"...Way of the Soldier God?"
Seeing that black ribbon flying straight toward him, Jian Changsheng froze for a moment.
He staggered to his feet, lowering his head to look at Yan Xicai's bloody, mangled corpse and the blood-stained Short Blade in his own hand, his expression somewhat complex... Fate, it seemed, was just this miraculous.
The Way of the Soldier God converged in front of him, intertwining into a flight of stairs leading to the sky vault. Jian Changsheng hesitated for a moment, and ultimately stepped onto it.
Thud——!
The moment his foot landed, the Divine Path formed!
A massive amount of information and power surged into Jian Changsheng's mind. He stood in place, stunned for a long time, looking down at his own hands... Way of the Soldier God, First-Tier.
"The 【Asura】 Path?" Astonishment surfaced on his face.
Having been a Law Enforcer for so long, Jian Changsheng naturally knew some of the Paths of the Way of the Soldier God, and 【Asura】 was undoubtedly one of the strongest Paths among the Way of the Soldier God currently... It was said that even Lu Xuanming begged for it but couldn't obtain it.
"Perhaps... I truly am a genius of the Way of the Soldier God?"
Jian Changsheng muttered to himself as he moved his body a bit. He discovered that ever since stepping onto the 【Asura】 Path, his crippled leg was no longer crippled. His entire person was unprecedentedly light. He could feel an unprecedented sense of power surging throughout his entire body.
This was a feeling even more addictive than gathering Killing Intent. He closed his eyes, carefully moving every inch of muscle and bone in his body, emitting soft crackling sounds.
He took a deep breath, and the turbid Aura was slowly exhaled... When those eyes opened again, they were as bright as Torchlight.
"I... really am a genius, aren't I?!"
The corners of Jian Changsheng's mouth uncontrollably curled up. He spat at Yan Xicai's corpse. That puddle of mud had hindered more than ten years of his life, but now... he felt his life was finally back on track.
He didn't know if it was because his personality had been suppressed for too long over the years, but at this moment, Jian Changsheng only felt his confidence bursting. It was a mindset similar to an upstart. He urgently wanted to find a target to test his strength.
"Huh?" A surprised voice sounded from the side. Number 10 was standing at the edge of the Hill, looking down at Jian Changsheng and Yan Xicai's corpse beside him, speaking in surprise,
"He was actually killed by someone else? Tsk..."
The moment Jian Changsheng saw the Fire-Stealer, his eyes lit up. Gripping that blood-stained Short Blade, he charged toward the Hill without hesitation!
His speed was very fast, every step seeping with a blood-red color. In Number 10's eyes, he only saw an afterimage of blood color rapidly approaching him.
"Another one stepped onto the Way of the Soldier God?" Number 10's heart sank, and he instantly became vigilant. He hadn't seen the First-Tier skill of the 【Asura】 Path before, but it was visibly different from the 【Iron Raiment】 of the others.
Number 10 flipped his palm, and a Handgun fell into his hand. Aiming at the rapidly approaching Jian Changsheng, he continuously pulled the trigger!
Bang bang bang——
The burst of three bullets all hit Jian Changsheng. Furthermore, the other party didn't have the solid skin of 【Iron Raiment】, so the bullets easily embedded themselves within.
"That's it?" Number 10 froze, but the next moment, he realized something was wrong.
After being shot three times consecutively, not only did Jian Changsheng not stop, his speed became even faster. Like a phantom, he crossed a distance of dozens of meters. Before Number 10 could continue firing, a cold glint flashed right before his eyes!
Number 10 cried out in alarm. "Object Stealing" was instantly activated. Jian Changsheng's Short Blade vanished into thin air, leaving only an empty fist smashing behind Number 10's ear.
Thud——!
The terrifying force directly deafened Number 10, and fresh blood instantly flowed from within his ear.
This guy clearly got shot three times, how was his speed still so fast? And this force was even more outrageous than that bunch of 【Iron Raiment】 users!
Enduring the intense pain and dizziness, Number 10 gripped a Short Blade and stabbed Jian Changsheng in the lower abdomen three times consecutively, each strike sinking deep.
But after the three stabs, not only did Jian Changsheng not have any pain reaction from being stabbed, he fought even more fiercely. A pair of bare fists swept up terrifying force, consecutively striking Number 10's chest five times within half a second, so fast that trails of bloody afterimages appeared in the air!
Number 10's chest visibly caved in, his ribs almost entirely broken. He violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, drifting several meters like a kite with a broken string, crashing to the ground.
Fresh blood couldn't stop seeping from Jian Changsheng's wounds, yet he acted as if he felt nothing at all. With a bloody footprint at every step, he slowly walked toward the fallen Number 10... In those blood-red eyes, comfort and arrogance surfaced!
"So this is the 【Asura】 Path... So strong, completely different from other Paths!" Jian Changsheng couldn't help but laugh loudly.
"I, Jian Changsheng, am truly a genius!"
Number 10 watched that blood-colored demon-like figure approach, horror surfacing in his eyes.
This guy, whether shot or stabbed, seemed to not feel pain at all, and the more wounds he had, the more fiercely he slaughtered... He was completely a humanoid ferocious beast!
Number 10 lay in the pool of blood, constantly trying to retreat, but Jian Changsheng stomped a foot on his chest. The intense pain caused him to let out a miserable scream. The more miserably he screamed, the richer the smile on Jian Changsheng's mouth became.
"Fire-Stealer? Nothing more than this."
He stomped Number 10's ribs to pieces. The broken joints pierced into the heart. After Number 10's pupils abruptly shrank, he lay weakly on the ground.
A cold wind swept across the blood-colored earth. Jian Changsheng stood there alone, like the sole winner on this battlefield... His gaze slowly shifted from the corpse beneath his feet, looking toward the chaotic battlefield in the distance.
In his eyes, killing intent flickered once again.
"Let me end all of this..." He sneered coldly, his bloody footprints stepping over the Hill, gradually vanishing into the Wilderness.
A long time later.
A red-clad figure slowly walked out from the shadows.
Chen Ling thoughtfully watched Jian Changsheng's departing back, muttering to himself, "The 【Asura】 Path, huh... That skill looks quite nice."
Jian Changsheng's Metamorphosis was something Chen Ling hadn't expected. He had noticed this cripple who had been trailing at the back of Yan Xicai's team early on, and also saw how he was humiliated, beaten, and cursed by Yan Xicai. But Chen Ling originally thought he would just continue enduring it so aggrievedly...
He hadn't expected that beneath that seemingly humble and emaciated body, there was actually such a ferocious soul. It was no wonder he would be favored by the Way of the Soldier God.
If placed in previous years' Ancient Vault of the Military Path, Jian Changsheng was undoubtedly a dark horse figure. Having lived a苟且 (muddling along/ignoble) life for most of his life, finally risking everything here, counter-killing the great mountain pressing down on his head, and obtaining a powerful Path... One could imagine how smooth his path would be from now on... If placed in a novel, that was a proper Male Lead template.
But unfortunately... this dark horse was destined to die prematurely here.
Just as Chen Ling was about to walk toward that battlefield that was about to wrap up, a rustling sound suddenly came from the side.
He let out a soft exclamation and turned his head to look, only to see that Yan Xicai's mangled, bloody corpse was actually emitting a faint blue light... On his chest, a petal-like Ritual Artifact was emitting an Aura of life.