“The person who’s going to kill you!” Xiang Shaoyun yelled in reply, his eyes full of murderous intent. The golden light in his hand slowly condensed into sword energy, rushing straight at the nearest two men like a dashing wolf.

The two men were startled beyond belief. Although they had tried to escape at the very first moment, the blade still left scary cuts on their bodies. Before Xiang Shaoyun could press the attack, somebody regained his wits and charged straight for him.

A giant axe flew towards Xiang Shaoyun’s back, containing a considerable amount of astral energy. It was obvious from this that his opponent was at least a first-stage Astral Realm cultivator. Reacting quickly, Xiang Shaoyun slashed at the axe without looking backwards.

Peng!

The moment the two weapons connected, numerous sparks flew everywhere. Furious at being countered, the man sent out three more axe attacks, each attack stronger than the previous one.

Clink Clang Clink Clang!

Blocking the three attacks consecutively, Xiang Shaoyun was forced back three steps, his footprints deeply etched into the ground. His hand was shaking, showing that his opponent was someone at least at the later phase of first-stage Astral Realm.

After blocking the fourth axe strike, Xiang Shaoyun did not try to forcefully block any more hits. Instead, he gathered wind beneath his feet and dodged left and right before coming to a stop in front of Mei Lianhua.

“Brat, who the hell are you? Why do you have our captain’s Golden Wolf Sword?” the axe-wielding brute growled as he stared menacingly at Xiang Shaoyun.

“Your captain went to meet the King of Hell long ago. I’ll send the lot of you to join him now!” Xiang Shaoyun replied.

“You’re courting death!” the axe-wielding brute loudly bellowed before he once again fiercely swung down his axe.

Nature Destroying Axe!

This axe technique boasted the presence of Mount Tai. A single hack from this technique could destroy mountains and part rivers. At Astral Realm, cultivators would start developing the power of “presence”, and with this power, they could pressure their opponents to the point of cowering or momentary distraction before taking advantage of the opening to kill their opponents.

What a pity it was for the axe wielder. If it were anybody else, it would’ve been effective. However, it was completely nullified by Xiang Shaoyun. One must know that Xiang Shaoyun had witnessed countless experts when he was younger. Hence, he emanated pride from his very bones and had a presence of his own. How could it be suppressed by the presence of a normal cultivator?

Not fighting head on with his opponent anymore, Xiang Shaoyun once again unleashed his Overlord’s Nine Nether Steps. Miraculously dodging his opponent’s attack, he simultaneously sent the Golden Wolf Sword in his hand flying out.

Sshhluck!

Unable to react in time, the axe-wielding brute found a hole in his belly. He could do nothing but retreat. After forming a defensive stance, he yelled at the other men, “Aren’t you going to surround him already? What are you waiting for, the new year?”

There were still three other men alive, two of whom were at first-stage Astral Realm while the third was at ninth-stage Basic Realm. Upon hearing their comrade’s cry for help, they immediately drew their weapons and surrounded Xiang Shaoyun.

In an instant, the four armed cultivators had surrounded Xiang Shaoyun, and they pushed him into a rather precarious situation.

By now, Mei Lianhua had regained her wits. 

“Shaoyun, be careful!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, warning Xiang Shaoyun as she briefly tidied up her clothes.

Watching Xiang Shaoyun’s figure, her heart was filled with a multitude of emotions. She regretfully thought to herself, I wonder if he will bear a grudge against me for what had happened? Sigh, I had made the wrong choice.

Xiang Shaoyun was unaware of what Mei Lianhua was thinking. Right now, he was fully focusing on what was going on around him, expanding his gift of instinct to the very max, enabling him to sense and feel every single action crystal clear.

Attacks that were seemingly impossible to react to were slowed down to the point of negligence. Furthermore, he used his senses to determine their individual strengths.

“If I want to deal with bandits, I must first deal with their leader!” As he calmly received the attacks of four separate people, he locked his eyes onto the axe-wielding brute. He was the greatest threat to him among the four thugs.

Just as his opponent came charging at him once again, Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes saw through each and every movement, determining the greatest opportunity at which he had to strike.

Star Destroying Finger!

Quickly raising his other hand, he swiftly shot a burst of light out of his index finger at the axe-wielding brute’s nether regions.

“AH!”

Before the brute even landed his own attack, the pain from Xiang Shaoyun’s attack caused his axe to fly out of his hand.

“Die!” Completely disregarding the attacks coming at his back, Xiang Shaoyun used the Golden Wolf Sword to slash the brute. Still wallowing in pain, the axe brute couldn’t retreat whatsoever, resulting in his head flying away with one fell swoop.

Xiang Shaoyun, however, also suffered heavily for it. His back had taken two direct slashes, which even cut into his bone. The pain pushed Xiang Shaoyun to his very limits, stimulating his natal chart. Unleashing the power of his nine stars all at once, he slashed once with his sword.

Rumble!

A sword energy two meters long began rushing over. Before the two first-stage Astral Realm cultivators could even react to it, their chests were cleanly sliced open, leaving their innards falling out.

Their bodies were immediately frozen stiff as tears began to flow. They refused to believe they were going to die even with all that had happened. The ninth-stage Basic Realm cultivator was scared out of his wits. He turned around, wishing to run away, but Mei Lianhua’s attack from the shadows resulted in a longsword piercing cleanly through him.

The people who had wanted to defile Mei Lianhua were all dead now. Pulling out her sword from the body, Mei Lianhua ran over to Xiang Shaoyun and sorrowfully said, “Shaoyun, you’re gravely injured! Let me wrap your wounds!”

Shaoyun stabbed the Golden Wolf Sword into the ground and used it as a support to keep him standing. He coldly said to Mei Lianhua, “I don’t need you. I can take care of this myself.”

Looking at Xiang Shaoyun’s unforgiving eyes, Mei Lianhua began to panic, and she stammered, “I-I know that I did something unforgivable the last time, but I’ll never do it again! Will you give me another chance? I-I’ve really fallen in love with you!”

Xiang Shaoyun weakly shook his head as he coldly replied, “There are two kinds of people that I utterly detest—the first are traitors, the others are people who cannot be trusted to keep their promises!”

Upon hearing his words, Mei Lianhua’s face turned white beyond belief. Her body shook, forcing her to fall on her knees.

Completely ignoring Mei Lianhua, Xiang Shaoyun adopted a meditative stance. Opening up the bag, he immediately swallowed a stalk of old medicine before mixing a few more to form a solution to apply to himself.

Little White glanced at Xiang Shaoyun with guilt. It paced back and forth non-stop, seemingly sorry for the fact it had not been able to help Xiang Shaoyun whatsoever in the fight.

“If you want to help me, then get stronger quick!” Xiang Shaoyun briefly said to Little White before painfully dragging his body away from the scene. It was obvious that those people belonged to a gang of sorts. If their other members were to come and witness this scene, Xiang Shaoyun would be dead without a doubt.

“Shaoyun!” Mei Lianhua cried out, tears still falling down her pearly cheeks. Just as she was about to rush up to support him, Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes, filled with disgust, stopped her.

“They’re from the Mad Lion Hunting Group! They’ve already captured Senior Brother Mo to have him take them to the Earth Star Spring! Don’t go there anymore!” Mei Lianhua tried to kindly warn Xiang Shaoyun against the idea of heading for the spring.

“Mad Lion Hunting Group…,” Xiang Shaoyun murmured to himself before gritting his teeth and walking away. He was already practically right before the Earth Star Spring; how could he give up at this juncture? He had to obtain the Earth Star Spring!