ROOAR—

The Sharp Sword Tiger’s roar sounded mighty and domineering, but it was tinged with weakness. The beast was clearly injured.

With a flicker of his Divine Thought, he sensed the surrounding Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in turmoil. A fierce battle was clearly raging outside.

Jiang Chen’s brows shot up. ’A Sharp Sword Tiger is a Tier Two Demon Beast. To be pushed this far... Could it be Zhao Qiankun?’

The Sharp Sword Tiger’s combat power was no less than that of the Black Cloud Demon Bear, equivalent to a human expert at the True Martial Realm Second Stage.

As far as Jiang Chen knew, among all the experts who had entered the Celestial Demon Ancient Realm, no one besides Zhao Qiankun should have been able to overpower the Sharp Sword Tiger!

’If it really is Zhao Qiankun, then you’ve saved me the trouble of hunting you down!’ A cold glint flashed in Jiang Chen’s eyes as he strode forward, rushing out of the mountain forest.

At this very moment, outside the forest, the Sharp Sword Tiger was locked in a fierce battle with three figures. Each of the three men had blood and qi as vigorous as a dragon or a tiger, far surpassing ordinary experts. They all stood hovering in the air, each wielding a Profound Weapon pulsing with True Essence as they surrounded and attacked the Sharp Sword Tiger.

The Sharp Sword Tiger’s back was a mess of torn flesh, and blood dripped down its brown fur.

A black arrow was embedded deep in its back. It was this sudden projectile that had grievously wounded the Sharp Sword Tiger, leaving it to be besieged by three True Martial Realm First Stage Martial Artists.

"Roar..."

The Sharp Sword Tiger spat a scorching fireball from its mouth. It shot forward like a meteor before exploding in front of the three True Martial Realm experts, forcing them to scatter. The Sharp Sword Tiger roared in fury, its blood-red eyes filled with rage. "Despicable humans! If you have any guts, fight me one-on-one!"

"Idiot! We’re just being strategic. Not like you Demon Beasts, all brawn and no brains!"

"A Tier Two Demon Beast, the Sharp Sword Tiger! Its two fangs alone are worth a fortune—enough for us to buy out the entire Cloud Mist Pavilion!"

"Hurry up and kill this stupid tiger! Don’t forget the mission the Young Master gave us!"

These three men were all at the True Martial Realm First Stage.

After discovering the Sharp Sword Tiger, they had hidden nearby and launched a sneak attack to heavily injure it.

Now, the Sharp Sword Tiger could only use thirty to forty percent of its strength and posed no real threat to them. The three men were naturally fearless!

"Roar!"

The Sharp Sword Tiger suffered one blow after another, coughing up blood. Desperation and anxiety filled its eyes. ’Master, if you don’t get here soon, your Little Swordy is really going to be butchered and made into soup!’

"Hahaha, stupid tiger, no one can save you now!" A young True Martial Realm expert with sharp, monkey-like features sneered. A small, exquisite silver bow appeared in his hand.

Nocked on the bow was a black arrow that emitted a faint, dark glow.

TWANG—

The bowstring vibrated, and the black arrow shot out, rocketing toward the Sharp Sword Tiger’s head.

"No..."

Despair filled the Sharp Sword Tiger’s eyes. It could only watch helplessly as the black arrow drew closer and closer.

"Die!"

"No one can save you!"

The three True Martial Realm powerhouses laughed triumphantly.

However, their smiles didn’t last long. Just as the black arrow was about to pierce the Sharp Sword Tiger’s head, a figure shot out from the side. A fair-skinned hand reached out and snatched the arrow—an arrow capable of grievously wounding a Tier Two Demon Beast—right out of the air. With a gentle twist of the hand...

SNAP!

The black arrow broke in two!

"Who’s there?"

The three True Martial Realm powerhouses looked over in shock. Their pupils contracted violently as they all cried out in alarm, "Jiang... Jiang Chen?"

"Hm?"

Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow and looked at the three men, his gaze hardening. "You’re from the Qinghuo Gang?"

The clothes all three were wearing bore the emblem of the Qinghuo Gang.

Jiang Chen’s mind raced. ’The Qinghuo Gang sent three True Martial Realm experts this time. But besides Gongsun Yang and Chen Yidao, whom I’ve already killed, there should only be Zhao Qiankun left!’

’So why are there three more True Martial Realm powerhouses in front of me now?’

"Master... you’re finally here! If you’d been a moment later, you would’ve never seen your Little Swordy again... Awhoo..." The Sharp Sword Tiger rushed to Jiang Chen’s side, nuzzling him with its large head, its eyes filled with excitement and thrill.

Jiang Chen’s expression darkened. "Go and heal your wounds first!" After dismissing the Sharp Sword Tiger, Jiang Chen looked at the three men. "Did the three of you break through to the True Martial Realm after entering the Celestial Demon Ancient Realm?"

"Why should we tell you?"

One of them snorted coldly. He wore an arrogant expression and was just about to speak again.

But then Jiang Chen pointed a finger.

A wisp of Sword Qi burst from his fingertip. It was a Spiral Sword Qi that looked utterly ordinary, yet its speed was incredible. It tore through the air, reaching the True Martial Realm powerhouse in an instant.

"Zhao Liu, look out!"

The other two men’s faces changed drastically as they shouted a warning.

Zhao Liu’s face went pale. He activated his Profound Technique, channeling the True Essence in his body to form a True Essence Giant Shield in front of him. His expression relaxed slightly. "Good thing I’m already at the True Martial Realm. A mere wisp of Sword Qi from a finger shouldn’t be able to break through my defen—"

His voice hadn’t even faded.

The True Essence Giant Shield was shattered by the wisp of Sword Qi, which then pierced the space between his eyebrows.

BOOM—

His entire head exploded, splattering red and white matter across the sky.

A powerhouse at the True Martial Realm First Stage couldn’t even block a single finger from Jiang Chen! 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Hiss..."

’Such terrifying Sword Qi! Why do I feel like Jiang Chen has gotten even stronger?’ The two men looked at each other, seeing the terror in the other’s eyes.

Jiang Chen hovered in the air, closing in on the two. His indifferent voice reached their ears. "I don’t want to ask a third time. I remember that the only True Martial Realm expert in your Qinghuo Gang was Zhao Qiankun. So what’s the deal with the three of you?"

"I’ll talk! I’ll talk..."

The young man with the monkey-like features hastily said, "Reporting to Lord Jiang Chen, my name is Zhao Wu, and this is my younger brother, Zhao Wen. Before entering the Celestial Demon Ancient Realm, we were only at the Martial Arts Ninth Stage of cultivation. The Young Master discovered a treasure trove and obtained many precious items from it. The Life-taking Bow I used to ambush the Sharp Sword Tiger came from that trove. As for us, we all broke through to the True Martial Realm after taking the Breaking Yuan Pills the Young Master gave us!"

’Breaking Yuan Pills? The Life-taking Bow?’

Jiang Chen’s gaze sharpened.

He raised his hand and made a grasping motion. True Essence formed a thin thread that wrapped around the small silver bow, pulling it into his hand to toy with. ’What a Life-taking Bow. It’s actually a Profound Tier Intermediate Profound Weapon. No wonder it could heavily injure the Sharp Sword Tiger. And those Breaking Yuan Pills... they can actually allow a Martial Arts Ninth Stage expert to step into the True Martial Realm? I wonder how many Breaking Yuan Pills Zhao Qiankun found?’

Before Jiang Chen could even ask, Zhao Wu spilled everything. "Ten! The Young Master obtained ten Breaking Yuan Pills in total and created ten True Martial Realm powerhouses. My brother and I were assigned by the Young Master to search for treasure troves and ancient ruins, but..."

Zhao Wu hesitated.

A sense of unease grew in Jiang Chen’s heart. His face fell and he barked, "But what? Spit it out, or I’ll have Little Sword devour you!"

The Sharp Sword Tiger at his side played along, opening its massive, bloody maw and letting out a furious roar, "ROAR!"

Zhao Wu trembled and quickly continued, "The Young Master couldn’t find you, so he sent people to capture the Lui Family. A short while ago, the Young Master sent a summons for us to return. It seems he’s found Lui Yifa and the others and is gathering men to go and annihilate them. The three of us were on our way to rendezvous with them when we discovered the Sharp Sword Tiger and thought we’d kill it and take it back with us along the way."

"Jiang Chen, my brother and I have no intention of being your enemy! Please be merciful and let us go!"

Zhao Wen quickly added, "As long as you let us go, I can help you plead for leniency from the Young Master... You probably don’t know, but our Young Master obtained a Divine Medicine from that treasure trove and has already broken through to the True Martial Realm Fourth Stage. Making an enemy of him is just courting death..."

Zhao Wu and his brother both looked at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen glanced up at them. "Done with your nonsense?"

"Huh?"

The two of them were stunned.

Jiang Chen said flatly, "If you’re done, then it’s time to hit the road."

SPLAT!

He pointed a finger, and Zhao Wen’s head exploded. The headless corpse fell from the sky, smashing into pieces on the ground below.

"You... how dare you..." Zhao Wu’s eyes widened in utter shock. "Aren’t you afraid of our Young Master? He’s at the True Martial Realm Fourth—"

"Annoying!"

Jiang Chen sneered in disdain. He slapped his palm through the air, and five streams of Sword Qi shot out.

The five golden streams of Sword Qi seemed to have a life of their own, wrapping around Zhao Wu’s body. They constricted violently, grinding him into a bloody pulp and leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

Watching the minced remains of Zhao Wu fall from the sky, Jiang Chen’s gaze was sharp and resolute. ’So what if he’s at the True Martial Realm Fourth Stage? Even if he advances to the True Martial Realm Fifth Stage, I’ll kill him all the same!’

WHOOSH!

Jiang Chen took a deep breath. With a flicker of his Divine Thought, he located Little White’s position, then grabbed the Sharp Sword Tiger and shot off in that direction at his top speed...