Chapter 290: Unable to Withstand a Single Blow

“D-dead?”

Wu Qi was at Golden Core Perfection. His Blood Qi had diminished from its peak of seven feet to its current five, so the impact he suffered wasn’t as severe as Elder Ji’s.

Even so, seeing a True Master of the Martial Dao killed by a single roar from Lu Bai still drained the color from his face and struck terror into his heart!

From that roar just now, Wu Qi felt as if he wasn’t facing a man.

But a humanoid Fierce Beast!

Originally, confident in the fact that his side had three True Masters of the Martial Dao, he had thought about putting up a fight against this Lu Bai.

But in that single instant, the only thought left in his mind was to flee for his life.

However, under the impact of the Silent Shock Secret Technique, his whole body trembled, and his consciousness wavered for a moment.

Ordinarily, this momentary pause might not have mattered.

But how could Lu Bai miss such an opportunity!

There was a flash of sword light.

Wu Qi’s mind was set on turning to flee, to escape back to Marquis Jingzhong’s side at once and report that Lu Bai had already stepped into the Alchemy Dao and become a True Master of the Martial Dao.

But he found that his body was no longer under his control.

The next moment, the world began to spin around him.

He seemed to be flying, his consciousness fading as his eyelids grew heavy.

In his last moment of sight, all he saw was a headless corpse in gray robes collapsing limply to the ground.

Then, he lost consciousness.

THUD!

Wu Qi’s head fell from midair.

Meanwhile, Jiang Tao had already started to escape.

Among the three, Jiang Tao had the highest Cultivation. He was at Golden Core Perfection with six feet of Blood Qi, and being in the prime of his life, his Blood Qi was still at its peak. Thus, he was the least affected by the Silent Shock Secret Technique.

After only a brief moment of daze, he came to his senses.

Seizing the moment Lu Bai took to slay Wu Qi with a single strike, Jiang Tao turned and fled without a second thought.

Even though he was at Golden Core Realm Perfection, seeing Lu Bai cut down two True Masters of the Martial Dao and kill the Snake Demon had filled him with terror. With Lu Bai’s ferocious might at its peak, like Yama descending upon the mortal world, Jiang Tao had lost all will to resist.

This time, he was truly scared out of his wits!

‘As long as I can make it back to the Capital City alive, I’ll have survived.’

‘In the Capital City, right under the Emperor’s nose, even someone as audacious as Lu Bai wouldn’t dare to kill someone on the street.’

But Jiang Tao hadn’t gotten far before a chill ran down his spine, his scalp tingled, and the hair all over his body stood on end.

In his panic, he tilted his head slightly, glancing back out of the corner of his eye.

That single glance made him tremble all over, his legs turning to jelly.

He saw Lu Bai, sword in hand, chasing after him as fast as lightning.

‘If I keep running like this, Lu Bai will catch me before I even get out of the Cyan Mountain Hunting Ground!’

“L-Lu Bai, listen to my explanation.”

Jiang Tao didn’t slow down as he spoke, “I didn’t mean to harm you! It was all Marquis Jingzhong! He sent a messenger. I owed him a favor from the past, so I couldn’t refuse…”

Before he could finish, the distance between them had shrunk even further.

Lu Bai’s expression was blank; he clearly had no intention of sparing him.

“Lu Bai, I’m the dean of Jingwu Academy! Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ll be in if you kill me!”

Jiang Tao shouted, his voice fierce but his heart trembling, “Don’t forget, Luo Qing is still at the academy!”

“You’ll have died at the hands of a Demon Beast in the Cyan Mountain Hunting Ground. What has that to do with me?”

A hint of mockery flashed in Lu Bai’s eyes. A pair of golden wings suddenly sprouted from his back, and his speed exploded. He transformed into a streak of golden light, appearing behind Jiang Tao in an instant.

A sense of absurdity suddenly washed over Jiang Tao.

‘This was the very method they had planned to use to kill Lu Bai.’

‘He never imagined it would be used on him instead.’

‘After all, with no eyewitnesses, who would believe that the three of them died at Lu Bai’s hands?’

Before he could fully process this, he suddenly felt an intense sense of crisis!

Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Tao caught a glimpse of golden light.

‘What!’

Jiang Tao’s pupils contracted, his expression one of utter horror.

‘Fast! Too fast!’

‘Just moments ago, they were dozens of yards apart, but in the blink of an eye, Lu Bai was right upon him!’

‘This kid was holding back!’

WHOOSH!

Acting purely on instinct, Jiang Tao instantly pushed his Blood Qi to its absolute limit. Six feet of Blood Qi erupted, flaring up like a pillar of fire. He resembled a fireball as his Blood Qi burned furiously.

Lu Bai raised his hand and thrust his sword.

PFFT!

The blade drove straight in, piercing through his six feet of Blood Qi and sinking directly into his face!

His Blood Qi was like paper, unable to withstand a single blow.

“You…”

Jiang Tao wanted to say more, but he couldn’t get another word out.

The fact that his six feet of Blood Qi couldn’t block a single strike from Lu Bai proved one thing.

Lu Bai’s own Blood Qi far surpassed his!

A one-strike kill.

It could only prove the immense gap in power between them.

Jiang Tao didn’t understand.

‘Even if Lu Bai’s talent was extraordinary and his Cultivation speed was unprecedented, allowing him to step into the Alchemy Dao in just half a year…’

‘…how could the kid’s Blood Qi possibly be greater than his?’

‘Black Hand Yama, Black Hand Yama…’

Unable to find an answer, this was the only name that echoed in Jiang Tao’s mind in his final moments.

Only now did he truly feel the terror of that title!

‘No matter who you are—the dean of Jingwu Academy or one of Marquis Jingzhong’s men—when you meet Yama, your soul is bound for the Underworld, your life extinguished, and your Dao erased!’

「Meanwhile.」

After Lu Bai’s sudden departure, Yang Feng and the other disciples from Jingwu Academy gradually returned from a distance.

Gazing at the massive corpse of the Snake Demon on the ground, the students exchanged glances, able to feel the astonishment in each other’s hearts beyond their own amazement.

If they hadn’t seen it with their own eyes, who would have believed that such a terrifying Snake Demon could be torn apart bare-handed by a Martial Artist!

“Where did Young Hero Lu go?”

“I don’t know. Dean Jiang has been gone for a while and hasn’t come back either. Should we wait here?”

“I think we should just leave, quickly.”

The disciples broke into a flurry of discussion.

Yang Feng cleared his throat and said, “I don’t know what’s happened in the Cyan Mountain Hunting Ground for a Fierce Beast Remnant like this to appear. I also suggest we leave as soon as possible to avoid any other complications.”

“Senior Brother Yang is right.”

Many of the disciples nodded in agreement.

Yang Feng looked at Luo Qing and asked, “Junior Sister Luo, what do you say?”

Luo Qing shook her head slightly. “You all go ahead. I’m waiting here for Xiaolu.”

Yang Feng tried to persuade her, “Junior Sister Luo, you saw Lu Bai’s methods just now. With his and Dean Jiang’s strength, they can definitely protect themselves in the Cyan Mountain Hunting Ground. We should just worry about ourselves.”

Luo Qing gave Yang Feng a cool glance and said, “I have to stay here and watch over this Snake Demon’s corpse and its Inner Core, to make sure no one takes them.”

Yang Feng’s gaze darted away, and he gave a sheepish laugh.

Lu Bai had indeed left so abruptly that he didn’t have time to retrieve the Snake Demon’s Inner Core.

This Inner Core, which contained the Blood Qi of a Fei Yi, was countless times more precious than the Inner Core of an ordinary Tier Three Demon Beast!

Yang Feng’s advice for everyone to leave was indeed a ploy to steal the Inner Core in the ensuing chaos.

However, Luo Qing’s glance just now seemed to have seen right through him.

Just then, a tiger’s roar suddenly echoed from the distant mountain forest, shaking the very trees!

Even from such a great distance, hearing the roar instilled a primal fear that seemed to stem from the depths of their bloodlines.

‘What kind of Demon Beast is this now?’

‘Judging by the roar, it’s probably even more powerful than that Snake Demon just now!’

‘What on earth has happened in the Cyan Mountain Hunting Ground for another terrifying Demon Beast like this to appear?’