"Oh no, went too hard, killed him."
Seeing the opponent split and die, Shen Wang sighed a breath: "Why are you weaker than I imagined? Couldn’t even take one strike."
He walked over in frustration and found the old man’s whole body was burning, and his blood seemed to be on fire, which startled him.
"Did he use some secret technique to stimulate his potential?"
Upon checking, he found this man’s heart was ablaze, likely using a secret technique to invoke the power of heart fire, thereby increasing his explosive power.
This method also had negative effects, the physical burden was too great, especially since this wasn’t his first time doing so, his body had withered like charred wood, and when struck by his domineering Black Death Blade Qi, it directly collapsed and died.
Shen Wang shook his head, picking up the two-foot short sword from his hand, which was just a regular treasure weapon, not even considered a magical artifact.
What left him speechless was that there wasn’t even a storage pouch, only finding a cloth bag with two medicine bottles, a booklet, some gold tickets, and a few spirit stones when opened.
This was Shen Wang’s intuitive impression of the old man, he flipped open the booklet with his sword, revealing a technique called the Red Smoke Sword Technique.
After browsing, he suddenly realized.
The Red Smoke Technique was an unorthodox skill that emphasizes cultivating by burning potential, usually requiring the aid of a special smoke stone for cultivation.
This cultivation technique focuses on quick success, using smoke stones to stimulate the body when necessary, igniting heart fire to burn the body for explosive combat power, and afterwards, must consume Heart-Protecting Pills and Lung Cleansing Pills for recovery, otherwise, it leads to a short life.
Seeing this, he opened the two medicine bottles, finding one red and one white, indeed the two types of recovery pills.
"Cultivating such a short-lived skill, all the money is spent on staying healthy, no wonder you don’t have much to your name."
Shen Wang smirked, forming a seal to release a fireball, burning everything away.
"Arguably the poorest Innate Grandmaster I’ve killed, but your approach is correct, external possessions aren’t needed excessively, converting them to strength is more valuable."
Shen Wang observed the rapidly burning corpse, thinking the old man was worth learning a bit from.
"Unfortunately, with your disposition, if you had a good cultivation technique, your achievements wouldn’t be limited to this."
Shaking his head, Shen Wang turned and with a sway, reached the swordsman in two steps.
The latter had already been blown into a bloody mess, Shen Wang picked up the opponent’s white long saber and storage pouch, destroying the corpse with another fireball.
Although no survivors were left due to the incident, Shen Wang didn’t feel like waiting for the Black Water Stronghold’s people any longer.
What if the next arrival was the Village Chief? He feared he wouldn’t be able to stop them, so better be cautious.
He quickly arrived a mile away.
Paper Kite was carefully hiding in the shrubs, keeping silent.
Seeing Shen Wang return, she finally spoke: "Husband, are you okay?"
"I’m fine, just work a little harder, let’s continue leaving."
Shen Wang grabbed Paper Kite’s hand.
"Ding, you have protected your wife’s safety, Master-level Rune Magic +6, Body Technique +20, Saber Technique +30!"
Upon holding Paper Kite’s hand, a series of rewards poured in, catching Shen Wang off guard.
He didn’t expect much reward this time, and the sudden emergence surprised him.
Speculating that perhaps only upon leaving danger does the system grant rewards, Shen Wang calmly led Paper Kite away.
"Black Water Stronghold probably won’t pursue us for a while."
Shen Wang thought to himself, deciding to find some nearby habitation so Paper Kite could rest properly.
He formed a seal in a gesture,
A red flying sword appeared, swiftly enlarging by a circle.
"The’re no pursuers, let’s fly by sword for a while and see if there are any villages or towns nearby from above."
Shen Wang pulled Paper Kite onto the flying sword, slowly rising, swiftly surpassing the trees, reaching mid-air.
The sky was slightly bright, breaking through the mountain fog to a suddenly wide-open view.
Paper Kite, never having flown so high, nervously held onto Shen Wang’s arm.
Shen Wang released his spiritual power to form a shield against the mountain wind, chuckling: "Say what you want, there’s no pursuers now."
Avoiding exposing their location, Paper Kite finally laughed lively: "Husband, I am so happy, heheheh."
"Let me give you a thrill."
Shen Wang formed a seal, the flying sword burst with light, speeding up abruptly.
Paper Kite nervously clung on: "So scared of falling."
"In the future, buying a flying ship, flying won’t be scary if we’re sitting."
Shen Wang laughed, he had been relatively down and out before, temporarily using a flying sword to travel, but back home, he planned to buy a flying ship, couldn’t have every trip for Paper Kite and others be on foot.
"It’s too expensive, but walking with my husband is very happy too."
Paper Kite smiled like a blossoming flower, radiating with happiness.
She didn’t seek wealth and position, just having Shen Wang’s love was enough.
"With more family in the future, sword flight will be exhausting, so it’s better to buy one."
Shen Wang cheerfully, "How can I bear the thought of you always roughing it along with me."
"Husband, you’re too good."
Paper Kite shouted loudly: "How did I, Paper Kite, deserve such a good man as my husband."
She shouted joyfully, then thought of something, feeling a bit shy: "Husband, I should be pregnant, slower please."
Shen Wang had known for a while but was still very happy, slowing down their speed.
In fact, this Red Flame Flying Sword was quite ordinary, at most could fly a few hundred feet high, its speed wasn’t too fast, not exceeding Paper Kite’s endurance range.
After flying in the mountains for half an hour, discovering smoke ahead, Shen Wang descended: "Let’s go, rest up front, and ask where we are."
Having spent all night fleeing, Shen Wang truly didn’t know their location, needed to ask for directions.
"Did you encounter any abuse in Black Water Stronghold?"
"No, they only kept me locked up."
Paper Kite shook her head: "However, the big boss, which is the Village Chief, deliberately had someone check my body, and it was during that check I found out I was pregnant."
Shen Wang frowned: "What’s the logic, if he coveted your beauty, why check your body?"
"I don’t know, but I felt the big boss seemed interested in me, but due to my pregnancy, never laid a hand."
Paper Kite puzzled: "Even so, the big boss is someone important, surrounded by attractive women, and even an Innate Grandmaster, shouldn’t take a fancy to me."
"There are indeed some questionable points, from using a magical artifact chain to imprisoning you, it seems odd."
Shen Wang frowned: "Let’s take it one step at a time, I suspect there’s something special about you."
Paper Kite touched her head: "I don’t even know what’s special about myself."
"Tell me about everyone you interacted with in Black Water Stronghold."
Shen Wang and Paper Kite talked as they walked.
Walking for two miles, they arrived in front of a village.
Nearby, many mulberry trees were planted, looking bare in winter, with people pruning them early in the morning, hoping for better growth come spring.
The dog’s barking alerted the old farmer pruning, spotting Shen Wang and Paper Kite, despite fleeing all night, they didn’t look too ragged, still appeared as handsome man and pretty woman, affluent, unlike any mountain bandits, easing the old farmer’s mind.
"Old man, we got lost in the mountains, can you tell us where this place is located?"