Amidst the rustling, the black panther gradually approached him.
It seemed to sense something as it shifted its lush green eyes towards the rocks where Lin Xun was hiding.
Swoosh!
Lin Xun charged out from the rocks. The Defeat Army Blade produced a beam of blinding light in the air as it slashed down, splitting the darkness.
The black leopard couldn’t evade in time. With a squelch, its head split from its body. Blood jetted everywhere and its tremendous body tumbled to the ground.
Buzz!
However, at the same time, an incomparably sharp black object produced a sharp whistle as it stabbed toward Lin Xun from behind.
Unbelievable speed!
It was as though it had been waiting to strike. The angle of the attack made it very tricky to dodge and any ordinary cultivator would have failed to react in time.
However, Lin Xun suddenly spun around in mid-air after killing the black leopard as if he had eyes on the back of his head.Shua!
He brought the Defeat Army Blade up in a backhand slash and it precisely struck the tip of the black object.
A muffled groan sounded from behind him and a faintly discernible figure that seemed to be fused with a black robe suddenly appeared!
It was a slender youngster in black. His eyes gleamed with a sinister blue light and he looked strange and terrifying.
The slender youngster was surprised that his attack failed and was about to flee when Lin Xun clasped his blade and charged toward him like a lightning bolt.
Boom!
The thin youngster swiftly reacted and raised the sharp iron rod in his hand.
To his dismay, Lin Xun’s blade produced a terrifying suction force and pulled the weapon towards it!
The slender youngster stumbled forward uncontrollably.
Taking the opportunity, Lin Xun leaned forward, gathered strength in his left hand, and landed three consecutive punches at the opponent’s throat.
With a crack, the slender youngster’s neck snapped, his head twisted, and he suddenly collapsed to the ground and lost his life.
The battle outcome had been decided in the blink of an eye.
It was unbelievably fast but also extremely dangerous. If Lin Xun hadn’t noticed his opponent hiding and used himself as bait to lure the opponent to attack, the outcome could have been completely different.
Chi!
After a neat kill, Lin Xun didn’t hesitate to tear off the opponent’s clothes. He immediately saw the chest was marked with a natural brute totem rune, which resembled flowing water.
It was the symbol of the Water Tribe of the Magi Brute Race.
In other words, the slender youngster was a water brute expert.
Lin Xun skillfully carved out the brute totem rune along with the skin and put it away into the storage ring.
This was military merit. The most convincing evidence when exchanging for military merit was the number of enemies killed and the brute totem runes collected.
In addition to the brute totem rune, Lin Xun found a short thorn. Its two-foot body was entirely jet black with wave-like patterns and was constructed from a type of extremely precious black steel-gold.
In the Magi Brute Race, such weapons were called brute tools, and the patterns engraved on them were called brute runes.
Lin Xun had heard that only totem shaman could create such brute tools among the Magi Brute Race. The so-called totem shaman was similar to rune masters in the empire.
An important point was that brute tools could only display their greatest power in the hands of a Magi Brute descendant. The reason lay in the brute runes carved on the brute tool.
Brute runes seemed similar to runes but their secrets were different and they couldn't be activated with spirit qi.
In short, only experts of the Magi Brute Race could bring out the power of brute tools and brute runes.
Only cultivators in the empire could bring out the power of aeth tools and runes with their aeth power.
This was the difference. The empire and the Magi Brute Race were two completely different civilizations, and their tools and cultivation methods were also completely different.
In addition to this short thorn, Lin Xun also found some miscellaneous items such as medicinal herbs and mountain fruits to replenish energy. He stored them all in his storage ring.
Just as Lin Xun was about to leave, he suddenly heard a rustle. He turned his head to see worms gathering around the black leopard corpse.
The jet black worms were only the size of a pinky finger but they had sharp fangs and looked unusually vicious.
They burrowed out from the ground like sharks smelling blood. In just a few breaths, they had devoured the black leopard’s corpse without a trace of bone left.
Immediately, they swarmed toward the water brute youngster’s corpse and also obliterated all traces of him.
Lin Xun couldn’t help but shudder as he watched on. He realized that Demon Cloud Ridge was more strange and dangerous than he had thought. At least, he had never heard about the black worms before.
Fortunately, the worms had no interest in living beings and didn’t attack Lin Xun. They rapidly disappeared into the ground like quicksand.
The black leopard’s body was gone and so was the water brute youngster. Even the traces of blood on the ground had disappeared. It was as though nothing had happened.
“If I, unfortunately, die here, my body and bones would disappear…” Taking advantage of the night, Lin Xun pushed forward on his journey.
He had to first understand the environment of Demon Cloud Ridge. Only then could he keep the danger to a minimum.
……
Lin Xun hadn’t stopped for seven days in a row. He passed over mountain ridges, waded through swamps, trudged through dirty water, climbed cliffs, and navigated through forests.
He had encountered ambushes and attacks along the way, and he had fought enemies head-on. There were many dangers but he managed to kill all the enemies he encountered.
He hadn’t experienced any life-threatening danger, but he knew that it was bound to happen sooner or later.
In the past seven days, he had fought alone as he penetrated deep into the enemy’s territory. He hadn’t relaxed for a moment and every inch of his body was very tense. He was like an old ruthless hunter.
Danger lurked in every corner, and life and death could be decided in a split second.
He had to show greater strength and resourcefulness than the enemy if he didn’t want to die!
Lin Xun had a wealth of experience in battles. He even showed more battle means than usual in the complicated and dangerous terrain of Demon Cloud Ridge.
Lin Xun was only troubled by his lack of material supplies.
In Blood Kill Camp, he consumed Lengning Pills every day for his cultivation and he didn’t have to worry about cultivation resources.
However, in the barren hills and turbulent water of Demon Cloud Ridge, he had to rely on himself to find materials if he wanted to cultivate, restore his strength or treat his wounds. He either had to forage for aeth medicines and herbs or snatch them from enemies.
There was no other way besides those.
Lin Xun didn’t even have the time to wonder how the other students were doing or whether anyone had been eliminated.
Demon Cloud Ridge was more dangerous than he had imagined. It was clearly very difficult to survive here for three months and also earn enough military merit to not be eliminated.
Under those circumstances, how would Lin Xun still have the energy to care about other people?
Around one in the afternoon.
Demon Cloud Ridge was still as dark as always. Thick haze shrouded the sky and made it feel stifling.
Lin Xun curled up like a ball and hid in the dark crevice of boulders covered in thick weeds. It was difficult to spot him without a careful look.
Lin Xun was resting and recovering his strength.
He had rubbed a thin layer of rotten fish plant on his skin to not only cover his odor but also to avoid attracting the attention of beasts and insects.
“I can barely last until tomorrow afternoon with the materials I have now. The most important thing now is to find materials to restore my aeth power. Otherwise, I would no doubt fall into a dangerous situation if I can’t maintain my optimum state…” Lin Xun said thoughtfully.
In the past seven days, he had killed nineteen Magi Brute experts and had acquired lots of materials. Even so, those materials weren’t enough.
He had also found aeth plants and fruits in Demon Cloud Ridge but they were only a drop in the bucket. His strength recovery would be a fatal problem if he couldn’t find top-quality medicinal herbs soon.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps in the distance made Lin Xun tremble inwardly and his curled-up body tensed up like a pulled bowstring.
Before long, a group came out of the mountain forest.
It was a group of over thirty Magi Brute experts escorting around twenty soldiers in the Black Wind Army uniform.
The soldiers consisted of men and women and they were all chained and dragged off like cattle. Everyone’s expression was filled with fury, despair, and dejection.
They seemed to be heading somewhere. They quickly passed the rocks where Lin Xun was hiding and disappeared into the distance.
Lin Xun leapt out and followed them.
Demon Cloud Ridge was extremely vast. Before Lin Xun and the other Blood Kill Camp students arrived, the Black Wind Army often sent soldiers to the depths of Demon Cloud Ridge to conduct guerrilla warfare.
Lin Xun just didn’t expect to see empire soldiers captured like cattle on the seventh day of coming to Demon Cloud Ridge. He felt like he had to do something when he saw the anger and despair on the soldiers' faces.
He followed them until evening when the group of Magi Brute experts escorted the captives into a canyon.
Lin Xun surveyed the surroundings and climbed to the top of a mountain where he could clearly see the situation in the canyon.
A temporary campground was set up in the canyon.
At the entrance of the campground, dozens of Magi Brute experts were patrolling with weapons. In the center of the camp sat three men around a stone table. All three exuded a tyrannical aura while they seemed to be discussing something.
On the other side of the campground stood several cages, in which empire soldiers were held captive.
In front of the cages was a platform similar to the gallows, and a huge iron pot was set up on a blazing bonfire there.
A human race youngster was tied up and gagged on the platform. His face was deathly pale with terror and his body was trembling as he constantly struggled to break free.
A Magi Brute man was standing at the side of the platform with a sharp blade. Smiling sinisterly, he slashed off the youngster’s arm and casually tossed it into the iron pot.
Si—
A striking red stained the boiling water of the iron pot.
Lin Xun narrowed his eyes and he felt chilled to the bone. They are going to eat people?!