The sound of the sword’s hum erupted suddenly, its sharp screech cutting through the air.

  The bde of the Hundred Refis Sword, as if carrying a flicker of fire, tore through the air with deadly force, pierg gold and splitting stone, brimming with killing i.

  “Captain, save me!”

  Shi Feng’s pupils stricted as his body stiffened with fear. His hair stood on end as he cried out in shod retreated quickly.

  “Bold!” A thunderous roar erupted like a storm, apanied by the whistle of a bde slig through the air, sending a powerful gust of wind that instantly blocked the sword strike aimed at Shi Feng.

  Figures swiftly moved, and Feng realized that he had been surrounded.

  Seven!

  Including Shi Feng, seven people had surrounded him.

  “ Feng, you’re ungrateful, killing my teammates, and daring to go against Young Master Ye Huai. Today will be your end,” Shi Feng snarled, gripping his iron shield tightly, gring fiercely at Feng.

  Feng didn’t try to expin—there was o.

  Because this person... was already dead.

  “Young man, are you going to surrender, or should I break your limbs first and then tie you up?” A burly man wielding a rge swrinned maliciously at Feng.

  “ Feng, our Dark Ming squad’s captain is a master of the Body Refi Ninth ge, with two in the Eighth ge and four in the Seventh ge. Even if your movement is exquisite, you ’t escape this time,” Shi Feng said through gritted teeth. “We’ll hand you over to Young Master Huai. He will personally take your head.”

  Having watched his teammates die, escaped, and failed to capture Feng with Ye Huai’s group, Shi Feng was filled with hatred for Feng.

  But he had never sidered that everything started because he coveted Feng’s Nine Shadows Illusory Body.

  “Four in the Seventh ge, two in the Eighth ge, and one in the Ninth ge…” Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly, but a surge of inexplicable excitement swelled from deep within.

  If his cultivation had not broken through, and before obtaining the Hundred Refis Sword, fag such a situation, he would have definitely used the Nine Shadows Illusory Body to escape.

  “Except for Shi Feng, I’m giving you all a ce. Turn around and leave, and I won’t hold it against you,” Feng said, his gaze sweeping over them before finally nding on the burly man with the rge sword. He spoke in a firm tone.

  “Seems like you’ve chosen to have your limbs broken.” The burly man grinned, swinging his rge sword like a howling wind, attag fiercely.

  The rest of the Dark Ming squad moved to strike as well.

  Feng found that he was surrounded on all sides with no pce to escape.

  “A Level 9 Beast trapped in our encirclement would only meet death,” the burly man sneered, sshing at Feng with his mighty sword.

  “Pity... I’m not a beast.”

  Feng smiled slightly, activating the Nine Shadows Illusory Body. Nine phantom images instantly appeared, indistinguishable from one another, evading attack after attack.

  The sword’s shadoeared once again, and in the blink of an eye, nine swords shot out like a tempest, cutting through the air.

  Each illusion was apanied by a sharp sword strike.

  The four in the Body Refi Seventh ge from the Dark Ming squad froze in pce, and blood quickly appeared at their throats, spreading outward.

  The burly man blocked one of Feng’s strikes with his sword, and Shi Feng along with another in the Eighth ge barely mao bloother.

  The phantoms and sword shadows came again.

  Three sword strikes tore through the air, ing from different angles, as fast as wind. Shi Feng swung his iron shield to defend, but could only block two of the strikes. The third pierced his heart.

  Another in the Eighth ge ierced through by Feng’s sword as well.

  The burly man’s eyes bulged with rage and fear. Without hesitatiourned and fled.

  The illusions fshed again, blog his escape.

  “I admit defeat.”

  The burly man, experienced in surviving in the Wanmu Forest, knew well how to preserve his life. If he couldn’t win, he would escape; if he couldn’t escape, he would yield.

  Without hesitation, he shouted.

  “I’m willing to pay any price.”

  Feng seemed not to hear him. The sword shadow tio close in, surrounding the burly man.

  “I’ll fight you to the end!” the burly man roared, his muscles bulging as he gripped his rge sword, swinging it furiously like a mountain breaking apart, aiming to crush Feng.

  The csh of swords and bdes rang out.

  Every impact sent a shomense power toward Feng.

  That power came from the Body Refi Ninth ge, clearly far strohan Feng’s own.

  But Feng bihe Nine Shadows Illusory Body with the Wind Shadow Nine Swords, using them to absorb the ford push fain.

  At this moment, Feng realized that the Body Refi Ninth ge, once seen as an insurmountable realm, wasn’t as strong as it had seemed.

  He could fight!

  He could... kill!

  The burly man roared, swinging his great sword in all dires, exerting all his strength to block the sword shadows ing from every angle.

  From a distance, a crowd had gathered to watch.

  “The captain of the Dark Ming squad…”

  “Who is that person? He killed all the members of the Dark Ming squad.”

  Seeing the bodies on the ground, the onlookers’ faces ged dramatically, and they gasped in shock.

  The Dark Ming squad was one of the top teams in this camp, having hunted Level 9 beasts several times. They were normally very intimidating, but now they had been wiped out, leaving only the captain.

  For a moment, everyone was curious about Feng.

  As for interfering?

  That was impossible. flicts regurly broke out in the camp for various reasons—verbal disputes, treasure hunts, and so on. No one would intervene uhey had close retionships with the people involved.

  The burly man’s strength was overwhelming, but despite his efforts to block the relentless sword strikes, he couldn’t avoid them all.

  The differen cultivation was evident. Feng couldn’t easily defeat him as he had with the ones in the Seventh ah ge.

  “Who exactly is this guy? To think he overpower the captain of the Dark Ming squad!”

  “He looks to be uwenty, yet possesses such strength. He’s a true genius!”

  Feng ighe murmurs around him. His focus remained solely on his swordpy, as his experiences in the Wanmu Forest and the moments of enlighte from before slowly merged into a seamless flow, propelling him forward, unstoppable.

  In his mind, tless rays of light verged, f a figure holding a sword.

  Feng’s body froze for a moment, as if a wooden statue, motionless.

  The burly man, inally intending to flee, suddenly noticed that Feng had inexplicably stopped moving. A surge of ce filled him, and without hesitation, he unleashed his full power, his arms swelling with muscle as he brought his great sword down like a mountain crashing toward Feng.

  Feng’s body seemed to be on the verge of being cleaved in two uhe bde.

  A cold gleam fshed in Feng’s eyes, and in an instant, a sword shot out from his hand, slig through the air like lightning.

  The sword shadow formed a tinuous —owo, three… Eight, nine!

  The nine sword shadows merged in an instant, verging into a single, blinding beam of sword light. Its sharpness was unparalleled, exuding a chilling ess.

  The sword light shot out ihan a tenth of a sed, so fast that the burly man’s eyes trembled. He didn’t even have time to blink before the sword pierced his forehead.

  The sword returo its sheath, and Feng staggered back a step, involuntarily retreating.

  The burly man’s body trembled, blood p from his forehead as his stunned eyes filled with fusion. His great sword slipped from his grip, and his massive body fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

  “He’s dead…”

  “The captain of the Dark Ming squad, a master of the Body Refi Ninth ge, was actually killed with one sword strike.”

  A faint smile appeared on Feng’s slightly pale face.

  The Wind Shadow Nine Swords had broken through. The nine sword shadows had fused into a single, extremely trated beam of sword light. Not only did its speed increase drastically, but its power also grew expoially, cutting through everything in its path.

  However, the energy ption and strain were immense. With his current cultivation, Feng could only use this teique on a short period.

  “I wonder if I could kill a Level 9 Beast with this.”

  Feng thought to himself.

  The physical strength of human martial artists is clearly inferior to that of beasts of the same rank. Perhaps, he could find an opportunity to test this out.

  Feng’s gaze swept over the area, and through the fmes, he could clearly see the looks of curiosity and wariness from the onlookers.

  His internal energy flowed as the strength he had expended gradually began to recover.

  Feng quickly searched the bodies of the Dark Ming squad members, finding some silver—less than a huaels.

  “Such poverty.”

  He couldn’t help but sigh as he pocketed the small amount of silver. Theook the ons of the Dark Ming squad to a nearby mert to sell.

  After ating for depreciation and wear, he mao sell the ons for just over two huaels.

  “Truly, killing and arsoo a golde.” Holding the more than three huaels in his hand, Feng couldn’t help but quietly marvel at the difference.

  He had spent most of the day in the Wanmu Forest and earned just over a huaels, even with the three Chi Xue Fruit he had ed. The total amount barely reached two huaels. Yet, in just a short moment, he had earned more than three huaels—such a stark trast made Feng shake his head in amazement.

  However, the three huaels didn’t eve warm in his hands before they were spent. He exged it all for three Pei Yuan Dan (Vitality-Boosting Pills).

  Feng swallowed the three pills, feeling his vitality surge once again. His internal ans were refined and strengthened, being even more robust. His vitality surged, and his internal strength deepened.

  “At least three more Pei Yuan Dan, maybe four, and then I’ll have a ce to break through to the Body Refi Eighth ge.”

  Feng couldn’t help but shake his head.

  Well, he thought, he would focus on grinding away in the Wanmu Forest for a while, striving to break through to the Eighth ge—or even the Ninth ge—before the examination of the Huntia.

  Calming his mind, Feng sat by the campfire, the Hundred Refis Sword resting on his legs. His eyes gently closed as the flickering firelight danced on his face, casting shadows that shifted with the light.

  The Wind Shadow Nine Swords had broken through its limitations. The nine sword shadows fused into a seemingly iructible beam of sword light, and Feng sehat there was still much potential in this teique to explore.

  “This sword… should be a killing blow. It needs a name.”

  Feng sat quietly, his thoughts swirling as he pted the sword teique he had just executed. The fusion of the nine sword shadows into a single devastating beam of sword light had exceeded his expectations, but he khere was still more to refihe teique was still in its infancy, and he could feel the immeential it held, waiting to be unlocked.

  “A name,” Feng muttered to himself, his gaze fixed on the glowing embers of the campfire. “This sword, it needs a name worthy of its power.”

  He sat in deep ption, the idea of naming his teique stirring in his mind. He could feel the energy in the air around him, as if the very atmosphere was urging him to find the right name—ohat would encapsute the sword’s esses deadly precision, and its overwhelming might.

  As he closed his eyes, he recalled the way the sword had sliced through the burly man’s forehead with the speed and sharpness of a lightning strike. The imagery of the sword light pierg the air, like a et bzing across the sky, fshed in his mind. The power, the speed, the ess—it was all there, flowing through him.

  Feng’s lips curled into a slight smile. “Celestial Ssh,” he said, his voice low but firm. The name felt right. It spoke to the speed and finality of the attack, the way it cut through the heavens with unstoppable force.

  “Celestial Ssh…” He repeated the name softly, allowing the words to settle in his heart. Yes, this was the name he would give to his ultimate move, the teique that could cut down any enemy in its path with the force of the heavens themselves.

  With the tled, Feng stood up, the firelight casting long shadows across his face. He felt a sense of satisfa, a feeling of grorogress. But even as he reveled in the moment, his mind shifted back to the task at hand—his cultivation, the uping challenges, and the tests he had yet to face.

  The Pei Yuan Dan had strengthened his internal energy, but there was still much to be dohe Wanmu Forest held many dangers, and he had already sehat his current strength might not be enough to face the beasts and challehat awaited him. To break through to the level of his cultivation, he needed more than just pills and teiques—he needed experience, endurance, and the will to push beyond his limits.

  “I will not stop here,” Feng thought to himself, determination filling his chest. “I will break through. I will bee stronger.”

  With a deep breath, he adjusted his stahe Hundred Refis Sword still in his grasp. The familiar weight of the on grounded him, and he could feel the power within it resonating with his own.

  The phase of his journey had already begun.

  [--------------------------------------------]

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