The Heavens: Man Covers the Heavens, Refines Treasures to Become an Emperor

Jiang Xuan didn't even look back at the result.

Such an ambush or assassination attempt was nothing more than a minor trick that he could easily handle, having undergone all sorts of brutal tests in the Bloodthirsty Camp. It wouldn't even make his heart race a little.

Without faltering, he continued rushing deeper into the alleyway, into that darker, more complex abandoned area. The rain intensified, and the sounds of pursuit behind him seemed to grow closer, but the calm in his eyes remained unwavering, like ancient, unyielding ice.

He knew that tonight was destined to be long, and this was only the beginning.

The rain poured down, and the night was as dark as ink.

Racing at high speed in such harsh conditions would be a huge burden and psychological pressure for ordinary cultivators, but for Jiang Xuan, it had a strange sense of familiarity, and even made his dormant blood start to surge.

The Blood Killing Camp, that hellish place, a year of inhuman training had etched the skills of fighting, escaping, and counter-hunting in extreme environments into his very bones. The torrential rain, darkness, and unknown enemies before him did not frighten him; instead, they seemed to awaken the dormant instincts within him.

The atmosphere of walking on the edge of life and death, dancing with danger, calmed his heartbeat and made his thinking increasingly clear. His natural fear of danger had long been quietly eliminated in the more brutal torture and killing, replaced by an almost cold calculation and a hunter's intuition.

The soul's perception, like invisible tentacles, always maintains its maximum range of diffusion.

Just as he rushed through the intricate alleyways and entered a relatively wide but still dilapidated long street, his senses suddenly detected something unusual!
A thousand feet away, on both sides of this long street, under the dilapidated eaves, behind the collapsed walls, and even under the chassis of abandoned carriages, more than a dozen auras were hidden! They used the sound of the raging rain and the deep night to try their best to conceal their vitality and spiritual energy fluctuations, like crocodiles lurking in the swamp, waiting for their prey to step into the trap.

It was a very professional ambush. If it were an ordinary Gang Realm cultivator, or even some inexperienced Di Gang Realm cultivators, they would likely have walked right into it during such a hasty escape, and their lives would have been decided instantly.

Unfortunately, they encountered Jiang Xuan.

Jiang Xuan's running rhythm remained unchanged, maintaining that unique and efficient pace that conserved energy while allowing for sudden changes in direction.

However, his eyes, which gleamed in the darkness, gradually filled with a palpable killing intent.

Within his body, the mysterious "Storm Millstone," which had long been intertwined with his life, seemed to sense its master's will and suddenly accelerated its operation! It was not a slow accumulation, but a violent and unstoppable eruption!

"Om-!"

A deep, resonant hum, seemingly from the ancient wilderness, emanated from his body, not through the air, but directly vibrating the surrounding spiritual energy! Immediately afterward, a dense, azure mist, visible to the naked eye, rose from his pores, instantly enveloping him.

The mist was not simply the outward release of qi; it seemed as if countless tiny vortexes were being created and dying, roaring within it, emanating a power that was both extremely pure and extremely violent!
"A strange phenomenon of spiritual energy?!"

Along both sides of the long street, some of the cultivators lying in ambush couldn't help but gasp, their voices filled with disbelief. To cultivate spiritual energy to the point of causing outward phenomena was something no ordinary cultivator at the罡境 (Gang Realm) level could achieve; the purity of their spiritual energy and the strength of their foundation far exceeded their imagination!
At this moment, Jiang Xuan had already rushed into the long street like a bolt of lightning tearing through the night sky!

"Do it! Kill him! The Biguang Pavilion is offering a bounty of one thousand gold pieces!"

Hidden in the middle of the long street, two cultivators wielding ghost-head broadswords saw Jiang Xuan's astonishing speed, instantly closing the distance to within dozens of feet. Greed and killing intent surged in their eyes simultaneously, and they could no longer hide. With a roar, they raised their swords, ready to pounce! The enormous reward of a thousand gold coins was enough to make them take the risk!
However, just as the thin man exhaled and before his footsteps had even landed properly—

"Boom!!!"

Centered on Jiang Xuan, the previously wispy azure mist suddenly expanded and swirled, transforming into a terrifying vortex of storms that stretched from the sky to the earth! The vortex frantically tore and absorbed everything around it, forcibly drawing in the torrential rain that was pouring down from the sky, turning it into billions of deadly water droplets containing sharp, fierce energy!
The storm passed, and destruction followed!
That was no longer a simple martial skill or the release of spiritual energy; it was more like a natural disaster! An incomparably violent force swept across the entire long street with overwhelming force!

"Puff-puff-!"

The air was compressed to its limit and then suddenly exploded, producing a series of loud bangs! The bluestone slabs on the ground shattered inch by inch as if struck by an invisible giant hammer, and then turned into dust! The rainwater swept into the storm vortex was now ten times more terrifying than arrows shot from a powerful bow and crossbow, shooting indiscriminately in all directions with a shrill shriek!
"what!"

"Do not--!"

"my eyes!"

Screams rose and fell, but were quickly drowned out by the roar of the storm and the sound of rain.

On both sides of the street, the dilapidated walls of the houses were instantly pierced by the dense raindrops, becoming riddled with holes, like giant sieves.

Those cultivators hiding in the shadows didn't even have time to react before their bodies were easily pierced by countless water droplets containing storm energy, leaving behind shocking bloody holes. They didn't even have time to groan before they fell to the ground dead, their blood mixing with the rainwater, instantly staining the long street red.

The first to be hit were the two sword-wielding cultivators in the center, eager to claim credit. The thin man and his more robust companion didn't even have time to parry before being struck head-on by a visible cyan shockwave!
"Crack!"

"puff!"

The sounds of bones shattering and flesh being torn apart rang out simultaneously.

The two men were struck as if by a giant, rampaging beast. Their chests visibly caved in, and blood mixed with fragments of internal organs spurted from their mouths. Their bodies flew backward like broken sacks, crashing heavily against a broken wall in the distance. By the time they slid down, they were already lifeless, with only the shock and fear of their impending death remaining in their eyes.

All this happened in the blink of an eye.

From the moment the storm vortex rose into the sky, to the moment it swept across the streets, and then to the moment everything settled down, it all happened in just a breath or two.

Jiang Xuan didn't pause for a moment, nor did he even glance at his "masterpiece." The terrifying storm-like phenomenon around him quickly subsided, transforming back into a faint sky-blue mist, which then disappeared into his body.

With a light tap of his foot, his speed surged again, and he swept across the long street like a ghost, disappearing into the shadows of the alleyway at the other end.

A few breaths after he left, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind, and another wave of pursuers arrived at the long street.

The first few people rushed into the long street, but when they saw the scene before them, they stopped abruptly, gasped, and their faces instantly drained of color.

The scene is devastated!

The street, which was originally dilapidated but still relatively intact, now looked as if it had been trampled by a giant beast. The ground was cracked and full of potholes, and the walls of the houses on both sides were riddled with holes. Rainwater washed over the corpses lying on the ground, and the heavy smell of blood could not be completely dispelled even in the downpour.

The corpses died horribly, mostly riddled with holes by the dense barrage of "arrows" or had their internal organs shattered by the violent shockwaves. "What... what happened?"

"Wang Laosan! Li the Cripple! They're... they're all dead?"

"Judging from the wounds and signs of destruction, they...they appear to have been killed at the same time!"

Someone spoke in a trembling voice, filled with fear. To be able to simultaneously kill more than ten experts at least at the Gang Realm, including some like Wang Laosan who were close to the peak of the Human Gang Realm—what terrifying group attack ability was that? Could this really be done by a poor boy who had just advanced to the Human Gang Realm?
A chill ran from the soles of all the pursuers' feet straight to the top of their heads.

They had all been somewhat dismissive of him, thinking that a poor boy, no matter how strong, could only be so much stronger, and that killing him would be a piece of cake, with a hefty bounty to be earned.

But the bloody and tragic scene before them was like a wake-up call, shattering all their complacency and underestimation of the enemy!

"Everyone, be alert! This kid is incredibly strange! He's definitely not an ordinary Qi Realm cultivator!"

A man who appeared to be the leader shouted sternly, his face extremely solemn.

"Stop thinking about taking credit alone. Get close to each other, and if you spot a target, immediately warn them and work together to surround and kill them!"

The crowd responded in unison, and the previously scattered formation began to tighten. Everyone's face was filled with vigilance and lingering fear, and they dared not be careless in the slightest.

……

Now that Jiang Xuan was far away from that long street, he had a clearer understanding of his own power.

This was the first time he had unleashed the true power of "Storm Millstone" without reservation since advancing to the Human Gang Realm.

The destructive power that erupted in that instant even startled him slightly.

"This is the special spiritual energy that far surpasses that of a first-grade spiritual energy pool..."

He felt the still abundant and pure power within his body, despite the significant depletion, and pondered to himself. The spiritual energy pools condensed by ordinary cultivators are divided into nine grades, with grade one being the lowest and grade nine the highest.

His "Storm Millstone" transformed into a pool of spiritual energy that had long surpassed the ninth rank, with its quantity and quality reaching an unbelievable level.

This also means that when he uses the same move, its power far exceeds that of others of the same level, and it can even pose a threat across realms.

"It seems that for those cultivators from powerful families, the so-called foundation, besides resources and cultivation techniques, is also largely due to the difference in the grade of their spiritual energy pools."

Images of those pampered, finely dressed cultivators flashed through his mind, and his eyes grew even colder. If it weren't for the opportunity presented by the Bloodthirsty Camp and this mysterious "Storm Millstone," he probably wouldn't even have the right to be an enemy of these people; he would have been crushed like an ant long ago.

We must break through the encirclement as soon as possible! Being constantly chased like prey is too passive. Only by escaping this net can we turn the tables and find opportunities, perhaps even... the hunt!

His thoughts raced, his body constantly shifting directions in the complex alleyways, his spiritual perception at its maximum, avoiding potential tracking and new ambushes.

However, what is bound to happen will eventually happen.

Just as he passed through a narrow gap that could only allow one person to pass through and stepped into a relatively open abandoned courtyard, a heavy, mountain-like aura suddenly pressed down from in front of him!

In the rain, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the courtyard.

He was a middle-aged man who looked to be around forty years old. He had a kind and honest face, even a bit simple. However, the dark golden spear he held was twelve feet long, and the earthy yellow spiritual energy around him was so dense that it was almost tangible, but it exuded a dangerous aura that made people's hearts tremble.

This spiritual energy was not only powerful, but also carried a sense of solidity that was closely connected to the earth beneath his feet, as if he were an unshakeable mountain standing there.

Earthly Realm!
Moreover, he was by no means a mere beginner in the Earthly Fiend Realm; the refinement of his spiritual energy far surpassed that of all the opponents Jiang Xuan had encountered before.

The middle-aged man fixed his gaze on Jiang Xuan with a cold indifference, as if he were examining prey. He did not make a move immediately, but spoke in a deep voice, which echoed in the rainy night like muffled thunder.

"Kid, you're quite capable to have dodged the previous waves of attacks and even killed so many people."

Unfortunately, this is the end. Remember, the one who took your life was Zhao Mang of the Hou Tu Sect!

Before he finished speaking, he stomped his foot!
"boom!"

The ground trembled slightly, splashing water everywhere. Zhao Mang used the momentum to propel himself forward, his dark gold spear whistling like a venomous dragon emerging from its lair, aiming straight for Jiang Xuan's chest! The earthen-yellow aura condensed on the spear tip was incredibly thick, seemingly capable of easily piercing through metal and stone!
His speed was astonishing, completely at odds with his honest and unassuming appearance!
Jiang Xuan's pupils contracted slightly, not daring to be negligent in the slightest. The Storm Millstone within his body spun wildly, and azure spiritual energy flowed into his arms. The black spirit battle blade in his hand emitted a soft hum, and he slashed upwards with unparalleled precision at the tip of the thrusting spear!
"clang--!!!"

The deafening clang of metal clashing rang out, even briefly drowning out the sound of rain and thunder!

A tremendous force surged through the blade, and Jiang Xuan felt a sharp pain in his tiger's mouth, his entire arm went numb, and he uncontrollably slid back several steps, leaving two deep tracks in the muddy water beneath his feet.

Such immense power! Is this the power of the罡气 (罡气 is a type of internal energy) after the initial fusion of the Earth罡 Realm and the power of the earth?

On the other side, Zhao Mang also let out a soft "Eh," a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

Although he didn't use his full strength in that spear thrust, he still used seven or eight tenths of his power. If an ordinary cultivator at the Gang Realm were to take that blow head-on, they would at least lose their weapon and have their tiger's mouth split open.

But the boy not only took the hit, but seemed to be only knocked back without suffering any real damage.
"You've got some skill! Take my 'Mountain Sweep' again!"

Zhao Mang let out a low shout, ceasing his probing. His spear swept horizontally, the dark golden shaft slicing through the rain with a terrifying sonic boom that seemed to collapse the void, hurtling towards Jiang Xuan's waist! This strike was incredibly powerful, as if it truly possessed the force to topple mountains!
However, just before the spear was about to strike, a cold glint flashed in Jiang Xuan's eyes. Instead of choosing a direct confrontation, he preemptively made an unexpected move! (End of Chapter)