"Third Brother!"
Urgent footsteps approached, and a tall man wearing a Hua Bao mask darted out from the shadow of the forest. Upon seeing his companion dead with eyes wide open, he couldn't help but let out a cry of mixed anger and shock.
"I must avenge Third Brother... But to kill him in such a short time, we must have underestimated this person's strength."
"All I have to do is hold him back, and when the Boss arrives, we'll finish him off!"
Hua Bao quickly contemplated. With his rich experience in killing, having slain more than dozens in their sieges, he made an immediate judgment. Instantly, he pressed his right hand on the hilt of the long saber at his waist and drew it violently.
Shhh!
In the dense metallic friction sound.
A chilling light suddenly appeared, the blade like a white ribbon sweeping across the sky with a swift swooshing sound, the long saber slashing down towards Su Mu's head, the blade not yet arriving but with a strong wind brushing his face.
"Though this person is not at the Entry Level... he's very close."
Su Mu instantly assessed the strength of the person in front of him; this slash conveyed considerable power.
In fact, Su Mu's judgment was spot on. Hua Bao the villain was indeed extremely close to a genuine Ninth Grade Refining Force. He had attempted to break through to Refining Force but failed due to limited talent, even though he was far stronger than ordinary non-entry-level martial artists.
Facing someone with less talent than Hua Bao masked, Su Mu hadn't been careless; now, confronted with such a power-refined villain, he was even more cautious.
The near-perfection of Five Animals Qigong endowed Su Mu with perception far superior to ordinary people, with anticipation in battle offering a great advantage. The long saber slicing through the air appeared slowed in his eyes.
In this dense forest, Bird Play was hard to execute. Su Mu took a deep breath, infusing his legs with Qi Blood and Power, then stepped forward.
Five Animals Qigong Deer Run!
The events occurred in a split second, as the long saber, like a whirlwind, slashed down. The blade passed through Su Mu's body, but beneath the Hua Bao mask of the villain, a shadowy face showed a hint of surprise and doubt, realizing too late that the blade had sliced through nothing but an afterimage.
"Not good!"
In the instant he realized it was just an afterimage, Hua Bao felt a whirlwind assault from the side. He turned abruptly, and somehow, a figure as agile as a deer darting through the forest closed in swiftly, dragging an afterimage with it.
Tiger Shock Forest.
A deep Tiger Roar pierced the ears like two steel knives. After a moment of daze, the star of death appeared. In his last moments, Hua Bao seemed to see a fierce tiger's sharp claws rushing at him.
Bam!
The claw struck fiercely at Hua Bao's temple. At the moment of contact between the tiger claw and his head, a crisp sound erupted, intermixed with the fine crack of bones.
The impact site turned into a blur of bloody flesh, with the skull suddenly caving in. His brain resonated with the blow like a bell struck heavily; under the mask, his facial features twisted dramatically, eyes bulging with blood, seemingly ready to pop and explode the next instant.
Without even letting out a scream, Hua Bao villain bled from seven apertures and died on the spot. His body finally fell with a thud among the fallen leaves in the forest.
Tiger Subduing Fist, a top-tier Ninth-Grade Martial Arts of Vajra Temple, one of Qingyun County's five major forces, where the Bodhisattva has both a gentle and Vajra's Furious Gaze stance. This martial art mimics Tiger Demon's combat, focusing on lethal strikes, attacking vital points for a one-hit kill.
Moreover, Su Mu had reached the Ninth Grade Refining Force. A punch delivered with power could shatter rocks.
Hua Bao's quick improvisation couldn't be deemed incorrect; his hands were long stained with blood, and his experience in killing was significant. However, his assessment of Su Mu's strength was ultimately significantly flawed.
The Five Animals Qigong created by the Divine Doctor Hua Tuo might have been a mere Health Care Skill in previous lives, but in this life, under Su Mu's control, it was no longer an ordinary health practice. With the assistance of Power, the Tiger and Bear can attack, Deer and Bird are agile for Lower Body Technique, while Monkey Play is balanced in both attack and defense.
To refine a martial art to profound levels takes years, even longer. Human energy is limited; most of Hua Bao's formidable adversaries had only mastered one martial art. Even if they dabbled in others, they were only at an entry-level.
When he applied his judgment of ordinary opponents to Su Mu, his fate was sealed.
Though Su Mu was just newly at the Ninth Grade Refining Force, he possessed almost perfect Five Animals Qigong and achieved the top-tier Ninth-Grade martial arts, Tiger Subduing Fist.
"Only one left..."
Having swiftly eliminated two villains, Su Mu couldn't catch his breath as heavy footsteps quickly approached.
Whoosh!
A sound of swift wind echoed in the forest.
In the shadows, a figure as burly as a bear appeared, wearing a black bear mask. This man was the boss among the three, his mask-wearing underling lying dead in a pool of blood. The Black Bear villain's eyes under the mask seethed with an angry fury, swinging a massive fist the size of a cooking pot straight at Su Mu.
"Die for me!"
A punch was sent forth, with a whistling wind as if a black bear was roaring.
"Ninth-Grade Refining Power Martial Artist!"
Su Mu's heart tensed, the eyes under the White Fox Mask narrowing slightly with an unprecedented seriousness— the upcoming fight would be tough; the opponent's strength was no less than his, possibly even greater.
Three years ago, Black Bear villain roamed these Desolate Mountains, and the three brothers were all wanted villains by the Government Office. Being the eldest, Black Bear villain had entered the Ninth Grade Refining Power realm three years prior, wielding Barbarian Bear Fist with ferocity.