Chapter 19 – Killing With A Single Strike
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Phoobiee
The Violet Cloud Mountain was surrounded by fog all year round, and the inner regions of the mountain gave off a violet glow, which made the fog and clouds appear violet. This was why it was given its name.
The youth was currently lying in a thicket, staring straight ahead. In front of him stood an armoured Tiger Crocodile, which was at the Eighth Layer of Body Tempering.
Next to it, on the cliff-face, was a patch of violet-coloured gra.s.s. The purple light swirled like mist around it and there was a thick aura of Vital Essence that it radiated. This aura was capable of refreshing one’s mind, and taking in a mouthful would be able to fill one’s soul with vigour.
This sort of plant was incredibly rare, and was called Violet Spirit Gra.s.s.
“With this Violet Spirit Gra.s.s, my spirit energy will become much stronger.” The youth’s eyes burned with desire as he stared at the Tiger Crocodile. His hand gripped the heavy metre-long, black iron sword at his waist.
This youth was Xiao Yun; he had wandered into the depths of the Violet Cloud Mountain.
This was not the innermost region of the mountain, but there were already quite a few powerful demonic beasts around.
Xiao Yun had discovered this Violet Spirit Gra.s.s by relying on his powerful spirit sense, but there was a Tiger Crocodile demonic beast guarding it.
The Tiger Crocodile’s armour was incredibly hard, and it was abnormally fierce. If he didn’t kill it instantly, he would be in deep trouble.
However, Xiao Yun was only at the Eighth Layer of Body Tempering, so it would be incredibly difficult for him to kill this beast in a single hit.
As such, he patiently waited.
The Tiger Crocodile’s nest was here and it wouldn’t casually leave.
Finally, night fell and as the moon rose into the sky, the Tiger Crocodile sat on a large rock and began to absorb Vital Essence.
Demonic beasts were not like normal beasts. They could naturally cultivate, and could absorb Sun Moon Vital Essence to temper their bodies and refine their meridians.
It faced the sky as strands of Vital Essence were absorbed into its body.
“Demonic beasts can cultivate just like humans.” Xiao Yun was quite surprised – this was the first time he had seen a demonic beast absorb Essence Qi. However, although this Tiger Crocodile was at the peak of the Eighth Layer of Body Tempering, its ability to absorb Essence Qi was far inferior to Xiao Yun’s.
The Tiger Crocodile would normally sweep its wary gaze around its surroundings, but now, it had completely immersed itself within its cultivating.
“Time to act!” Xiao Yun’s eyes stared in concentration as he leapt out like a ferocious beast.
Swish!
The youth gripped the sword in his hand as a cold light glinted and shot through the air like a meteor, piercing towards the Tiger Crocodile’s neck.
The Tiger Crocodile’s pupils contracted, revealing a savage light.
Woosh!
The Tiger Crocodile swung its tail, which tore through the air and caused the wind to howl. Its tail streaked towards Xiao Yun like an iron whip.
The Tiger Crocodile’s tail was covered with spiky scales and under a full-strength blow, it would be able to destroy even the toughest of rocks.
However, by the time its tail had started moving, the youth’s dark sword had already pierced into its throat.
Kacha!
Its armour was completely pierced and its bones were cracked.
Chi!
The Tiger Crocodile’s eyes were blood red, and it looked as if it wanted to struggle with the rest of its strength. However, as its Vital Essence dissipated, its body became limp as it fell.
The youth’s right hand moved as he pulled the sword out. Surprisingly, there was not a drop of blood on the sword – it was evident just how fast his strike had been.
Chi!
As the fresh blood spurted out from the wound, the Tiger Crocodile finally died.
“A single strike to kill the enemy – this sword definitely lives up to its claim.” After putting away the black iron sword, Xiao Yun looked at the dead Tiger Crocodile and walked forwards as he carefully plucked the spirit gra.s.s glowing with the violet light.
The Spirit Gra.s.s was completely violet and gave off a resplendent violet glow under the moonlight, which made it look incredibly beautiful.
As Xiao Yun held the spirit gra.s.s, a dense wave of Vital Essence emanated from it, causing his mind to tremble.
This spirit gra.s.s could nourish one’s mind and soul, and was incredibly rare. Xiao Yun was incredibly lucky to be able to find one here.
“If I refine this Violet Spirit Gra.s.s, my spirit energy will definitely become much more powerful.” A look of joy appeared on Xiao Yun’s youthful face. Once his spirit energy became stronger, his mastery of the Spirit-Destroying Chapter of the Heaven-Devouring Divine Art would increase.
After obtaining the Violet Spirit Gra.s.s, Xiao Yun spread out his senses and after confirming that there were no demonic beasts nearby, he sat down cross-legged on a rock. He began to circulate the Heaven-Devouring Divine Art as a black vortex appeared within his dantian.
Buzz!
As this vortex appeared, the Violet Spirit Gra.s.s was absorbed into it and began to be refined.
Xiao Yun circulated the Heaven-Devouring Divine Art, guiding the Violet Spirit Gra.s.s’ Vital Essence to his sea of consciousness and slowly absorbing it with his mind.
As time pa.s.sed, Xiao Yun could feel his spirit energy rapidly grow. He also felt the sensation that his incorporeal spirit energy was going to take physical form.
Early the next morning, the youth was still refining the Violet Spirit Gra.s.s. He had just started cultivating the Heaven-Devouring Divine Art, and was unable to completely absorb all of the Vital Essence contained within a living thing instantly. The process was a slow and gradual one.
Otherwise, the rush of Vital Essence would have been too powerful for Xiao Yun’s soul to handle.
As the sun rose higher and higher, a group of figures ran through the forest.
“G.o.ddamit, why did those Innate realm demonic beasts start to run towards the outer boundaries of the Violet Cloud Mountain? We nearly died from that.”
“Legends say that the Violet Cloud Mountain has an ancient cultivator’s inheritance palace. It should be related to that.” The appearance of these people was accompanied by coa.r.s.e cursing. Seven men wearing similar clothing appeared near the canyon.
“Ancient cultivator’s inheritance palace?” Some of the men’s eyes lit up.
“Don’t even think about it. We’re too weak and even if there are any treasures within, they’re all destined to be possessed by powerful experts. It’s best that we stay at the outer boundaries and wait for the captain and the others. If we recklessly enter the inner regions of the mountain, we might not even know how we died.”
The men sighed and stopped entertaining this thought.
“I’m so tired after running for 2 days and 1 night. Let’s find something to eat,” one of the men in ragged clothing covered with bloodstains complained. He looked around him, hoping to find a wild beast to kill and eat.
The other people were also in sorry states. One of them had a b.l.o.o.d.y gash, through which his bones could be seen.
“Eh, there’s someone over there.”
“That’s the corpse of a Tiger Crocodile demonic beast.”
“Haha, demonic beasts can greatly nourish one’s body. We can use it to help us recuperate.” As the men walked, they neared the cliff face of the canyon and saw the corpse of the Tiger Crocodile, as well as a youth with his eyes closed.
“That looks like a good sword; it should be a black iron sword. It’s incredibly sharp, and can pierce through the armour of those demonic beasts.”
“That Tiger Crocodile demonic beast died from its throat being pierced in a single strike. What a good sword! It’s definitely worth a fortune!” The men’s eyes shone as they looked at the black iron sword on the youth’s waist, their gazes becoming fiery with desire.
If they had this sword the day before yesterday, they wouldn’t have been reduced to such a state!
The men looked at each other and ran towards the youth.
These people were quite skilled, and carefully split up as they surrounded him. They slowly approached the youth – even if he was incredibly skilled, it would be impossible for him to escape. After all, they couldn’t feel the aura of an Innate realm expert from him.
“Attack!”
After inching about 3 metres away from the youth, a scar-faced man’s eyes focused in concentration as he yelled out.
Hearing this, the other men immediately prepared to attack.
At this moment, the youth, who had been sitting close-eyed, suddenly opened his eyes.
“What do you want?” Xiao Yun’s gaze was like a piercing blade as he looked around him and spoke. His voice sounded like thunder, causing the people’s hearts to tremble. The souls of the seven men who were about to attack shuddered, and they couldn’t help but retreat.
“Is this youth at the Innate realm?” The men hurriedly retreated, with deep shock in their eyes. There was an incredibly heavy pressure on their souls and they felt like collapsing. All of them stared at the youth sitting on the rock in shock.
Xiao Yun looked around with a cold gaze. He had long since noticed these people approaching him, but because he had been at a critical moment in mastering the Spirit-Destroying Chapter, he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted. It was only when they were about to attack did he finally take action.
Xiao Yun’s spirit energy was now incredibly powerful, and had almost taken physical form.
“He’s merely in the Body Tempering realm; he probably just used a sound wave art to affect our souls,” the scar-faced man said with a savage expression. “Calm down and kill him. He’s just a brat; why should we fear him?”
“Kill!” The other six men’s gazes became serious as they complied.
These people lived on the edge of a blade and were surrounded by killing. They wouldn’t fear a mere youth.
As they yelled out, the seven men attacked Xiao Yun together.
Some of them were wielding hatchets, and others were using tridents. All of them attacked fiercely, intending to take Xiao Yun’s life.
“Since it’s like that, then receive my attack!” Xiao Yun’s eyes became serious.
Whoosh!
Xiao Yun jumped a few metres high into the air, like an eagle spreading its wings as his right hand gripped the sword at his waist.
Swish!
The sword moved lithely as it pierced towards the scar-faced man.
“Haha, you’re only at the Eighth Layer of Body Tempering, and yet you want to fight with us?” the scar-face coldly laughed. Based on the wind that the sword brought with it, he could sense Xiao Yun’s cultivation. As an expert at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering, he knew that Xiao Yun didn’t stand a chance against him.
After giving a cold harrumph, the scar-faced man’s broad hatchet cut through the air, slashing towards the sword.
The hatchet gave off a mighty aura, causing the surrounding air to ripple, as if there was a shockwave accompanying it.
The might that an expert at the Ninth Layer of Body Tempering gave off far exceeded that of Xiao Yun’s.
However, before that hatchet reached Xiao Yun, the sword light tilted and slashed upwards towards the scar-faced man’s wrist.
“Arghhhh!!!”
As he cried out in pain, the scar-faced man found that his wrist had been cut, and his hatchet fell heavily to the ground.
“What speed!” The other men gasped in shock. This youth’s sword strike was simply too fast.
At this moment, Xiao Yun’s figure fell to the ground. He slashed out towards the scar-faced man’s throat.
The sword light flashed as the scar-faced man’s eyes widened with a look of shock and fear within them.
Within that sword light, he felt a cold, impending sense of death.
The sword light disappeared and a pillar of blood shot out.
The youth’s body was quite agile and nimble, and dodged to the side, causing the blood to splatter on the other men’s bodies.
Crash!
The scar-faced men fell to the ground, dead.
At this moment, the other six men revealed expressions of terror, and they stood as if they were fixed to the ground. Within the canyon, their hearts sounded as loud as drums.