With Qin San Dao and his men defeated, the Cyan-Scaled Sea-Exploring Swallow that had been circling overhead seemed remarkably intelligent. Sensing danger, it flapped its wings, preparing to flee.

’Trying to run?’

A cold glint flashed in Su Yu’s eyes. A Flying Locust Stone, already held in his left hand, shot out in an instant.

WHOOSH—!

The stone tore through the mist, heading straight for the cyan shadow in the sky.

However, just as the stone was about to hit, the Cyan-Scaled Sea-Exploring Swallow made an extremely bizarre turn in mid-air, narrowly avoiding the fatal blow. Without a second glance, it dove deep into the thick fog, flying over a kilometer away in the blink of an eye.

’What a beast! To have such speed and reflexes!’

Su Yu was a little surprised.

Although he hadn’t used his full strength for that attack, it still had about seventy percent of his power. Even a Second Acupoint Martial Artist might not have been able to dodge it.

This bird’s abilities were simply extraordinary!

’Whatever. I’ll deal with this Water Bandit first!’

He walked over to Qin San Dao and began to interrogate him. "Who are you, and why did you attack me?"

Qin San Dao looked at the figure before him, who was like Death itself, his eyes filled with terror.

"Cough, cough... You... How are you at the Third Acupoint? The intelligence clearly said you just broke through to the Second Acupoint not long ago!"

’The power of that last strike, and that suffocating pressure from his Qi and Blood—it was definitely not something a Second Acupoint could possess!’

A thought struck Su Yu. ’Someone is plotting against me!’

’I only broke through to the Third Acupoint a few days ago, which is why their intelligence is outdated!’

’As expected, sometimes laying low is the right path.’

The corner of his mouth curved into a mocking sneer. "Intelligence? The Iron Armor Martial Arts Hall gave you that intelligence, didn’t they? Did they not tell you that I broke through a long time ago?"

This bluff directly shattered Qin San Dao’s mental defenses.

"PUH... Cough, cough... Damn that Kou Xun! He set me up!" Qin San Dao spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with venomous hatred. "He deliberately hid your strength, trying to kill with a borrowed knife! He wanted our Ghost Mist Island to be his scapegoat!"

Hearing Kou Xun’s name, Su Yu immediately understood what was going on.

’I only made a simple probe, yet this Water Bandit revealed so much information.’

’This man isn’t just weak, he’s also dim-witted.’

’If he’d just thought about it for a moment, he would have realized the Iron Armor Martial Arts Hall would never give him false intelligence!’

’Since that’s the case, I might as well get more information!’

"Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!"

Seeing Su Yu raise his long saber, Qin San Dao was scared out of his wits. "I’m a Hall Master of Ghost Mist Island! I have money! If you let me go, I’ll give it all to you... Our Third Chieftain, Han Qinhu, is nearby! He’s a master at Third Acupoint Perfection and already has one foot in the Flesh Refining Realm! If you kill me, you won’t get away either!"

SQUELCH!

With a swift motion of his saber, a large head rolled into the dust.

’Fool. If I kill you, the money is mine anyway!’

’Besides, I wouldn’t leave someone alive to cause trouble for myself later.’

’But if what he said is true, then Ghost Mist Island will surely guess that I killed their men. This is trouble. I don’t know how strong Ghost Mist Island is. It would be best if I could wipe them out, too!’

’Whatever. I’ll loot the bodies first.’

He expertly looted the bodies, quickly finding over a thousand taels in silver notes, a few bottles of medicinal pills, and a thin booklet titled Lingxi Beast Taming Technique.

’This must be the Taming Method for that Cyan-Scaled Sea-Exploring Swallow. Interesting. I’ll take a closer look when I get back.’

Su Yu put away his spoils and quickly returned to the Treasure Ship Cloud-Piercing Shuttle.

’That bird flew back to report. Ghost Mist Island will be sending more people soon.’

’Flee? Or fight?’

After a moment of thought, Su Yu made his decision.

’My publicly known strength is only at the Second Acupoint, so Ghost Mist Island will most likely send that so-called Third Chieftain, Han Qinhu, as reinforcements.’

’I have Five Senses Divine, making this Fog Island my natural home turf. I can use thrown coins for sneak attacks, making it easy to kill them! Even though Han Qinhu is at Third Acupoint Perfection, it won’t be easy for him to find me.’

’And if I can’t beat him in a direct confrontation, I’ll just activate Violent Ape Blood Fury! With my current strength, I can easily and instantly kill a Third Acupoint Martial Artist using it!’

’I just wonder if I could test my skills against an expert of the Flesh Refining Realm!’

...

「Less than half an hour later.」

On the Black Water River, two small treasure ships came riding the wind and cleaving the waves.

The flags on the treasure ships were painted with a ferocious ghost head emblem. The newcomer was none other than the Third Chieftain of Ghost Mist Island, Han Qinhu.

"Search!"

Han Qinhu stood at the prow, clad in Heavy Armor and holding a Horse-cutting Saber as wide as a door panel, his expression as dark as water.

A group of fierce-looking Water Bandits instantly boarded, rushing onto Su Yu’s treasure ship and the other two fast boats.

A moment later, reports came back:

"Boss, no one’s here!"

"No one over here either!"

"We can’t find Hall Master Qin and the others either!"

"Useless!"

Hearing his subordinates’ reports, Han Qinhu cursed, his face dark.

He had brought his men over the moment he received the intelligence from the Cyan-Scaled Sea-Exploring Swallow. He never expected that the hunt for Su Yu would actually run into problems.

’What on earth happened?’

His gaze shifted to the small, fog-shrouded island in the distance, and he sensed a hint of danger.

’Qin San Dao was at Second Acupoint Perfection and had five or six men with him. Dealing with a Su Yu who was merely at the Second Acupoint shouldn’t have caused such a problem.’

’Could there have been some other accident?’

"To the island! Stick close to the Cyan-Scaled Swallow, and don’t spread out too much!"

Han Qinhu acted decisively, giving the order to search the island. He was a Skin Tempering Realm Martial Artist at Third Acupoint Perfection whose skin and membranes had fused into one. With his extraordinary strength, he certainly wasn’t going to turn back just like that.

SWISH SWISH SWISH!

More than twenty elite Water Bandits charged into the mist like a pack of wolves.

...

The mist was as thick as cream that wouldn’t melt, with visibility of less than ten feet.

The Water Bandits, their expressions tinged with nervousness, advanced in a fan formation as they searched.

On an old, vine-covered tree shrouded in mist, Su Yu clung to a shadowy branch like a gecko, his breathing completely suppressed.

With his Five Senses Divine Trait fully active, he could clearly perceive every Water Bandit’s silhouette disturbing the fog—their footsteps, their breathing, and even their heartbeats.

’Twenty-three of them! Most are just small fry!’

’But that bird is a bit of a problem. Its sight seems to penetrate some of the mist, and its hearing is extremely sensitive... I have to avoid it.’

Su Yu’s gaze locked onto a Water Bandit below who had fallen slightly behind, and a murderous glint flashed in his eyes.

WHOOSH!

With a flick of his wrist, a Flying Locust Stone shot silently from a gap in the treetop.

THWACK!

A direct hit between the eyebrows!

The Water Bandit fell limply without even a grunt.

Without a second glance, Su Yu moved like a phantom through the treetops, instantly relocating dozens of yards away.

CHIRP CHIRP!

The Cyan-Scaled Sea-Exploring Swallow keenly sensed the disturbance and shrieked as it flew toward the body’s location.

BOOM!

The next second, a furious figure charged through the mist like a wild bull, the resulting shockwave instantly blowing away the surrounding white fog.

Han Qinhu, holding his Horse-cutting Saber, looked at the corpse on the ground, his face savage. "A Flying Locust Stone! It really is that bastard Su Yu! It looks like this is how Qin San Dao fell for the kid’s trick, getting ambushed in the fog. What an idiot!"

He raised his head and roared, his voice like thunder, "Su Yu! Get the hell out here! What kind of hero hides and skulks around!"

All around was silent, save for the whining of the wind.

"Keep searching! He’s nearby! Whoever finds him gets a reward of a thousand taels of silver!"

A hefty reward is a powerful motivator. Although the Water Bandits were afraid, they steeled themselves and continued the search.

However, this was exactly what Su Yu wanted.

The mist became the perfect cover. Su Yu transformed into a reaper, beginning a one-sided harvest.

PFFT!

To the left, a Water Bandit had just passed a bush when a copper coin sliced his throat.

CRACK!

To the right, two back-to-back Water Bandits only sensed a shadow darken above them. Su Yu, hanging upside down from a branch, reached out like a white ape extending its arms and instantly snapped their necks. He then vanished back into the mist.

"B-Boss! Another one’s dead!"

"Zhang Hong is dead too! He was a skilled First Acupoint practitioner! We didn’t even hear a thing before he was gone!"

As time passed, fear spread like a plague.

"Is it really that kid? Or is it some kind of ghost? Why can’t we even see him?!"

The dozen or so remaining Water Bandits were on the verge of collapse. The immense psychological pressure of not even seeing the enemy’s shadow while their companions fell silently one by one was too much to bear.

Now when they looked at the mist, it seemed to hide some kind of man-eating monster!

CHIRP CHIRP—!

The Cyan-Scaled Sea-Exploring Swallow once again let out an urgent warning cry and flew toward a dense patch of fog ahead.

"Die!"

Han Qinhu, who had been bottling up a belly full of rage, shot forward. His Horse-cutting Saber swung in a vicious arc as he slashed fiercely into the patch of mist.

CRASH!

Several large trees were chopped clean in half, sending splinters flying everywhere.

But the spot was empty, save for a headless corpse that had just fallen.

He missed again!

"AHHHH!"

Han Qinhu’s eyes were red with fury as he smashed a nearby boulder with his saber. "Damn it! Damn it all! Why is the Sea-Exploring Swallow’s warning always a step too late? Does this Su Yu have a heavenly eye or something?!"

"Retreat! Everyone fall back! Get back to the ships!"