taking shape.
The mountain peak appeared incredibly ethereal, as though it could be scattered by a breeze, but in the very instant it finished forming, Liu Bai sensed mysterious points of light igniting within his body.
These glowing points were scattered deep within Liu Bai's body, but upon closer examination, he realized that if they were connected, they formed a much larger mountain silhouette inside him.
At the same time, in the outside world, as the mountain form manifested within Liu Bai's body, an earthy yellow spiritual energy surged across his surface, as though an indistinct, brownish-yellow mountain had formed around him.
A massive mountain now seemed to protect Liu Bai's entire body.
"This is the true strength of a high-level Spirit-grade technique!"
Clenching both fists, Liu Bai could feel the defensive might of the brown spiritual mountain around him. Even an attack from the Diviy Soul Realm might struggle to break through.
Of course, it still could not compare to Mu Chen's Pagoda, but Liu Bai possessed three Spiritual Wheels. In terms of sheer spiritual energy reserves, he might even surpass Mu Chen, who cultivated the Great Pagoda Art.
"For ordinary cultivators, breaking through in cultivation and breaking through in cultivation arts are separate matters. Strictly speaking, the latter is much harder. But I advance my cultivation techniques through experience, progressing both cultivation and spirit arts in sync. So as long as my cultivation improves, the cultivation art will naturally advance too."
Liu Bai pondered over the unique difference brought by his system and formed a judgment in his heart.
Afterward, Liu Bai did not linger. He resumed his search for the remaining Blood Wolf Bandits.
There were a few hundred members in the Blood Wolf Bandits altogether. The ones he had encountered today were only a few dozen at most. It was likely their main force was still camped somewhere hidden. If those like Blood Saber did not return for too long, they would definitely send scouts to investigate. At that point, he could exploit the opening.
Meanwhile, deep within Black Desolaty Forest, in a mountain valley, piles of bonfires lit up the dim valley. Within crude tents, the screams of women and the cruel, maniacal laughter of men echoed through the night sky. From gaps in the torn tents, glimpses of spring scenes and heaving bodies were occasionally visible.
In the largest tent, a tall and lean man with sharp eyes and a fierce aura sat arrogantly in the main seat. His hands bore weapons like claws, and his face was tattooed with blood-colored fangs and wolf-patterns. His very presence radiated a vicious aura like a savage beast.
This man was the Grand Bandit Chief of the Blood Wolf Bandits—Blood Wolf.
To his sides were six chairs split evenly. Ferocious figures sat in each one, every man holding a scantily clad woman, toying with them with crude laughter.
"Still no word from Second?" Blood Wolf looked at the now darkened sky with a gloomy face and asked coldly.
The moment he spoke, the tent fell silent. Two bandits who were about to lose control instantly felt their blood run cold and backed away.
Beside him, the Third Bandit Chief, Blood Slaughter, said, "Big Brother, aren't you overthinking it? You know Second Brother's strength. The Black Desolate City Lord definitely wouldn't be his match. That old man is just slippery—he probably wasted time while being pursued…"
Everyone in the Blood Wolf Bandits knew just how strong Blood Saber was. Unless a Divine Soul Realm cultivator intervened, it would be nearly impossible to kill him. Even if he couldn't win, escaping was always an option.
Otherwise, someone without true power would never sit in the position of Second Bandit Chief among these bloodthirsty killers.
"I'm not worried about that old fool from Black Desolate City. But in case Second Brother encountered something unexpected, we need to be ready."
Though the Blood Wolf Bandits had run rampant through Northern Spiritual Realm, slaughtering countless people, their true leader, Blood Wolf, was extremely cautious. Even when provoking the Nine Domainss, they chose their targets carefully. Though the Nine Domains might grow furious, it was never enough to mobilize Divine Soul Realm experts against them.
It was precisely this balance that allowed them to remain unrestrained all this time. If they ever provoked the Nine Domainss into joining forces, there would be no place left for them in Northern Spiritual Realm.
"Pass the word. Have someone investigate Second Brother's movements. Also, tell the underlings that no one is to indulge tonight. Guard every entrance and exit. Not even a fly is to get in. Understood?"
"Yes!" Blood Slaughter saw how serious Big Brother was and dared not delay. He threw aside the woman in his arms, gave a prompt response, and rushed out to assign the guards.
Thus, the Blood Wolf Bandits spent the night on high alert. Though no assault or unexpected event occurred, the entire camp grew more tense.
The reason was that those bandits sent to investigate had returned—but they did not find the Second Bandit Chief, Blood Saber. What they found were corpses crushed beneath giant boulders.
"Damn it! So someone really is targeting us in secret!" Blood Slaughter was enraged as he looked at a corpse of one of their own only the upper half remained.
It was clear the man had been killed first, and then his body was crushed by the rock afterward. It meant someone had killed these lackeys, then battled with Blood Saber.
But how many in the Northern Spiritual Realm could possibly kill so many bandits right under Blood Saber's nose? And judging from the wounds, it was all done by a single person!
"Big Brother, could it be that a Divine Soul Realm expert from the Nine Domains made a move?" Blood Slaughter's voice trembled slightly. He couldn't help but feel panicked.
"What are you panicking for!" Blood Wolf roared with cold fury, his expression grim. "Useless fools. Even if it's someone from the Divine Soul Realm, what of it? We've got hundreds of brothers. Do you think one person can kill them all?"
"Go. Send people out to investigate. Scout the surroundings and report anything unusual."
"And tell these worthless bastards to be careful. Do not expose your identities. If you find anything, report back immediately. Do not alert the enemy or reveal our camp location. Understand?"
"Got it, Big Brother. I'm on it!"
....
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