At the same time, deep in the forest…
“An early-stage beast of the ninth rank, and it couldn’t even scratch my skin.”
Li Mo glanced at his own fist, pondering something profound.
It’s said that to beat a snake, you need to hit it right at its ‘vital point.’ But he had just been testing the limits of his own meat suit, you know, just for science!
The conclusion? Without even using any of his bl**d power, he smashed that little winged python to pieces with a single punch. Talk about overkill!
Strangely enough, Li Mo had never killed a chicken before – or any living creature, for that matter. But his first k*ll of a beast? He was completely unfazed. When he threw that punch, it was like he was a seasoned pro — like he’d done it a thousand times!
“Is this because of the mysterious body of the Xuanpin?” he thought, rolling his eyes. It seemed like he picked things up super fast, not just swords.
Shaking the bl**d off his fist, he checked his map. “Wangyue Cliff…”
With a determined look, he pulled out his Azure Steel Sword and marched deeper into the woods.
The colossal forest echoed with sporadic shouts, with some fresh disciples apparently still trying to figure out how to fight beasts. But Li Mo didn’t linger.
On his way, he encountered a few early-stage beasts, but the outcomes were the same as with the winged python – instant kills. One sword stroke, no fancy swordplay required!
Before long, he reached an area marked on the map as ‘Creekstone Grove.’ A bizarre forest of stone pillars rose up like dried-up trees, and a river about ten meters wide flowed right through.
“This river comes from Wangyue Cliff,” he muttered to himself. “All I need to do is follow the current.”
Suddenly, he spotted a figure approaching. An inner disciple was trudging back, dragging a goat-like beast with black horns and scales.
Ah, the Black Horned Goat – an old friend!
Despite appearing often on the dining table at Qiushui Pavilion, this was actually a late-stage beast of the ninth rank. It may have eaten grass, but boy, was it feisty, strong as an ox!
And what do you know? It just got sliced down by someone!
“Did Ying Bing do this?” Li Mo recognized it immediately. A clean, swift cut through the throat, the wound frozen solid. Not a drop of bl**d spilled. The goat probably didn’t even know it was about to meet its maker.
“Yep, it’s definitely the work of Ying Zhenchuan,” the disciple confirmed, nodding.
He stood there watching Li Mo, not bothering to move.
Li Mo was initially puzzled but then relaxed. He felt something himself.
“The next moment…”
Suddenly, a massive shadow emerged from the water and leaped high into the air.
It was a gigantic, bumpy-shelled tortoise!
A late-stage beast of the ninth rank, the Spiked Back Turtle. Turtle bl**d makes for great medicine, its meat is delicious, and the shell? Perfect for making baths at Qiushui Pavilion!
Of course, being a ninth rank beast, it also had a nasty temperament, and its territory was devoid of any other fish.
“Oh look, another late-stage beast,” the inner disciple remarked, observing with interest.
Both of these “true disciples” came from Qingyuan Sect and had both reached the 100th Stone Steps.
Ying Zhenchuan took out a goat with one swipe. Now let’s see how Li Zhenchuan handles this turtle!
Granted, being a ninth rank beast, the Spiked Back Turtle would be tougher to k*ll, especially if it withdrew its limbs into its shell. A martial artist with bl**d power could only stare, wide-eyed.
Just as he was having these thoughts, Li Mo was already on the move.
With a flash, the Azure Steel Sword erupted with dozens of sword lights, each enveloped in concentrated bl**d power.
“Nice sword technique,” the inner disciple couldn’t help but admire.
Even among all the true disciples of Qingyuan Sect, this swordplay was astonishing. If he hadn’t seen Ying Bing’s sword skills, he would be even more impressed.
Sensing danger, the turtle growled and quickly retracted its limbs.
With a scream of thousands of feathered sparks, it erupted from the shell, making tiny cracks appear all over it!
But it didn’t just crack the turtle shell. Li Mo’s Azure Steel Sword even got a few chips taken out of it!
Li Mo was aghast. “This is a regular sword issued by the sect! It should be enough to deal with a ninth rank beast!”
But, alas, he had hit a freakin’ tough nugget!
Had he added just a sprinkle more power, he’d have broken the shell instead of chipping the sword.
“Roar!” The Spiked Back Turtle seemed intimidated and decided to backtrack into the water.
“Don’t run!” Li Mo yelled, chasing after it without hesitation.
—
Just moments ago, he was all pumped up, and now this beast thinks it can run away after ruining my sword?
“Li Zhenchuan!”
“That creature’s stubborn!” the disciple exclaimed, but by then, Li Mo was already charging into the water.
Watching the bubbles surface, the disciple felt a rising dread.
In the water? The Spiked Back Turtle is ten times more tenacious. Even peak ninth rank beasts wouldn’t mess around in here!
Li Mo’s sword skills were indeed good, but in this water, he might not even pull off half his power!
Just as he was ready to intervene, the river suddenly erupted!
Boom! An enormous figure was sent flying out of the water, and Li Mo followed suit.
He plummeted back down like a meteor, crashing down.
The turtle’s eyes widened in fear; it sensed the impending doom.
But this time, it couldn’t disappear into the water. It could only retreat back into its shell, employing its old strategy.
“!” The inner disciple watched in shock, mouth agape.
The tortoise was thrown out of the water?
But the show was just getting started.
Li Mo this time didn’t use his sword. His muscles were tensed to the max.
With perfected Liuhe Fist, all his bl**d power was unlocked, and he added a lethal, killing intent!
He swung a punch!
The fist landed squarely on the turtle shell, and it felt like a fragile egg being smashed.
The force even cracked the ground beneath it into spider-web-like patterns!
“I just want to be a swordsman!”
Little Li thought, filled with uncontainable frustration!
Hearing his roar, the disciple’s face was frozen, skin twitching uncontrollably.
He looked over; dark red bl**d slowly oozed from the cracked turtle shell.
The Spiked Back Turtle was clearly dead from that one punch.
And in a rather unceremonious fashion, too.
As for Li Mo? His sleeves had completely ripped apart, and he was steaming with hot steam, casually revealing muscles that looked like forged iron.
You… a swordsman?
You just pounded that turtle into oblivion!
If it were still alive, it would have protested for sure!
…
A short tea break later, two beast corpses were put on display for everyone.
One was obviously the Black Horned Goat, definitely slain by Ying Bing.
But the other “lump” of a creature?
The elders were momentarily stumped over what in the world this was!
“This is the Spiked Back Turtle?”
“Yes, Elder. In its prime, it was.”
“Um…”
The expressions of the elders were quite the display.
Ying Bing, an impressive swordsman, had taken down every beast with pinpoint precision.
It was like she knew exactly where the beasts were weak!
But Li Mo? They truly didn’t know how to rate him!
“Shang Wu, you definitely taught him your sword techniques, right?” Xue Jing confirmed once more.
“What would I gain by lying to you all?”
Shang Wu sniffed with pride.
The inner disciple also backed him up:
“Li Zhenchuan definitely used a sword, and his technique is superb! The only problem is the quality of the weapon; it simply couldn’t break the turtle’s shell.”
“And when he punched the Spiked Back Turtle dead, he was still shouting something about wanting to be a swordsman!”
“…”
So does that mean his fist is harder than the turtle shell?
The elders couldn’t help but fall into a deep silence.
Finally, Elder Han He broke the quiet, “After the trial, let Li Mo go to the Divine Edge Cave and pick a weapon. There are plenty of swords there, and a few might suit him just fine. If he’s still not satisfied, he can even pick two from my personal collection.”
“Hmph, as if you can decide that.”
Shang Wu raised his chin, stating nonchalantly:
“Wait, what about the scoring?”
The disciple standing by the score sheet wiped his sweat and grabbed a pen to tally up.
Everyone took a peek.
On the score sheet, Li Mo and Ying Bing were nearly crushing everyone else, leading them by a huge margin!
Their points were incredibly close too, with Ying Bing slightly edging ahead by 5 points.
Now for third place…
Wang Hu?
