Li Ling removed his Blood Drinking Spear, imbuing it with the full force of his cultivation along with his body's power, which formed a blood miasma that reached eight meters from his skin and made everyone nearby feel goosebumps.
With the double-reinforced power of Qi Refinement Perfection and Mortal Flesh level 8 layered with his top-tier Spirit Artifact spear, he stabbed out five times, striking each fired daoist art right at the center, using his power to disperse the attacks.
Everyone, even those on his side, was shocked by this display of power, using one's own raw offensive might to counter a swarm of attacks.
"What the hell! What is this fellow made of?!" The Second Captain of the Market Guards, a young woman with a rather valiant figure, shouted with bulging eyes.
Even though such a thing was not impossible, it was not something they expected to see from an itinerant cultivator like Li Ling. This was something one only expected to see from elite sect disciples training under a master and fed with many resources that could dual cultivate both methods.
This was also precisely why Li Ling could overwhelm everyone he fought so far, seeming as if he was an overpowered god of war. The actual truth was just that he subverted the expectations and understandings of his attackers, that was all.
But the Market Guards did not have time to be stunned by the collective failure of their attack, because Li Ling's Mountain Splitting Sword had not stopped for even a moment, now bearing down on their Flat Headed Falcon which was being defended by their own techniques.
"Shit, incoming! We have to defend this or we're all going to fucking die!" The First Captain of the Market Guards, a sleazy-looking young man who seemed to be the type to indulge in debauchery, bellowed with urgency.
However, no matter what, their defensive techniques could not significantly surpass that of the skilled bounty hunter group in terms of raw power. Unlike the typical Golden Bell Shield, the defense was cast by the Vice Commander of the Market Guards, a fierce-looking woman who seemed to be in her mid-forties but still gave off a very robust feeling.
"Leave it to me." She grunted coldly, her eyes narrowing as she crouched down to touch the body of the Flat Head Falcon beneath them.
Her skill was—interestingly—a wind barrier that made use of their current flight speed to enhance its power, cycling air around their mount so fast that it turned into a visible silvery-green colored mesh. When the Mountain Splitting Sword connected with the barrier, the flying sword was not able to break through with ease like before, rather making a loud "ting" sound before being bounced back.
However, the wind barrier covering the demon beast had thinned greatly and the one maintaining it, the Vice Commander, grunted with pain. A trickle of blood leaked from the side of her mouth, but her gaze became even more ferocious as she rapidly empowered the shield with her remaining cultivation, removing her from the active fight thereafter.
"Dammit! Stop holding back or we're all gonna die! Bring out all your good stuff, I know you have them!" The Commander himself ordered with a dark expression.
Realizing how close they came to death, the other Market Guard leaders were both frightened and infuriated. They immediately pulled out their own spirit artifacts and controlled them to head out in attack. Even if Li Ling could block them physically using his prowess, could he always protect his mount as well?
Not to mention, as leaders of the Market Guards for so many years, they did not just have normal spirit artifacts, but customized ones from the spirit stones they had looted and embezzled from the denizens of number 9 marketplace. In some ways, their flying swords were even slightly better than the Mountain Splitting Sword Li Ling used.
"Oh my, it seems like I need to change my plans. This is gonna cost me a lot, but it's going to be worth it…" Li Ling commented with an exclamation of surprise as he saw the powerful weapons hurtling towards him.
Even if the Blood Drinking Spear was on par, it certainly would lose durability for such a hefty engagement. This did not even take into account the fact that the four sect disciples had chosen to enhance the speed of their beast, closing in so that their senior brother could make use of his body refinement to suppress Li Ling in a head-on fight.
"It's… it's over!!" Cai Dong shuddered and closed her eyes, not bearing to watch anymore as she expected death to come swiftly.
However, all she could feel was the crazy flow of wind that continued to surge around her due to their speed, which made the young woman open her eyes with confusion.
It was then she saw why they were unharmed so far.
Li Ling had pointed his Blood Drinking Spear forward, with a huge mansion-sized boulder growing at the tip of it, its size burgeoning more and more as it sucked in the ambient matter in the air. It blotted out the sun, causing darkness to fall on the three flying demon beasts, and the faces of everyone except Li Ling changed drastically.
"Falling Boulder Art at Mastery level? How? How? HOW??" The usually calm Senior Brother of the Qing Shan Sect group roared with a mournful cry, as if he had just seen his mother killed before him.
"That's right, and it cost me a pretty penny too." Li Ling replied as he sneered coldly.
The Falling Boulder Art was a powerful late-stage level 1 daoist art—level 1 being equivalent to the Qi Refinement stage—and it cost 60 Slaughter Points to go from Entry to the Mastery level. The 71 Slaughter Points he just earned from the group of bounty hunters and their demon beast mount had already been drained greatly.
At the entry level, one could form a boulder the size of a small table, about twice the size of a basketball. At the Advanced level, the size increased to being as big as the boulders used to seal caves while the consumption dropped by 20% from the first level.
At the Expert level, the boulder soared in size to that of a small house, something an industrial crane would need to pick up, while the formation speed increased by half that of before. Currently, at his Mastery stage, he could form a boulder the size of a mansion, blotting out the sun.
The best part was the unique boost that came with this stage of mastery, where the boulder began to form a small-scale generational field, sucking things towards it to add to its mass. This included the fast-approaching flying swords from the Market Guard leaders that were trying their hardest not to veer off course, and even more so the Qing Shan disciple group who had come dangerously close to Li Ling before.
The Senior Brother controlled the terrified Tri-Eyed Hawk and immediately tried to fall back, but it was precisely their act of rushing over that now caused them to be completely entrapped in the vortex, neither leaving nor being dragged closer.
Li Ling grinned wildly as he hefted the boulder, looking at the two groups of enemies who were trying to retreat using any desperate means. "Why are you running now? And even if you do, does it have any meaning?"
Saying this, he roared and waved his spear downward, acting as a signal that sent the behemothic boulder twice the size of a super spirit bomb down towards the group of enemies. Surprising everyone, it moved rather fast for its size, seemingly like a bullet fired from a gun rather than a hulking mass of earth.
"Forget escaping! Everyone bring out your best defenses and hold out!" The Senior Brother roared, including the Market Guards in his commands.
At this point, everyone knew that the moment of truth had come, and they were trapped in between the seams of life and death. If they managed to hold out after this, they would be able to escape this battle and live another day, but if they failed, it would be their burial place.
As for capturing or killing Li Ling, all parties had abandoned the thought. A monster that could actually learn a late-stage daoist art at such a young age to such a high level was not something they could contend with. It was better to let the upper echelons handle this.
The nine enemy cultivators took out various defensive artifacts, usually inapplicable in this kind of fight since the target was to kill the mount, and such treasures were either too small or too focused to cover the beasts compared to using defensive daoist arts.
However, the situation was the exact opposite now. With a wide, unavoidable AOE attack, it was better to shield their bodies with their defensive artifacts channeled with their full power. As for the life and death of the flying demon beasts below them, who had the luxury to think about that right now?
The Falling Boulder bore down on the group, with the four sect disciples taking the first brunt, soon shared with the other five Market Guard leaders.
THUMP!!
It was like hearing a huge stone falling upon metal, and right at the onset, the defenses of the group were pushed to their limits. They were not able to stop the momentum of the boulder at all, being slowly pushed down to the ground with it, even though its edge was blocked by the nine defensive spirit artifacts.
However, the cultivators blocking were not happy, their faces becoming extremely pale. After all, if this kept up, not only would they run out of spirit qi, but they would also be crushed to death by the boulder when it pushed them to ground level due to its weight.
Fear and regret surged into the hearts of the nine, with all of them harboring thoughts of retreat. They were no longer thinking of how to collectively persist together, but waiting to see how they could shift the burden to another then break away, fleeing into the distance.
Meanwhile, at this time, they heard an insidious voice full of smarmy cruelty.
"Hey, aren't you guys forgetting about something?" Li Ling crowed with a look of playful amusement, his head tilted as his body still radiated the bloody aura of the Blood Asura Descent.
Normally, the nine enemies would not have the time to pay attention to this fellow given how they were locked in a tense stalemate with the daoist art, but their thoughts of retreat led them to lose concentration and notice Li Ling's actions.
SHWIM!
Immediately, the Mountain Splitting Sword which had been consciously silent all this while, slashed across the throats of the two demon beast mounts, causing them to wail in agony and plummet straight away. Naturally the balance between the cultivators and the boulder broke, with each of them being plastered by the edge as they were dragged downward, only their feeble spirit artifacts preventing them from being crushed right away.
"NOO, I CAN'T DIE HERE!!"
"SPARE ME! SPARE ME, PLEASE!"
"LI LING! I CURSE YOU!"
"HOW CAN THIS BE?!"
The nine assailants, now knowing that death was inevitable and rapidly heading towards it, unveiled their deepest selves. Some, like the tough Senior Brother, wailed that they did not deserve to die here. Some, like the valiant Second Captain, screamed to be forgiven and spared.
Some, like the Third Market Guard Captain, directly cursed Li Ling with hatred in his eyes.
And some, like the Commander of the Market Guards, roared their disbelief at their fate, never expecting to die upon coming on this chase.
Yet, despite the varied reactions, the outcome remained the same. Death came to them equally and fairly, not leaving a single one alive.
｢System Prompt: You have gained 94 Slaughter Points.｣