Li Ling was having a grand time.
For him, there was nothing like the pressure of being chased, nor was there the fear of demise. It was just the continuous blood-pumping feeling of his Slaughter Points increasing from wanton slaughter, as well as the unknown nature of what the future and his actions held for him.
Even as he moved, he continuously fired out fireballs left and right, killing anyone he could see without a care for their situation or background. Since he would not be able to wash the entire marketplace in blood as he planned, he would have to collect a bit of interest for now.
However, despite earning so much, Li Ling did not invest any of his ill-gotten Slaughter Points, though he could. None of the skills on his panel right now could help him in any significant way, and the skills he bought earlier had not yet been loaded onto the panel for him to raise.
As was the situation with the Qi Seeking Technique, he could not just slap the books to his forehead and learn them. If they had been in the form of jade slips, that might have worked, but that required one to have spirit sense of Foundation Establishment cultivators and above.
No, Li Ling actually had to sit down, read the technique and hit the entry level on his own merits, then he could upgrade it. He was not sure if this was a purposeful design, akin to how the Infinite Slaughter System did not allow cultivation to be accumulated or limit broken, but this deficiency in the system was something he had already internalized and factored in.
As much as he would have liked to squat down and get to reading, this was certainly no place for that.
Meanwhile, Li Ling was forced to look up as he felt the market array begin to slowly lock onto him again. Luckily for him, it was merely a Grade 2 Array meant to suppress Qi Refinement cultivators but had little effect on those at Foundation Establishment, not to mention it was an auxiliary and management-type array rather than a purely offensive one.
It was precisely his knowledge of arrays, and specifically of this market array, that saw him make the seemingly crazy choice to bomb himself. In fact, he was not relying on the smoke and dust to form a fog, but rather knew that the binding effect of the array was physical in nature.
When those light beams descended and empowered the Market Guards, one hit him and restrained him. As such, he used the explosive effect of the fireball to destroy this binding on himself, which was why he had not lost his legs or turned to a crisp, since the binding energy took the brunt of it. Then he bypassed his assailants without killing them and seized his secondary target.
As for that Qi Refinement Perfection shopkeeper, he was merely an old fool. He had a strong cultivation, but not the talent. Most of his time was spent dabbling in business and politics and not combat. He had the same kind of survival instincts as a dodo bird, simply standing there in shock as Li Ling appeared before him and stabbed his chest.
This was something Li Ling knew for himself, even before his change after the system came. In the world of Firmament Heaven, or even in any world or society, two people with the same power or stats would display far different skills when put under pressure due to their mentality.
The same went for Cai Dong, who was shocked by the murder, her heart filled with fear until Li Ling grasped her and dragged her along. Even now, draped over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, she was still out cold and did not even have the ability to decide her fate.
Li Ling was tense though. His eyes gleamed blue as he scanned in front of him in a 180-degree arc, checking for any significant qi signatures that were rushing to intercept him. He was already very close to the exit of the marketplace and would reach the jungle surrounding the mountaintop, but this called for even more caution.
Li Ling was torn between two considerations. On one hand, he knew that the Market Guards, and in fact the entire marketplace, had to have encountered troublesome fellows like him who tried to escape after causing trouble and likely had developed ways to keep them behind.
On the other hand, the circumstances of his chase were too sudden. Not only did he kill resolutely, but he escaped in a straight line while causing mayhem everywhere he went, leaving a trail of chaos. Not to mention that he was escaping outward, where the security became worse and worse, rather than stronger.
Case in point, Li Ling did not see any notable qi signatures before him, the entrance itself unguarded—something he already knew—but he still did not let down his guard. He channeled his full cultivation into the Blood Drinking Spear, which unlike his previous common short spear was able to perfectly receive it, and struck out towards the space between the gate and the outside.
While Li Ling could not see it, he definitely felt that there would be a blockade using the market array there, and true to his thoughts, his spear made a "ding" sound as it pierced and cracked through an invisible wall. The crack was small and not enough for him to escape, so using a mixture of his full cultivation and the Li Family Spear Technique, Li Ling struck out many blows with his spear and widened the gap enough for him to dart through.
But doing this had delayed him enough for the pursuing Market Guards to catch up significantly, with the eighth-level Qi Refinement squad leader slashing out with his saber, using a daoist art to create a saber wave that would definitely bisect anyone it struck in two.
Rather than dodge, Li Ling turned around and struck out with his spear, destroying the saber wave while being blown back, utilizing the momentum to increase the distance between them. The squad leader cursed and pulled out a Wind Blade Talisman, activating it and sending an attack at Li Ling again.
Li Ling simply activated a Golden Bell Talisman and kept going forward, allowing the wind blade to strike and dispel the shield, but not harm him directly. Meanwhile, they were now rushing down the mountain path, swiftly reaching the transit station where many mounts were kept and rented out by the market.
Seeing that they were almost there, Li Ling's eyes lit up while the trailing squad leader's became desperate. Once Li Ling forcefully commandeered a mount, likely a flying one for maximum mobility, the chase would be as good as over as they would now have to dispatch trackers and rely on bounties to capture Li Ling. But how effective would that realistically be?
If they did not get him now, it was as good as over.
Thinking like this, the squad leader made a decision and took out a token, shouting: "All tamers, by the order of the Market Guards, slaughter all flight-capable demon beasts in their pens! All cultivators, if anyone has late stage cultivation, the Market Guards are requesting assistance in delaying the foe ahead of me! Sufficient remuneration will be provided as a reward!"
Saying this, the faces of all those at the transit station changed greatly, looking up to see that Li Ling was seconds away from arriving while the squad leader was about half that distance behind him.
The thing was, even if they were absolutely disciplined like military troops to obey before thinking, the cultivators who managed the mounts as a job from the market would not be able to kill every beast in the transit station that could fly, even if they had the ability to.
Most of these beasts were either in the mid to late stage of Qi Refinement, and while docile for the most part due to effective beast taming techniques, they would not just sit still and be killed by these stablehands who were mostly in the early stage.
As for the unaffiliated people coming to rent mounts, everyone jumped out of the way without even thinking about stopping Li Ling. What a joke, Li Ling was releasing his aura of Qi Refinement Perfection at full blast and even if one had a similar cultivation, why should they risk their lives for a mere promise of reward?
But the squad leader knew about all this, and his announcement was not for the others to hear, but for Li Ling. He wanted to instill a sense of fear and panic in him, but this squad leader did not know that Li Ling was a long-time resident of the market and knew the prevailing mentality of those here like the back of his hand.
He simply snorted and charged towards a certain stable, where a Steel Feathered Raptor at the ninth level of Qi Refinement was kept, one of the most expensive, fastest and most luxurious of the options here. He needed it for its speed and endurance, being the perfect choice for him to use.
On his way, he passed by a stablehand who cowered, but Li Ling did not kill him. This was not because he did not want to, but because he did not want to upset the demon beasts here by giving them the smell of blood or creating chaos.
Li Ling flipped into the stable and saw the Steel Feathered Raptor drinking water from its trough, its eyes turning to him with casual indifference. However, when Li Ling radiated his killing intent and cultivation base unabashedly towards it, the Steel Feathered Raptor became a bit more respectful and did not resist when he tossed Cai Dong on its back before leaping atop as well.
With a stab upwards, he blasted through the roof of the stable and commanded the Steel Feathered Raptor to take off from there. Dazed at the violence but still instinctively intimidated, it flapped its powerful wings, which were longer than an adult male on each side, creating a small whirlwind as it rose higher and higher.
As Li Ling rose higher, he glanced at his pursuers to see that the other Market Guards were now appearing down the path while the squad leader was hurriedly charging into another stall to mount a flying beast to give chase.
Li Ling sneered and pointed, releasing a fireball down where the squad leader went, causing the fellow's face to change as he leapt backward.
BOOM!
The stable, along with the beast within, were killed in one hit, having not put up any defense in time. Li Ling did not stop there and continually fired fireballs at each of the stalls he knew contained flying demon beasts from his last time here just two days ago.
By the time the Steel Feathered Raptor began to accelerate after reaching suitable height, the stable was in flames and in chaos, barely any demon beasts in the mood to accept passengers as they thrashed and shrieked with fear within their pens due to the flames.
The squad leader, who had dove away from Li Ling's first attack, rose to his feet and dusted himself off with a Cleansing Talisman before glancing upwards at the rapidly fading dot that represented Li Ling, his expression becoming more and more grim.
When the other Market Guards part of his squad rushed over, they saw the carnage caused and could not help but feel cold in their hearts. It was a good thing they were slow to catch up, otherwise they might have been the ones like their mates who were killed in the market.
"Sir, should we put out a bounty for him?" One of the Market Guards came to their squad leader and asked.
"Naturally, but what do we know about him apart from his cultivation and features? Quick, go back and investigate who he is, who he's affiliated with, and why he was in our domain at this time!" The squad leader retorted with a snort.
The Market Guards nodded, and one particular fellow among them, who was a newbie, glanced at the nearby ruined stable and the few injured cultivators groaning for help on the ground.
"Sir, what about the transit station?"
The squad leader did not even bother to glance at the area as he left. "Who cares? Someone else will come and clean up. For now, we have to think about how we are going to report to the Captains and the Overseer."