"Ah! That guy killed the boss!"

"Ah! Wasn’t the boss at the Martial Arts Third Layer Middle Stage? How did he die in a single strike?"

"What terrifying Saber Technique! He even killed the boss!"

The dozen or so Martial Artists only snapped back to their senses after their leader’s body hit the ground, finally processing the incredibly fierce saber strike. A panic rippled through the group. Seeing that the tables had turned, a few of them were already preparing to flee.

"Calm down, everyone, calm down!" a man with a relatively high Cultivation shouted, pushing his way to the front. "This person is only at the Second Layer Heaven of Martial Arts! That strike that killed the boss was just a lucky sneak attack! Let’s get him together and avenge our leader!"

At this reminder, the men noticed that Zhaang Ye was indeed only at the Martial Arts Second Layer. Realizing this, they instantly calmed down. Several of the men closest to Zhaang Ye lunged forward, intending to cut him down on the spot.

"Kill him! He must have something valuable on him!"

"Yeah, avenge the boss!"

Zhaang Ye sneered as they rushed him. His Saber Technique, Gentle Wind Slash, was perfectly suited for use in a dense forest. Though his Cultivation was only at the Martial Arts Second Layer, his combat strength far exceeded that of an ordinary practitioner at that level. He could even pose a legitimate threat to a master of the Martial Arts Third Layer Heaven. ’And now these common Martial Artists from the Second Layer Heaven of Martial Arts want to use me as a stepping stone? They can’t blame me for the slaughter to come!’

"SHING!" Zhaang Ye circulated the True Qi in his body and slashed out with his saber.

Zhaang Ye’s slash used no Combat Skill; it looked deceptively simple. But the saber’s momentum was astonishing, unnaturally fast. The moment the Thick-Backed Saber swung, it transformed into a terrifying streak of white light.

The first man to reach him saw only a blur and felt a sudden chill before his body was sliced in two. Blood sprayed everywhere, and his entrails spilled across the ground.

After killing the first, Zhaang Ye remained rooted to the spot. The Thick-Backed Saber swung back in an arc, its speed unwavering—like wind, like lightning. It slashed across the second man’s waist, cutting him in two.

Silence!

Everyone froze!

All eyes were fixed on Zhaang Ye!

A slash out, a slash back. In the blink of an eye, Zhaang Ye had cut one man in half and another in two. The sheer ferocity and brutality of his technique left everyone stunned.

Even the Mammoth, which had been standing motionless, shook its massive head, a flicker of fear in its eyes. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Th-this... could that be a Mid-Level Combat Skill?" someone in the woods finally stammered.

In the Barbaric World, a Martial Artist’s primary combat strength was determined by their True Qi Cultivation. Besides True Qi Cultivation, Combat Skills also played a huge supporting role in battle. Combat Skills were divided into four grades: Low-Level, Mid-Level, Advanced, and Top-Grade. The higher a Combat Skill’s grade, the greater its power. Legendary Advanced and Top-Grade Combat Skills were said to be so powerful that one could even kill opponents of a higher cultivation realm.

High-Grade Combat Skills were extremely rare, usually monopolized by Martial Arts Families with long-standing traditions. Even Mid-Level Combat Skills were a rare sight.

In fact, Mid-Level Combat Skills were jealously guarded treasures of smaller families; only the Patriarch or Elders were qualified to practice them. The few that did circulate were mostly incomplete fragments. The Gentle Wind Slash that Zhaang Ye practiced, for instance, was a single move from the Nameless Saber Manual.

As for Advanced and Top-Grade Combat Skills, they were controlled by the great families and various major powers, completely out of reach for the common person. Thus, ordinary Martial Artists could usually only get their hands on Low-Level Combat Skills. Some couldn’t even find those and had to rely on their own fumbling efforts to practice.

This group of men were all Loose Cultivators. Without the backing of a family, they could only practice Low-Level Combat Skills. The two saber strikes Zhaang Ye had just unleashed were so fierce and terrifying, cutting men down like grass, that in their shock, their minds naturally leaped to the rarely seen Mid-Level Combat Skills.

Hearing the man’s trembling voice, Zhaang Ye chuckled silently. He was rather dismissive of the classifications of Low-Level, Mid-Level, Advanced, and Top-Grade Combat Skills. ’In my mind, as long as a technique is fast enough, powerful enough, and its angle is tricky enough, even the simplest slash can be incomparably mighty! A simple slash can still cut down an expert who possesses a High-Grade Combat Skill!’

’Nothing is indestructible, only speed is absolute! The perfect combination of speed, power, and angle can slay any powerful foe!’

Seeing Zhaang Ye’s inscrutable expression, the remaining men’s hearts sank. If he really was practicing a Mid-Level Combat Skill, they probably couldn’t defeat him even if they all rushed him at once. And even if they did manage to win, they would have to pay a terrible price.

None of these men were fools. Once they realized Zhaang Ye would be difficult to defeat, they lost all will to fight him to the death. Their leader was already dead. Even if they killed Zhaang Ye, what would they gain? Why take such a risk?

With this in mind, a few of the shrewder men began to quietly shuffle their feet, preparing to slowly back away from the fight.

Zhaang Ye saw through their intentions at a glance and gave a cold smirk. ’They swarmed me on sight, trying to kill me. The moment things look bad, they want to tuck tail and run? Does the world really work like that?’

"SWOOSH!"

Zhaang Ye suddenly strode forward, the Broken Blade in his hand lashing out like lightning.

Eleven men had surrounded Zhaang Ye. He had already killed three, leaving eight. Seizing the moment while these eight were still in shock, Zhaang Ye unleashed three consecutive moves from his Basic Saber Technique. Each slash was incomparably fierce and unbelievably fast. Amidst the SWISH SWISH SWISH of the blade cutting through the air, three more men fell.

Zhaang Ye’s opportunistic slaughter terrified the five remaining men. Realizing his strength was far beyond what they could handle, they all cried out in alarm and scattered, fleeing for their lives.

But unfortunately for them, they were a step too slow. The five of them had barely taken two steps when a long trunk shot through the air and coiled around their waists.

This trunk, of course, belonged to the Mammoth.

All five were Martial Artists of the Second Layer Heaven of Martial Arts. Ordinarily, while they were no match for the Mammoth, they would have stood a chance of escaping with their lives. But now, their wills had been shattered. In their panic and confusion, the Mammoth’s surprise attack found its mark, ensnaring them all.

Seeing its catch, a look of glee appeared in the Mammoth’s enormous eyes. It retracted its trunk, its terrifying strength crushing the five men together. Then it did something that stunned even Zhaang Ye—it opened its cavernous mouth wide and, amidst the five men’s terrified screams, tossed them all into its bloody maw!

Listening to the CRUNCH CRUNCH of breaking bones coming from the Mammoth’s mouth, Zhaang Ye felt his own scalp tingle. ’Holy shit! I didn’t think this beast was so savage. It just swallowed five people alive. It really doesn’t bat an eye at eating people!’

After finishing its meal of five men, the Mammoth glanced at Zhaang Ye, its hunger seemingly unsatisfied. The provocation in its gaze was so obvious that even Zhaang Ye could see it. He shot the Mammoth a look and sneered, "Hey, big guy, looks like you’ve forgotten the wound on your ass! You get any funny ideas, and I’ll slice that rump of yours to ribbons. You won’t even be able to take a crap!"

Hearing Zhaang Ye’s threat, the Mammoth hastily shook its massive head.

Zhaang Ye waved his hand. "All the enemies are dead now. You can go." With that said, he began to search the corpses on the ground.

"Crime pays," as the saying goes. After killing the group of Zhou Family masters, Zhaang Ye had obtained over a dozen Body Tempering Pills, three Qi Gathering Pills, and a stack of Golden Tickets—a massive haul. After that experience, Zhaang Ye always looked forward to looting his opponents’ bodies after a fight.

He started with the body of the leader, the man at the Martial Arts Third Layer Heaven. This expert did not disappoint. Zhaang Ye found five Qi Gathering Pills on him, along with several Golden Tickets amounting to over twenty thousand taels. Besides the Golden Tickets, he also found two Martial Arts Secret Manuals: one was the *Great Might Celestial Hammer Technique*, and the other was the *Qi Refining Technique*.

Zhaang Ye was a saber user, so he had no interest in the *Great Might Celestial Hammer Technique*. The *Qi Refining Technique*, however, piqued his interest immensely.

The book *Basic Combat Skills* had mentioned the *Qi Refining Technique*. According to the records, the *Qi Refining Technique* was an auxiliary Cultivation Method that served to purify one’s True Qi. A Martial Artist who practiced it could refine the True Qi in their body, gradually transforming their impure True Qi into a pure form. This would bring the nature of their True Qi closer to that of Innate True Qi, increasing their chances of entering the True Dao.

The *Qi Refining Technique* was one of the oldest Martial Dao Cultivation Methods and was widely known. But this Cultivation Technique had a major weakness: its practice was excruciatingly painful. Not only that, but it demanded the Cultivator maintain absolute mental clarity while enduring the agony, otherwise the Cultivation would be ineffective.

The pain of practicing the *Qi Refining Technique* was so extreme that even a man of iron would find it unbearable. To endure that pain while also maintaining absolute clarity of mind was a task that caused even many with great willpower to eventually give up. Those with weaker minds might even suffer from Qi deviation on the spot or be driven mad by the immense suffering.

As for the increased chance of entering the True Dao, even cultivating the *Qi Refining Technique* to the stage of Great Success would only increase one’s chances by five percent.

Zhaang Ye flipped through the manual for a while before letting out a long breath. ’This *Qi Refining Technique* essentially treats the body as a cauldron and the Meridians and True Qi as ingredients, using one’s own spirit as the flame to constantly refine them. No wonder the Cultivation is so agonizing...’

’It can increase my chances of entering the True Dao... I’ll look into it when I have time.’ Zhaang Ye mused for a moment. He felt his own tolerance for pain was pretty decent. It might be worth trying to practice this technique.