Chapter 97

"Is it the Sword Intent? It seems something is still lacking..."

The fusion of killing intent and swift sword techniques allowed Luo Xiu to touch upon the雏形 of Sword Intent.

This sword strike, accompanied by black flames, arrived in an instant, domineering and sharp, capable of destroying anything in its path.

"Stop! I will no longer be your enemy."

Under the impact of the blood-colored killing aura, Mo Zhou grunted and rapidly retreated.

This sword strike could not be locked onto by divine sense, and he knew he could not resist it. If he did not yield, he would surely become a soul under the sword.

Seeing Mo Zhou retreat in fear, the crowd let out a chorus of gasps. Mo Zhou, a half-step Divine Soul cultivator, was actually bowing to a young boy?

This boy looked to be only fifteen years old, right?

A fifteen-year-old boy defeating a Divine Soul cultivator was truly a prodigy!

If he were to reach the Martial King realm one day, perhaps the strongest in Dounhai County would truly change hands.

A cold smile appeared on Luo Xiu's lips, and the momentum of his sword strike did not diminish.

"Do you want to kill me to curry favor with Lei Wu Gate? You are not my match, yet you ask me to show mercy. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

Before Luo Xiu's words had even finished, the sharp edge of his sword had already pierced through Mo Zhou's throat.

The blood-stained sword was pulled out, and Mo Zhou fell to the ground, blood gushing from the wound.

Near Luo Xiu, the bodies of three Great Martial Masters and one half-step Divine Soul cultivator lay sprawled.

The blood-soaked earth was a shocking sight.

His gaze swept the area, and no one dared to meet his eyes, except for a few Divine Soul cultivators.

Clang!

The sword was sheathed, and Luo Xiu took a step forward, the crowd parting to make way, no one daring to obstruct him.

The few Divine Soul cultivators present, who were not from Lei Wu Gate, watched the black-robed youth's retreating back with flickering eyes.

If they killed this boy, perhaps they could establish some connection with Lei Wu Gate.

Some Divine Soul cultivators, however, had their own pride and were unwilling to curry favor with Lei Wu Gate.

After leaving Guan Lei Temple, Luo Xiu did not walk far. In front of him, a middle-aged man in black stood leaning against a large tree, stroking a rusty battle saber in his hand.

The battle saber, though rusty and old, exuded a hidden and formidable aura.

Before Luo Xiu even saw the man, he had already sensed his life force.

And the man's divine sense had already locked onto him from several hundred meters away.

The divine sense lock indicated that this man was a Divine Soul cultivator.

"I need a Spirit Refining Pill. Killing you will get me one pill!"

The man in black spoke coldly, his eyes cold and merciless, piercing the soul.

A Spirit Refining Pill is a fourth-grade pill. Consuming and refining it can allow a Divine Soul cultivator below the third level to advance one minor realm.

Such a pill is extremely precious and can only be refined by great alchemists cultivated by major forces.

The few that circulate outside are exorbitantly priced, and ordinary Divine Soul cultivators cannot afford them.

As for collecting medicinal herbs and asking the Alchemist Guild to refine them, the herbs are hard to find, and the cost is equally high.

Sensing life force cannot determine a martial cultivator's cultivation level, but Luo Xiu had encountered many Divine Soul cultivators and could roughly judge that the man in black was at the first level of Divine Soul.

At the first level of Divine Soul, Luo Xiu was not afraid.

The man in black looked at Luo Xiu coldly, "Killing you is easy. The gap between Divine Soul and Innate is beyond your imagination."

The man in black stopped stroking the battle saber and walked towards Luo Xiu, "A Divine Soul cultivator, with divine sense and true essence, can slaughter Innate cultivators like slaughtering dogs."

"Showing off your strength to me? Perhaps you will be the first Divine Soul cultivator to die at my hands." Luo Xiu said with a cold laugh.

"Haha, I, Hang Xiangchen, have practiced martial arts for forty-three years to reach the cultivator realm. If I lose to a mere Innate, it would be a laughingstock."

The man in black did not get angry but laughed, and his body moved like lightning, appearing in front of Luo Xiu.

The rusty battle saber brought forth a formidable blade aura, slashing towards Luo Xiu's chest.

Luo Xiu drew his sword and blocked it, a powerful force from the sword sending him flying back, and he grunted.

A Divine Soul cultivator was indeed formidable, with speed and strength far surpassing that of a Great Martial Master or a half-step Divine Soul.

The man's blade technique was at the same level of perfection as Luo Xiu's swift sword technique.

In this aspect, Luo Xiu did not have any advantage.

Moreover, the man had divine sense and true essence, making him superior in all aspects.

After being forced back by one strike, Luo Xiu's face showed a smile, "The stronger you are, the better. I'm afraid you're not strong enough."

Blood-colored killing aura erupted, and Luo Xiu infused his sword technique with killing intent, forming the雏形 of Sword Intent.

"Actually touching the Sword Intent realm? Unfortunately, it is not true Sword Intent."

Hang Xiangchen was initially stunned but then resumed his cold laugh, his divine sense locking onto Luo Xiu, completely unafraid of the blood-colored killing aura.

Luo Xiu's killing aura, though formidable, could only exert pressure on cultivators below the Divine Soul level. To affect a Divine Soul cultivator, he would need to kill a Divine Soul cultivator and refine a stronger killing aura.

Hang Xiangchen was skilled in movement techniques, faster than Luo Xiu's Ten Directions Residual Shadows. The rusty battle saber in his hand was unpredictable and difficult to defend against.

In a short moment, Luo Xiu had been struck by several blades, his body covered in blood, and his black robe shredded into strips by the rampant blade aura.

Although he looked miserable, Luo Xiu's body, at the higher level of martial physique, could withstand several strikes without fatal injury.

The Ten Directions Residual Shadows movement technique was fully unleashed, and Luo Xiu tried his best to dodge the blade light.

"Beaten to the punch by Hang Xiangchen."

"He wants to exchange this boy's life for a Spirit Refining Pill from Lei Wu Gate. Anyone who tries to snatch it will face a fierce battle."

"The boy's life may not be worth a Spirit Refining Pill. Since Hang Xiangchen has made his move, let him have it."

Two Divine Soul cultivators who had been tailing Luo Xiu from Guan Lei Temple saw Hang Xiangchen take action and the black-robed youth about to be killed, so they quietly retreated.

Within the range of life force perception, the two Divine Soul cultivators gradually moved away until they disappeared from his perception.

A fierce light flashed in Luo Xiu's eyes. Since the hidden people had left, he no longer needed to hold back.

In fact, he had been secretly observing the surroundings all along.

"Ha, the onlookers are gone, you can die now!"

Hang Xiangchen laughed coldly, "Boy, the reason I didn't kill you was to prevent someone from ambushing and snatching you. You are worth a Spirit Refining Pill!"

Suddenly, Hang Xiangchen's true essence erupted, and he slashed with a blade, the power of which was stronger than any previous strike.

Luo Xiu's eyes turned icy cold. Facing this blade, he only slightly moved his body to avoid the vital points.

With a splash of blood, the battle saber split his left shoulder, almost severing his arm.

"Do you understand the gap between Divine Soul and Innate now?"

Hang Xiangchen sneered, thinking it was normal for a mere sixth-level Innate to be unable to dodge his attack.

But the next moment, Hang Xiangchen's pupils dilated.

A battle sword, at some point, had pierced through his dantian.

"This... This is impossible... My divine sense did not detect your sword..."

Looking down at the sword piercing his dantian, Hang Xiangchen felt his Divine Soul cultivation rapidly fading.

With his dantian broken, his cultivation and forty-three years of hard work were all for naught.

The Secret Art of Xuantian Change amplified his strength sixfold, and the Divine Soul cultivator's divine sense could not react in time.

With a splash of blood, Luo Xiu pulled out the sword, and a flash of sword light cut through Hang Xiangchen's throat.

Taking the storage ring from the man, Luo Xiu threw a ball of black flames to burn the corpse to ashes, then used his movement technique to quickly leave the area.

On the way, he endured the intense pain, pulled out the battle saber stuck in his left shoulder, and used his life force to seal the wound to stop the bleeding.

Then, Luo Xiu rapidly ran through the forest, changing direction several times to prevent being tracked.

...

In Dounhai County, Guan Lei Mountains, a demon had emerged.

The news spread like a gust of wind to Zuoxing City and throughout Dounhai County, even reaching the martial cultivators in Yunlong County. They heard of a youth calling himself 'Demon' who, at the sixth level of Innate, had instantly killed a Great Martial Master and a half-step Divine Soul cultivator!

The young demon even declared that one day he would break through Lei Wu Gate and take the head of the Lei Wu Gate leader!

Upon hearing this news, Lei Wu Gate was filled with intense anger.

"Demon?"

In Dounhai City, Lu Mengyao, now a first-level Innate Martial Master, could not help but think of Luo Xiu when she heard about the demon.

Luo Xiu, demon?

She did not connect the two, but the word 'demon' reminded her of Luo Xiu.

When they parted, she remembered that Luo Xiu had not yet reached the Innate realm.

In just a few months, even if Luo Xiu practiced extremely fast, it was impossible for him to reach the sixth level of Innate.

Let alone instantly killing a Great Martial Master and a half-step Divine Soul cultivator.

"I have already reached the Innate realm. If you had joined Lei Wu Gate back then, you might have also advanced to the Innate realm."

At the time, after Luo Xiu entered Zuoxing City with her and Uncle Le, he had left without a word.

"Are you doing well now?"

Leaning on the window, Lu Mengyao cupped her cheeks, suddenly remembering the moments she spent with Luo Xiu.

Later, she realized why Luo Xiu had left without a word. It was because she had mentioned his cultivation speed, and he was worried that Uncle Le would harm him.

"Uncle Le is a close friend of my father. How could he harm you?" Lu Mengyao sighed.

"Mengyao."

The door opened, and a middle-aged man walked in, smiling at Lu Mengyao.

"Uncle Le."

Lu Mengyao called out and quickly asked, "Have you found any news about Luo Xiu?"

Since Luo Xiu disappeared, she had asked Le Pengcheng to find his whereabouts. She believed that if she explained everything to Luo Xiu, he would definitely be willing to join Lei Wu Gate.

"Nothing yet, but don't worry, Uncle will do his best to find him." Le Pengcheng said with a smile.

In fact, he suspected that the demon who appeared at Guan Lei Temple was Luo Xiu, but he did not believe that a boy who had not yet reached the Innate realm could have improved so quickly.

Perhaps it was just a coincidence, and the demon and Luo Xiu were not the same person.

Le Pengcheng thought to himself.

Since he learned that Luo Xiu had advanced from the second level of Body Tempering to the Qi Sea realm in less than half a year and had even killed a sixth-level Innate cultivator, Gou Jinchuan, Le Pengcheng was certain that this boy had secrets.

Perhaps he had received the inheritance of a powerful cultivator, or he had cultivated a formidable martial technique, or he possessed a powerful treasure.

Regardless of the reason, Le Pengcheng felt that if he obtained it, it would be a great opportunity.

Otherwise, why would Luo Xiu run? The more he ran, the more it proved that he had secrets.

From Lu Mengyao, Le Pengcheng knew about the relationship between her and Luo Xiu. As long as Lu Mengyao remained in Lei Wu Gate, that boy might eventually show up.