The Star Torch Hand, severely injured, was powerless to resist and her body lunged forward.
Her head crashed into a giant bear mouth, and with a crack, her entire head was bitten to pieces, her screams abruptly stopped.
The bear that killed her was a bear that stood upright, two and a half meters tall with a bear body the size of a small hill covered in black hair. Its claws were sharp as knives, and it vaguely retained a human silhouette, resembling a hybrid of human and bear, with both the ferocity of a wild beast and the intelligence of a human in its eyes.
It had transformed into a "Star Night Giant Bear" from a half-orc.
This type of bear monster had sharp hearing and smell, was powerful, and had tough skin and flesh. Its lethality dramatically increased in a frenzy state, and it could see in dim environments, making it a very versatile ability that could assume multiple roles in a team.
The giant bear quickly spat out the woman, mumbling indistinct words from its mouth.
Its original target was Ji Xinghuo, but unexpectedly, his own woman ended up in its mouth and was instantly killed by one bite.
The accidental killing of a teammate, and his beloved no less, left the half-orc utterly stunned.
His mind went blank, and he was momentarily dazed.
"Get out of the way!"
Qi Zhaofeng shouted, but it was already too late.
By the time the half-orc reacted, he saw a streak of electric light slashing from the side, his world spun around, and as he saw the ground come into view, the last image he saw before his consciousness faded was a headless giant bear bleeding out and the woman beside him with her head blown open.
"Her face looks so familiar..."
The headless giant bear reverted to human form and slowly fell down, revealing Ji Xinghuo standing behind.
Qi Zhaofeng was enraged; a single small mistake had cost him two teammates, chilling his heart with the realization that Ji Xinghuo’s strength far exceeded his expectations.
"This really is a good blade!"
He took a deep breath, profoundly wary of the Thunder Blade in Ji Xinghuo’s hand, "The defense of the Star Night Giant Bear, to not even withstand a single strike from you."
With a less sharp weapon, the half-orc teammate would not have been beheaded so easily.
Ji Xinghuo did not respond.
He stepped over the body of the half-orc and charged forward with his blade.
The Thunder Blade shimmered with electric light, and the air smelled of lightning burning through, and in a single breath, Ji Xinghuo had closed the distance between them.
Qi Zhaofeng abruptly retreated several meters and turned to run from the living room into the courtyard.
He was trying to escape!
Ji Xinghuo’s Rotating Magnetic Field burst forth, and the Gale Battle Boots had already been activated; he immediately pursued. Qi Zhaofeng’s figure suddenly blurred, moving rapidly back and forth in the yard, appearing in multiple places at the same moment, creating a confusing effect that made it hard to lock onto him.
This was Mysterious Footsteps.
It allowed a mutant to move rapidly within a small area, avoiding attacks and also launching surprise assaults.
Just as Ji Xinghuo entered the yard, a sword light stabbed towards his back.
He had long anticipated that Qi Zhaofeng was only pretending to flee, calmly turned around, and with the Thunder Blade lifted upward, the sword and blade met solidly.
Qi Zhaofeng staggered back several steps, forced back into the living room.
His eyes were filled with disbelief, unable to understand why his Mysterious Footsteps failed to confuse Ji Xinghuo, and even such a swift attack from behind could be blocked?
Ji Xinghuo seized the opportunity to counterattack, slashing three times.
Three continuous powerful strikes, with the Rotating Magnetic Field amplifying the electric arc around the Thunder Blade, sparks and electricity splattered out.
Every strike was forceful and heavy, hitting the same spot on the longsword, the formidable strength forcing Qi Zhaofeng to retreat, the blade’s current paralyzing his body, rendering him incapable of resisting or using Flash Step, and in an instant, he was driven back to a corner with nowhere to escape.
Qi Zhaofeng was totally exposed, his longsword broken in two.
Ji Xinghuo advanced, reversing the blade in his hand and pressing against the back of the blade with his arm, his blade’s edge against Qi Zhaofeng’s neck, pinning him against the wall.
This scene was identical to a prior real combat training in the Martial Arts Hall.
The difference was, this time it was a fight to the death.
Qi Zhaofeng’s eyes were filled with horror, never having imagined he would die , he cried out in despair, "I..."
"In your next life, don’t make the same mistake."
Ji Xinghuo exerted force on his arm, pressing the blade into his neck and swiftly slicing across.
A thin line of blood appeared on Qi Zhaofeng’s neck. First, a few drops of blood seeped out, followed by a crazy gush as if a faucet had been opened.
He desperately grasped his neck trying to stop the bleeding, but he couldn’t prevent life from slipping away.
"You...are not...an Eighth Dan..." Qi Zhaofeng said intermittently, his head tilting as he breathed his last.
The ring of light in Ji Xinghuo’s eyes dissipated.
He looked at the bodies of Qi Zhaofeng and two other men. He himself was an Eighth Dan in martial arts, but when he activated Myriad Phenomena, he was comparable to a Martial Arts Grandmaster.
Myriad Phenomena consumed an immense amount of star power.
Initially, it could only last two to three seconds, draining all his spirit, star power, and physical fitness. Now, with his star power increased to 185 points, he could maintain Myriad Phenomena for nearly six seconds.
Six seconds of foreseeing the future was enough to slay three enemies.
That’s why he had dared to reveal himself and take action.
Ji Xinghuo wiped the blood off his Thunder Blade on Qi Zhaofeng’s body, then sheathed the blade, and was about to turn and leave when he suddenly noticed a ring on Qi Zhaofeng’s left hand. It had a high concentration of ether energy, obviously not a mere piece of jewelry.
He wrapped his hand in cloth and removed the ring, holding it up to inspect.
The silver-grey ring was plain, and its design was simple, but inside the ring, there were delicate patterns imbued with subtle ether energy, extremely restrained.
Surprise flashed in Ji Xinghuo’s eyes.
Superpower equipment like swords and armor were common, but smaller, more discreetly disguised superpower equipment ring was rarer, costing two to three times more than equipment of the same class, if not more.
Such as Sister Ren’s Thought Necklace and Jiangnan Caiyi’s Phantom Pearl.
This Stealth Ring was Superpower One Star.
Into its material were fused two abilities, "Silence" and "Refraction".
Upon activation, the former could absorb the vibrational sound waves it produced, rendering movements silent as long as the sound didn’t exceed its absorption limit.
The latter was a type of optical invisibility, but it wasn’t complete transparency. Upon close inspection, the outlines could still be seen.
Together, the two abilities could put the wearer in a stealth state!
Qi Zhaofeng had used it to track him, having also activated the Stealth Ring at the instant he used Mysterious Footsteps, but it had no effect in front of the Wanxiang Star Pupil.
Ji Xinghuo slipped the ring onto the index finger of his left hand immediately.
The Stealth Ring was the most valuable item on Qi Zhaofeng’s body. His longsword had broken. The other two men didn’t use weapons, and their other equipment was of little value. Although there was some cash on them, Ji Xinghuo didn’t bother searching, seeing it as worthless.
He dragged the three corpses together and dropped a black flower on them.
Ren Mian had given Ji Xinghuo some plant samples before leaving, not exclusive to a Plant Witch, kept in a small pouch, which he always carried with him.
Black Devouring Fungus looked like a flower but was actually a type of fungus capable of quickly consuming organic matter and turning it into black water, making it the most convenient means of disposing of bodies.
Having disposed of the bodies, Ji Xinghuo activated the Stealth Ring and vaulted out of the yard.
Dodging people through magnetic field sensing, he left the district silently and then walked several more kilometers before boarding the last bus to return to Qinghao Street. However, he didn’t return to his villa but actually checked into the hotel he had stayed in previously, spending one night there.
The night passed without incident.
The next day, Ji Xinghuo returned to the villa. After finishing his daily cultivation, he went to the Extreme Martial Arts Academy as usual to participate in actual combat training.
Qi Zhaofeng naturally didn’t show up, but no one was surprised.
The academy’s members were always coming and going, and it was common for them to be absent as they often had to leave. Being missing was not unusual.
After training and returning to the villa, Ji Xinghuo opened the Wanxiang Star Pupil interface.
Having slain Qi Zhaofeng and his two companions, he gained 20 points of Spiritual Origin Ability. Adding the six points he already had, it was still far from enough to upgrade any ability.
Both Thousand Spirit Skillful Hand and Rotating Magnetic Field needed over 1000 points to upgrade.
To upgrade his Ether Sensitivity to the fourth level, he needed only 433 points of Spiritual Origin Ability.
As Ji Xinghuo eyed the interface, his mind became active.
If he wanted to cultivate faster, the key still lay in "Ether Sensitivity"; each time it increased a level, so would his star power growth, and it was a permanent enhancement!
He gently stroked the Stealth Ring on his index finger.
After long contemplation, he finally decided to go out hunting by himself. But before that, he needed to make some preparations.