Chapter 70

Luo Xiu held a blood-stained battle sword, chasing after them, the blood at the corner of his mouth not wiped away, his clothes somewhat torn, looking somewhat disheveled.

"Haha, you have a way to heaven but you don't take it, you barge into hell without a door!"

Tian Guangyou, upon seeing Luo Xiu, burst into laughter, his face filled with ferocity, and said, "Hand over the Fire Yang Fruit, and I'll leave you a complete corpse."

He was an Eighth Stage Qi Sea martial artist and didn't even consider the Fifth Stage Qi Sea opponent a threat.

Tian Guangyou's lack of brains didn't mean Zhang Haifei and Miao Feifei were also unintelligent.

Zhang Haifei saw the fresh blood on the battle sword in Luo Xiu's hand and suddenly had a bad feeling.

"Do you want the Fire Yang Fruit? Of course, you can have it."

Luo Xiu smiled slightly and said, "But you have to pay with your life."

Upon hearing the first part, Tian Guangyou was about to say that the kid was being reasonable, but upon hearing the latter part, he immediately flew into a rage, holding his battle knife and charging towards Luo Xiu.

"You don't know when to back down, die for me!"

The battle knife glowed, and Tian Guangyou's killing intent was intense, his attack ruthless.

"Swish!"

Luo Xiu's battle sword swung, and the sword, which emitted a cold light, brought forth a spray of hot blood.

Tian Guangyou's eyes bulged, his movements suddenly stopping, blood gushing from his neck, and he fell into the pool of blood with a thud.

The battle knife in his hand also broke into two pieces.

In that instant, Luo Xiu had swung his sword to cut through the battle knife and then delivered a fatal strike, killing him with one blow.

Miao Feifei, upon seeing this, her face turned pale, and without a word, she turned and ran, diving into the nearby bushes.

Zhang Haifei also wanted to escape. Luo Xiu's previous sword strike had terrified him. This kid's cultivation was definitely not just Fifth Stage Qi Sea, and his battle sword could easily cut through a low-grade battle knife, indicating it was a high-grade battle weapon.

However, his true qi was almost depleted from earlier when he used the array to trap and kill the Green-Winged Demon Snake. Although he had taken a pill, it only restored a little, and he feared he wouldn't have time to escape before being intercepted. So he suddenly lunged, grabbing Lu Mengyao.

However, Luo Xiu, who acted later, was even faster.

A sword light slashed through the air, and Zhang Haifei's face changed, quickly retracting his hand that was reaching for Lu Mengyao.

Luo Xiu's expression was indifferent, and his actions were decisive. The battle sword instantly swung horizontally, aiming for Zhang Haifei's neck.

Zhang Haifei hurriedly took out a disc-shaped array device, and a light barrier appeared, protecting him.

Luo Xiu's battle sword struck the light barrier, which rippled like water but did not break. Zhang Haifei used the momentum to retreat and quickly fled.

As a Third Stage Array Master, Zhang Haifei's abilities could rival those of a Xiantian martial artist. If he were at full strength, he wouldn't fear Luo Xiu, but now he had to flee.

Moreover, the Third Stage defensive array he activated had its defensive light barrier suddenly dim after Luo Xiu's single strike, and it would likely shatter with another strike.

This situation clearly indicated that Luo Xiu's battle sword was of a very high grade, possibly even beyond the human-grade battle weapon, perhaps a ground-grade battle sword.

Zhang Haifei didn't get far before Luo Xiu caught up, and the ground-grade battle sword pierced through the air.

With a "pu" sound, the defensive light barrier shattered, and the array disc in Zhang Haifei's hand cracked.

"Bad!"

Zhang Haifei's face changed drastically, and he quickly took out a jade talisman, just about to crush it, when he felt a sharp pain in his back. A battle sword pierced through his body, and he immediately lost consciousness.

Luo Xiu pulled out the battle sword, knelt down, and used Zhang Haifei's clothes to wipe the blood off the sword.

He wasn't the first to kill, and the people he killed deserved it, so his mind was calm.

He picked up the jade talisman Zhang Haifei was holding and saw that it was a Wind Control Talisman, with a Third Stage Wind Control Array inscribed on it. Once crushed, it would greatly increase the user's speed.

However, Zhang Haifei didn't have time to crush the Wind Control Talisman before Luo Xiu killed him with a sword strike, otherwise, he might have escaped.

Luo Xiu then took Zhang Haifei's storage ring, which contained several hundred low-grade qi stones, some pills, and a few array treasures.

Lu Mengyao was anxiously waiting near the bushes, her expression worried.

When she heard footsteps and saw Luo Xiu return, she breathed a sigh of relief. Since Luo Xiu had returned, it was clear that he had killed Zhang Haifei.

"Are you okay?" Luo Xiu asked, looking at her.

"I'm fine," Lu Mengyao shook her head and then handed Luo Xiu a storage bracelet.

This storage bracelet belonged to Tian Guangyou. After Luo Xiu killed him and chased after Zhang Haifei, Lu Mengyao had taken it.

"Let's leave here first."

A short while later, Luo Xiu and Lu Mengyao returned to the cave where the Green-Winged Demon Snake's body was, and Luo Xiu used the ground-grade battle sword to dissect the snake's body.

When Lu Mengyao saw the ten-zhang-long snake's body, she was almost stunned.

"How did he do it?" Lu Mengyao looked at Luo Xiu's back, feeling even more that she didn't understand him.

After collecting the materials from the Green-Winged Demon Snake, Luo Xiu immediately took Lu Mengyao and left the area. Although he had killed Zhang Haifei and Tian Guangyou, the woman Miao Feifei had escaped, and there was no telling if they had other companions.

Luo Xiu had a rough map of the Guanlei Mountain Range from the Hunter's Guild. After about half an hour, the two had moved far from the previous area.

The Guanlei Mountain Range was vast, and Luo Xiu didn't dare to venture deep into it. Even if he planned to cross it to reach Duhai County, his plan was to stay on the outskirts and go around.

When Luo Xiu told Lu Mengyao his plan, her expression was slightly sad, and she asked, "After you drop me off at Leiwu Gate, where do you plan to go?"

"Go with the flow, the world is my home," Luo Xiu said with a smile.

Walking through the forest, the two fell into silence.

Using his life perception ability, Luo Xiu would avoid any beast of Third Stage or higher. As they continued deeper, they were also getting farther from Yunlong County.

From Zhang Haifei's storage ring, Luo Xiu found a basic array manual, which explained the fundamentals of array theory.

Zhang Haifei was a Third Stage Array Master, so it wasn't surprising he had such a book.

Luo Xiu had never thought about studying array theory before, but after the Green-Winged Demon Snake incident, he realized its power.

With arrays, not only could array masters create various treasures, but they could also defeat enemies of higher levels. For example, the Ninth Stage Qi Sea Zhang Haifei, with the help of a Third Stage array, could match a Xiantian martial artist.

Unfortunately, his target was the Green-Winged Demon Snake, which was far more powerful than a regular Third Stage beast, so he ultimately failed.

At the Qingyun Martial Hall, Luo Xiu had learned some information about arrays. It was said that array theory was complex and profound, requiring high talent to understand. Many array masters spent their lives studying it, which hindered their martial progress.

As the saying goes, you can't have both fish and bear's paw. If one wanted to achieve in martial arts, they couldn't be distracted by studying arrays, alchemy, or forging.

Those who focused on studying arrays, alchemy, or forging had relatively slower martial progress.

Of course, it was said that some exceptionally talented individuals could excel in both.

Luo Xiu took out the basic array manual, not planning to pursue array theory but to learn more about it.

He knew he would be traveling for a long time, and understanding more about arrays would help him if he encountered array practitioners.

At the edge of the Guanlei Mountain Range, as long as Luo Xiu was careful, he wouldn't encounter much danger. As they got closer to Duhai County, perhaps knowing they would soon part ways, Lu Mengyao spoke even less, mostly remaining silent.

While Luo Xiu studied the basic array manual, she would often stare at him in a daze, but Luo Xiu was unaware.

Luo Xiu didn't know what Lu Mengyao was thinking. When he started reading the manual, he was completely absorbed by the profound theories of array theory.

Arrays could be considered an alternative form of martial arts, where martial artists used various materials to create array flags, inscribed with array patterns and runes, to harness the power of heaven and earth.

In this process, the All-Heaven Life and Death Wheel in his dantian spun rapidly, and the first Origin Law Diagram in his mind became clearer. The patterns and strange runes in the law diagram also contained the mysteries of arrays.

Not only that, but the Life and Death Pearl, which was integrated with his soul, conveyed a profound and indescribable feeling, making him feel that the complex and profound array theories were actually very simple.

After three days, Luo Xiu had finished reading the entire basic array manual, and he had thoroughly understood all the array theories from First Stage to Third Stage, finding it all incredible.

However, Luo Xiu soon realized that his comprehension wasn't due to his talent but the Life and Death Pearl.

The Life and Death Pearl contained the origin of the universe, and the origin encompassed everything. Arrays were naturally included.

Theoretically, Luo Xiu now had the level of a Third Stage Array Master, but without practical experience, he couldn't be completely sure.

Setting up arrays required array flags, which most array masters commissioned from forging masters to create. Then, the array masters inscribed the flags with array patterns and runes to create powerful arrays.

Luo Xiu didn't have array flags, so he couldn't test whether he could set up a Third Stage array, even though he was eager to try.

Unconsciously, Luo Xiu and Lu Mengyao had been in the Guanlei Mountain Range for half a month.

During this time, Luo Xiu had gained a lot, especially in his understanding and insight into array theory, which clarified many questions he had previously.

His cultivation steadily improved, and he would likely break through to the Sixth Stage Qi Sea soon.

His martial arts realm also rapidly advanced, and the Fast Sword Technique officially entered the Great Success stage!

The Ten Directions Shadow Body Technique could now manifest eight shadows, and his speed had increased.

Time passed in silence, and Lu Mengyao didn't neglect her cultivation, reaching the Sixth Stage Qi Sea before Luo Xiu.

This made Luo Xiu realize that his cultivation talent wasn't outstanding. At the very least, Lu Mengyao's talent was definitely better. His achievements were all due to the Life and Death Pearl.

"Having a treasure like the Life and Death Pearl, if I can't achieve something in martial arts, wouldn't I be wasting the opportunity fate has given me?"

Luo Xiu was full of confidence about his future.

On this vast land, countless geniuses pursued the path to the peak of martial arts. He had grown up listening to the legends of countless strong figures. At fourteen, he also yearned to become such a strong person.