"What?"

Everyone was shocked. Just as the fight began, four of the Jiangnan Five Ghosts had an arm severed. They could hardly even see what happened before the four were already flying backward with terror on their faces, their knife-wielding arms vanished!

What kind of terrifying swordsmanship is this!

"Second brother, third brother, fourth brother, fifth brother!"

Lu Hun was also stunned by the scene before him, and instantly a thick venomous look surged in his eyes. He hadn’t expected Ling Chen to be so ruthless in his action.

Disabling their right arms is no different than crippling their martial arts, turning them into lifelong half-cripples, forced to practice blade technique with their left hands. For people like them, it was undoubtedly a fatal blow.

"Rest assured, you’re next."

Ling Chen raised his head, a flash of brilliance appeared in his eyes. The next moment, he was already launching a sword at Lu Hun, the blade’s edge shooting straight for the latter’s heart.

"Blood Demon Slash!"

A colossal amount of True Qi frantically swept out from within Lu Hun’s body. His eyes showed venom, the large knife in his hand tearfully slashing down. A bloody shadow flashed, and the blade light had already reached Ling Chen.

Whoosh!

The sword light swept over, and in the next instant, under countless gazes, it collided head-on with the blood-red blade qi, followed by a crisp "poof" sound. That seemingly massive and sharp blade qi was instantly destroyed under the impact of the sword light!

"How is this possible?!"

Lu Hun looked at the sword light expanding like lightning in his pupils, shock surged in his eyes. His powerful attack hadn’t caused even the slightest hindrance to Ling Chen?

Poof!

The speed of the sword light was unabated, in a manner like splitting bamboo, it shattered the blade qi, and then like a sharp arrow, it shot through Lu Hun and pierced through his body.

Blood splattered, Ling Chen’s Thunder Sound Sword in his hand was already completely smeared with blood.

Ling Chen glanced behind him, and Lu Hun’s figure also fell down, the face pressed against the ground still retained a trace of horror and fear.

One strike, instantaneous kill!

Everyone watching the swift conclusion of victory and defeat between the electric light and sparks, many secretly gasped, a peak powerhouse of the Sky Apex Realm Ninth Level was killed just like that?

"Run!"

With Lu Hun instantly killed by Ling Chen, the remaining four of the Jiangnan Five Ghosts were suddenly changing their expressions drastically, before turning around and fleeing frantically, not looking back as they sprinted out of the camp.

Ling Chen’s expression remained indifferent, and his eyes suddenly flashed a cold light. Immediately, Ling Chen raised his right hand, flicked his fingers, and a sword qi as cold as extreme point shot out suddenly.

Four sword qis, respectively shot out from the index finger to the little finger, even though the four had fled a few hundred meters away, they were swiftly pursued by this sword qi.

Poof poof poof poof!

The backs of the four exploded into a bleeding hole one after another, their hearts were penetrated alive, and they collapsed one by one, their eyes dissipating in vitality.

Within just a few dozen breaths, the famed Jiangnan Five Ghosts had become five blood-soaked corpses.

The vast campsite was silent, plunged into deathly stillness.

"Is there anyone else who wants the Treasure Key?"

Blood continued to drip from Ling Chen’s Thunder Sound Sword in his hand, dripping drop by drop to the ground. Ling Chen’s dark eyes slowly swept over the surrounding crowd, at the same time, an extremely sharp sword momentum was suddenly released from Ling Chen, causing the nearby powerhouses’ expressions to change dramatically, their faces filled with deep fear and awe.

Who exactly is this person?

The murderous aura emanating from Ling Chen made even some of the ruthless individuals who live by bloodshed shrink their pupils slightly. No one had expected Ling Chen to instantaneously and thunderously slaughter the Jiangnan Five Ghosts.

Many were even waiting for an intense battle to erupt, but who could have foreseen that as soon as Ling Chen unleashed his sword, the fight was already over.

To be able to so swiftly eliminate all of Jiangnan Five Ghosts, there may not be many such figures in all of Yangzhou.

This cruel ferocity makes it clear that although he appears alone, to think him easy to bully would be exceedingly foolish.

And under Ling Chen’s display of power, when his cold words fell, no one spoke again, those who had been itching to move suppressed their greed. Though the Treasure Key was tempting, one must have the capital to enjoy it.

"Haha, Your Excellency pretended to be a pig to eat a tiger, possessing such strength, no wonder you can be the possessor of the third key."

On that mountain peak, Huangfu Qi looked at this scene with a smile, then lightly clapped his hands and said with a harmonious laugh.

His original intention was just to force Ling Chen out, and as for whether the latter lived or died, it had nothing to do with him. However, what he didn’t expect was that Ling Chen actually killed the Jiangnan Five Ghosts blocking his path, and did so with a lightning-fast strike that instantly annihilated all five of them.

On the other side, Murong Qingcheng played with a jade ring on her slender fingers, then lifted her beautiful eyes slightly, staring at the distant, lean figure with a hint of subtle surprise in her eyes. It seemed that the owner of this third key was no ordinary person.

A little thought would make it clear, after all, the treasure keys in their hands were obtained with great effort by their families behind them, yet this masked man managed to obtain a treasure key all by himself. That was certainly an extraordinary feat.

"Huangfu Qi, right? You and I have nothing against each other. I advise you not to harbor any more schemes against me, otherwise, if I have a hard time, the Huangfu Family won’t have it easy either."

Ling Chen looked at Huangfu Qi and said without any fear.

"Oh?"

The smile on Huangfu Qi’s face quickly dimmed, replaced by a cold expression, "I give you an inch and you take a mile. I have to admit, you have some minor skills, but to boast in front of my Huangfu Family, someone like you is not qualified."

"Is that so?"

Ling Chen let out a cold laugh, pointing the blood-stained Thunder Sound Sword at Huangfu Qi, "Am I qualified or not? Do you want to try?"

"Looking for death."

A chilling intent flooded Huangfu Qi’s eyes. An unknown person dared to be so presumptuous to him, especially in front of Murong Qingcheng. This ant was simply courting death.

Filled with anger, his words had just fallen when he pointed at Ling Chen with a finger from mid-air.

Whoosh!

A fierce burst of energy cut through the void like a comet, leaving a clear trail in mid-air, heading straight for Ling Chen.

Warriors along its path retreated in terror; this was the wrathful strike of a Half-Saint powerhouse like Huangfu Qi. If it hit any of them, they would be shattered to pieces, certain to die.

The finger beam reached Ling Chen’s front in the blink of an eye.

"Die!"

Huangfu Qi sneered internally, having nearly foreseen the scene where Ling Chen was killed by the finger. But who told this fool not to be discreet and to offend him? It’s truly a deserved death.

However, as that finger beam howled toward him, Ling Chen’s body remained still until the moment it was about to strike his forehead. At that moment, an immense sword intent burst from Ling Chen’s forehead. The overwhelming sword intent condensed into a miniature sword, shooting out!

Bang!

The miniature sword clashed fiercely with the comet-like finger beam. In that moment, the comet-like finger beam abruptly collapsed, yet the miniature sword didn’t lose momentum. Instead, it traveled against the current, shooting straight toward Huangfu Qi on the mountain peak.

Clearly not anticipating that his finger would be broken by Ling Chen, and even less that Ling Chen’s counterattack would come so swiftly, Huangfu Qi quickly formed hand seals, circulating True Qi to condense a big shield in front of him, covering a two-meter radius.

Thump!

Just as the True Qi big shield had formed, the miniature sword broke through the air. Under numerous gazes, it struck fiercely on the True Qi big shield, causing a brilliant burst of sparks.

The miniature sword spun at high speed. Although small in size, its power was incredibly astonishing. Although it didn’t penetrate Huangfu Qi’s True Qi big shield, it nearly pierced through. As for Huangfu Qi himself, he staggered back over a dozen steps, looking quite disheveled.

"What?"

This time, not only Huangfu Qi but also the strong members of the Huangfu Clan, and even Murong Qingcheng, had a flicker of astonishment in their eyes.

Huangfu Qi suffered a setback at the hands of this masked man?

Who was Huangfu Qi?

A leading figure of the young generation of the Huangfu Clan, he was almost unmatched below the Saint Realm, and yet this unknown masked man could push him back?

That was no simple feat.

"Bastard, you want to die!"

Huangfu Qi’s face was full of gloom, utterly consumed by rage. He never expected to be so humiliated by Ling Chen, and formidable murderous intent surged around him, with an equally astonishing aura looming faintly.

Huangfu Qi’s cultivation was approximately at the Junior Half-Saint Stage, but as the leading figure of the younger generation of the Huangfu Clan, his methods surpassed those of ordinary Senior Half-Saints, which was why he dared to say he was nearly unmatched below the Saint Realm. Someone like Ling Chen was simply beneath his notice.

Sensing the aura surge of Huangfu Qi, Ling Chen was unyielding. Although he disliked trouble, if he chose to swallow down such an insult, he wouldn’t be Ling Chen.